Dr. Jason Keyes, MSDE's director of educator preparation and development, told the Professional Sanders Teacher Education Board that Maryland has registered a statewide teacher apprenticeship with Maryland Labor and is positioning MSDE as the program sponsor to manage registration, data and compliance.

Keyes described the apprenticeship as a competency-based pathway open to Marylanders 16 and older and applicable to all teacher-licensure areas. "We want aspiring teachers to earn while they learn," Keyes said, emphasizing that apprentices will be LEA employees, eligible for locally bargained pay and benefits, and will not serve as teachers of record while they are apprentices. The program pairs on-the-job training evaluated against OJT competencies (MSDE will use a Danielson-aligned framework) with completion of a Maryland-approved educator-preparation program.

MSDE will assume sponsor responsibilities: registration maintenance with Maryland Labor, procurement and management of program funding, apprenticeship learning-management systems and statewide processes for tracking progress and reporting. Employers (LEAs) will hire apprentices, provide job-based mentoring and report progress in the LMS; IHE partners must grant credit for prior learning and explore flexible course formats (short terms, online courses) and credit-for-practicum expansions so apprentices can complete required coursework while working.

Key operational guardrails noted: the apprenticeship is competency- and credit-driven with a target of giving participating educator-preparation programs at least 24 credits for practica/clinical experiences where feasible; apprentices must receive at least one progressive wage increase by 50% program completion (local agreements determine amounts); and MSDE aims to make participation cost-free to apprentices by combining FAFSA, LEA tuition assistance, IHE scholarships and new funding streams unlocked by registering with the Department of Labor.

Board members asked technical questions about evaluation use, 16-year-old participation, TAM/CTE alignment and the potential for other apprenticeable school occupations. Keyes said the joint apprenticeship-and-training committee (including LEA and union voting seats, MSEA, MHEC and labor representatives) will hammer out intake procedures, evaluation boundaries between coaching and employment evaluations, credit-replacement thresholds with IHEs, and local staffing/compensation logistics.

Several members praised the model as an opportunity to lower financial barriers to licensure and to retain locally grown educators; others requested more clarity on cost-per-participant and how existing collective-bargaining agreements interact with apprenticeship pay. Keyes said those operational specifics are the subject of the grant-application period and forthcoming technical-assistance sessions. "We registered this with Maryland Labor in September," Keyes said; "we're in the early majority of states adopting this model and we can't promise money yet, but we can build systems to get there."