Literacy Group Pushes For Investment In Reading, Despite Projected Budget Deficit

By William J. Ford, Maryland Matters

November 18, 2025

Despite recent predictions that lawmakers could be facing a $1.5 billion budget deficit when they convene Jan. 14 for the 2026 General Assembly, a new report says Maryland must invest in reading instruction.

The report, released Tuesday by the nonprofit organization Maryland READS, expands on an April report by the same group that called on state lawmakers, business and community leaders to come together to improve literacy.

Despite the state’s ongoing budget difficulties, funding literacy programs is worth the investment, said Trish Brennan-Gac, executive director of Maryland READS, or Reading Education Aligned to Data and Science.

“In a budget deficit, we’ve got to look really hard look at investing in things that work [and] that are going to get us results,” Brennan-Gac said in an interview Monday. “The more that our high school graduates can leave high school with the ability to read proficiently, it’s a better educated workforce that’s available to businesses in our state. Reading impacts a lot of other things.”

The new report, “What are the Stories Behind the Scores?” includes data from test results students took this spring from the Maryland Comprehensive Assessment Program. While that program saw a third straight year of language arts increases, test results showed that significant gaps remain between demographic groups.

The report highlights one major stat, that more than 94,000 students in fourth, eighth and 10th grades were not reading at a proficient level in the latest round of testing.

“Clearly, maintaining the status quo is not an option,” the report said.

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The report does highlight three school districts – Charles, Dorchester and Howard counties – that saw some of the biggest improvements in MCAP literacy scores in the state. Summaries are noted on what they did to boost student achievement.

A more detailed explanation of how they did it will be provided by officials from each of those three districts at the Maryland READS third annual convening at Maple Springs Baptist Church in Prince George’s County on Dec. 8. The state’s two top school officials – State Superintendent Carey Wright and state Board of Education President Joshua Michael – are scheduled to attend that meeting, along with Del. Jared Solomon (D-Montgomery), a legislative leader on early childhood education.

The Maryland READS report recommends three strategies to improve literacy: greater transparency; funding for a “coaching program” that was approved as part of the Excellence in Maryland Public Schools Act this year; and ensuring universities properly train future teachers to be “prepared to deliver effective reading instruction from day one.”

The report also notes improvements in average daily attendance and chronic absenteeism at community schools — those schools with high numbers of students who receive free and reduced-price meals, among various other services. State Department of Education data show 617 schools received that designation in the 2024-25 school year, compared to 453 schools two years ago.

The report said average daily attendance in community schools improved from 91% in the 2020-21 school year to about 96% in the 2023-24 school year. At other schools in the state during that same time period, daily attendance fell from 95% to 93%.

Chronic absenteeism in community schools fell, the report said, from about 30% in 2020-21 to around 25% in 2023-24. During that same timeframe in the other schools, absenteeism rose from about 15% to 25%. The state defines chronic absenteeism as when a student misses at least 10%, or about 18 days, during a school year.

The state wants to decrease chronic absenteeism in all schools to 15% during this school year.

Community schools are part of the 10-year Blueprint for Maryland’s Future education reform plan. On the last day of this year’s session, the legislature approved a trim to the Blueprint plan that preserved funding for community schools.

“It shows that the community schools, with this Blueprint investment, have made progress in the area of attendance,” Brennan-Gac said. “The idea is that the more kids are in school, they’re going to learn. If they’re not in school, they’re not going to learn.”