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BLUEPRINT
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The Blueprint for Maryland’s Future is a landmark legislation passed in 2021, which includes comprehensive changes and sweeping reform to nearly every aspect of Maryland’s public education system. Increasing annual education funding by more than $3.8 billion over the next 10 years, the Blueprint aims to enhance and improve the state and local investment in (and operation of) education for each of the schools within Maryland’s 24 local school systems.
Successful implementation of the Blueprint is a major focus of each county’s superintendent and PSSAM as an organization. For questions about PSSAM’s role in implementation, please contact our Implementation Coordinator, Kevin Michael.
Pillars of the Blueprint for Maryland’s Future
The innovative work of the Blueprint for Maryland’s Future is organized into five distinct pillars:
Pillar 1: Early Childhood Education
Recognizing that a child’s early years are the most critical period for brain development and set the foundation for lifelong learning and achievement, the Blueprint for Maryland’s Future emphasizes equitable early education opportunities through investment in high-quality early childhood education and learning experiences. The Blueprint expands full-day Pre-K access so that all children are ready to learn and be successful when they enter kindergarten. The Blueprint also increases the number of community schools and increases the number of educators in early childhood.
Pillar 2: High Quality and Diverse Teachers and Leaders
The Blueprint for Maryland’s Future elevates the stature of the teaching profession through the implementation of a career ladder, competitive salaries (including raising starting pay to $60,000), incentives for National Board Certified teachers up to $17,000, as well as raising expectations for teacher preparation, induction, and mentoring programs to attract and retain high-quality teachers.
Pillar 3: College and Career Readiness
The College and Career Readiness Pillar sets a new College and Career Readiness (CCR) standard that prepares graduates for success in college and the workforce by ensuring they have the knowledge and skills to complete entry-level credit-bearing college courses and work in high-wage and high-demand industries. The Blueprint aims to have all students meet the CCR standard by the end of their 10th grade year, develops CCR-Support pathways to support students in meeting the standard, enables students to enter a Post-CCR pathway that builds on the student’s strengths, develops a Career and Technical Education (CTE) system that is aligned with industry’s needs, and ensures that prekindergarten through 12th grade curriculum, standards, and assessments are all aligned with the new CCR standard.
Pillar 4: More Resources for all Students to be Successful
The Blueprint focuses on strengthening wraparound services through the expansion of community schools, establishing the Maryland Consortium on Coordinated Community Supports, targeting supports for students and families based on differentiated need, establishing a workgroup on English learners, and developing a funding formula based on a new measure of concentration of poverty.
Pillar 5: Governance and Accountability
The Blueprint for Maryland’s Future involves thoughtful and comprehensive coordination between many agencies and institutions at all levels of Maryland government to implement the various programs and initiatives and to transform Maryland into a world-class educational system. The Blueprint establishes the Accountability Implementation Board and Expert Review Teams program in order to hold the State and local education agencies accountable for Blueprint implementation.
Implementation of the Blueprint
Local education agencies (LEAs) are partnering with both the Maryland State Board of Education (MSDE) and the Accountability and Implementation Board (AIB), to create implementation strategies and reimagine current programs in order to best fulfill the requirements the Blueprint and create equitable education for all of Maryland’s public school students.
Superintendents are key leaders in this process. Each LEA has also assigned one or more members of their staff to serve as Blueprint Implementation Coordinators for their systems. A current list of all Blueprint Implementation Coordinators can be found below.
You can also visit the websites below for key implementation information, including policy and timeline updates.
​Administrators: What You Should Know About the Blueprint
