Vetoed by Governor Larry Hogan, Jr.

Vote Smart's Synopsis:

Vote to concur with senate amendments and pass a bill that establishes the "Blueprint for Maryland's Future," which appropriates funds and establishes new education policies and standards.

Highlights:

• Establishes “The Blueprint for Maryland’s Future Fund” to assist in providing adequate funding for early childhood education and primary and secondary education to provide a world-class education to students so they are prepared for college and a career in the global economy of the 21st century, based on the recommendations of the Commission on Innovation and Excellence in Education (Part II).

• Requires the target per pupil foundation amount to include costs associated with implementing the Blueprint for Maryland’s Future, including (Part III):

• Increasing salaries;

• Additional teachers to provide professional learning and collaborative time for teachers;

• Career counseling;

• Behavioral health;

• Instructional opportunities for students who are college and career read and those who are not;

• Maintenance and operation of schools; and

• Supplies and materials for teachers.

• Authorizes eligible schools with a concentration of poverty level of at least 80% to receive a per pupil grant beginning in fiscal year 2022, and all other eligible schools to receive the per pupil grant 1 year after becoming eligible and on completion of the needs assessment (Part IV). 

• Authorizes income-eligible families to have access to extended day services through the Child Care Scholarship Program (Part V).

• Specifies that the state will prioritize increasing the number of Judy Centers in communities with Title I schools (Part V).

• Defines “Judy Center” as a site where comprehensive early childhood education services are provided to young children and their families for the purpose of promoting school readiness through collaboration with participating agencies and programs (Part V).

• Authorizes the Department to distribute a Preschool Services Grant to be used to provide prekindergarten services for 4–year–old children whose birthdays fall on or before September 1 of the school year during which services will be provided and whose family income is below a level set by the Department (Part V). 

• Requires the Governor, beginning in fiscal year 2021, to appropriate in the annual budget $6.5 billion to the Department for the purpose of providing grants to maintain or establish school based health centers (Part VI).

• Establishes an Accountability and Implementation Board beginning July 1, 2020, and continuing until June 30, 2031, which will strive to provide equal access to a high quality education with equitable outcomes for each Maryland student regardless of the student’s race, ethnicity, gender, address, disability status, socioeconomic status, or the language spoken in the student’s home (Part VI).

• Requires the Governor to appropriate at least $1.5 million in the annual budget for fiscal year 2021, for the establishment of the board, followed by at least $1.8 million for the board in the annual budget for fiscal years 2022 through 2031 (Part VI).

• Requires the board to maintain a public website on which is published (Part VI):

• The Comprehensive Implementation Plan;

• The department’s criteria;

• Proposed implementation plans; and

• Implementation plans approved by the board.

• Requires the department to develop guidelines for the establishment of comprehensive induction programs for new teachers employed by hard-to-staff schools (Part VI).

• Requires each participant in an undergraduate and a graduate teacher preparation program to complete a teacher training practicum as a requirement for graduation (Part VI).

• Requires the state to appropriate $2.5 million to the Department for the Teacher Collaborative Grant Program for each of fiscal years 2021 through 2024 (Part VI).

• Requires the department to establish separate school leadership training programs (Part VI).

• Requires each county board to implement a career ladder that meets the requirements specified under this act (Part VI).

• Defines “NBC teacher” as a teacher who holds an active National Board Certification (Part VI).

• Establishes a program to encourage and support teachers in the state in obtaining and maintaining an NBC, including teachers from groups historically underrepresented in the teaching profession, and develop a culture of collaborative support for accomplished teaching (Part VI).

• Requires each county to demonstrate to the Accountability and Implementation Board that teachers in the county received a 10 percent salary increase above the negotiated schedule of salary increases between July 1, 2019, and June 30, 2024 (Part VI).

• Requires the minimum teacher salary to be $60,000 beginning July 1, 2026 (Part VI).

• Requires the Department to develop and design a new system of professional development that is tied to the career ladder, on or before July 1, 2023 (Part VI).

• Establishes a career counseling program for middle and high school students (Part VI).

• Requires each county board to ensure that all families in the county who desire to enroll their eligible children with eligible prekindergarten providers are able to do so (Part VI).

• Specifies that priority in expanding prekindergarten slots will be provided to 3 and 4 year olds who are (Part VI):

• Tier I children;

• Children with disabilities;

• Homeless youth; and

• Children from homes in which English is not the primary spoken language.

• Requires the department to develop curriculum standards and curriculum resources for each subject at each grade level in core subjects that can be used by local school systems and public school teachers (Part VI).

• Requires each school system, beginning with the 2021-2020 school year, to implement a 9th grade tracker system to measure each student’s progress toward graduating on time (Part VI).

• Requires the State Board to establish college and career readiness standards for all public schools (Part VI).

• Requires each county board, beginning in the 2023-2024 school year, to provide students who meet the college and career readiness standards with access to post college and career readiness pathways (Part VI).

• Requires a racially and culturally unbiased statewide kindergarten assessment to be given to all incoming kindergarten students in the state beginning in the 2021-2022 school year (Part VI).

• Prohibits a student enrolled in a public prekindergarten program, kindergarten, first grade, or second grade from being suspended or expelled from school, with certain exceptions (Part VI). 

• Requires each local school system to appoint a behavioral health services coordinator (Part VI).

• Establishes a Maryland Consortium on Coordinated Community Supports in the commission (Part VI).

• Establishes a Coordinated Community Supports Partnership Fund (Part VI).

• Increases funds appropriated to the Maryland Infants and Toddlers Program in the department (Part VI). 

• Appropriates $1 million in the annual budget to the Child Care Accreditation Support Fund, beginning in fiscal year 2021 (Part VI).

• Appropriates $4 million to the Maryland Child Care Credential Program for fiscal year 2021, with a 10 percent increase in funds from 2022 through 2024 (Part VI).

• Appropriates $5 million to the Maryland EXCELS Program for fiscal year 2021, with a 10 percent increase in funds from 2022 through 2026 (Part VI).

• Requires the state to provide funding for six additional family support centers for fiscal year 2021, with 3 additional centers for each fiscal year from 2022 through 2029 (Part VI).

• Specifies that a family support center provides parents and their children with a hospitable and constructive environment and services that improve parenting styles, develop the family as a functioning unit, and promote the growth and development of their children (Part VI).

• Establishes a Director of Community Schools in the department that is responsible for (Part VI):

• Establishing a community school;

• Completing an assessment of the needs of the students in the school for appropriate wraparound services;

• Developing an implementation plan; and

• Coordinating support programs that address out-of-school learning barriers for students and families.

• Establishes a Teacher Quality and Diversity Grant Program within the Teacher Quality and Diversity Program to provide grants to teacher preparation programs at institutions of higher education to assist students from groups historically underrepresented in the teaching profession in achieving teacher preparation and certification requirements (Part VI).

• Requires the Governor to include in the annual budget at least $1 million to the Teacher Quality and Diversity Program (Part VI).

• Requires the Governor, for each fiscal year through fiscal year 2024, to appropropriate at least $2 million in the operating budget of the department for the Career and Technical Education Innovation Grant Program (Part VI).

• Establishes the Career and Technical Education (CTE) Committee to build an integrated, globally competitive framework for providing CTE to Maryland students in public schools, institutions of postsecondary education, and the workforce (Part VI).

• Establishes a Maryland Employment Advancement Right Now (EARN) Program in the department to create industry-led partnerships for advancing the skills of the state’s workforce, grow the state’s economy, and increase sustainable employment for working families (Part VI).

• Establishes the Workgroup on English Language Learners in Public Schools (Part VI)

Full Bill Text