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THIS MONTH IN ANNAPOLIS

AIB, MSDE Strategize Implementing Blueprint for Maryland’s Future

As the Blueprint for Maryland’s Future continues to ramp up, the Maryland State Department of Education (MSDE) and the Blueprint Accountability and Implementation Board (AIB) have signed a memorandum of understanding to clarify responsibilities and streamline implementation. The MoU identifies their unique roles overseeing the Blueprint. Overall Blueprint policy implementation continues to fall to the AIB, while details of implementation will largely fall to MSDE, including oversight of the career ladders applying to educators in each district.

This year saw the expiration of two terms on the seven-member AIB and the resignation of one member. On July 1, terms expired for members Laura Stapleton and Joseph Manko. Mara Doss resigned from a term that expires July 1, 2026. Manko reapplied, and Stapleton did not. From 36 applicants, the AIB Nominating Committee has forwarded six names to Gov. Moore for consideration to fill three seats: David Harper, Joseph Manko, Contina Quick-McQueen, John Seelke, Joanna Tobin, and Robin Werner. The governor has 30 days to choose the three board members, who will serve six-year terms.

Manko is an education program director at the Abell Foundation in Baltimore. Harper, of Caroline County, is vice president of workforce and academic programs at Chesapeake College. Quick-McQueen is a supervisor of instruction in college and career readiness for St. Mary’s County Public Schools. Seelke is a Montgomery County mathematics teacher in the county’s public schools. Tobin is a member of the Anne Arundel County Board of Education. Finally, Werner is director of teaching and learning for public schools in Talbot County.

At their June meeting, the AIB responded to local districts’ concerns that the data they need to project their annual financial positions are not available soon enough in the fall to know by October 31 whether they will need to seek a waiver of the minimum funding requirement. The AIB extended the deadline from October 31 to December 1. The AIB is accepting public comment on any aspect of the Blueprint until August 1. Written comments may be submitted here.

Legislators Anticipated Federal Chaos Threatening Maryland Economy

Actions that the legislature took last legislative session put the state in a better position to weather some of the financial chaos that has been created by the Trump Administration. At the June 25 inaugural meeting of the General Assembly’s Joint Federal Action Oversight Committee (JFAOC), members learned the state will likely bear billions in costs shifted entirely to states for Medicaid and Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP).

JFAOC Committee member and House Appropriations Committee Chair Delegate Ben Barnes (D-Prince George’s and Anne Arundel) concluded that legislators appropriately adjusted the state budget last session with $700 million in write-downs, maintaining a $2.1 billion rainy day fund, and ending with a $300 million fund balance. “I do think the state’s in good fiscal shape,” Barnes said.

The 26-member JFAOC, co-chaired by Senate President Bill Ferguson (D-Baltimore City) and House Speaker Adrienne Jones (D-Baltimore County), was established in April by the legislature to “monitor and keep legislators informed” of changes to federal funding, policies, and regulations.

Attorney General Anthony Brown reported to the JFAOC that the legislature’s dedicated funding for federal cases has supported his office through more than 30 lawsuits and numerous amicus briefs fighting federal layoffs, budget cuts, attacks on civil rights, and proposed policies that threaten Marylanders’ sovereignty. “Your investment has enabled us to pursue an aggressive litigation strategy within a broader coalition of 23 like-minded attorneys general,” Brown said.

The Maryland comptroller’s office quantified at $150 billion the value of federal economic impact at risk from the Trump Administration federal job cuts. The annual report of federal job data described the federal government as the state’s “economic engine” and a driver of its employment growth.

Withheld Federal Funds Leave State’s K-12 Schools Scrambling and Fuel State Lawsuits

A last-minute July 1 federal funding freeze is paralyzing $110 million worth of education programs in Maryland, impacting student support, academic enrichment, effective instruction grants, and adult basic literacy education. Districts had already committed the money, which was scheduled as part of the continuing resolution that has funded the federal government while a fiscal year 2025 budget was pending. Maryland joined two dozen other states to sue the Trump Administration for withholding $6.8 billion in K-12 funds that states expected would be available this summer.

“This reckless funding freeze has jeopardized teacher training, thrown essential special needs services into chaos, and left families scrambling to find childcare before the start of a new school year,” Attorney General Brown said.

“Withholding billions in promised federal education funding that students need—and states had planned to use to support children in their states—is a cruel betrayal of students, especially those who rely on critical support services,” National Education Association President Becky Pringle said. “Schools are already grappling with severe teacher shortages, burnout, and under-resourced classrooms, and here comes the federal government ripping resources away from public schools. It is outrageous and unconscionable.”

The administration also made a billion dollars’ worth of cuts to student mental health grants that drove 16 states, including Maryland, to sue the administration. The U.S. Department of Education ended $1 billion in grants established by the Biden Administration to increase numbers of mental health professionals, with an emphasis on encouraging grantees from underrepresented populations. The grants, already awarded, are being ended because they conflict with Trump Administration priorities.

NEWS AND NOTES

SCOTUS Rulings Threaten LGBTQ+ Safety in Education, Healthcare

Two U.S. Supreme Court rulings have the potential to harm, divide, and stigmatize LGBTQ+ students and educators. In the Montgomery County, Maryland, case Mahmoud v. Taylor, the Supreme Court’s ruling against the school system burdens already stretched thin schools and educators while narrowing representation and diversity in student resources. In U.S. v. Skrmetti, the ruling upheld a ban on families’ access to gender-affirming care.

Writing the dissent in the curriculum case, Justice Sonia Sotomayor said, “The court, in effect, constitutionalizes a parental veto power over curricular choices long left to the democratic process and local administrators…That decision guts our free exercise precedent and strikes at the core premise of public schools: that children may come together to learn not the teachings of a particular faith, but a range of concepts and views that reflect our entire society.”

Trump Budget Takes away Millions from Public Schools, Medicaid

The $7.5 trillion federal budget that President Trump signed into law on July 4 will cut funding for public schools and endanger Marylanders who depend on public healthcare safety nets.

“This budget is a direct attack on the very people our public institutions are meant to lift up,” NEA President Becky Pringle said. “Instead of investing in our children’s education, as well as their health and their future, this law hands billions in tax breaks to the ultrawealthy—while pulling the rug out from under America’s students and families…They’re not just slashing budgets—they’re taking food away from hungry children by cutting SNAP. They’re stripping health care from millions by dismantling Medicaid. This isn’t just irresponsible—it’s a complete betrayal of America’s students, families, and core values.”

Included in the budget are new pro-voucher tax policies that further erode public funding for public schools. For states that opt in to the program, more scholarship vouchers and tax breaks will be available in a system that has typically benefited students who were previously enrolled in private schools. The bill sets no limits on the amount of money recipients could receive to pay for private or religious school tuition, tutoring, or books. It could supplement the assistance they receive in states with existing programs that let families use public funds for private education. For participating states, beginning in January 2027, students whose families have relatively high incomes—up to 300% of their area’s median gross income—are eligible to receive scholarship funds from scholarship-granting organizations. Further harming public education funding, taxpayers who donate to the groups that give out tuition vouchers would receive federal dollar-for-dollar tax credits worth up to $1,700.

Before the budget was adopted, Congress heard from witnesses describing the discriminatory, hidden insidious effects the voucher policies would have. They “risk leaving us with a more stratified, less efficient education system than the one we have today,” said Brookings Institution expert witness Jon Valant, testifying before the Senate. “I think we should remind ourselves about the federal government’s role in K-12 education. Historically, that role has emphasized: data collection and transparency; protecting students from discrimination; and compensatory funding for students in need.”

While 90% of all students attend public schools that guarantee protections to their students— including Title VI of the Civil Rights Act, Title IX of the Education Amendments Act, and the Americans with Disabilities Act—vouchers divert public funding to private schools that do not have to provide those same protections and can pick and choose their students.

On top of threatening students’ access to education, the budget slashes Medicaid, needed by 1.5 million people in Maryland, according to the state’s Department of Health. “We don’t make America stronger by cutting health care and food assistance to give a windfall to the wealthy; we strengthen America by investing in the working people and families who drive this nation’s economy,” Maryland Senator Chris Van Hollen (D) said in a statement after the vote. “This legislation is a big, ugly betrayal of those Americans.”

Freedom to Read Enshrined in State Regulations for Media Services

The Maryland State Board of Education on June 24 approved amendments to library media services regulations to align with the Freedom to Read Act approved by the legislature last year and provide greater protection for educators and their resources. The Freedom to Read Act, sponsored by Delegate Dana Jones (D-Anne Arundel) and Senator Nancy King (D-Montgomery), with MSEA’s strong advocacy, passed to address the growing controversy over censorship, honest curriculum, and freedom of speech as those values apply to books and materials publicly available in schools and libraries.

Project 2025 Author Is Policy Director at US Education Department after Designing Its Destruction

As the Trump Administration continues on a chaotic path to dismantle the U.S. Department of Education, one of the authors of its destruction has been added to the payroll of the department. Lindsey Burke—who was previously with the Heritage Foundation and wrote a chapter in its Project 2025 on eliminating the Department of Education—is now a deputy chief of staff for policy and programs.

CAMPAIGN NEWS

Pittman Eager to Lead State Democratic Party, Continue Progress Made under Ulman

Anne Arundel County Executive Steuart Pittman is the new Maryland Democratic Party chairman. When Ken Ulman resigned the post in June, he and Gov. Wes Moore recommended Pittman, who is in his second term as county executive and is term-limited. The recommendation was voted on and approved at a state party meeting in late June. He has been a community organizer and strong supporter of public schools, earning the endorsement of educators in both of his runs for county executive. “I also have experience…flipping Anne Arundel County from red to blue and governing in a way that you then actually increase your margins,” he said in an interview with the Baltimore Banner.

Ulman led the party to break important new ground in getting involved in local school board races during the 2024 election cycle. The party’s response to the increasing presence of extremist candidates aligned with far-right organizations and out-of-state funders represented a meaningful and necessary step. “The Maryland Democratic Party is committed to defending our students from the dangerous fringe agenda that extremist candidates and the far-right groups are hoping to bring to our state,” Ulman said prior to the election. “We won’t allow radical activists dedicated to banning books and discriminating against students to take over our schools.”