The Maryland State Board of Education voted Tuesday to limit the number of dual enrollment credits students can earn each semester.
As part of Maryland's education reform plan, “Maryland's Blueprint for the Future,'' school districts will be required to pay for dual-enrollment community college courses for high school students.
Superintendents have expressed concerns to the state board and the Accountability and Implementation Committee that they are struggling to cover previously unlimited tuition for college courses. Lawmakers tweaked the blueprint this session to allow the two state boards to limit their course offerings to two classes per semester.
“This is one of the Blueprint's great successes so far,” said Phil Lasser, executive director of the Superintendent's Office. “Here is a way to make dual enrollment courses available to students and make the most of their budgets at no cost to them or their families. [school districts]”
Tight budgets have also led some school districts to propose cutting arts and sports programs to fund Blueprint programs as federal funding granted during the coronavirus pandemic expires. . Cecil and Howard County school boards have proposed cutting music programs to balance their budgets.
State education policy requires art instruction in elementary and middle schools, Rachel McClain, executive director of the nonprofit Maryland School Arts Education, and Peter Dayton, director of operations, told board members Tuesday. Told. Some districts have additional local policies to protect the arts, such as Baltimore City's Arts Strategic Plan.
Dayton said there are no clear consequences for school districts that don't follow state policy, and districts may not know it is required by state standards.
“Contrary to the misconception that art is an unnecessary or superfluous activity, it is a core requirement just like any other core subject area. [English] And in mathematics, there are specific regulations regarding what students are entitled to in public schools,” he said.
Dayton and McGrane predicted that the district would try to cut art courses as the Blueprint program strengthened. They successfully advocated for the addition of arts education as part of the Blueprint implementation plan.
