Most eyes were locked on the Blueprint for Maryland’s Future this legislative session, as lawmakers wrestled with how to adjust — and pay for — the state’s ambitious plan to improve public schools.

Meanwhile, a number of other education bills made their way through the legislature in the 90-day session that wrapped Monday. Some fell victim to budget constraints as the state sought to plug a massive deficit; others are headed to the governor’s desk for his signature.

Here’s how they fared.

Child care providers win some support

The Maryland Health Benefits Exchange will soon have to help child care professionals get health insurance through targeted outreach. The bill, as originally written, would have made certain child care providers eligible for the State Employee and Retiree Health and Welfare Benefits Program, but lawmakers cut that portion.

Another bill stops homeowners and condo associations as well as zoning authorities from putting more restrictions on family child care businesses than the state does; child care businesses got some new tax incentives, too.

And the state’s education department will analyze how it can best use both school systems and private programs to expand public pre-K, which it has so far struggled to do. Child care advocates hope that will give them a seat at the table to help state education leaders understand why the plan isn’t working.

But any bill that came with a price tag was hard for legislators to swallow this session. A proposed pilot program that would have established a substitute teacher pool for child care facilities dropped its annual appropriation request from $375,000 to $50,000 and still didn’t pass.

Other failed bills include one that would have kept landlords from prohibiting family child care businesses in single-family homes and another that would have allowed teachers to work at child care centers while earning a GED. The latter went through major revisions but still didn’t make it.

A bill that would have enabled early childhood educators to watch more children at a time instead passed as one merely requiring the state’s education department to study its and other states’ child care regulations and report back next year. Other states have raised their child-to-staff ratios, which experts warn is dangerous.

Little help for new parents

To avoid pregnancy discrimination, some four-year colleges now must publicly share plans by August 2026 to support students who are pregnant or have children, which should include helping them get government assistance they qualify for or access to needed accommodations.

Legislators also approved a request from the Department of Labor to delay the Family and Medical Leave Insurance Program. The program creates a fund that allows workers to take up to 12 weeks of paid medical leave, up to $1,000 a week, for a variety of reasons, including caring for a newborn. Now, employees and employers won’t start making contributions to the fund until 2027, and employees may not be able to start using the benefit until 2028. Contributions were supposed to start in July, with benefit collection beginning a year from then.

Beth Morrow, director of public policy for the Maryland Family Network, said the state is “really leaving families in a tough spot” with both the paid leave delay and an impending freeze of the state’s popular child care scholarship program.

“That’s part of the landscape for family planning and for new parents making decisions about whether or not they can take time off,” she said.

Additionally, despite emotional testimony from two grieving moms, a bill that would have granted a one-time tax credit to parents of stillborn babies failed.

Equity efforts for teachers and school leaders

It could be a little easier for educators of color to enter the teaching profession, thanks to the passage of a bill that alters the path to a teaching license. Educators will no longer have to take a popular licensure test that “has been found to contain racial bias that may affect the test’s scoring, has limited efficacy to assess performance, and poses a financial burden for aspiring educator applicants,” the Maryland State Education Association said via email.

The state’s teachers union also supported a successful bill that requires each county school board member to take anti-bias training. It used to only be a requirement for educators. The extension to board members is intended to make those in charge of school policy decisions “well informed of their role in preventing bias, prejudice, and hate,” the union stated.

Lawmakers attempted to improve the educator workforce with a few other bills, but not all of them made it to the finish line. That includes one that would’ve required all school systems to use a national database to screen job applicants for disciplinary actions reported by school districts across the country. The bill had strong support in the senate but never made it out of committee.

The Interstate Teacher Mobility Compact bill also fell short. It could’ve helped Maryland public schools hire teachers with out-of-state credentials more easily. However, the bill had a short life in the house and never got a vote.

No statewide ban on cellphones in schools

Baltimore City Public Schools passed a cellphone ban this week, and Howard County already has one. Despite early evidence that suggests bans can lead to better grades and sharper focus for students, lawmakers did not pass any bills requiring other school districts to at least consider doing the same.

One of the bills introduced this year would have required certain county boards of education to develop and adopt a policy on the use of personal electronic devices during school hours. Though the bill was steadily making its way through the statehouse, it didn’t make it to the governor’s desk.

Few changes for colleges

Maryland colleges are already facing a budget squeeze, which could be one reason a number of higher education bills failed.

“I think the General Assembly struck the right balance, given the budget crisis and uncertainty at the federal level, to make sure that higher education wasn’t overly burdened with new regulatory or administrative requirements,” said Matt Power, president of the Maryland Independent College and University Association.

A bill to fight hate on college campuses died after student activists campaigned against it; another one to bar public universities from charging application fees to certain students failed; and legislation to cut down the number of years an undocumented student must file income tax returns to qualify for in-state tuition didn’t gain traction.

Another bill to prohibit Maryland’s public colleges from asking about an applicant’s disciplinary record or factoring it into admissions decisions also failed this year.

One of the sponsors of the campus anti-hate bill said she was strongly considering submitting it again next year, so there’s a chance we’ll see some of these efforts resurrected next session.

About the Education Hub

This reporting is part of The Banner’s Education Hub, community-funded journalism that provides parents with resources they need to make decisions about how their children learn. Read more.