Candidates and Education — A Guide to the Maryland Primary
Many candidates for governor have presented detailed education platforms, reflecting the reality of state-level education control and the fact that they could influence the shape of education in the state. Candidates for Congress have a different focus; their involvement with education has more to do with federal opportunities for funding of education programs.
The primary election is scheduled for Tuesday, July 19. Only residents who have registered their political party preference are eligible to vote, and they may only vote for their party’s candidates. Thus, Democrats may only vote for Democratic candidates and Republicans only for Republican candidates.
Governor/Lieutenant Governor
Dan Cox + Gordana Schifanelli — Republican
http://www.dancoxforgovernor.com
Cox is opposed to "Critical Race Theory," calling it "Marxist propaganda." He is against "gender identity indoctrination" in our schools. He supports parental rights in the classroom and is against what he calls the bloated bureaucracy state public school “Superboard.” He wants the state government to increase school choice and charter schools.
Robin Ficker + LeRoy F. Yegge, Jr. — Republican
http://www.cutmdsalestax2cents.com
Ficker's sole policy commitment is to sponsor a yearly reading contest in which "every classroom in the state will send a student who has read the most books in a year."
Kelly Schulz + Jeff Woolford — Republican
http://www.kellyschulzforgovernor.com
A proponent of parental rights, Schulz is outspoken about education and the failings of public education in Maryland. As governor, she promises to champion a “Parental Bill of Rights” to empower parents to be involved in their children’s education, and to make sure schools are accountable to parents. She also wants Maryland to introduce new and innovative solutions such as P-TECH schools, where students earn a high school diploma, an industry-recognized associate’s degree, and gain relevant work experience in a growing field.
Schulz believes that neighborhood location should not determine education quality. Her solution is school choice, public charter schools, and “record funding for our schools.” However, she has hedged her answers when asked about funding the Blueprint for Maryland’s Future.
Joe Werner + Minh Thanh Luong — Republican
http://www.wernerformaryland.com
Werner believes that families should have the opportunity to choose to enroll in charter schools instead of public schools. He feels charter schools provide a “more effective” education.
Rushern Baker III + Nancy Navarro — Democrat
Rushern Baker III suspended his race for governor on June 10.
Jon Baron + Natalie Williams — Democrat
From his website:
“As governor, I would bring a bold approach to improving K-12 education by funding programs tested and shown to improve student outcomes and reduce racial and income achievement gaps. My education plan will:
- Create a Statewide Tutoring Corps to provide high-quality tutoring to every struggling first and second grader in Maryland.
- Expand Career Academy programs in high schools.
- Expand high-quality public charter schools like KIPP (Knowledge is Power Program).
- Offer “Learning Accounts” to low-income 10th graders, providing up to $10,000 in financial aid for college if they do well in high school.”
Peter Franchot + Monique Anderson-Walker — Democrat
A major platform for Franchot is to improve educational outcomes for all Marylanders. Some details from the campaign website:
- Augment Maryland’s education system to provide a more comprehensive, fully-resourced model that equips students with the knowledge, skills, and self-confidence they need to thrive in the modern economy
- Pilot innovative approaches to equipping high school students with real-world skills
- Reduce standardized testing
- Allow collective bargaining on classroom size
- Push for fully elected local school boards
- Ensure no school building suffers from mold, undrinkable water, or absence of climate control
- Pilot an intergenerational child care program, utilizing Maryland’s seniors in the programming and oversight
- Pilot fully debt-free paths to a vocation or college degree
- Integrate union vocational training and apprenticeship programs into Maryland’s public high school system
- Pilot various student loan debt forgiveness plans
Douglas F. Gansler + Candace Hollingsworth — Democrat
http://www.ganslerformaryland.com
“As governor, I will ensure full, timely implementation of the Blueprint, add school resource officers, and take actions to increase student achievement and wellness.” Gansler has pledged “to provide affordable childcare and universal Pre-K for every Maryland family so no parent has to choose between caring for their children and pursuing a career of their dreams.” He recognizes the challenges that still exist due to covid. (Vote411.org)
Ralph W. Jaffe + Mark Greben — Democrat
http://www.fedupwithcrookedpolitics.com
Jaffe pledges to attempt to abolish the Maryland State Department of Education because he feels that the counties should control their own educational philosophies.
Ashwani Jain + LaTrece Hawkins Lytes — Democrat
http://www.jainforgovernor.com
Jain has many ideas for how to improve education and public schools on his website. Among them:
- Fund the Blueprint for Maryland’s Future as a crucial step in addressing inequities in the state’s education system
- Replace school resource officers (SROs) with mental health professionals
- Expand broadband
- Teach the history and prevalence of racism that still affects our society today
- Ease student debt of educators; reduce student debt for all students
- Make community college more affordable and accessible
- Provide affordable housing for teachers and para-educators
- Invest in trade schools
- Invest in school construction
- Increase access to STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) programs
- Provide universal Pre-K
- Depend on performance-based assessments rather than standardized testing
John King + Michelle Daugherty Siri — Democrat
http://www.johnkingforGovernor.com
Because King is a lifelong educator and former U.S. Secretary of Education, it’s no surprise that he has many detailed plans for addressing education challenges on his campaign website, including to:
- Build on Maryland’s Blueprint for Education
- Ensure that public money goes to public schools
- Recognize, support, and diversify Maryland’s educator workforce
- Prepare all students for college and careers
- Help all students learn and love to read
- Ensure an education that reflects Maryland’s students and our nation’s history
- Support and sustain a diverse educator workforce
- Support covid recovery in the schools
- Support early childhood education
- Support higher education, HBCUs (Historically Black Colleges and Universities), career readiness
Wes Moore + Aruna Miller — Democrat
Moore’s guiding philosophy is “no matter your start in life, you deserve an equal opportunity to succeed – a job you can raise a family on, a future you can look forward to.” Education is a large part of this philosophy, and on his website there are detailed plans and pledges to achieve the following goals:
- Ensure Maryland’s Blueprint for Education is fully funded and implemented
- Support educators, para-educators, and education support professionals
- Make childcare and early childhood education more affordable and accessible
- Set students up for success
- Tackle disrupted learning
- Prioritize students’ social/emotional well-being
- Combat the school-to-prison pipeline
- Prepare students for good-paying jobs
Tom Perez + Shannon Sneed — Democrat
Perez states that he “believes in access to a quality, equitable education” for all Marylanders. His education platform includes:
- Fully funding the Blueprint for Maryland’s Future
- Ensuring that our teachers are being paid fair and competitive wages
- Increasing access to early childhood education
- Funding school construction
- Supporting educational equity
- Fully funding HBCUs
- Making community colleges and trade schools tuition-free for all students, including Dreamers
- Expanding CTE (career and technical education) programs in high schools
- Supporting and expanding pre-apprenticeship opportunities and registered apprenticeships
- Building equitable digital infrastructure to close the digital divide, especially in rural and urban communities
Jerome M. Segal + Justinian M. Dispenza — Democrat
http://www.segalforgovernor.org
Segal is a former professor of education philosophy. His education platform includes:
- Education for its own sake and for critical thinking to solve pressing problems — more history, arts, and humanities
- Schooling having less to do with the job market, with more focus on history, the arts, the humanities, and civics
Congress 1st District
Andrew P. Harris — Republican — incumbent
Harris states on his campaign website that “education is the cornerstone of every child’s development and the foundation of our future economic success as a country.” He advocates for:
- More funding for public schools
- Local control of schools
- Jobs skills training in high schools
- Addressing issues of higher education, including its affordability
- Ensuring a simplified federal student aid application
- Exploring solutions to the out-of-control student loan debts
- Supporting students earning college credits from demonstrating knowledge they acquired and not just how many hours they spend in a classroom
- Encouraging more federal support for funding internships and apprenticeships
R. David Harden — Democrat
http://www.hardenforcongress.com
From Harden’s website: “I will advocate for and work to strengthen our public education system, including our early childhood programs. I support universal public pre-kindergarten, free and nutritious school lunches for every student, equitable funding for schools in historically underserved communities, and strategic investment into modernizing school infrastructure. For those who attend two and four-year colleges, we must ensure that they are not saddled with excessive debt when they graduate and enter the workforce.”
Heather R. Mizeur — Democrat
Mizeur’s education platform is geared toward job skills training. Her 10-point EconomyFirst plan includes a section on 21st century skills: workforce education and training. She stresses the need to teach the job skills that match employer needs. Her plans include advancing career and technical education opportunities and establishing robust and accredited apprenticeship programs. She says: “I am dedicated to appointing a member of our future congressional staff team to oversee and coordinate implementation and oversight of Maryland’s CTE plan and other regional workforce development issues in the First District, including targeting federal funding opportunities to advance these goals,” through $1.3 billion annually in state formula grants awarded through the federal Strengthening Career and Technical Education for the 21st Century Act. On apprenticeship, Mizeur explains, “There are federal resources available for apprenticeship expansion and innovation and I envision bringing stakeholders together to apply for available grants and help our region successfully compete for these funds. The U.S. Department of Labor has devoted $113 million for its Apprenticeship Building America (ABA) Grant Program for this fiscal year alone.”
Jim Block taught English at Northfield Mount Hermon, a boarding school in Western Mass. He coached cross-country, and advised the newspaper and the debate society there. He taught at Marlborough College in England and Robert College in Istanbul. He and his wife retired to Chestertown, Md. in 2014.
Jan Plotczyk spent 25 years as a survey and education statistician with the federal government, at the Census Bureau and the National Center for Education Statistics. She retired to Rock Hall.
Common Sense for the Eastern Shore
