Maryland Legislative News

Legislative News

Moms for Liberty Maryland

White Pages Compilation

DRAFT January 6, 2025

 

Parental Rights

The mission of Moms for Liberty is to unify, educate and empower parents to defend their parental rights at all levels of government.  We believe these to be both God-given and Constitutional rights that cannot be taken away by any level of government.   These rights include, but are not limited to, education, healthcare and moral values, which are to be guided by the parents, not the educational system.  

Parents should have the right to direct their child’s education when it comes to race, religious beliefs, unscientific ideologies, sexuality or any other controversial content that deviates from a parent’s values.  If presentation of controversial content in school is planned, parents should be provided with options for their child in advance, not after the fact. 

The educational system should not be hiding information about a child from the parents, but working in tandem with parents to meet the needs of the child. Children should not be encouraged to keep secrets from their parents.  Parents have the right to be involved in all aspects of their child’s life, in and out of school.

 

Safety in Schools

We need safe and secure entrances to every school building, but school safety does not stop there.  Every district in Maryland needs to have open and effective communication with both the Department of Juvenile Services (DJS) and local law enforcement.  Superintendents must be notified when any juvenile suspected of a reportable offense such as rape, assault or murder is enrolled in one of their schools.

Increased violence is occurring in our schools as a result of Restorative Justice.  The lack of consequences for violent and disruptive behavior has an impact on students, teachers and staff.  Teachers and students alike are being physically and verbally attacked on a regular basis.  Disturbances force teachers to use time that should be spent educating students to instead address inappropriate behavior by disruptive students.  Students who are in class to learn are having their education disrupted.  

Change is needed, including:

• consequences appropriate to the infractions 
• administrative support in dealing with disruptive behavior 
• parental involvement to implement consequences at home for disturbances initiated in school
• adherence by the school district to their own behavior policies
• notification of the parents of any student creating conflict/disturbances
• notification of the parents of any student on the receiving end of conflict/disturbances
• removal of Restorative Justice Practices

Legislation is needed in Maryland to clearly define and expand upon what is considered “reportable offenses;” allow communication of these expanded reportable offenses regardless of suspicion, arrest or conviction of such crimes; and allow communication between juvenile justice organizations, law enforcement and district superintendents.  Maryland Moms for Liberty will support legislation that protects students and teachers, and improves the environment in schools for the sake of improved learning opportunities.

 

Transparency in Education

 

Transparency in education is essential because it allows parents to understand what their children are learning in school, actively participate in their academic progress, and feel confident that their child is receiving a quality education, which fosters a stronger connection between home and school, ultimately leading to better student outcomes.  Essentially, parents want to be informed about the curriculum, teaching methods, and their child’s performance to effectively support their learning journey. 

 

• Understanding curriculum:
  Parents want to know exactly what is being taught in class, including the topics covered and the learning objectives, to ensure alignment with their values and expectations. 

 

• Monitoring progress:

Access to regular updates on their child’s academic performance allows parents to identify areas where additional support might be needed and work with teachers to address them. 

 

• Building trust with the school:

When schools are transparent about their practices and decision-making, it builds trust with parents, leading to better communication and collaboration. 

 

• Empowering parental involvement:

Transparency enables parents to actively engage in their child’s education by providing feedback, discussing learning strategies, and staying informed about school events. 

 

• Addressing concerns:

If parents have concerns about their child’s education, transparency allows them to raise questions and seek clarification from teachers and administrators. 

 

Maryland Blueprint

 

As the State of Maryland unveils a deficit of $2.7 billion dollars in 2024 and dismal state test scores, the Blueprint for Maryland’s Future looms as a disaster for the public-school students of Maryland as well as taxpayers. Moms for Liberty does not support this “one size fits all” legislation.

There are many issues with the Blueprint for Maryland’s Future education funding law, formerly called the Kirwan Plan. State mandates under the Blueprint force school districts to struggle filling some non-classroom positions while having to get rid of certified classroom teachers, in some cases hundreds of classroom teachers. Counties attempt to structure their budgets to support all the changes required by the Blueprint by getting rid of successful local programs and installing unproven state mandates instead. 

County governments struggle to fund education under the Blueprint while still providing other basic services and not increasing local taxes beyond the capacity of their constituents. The total bill statewide potentially will be 3.8 billion dollars, pre-inflation, by 2032. And that number may be low since it was determined years ago.

The Blueprint is founded on five “pillars” for changes in Maryland public education.  Each of the first four pillar has a specific cost dedicated to its implementation:

• Pillar One - Early Childhood - $1.1 Billion
• Pillar Two: High Quality and Diverse Educators - $1.1 Billion
• Pillar Three: College and Career Readiness - $1.1 Billion
• Pillar Four: More Resources for Students to Be Successful - $0.5 Billion
• The last pillar, “Governance and Accountability” has no estimated cost specified. To be sure, locals will have to pay to design, print, and implement plans. The State will have to pay for the work of the Accountability and Implementation Board work as well as review teams. 

The funding formula for each county system is purposely convoluted and difficult to understand. Each student enrolled in a county’s public school system is funded based on a base amount. Currently, the amount is approximately $8,300. But, per-student funding varies based on descriptors such as economic status, special education status, status as a non-English speaking student, among others. Some students will be worth the standard amount each while others will generate up to approximately $30,000 each.

Moms for Liberty supports adequate funding for our public schools. More importantly, we support local control of the programs and strategies to boost the achievement of all public-school students in their district. We believe local Boards of Education and staff best know the needs to their community. They are also accountable to the taxpayers that elected them. We oppose this top-down, state-mandated legislation that will drive our state over the fiscal cliff. 

 

Fairness in Women’s Sports 

In Wisconsin in 2022, a male hockey player propelled a female hockey player into the boards head-first. After losing consciousness and suffering a concussion, she had to be wheeled off the ice, unable to return to the game.

Later in the year, a high school volleyball player in North Carolina suffered a similar fate when a boy identifying as a girl spiked the ball directly in her face. To this day, she struggles with impaired vision, partial paralysis and constant headaches.

In Massachusetts, a male athlete on a girls’ high school field hockey team lifted the ball into the air with his stick to take a shot on goal. He hit a girl directly in the face.

Many girls will be unnecessarily injured—or, God forbid, killed—if basic biology is ignored. We can only hope that number pales in comparison to the number of female athletes who have been intimidated, benched or denied athletic opportunities in order to accommodate the feelings of men.

It is simply illogical and harmful to intentionally place girls in harm’s way. On average, a woman has only 52% of the upper body strength as a man. Overall, the average man is stronger than 97.5% of women. 

Females cannot and should not be reduced to their hair length, choice of dress or hormone levels. For girls to compete on an equal playing field, they cannot compete against males who can kick harder, accelerate quicker, throw further and jump higher than females. We simply want girls to have the opportunity for fair competition.