Staff at Reisterstown Elementary School chattered with excitement as they waited for Gov. Wes Moore’s arrival Thursday morning.

A few talked about wanting to take a selfie with the Democratic leader as one of his staffers arranged them around a colorful welcome sign before he walked into the school library to shake hands and hear from educators.

Before the discussion, he enthusiastically shared his commitment to education, highlighting a $550 million bump in funding for public schools next year.

“The reason that we have said that we are going to aggressively support our public education system is because every goal that we have as a state, it starts with that,” Moore said while sitting at a makeshift roundtable with a few of the school’s teachers and leaders.

There was no mention of the losses local school system leaders say they will face if the governor’s budget plans are approved.

Moore’s visit was two days after Baltimore County Public Schools Superintendent Myriam Rogers told school board members that, under Moore’s plan, they stand to lose nearly $20 million in state funding they were expecting. The day before, she’d joined Harford County’s superintendent in Annapolis to tell lawmakers it’d be a $234 million hit for all school systems.

“The proposed budget changes are a DOUBLE WHAMMY in lost funding,” said a slide from their presentation to a House committee.

Rogers and Harford County Public Schools Superintendent Sean Bulson were representing the Public School Superintendents’ Association of Maryland, explaining how Moore’s budget takes away funds they were promised under the Blueprint for Maryland’s Future, legislation passed in 2020 that was meant to improve Maryland’s public schools. Bulson said the $4 million cut Harford is facing under Moore’s plan, which amounts to 45 teachers, is like “tying a weight around a swimmer’s waist.”

Both school systems were already facing a challenging budget season before Moore announced his budget plans. Bulson was facing a $60 million deficit and a county executive who disagreed with how much the local government should help. He told lawmakers that he already planned to cut 150 positions to balance his budget.

Rogers has a $61 million compensation package to pay for and a $9 million gas and electric bill hanging over her head next budget year.

Baltimore County also has 91 community schools, which offer free health care and other services for students in poverty. Reisterstown Elementary is one of them. The expected funding for those services would take a hit in future years if Moore’s plan is approved.

“We believe we can come together and find a more nuanced solution that will not adversely impact students,” Rogers said to lawmakers.

At Reisterstown Elementary this week, Moore told educators, as well as the small audience that included Rogers and state leaders, about his plan to recruit more teachers. His bill, the “Excellence in Maryland Public Schools Act,” comes with coaching, mentoring and professional development for educators. It also pitches a grant program that would support teachers finishing their work outside the classroom.

That’s a temporary replacement for one of the initiatives of the Blueprint, which would have allowed classroom teachers to spend 60% of their day instructing and 40% planning their lessons, working with colleagues and completing other tasks. Moore proposed pausing that initiative, called “collaborative time,” saving hundreds of millions over the next few years and giving the state more time to recruit the teachers it needs to make it possible.

Moore told reporters on Thursday that he believes in the promise of the Blueprint, that it will happen “on our time” and that his administration will get it done. He and his team are going to work in collaboration with local districts to ensure Maryland has the best public school system in the nation, the governor said.

“We know we have a lot more work in order to get done,” he said. “The Blueprint isn’t just something I stand by, but I also know that we have to ensure that we have the long-term supports to actually make this happen.”

Reisterstown Principal Candace Brinkley described the discussion with Moore and her staff as genuine and said she felt heard. Teachers have told her they need support, and the budget is tight. Brinkley said she is “cautiously optimistic” about future funding.

“I have great trust in our leaders to do what they can with what they can,” she said. “Sometimes it’s up to us to get creative with how we use that funding to maximize our student success.”

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.