Teachers thought they would have more time to plan lessons with colleagues under an education reform package passed by the Maryland General Assembly several years ago. But Gov. Wes Moore says he wants to take that expensive part of the package out ― at least for now.
As he looks to close a $2.7 billion budget shortfall in next year’s fiscal budget, the first-term Democrat is looking for ways to trim the cost of the $3.9 billion Blueprint for Maryland’s Future.
The collaboration time would have allowed for curriculum planning, grading and professional development — all things teachers say they desperately need. But it would also require hiring 15,000 additional teachers at a time of teacher shortages.
While state education leaders are on board with Moore’s plan, which they see as fiscally responsible, some educators are worried about the impact on their already time-consuming jobs.
Moore’s recommendations could potentially harm the education of “students in poverty, multi-lingual learners, and students receiving special education services to the tune of $1 billion over the next four years,” said Paul Lemle, head of the state’s largest teachers union, the Maryland State Education Association.
The governor’s office has not yet provided additional information about the proposal.
At Moore’s sole public event on Friday, an announcement of a new state benefits website, he did not take questions from reporters.
The Blueprint requires school systems to redirect money to specific schools with high-needs students. Instead of spreading funding and resources equally, students with disabilities, those who are from low-income families, and those who are learning the English language are given more to meet their needs.
The Blueprint legislation overcame a veto by then-Gov. Larry Hogan and was passed into law in 2021, though Hogan, a Republican, initially withheld funding from its implementation board. At the time, Hogan said the legislature had failed to identify a funding stream to pay for the $3.9 billion in annual funding for education that the Blueprint called for by 2030, which he said would lead to “massive tax increases.” Hogan was particularly concerned about the lack of revenue to fund the Blueprint in 2027 through 2033.
Funding for the Blueprint ramped up slowly and so far has been covered by state revenue. But Moore is now grappling with how to pay for next year’s more substantial increases to school systems across the state.
A goal of the Blueprint is to elevate the teaching profession, mimicking other countries with high-performing students. So, under the Blueprint, Maryland raised starting pay for teachers to $60,000 a year, rewarding those who are more highly trained and giving them more time in the day when they aren’t teaching.
But reducing a teacher’s time in front of students also means hiring more teachers, an expensive proposition.
William ‘Brit’ Kirwan, who chaired the panel that created the framework for the legislation, said the collaboration time was an important part of the Blueprint.
Maryland teachers spend about 80% of their time teaching, said Kirwin, who sits on the board that oversees the Blueprint’s implementation. In addition, they have playground or lunch duties, which means there are very few minutes in the day when they aren’t busy. The Blueprint sought to bring that percentage down to 60% of their day.
While he agrees with it being paused, he doesn’t want to see it abandoned.
“I think the reality is that we have to have a better pipeline and more certified teachers available to make it work as it is intended to do,” Kirwan said.
The state’s education leadership appears to have accepted the idea that the Blueprint will be significantly changed. The state superintendent of schools, as well as the chair of the state school board, support Moore’s plan.
Nothing’s more powerful than getting time to learn from colleagues and study data to make positive changes in the classroom, said Joshua Michael, president of the state’s board of education.
“But we cannot roll this policy out at the expense of students having really strong teachers in front of them,” the former teacher said.
The board is still “deeply committed” to professionalizing the teacher workforce, he said. But that commitment isn’t cheap. The collaborative time proposal alone, and the hires it calls for, costs hundreds of millions of dollars each year, said Michael.
“This is about making implementation choices that really center children, what’s best for children, and understanding where we need to make policy adjustments to get things done really well,” he said.
While the collaborative time proposal is paused, Moore will instead offer new short-term grants to schools that are experimenting with collaborative time models. There are other ways to carve out more professional development time, according to Michael, such as paying teachers to stay an extra hour a couple days a week or alternating schedules so they share the burden and get collaborative time at different times.
“We’re not talking about cuts to public education,” Michael said. “We’re talking about, where are we going to put the investments? How are we going to line it up with really strong strategy, and how much can we afford to keep putting more money into public schools?”
Michael knows stakeholders grapple with uncertainty when there are any changes proposed to the Blueprint. But he sees the governor’s proposals as a policy adjustment, not a rollback.
State Superintendent of Schools Carey Wright, who attended Moore’s Thursday night speech outlining his plans, said reevaluating how the Blueprint gets implemented is the most fiscally responsible thing the state can do with a $2.7 billion shortfall. With a gap that wide, Wright said, you have to reexamine everything, including the Blueprint.
While Moore isn’t suggesting abandoning the legislation, it’s worth examining how to pause certain proposals or redirect money to avoid digging a larger hole, Wright said.
”We can honor what the Blueprint is trying to do, but also pause the spending that’s behind all of this at the same time,” Wright said.
During the pause, districts could work on recruiting more teachers. She and Michael both pointed to expanding on the state’s “Grow Your Own” legislation as a way to support interested future teachers within their own communities.
Some educators are concerned
Diamonté Brown, head of the Baltimore Teachers Union, said she’s frustrated but not surprised by the pause. She and her colleagues haven’t seen education prioritized among elected officials, she said. It’s unclear to her why a plan to fund the Blueprint hadn’t already been figured out.
She encouraged decision makers to think through policy logistics instead of using it as an excuse not to do what’s best for children.
“And I hope that the people who endorsed the governor will be holding him accountable to what he agreed to,” she said.
Chrystie Crawford-Smick is concerned about finding more teachers. The head of the Harford County Education Association said she hopes the state is prepared to support college students and career changers who want to enter education. There aren’t enough prospective teachers in the pipeline, she said, and there needs to be more support to push students toward the industry.
“We can’t fill the minimal needs we have now,” she said. “I don’t see how this is possible with the current level of students in teacher preparation programs.”
Kristina Korona, head of the Teachers Association of Anne Arundel County, said teacher workloads aren’t sustainable. A teacher for 23 years, she now finds the responsibilities on educators’ plates unmanageable.
To get more teachers, the profession has to look more attractive, she said. The collaboration time was going to help with that. Anne Arundel has done a good job filling it’s teacher openings but “we have not completely closed that gap,” said Korona. “But that’s not going to happen if teachers won’t have time to get their work done.”
High schoolers, she said, are looking for professions with a work-life balance. The promise of that collaboration time could attract them to the industry.
It’s basic math, said Celeste Jordan, head of the Carroll County Education Association. There aren’t enough teachers to make the plan work. She’d love for teachers to have more time during their contractual day to collaborate, but realistically, it can’t happen right now.
Carroll County leaders have been vocal about Blueprint challenges, but Jordan pointed out that she’s seeing the benefits of what’s already been put in place. They raised the starting salaries to $60,000 this school year and it’s already helped with hiring, she said.
“I think sometimes people forget that the Blueprint had a 10-year or 12-year rollout,” she said. “It’s a long term project and there’s going to be some growing pains.”
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