Leaders outline challenges of implementing Blueprint reforms
With the mandated expansion of prekindergarten, shifting guidelines and a statewide teacher shortage, Maryland school leaders are starting to detail the massive challenges they face in implementing the Blueprint for Maryland’s Future, the state’s 10-year education reform.
School districts submitted plans Friday outlining how they will carry out the plan that directs billions of dollars into public schools, over the next year. As part of this year’s submissions, the districts were asked several questions, including their three biggest hurdles.
“Implementing a law as comprehensive as the Blueprint for Maryland’s Future is going to be a herculean effort under the best of circumstances, but combined with the added complexities of pandemic recovery, delays that resulted in extremely limited pre-implementation planning time for districts, and the slow pace of regulations and guidance pertaining to the Blueprint, the challenges are amplified,” officials with the Baltimore City Public School System wrote in their plan.
That school district, as well as Baltimore, Anne Arundel, Harford and
Howard counties, all cited early childhood education as one of their three biggest challenges. To reach the state’s goal of government-funded prekindergarten for all low-income 4-year-olds by fiscal year 2025-26, districts must rely on both private providers and public schools. When submitting their implementation plans last year, most districts requested waivers regarding the required number of preschool slots provided by private institutions.
The Blueprint’s pillar of high-quality and diverse teachers and leaders also seems to be a struggle, with all six Baltimore-area school systems mentioning teacher recruiting, hiring, training, career ladders and salaries, and/or workforce diversification on their lists of top difficulties. In 2022, the state education department released data showing 2,000 teacher vacancies statewide as of September 2021.
Baltimore City and Howard County both listed the Blueprint’s emphasis on National Board Certification, part of the teachers pillar, as a challenge. Educators who become board-certified can receive a salary bump of up to $17,000.
But Sonja Santelises, CEO of Baltimore City’s schools, said the focus on National
Board Certification disadvantages high-need Baltimore schools. She suggests redirecting resources used on certification toward other methods of creating a diverse workforce.
“The evidence is weak at best when it comes to the effectiveness in increasing student achievement, particularly in high need/lower performing schools,” Santelises said of the National Board Certification in a statement. Teachers of color have an “alarming lack of success” in achieving certification and are underrepresented, she said.
The other three Blueprint pillars that must be addressed include college and career readiness, more resources for students to be successful, and governance and accountability.
In May, school districts will submit part two of their implementation plans, which require more schoollevel data to show how they’re putting each pillar in place. The powerful, seven-person Accountability & Implementation Board that oversees the Blueprint has to approve each of the 24 districts’ annual plans.
The Baltimore Sun also asked superintendents of Baltimore-area school districts what alterations they would make to the
Blueprint as it enters its second year of implementation.
Bill Barnes, Howard County’s acting superintendent, said the most effective change will result from leaders, educators and communities statewide embracing the Blueprint and its benefits, such as a more educated workforce.
“We are at a time of transition where we must roll up our sleeves and do the hard work with our educators and communities to ensure successful implementation,” Barnes said in a statement.
But Blueprint funding requirements need to address the “true cost of implementation, taking into account other local drivers such as inflation and rising employee benefit costs,” Barnes added.
Santelises, of Baltimore City, said Maryland needs a better method to count the incidence and depth of poverty. About 72% of Baltimore’s 74,800 students are low-income. A change to the formula Maryland uses to calculate poverty resulted in Baltimore spending significantly more in education funding than expected this fiscal year.
Sean Bulson and Cynthia McCabe, who lead Harford and Carroll counties’ school districts, respectively, declined to comment on what they would change about the Blueprint. Myriam Rogers, Baltimore County’s superintendent, and Mark Bedell, that of Anne Arundel County, did not respond to a request for comment.
However, here are what Baltimore-area school districts listed as the biggest Blueprint challenges they face, according to plans submitted on Friday to the state.
Anne Arundel
Expansion of prekindergarten for 3- and 4-year-old students.
Capital projects not meeting increased demand for space needed for new programs.
Recruiting, training and retaining high-quality and diverse educators.
Baltimore City
Adding full-day prekindergarten for 3-year-old students.
Raising teacher salaries quickly and incentivizing National Board Certification.
Students not on track to meet Maryland’s new college and career readiness standard.
Baltimore County
Adding full-day prekindergarten for 3-year-old students.
Students not on track to meet Maryland’s new college and career readiness standard.
Recruiting and hiring teachers in critical-need areas, including special education, math and English Speakers of Other Languages.
Carroll
Lack of professional learning opportunities for staff and time devoted to staff training.
Recruiting and hiring teachers in critical-need areas, including special education and English Speakers of Other Languages.
Difficulty keeping up with the constant changes, timelines and work of each of the five pillars.
Harford
Sufficiency of funding, staffing and physical space to support various initiatives, such as early childhood education.
Communication gaps between the school district and the community.
Diversifying its educator workforce and teacher candidate pool.
Howard
Redistributing school funding to pay for Blueprint requirements.
Expanding prekindergarten for 3- and 4-year-old students.
Implementing a career ladder and monitoring National Board Certifications.