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Liz Bowie

Liz

Liz Bowie is a Maryland education reporter for the Baltimore Banner. She covers how statewide education decisions are made: Who wields the power, who wins, who loses and what that means for Maryland's kids. She spent more than two decades covering city, county and state education issues for The Baltimore Sun. Her favorite stories are those that focus on students. She was a Spencer Fellow in Education Reporting at Columbia University. She grew up in Baltimore.

The latest from Liz Bowie

UMD President Darryll Pines cleared of plagiarism allegations
The University System of Maryland announced Friday it has cleared its College Park president of allegations that he plagiarized a paper published during his time as a professor at the university.
Darryll Pines has been the president of the University System of Maryland’s College Park campus since 2020.
Community members rally to oppose proposed school closures in Baltimore
More than 100 people jammed into the Baltimore City schools boardroom Thursday night to protest the proposed closure of several schools in June.
More than 100 people jammed into the Baltimore City schools board room on Thursday Dec. 11, 2025 to protest the proposed closure of several schools in June 2026.
Maryland tries to settle decades of fighting over funding its charter schools
The Maryland state school board will vote Tuesday on a regulation they hope will bring peace between warring factions.
The school hallway showing classrooms decorated with university themes in KIPP Harmony Academy is seen on December 5, 2024.
Maryland school board to Somerset: Hire lawyers in public or lose funding
This is just the latest attempt to rein in a MAGA-aligned Maryland school board that has run amok.
Gordana Schifanelli, center, Maryland's Republican candidate for lieutenant governor, who ran with Republican gubernatorial candidate Dan Cox, not pictured, waves during a campaign results reception, Tuesday, Nov. 8, 2022, in Annapolis, Md.
Maryland schools lost students this year, early estimates show. What’s to blame?
It's an unexpected turn in a state that predicted an overall increase in the number of students in the next decade.
Seventh-grade students eat lunch at Robert Frost Middle School in Rockville.
School buses for every Baltimore student seemed impossible — until now
School transportation company HopSkipDrive used AI and a Banner analysis to map how yellow buses, vans and cars could get Baltimore students to school safely and on time for less than 5% of the district’s budget.
Somerset County school board violated state law in hiring lawyers, inspector general says
A state inspector general report finds Marc and Gordana Schifanelli were hired without competitive bids.
Gordana Schifanelli arrives at Dan Cox's election night event held at DoubleTree by Hilton in Annapolis, Maryland, on Nov. 8, 2022.
Baltimore officials propose closing 3 schools over low enrollment, academic concerns
Baltimore City school leaders are proposing to close two small traditional schools — Dallas F. Nicolas Elementary and Renaissance Academy — along with charter Baltimore Collegiate School for Boys.
The Baltimore City Public Schools administrative headquarters.
Baltimore City school ratings by the numbers: Scores are trending up
Nearly half of Baltimore City schools earned at least three stars out of five stars in the state ratings this year, up from 35% last year.
Baltimore City school ratings increased this year.
New job just dropped. Want to lead Baltimore City schools?
The new CEO could earn up to $375,000 annually.
Baltimore City public schools CEO Sonja Santelises makes her annual visit to city schools on the first day of the new school year on Aug. 25. This is her last year in the position.
Shoppers to close 4 more stores in Central Maryland
The discount food retailer is beloved by some customers for its doughnuts, but has also struggled to improve its bottom line.
Shoppers in Germantown, which is being closed down. The grocery chain’s colossal doughnuts are a customer favorite.
Somerset superintendent exits amid months of conflict with MAGA-aligned school board
The Somerset County school board voted Monday to part ways with its superintendent after months of turmoil in the school system.
Somerset County Board of Education in Westover, MD, Saturday, July 26, 2025.
South Baltimore’s closed schools are prime real estate. For now, they’re full of trash.
While they wait for a developer, two Cherry Hill school buildings have been burned, vandalized and used as a dumping ground.
Trash and abandoned furniture on the grounds of the former New Era Academy school in Cherry Hill.
Baltimore’s education dynasty gathers around a Roland Park dinner table
Around the Hornbeck family table are two Baltimore school principals, a former Maryland state superintendent of schools and two teachers.
The Hornbeck family, including from left Matt Hornbeck, David Hornbeck, Becky Hornbeck and Mark Gaither, gathers for dinner.
Maryland’s messiest school district gets its dirty laundry aired
Somerset County’s school board accused its superintendent of insubordination. She said the board chair threatened her before she left town.
Two lengthy opinions from the state board of education shed light on the dysfunction in Somerset County schools.
Maryland names 7 Blue Ribbon schools after feds end national awards
Maryland had ended its program after the 2019-2020 school year but will now resurrect it.
Students at St Joseph School celebrated their Blue Ribbon win with cheers, signs and confetti on Sept. 23, 2024. The U.S. Department of Education ended the national program this year.
Somerset County school board retreats online after heated meetings
The board’s decision came after two meetings in which a parent was escorted out of the room after forcefully questioning the board and raising his voice.
A still from the livestream of the last in-person board meeting on August 19 as parent Joe Hylton speaks before the Somerset County school board.
Baltimore Banner names Audrey Cooper, experienced newsroom executive, to top editing job
Audrey Cooper helped usher the country’s most listened-to public radio station and the San Francisco Chronicle through integral change.
Incoming Banner Editor-in-Chief, Audrey Cooper.
Howard, Anne Arundel, Baltimore City educators finalists for Maryland’s top teacher
The Maryland Teacher of the Year will be announced at a dinner on Sept. 26.
Three Baltimore-area teachers are among the seven statewide named finalists for the title of the state Teacher of the Year.
Maryland students struggle with math, leaving a generation in trouble
From wealthy suburbs to rural hillsides, Maryland public school students on average aren’t great at math.
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