📝Morgan State University, Maryland's largest HBCU, is being accused by multiple national advocacy orgs of censoring its student newspaper. I spoke with experts, current and former student journalists and faculty about the policy. Here's what you need to know: www.thebanner.com/education/hi...

NEW: Maryland Gov. Wes Moore's redistricting commission plans to meet at 4 p.m. today to vote on recommending a new map of Congressional district boundaries. The meeting is not open to the public. www.thebanner.com/politics-pow...

After a contentious renewal process, Baltimore is shutting down its only all-boys charter school. Two small traditional schools were also up for closure, but the board chose to kick the can down the road - to when they'll have a new CEO in charge of recommendations. www.thebanner.com/education/k-...

After years of struggles, Baltimore’s only all-boys public school meets its end

Private schools don't have to serve kids with special needs - and many of them struggle financially to hire the staff to do so. A new Baltimore County Christian school aims to change that, while purposefully educating neurodivergent kids alongside neurotypical peers www.thebanner.com/education/k-...

New House Speaker Joseline Peña-Melnyk stresses civility, finding solutions

Everything you need to know about getting your child vaccinated in Maryland

The $600,000 plagiarism report the University of Maryland won’t release

what you clearly see, CLEARLY, is a driver who is spooked by the agents grabbing her door, takes steps to drive away, and is immediately shot as moves her vehicle *away* from the agents.

Spoiler alert: this disproportionately impacts marginalized community members and federal workers, and experts I spoke to said that spikes in need coincide with disruptions and changes at the federal level under the Trump admin. www.thebanner.com/community/pu...

Over the past year covering the county, I kept seeing data that marked a concerning trend. Montgomery County is typically considered one of the healthiest in the country, but our mental health is in steep decline. I wanted to figure out what’s happening and why. www.thebanner.com/community/pu...

This Baltimore housing project is trying to prove Trump wrong on homelessness

“As the cost of college and university attendance increases, a lot of students are having to choose between a meal plan and paying their tuition and housing." Campus pantries at schools in Maryland are giving students free food and clothing, no questions asked.

For my first story of 2026, I dug into the numbers defining a trend that has exploded in Maryland since the pandemic: homeschooling. There's been a 50% uptick since the 2019-20 school year, holding steady as public school enrollment declines www.thebanner.com/education/k-...

Boys’ Latin to open rare all-boys pre-K in 2026

Maryland is keeping more foster kids with family, but there’s still a long way to go

The president of the University of Maryland Eastern Shore is suing a former professor for defamation and seeking $1 million after being accused of plagiarizing her 1986 dissertation. The two meet in court tomorrow, here's what you need to know: www.thebanner.com/education/hi...

Maryland is boosting the share of foster kids living with family&loved ones, progress experts lauded, but the state still lags behind the national average. Have a story to share in Maryland foster or kinship care? I'd love to talk with you: [email protected] www.thebanner.com/community/fa...

UMD President Darryll Pines cleared of plagiarism allegations

Story with Bria Overs. Records documenting these interviews were obtained and first published by @energyandpolicy.org www.thebanner.com/politics-pow...

At Johns Hopkins, a once-robust diversity office has quietly withered, shrinking from 14 staffers to three, pausing programs for underrepresented scholars and restricting race-based initiatives on campus. The disappearing diversity programs at Hopkins: www.thebanner.com/education/hi...

It's déjà vu for Maryland's only all-boys charter school, which is again fighting a closure recommendation from Baltimore City Public Schools. The district says there are major academic, financial concerns; school leaders say they're already making major strides www.thebanner.com/education/k-...

"When asked for a comment, Gordana Schifanelli said in an email: 'Your reporting is the dumbest thing I have read all day.'" Read more from @lizbowie.bsky.social. (via @thebaltimorebanner.com)

For over a decade, tensions have risen between charter schools and their supervising school districts over how charters are funded. The state is trying to clarify the process - but charters say the rules as written could bankrupt them. w/ @lizbowie.bsky.social www.thebanner.com/education/k-...

New: The chancellor of the University System of Maryland said today he fears "irrevocable damage” to the state's public colleges as Maryland faces another billion dollar deficit. Lawmakers have slashed the system's budget by $222 million in the last two years. Read: www.thebanner.com/education/hi...

What appears to be the only locally owned toy store in Baltimore City has always run on the power of friendship: Its founders, BFFs Sharon and Nancy, are why "Shananigans" is spelled that way and a new(ish) dynamic duo are leading the toy store's 3rd decade www.thebanner.com/economy/shan...

Baltimore toy store Shananigans runs on nostalgia and generations of friendship

I love this toy store, and I especially love the story behind this toy store. Via @mayaklora.bsky.social for @thebaltimorebanner.com www.thebanner.com/economy/shan...

West Baltimore will lose one of its most beloved schools, which has taught kids in small classes for over 30 years. Nobody wants to take the fall for the mismanagement that drove the school's demise. I break down what we know, and why the community says it hurts: www.thebanner.com/education/k-...

Maryland's increasingly violent prisons are relying more heavily on isolation to manage the short-staffed, aging facilities. In one year, nearly 4 out of every 10 prisoners did a stint in confinement. State recently paid $185K to a man who was in for almost a year. www.thebanner.com/community/cr...

15 years ago, it looked like the effort to save the Chesapeake Bay had turned a corner. "There was a collective sense," said one longtime federal scientist, “that we had broken through." Today, he and others worry that, four decades in, the movement is losing steam: www.thebanner.com/community/cl...

High schoolers in pre-K classrooms? Whether as unpaid interns or paid aides, it's happening in Maryland. And those running preschool programs say it's a way to recruit (and then hopefully retain) a dwindling workforce as the state races to expand public pre-K www.thebanner.com/education/ea...

A new federal student loan cap could make Maryland’s doctor shortage even worse. In my latest, I unpack how the Trump administration’s Grad PLUS changes may block low-income students and students of color from graduate programs across the state: www.thebanner.com/education/hi...

ICYMI, the latest investment in early ed: Baltimore is setting aside $500,000 in grant money to expand preschool access and will start to look at vacant and underutilized city buildings to possibly house child care and pre-K programs www.thebanner.com/education/ea...

NEW: Thousands of Baltimore students can’t get to school on time because of unreliable transit. The city's school choice system complicates creating a yellow bus network for all. A new plan proves it can be done. w/ @lizbowie.bsky.social & @ajv.bsky.social www.thebanner.com/education/k-...

West Baltimore will lose a beloved school that couldn’t make ends meet for years

Methodology

Anne Arundel County is going to take a historic step and apologize for its role in perpetuating slavery. The local NAACP, under new leadership, says it's no longer interested in participating.

Though it got a 3-year charter renewal in January, Baltimore City Schools is closing New Song Academy at the end of the school year - after moving all of its students out of a "deteriorating" building next month www.thebanner.com/education/k-...

Exclusive to the @thebaltimorebanner.com: Johns Hopkins has spent nearly double this year on federal lobbyists. The university has spent $1.3 million so far, with money going directly to an associate of Trump to lobby to the Executive Office of the President: www.thebanner.com/education/hi...

Your Sunday read: The Maryland School for the Blind was “decrepit” just 10 years ago, its superintendent said. But record investments are making huge differences for kids. And now, athletics are taking center stage with a new gym and 2 pools. www.thebanner.com/education/k-...

BREAKING: Tuition at Johns Hopkins University will be free for students from families making less than $200,000. For families making under $100,000, tuition and living expenses will be covered. The change is taking effect this spring: www.thebanner.com/education/hi...

Johns Hopkins University will no longer charge tuition to undergraduate students from families making under $200,000 a year, the school announced Thursday. The university will also cover the room and board and other living expenses for students whose families make under $100,000. buff.ly/MRJcyFm

By @sararuberg.bsky.social: ICE took her husband. She’s fighting to keep the lights on and hope alive. (via @thebaltimorebanner.com)

Howard Community College faculty escalate clash with president

Baltimore City is offering up to $5,000 over two months to help essential federal workers and families on SNAP with child care costs. But there are already hundreds of families in line. Here's how you can join them: www.thebanner.com/education/ea...

Hundreds already in line for Baltimore’s child care shutdown aid

By @briaovers.bsky.social and @jasminevaughnhall.bsky.social: ‘We keep waiting.’ The long struggle of the Superblock’s dwindling business district. (via @thebaltimorebanner.com)

Controversial opinion from a woman without children: We need more, not less, kid-friendly spaces. And I'm obsessed with Christina Tkacik's latest profile. "Punk is family. Punk is community. Punk is children and upbringing and showing them the world and everything." www.thebanner.com/culture/food...

Blexit, a group that aims to convince Black Americans to leave the Democratic Party and become conservatives, is on its HBCU tour. It stopped by Bowie State University last week.