Maryland Matters

4 days ago | marylandmatters.org | Kalman R. Hettleman |Steve Crane

Here’s an oddity. For all that has been said about the Blueprint for Maryland’s Future, there has been hardly a word about class size. The subject has not even been debated. That’s a shocker. Common sense supports lower class sizes: The fewer the students in class, the more attention teachers can pay to individual student needs. Teachers almost unanimously think “smaller classes would strongly boost student learning.”So why the omission in the Blueprint?

1 week ago | marylandmatters.org | Christine Condon

Private donors have chipped in $80,000 to help AmeriCorps programs in Maryland that were slashed by the Trump administration, Maryland Senate President Bill Ferguson (D-Baltimore City) said Thursday at a news conference in Baltimore. That money is just a fraction of the millions in federal funds that Maryland lost when the cuts were announced last month, leading to the elimination of at least 550 positions at organizations around the state.

1 week ago | marylandmatters.org | Danielle J. Brown

The Trump administration has signaled an interest in reining in Maryland’s ability to set rates for Medicare services – an authority the state has held for about 40 years. Maryland’s system, unusual among states, gives the state significant say over the costs of health care services across different coverage plans to keep costs low and consistent, in what’s known as the States Advancing All-Payer Health Equity Approaches and Development, or AHEAD, model.

1 week ago | marylandmatters.org | Bryan P. Sears

The Board of Public Works gave the green light Wednesday to “a once-in-a-generation opportunity” to reinvigorate horse racing in Maryland, even as one member questioned if this would be the last chance for the industry. The three-member board approved contracts for the demolition and rebuild of Pimlico Race Course and the purchase of a Carroll County farm that will become a horse training center.

1 week ago | marylandmatters.org | William Ford

While Gov. Wes Moore (D) continues to be noncommittal on whether he’ll sign a Maryland Reparations Commission bill into law, a group of supporters plan to rally Friday in Annapolis to show their support for the measure. “I would not tell the governor of Maryland what he should or should not do. All the rally is about is showing why people care about the issue,” said Prince George’s County Councilmember Wanika Fisher (D), who’s organizing the rally at Lawyers Mall in Annapolis.