Gov. Wes Moore repeatedly criticized President Donald Trump’s administration for hampering Maryland’s educational progress during a keynote address Wednesday at the Education Writers Association national conference.
“We cannot make up for the damage that is being done to public education by the federal administration,” Moore told Banner reporter Liz Bowie during the interview.
Moore didn’t mince words in his description of the Trump administration, accusing federal officials of acting with cruelty and breaking the law.
“No state has been hit harder by the onset of Trump Part 2 than the state of Maryland,” Moore said.
Though he landed a number of subtle jabs at the White House, the governor did signal openness to opting Maryland in to a national school voucher program the administration is championing.
“I am never going to leave money on the table when it comes to supporting kids in our public schools,” Moore said.
But the governor did not commit on the program, noting he didn’t have enough information about the regulations that have yet to be released by the Department of the Treasury.
“I can’t sign up for something when I don’t know what I’m signing up for,” Moore said.
If Moore opts in, Maryland residents can donate up to $1,700 each year to a nonprofit that awards scholarships, or vouchers, to students attending private or religious schools. They might also be able to give the money to nonprofits that provide scholarships to public school students for things such as after-school clubs, field trips, tutoring or even transportation.
Experts have said the voucher program is an “experiment with unknown consequences,” and Maryland’s largest teachers union has signaled opposition to it. Thirty-one states, including New York, have signed on.
Moore also said federal rules and funding make it difficult for the state to help fix the transportation crisis facing Baltimore public school students.
Bowie recently was named a Pulitzer Prize finalist for The Banner’s series showing that unreliable public transit makes it nearly impossible for Baltimore students to get to school on time. The Banner’s investigation found that about 1 in 4 public buses students try to board during their morning commutes either weren’t on time or didn’t show up at all. As many as 25,000 city students take public transit, and many have been followed, harassed, assaulted and held up at gunpoint.
The Maryland Transit Administration, which runs Baltimore’s public buses, is a state agency. The MTA’s plan to improve city bus service is estimated to take 10 years.
“Do I think that there’s more that the state needs to do? 100%,” Moore said, before adding, “I don’t think anyone can argue that the state has shirked its responsibilities.”
He placed some responsibility on the Trump administration.
“I would love to see the federal government stop cutting transportation funding,” he said. “Because that would be really helpful.”
But the crisis is “all of our responsibilities,” Moore said, when asked who should take the lead on solving the problem. “I don’t think anything should be taken off the table.”
Yellow school buses for city school students should be up for discussion, he said.
Moore again landed a jab at the White House when talking about declining enrollment in schools and colleges, saying states shouldn’t be solely responsible for funding their education systems.
“The system was built that we would actually have a partner in Washington,” he said. “When I have to sue the federal government because they are breaking the law in order to starve children, then we really have to think about what has happened [to] the relationship between the federal government and our state.”
Maryland lost 11,000 students from K-12 schools last year, which means per-student state funding will drop. Moore said ramped-up immigration enforcement hasn’t helped.
“We’re using federal resources to be able to do things like locking up parents who are picking up their kids in a school pickup,” he said.
Although U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials told Maryland superintendents in January they would not enter schools, they’ve begun inching closer to pickup lines and building entrances. Since last year, Baltimore City schools have lost 1,200 multilingual learners, a group that was once the fastest growing in the system.
And, althuogh the public University System of Maryland has seen record enrollment, Moore cautioned against continuing to rely on four-year institutions. College isn’t the right choice for every student, he said.
Moore touted his investments in apprenticeships and trade programs, and noted that Maryland was the first state in the country to offer a paid service year option for all high school graduates.
“We need to make sure that every single student understands that, no matter their pathway, we want to create opportunities for them,” Moore said.
About the Education Hub
This reporting is part of The Banner’s Education Hub, community-funded journalism that provides parents with resources they need to make decisions about how their children learn. Read more.
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