The new superintendent of schools for Montgomery County, Maryland, is entering his third week on the job with the new school year beginning in just over a month. Thomas Taylor, who came from Stafford County, Virginia, now leads Maryland’s largest school district, with a budget of $3.3 billion, more than 160,000 students and over 200 school buildings. WTOP talked to Taylor about the job he’s taken on.
Maryland paid workers over $7.9 billion in 2023, or over 10% more than employees earned in 2022. The payout equates to about 13% of the state’s $59.42 billion budget for the fiscal year that ended June 30. The payroll data includes the pay of all state workers including University of Maryland athletics coaches and elected officials in the General Assembly. The Baltimore Sun requested salary data from the Maryland Comptroller’s Office through the state’s Public Information Act. It includes the regular, overtime and other earnings for 146,113 entries.
Maryland’s current and most recent governor separately called for a less vitriolic form of American politics Monday. Neither Gov. Wes Moore (D) nor his Republican predecessor, Larry Hogan, are known for their support of Donald Trump. Both, however, said the failed assassination attempt on the former president and presumed Republican presidential nominee is a “clarion call” to turn down the heated rhetoric that dominates American politics.
As the inaugural year of Gov. Wes Moore’s signature service year program comes to an end, participants and host organizations preparing for a commencement celebration at Camden Yards on Tuesday afternoon said the experience has been positive. “Working at Talisman has just been a life-changing experience for me,” Brad Krantz, a Maryland Corps member, said. “It’s given me the ability to serve others selflessly, which has really put me in touch with my true authentic self.”
The FBI is warning bank customers about a string of alarming, violent crimes across Maryland, including many in Anne Arundel and Prince George’s counties. Organized groups are targeting people after they leave ATMs or banks and robbing them at gunpoint. It’s called “jugging.” The term comes from criminals targeting people with “jugs” or large amounts of cash after they leave ATMs.
Maryland has a proud tradition of sending effective progressive leaders to Capitol Hill. With control of the United States Senate on the line, Marylanders should not be fooled by Larry Hogan’s centrist rhetoric. He goes out of his way to distance himself from Donald Trump but has a track record of supporting his far-right policies. On issues from taxes to gun control to abortion access, then-Governor Hogan stood with then-President Trump and failed Maryland families. (Photo: John Locher/AP)
When schools closed in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the impact was deep and long lasting. In Maryland schools, test scores fell to an all time low, particularly in math. In 2021, counties received funds to provide high-dosage (intensive) tutoring to students to close gaps caused by school closures. This funding ensured that students consistently engaged in targeted, supplemental instruction at least two to three times per week for 30-45 minutes per session.
President Biden, in a pivotal news conference designed to save his candidacy, showed moments of fluency and command of detail as he parried questions from journalists, but he also stumbled over words, conflated names and at times gave meandering answers. The result was a mixed performance in a much-anticipated event that many Democrats had been anxiously awaiting to see if Biden could allay their fears about his age, mental agility and ability to defeat Republican Donald Trump.
The economic outlook for Greater Washington continues to show a region locked in stasis by a chilled commercial real estate market. At the same time, a handful of data points offer a glimpse of hope for the near future. That’s the latest finding from CBRE’s REVIVE Regional Vibrancy Index charting the D.C. area’s economic strengths and weaknesses in the wake of a pandemic that changed the core of how the region operates, from the shift to hybrid work to the evolution in how people get around.
The Biden administration is awarding nearly $2 billion in grants to help restart or expand electric vehicle manufacturing and assembly sites owned by General Motors, Fiat Chrysler, Volvo and other carmakers in eight states, including Maryland, Pennsylvania and Virginia. The Energy Department will issue grants totaling $1.7 billion to create or retain thousands of union jobs and support auto-based communities that have long driven the U.S. economy, the White House said Thursday.