Maryland State Department of Education staff on Nov. 13 gave board members a preview of the Grow Your Own Educators Grant program and next steps for the application window.

Jason Keyes, MSDE director of educator preparation and development, said the program—created in 2024 and fully funded in 2025 under the Excellence in Maryland Public Schools Act—will be administered through competitive awards to collaboratives (at minimum an LEA, an employee organization and an institution of higher education) or, for in‑district models, an LEA and union partnership. MSDE awarded technical assistance to the National Center for Grow Your Own on Oct. 10 to support program design and launch.

Key provisions and timeline

Keyes said eligible teacher candidates must be currently employed by a local school system (as a school‑based full‑ or part‑time employee), hold at minimum a high‑school diploma, and be either a non‑certified education support professional or a conditionally licensed teacher. Funded candidates must pledge a three‑year service obligation teaching in a high‑need school, grade level or content area after licensure. Allowable uses include tuition, books and fees, mentor stipends and program administration costs.

Keyes told the board MSDE expects to post a formal grant application in December 2025 and that the total funding pool available is $19,400,000, likely to be spent over multiple years (Keyes said three to four years was anticipated). He said application details—per‑student caps, maximum awards and repayment or penalty details if a candidate leaves prior to completing the service obligation—were still being finalized and would appear in the grant application.

Board questions and clarifications

Members asked for specifics on penalties if a funded candidate leaves before three years; Keyes said that detail remains under development with the consultant and will be specified in the grant application. Josh Davidson asked whether a candidate who moved between districts within Maryland during the commitment period would forfeit eligibility; Keyes said the law is silent on remaining in the same LEA and that the pledge is to teach in a high‑need area or school rather than a single campus. Jenny Bischoff raised concerns about harder‑to‑deliver subject‑matter coursework for working candidates (for example, high‑level math or science content) and whether IHE partners would accommodate; Keyes and others said that the statute and program design anticipate IHE collaboration to provide practicable pathways and that MSDE expects to prioritize proposals that use lower‑tuition IHE partners or implement registered teacher apprenticeship programs.

Keyes said MSDE will run multiple informational sessions, a likely 90‑day application window, and expects applicants to justify proposed budgets in their applications. “If you're asking for a million bucks, better be a million‑dollar program,” he told the board.

Next steps

MSDE will publish the full application and technical guidance, run outreach and informational sessions, and accept applications once the formal notice is released.