By Deborah Bailey
AFRO Contributing Editor
The first cohort of Maryland’s displaced federal workers are on their way to K-12 classrooms.
Ethan Taylor and Sonia Arias are two of dozens of former federal workers taking classes this summer in Maryland’s Alternative Certification for Effective Teacher (ACET) program with hopes of restarting their career in a K-12 classroom this fall. Taylor and Arias are enrolled in Montgomery College’s “From Feds to Eds” program, fueled by a grant from the Maryland Higher Education Commission (MHEC).
“I can’t speak highly enough about how organized the Montgomery College program is. This has been a huge transition,” said Taylor, who was told to either take an early retirement buyout or risk being fired from his position in the Office of the Secretary of the U.S. Interior.
“I was substitute teaching after I left the government when I found information about this program. It has been an amazing transition,” marveled the former federal worker who just months ago had plans to retire from federal service.
Eleven campuses received grants from a $1 million fund administered by MHEC to prepare displaced federal workers and other career changers for Maryland’s under-staffed K-12 classrooms. Montgomery College and Bowie State University opened their doors to former federal workers this summer. Nine other campuses representing a combination of community colleges, HBCU’s and other four-year institutions will begin programs at the start of the traditional academic year in August, according to MHEC Secretary Sanjay Rai.
“We were able to get this program up and running so quickly after federal layoffs were announced this year because Governor (Wes) Moore charged me to collaborate with a diverse team of stakeholders to address Maryland’s teacher shortage from day one,” Rai said.
According to a May 2025 report from the Maryland State Department of Education, the state’s existing teacher shortage was exacerbated by the Covid-19 pandemic. Although Maryland’s teacher attrition rates are slowly improving, more than 9 percent of Maryland’s 63,000 plus teachers did not return to teaching this year. Attrition rates remain highest for Black teachers, with more than 11 percent leaving the classroom after the 2023-2024 year.
Bowie State University’s transition to teaching program has been in operation since summer 2020, created to address the challenge of getting more teachers of color in the classroom. The program quickly adjusted to welcome new displaced federal workers this summer. “Two current MHEC grants are sustaining 45 students toward their goals to become teachers,” said Jacquelyn Sweeney, chairperson of the Department of Teaching, Learning, and Professional Development in the College of Education.
Displaced federal workers from a wide range of roles flocked to the summer teacher transition programs, said Glenda Hernandez Tittle, PhD., Coordinator of the Rockville Campus Feds to Eds program. “We have individuals coming from the National Institutes of Health, (NIH) Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) the Frederick Cancer Research Institute, The Department of the Interior, and other federal and related sites taking advantage of the summer start,” she said.
“It’s been a rollercoaster transition but I’m grateful. For me, there is an intellectual continuation with what I was doing previously,” said Sonia Arias, a former federal contractor with USAID, who worked with partners across Africa, Asia, and Central America to set up school programs.
“Education is already my passion,” Arias said. “Maybe I don’t have to go all the way to the Democratic Republic of The Congo to help communities meet their educational goals.”
Individuals interested in information about alternative certification for displaced federal workers and others transitioning to education should contact one of the institutions offering the program this fall. Sites include:
- Bowie State University
- Community College of Baltimore County
- Goucher College
- McDaniel College
- Montgomery College
- Morgan State University
- Notre Dame University of Maryland
- Salisbury University
- Towson University
- University of Maryland, Baltimore County
- University of Maryland, College Park