On Nov. 3, Democrats had historic wins in governors’ races around the country. And because no president has the authority to veto a governor’s state budget, every new Democratic governor is a rare opportunity for students of color. Governors propose budgets and sign the laws that reach our schools, which is why Keisha Lance Bottoms in Georgia, David Crowley in Wisconsin, Aaron Ford in Nevada and Stacey Plaskett in the U.S. Virgin Islands have the power to change what our students face at home and in class.
Should these four Black Democrats want one education agenda on their desks to model, I would hand them Maryland’s, the state where I live. Gov. Wes Moore, the third Black American ever elected governor, also won reelection and has served as the only Black governor of a U.S. state during Trump’s second term, even as Maryland lost nearly 25,000 federal jobs in 2025 and the Trump administration withheld education funds that Congress had approved. Despite those conditions, Maryland has repeatedly treated housing, neighborhood conditions and school funding as education policy, so that students could arrive ready to learn. My years in a Washington, D.C., classroom and at the U.S. Department of Education showed me how seldom states attempt anything new. That’s why four of Maryland’s initiatives deserve a closer look.
Housing Insecurity is an Education Issue
Maryland treated eviction as a school problem. Lawmakers and Moore’s administration launched a rental assistance program in eight jurisdictions to help families with students enrolled in Community Schools. By November 2025, more than 400 families were receiving that help. Parents should ask each new governor for housing help that reaches families through their schools.
Invest in Communities That Need it Most
Maryland’s second initiative moved from individual families to include whole neighborhoods. Through the ENOUGH Initiative, the state sent about $70 million to high-poverty communities, where residents and schools planned together. Moore said chronic absenteeism in Baltimore’s Cherry Hill neighborhood fell 29% from 2022 to 2025, and although researchers say proof may take years, a governor who trusts a community to write its own plan has already rendered a verdict on that community’s judgment, and the verdict is confidence in its capacity. Parents should ask each governor to fund neighborhood plans in stages, so that residents write the plan, state experts review it, and larger grants follow proof of progress.
Find Philanthropic Partners to Fund Key Initiatives
Those plans cost money, which brings us to Maryland’s third initiative. Arnold Ventures pledged $20 million on the condition that Maryland match it, sending $40 million to programs with strong evidence, including math tutoring. Parents should ask each governor to seek a similar match.
Get Ready For AI
Maryland’s fourth initiative turned to the classroom itself. In May, Moore signed the Artificial Intelligence Ready Schools Act, which requires every Maryland school system to adopt an AI policy and review tools with a state rubric, and state guidance names technology bias as a concern. Parents should ask each governor to require the same review and show families which tools passed.
This month, Black parents can write to each governor-elect’s transition team, name an initiative their community needs, and ask how the first budget will fund it. History gave us four new governors last night, and our students deserve an inaugural budget worthy of that victory.
