How COVID Relief Funds are Transforming our Schools
Part III: Maryland’s Pathway Toward Recovery
Throughout the pandemic, Coalition to Advance Future Student Success members supported their respective members in thinking through long-term and sustainable solutions to improve public schools. Part I of this blog series explored how Coalition member organizations have supported their members to track and report the use of ESSER funds. Part II featured Coalition organization members’ stories of how ESSER funding has been dedicated to these high priority issues and the impact it has made in schools. This final part highlights the Route K-12: Exploring Education Recovery podcast with featured guest Maryland State Superintendent of Schools Mohammed Choudhury.
Superintendent Choudhury told host Jim Cowen of the Collaborative for Student Success how ESSER funds are making an impact in school communities across Maryland. Superintendent Choudhury, who describes himself as a product of public schools, says his work is personal.
While Choudhury recognizes that children, parents and educators looked forward to the “normalcy” of in-person schooling, the level of loss is still felt disproportionately to the underserved, making normal not good enough. Challenges such as learning loss, social-emotional wellbeing and enrollment disruptions had long impacted historically underserved students in Maryland long before the pandemic.
Details of how COVID-relief funds are being obligated are available on Maryland’s ESSER Transparency page. During the conversation, Superintendent Choudhury clarified how the state is using the three different pools of ESSER relief funds; the first, CARES/ESSER I, largely focused on ensuring safety and connectivity for students. State officials used the second round of funding for high-dosage tutoring programs and addressing staffing shortages. Citing the implementation of Blueprint for Maryland’s Future, a historic law that infuses permanent per-pupil spending increases, Choudhury shared examples such as increasing teacher pay, improving college and career readiness and upgrading how reading is taught in schools. For example, Baltimore City Public Schools invested in early intervention literacy programs for students in grades PreK-3 using transitional supplemental tutoring dollars. Kent County is training college students for tutoring through the Kent County Learning Center.
Choudhury also highlighted efforts underway such as Maryland LEADS, a grant initiative designed to support local education agencies (LEAs) in utilizing federal funds. Maryland is using the state 10% set-aside on teacher recruitment strategies, prioritizing grow-your-own strategies to launch a more diverse cohort recruited from teacher’s assistants, high school students and career-changers.
Choudhury also discussed what the state will do when ESSER funds run out, pointing out that his priority for Maryland has been to build a finance team to invest strategically and to create the Blueprint for Maryland’s Future, which includes comprehensive changes to Maryland’s early childhood and public schools for the next 10 years.
Choudhury noted that he is grateful for the opportunity the Coalition to Advance Future Student Success offers to take advantage of this moment in time to transform and redesign education and learn from other member organizations and their members.
You can listen to the full podcast episode here.
You can read Parts I and II of this series, which highlight how Coalition members are supporting their members to track and elevate uses of ESSER funding and puts a spotlight on funding priorities. For more examples of how the Coalition is working to drive support and consistent guidance for its members, follow the Coalition Perspectives blog and subscribe to our monthly Coalition in Action newsletter.
