Nothing says summer in Maryland like a trip to the shore. Although the legislative session does not start for roughly another five months, everyone begins to wrap their minds around state policy in the middle of August during the Maryland Association of Counties Summer Conference (MACo) in Ocean City, MD. A trip to the beach in the dead of August sounds like it would be a good time, but this conference is not about fun and games. Elected officials, advocates, lobbyists, and others arrive on the Eastern Shore of Maryland to greet one another, but more importantly gather to lay the groundwork for important policy agendas for the 2025 legislative session. The theme for this year’s conference was “Turning the Tide.”

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We are only days away from the return of students to classrooms. It is an exciting time for every education professional and public employee who works with Baltimore City Public School System students and families. The combination of nerves and excitement leading up to the first day of school is an unmatched feeling that only those of us who have experienced it can relate to. Rarely do anxiety and optimism take up space so closely together, but the run-up to the first day of school creates an uncanny mix of emotions quelled only by the certainty that opening day will come and all of our practice and preparation will meet the returning energy of our young people.

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AFT Maryland delegates and leaders took to Houston, Texas to join with thousands of other AFT members for the national union’s biennial convention. AFT Maryland was prominently featured in signage as well as on the convention floor. The state federation turned heads throughout the nation with our organizing of public employees from the Maryland School for the Deaf, various community college faculty, and residents and fellows at the University of Maryland Medical Center.

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The workplace death of Baltimore city Department of Public Works employee Ronald Silver II struck a solemn nerve for the City Union of Baltimore (CUB), recalling the tragic loss of CUB member Trina Cunningham in a workplace death five years ago. In the wake of Mr. Silver’s passing, AFT Maryland, CUB, AFSCME, and elected officials from the Baltimore City Council held a press conference addressing the issue and outlining what needs to be done to assure there are no city workplace deaths.

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Independence Day and the celebration of our country’s founding is a beautiful metaphor for the labor movement. In forming the country, various interests and people were forced to collaborate around a united idea to birth what has become the United States of America. Farmers from western Massachusetts had to align their interests with merchants from Pennsylvania who themselves had to join with southerners who made their money trading on people and land. Each had their own unique issue with the mother country, yet none alone could stand up to the world’s strongest empire at the time.

The labor movement, much like the original thirteen colonies, can only demonstrate its power in unity. 

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The state of Maryland has received a $2.5 million implementation grant from Medicaid and the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP). This grant will help Maryland public schools extend services beyond what is provided under a student’s Individualized Education Program (IEP) or Individualized Family Services Program (IFSP). This initiative is a critical step toward enhanced healthcare accessibility for students enrolled in Medicaid or CHIP.

This grant, a product of the work of AFT Maryland in collaboration with Gov. Moore’s staff, is part of a broader federal effort under the Biden Administration. Click here to read more.