Category: Education
New state schools superintendent has a super-hard job
State superintendent of schools might sound like a really important job – but it has less power than its importance. It is much like being prime minister of one of those coalition governments in parliamentary systems made up of splinter parties with conflicting ideologies.
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Finding a new president for Towson University has made a mostly good start
Towson University has picked its Presidential Search and Screening Committee (TUPSC) to choose its...
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Book banning resonates as an issue in Maryland school board races
Resting on the shelves of some public schools nationwide are two memoirs from LGBTQ+ authors detailing the growing pains they lived through while growing up and finding themselves.
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State Board of Education rescinds mask mandate, pending approval from state legislators
The Maryland State Board of Education Tuesday lifted the statewide mask mandate for public schools, allowing the state’s 23 county school boards and Baltimore to each decide how they want to handle masking. The board’s decision could begin as early as March 1. Before the change can take effect it must be approved by the Joint Committee on Administrative, Executive and Legislative Review, a mixed panel of state legislators. The committee announced it will meet to review the board regulation Friday afternoon.
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Back to school with a new Blueprint and lots of chiefs
This is an expanded version of a column that appears in the September issue of The Business...
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Franchot backs education reform, but not mandated Blueprint
Like several of the nine Democratic candidates for governor, Comptroller Peter Franchot makes improving K-12 education part of his standard stump speech.
But Franchot refuses to even mention the Kirwan Commission and the Blueprint for Maryland’s Future the legislature enacted over the governor’s veto that establishes massive changes for public schools and pumps billions more into education.
Kirwan education reforms are at high risk of repeating historical disappointments
Oversight of Kirwan’s education reforms is expected to come from an Accountability and Implementation Board, whose responsibilities would include governance and accountability during the board’s limited 10-year life. The board’s design casts significant doubt that $32 billion of additional education spending to implement Kirwan’s goals over the next 10 years will lead to durable and significant improvements to Maryland students’ “College and Career Readiness” by the end of high school.
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What parents need right now: Interrupting the COVID slide
In reviewing Return-to-School plans throughout Maryland — with a specific eye to school districts with significant Black and Brown populations — there appears to be a lack of creativity.
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Maryland’s teachers’ union and associations say distance learning should be the rule for the fall semester
Groups representing Maryland’s teachers urged state officials to make virtual learning uniform for the first half of the 2020-21 school year due to concerns associated with the spread of COVID-19.
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Should students return to the classroom in the fall? Not an easy decision
@BryanRenbaum Legislators, parents, and teachers are struggling with whether students should...
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Former Maryland congressman calls for Prince George’s County to change name of James Ryder Randall Elementary School
@BryanRenbaum Former Maryland Rep. Albert Wynn said he is in favor of changing the name of James...
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Record funding, but legislators want more for schools and search for ways to fund it
State spending on schools is at record levels — as it is every year — but legislators are looking for ways to pay for a package of education reforms that will cost billions more.
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