PGCPS officials say Blueprint for Maryland will shift school funding; districts must ensure 75% of state dollars reach schools

Prince George's County Public Schools officials on Oct. 9 gave the Board of Education an overview of the Blueprint for Maryland, the 2021 state funding law that changes how K-12 state aid is calculated and requires that a minimum share of state funding be attributed directly to schools.

"This historic legislation represents a bold promise to our children and families," said Dr. Joseph, the interim official who introduced the presentation. Chief of accountability Dr. Doug Strader and a team of district staff then reviewed the law’s five pillars, current county progress and the practical challenges the district faces implementing the new funding rules.

The nut of the discussion was the Blueprint rule that most state dollars must "follow the students" and that a district must attribute at least 75% of certain state funds directly to school budgets. "The State dollars that we receive through Blueprint have to follow the students," Dr. Strader said. "And 75% of the dollars that are shared have to be attributed to the schools." He told the board that 144 Prince George’s County schools met that requirement this year, while 42 did not; 10 of those were funded at under 70% and required adjustments.

Why it matters: the formula moves funding away from a single, flat distribution and instead weights per-pupil funding by student needs such as poverty, multilingual status and special education. Under Blueprint, schools with higher concentrations of students with greater needs receive more state dollars; other costs that the law does not explicitly fund — transportation, athletics, arts, small-school premiums, technology and centrally managed or “locked” positions — must be paid from the remaining local and district-level funds.

What the district reported

- Five pillars: the district summarized Blueprint’s pillars as (1) early childhood expansion, (2) a teacher career ladder and higher minimum pay (including a $60,000 minimum salary requirement noted in the law), (3) college-and-career-readiness (CCR) definitions and pathways, (4) targeted resources such as concentration-of-poverty grants and community schools, and (5) strengthened accountability and an implementation board.

- Pr…