Is This A Chance For Districts To Take Back Control Of Their Schools And Spending?
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The Maryland Legislature opens its 2025 session today. It has some serious problems to address, including the strain the bloated Blueprint for Maryland’s Future puts on state and local taxpayers.
Now that the State of Maryland has an approximately $3 billion dollar deficit, Governor Wes Moore, whose administration/party have taken the State from a surplus to debt, suddenly wants to put a “pause” on Maryland’s education spending leviathan Blueprint for Maryland’s Future. The legislation is projected to add $3.9 billion to state and local spending. The pause coincides with residents receiving property tax bills that are, in some cases, 35% higher than last year, according to local sources. Many have been on social media calling out the Governor and Legislature for their spendthrift ways.
Another interesting coincidence is that with Trump’s election, the Department of Education may be disbanded. Why does that matter? According to their own documents, the Federal Department of Education provided $838 million for the Blueprint in federal funds in fiscal 2021, and $45 million and $105 million in fiscal 2021 and 2022, respectively, in special funds from the Blueprint for Maryland’s Future Fund. If the DOE is gone, no doubt this funding might also disappear or be reallocated, causing a huge problem for Maryland. Moore is reading the room and needs a quick exit out of the disaster.
All that waits to be seen is how this “pause” will impact local districts. Earlier this month, Moore proposed taking out the Blueprint’s plan to reduce teacher classroom time in favor of more planning and workshop time during the day. His rationale was that allowing teachers to spend less time teaching would increase the number of teachers needed in the schools. Therefore, he pretended this was not a cut, but a way to eliminate the shortage of teachers. As we said in this article, it’s a poor plan.
Moore Proposes Flawed Plan To Reduce Maryland Teacher Shortage – The Easton Gazette
Apparently, the Teacher’s Union doesn’t agree. Dr. Donna Christy, President of the Prince George’s County Educators Association jumped into to oppose the pause:
“The entire blueprint is necessary. It’s a whole package. When you start chipping away we’re never going to meet the goals it was intended to so we have to keep it whole. We have to keep it together.” ( ABC 7 News)
That’s an interesting take on the problem. We must keep everything if anything is to work. While I agree that teachers probably need more planning and professional development, I wonder if the union would be so upset if the pause had to do with all the other, unproven and unnecessary mandates the Blueprint puts on schools.
While the Blueprint was initially designed to improve student learning and performance academically, it has turned into a catch all for every single special interest in the state’s education system. Instead of focusing on academics and how students can best learn, it focuses on mandating schools provide programs they were never intended to offer. These programs often take place during the day and often interrupt that most valuable of time for student learning, class time. Not only that, they require that school districts hire special personnel for every single new program. For every mandate service, there has to be a supervisor and/or coordinator hired. These positions are on the high end of the pay scale as they are in administration.
Meanwhile test scores are tanking, at least until the Maryland State Department of Education creates a new testing program next year, one which will suit their political needs.
This brings up another question for Governor Moore. He has suddenly discovered that the state has a huge deficit, and even his sycophantic large districts such as Montgomery, Howard, Baltimore, Baltimore City, Prince George’s etc. are complaining that the Blueprint is NOT sustainable. Their citizens are getting high property tax bills and they are very unhappy. These are the same counties that were completely on board back when the funding was first created and approved. They tripped over themselves to get to a microphone to praise and implement it. Then reality hit and now their whining gets Moore’s attention.
Smaller counties such as many in Western Maryland and on the Eastern Shore, have been pointing out the flaws for years. Moore turned a deaf ear. Now he has some explaining to do to them as well.
What will school districts do when you “pause” funding, Governor Moore? These counties that have already danced your dance, created all these nonsense mandated programs, and planned to spend money on them will be left holding the bag. What happens then? Will they suddenly fire employees? Cancel programs? Cut services?
We asked Talbot County Council member Dave Stepp what this funding pause will mean for local jurisdictions. His response was what I expected. He doesn’t know. Not because he is not paying attention, but because the state can’t (or won’t) be specific about what this pause will do. It’s not clear if even the local school systems know what it will mean. They’ve been told to do one thing, and now they have to do another. It’s a mess.
Many will claim that it will be “business as usual.” They might be right, but the bills will keep piling up and the number of appeals of property tax assessments will go through the roof.
Here’s our message to the local districts. Now that it’s been proven that this bloated fiasco is unsustainable, now that Moore finally took his head out of the sand and sees the same, you need to take a hard look at what your county is doing. You need to get rid of those programs, Blueprint mandated or not, that DO NOT WORK to improve student learning and development. Stop trying to do things that you are not qualified or supposed to do. Educate the children! Determine, using data, which programs work and keep them going. Spend money on those programs, not “feel good” programs and staff that have no measurable effect on student achievement.
Your parents, students and constituents demand it.
In other words, THIS IS YOUR CHANCE to wrest the future of our kids out of the hands of bureaucrats and unions . Governor Moore and the State of Maryland have had an epiphany and know the Blueprint is a disaster. The citizens of the State know it’s not working. Be true leaders and do what is right, not what is politically correct. Stop worrying about the State and Fed cutting your funding if you don’t comply.
You’re complying and Moore’s going to cut your funding anyway out of necessity. You might as well put yourselves back in control of your own budgets and your own success.
The post Maryland Governor Puts Pause On Blueprint: What Does That Mean For Local Districts? appeared first on The Easton Gazette.
