#MEC
@marylandeducationcoalition
The Maryland Education Coalition (MEC) members represents parents, civil rights, & special student population groups. For over 40 years MEC has advocated for adequate, equitable resources and systematic accountability for the estimated 900,000 public school students in Maryland’s public schools regardless of their academic, cultural, economic, geographic, racial or other demographic status. This includes students people of color, those identified as lower income, special needs, limited English, homeless, foster care, Gifted & Talented or within the Juvenile Service systems.
We believe a public education is a constitutional right based on Article VIII of the Maryland Constitution.that requires all public school students equitable access to a quality education so each may graduate college or career-ready. We also believe it is a civil right based on several federal and state laws or regulations
MEC Covaid-19
News, Information, Resources
MEC urges all members, partners, friends and community members to remain Smart, Safe and Healthy
Practice Masking and Physical Separation while Socially Engaging
Click HERE for COVAID-19 related resources for parents, educators and community members
MEC UPDATES
The Maryland Education Coalition (MEC), our member organizations, their staff or members have been working regularly with local, state and national public officials, other organizations and community members to understand and provide a wide range of information and resources within the Maryland public school community related to the Coviad-19 Pandemic, school closings, summer resources and pending reopening plans for the 2020-21 school year. We also have provided some resources to meet the new or additional needs of the students families.
You can find some COVAID related resources HERE
Updated Maryland Together: Maryland's Recovery Plan for Education
Please email comments to:
educationplan.msde@maryland.gov until further notice. Comments will be reviewed on a continuous basis.
How to find Maryland Local School Systems 2020-21 School Reopening Plans and other school system resources
Click HERE for School Systems Links and Search
- Recover or Reopening Plans (Due to MSDE 8/14/2020)
COVID-19 Resources for Maryland Schools- Guidance, Resources and Updates for Maryland Schools and Communities
Multiple state agencies are collaborating on and are committed to the health and safety of students and staff in the school setting. We are working collaboratively with the Governor's Office, the Maryland Department of Health (MDH), the Maryland Emergency Management Agency (MEMA), and all other relevant State agencies on the Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19). The Maryland State Department of Education will remain vigilant in providing all information regarding the virus as it pertains to the health and safety of students and staff in our schools. This page will be updated regularly.
Click HERE for a wide range of related resources
MSDE'S Maryland Together:
Maryland's Recovery Plan for Child Care
- Frequently Asked Questions - Click HERE
MSDE List of Operating Child Care Sites
How do I apply for the Child Care Scholarship program?
The Child Care Scholarship program provides financial assistance with child care costs to eligible working families in Maryland. Parents who earn up to 60% of State Median Income are eligible (e.g., a family of four can have an income of up to $71,525 per year and qualify for a scholarship).
To find out more about eligibility and how to apply for the Child Care Scholarship program, Click HERE
FEDERAL CARES ACT FUNDING ALLOCATED TO MARYLAND LOCAL SCHOOL SYSTEMS and CHILDCARE
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Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) Fund.
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Remote Learning Enhancements - $100 Million
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Targeted Tutoring Initiatives - $100 Million
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Rural Broadband - $10 Million
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Maryland Total - $207.8 million
(Note: 10% allocated to MSDE for administrative costs)
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Total to School systems - $187 million
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Governor’s Emergency Education Relief (GEER) Fund
- $45.7 million.
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Child Care Development Fund (CCDF) - $45.5 million
TOTAL CARE FUNDS ALLOCATED to Local Systems
- $299.0 million
For more details, Click HERE
MEC in the News
MEC initially contact the Maryland State Department of Education leadership April 2020 requesting that they create a stakeholders group to address public education issues related to the COVAID-19 pandemic. It was our belief that the complexity of many related issues would require a broad, diverse group of representatives inside and outside of MSDE to identify the needs and resources to produce a state plan that would ensure all students and school systems educational and student services needs would be adequately, equitably and safely met
MSDE instead reconvened the ESSA External Stakeholders Group and during their first meeting, they provided them an Internal MSDE draft of the Maryland Together: Maryland's Recovery Plan for Education. Participating xternal stakeholders and others promptly found it to be inadequate, lacking leadership, clear equity goals, standards and sources to guide and support local school systems, their students, staffs and communities.
We assumed that MSDE would collect and use input from external stakeholders to develop a framework based on a clear set of equity principles in its plan and require the local school systems to expressly incorporate them into their local return/recovery plans, specifying how the school system will address each principle under each model of education under consideration, whether all distance learning, a hybrid model of distance and in-person, or all in-person.
After several attempts to request these changes to their plan in writing and via meetings that included three members of MEC (Disability Rights Maryland, Maryland PTA and the Maryland State Conference of the NAACP), MEC wrote a letter to the State Superintendent outlining a set of ten (10) principles we recommended to MSDE.
To date, MEC has only received a brief acknowledgement of receipt of the letter, but we have not received or seen a response that specifically address the contents of the letter. However, the media has reached out to MEC members and other stakeholders and published articles that includes some of the issues of concern to MEC and others. (See below)
MEC letter to Dr. Salmon and the MSDE Recovery Plan leadership team - July 22, 2020
- Equity Principles to Anchor Return/Recovery Plan
To review a copy of the letter, with 54 signatories
Click HERE
RELATED NEWSPAPER ARTICLES
Maryland school superintendent Salmon faulted for poor leadership, communication
Maryland School Superintendent Karen Salmon is under fire from education advocates who say she has failed to provide strong leadership during a health crisis that is fundamentally redefining how public schools work.
By LIZ BOWIE JUL 29, 2020
By LIZ BOWIE JUL 24, 2020
Maryland Education Coalition (MEC)
-- Advocates for civil rights, health, public education & safety for all students and their families
STATE AID TO LOCAL GOVERNMENTS
for FY 2020 & 2021 Statewide & Each Local Jurisdiction
- Approved State Aid to Local Governments for Public Education Expenses by major category and by local school system (Estimates subject to changes)