St. Mary’s and Charles county public school systems will receive about $4.5 million combined in the second round of Maryland’s Grow Your Own Educators Grant Program, with St. Mary’s receiving one of the three largest awards statewide.
Gov. Wes Moore announced Thursday that St. Mary’s County Public Schools will receive about $3 million and Charles County Public Schools will receive about $1.5 million. The Southern Maryland awards are part of $14.7 million going to 13 local school systems to expand pathways for school employees who are not fully licensed teachers to earn credentials while continuing to work in their districts.
The second round will support 845 educators statewide, according to the governor’s office.
“I want Maryland to have the best public schools in the nation, so we are committed to tackling barriers to entry for educators without the burden of debt,” Moore said. “The Grow Your Own Educators Grant addresses the teacher vacancy gap and ensures our students receive the world class education they deserve by building pathways to work, wages and wealth for the professionals already dedicated to their service.”
St. Mary’s award is the third-largest announced in the round, behind Anne Arundel County Public Schools at $3.6 million and Frederick County Public Schools at $3.1 million. Howard County Public Schools, like Charles, will receive about $1.5 million. An Eastern Shore consortium of seven districts will receive about $1.1 million, and Worcester County Public Schools will receive $829,234.
For St. Mary’s, the new award will establish a pathway for paraeducators and other education support professionals to earn degrees and teacher licenses while remaining employed by the school system. Anne Arundel, Frederick and Howard counties will establish similar pathways.
The St. Mary’s award also represents the school system’s entry into the expanded Grow Your Own grant program. The first round announced in April did not include St. Mary’s among the funded systems.
Charles County, meanwhile, is receiving a second Grow Your Own award this year. The school system received more than $2 million in the first round to support its Registered Teacher Apprenticeship Program, which creates a route for educational paraprofessionals and other school employees to become licensed teachers.
With the new approximately $1.5 million Round 2 award, Charles County has received about $3.5 million through the two 2026 Grow Your Own funding rounds.
Charles County has separately said its Round 2 funding will support an accelerated alternative-licensure program for conditional teachers who already hold bachelor’s degrees. The district plans to fund professional licensure for 75 conditional teachers in three cohorts of 25 through Notre Dame of Maryland University, with grant funding available for tuition, books, fees, assessments and program admission costs.
The state says the broader Grow Your Own program is intended to build local teacher pipelines by helping existing school employees move into fully licensed teaching positions without leaving their jobs during preparation.
“Grow Your Own initiatives help Maryland schools cultivate the next generation of educators from within their own communities,” State Superintendent of Schools Carey M. Wright said. “By investing in local talent, we are building sustainable, diverse teacher pipelines that will strengthen student learning and support every child’s success.”
The second-round awards are focused on high-need areas including special education and early childhood education. Several of the funded programs also include recruitment strategies intended to increase diversity in Maryland’s educator workforce.
Under the Maryland State Department of Education’s Grow Your Own program, grants support partnerships among local school systems, employee organizations and Maryland colleges and universities or other approved partners. Eligible school employees can receive financial support while pursuing full teacher licensure and continue working in their school systems during preparation.
MSDE’s Round 2 program guidance also requires participating teacher candidates to commit to a three-year service pledge as full-time teachers in a high-needs school, grade level or content area within the school system where they were employed.
The program was expanded through the Excellence in Maryland Public Schools Act, legislation signed by Moore in 2025. The law included measures aimed at teacher recruitment and retention and expanded support for debt-free pathways to professional licensure.
Earlier this year, the state announced $19 million in first-round Grow Your Own awards supporting more than 620 educators across 13 school systems. That round included a $2 million award for Charles County, while Montgomery County received $6 million and a seven-district Eastern Shore consortium received $4.6 million.
Across the first two rounds, 16 Maryland school districts have now received Grow Your Own funding, according to the governor’s office.
The state has described teacher recruitment and retention as an ongoing workforce priority. In December 2025, Moore’s office reported that statewide teacher vacancies had fallen from 1,619 in the 2024-25 school year to 886 in 2025-26.
For Southern Maryland, the newest awards mean both St. Mary’s and Charles counties will use state-backed Grow Your Own pathways to move employees already working in local schools toward full teacher licensure, with St. Mary’s receiving one of the largest individual awards in the second round.
