MSEA Delegates Recommend Re-Electing Moore, Lierman, Brown

And other legislative updates in this month’s Up the Street

THIS MONTH IN ANNAPOLIS

MSEA Delegates Endorse Moore, Lierman, Brown for Re-Election, Murray-Lewis for State Board

On October 17-18, during the MSEA Fall Representative Assembly (RA), delegates representing MSEA’s 76,000 members voted to support Gov. Wes Moore, Lt. Governor Aruna Miller, Comptroller Brooke Lierman, and Attorney General Anthony Brown for re-election in the 2026 statewide elections.

Previously endorsed by MSEA’s delegates, Moore, Miller, Lierman, and Brown have fulfilled promises to educators and continue to work with MSEA to find solutions to issues and improve public education. Moore surprised the RA in person to express his appreciation for the endorsement and to reiterate his commitment to educators, students, and public schools. Lierman and Brown expressed their appreciation and described their plans in video messages sent to the assembly. The primary election will be held on June 23, 2026 and Election Day is Nov. 3.

Delegates also voted to recommend Nicole Murray-Lewis to be the next teacher member on the Maryland State Board of Education (SBOE). Murray-Lewis is MSEA’s endorsed candidate to fill the teacher position that opened when Rachel McCusker stepped down in August after she became an assistant principal in Carroll County. Endorsed by MSEA, McCusker was the board’s first-ever elected teacher member after being elected by educators in December 2019 and subsequently re-elected. MSEA championed a bill in the 2018 session, sponsored by then-Senator Richard Madaleno (D-Montgomery) and Delegate Eric Ebersole (D-Baltimore County), that created this designated teacher seat on the Board.

Murray-Lewis is a Nationally Board Certified history teacher at Blake High School in Montgomery County in her 28th year of teaching. In her candidacy statement she said, “I know firsthand both the promise and the inequities in our schools. I have seen dedicated teachers struggle under shifting mandates, students left without the support they need, and schools thrive when given clarity, resources, flexibility, and strong leadership. These experiences have shaped my belief that policy must reflect the realities of our classrooms and the voices of all stakeholders.”

The Maryland State Department of Education is conducting this election November 3-17. Teachers who are eligible to vote in the election may do so here. If a runoff is necessary, it will occur December 1-15.

State Leaders Find Way to Keep Marylanders Fed as Trump Administration Withholds SNAP Benefits

In the face of Trump Administration threats and action to politicize programs that prevent food insecurity, the Moore Administration and Maryland elected leaders acted so that vulnerable Marylanders do not go hungry while the federal government is shut down. During the shutdown, at the direction of the Trump Administration the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) intended to deny the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits that approximately 680,000 Marylanders need to help feed themselves and their families. SNAP recipients include 120,000 older adults, 270,000 children, and 130,000 Marylanders with disabilities, and amount to roughly 10% of the entire population of the state.

The USDA typically spends $123 million per month on SNAP in Maryland, and it warned states that they would not be reimbursed for funds they use to replace SNAP during the shutdown. The Trump Administration let the November 1 deadline pass without distributing monthly SNAP benefits for the first time in the program’s 60-year history. After federal judges ruled that the USDA could not legally suspend the program, the USDA agreed to use a contingency fund to pay out half the benefits. To relieve the suffering created by the federal chaos, Gov. Moore declared a state of emergency, which allows him to use the state’s reserve, the Rainy Day Fund. On October 30, he authorized using $10 million to address immediate food insecurity through food banks, and this week he raised the state’s contribution to $62 million to guarantee recipients receive 100% of their benefit through the SNAP program.

“Withholding funding from food assistance is not just illegal, it’s also cruel,” Moore said of the impact on Marylanders who “rely on SNAP to put food on the table…The federal government is looking them in the eyes and saying, ’You’re on your own,’ but in Maryland, we protect our people.” In a joint meeting of Maryland’s Senate Budget and Taxation and House Appropriations committees on October 29, leaders and members of both parties approved of using the Rainy Day Fund for food assistance. “I applaud our governor for stepping up and making sure hungry people are fed in our state,” said House Appropriations Committee Chairman Delegate Ben Barnes (D-Prince George’s and Anne Arundel). “The governor is leading with values and the House [of Delegates] fully supports this use of state money.”

State’s Aging Schools Need $12 Billion in Repairs, Replacement

A report from the Office of the Comptroller recently raised awareness around the need to upgrade aging school infrastructure in every county at an estimated cost of $12 billion statewide: 80% (1,120) of the state’s 1,361 K-12 school buildings are in unsatisfactory condition, described as in need of repairs (34%) or “functionally unreliable” (46%); and no jurisdiction has 100% “satisfactory” schools. The report highlighted the connection between student success and physical conditions of a school, while it acknowledged the challenge to fund the construction. Those costs are traditionally shared by the state (23%) and local school systems (74%). Cost estimates are 42% higher than they were six years ago.

The strains and progress of the effort to ensure high quality school buildings can be seen across the state. In Montgomery County, for example, Superintendent Thomas Taylor recently proposed a $2.7 billion budget to maintain the county’s 238 school buildings, but said the school system’s “true needs” would cost $5.2 billion. While funding solutions are being explored, the governor’s capital improvements budget ($825 million) and 2022 Built to Learn Act ($1.7 billion) are funding some of the much-needed construction locally. Moore, MSEA President Paul Lemle, and Frederick County Teachers Association President Justin Heid recently celebrated the groundbreaking at Linganore Creek Elementary School in Frederick County, one of the fastest growing jurisdictions.

State Board Upholds Freedom to Read for Harford Schools

The Freedom to Read Act that MSEA championed successfully and Gov. Moore signed into law last year to prevent book bans rescued a book from removal Tuesday when the State Board of Education (SBOE) overturned a Harford County School Board decision and ordered the county to improve its evaluation policy and engagement with the community. The county board tried to ban a book contrary to the decision of the county’s book review committee, which was established in accordance with Freedom to Read. The law required each county to have a policy that allowed citizen review of books to which the public had objections. The Harford committee that reviewed the book found it acceptable, but that decision was challenged with local advocacy by the Harford County Education Association (HCEA) and appealed to the state school board by HCEA and other local organizations, where its right-wing members overruled the committee.

NEWS AND NOTES

Persistent Teacher Pay Gap Warrants Vigilance

MSEA has fought successfully for higher pay for Maryland teachers and support staff, and still the teacher pay penalty reached a record high in 2024. In Maryland and nationally, educator pay continues to fall short for most.

At 26.9%, the pay gap for teachers in Maryland is the same as the national average, and it is the state with the 19th largest gap. Gaps range from between 10% in Rhode Island and 38.5% in Colorado. Nationally, the Economic Policy Institute found:

MSEA continues to fight for better pay, including keeping the pressure on with the ESP Bill of Rights and its advocacy for a living wage for all ESPs.

2026 CAMPAIGN NEWS

Moore Appoints Redistricting Commission after Republican States Kick off Irregular Redistricts to Gain U.S. House Seats

To counterbalance the irregular, politicized off-cycle congressional redistricting catalyzed by Republican-controlled states at the behest of  President Trump, Gov. Moore has appointed a redistricting commission. Republican-controlled states have redistricted to try to create maps more friendly to GOP congressional candidates in the midterm elections next year. Four Republican-controlled states—Texas, Missouri, Ohio, and North Carolina—have redistricted to try to flip nine Democratic seats, and four other Republican states are considering redistricting. With a potential to flip five Republican seats, Democratically controlled California redistricted in a process that voters approved on Tuesday. Earlier this week, Moore appointed the commission to review Maryland’s congressional map. He appointed U.S. Senator Angela Alsobrooks (D-MD) to chair the commission, and members include former Maryland Attorney General Brian Frosh, Cumberland Mayor Ray Morriss, and legislative leaders or their designees. House Speaker Adrienne Jones (D-Baltimore County) has named Economic Matters Committee Chairman C.T. Wilson (D-Charles) to represent the House of Delegates.

“We have a president that treats our democracy with utter contempt,” Alsobrooks said in a statement from the governor’s office. “We have a Republican Party that is trying to rig the rules in response to their terrible polling…Maryland deserves a fair map that represents the will of the people. That’s why I’m proud to chair this commission. Our democracy depends on all of us standing up in this moment.”

The commission is to begin meeting this month, and announce hearing dates and details for public participation. It will issue recommendations to the governor and General Assembly.