Whether it’s an educational challenge, praise for student achievement, or even questionable state legislation, Cheryl Bost has usually had a few words to say about it.
But Bost, an elementary school educator for 35 years who has served since August 2018 as president of the Maryland State Education Association, won’t hear much from him again in August. This is because he will be retiring from the education profession after July 31.
“I love teaching. I love my union job. I love being an advocate and advocating for all students and educators. It’s been fun,” Bost said in an interview Tuesday.
But taking a step back does not mean walking away: on Tuesday morning Bost could be seen in a video with Prince George’s County Executive Angela Alsobrooks (D) endorsing Alsobrooks in her U.S. Senate race against former Governor Larry Hogan (R) in November.
In an interview later that day, Bost recalled that Hogan called the teachers union “thugs” during his time as governor, when he vetoed the Blueprint for Maryland’s Future legislation in 2020. The legislature overrode the veto the following year.
“Larry Hogan, as governor, never worked with educators. He never met with the union. “He vetoed the Plan,” Bost said. “If it came to public education, Larry Hogan was opposed to it in every form.”
His comments hours after a state Board of Education meeting in downtown Baltimore, where Bost has been advocating for teachers at least once a month. Tuesday’s topic was an update on university and professional preparation (CCR), one of the priorities of the Blueprint for Maryland’s Future education reform plan.
While Bost said he supports the state’s college and career readiness goals, he noted that some of them were established before the COVID-19 pandemic.
She summarized how the additional resources proposed by CCR, such as smaller class sizes, school counselors meeting with families, and having a “practical platform for everyone,” is fantastic. “It’s not reality.”
As for school counselors, Bost said that while the American School Counselor Association says Maryland public schools have an average of 319 students per counselor, “I can tell you that in some high schools with 2,000 students, that’s closer to 500 or 600 students per counselor,” he said. “So those things are still affecting implementation.”
Before Bost finished his testimony at Tuesday’s board meeting, he introduced Paul Lemle and Nikki Woodward, who will begin their terms Aug. 1 at the state teachers union as president and vice president, respectively.
Lemle is a nationally certified teacher who teaches social studies at Reservoir High School in Howard County. Woodward is an educator with 25 years of experience in Montgomery County and is the vice president of the teachers union in that jurisdiction.
As for Bost, he plans to take a vacation out of state and just relax.
“I’m taking a couple of months off to do nothing and see what the next adventure will bring,” he said.
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