The Blueprint for Maryland’s Future education reforms have “inspired significant optimism and progress” in schools, but may need to be tweaked to keep going as the state faces a fiscal crisis, school administrators say. Screenshot.
Some state school superintendents are saying it’s “clear that adjustments are needed” on the Blueprint for Maryland’s Future education reform plan as the state faces a looming fiscal crisis, and are asking to work with the Moore administration on potential changes.
The Nov. 27 letter from the Public School Superintendents’ Association of Maryland comes as the association is preparing to release legislative and policy recommendations this week to Gov. Wes Moore (D) and other state officials on some changes they believe are needed on the Blueprint.
The letter, signed by five of officers of the association – Baltimore County Superintendent Myriam Rogers, Calvert County Superintendent Andraé Townsel, Cecil County Superintendent Jeffrey A. Lawson, Charles County Superintendent Maria Navarro and Washington County Superintendent David Sovine – is careful to note support for the Blueprint, which the superintendents say has “inspired significant progress and optimism.”
But it also notes “clear that adjustments are needed” in the plan, “not to compromise the mission of the Blueprint, but ensure its long-term success.”
“We can offer modifications to the Blueprint that are grounded in real-world experiences, data analysis, and the guiding principle of enhancing student growth and achievement,” the letter says, asking the administration to collaborate with superintendents on changes.
Mary Pat Fannon, executive director of the superintendents’ association, said in an interview Friday that the superintendents want to help find ways for state lawmakers to prioritize spending on the plan as they grapple with a budget crisis in the 90-day legislative session that begins Jan. 8.
“This is a letter of partnership and cooperation and not like a flamethrowing exercise,” Fannon said. “We’re three years in [on implementing the Blueprint]. We’ve identified some issues and some refinements that we think would go a long way for student improvement and operations in the system.”
The letter was also distributed to the legislature’s presiding officers, chairs of the Senate and House committees on fiscal and education policy, and other state officials.
The letter and planned release of legislative and policy recommendations from the association come as two other superintendents – Sean Bulson from Harford County and Dereck Simmons from Caroline County – are scheduled to talk about the Blueprint plan Thursday at the Maryland Association of Counties (MACo) winter conference in Cambridge. The superintendents will be joined by local school district Blueprint coordinators from Garrett and Charles counties.
Fannon acknowledged one state lawmaker who has been outspoken on the plan’s lack of local autonomy: Sen. Mary Beth Carozza (R-Lower Shore), who will moderate the Blueprint discussion at MACo.
That session, entitled “What We’ve Learned About Learning: The Blueprint in Year Three,” is slated to highlight how Blueprint successes in one jurisdiction represent challenges in another based on the plan’s five pillars, or priorities: hiring and retaining high-quality and diverse teachers, early childhood education, providing additional resources for students in need, preparing students for college and technical careers, and governance and accountability.
“When you give the local flexibility and the local authority [to school leaders], they are in the best position to know of the Blueprint goals,” Carozza said Friday. “It’s needed even more so because of the budget challenges that we currently face in the state of Maryland.”
by William J. Ford, Maryland Matters
December 9, 2024
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