Landmark Overhaul of Maryland Schools One Vote Away
Today’s overwhelming vote by the House of Delegates to override the governor’s veto of the Blueprint for Maryland’s Future leaves just one step left to enact the 10-year strategic plan to fund education equitably, raise academic achievement, and strengthen the educator workforce. Educators and education advocates now look to the Senate to take the final step by voting to override the governor’s veto in the coming days. Baltimore County elementary school teacher and Maryland State Education Association (MSEA) President Cheryl Bost released the following statement:
“We are elated that the House has taken a major step in the direction of equity, recovery from the pandemic, and a brighter future for all of Maryland’s children by voting to override the governor’s veto of the Blueprint for Maryland’s Future. Through their action today, legislators are seizing this once-in-a-generation opportunity to ensure that every student in every neighborhood will have a great public school. The Blueprint will help our schools by expanding career and technical education, community schools, and pre-kindergarten, hiring more educators and paying them as professionals, giving greater support to struggling students, special education, and English language learners, focusing on mental health supports, and creating lasting educational equity and a more prosperous future for Maryland. We are optimistic that the Senate will vote to override the veto soon and get the Blueprint across the legislative finish line, which is just the start of this transformational work to support our students, educators, and schools.”
The Blueprint is based on the findings of the Kirwan Commission and revises the state’s school funding formula for the first time in nearly two decades. Over the next decade, the Blueprint will deliver billions of dollars of new investment in Maryland public schools to end the persistent underfunding of at least $2.9 billion per year according to an independent analysis overseen by the Maryland State Department of Education. Thanks to the advance work of the legislature, this new formula—and the new accountability system to back it—is near-entirely funded through FY26. Overriding the veto of the Blueprint will also enact the Built to Learn Act, a needed multi-billion investment to upgrade school facilities across the state.