Accountability Board Can’t meet Deadline

Today was supposed to be the day when the Accountabilities and Implementation Board (AIB) of the Maryland’s Blueprint for Progress (Formerly known as the Kirwan Commission) would unveil its massive plan on how the newly passed law would be implemented.  The AIB is responsible for the oversight of the whole plan and as such was required under the timeline set forth in the legislation to submit the implementation plan by February 15^th, 2022 (Today).

Well…. Not so fast. 

In January 2022, the AIB announced it had hired its first Executive Director, Rachel Hise to help implement the sweeping Blueprint for Maryland’s Future education reform plan.  The board says that there are not enough funds to hire additional staff members for the next several months, and this is slowing its progress. 

According to Hise, out of the $4.8 million the AIB was supposed to receive this fiscal year, the board has only been funded $693,000.  Hise herself is drawing a salary of $185,000 and said, “It’s a challenge because there are no permanent positions in the budget for the AIB right now.”  So, they are working without a full-time staff.  More money is allocated but will be coming in increments from sports betting and other gaming revenues. 

Due to this, the AIB was unable to produce its required implementation plan.  The board was supposed to adopt the final comprehensive plan to implement education reforms by Feb. 15. The panel is proposing completion of a draft plan by October and a final plan in December.

The draft plan was not an original part of the requirements, but the AIB says it will add a level of feedback not otherwise included. Here is the newly proposed timeline. 

Apparently, the AIB has not even started to develop the plan since the new timeline includes “…develop process for and begins drafting Comprehensive Implementation Plan…” in the Spring of 2022.