The Maryland Education Coalition (MEC) advocates for adequate funding, equitable policies, and transparent accountability statewide for the estimated 900,000 students in Maryland’s public schools, regardless of their academic, cultural, economic, geographic, racial, or other demographic status. We believe there must be meaningful public education stakeholder participation in the decision-making process at the local, state and federal level as defined in federal law.
(See ESSA Implementation Considerations: Stakeholder Engagement HERE )
Ellie MItchell & Rick Tyler, Jr. - Co-Chairs
Contact - md.ed.coalition@gmail.com *** For MEC Members, Click HERE
The leadership for the Maryland Education Coalition (MEC) thanks all of our member organizations, their staffs, members, partners and friends who worked with MEC to advocate for public education priorities with the General Assembly (GAM) .
Maryland General Assembly
The General Assembly of Maryland (GAM) introduced 2,286 bills during the 2023 Legislative Session. MEC considered 296 bills (13%), and took action (written/oral testimony or direct lobbying) on about 50 bills. 82 of the bills considered passed
CLICK HERE for the MEC bill chart with bills that passed and bills MEC took action on.
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Fiscal Year 2024 State Aid to Education Budget
The Fiscal Year 2024 State aid for education grows by $704.9 million to nearly $8.7 billion for school year 2023-24. $390 million is a result of the first-time use of direct certification through Medicaid. This increased the enrollment of Free-Reduced Priced Meals eligible students by 34% resulting in an additional $390 million in Compensatory education formula funding,
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Funding for Blueprint programs increases by $673.7 million, or almost 70%, from $965.1 million in fiscal 2023 to $1.64 billion in fiscal 2024.
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This was offset by a 26% decrease in the prekindergarten funding due to the use of non-proxy enrollment counts for fiscal 2024
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Blueprint Fund resources in fiscal 2024 total approximately $4.5 billion.
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Governor added $500 million to the Blueprint Fund and the General Assembly provided an additional $400 million for a a total of $900 million appropriation to the Blueprint for Maryland’s Future Fund in fiscal 2024 for a carryover balance of $2.3 billion from fiscal 2023,
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State education aid provided directly to the local boards of education increases by $661.0 million, or 9.1%,
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CLICK HERE for more details on the public education operating and school facilities budgets for FY 2024
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90 Day Report - A Review of the 2023 Legislative Session- HERE
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General Assembly of Maryland-2023 Interim Dates of Interest
https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/Pubs/Other/2023-Interim-dates.pdf
Maryland State Department of Education
Mohammed Choudhury, State Superintendent of Schools
Maryland has nearly 900,000 students in over 1,400 public schools, within 24 local education agencies, and over 7,000 child care providers.
The Maryland State Department of Education (MSDE) works collaboratively with the State Board of Education and stakeholders to ensure the promise of an excellent and equitable education for all students, especially those who have been historically underserved.
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Maryland State Department of Education – Home Page
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Maryland State Board of Education
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State Board of Education, COMAR Regulations - Title 13A
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MSDE Programs - HERE
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Maryland Local Education Agencies websites - HERE
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The Maryland Report Card, Maryland’s Accountability System– Home Page
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2022 Statewide Report Card
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Star Ratings & Points - HERE)
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Interagency Commission
on School Construction
The mission of the Interagency Commission on School Construction is to achieve a safe, healthy, and educationally sufficient learning environment for every child attending a public school in Maryland. Our vision is a fiscally sustainable statewide portfolio of K-12 school facilities that will remain educationally sufficient for current and future generations of students and teachers.
Home Page - https://iac.mdschoolconstruction.org/
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FY 2024 Public School Construction Funds are $1,091,839,784 or a decrease of $145.2 million
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$447.2 million was allocated to the Build to Learn Fund
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$90 million was allocated for the Health School Facility Fund
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$40 million was allocated for Enrollment Growth & the Relocatable Classroom Program
For the FY 2024 public school facilities budget CLICK HERE
Maryland State Government – HERE
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The Office of Governor Wes Moore Page - HERE
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Governor's 2023 Bill Signings
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Find Your Federal and State Elected Officials - HERE
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2023 Interim Dates of Interest - HERE
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Meetings - HERE
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Department of Legislative Services
The department supports the members of the Maryland General Assembly and its committees. This includes legal, fiscal, committee, research, reference, auditing, administrative, and technological support.
MORE AT: http://dls.maryland.gov/about-us/directors-message/
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State of Maryland, Board of Public Works - HERE
ABOUT - "The Board of Public Works is the highest administrative body in the Maryland state government. Consisting of the governor, the comptroller, and the treasurer, it now derives its ultimate authority from the state Constitution and is responsible for the expenditure of all capital appropriations and the superintendence of nearly all state public works projects. Each year it deals with hundreds of millions of dollars; . . .
https://aib.maryland.gov/Pages/default.aspx
The AIB is an independent unit of the Maryland State government created by the Blueprint for Maryland’s Future law to ensure successful implementation of the Blueprint over the multi-year implementation period and achievement of the Blueprint’s intended outcomes.
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Blueprint Implementation Plans
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AIB Comprehensive Plan
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MSDE Blueprint Implementation Plan
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LEA Blueprint Implementation Plans
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CTE Committee Blueprint Implementation Plan
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Other Blueprint Implementation Plans
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Workgroups
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Maryland Consortium on Coordinated Community Supports - The Maryland General Assembly included language in the Blueprint for Maryland's Future, Chapter 36 of 2021 (Kirwan education reform bill), to create a new Maryland Consortium on Coordinated Community Supports to help meet student behavioral health needs and other related challenges in a holistic, non-stigmatized manner.
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