Maryland Education Directory

The Blueprint for Maryland's Future is a landmark 10-year education reform plan that began implementation in 2021 and runs through 2033. It increases state education funding by $3.8 billion annually and focuses on five main areas: early childhood education, high-quality teachers and leaders, college and career readiness, more resources for students in need, and governance and accountability. Key benefits include universal Pre-K for eligible families (those earning at or below 300% Federal Poverty Level), raising minimum teacher salaries to $60,000 by 2026, expanded career pathways for high school students, and increased funding for special education and English learner services.

The Maryland Comprehensive Assessment Program (MCAP) is the state's standardized testing system that measures student progress on Maryland content standards. Testing requirements include: a kindergarten readiness assessment for all kindergarten students, English language arts and mathematics tests annually in grades 3-8 and once in high school, science tests once in each grade span (grades 3-5, 6-8, and high school), and English language proficiency assessments in grades K-12 for all emergent multilingual learners. Results help educators, parents, and the public understand how schools are performing. Note that Maryland plans to replace MCAP with a new assessment system by the 2026-27 school year.

Maryland's star rating system represents each school's performance across academic and school quality indicators. Schools receive 5 stars for earning at least 75% of total points, 4 stars for 60-74%, 3 stars for 45-59%, 2 stars for 30-44%, and 1 star for less than 30%. Elementary and middle schools are measured on academic achievement, academic progress, progress in achieving English language proficiency, and school quality and student success. High schools include these same measures plus readiness for postsecondary success. As of 2024-25, 43% of schools earned four or five-star ratings and 86% received three or more stars. The state is planning to abandon this system and implement a new accountability framework by 2026-27.

To become a teacher in Maryland, you need a bachelor's degree and must complete one of three certification tiers. The Professional Eligibility Certificate (valid 5 years) is for candidates seeking initial certification who meet all requirements but aren't currently employed by a Maryland local school system. Once employed, teachers progress to Standard Professional Certificate I or II (both valid 5 years). Important note: as of April 1, 2024, new regulations no longer require teachers to earn a master's degree to maintain their Maryland teaching license. Maryland offers competitive salaries with an average starting salary of $51,548 (ranked #5 nationally) and average overall salary of $79,420 (ranked #8 nationally). The Blueprint for Maryland's Future will raise minimum starting salaries to $60,000 by 2026.

According to Niche's 2025 rankings, Howard County Public Schools is ranked as Maryland's best school district, receiving an A grade and ranking #323 nationally out of 11,000 districts evaluated. The district serves 57,676 students in 78 schools with a student-teacher ratio of 13:1 (better than the national average of 17:1) and average teacher salaries of $84,390. Montgomery County Public Schools ranks second in Maryland, serving 160,223 students in 208 schools and being the state's largest and most diverse district. Other top-rated districts include Worcester County, Carroll County, and Calvert County. Notable individual schools include Poolesville High School (Montgomery County) ranked #1 public high school in Maryland and Cabin John Middle School (Montgomery County) ranked #1 middle school in the state.

Through the Blueprint for Maryland's Future, all three and four-year-old children from families earning incomes at or below 300% of the Federal Poverty Level receive access to high-quality full-day Pre-K at no cost. Additional eligibility factors include McKinney-Vento (Homeless) Status, Foster Care, and SNAP Participation. Maryland operates a Pre-K Mixed Delivery System that partners with both public schools and private providers including child care centers, family child care homes, and Head Start programs. To enroll your child, contact your neighborhood school to ask questions and find a program that best fits your needs. Beginning in the 2025-2026 school year, all Pre-K teachers must be state certified in early childhood education or hold a bachelor's degree and be pursuing residency through the Maryland Approved Alternative Preparation Program.

Maryland offers several school choice options. The BOOST Program (Broadening Options and Opportunities for Students Today) is Maryland's first school voucher program, providing scholarships to low-income students (family income at or below 100% of federal Free and Reduced-Price Lunch program, which is $57,720 for a family of four in 2024-2025) to attend private schools. The program has a $9 million budget serving approximately 3,000 students. Maryland has about 50 public charter schools serving 2.4% of all K-12 students. Private schools serve 11.9% of Maryland students. Homeschooling is another option, with over 40,000 students (4.65% of K-12 population) homeschooled in 2023-24. Maryland does not have intra-district or inter-district open enrollment policies for transferring between traditional public schools.

Maryland's 24 Local School Systems and 5 public agencies provide critical Early Intervention and Special Education services to more than 130,000 children and youth and their families. Currently, 12.1% of Maryland students are assigned Individualized Education Programs (IEPs), slightly below the U.S. average of 13%. The state employs nearly 8,500 special educators across 1,475 public schools, 42 charter schools, and 815 private schools. Maryland earns the highest rating of "Meets Requirements" from the U.S. Department of Education for its ability to provide services for students with special needs. Recent data shows improvements with students enrolled in higher education or competitive employment increasing 8.5 percentage points. The SSIS database compiles information on Maryland students with disabilities, with data collected on October 1 of every school year.

Maryland's per-pupil funding for the 2023-2024 school year includes a Foundation Amount of $8,642 per student (increased from $8,310 in 2022-23), with total funding per pupil reaching $21,004 when including federal, state, and local sources. Overall K-12 funding totals $18.7 billion, and schools spend $19,818 per pupil annually ($17.6 billion total). The state sent over $7.5 billion to local districts in 2024 through the Blueprint law, an increase of more than $600 million above 2022-23 levels. Funding varies significantly by county - the Blueprint's formula adjusts funding levels using measures of poverty concentration, delivering the most funding per pupil to Somerset County and Baltimore City schools, the two districts serving the highest share of students eligible for free or reduced-price lunch.

Maryland schools serve more than 105,000 English language learners as of 2020-21. The most common five languages spoken by ELLs in Maryland are Spanish, French, Arabic, Chinese, and Urdu. Programs are transitioning from ESOL (English for Speakers of Other Languages) to ELD (English Language Development) effective with the 2024-2025 school year. The Blueprint for Maryland's Future created the Workgroup on English Language Learners in Public Schools to collect data on the ELL student population by school and detail available services and their effectiveness. The Blueprint also calls for increased funding for English learner students. Several Maryland universities offer specialized programs to train ESL/ESOL teachers, though the U.S. Department of Education reported a shortage of Maryland ESL teachers across all grade levels (PreK-12) as of the 2021-2022 school year.