Poll: Blueprint backed by majority statewide

Three-quarters of voters favor Md.’s education plan

In spite of looming fiscal challenges and a high price tag, an overwhelming majority of Marylanders support the state’s ambitious Blueprint for Maryland’s Future education plan, according to a new poll for The Baltimore Sun, the University of Baltimore and FOX45.

Nearly three quarters of the 1,300 likely general election voters polled across Maryland said they supported the Blueprint, a plan designed to improve educational outcomes, raise teacher pay, retain educators, and invest in schools with high populations of students from low-income families.

State legislators have poured billions into the 10-year plan since its 2021 adoption, and Democrats have continued to back it despite not having a way to pay for the reforms in the long run. A primary driver of the state’s projected budget deficits in the coming years, the Blueprint’s sticker price has caused some to rethink the plans. And school district leaders around the state described last month a “Herculean effort” needed to implement some of the Blueprint’s requirements, like improving teacher staffing and mandated expansions of prekindergarten.

Seventy-two percent of the likely Maryland voters polled April 7-10 said they supported the plan overall.

The General Assembly session concluded last week after lawmakers passed a $63 billion budget for the fiscal year beginning July 1. Budget negotiations hinged, in part, on future Blueprint funds and ultimately included $246 million in new revenue over three years to fully fund the Blueprint through the 2027 fiscal year.

When the poll asked the likely voters about potential changes to the plan to lessen its financial pressures on local budgets, 55% said they supported making some reduction, such as cutting all-day prekindergarten programs (24%) or teacher pay raises (11%). However, 29% said they would not cut anything.

The polling numbers indicate “profound, widespread” support among voters for the landmark education plan, tempered by “a willingness to set adjustments,” according to Steve Raabe, the president of OpinionWorks in Annapolis. The firm has conducted polls for The Sun since 2007.

“It’s very hard to argue against public education,” he said. “The intent [of the Blueprint] tracks with the priorities of Maryland voters.”

School boards will have to balance how to fund their schools districts with meeting their Blueprint financial burden, which could force members to cut local initiatives.

“Will it force school boards to cut other things? That’s where the electoral equation changes,” Raabe said.