BALTIMORE — As he grapples with a nearly $3 billion budget deficit, Gov. Wes Moore has proposed education cuts that would heavily impact schools receiving poverty grants and pause annual funding increases in the Blueprint for Maryland’s Future.

Through the Excellence in Maryland Public Schools Act, legislation introduced on behalf of the Moore administration, the governor is seeking to halt annual funding increases to schools receiving Concentration of Poverty School Grants. These schools, known as community schools, provide wraparound services, like literacy support and health care, to students and families in need.

Over 40% of schools in Maryland are community schools.

Moore’s bill would also put a two-year pause on increases in the grants each community school receives for fiscal years 2027 and 2028. The funding increases would resume in 2029 at the level calculated for what they would have received during the 2027 fiscal year.

“The stakes are high,” Joshua Michael, the president of the Maryland State Board of Education, said to lawmakers at a joint briefing on the Blueprint before the House Appropriations and Ways and Means committees Wednesday. “The Blueprint is a once-in-a-generation opportunity and represents our nation’s biggest bet on public education.”

The Blueprint for Maryland’s Future, the state’s multi-billion dollar education reform plan, was passed by the Maryland General Assembly in 2020 but was vetoed by former Gov. Larry Hogan, a Republican. The signature education plan was enacted in 2021 when the legislature overrode Hogan’s veto.

The education reform program is currently fully funded through fiscal year 2027.

Under the Blueprint, funding per student enrolled in Maryland public schools is poised to increase by 4% annually until fiscal year 2033. After that, the target amount will be tied to the inflation rate. A little over $9,200 was the amount per student for the 2026 fiscal year.

Moore, a Democrat, is proposing that the annual spending increase drop to 3% but also wants to stretch the funding that isn’t tied to inflation until fiscal year 2037.

The spending decrease he seeks would not impact funding per pupil enrolled in special education.

Maryland legislature to push back on Moore’s education cuts

Moore’s plan to slash and pause funding increases is likely to see major pushback from the legislature, which has a Democratic supermajority.

Senate President Bill Ferguson, a Baltimore Democrat, said Tuesday that he is watching the proposal to pause funding increases for community schools “very closely.”

“This is something that I think was one of the fundamental bedrocks of the Blueprint that I think is going to be really important to maintain the expansion of,” he said. “It is something that I can see where there could be some negotiation, but the idea of slowing down schools with concentrated poverty, I think, is something we’re going to have a hard time moving forward.”

House Appropriations Committee Chair Ben Barnes, a Democrat from Prince George’s County, has repeatedly said his chamber holds a “high bar” for changes to the Blueprint’s implementation.

Barnes said Wednesday after Michael’s presentation that it is “heartening” to see the progress the program has made in the state’s public education system after just three years.

“I think that’s probably why you’ve seen the reticence from the speaker, Chair [Vanessa] Atterbeary and I to, sort of, pause or roll back any of the provisions,” Barnes said.

In a statement Tuesday, Senate Minority Leader Steve Hershey, a representative of the upper Eastern Shore, acknowledged the battle Moore’s administration is up against to see the bill pass.

“The Governor faces an uphill battle if he plans to challenge the Democrats’ costly, one-size-fits-all approach to education reform,” he said.

Beyond its budgetary woes, the state has been struggling with a teacher shortage, which has been on a slow decline since the 2024-2025 school year. There are currently about 1,600 vacancies across the state.

The shortage is affecting portions of the Blueprint that would allow for teacher collaborative time, or increased time for curriculum planning, grading and professional development outside of the classroom.

Michael called it “a simple math problem.”

“The teacher shortage makes implementation of collaborative time as first envisioned by the Blueprint impossible to implement without sacrificing instructional time or growing class sizes for students,” he said.

Under the bill, Moore wants to pause the release of funding for teacher collaborative time until fiscal year 2030.

However, the legislation would also establish the Collaborative Time Innovation Demonstration Grant to be dispensed from the start of this fiscal year through 2029, which would provide funds for individual schools and school systems to create programs that replicate teacher collaborative time, like shared lesson planning and modified teaching schedules. The funding can be used to compensate additional staff to support teacher release time, professional development and technical assistance. Should the bill pass, initial grant awards will be announced by March 1, 2026.

Moore’s bill also would establish the Maryland Teacher Relocation Incentive Grant, which would provide $2,000 for out-of-state licensed teachers to relocate to Maryland. The grant program runs from Oct. 1, 2025, through fiscal year 2030. Candidates must have a signed contract to teach at a Maryland public school for at least two years. It also seeks to enter the state into the Interstate Teacher Mobility Compact, which would allow qualified teachers from member states to relocate to teach in Maryland.

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