Maryland superintendents, teachers and students are urging state lawmakers to vote against Governor Wes Moore’s proposed changes to the Blueprint for Maryland’s Future.

In an over four-hour-long legislative hearing Wednesday, advocates said Moore’s plans to cut investments in community schools and in-school teacher planning time would hinder student success.

“It is undeniable the concentrations of poverty investments are making a difference in outcomes for students,” said Baltimore City schools CEO Sonja Santelises. “To pull back on them now would be devastating.”

Moore’s proposal reduces the amount of per-pupil funding local districts expected to receive from the state to implement the Blueprint over the next decade. Santelises said Baltimore City schools would lose nearly $400 million in funding over the next four years under those cuts.

Eight other superintendents also testified in opposition to the governor’s bill, with some saying they would need to increase class sizes and cut extracurricular programs to combat funding losses.

Moore was not present at Wednesday’s hearing. But Chief of Staff Fagan Harris said his proposal would save the state around $1.6 billion in the next four years.

Harris said these adjustments will also place the Blueprint on “more sustainable footing.” In November, the state spending and affordability committee announced that state funding set aside for the education reform package will expire by 2028.

Nearly $800 million in savings would come from Moore’s proposal to push investments in teacher “collaborative time” from starting next year until 2030 — a move state leaders say is necessary to address the state’s dire teacher shortage.

“What we do not want to see is those dollars go out the door without the ability to have the educators to support them,” Harris said.

Moore’s plan would also delay increases in funding for community schools, which offer wraparound services for students with high needs, by two years. Harris said this would allow state leaders the time to address uneven and sometimes flawed implementation of the model across the state.

But leading legislators, including Appropriations Committee Chair Ben Barnes and Ways and Means Chair Vanessa Atterbeary, expressed concern about cutting student support — especially under the new Trump administration.

“It seems that this is the time when we should be wrapping our arms around our children who are in poverty, who are disproportionately kids of color,” Atterbeary said. “We should be lifting those kids up and helping them with those wraparound services that they are not going to get from the federal level.”

Nikki Woodward, vice president of the Maryland State Education Association, said pausing funding would also hold the 167 schools expected to become community schools in the next year “in limbo.”

“They would have the staff that they would be expected to, but what would they be able to do without the funds?” Woodward said. “Delays would compound the harm to students in concentrated poverty, especially given the double cut to expected funding levels for these students due to the collaborative time delay.”

A group of students testified that they’re already seeing the positive effects of community school support.

Lia Stearns, a senior at Western High School in Baltimore, said her school used funds to hire more college and career counselors and arts teachers — and invest in resources like tablets and printers.

“If that's what a high quality, fully-funded education feels like, I don't want to lose that,” Stearns said.

And giving teachers more in-school planning time improves lessons and opportunities for mentorship, students said.

“These professionals are not just educators; they are lifelines for students who, for too long, have lacked the resources they deserved,” said Isaiah Gregory, student government president at Baltimore Design School.

Harris said Moore’s proposed changes are a starting point for discussion, not set-in-stone. Legislative leaders told The Baltimore Banner that the bill will look different by the end of the session.

Some Republican lawmakers expressed skepticism that any changes would result in any long-term financial stability for the Blueprint.

“It's never going to be enough,” said House Minority Leader Jason Buckel. “We're billions and billions and billions of dollars short. We're just going to have to have more and more revenue streams.”