Are Maryland Schools Failing Children?

A teacher who imposes his or her ideology onto children is failing the most basic requirements of the job. Parents entrust schools with teaching math, reading, science, history, and other core disciplines—not with reshaping their children’s beliefs to fit a fashionable political agenda. Yet across Maryland, concerns are mounting that classrooms are being hijacked by ideological crusades.

The Role of Teachers

The purpose of public education is to prepare children with the skills and knowledge they need to thrive as adults. It is not to provide platforms for teachers to act as activists. When instructors become proselytizers, the line between education and indoctrination blurs—and the children lose.

The Gender Identity Question

Nowhere is this tension more visible than in the push to teach gender identity concepts in K-12 classrooms. Critics argue these lessons are not age-appropriate, inject divisive ideology into education, and override parental authority. Polling shows many parents feel blindsided when schools introduce sensitive topics without their knowledge or consent.

Maryland has leaned heavily into “inclusion” policies, but too often that translates into sidelining parents who simply want their children to focus on academics. For example, some districts have adopted policies to keep gender identity decisions confidential from parents, effectively replacing parents with bureaucrats as decision-makers in their own children’s lives.

Are Schools Meeting Their Core Mission?

Meanwhile, Maryland schools continue to lag in fundamentals. The 2023 state testing data showed that only 31% of students were proficient in math and 46% in English. Baltimore City’s math proficiency was an abysmal 7%. These numbers highlight a systemic crisis: schools are failing to teach the basics.

If Maryland’s schools can’t deliver strong reading and math results, why are they devoting time and resources to ideological battles? Parents rightly wonder whether the state’s priorities are upside-down.

A Better Path Forward

The solution isn’t complicated. Maryland needs to:

• Refocus schools on core academics.
• Ensure transparency with parents about all curriculum and policies.
• Protect classrooms from political proselytizing.
• Restore accountability to school systems that have allowed standards to collapse.

Conclusion

Schools should not be employing ideologues determined to proselytize in the workplace. Children deserve education, not indoctrination. Parents deserve partnership, not secrecy. Taxpayers deserve accountability, not excuses.

So yes—the question must be asked plainly: are Maryland schools failing children? When classrooms drift away from teaching the basics and toward ideology, the answer is unfortunately clear.