Groundbreaking Education Measure from Maryland Sets a Global Standard for Education Reform

-

When the Kentucky Education Reform Act was passed in 1990 it was groundbreaking legislation that set the standard for the wave of education reform in the late 20th century.  This week the Maryland General Assembly's overrode Governor Larry Hogan's veto to pass an education reform and funding package that will likely set a new standard for education reform in the 21st century. 

The Blueprint for Maryland's Future is based on the recommendations of the state’s Commission on Innovation and Excellence in Education, paves the way for Maryland to build a public education system benchmarked to the most globally competitive education systems around the world.

The Blueprint legislation is the first in the U.S. explicitly designed to enable a state’s students to match the performance of students in the countries that lead the world in performance, equity, and efficiency. It provides Maryland with a fairer funding system and an accountability system that will assure that the policies and practices used by the world’s top performers are put in place in the state’s schools.  

The National Center on Education the Economy (NCEE) served as the lead policy consultant to the Commission on the Maryland Blueprint. 

NCEE president emeritus Marc Tucker said that drawing on the lessons learned by the countries that now far outpace both the United States and the State of Maryland in student performance, "it is no exaggeration to say that the act of the General Assembly puts the state on a course that will enable Maryland’s businesses and citizens to compete with a full deck in a globally competitive environment that increasingly punishes the poorly educated and rewards the well-educated and highly skilled." 

Over the next few weeks, we will dig into the Maryland reform.  There are key lessons-- particularly when it comes to issues such as accountability, teacher quality, and high school reform-- that states like Kentucky can learn in looking at how to take initiatives like KERA to the next level.  

Comments

  1. Steve SmithAugust 28, 2026 at 12:37 PM

    Finding the right academic resources can make assignment preparation more manageable for students facing tight deadlines. Many learners consider assignment help Brisbane online to receive guidance with research, structuring, referencing, and understanding complex topics. Online support offers convenient access to experienced academic professionals and useful learning resources. Choosing reliable online assignment help Brisbane can help students improve their subject knowledge, organise their ideas effectively, and approach challenging assignments with greater confidence while balancing studies, work, and other responsibilities.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

How about an education tax credit with a return on investment instead?

-
Since the Kentucky General Assembly seems intent on giving away tax credits during this session, I thought, as a former superintendent and economic development professional, that I could offer a bit of advice as to how to offer an education tax credit with an economic return. The proposed education scholarship is a frivolous waste of resources. The members obviously know this is bad public policy by the way they are trying to deceptively push it across the finish line unnoticed as House Bill 563 or Senate Bill 170. It is a far cry from a return on investment, rather it is a giveaway of existing revenues to more affluent families at the expense of the most disadvantaged families in our Commonwealth. Instead of shrinking the pie the General Assembly ought to be looking at ways to grow the pie and help the Commonwealth become more competitive. Economic competitiveness in the early years of the 21st century is all about "density and degrees." States and cities winning this econo...
Read more

WKU and KASA have Partnered to Provide a Discounted Tuition Rate for Educational Leadership Doctoral Program

-
Image
Western Kentucky University and the Kentucky Association of School Administrators have partnered to provide KASA members a discounted tuition rate for the educational leadership doctoral program.  The WKU Ed.D. is now taking applications for the summer 2021 cohort that will focus on Leading Diverse Learners .  The closed cohort is designed for career professionals who aspire to leadership positions and are inspired to drive positive systemic change for diverse learners based on race, ethnicity, gender disability and socio-economic status.   The model is part of the Carnegie Project for the Education Doctorate (CPED) targeting Practitioner Scholars investigating a problem of practice in P-12 education focusing on Leading Diverse Learners. Bridging the divide between theory and practice, the program equips students with the deep understanding and contextual experience needed to lead organizational change in P-12 education. The Leading Diverse Learners closed ...
Read more

Investments in Education and Infrastructure Correlate to State Economic Competitiveness

-
Image
 Much of the news this week coming out of Texas focused on the failure of the state government to adequately invest in the energy and utility infrastructure. It is the same model that we have tracked in states like Kansas where large cuts to state services were made to keep taxes low. I could not help but thinking how obvious a failure to invest in public infrastructure manifests itself in many states that worship at the alter of the Laffer curve and supply side economics. You see it very plainly in deteriorating roads, bridge collapses, and a failed utility system during a winter storm. https://kypolicy.org/impact-of-cuts-to-public-higher-education-in-kentucky-continue-as-students-begin-classes/ But what about education. The failure to invest in P-12 and higher education will not be as immediately evident. Citizens of states that consistently fall behind and fail to invest in their human capital will not completely see this failure until it is too late. That i...
Read more