By Tashi McQueen
AFRO Staff Writer
tmcqueen@afro.com
Maryland Gov. Wes Moore (D) signed the Excellence in Maryland Public Schools Act, a bill that alters statewide funding for education, on May 6. It was among around 200 pieces of legislation passed during the 2025 Maryland General Assembly session.
“Education is a foundation on which we build everything else,” said Moore at his third live-streamed bill signing of the year. “Two years before I was sworn in as governor, the General Assembly passed a historic piece of education reform, but like any big law of ambition and bold aspiration, we knew that there would have to be responsible adjustments and enhancements.”
The Excellence in Maryland Public Schools Act adjusts the Blueprint for Maryland’s Future, which aims to improve the quality of Maryland’s schools over a ten-year period. The Blueprint for Maryland’s Future was created in 2021 after being passed into law by the General Assembly.
“It’s about investing in Maryland’s young people so they can compete in a more competitive and Globally Challenged world,” said Senate President Bill Ferguson (D-Md.-46).
Throughout the 2025 Maryland General Assembly session, the governor’s significant proposed cuts to the state’s Blueprint for Maryland’s Future caused much controversy and frustration.
Moore initially proposed to pause funding for community schools in Maryland for two years to help alleviate the $3 billion deficit Maryland faced during fiscal year (FY) 2026. The Maryland General Assembly ultimately rejected this idea.
Community school funding was restored in their version of the FY 2026 budget, citing the importance of community schools in supporting low-income, multilingual students and others who need wrap-around services to excel in school.
Black students disproportionately make up the population of students in Maryland’s community schools. According to State Sen. Alonzo T. Washington (D-Md.-22), Maryland has around 450 community schools. Baltimore City and Prince George’s County, Md., have the most significant share–152 and 109, respectively, serving primarily Black students.
The act establishes an array of grant programs to improve teacher recruitment. It mandates the Maryland State Department of Education to work with an independent entity to study funding for special education in Maryland and share their findings with the General Assembly by Dec.15, 2026.
“The Excellence in Maryland Public Schools Act takes aim at the single largest barrier to achievement in our schools, and that is the teacher shortage,” said Moore. “If someone is raising their hand to teach our children, it should be rewarded with opportunity and not be burdened by debt.”
On the other hand, the act decreases the amount that the governor has to allocate annually for the Coordinated Community Supports Partnership Fund to $40 million beginning in fiscal 2025 and delays, by one year, the initiation and rollout of local education agencies’ required expenditures for teacher collaborative time.
The Excellence in Maryland Public Schools Act will go into effect on July 1.