Latest news with #MarylandStateBoardofEducation
Yahoo
30-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
State faces potential loss of $232.1 million in federal funds, less than feared but still worrisome
Krishna Tullar, deputy state superintendent for the Office of Finance and Operations, gives update on state funding to the Maryland State Board of Education on April 29. (Photo by William J. Ford/Maryland Matters) The good news is that the state's schools are not going to lose $418 million in federal funding they feared was lost last month when federal officials abruptly announced they were clawing back unspent pandemic recovery funds. The bad news is that the state could still be out $232.1 million, the Maryland Board of Education was told Tuesday. The confusion came after school officials received a letter last month from the U.S. Department of Education, informing states that the Trump administration would cancel Biden administration extensions that would have given schools until next year to spend down any remaining COVID-19 recovery funds. That letter, from U.S. Education Secretary Linda McMahon, came in an email on Friday, March 28, at 5 p.m., which said the cancellation would take effect immediately. It said the federal department would consider reimbursing states, but only under narrow provisions. 'This took us off guard, needless to say at five o'clock on a Friday,' said Maryland State Superintendent Carey Wright. In the confusion, state officials estimated that as much as $418 million could be at stake for state schools. Now, they say, the number is closer to $232.1 million. Krishna Tullar, deputy state superintendent for the department's Office of Finance and Operations, summarized from a chart that more than half of that amount, $144.9 million, comes from the third, and final, iteration of the American Rescue Plan's Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief, or ARP ESSER, program. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX The remaining $87.2 million came from earlier versions of ESSER and from other pandemic-response funds. It was slated for uses such as mental health services, professional development for teachers and for students experiencing homelessness, like residing in transitional housing. Donna Gunning, assistant superintendent in the department's division of financial planning, operations and strategy, said the federal government has not reimbursed the state for at least $127.5 million that has already been allocated. Another $104.6 million is money not reimbursed to the state's local school systems. Gunning said about $56.7 million of the school system money has been designated as 'encumbered' and not spent by the school systems also called local education agencies, also known as LEAs. Board President Joshua Michael summarized how local school districts will be affected if they are not reimbursed by the federal government for the millions they have spent. 'That could mean salaries for 2,000 teachers next year. It could mean 12,000 students in our pre-K program. We will have to come up with this money,' he said. 'These are real dollars.' Without schools being reimbursed, certain projects or educational programs must immediately stop. Board Vice President Monica Goldson said many local school systems 'were counting on receiving that reimbursement in their FY '26 budget.' 'And now they've been informed that they're not. Then those cuts at the local level could be even more extreme than they are right now,' said Goldson, former CEO of Prince George's County public schools. 'I just want everybody to understand that we are falling off of the cliff quickly.' Gunning said the state asked the federal department to reconsider its funding, but the only response received so far is that the reimbursement request for ESSER funding had to be resubmitted in another format. Board member Rachel McCusker asked if there's any indication when federal officials will inform the state of a decision. 'We are not aware of any state having received an approval since this decision,' Tullar said. Because of the federal government's decision, Attorney General Anthony Brown (D) joined other attorneys general in a lawsuit earlier this month against the federal agency to prevent it from arbitrarily changing its position so the states can continue to access the money that 'provides essential support' for students.
CBS News
03-04-2025
- General
- CBS News
Anne Arundel County Public Schools to drop Pre-K programs for four year old students
Beginning in the 2025-2026 school year, Anne Arundel County Public Schools will no longer offer prekindergarten programs for 3-year-olds, AACPS said Thursday. The shift comes due to the adoption of a new policy by the Maryland State Board of Education and the Blueprint for Maryland's Future's Accountability and Implementation Board. "Specifically, we encourage public school systems to focus on delivering prekindergarten to Tier I four-year-olds, while private providers are encouraged to focus on serving Tier I three-year-olds and Tier II and Tier III four-year-olds," the policy states. AACPS will prioritize 4-year-old students in "Tier I." This includes children from low-income families, homeless children, some multilingual learners, and some students with special education plans. The school system wants to place students in schools closer to their homes, so they don't have to travel as far. "This change will allow us to better focus instruction and services to students who need it most and to do so at schools that are closer to the homes of those students," AACPS Superintendent of Schools Dr. Mark Bedell said. "We must, by law, accommodate all 4-year-old Tier I students, but some of those students have had to travel great distances in prior years, and we are hoping to minimize if not eliminate that in the next school year." Registration for next year's Pre-K programs starts on May 6, 2025. Programs for 3-year-olds will still exist, but they'll be offered by private schools, childcare centers, Head Start, and family childcare homes instead of public schools. Positions allocated to 3-year-old programs in the current school year will be converted to 4-year-old programs in the 2025-2026 school year, according to AACPS.
Yahoo
27-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
New program will help fired federal workers find jobs with Maryland public schools
MARYLAND - There's a major push in Maryland to recruit fired federal workers into the teaching field. The state is now launching the "Feds To Eds" program and potentially making changes to recruiting practices. Behind the Program This initiative is two-pronged – for one, the state is committed under the direction of Gov. Wes Moore to support its federal workers, who make up roughly 10% of the state's workforce. Secondly, they are trying to address Maryland's critical teacher shortage. This week, the Maryland State Board of Education formed a subcommittee that will study methods to streamline the current licensure process for teachers. They are doing this with federal workers in mind. Currently, candidates must have a Bachelor's degree or higher, pass a number of state exams and complete an approved licensing program. But now the question is being raised: are there other avenues for teacher licensure that the state could adopt? What they're saying Assistant State Superintendent Kelly Meadows says the name of the game is not making it easier to become a teacher, but rather adding another path to teaching. "So, for instance, if you have an individual who has a Ph.D. in a STEM field and has been working for the federal government and is now looking to perhaps come into the K-12 classroom. How can we acknowledge and honor that expertise, but still give that person the training they absolutely need to be in front of our K-12 kids?" Meadows said. Dig deeper The State Board of Education launched a new website to better support this effort at There, you can find resources for making a career change to teaching. FOX 5 also spoke with Paul Lemle, the president of the Maryland State Education Association — the union that represents more than 75,000 members including teachers, paras counselors and administrators. "That teacher shortage is bigger than just teachers and in teaching, we always need experts. So some of these people are probably data scientists and chemists and people with serious policy chops. So we're excited about the opportunity to invite people into what we think is a great profession," Lemle said. What's next The subcommittee will meet on Thursday and should have an update to submit to the professional standards board next week.
Yahoo
26-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Upcoming math policy for Maryland students gets mixed reviews as ‘one-size-fits-all approach'
With students' math proficiency rates remaining stubbornly low, the Maryland State Board of Education has revealed its plan to streamline math education. Presented during the board's all-day meeting in Baltimore on Tuesday, the proposal would standardize math instruction at the elementary level to ensure all students are meeting minimum grade-level standards. In high schools, the policy would restructure geometry concepts across Algebra 1 and 2 courses to create an 'integrated algebra pathway' — signaling a shift away from the traditional course order of Algebra 1, geometry and then Algebra 2. The policy would also provide professional development and new teaching resources for educators while establishing accountability systems to track student progress and share that data with parents and communities. Scheduled for full implementation during the 2028-29 school year, the plan would be rolled out gradually in the coming years, beginning with the finalization of new math standards next school year. The 2026-27 and 2027-28 school years would see an emphasis on teacher training and partial implementation of integrated algebra coursework, respectively. The proposal will receive final consideration at the board's March 13 meeting, according to President Joshua Michael. Some educators spoke favorably of the plan during a public comment session at Tuesday's meeting, commending its potential to ensure low-performing students do not continue to fall behind. Ellie Mitchell, director of the Maryland Out of School Time Network youth development organization, praised the idea of a minimum math standard and applauded the plan's desire to see 'students' identities' built around the subject. 'One of the things I was particularly excited about … was the importance of building students' identities around math,' Mitchell said. Paul Lemle, president of the Maryland State Education Association union, called the plan a 'thoughtful first step to course correction' in an environment where most students are not solving math problems at grade level. However, he expressed opposition to the idea of 'exclusionary tracking' at the elementary level, arguing students who need the most attention could be overlooked. 'While heterogenous grouping has its benefits, making it a mandatory, one-size-fits-all approach risks overlooking students who need targeted instruction,' Lemle said. A Howard County teacher who previously taught in Baltimore City, Ryan Powers, worried standardizing math standards could also neglect high-performing students. 'The quiet, capable students, the smartest or even those needing to be challenged more were instead given extra worksheets a lot of the time,' Powers said of his time teaching in the city. Manhar Dalal, a math teacher and coach at Baltimore's Western High School, opposed the plan to consolidate geometry instruction into Algebra 1 and Algebra 2 courses. Geometry should instead be grouped with trigonometry in precalculus courses because these kinds of math are more naturally related, Dalal suggested. 'The idea that we can just take geometry and somehow magically inject it into those, I think is going to be very difficult,' Dalal said, noting that Algebra 1 and 2 courses already struggle to cover all necessary concepts in the allotted time. Have a news tip? Contact Carson Swick at cswick@
Yahoo
25-02-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Maryland high school graduation rates at 7-year high; test scores up slightly
High school graduation rates in Maryland last year climbed to their highest level since 2017, according to the Maryland State Department of Education. The department announced the state's four-year cohort high school graduation rate for 2024 was 87.6%. Of the 67,349 high schools students in the Class of 2024 across Maryland, 58,965 obtained a high school diploma within four years of enrolling in ninth grade. According to a news release, the 87.6% rate was 1.8 percentage points greater than the 2022-23 school year, with the largest increases coming from Hispanic students and multilingual learners. 'This is great news for Maryland. When we set high standards, deliver strong instruction, and invest in proven supports, our students show that they will exceed expectations,' said State Superintendent of Schools Carey Wright in a statement. 'We will continue working to ensure that every Maryland student achieves their highest academic potential.' According to the release, Maryland's five-year cohort graduation rate — the percentage of the 67,868 students who started ninth grade in the 2019-20 school year and graduated by 2024 — was 87.4%, a decrease from 88.2% the previous year. At Tuesday's Maryland State Board of Education meeting, a wide range of data also suggests students are beginning to recover from the coronavirus pandemic academically but still lag behind the progress of their peers a decade ago. Geoff Sanderson, the MSDE Deputy State Superintendent for Accountability, presented data from the National Assessment of Educational Progress — also known as the 'Nation's Report Card.' The data shows Maryland improved on its 2022 rankings across all categories: from 40th to 20th among all U.S. states in fourth grade reading, 25th to 21st in eighth grade reading, 42nd to 39th in fourth grade math and 42nd to 38th in eighth grade math. According to the data, 34% of students statewide were proficient in fourth grade reading, 33% in eighth grade reading, 37% in fourth grade math, and 25% in eighth grade math. Fourth grade proficiency increased upon 2022 levels by 3% for reading and 6% for math, while eighth grade proficiency remained unchanged in both subjects. However, proficiency was down by double-digits across the board for both grade levels and subjects compared to 2013. The trend of average NAEP test scores since 2013 suggests a widening of the 'achievement gap' between students scoring in the top and bottom 10th percentiles, according to Sanderson. This gap has mostly been driven by lower scores among students in the bottom 10th percentile students, while scores of those in the top 10th percentile have remained relatively unchanged. Wright, who is credited with improving Mississippi's reading scores during her previous role in the Magnolia State, said improvements among Maryland's lowest-scoring students are an encouraging sign of progress. 'From '22 to '24, we bucked the nation with what we achieved,' Wright said. Demographically, Asian and white students achieved the highest proficiency scores, while Black and Hispanic students achieved the lowest. Despite this, Black and Hispanic students achieved some breakthroughs relative to 2022 proficiency rates in math. Fourth grade math proficiency increased by 6% for Black students and 11% for Hispanic students, while math proficiency increased for Black and Hispanic eighth graders by 1% and 2%, respectively. Board of Education members said they still believe too many students are being left behind. Member Nick Greer, of Baltimore City, expressed concern about a growing gender gap in reading proficiency. Compared to 2022, female students improved by 6%, while boys remained the same in fourth grade reading; girls maintained a proficiency rate 8% higher than male students in eighth grade reading with neither gender improving. 'I'm really worried about boys and young men,' Greer said. 'In this country, in this state in general, I think they're moving in a different direction … And I think we have an opportunity to focus on that work in whatever way we can.' Board President Emeritus Clarence Crawford applauded the progress but encouraged members to consider that the majority of students are still not reading or solving math problems at grade level. 'If 40% are proficient, 60% of the kids are not. What's the cost of that?' Crawford said. Have a news tip? Contact Carson Swick at cswick@
