2/21/2025 -- Blueprint Legislation Update

📢 BLUEPRINT LEGISLATION UPDATE: On Wednesday, February 19, 2025, one of our team members, Julie Walsh, testified during a joint hearing before four Annapolis legislative committees. The committees were hearing Senate Bill 429 / House Bill 504, the Excellence in Maryland Public Schools Act, which was introduced on behalf of Governor Wes Moore.

SB 429/HB 504 is a long, complicated piece of legislation that would make changes to the 2021-passed Blueprint for Maryland's Future. As the bill's chief impact would be to lower the "foundation amount" of funding for Maryland's students, the Carroll Education Coalition spoke against it. In her testimony (which can be viewed in this clip from the hearing), Julie referenced the budget and staffing crisis in CCPS, saying:

"We applaud this bill's focus on retaining and recruiting teachers, but it feels like a hollow promise in our community, where we expect to lay teachers off.

Our coalition wants to see plenty of attention and resources focused on the students whose needs are greatest. But we question how students are served by an implementation that will result in schools losing the professionals who focus on those who need the most help: reading specialists, math resource specialists, and special educators."

She asked legislators to oppose the bill's proposed reduction in the target per pupil foundation amount, and to give school systems flexibility in meeting Blueprint requirements.

Below you will find a link to the written testimony and a video of the oral testimony on behalf of the Carroll Education Coalition.

2/18/2025 -- Carroll County Board of Education Requests $57m from Commissioners

The Carroll Education Coalition wishes to extend 57 million thank yous to Carroll County Board of Education members Mrs. Zihmer, Dr. Dorsey, Mrs. Battaglia, and Ms. Kang for their request to the County Commissioners for additional funding to support our schools. We understand that this is only the first step in making increased funding a reality, but we are grateful to be taking it.

To quickly explain, this evening the BOE voted to approve two funding requests, totaling $57 million, from the County Commissioners. The first request of $13 million would cover most of the projected deficit in the FY26 Operating Budget. The second request of $44 million could allow CCPS enough funding to avoid the drastic teacher and staff reductions that had been discussed related to Blueprint fiscal compliance.

We hope you'll join us in thanking these Board members for their votes, and we look forward to working with you to encourage the Carroll County Commissioners to take the next step in making sure CCPS is adequately funded. We wholeheartedly believe that our schools and our students are worth investing in.

Board of Education emails:
tarabattaglia@carrollk12.org, stephenwhisler@carrollk12.org, patriciadorsey@carrollk12.org, gregmalveaux@carrollk12.org, kristenzihmer@carrollk12.org, sturep@carrollk12.org, CynthiaMcCabe@carrollk12.org

Below is some information about the challenges facing CCPS. We will be providing additional information and sources so that the community can become more informed on the challenges. Please stay tuned!

Carroll Education Coalition is not affiliated with, sponsored by, or endorsed by Carroll County Public Schools, the Superintendent, or any Carroll County Public School or office.