It’s been a hectic first year in office for Maryland State Superintendent Carey Wright.
The sweeping education reform plan, the Blueprint for Maryland’s Future, now in its third year, continued to see challenges in its rollout, and may well see changes in the coming year. Debates continued over policies about which books are appropriate for students to read,
Standardized tests scores in math and language arts from the 2023-24 school year were up from pandemic-era scores but still fell well below goals. And a state Board of Education plan to boost reading scores by holding back third graders who score poorly ran into a buzzsaw of opposition from parents and education advocates, before it was amended to require parental OK to hold a child back or a parent’s agreement to take advantage of extra help for the student.
And after it was learned that a Howard County student arrested in connection with a killing had been a suspect in “a previous incident” in Anne Arundel County while under Department of Juvenile Services supervision, the state Board of Education approved an emergency policy change requiring that school leaders share information on students charged with “serious criminal offenses.”
But Wright, who was officially sworn in to the job in October 2023, sees it as a glass “more than half full” year, given what she sees as progress overall and changes likely in the next year.
“I think everybody has been really enthusiastic about the future and what that holds for the agency [Maryland State Department of Education] and what that holds across the state,” Wright said Dec. 13 at the Maryland Association of Counties winter conference.
Literacy policy
After hearing Wright speak at MACo, Harford County Councilmember Jacob Bennett (D), who works as a kindergarten teacher, said the best part of her arrival has been her advocacy for a literacy plan.
“I’m so hopeful for our future knowing that we’re going to get reading right,” Bennett said. “If we don’t get reading right, it’s all for nothing.”
The literacy plan, unveiled this summer, focuses on students in prekindergarten through third grade and includes a number of elements. But the most controversial part was its proposal to detain third grade students back if they didn’t achieve reading standards.
School officials received more than 2,000 comments on it. It was ultimately amended to require more parental involvement in a student’s retention — which will not take effect until the 2027-28 school year.
Now, before a school makes a final decision on whether to retain a third grader, it must reach out to parents or guardians “through multiple means of communication, including, but not limited to mail, email, phone calls, and, if appropriate, home visits prior to the next school year.” Parents and guardians can say no to holding the student back, but must agree to enroll the child in a free school-approved and supplied supplemental reading support program to advance to fourth grade.
Another part of the policy includes reading intervention for prekindergarten students and professional development for educators who teach those students. Some of the educator training will include the science of reading, which focuses on teaching students based on phonics, comprehension and vocabulary.
The plan also includes department-provided technical assistance to help schools implement academic, behavioral and social-emotional outcomes (called a multitiered system of support) and to help local school districts begin implementing policy next school year.
Tonya Sweat, an education advocate running for Prince George’s County executive, said she understands the focus on younger students, but worries that the policy does not deal with the larger problem of social promotion.
“What you’re doing is admitting we have a social promotion system in the state. What are we doing about the students in the other grades who aren’t doing well?” she asked.
The policy mirrors the one implemented in Mississippi, where Wright previously served as superintendent and is credited with a sharp turnaround in test scores. The state board will review local implementation of policies by summer 2026.
Freedom to read
Maryland was part of a national conversation this year about what books and materials should be publicly available in schools and libraries, largely due to the Freedom to Read Act, which made Maryland one of the first states in the nation with strong protections to preserve access to information in libraries. It prohibits retaliation against employees for doing their jobs, and includes penalties for those who attempt to thwart access.
The bill, sponsored by Del. Dana Jones (D-Anne Arundel), was a priority of House Speaker Adrienne Jones’ (D-Baltimore County) so-called “decency agenda,” and was signed into law in April.
The law requires that local school officials manage library programs and not exclude or remove materials “because of partisan, ideological, or religious disapproval.” Local school officials must develop policies and procedures to review objections — made by a student, parent or guardian — about books or materials.
Officials at county libraries, resource centers and a metropolitan cooperative service program must follow state standards, such as not excluding materials from catalogs “because of the origin, background, or views of a person who created the material.” If they fail to adopt policies consistent with those standards, the law directs the comptroller to withhold state funding until a written policy is certified by the Maryland State Library Board.
The law took effect before the release last month of a report by PEN America that showed Maryland tied for ninth with South Carolina for school book bannings last school year, with 64 books targeted.
About 59 of those books were in Carroll County, where the school board approved a policy that “sexually explicit” materials will not be allowed in schools. That phrase is defined as “unambiguously describing, depicting, showing, or writing about sex or sex acts in a detailed or graphic manner.”
PEN America attributes the book ban movement to conservative and parental rights groups such as Moms for Liberty, which has about 10 local chapters in Maryland.
Blueprint reforms, maybe
Education leaders continue to say the Blueprint plan has helped school systems increase the number of high school students taking courses at local community colleges, boost prekindergarten enrollment and expand community schools that provide a variety of wraparound services.
But some state and education officials also continue to say they want more local flexibility to implement the plan that’s now in its third year.
We cannot allow solvable fiscal concerns to derail long-term investment in our children and Maryland’s future. If we alter Blueprint funding via delay or scaling back, we risk defaulting to the status quo, a system that we know fails too many of our students.
– Riya Gupta, interim executive director with Strong Schools Maryland
The Public School Superintendents’ Association of Maryland released a 12-page report this month asking lawmakers to approve some policy changes to the Blueprint. Sen. Karen Lewis Young (D-Frederick) said at the time that the association’s list of recommendations “makes sense,” and that she plans to file a bill “that will probably reflect a lot of their requests.”
Meanwhile, the state faces a looming $2.7 billion budget shortfall in the coming year, with part of the fiscal challenge attributed to costs of paying for the Blueprint plan.
Gov. Wes Moore (D), acknowledging the budget crunch, separately called for reforms to the Blueprint, such as a pause in “collaborative time” for teachers out of the classroom.
Wright acknowledged she and her staff will need to assess spending on certain programs. For instance, she said the child care scholarship program, which pays child care for working parents in some situations, could exceed $700 million a year.
“We’ve got more kids getting on child care scholarship and more families being able to go back to work because of it. Right now, the model that currently exists is simply not sustainable financially,” Wright said. “So, we’ve got to figure out what we’re going to have to do about that, not eliminate it. But how do we redirect some money toward that?”
Some education advocates continue to make one point clear: the Blueprint needs to be fully funded. Strong Schools Maryland plans to lead that charge at a “Blueprint Day” rally Feb. 10 in Annapolis.
“We cannot allow solvable fiscal concerns to derail long-term investment in our children and Maryland’s future,” Riya Gupta, interim executive director with Strong Schools Maryland, said in a statement last week. “If we alter Blueprint funding via delay or scaling back, we risk defaulting to the status quo, a system that we know fails too many of our students.”