One of the key challenges facing public education today is the ongoing teacher shortage. Over the past several years, schools across Maryland have struggled to recruit candidates for open teaching positions. Locally, this challenge has significantly affected Southern Maryland schools in Calvert, Charles, and St. Mary’s Counties, resulting in smaller pools of qualified, certified applicants.

We also recognize that no single entity can solve this challenge alone. Addressing the teacher shortage requires the collective efforts of school systems, higher education institutions, and the broader community. Over the years, the Southern Maryland Summit has brought together a diverse group of stakeholders to engage in constructive dialogue, identify key issues, and explore solutions related to the teacher workforce. Through this collaboration, partners work to expand opportunities for K–12 and higher education partnerships and to strengthen the teacher preparation pipeline, all with a shared goal:

To create a sustainable, mutually beneficial partnership between local public school systems and higher education institutions that addresses workforce challenges facing our education systems and prepares teachers to be effective leaders in the classroom.

As the work continues, the 2026 summit brought together over 90 regional leaders, higher education partners, state agencies, teacher leaders, and community stakeholders at USMSM to examine progress, deepen alignment, and chart the next steps in strengthening the educator pipeline. Southern Maryland’s educator workforce efforts have entered a new phase—one defined by coordinated implementation, shared accountability, and cross‑sector coherence.

This document summarizes the Summit and the work moving forward.

Following the great work from the 2024 Summit, the partners continue their work to develop programs and plans to address the Teacher Preparation Pipeline.  Over 80 individuals, representing 20 organizations, attended on March 28, 2025, at the University System of Maryland at Southern Maryland. Representatives from school systems, higher education partners, state departments, and other stakeholders joined together to continue the work and advance the needs of the Southern Maryland region.

This document summarizes the Summit and the work moving forward.

On April 26, 2024, roughly 50 participants joined together to discuss the workforce challenges facing our education systems.  Participants included representation from Calvert, Charles, and St. Mary's County Public School systems, MSDE and AIB, MD Department of Labor, Patuxent Partnership, Maryland Education Association, Towson University, University of Maryland Global Campus, Notre Dame University of Maryland, Coppin State, St. Mary's College of Maryland, and College of Southern Maryland.  The event was hosted at the University System of Maryland - Southern Maryland Campus.

This document summarizes the Summit and the work moving forward.