By Steve Crane | Editor-in-chief
“They said, ‘Don’t show up, and we’ll call you back.’ And then I got a call later on that said, ‘You are now officially on administrative leave.’ It happened so fast I couldn’t even put out an out-of-office message.” - Ronicsa Chambers, on the speed with which the Trump administration laid her off from her FAA job, during a discussion of a report that said federal job cuts had a disproportionate impact on Black women, just one of the workplace challenges women face.
The U.S. Supreme Court takes up another Montgomery County schools case, women continue to face challenges in Maryland’s economy and the number of young rockfish in the Chesapeake Bay continues to lag. That’s just part of your lineup for this Tuesday.
Montgomery County’s lottery system for admission to middle school magnet programs unfairly keeps out qualified Asian American students, a parents group argues. Lower courts have disagreed, but the Supreme Court said Monday it will hear the case, the second Montgomery County school case it’s heard in two years. William J. Ford has that story.
The sweeping cuts to the federal workforce had a disproportionate impact on Black women, who were well represented in the federal workforce. That was just one of the challenges women face in Maryland’s economy, according to a report from the comptroller’s office, as Danielle J. Brown reports.
And the number of juvenile rockfish in Maryland’s portion of the Chesapeake Bay was higher than it has been in several years, but still only about half the historic levels, said scientists, who say this may be the new normal for striped bass in the changing bay. Christine Condon has the story.
Those stories, plus news of a sharp drop in teacher vacancies, along with headlines from the week are below to get you prepped for this Tuesday. Enjoy!
Students at their lockers on Aug. 28 at Montgomery County's Argyle Middle School. Argyle is not one of the magnet middle schools included in a case the U.S. Supreme Court said it will hear. (Photo by William J. Ford/Maryland Matters)
By William J. Ford
The U.S. Supreme Court agreed Monday to hear a challenge from a group of Montgomery County parents who claim that the county's lottery system for admission to middle school magnet programs decreases the number of Asian American students in the programs.
The case has been dismissed by lower courts, which said the parents had not proved that the policy "disparately impacts Asian American students" or that it was created with discriminatory intent. But in agreeing Monday to hear the case, the high court said it would consider whether the parents "challenging a facially neutral admissions policy as racially discriminatory must establish that the targeted racial group suffered an aggregate disparate impact relative to its share of the applicant pool” for their case to proceed.
The case filed by the Association for Education Fairness challenges the lottery system used for admissions at four county middle schools that offer magnet programs focused on the humanities and STEM – science, technology, engineering and math. A student’s grades and test scores are another component of selection. The association said the policy, which took effect in the 2021-22 school year, increased Black and Latino representation in the programs at the expense of more qualified Asian American students.
Comptroller Brooke Lierman, right, invited women's advocates and laid-off federal workers Monday to discuss a recent report on how women fare in Maryland's economy. (Photo by Danielle J. Brown/Maryland Matters)
By Danielle J. Brown
Ronicsa Chambers did not expect that her job at the Federal Aviation Administration would be one of thousands that would be suddenly cut last year under the second Trump administration's efforts to reduce federal spending.
But Chambers, who was the FAA’s Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Accessibility manager, was one of almost 30,000 Marylanders who lost federal jobs in the rapid layoffs and project terminations that began in early 2025, cuts that may have disproportionately affected Black women, according to a recent report.
Chambers told her story to an audience of dozens of state and local leaders, organizers and women’s advocates at the comptroller's office, where the report was released outlining women’s experience in the Maryland economy. Among the findings in the “Women and the Economy” report was that Black women's overrepresentation in federal jobs compared to their share of the state population may have led to them being hit hardest by the federal layoffs.
Maryland Department of Natural Resources fisheries biologists sample a site on the Nanticoke River with a seine net as part of the annual juvenile striped bass survey. (Photo courtesy Joe Zimmermann/Maryland DNR)
By Christine Condon
For the eighth straight year, Maryland scientists found well below average numbers of young rockfish in the Chesapeake Bay.
This summer’s survey, released Monday, showed the best results since 2018, the last time that surveyors counted an above-average quantity of juvenile striped bass, or rockfish. But with “young of the year” index of 5.5 this year — compared to a historical average of 10.8 — Maryland scientists aren’t really celebrating.
Virginia scientists also released their results Monday, showing a slightly better picture. The state's index was 9.52, a bit above its historical average of 7.77.
In Maryland, it’s possible that continued low numbers of rockfish at or below 3 inches in length are “the new normal,” said Carrie Kennedy, the Tidal and Coastal Monitoring and Assessment Division director for the Maryland Department of Natural Resources. Scientists believe that changing environmental conditions, including water temperature, could be altering the species’ reproduction in some way.
IN OTHER NEWS
Teacher vacancies drop: The number of teacher vacancies fell from 2,145 in the 2022-23 school year to roughly 572 for the current year, state officials said Monday, a 70% drop that was attributed to programs to expand recruitment and retention of teachers.
Ukrainian, Sudanese TPS on hold: Ukrainian and Sudanese immigrants with temporary protected status that was scheduled to end Monday will retain their deportation protections and work authorizations in the U.S. for now, federal officials said.
OPM drops yearlong wait for promotions: The Office of Personnel Management finalized regulations to eliminate a longstanding “time-in-grade” restriction, clearing the way for Agencies to promote federal employees without having to wait a year first.
MATTERS YOU MAY HAVE MISSED
Data centers dominating economy: The late 1800s' railroad boom consumed about $173 billion in today's dollars and created more than 2% of GDP; data centers could consume $10 trillion in investment and make up nearly 4% of GDP, a new report says.
Inflation hit 3.7% in September: In the last report before Election Day, inflation grew to a 3.7% annual rate in September, up from 3.4% in August, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, driven largely by rising gasoline and fuel oil costs.
No Kings rallies to get out the vote: Anger over the Trump administration's actions brought more than 100 Beltsville residents out on a chilly, overcast Saturday to protest in one of thousands of No Kings events scheduled to urge people to get out and vote.
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