The bill represents a 10-year plan that aims to implement a series of education reforms recommended by the Commission on Innovation and Excellence in Education, including expanding universal preschool, increasing funding for schools with high concentrations of poverty, increasing pay and opportunities for teachers, and creating career pathways for high school students.

[7][8][9] At the time of the commission's creation, Maryland students were performing at or below the median among the 50 states in reading and math, faced large achievement gaps based on race and income, and suffered a severe teacher shortage and retention problems.

[12] The commission studied the practices of top-performing school systems in nations including Finland, Singapore, Canada, and China, as well as the U.S. states of Massachusetts and New Hampshire.

[2][18] Passing the Blueprint for Maryland's Future became a major issue during the 2020 legislative session following the release of the commission's final report in November 2019.

[20] While in the Maryland Senate, multiple amendments were made to the bill, including a "checkpoint" to test the success of the reforms by 2026,[21] as well as another that would limit the amount of extra spending on the Blueprint if the state's revenues drop by 7.5 percent per year.

[32] In January 2020, the leaders of the Maryland General Assembly said they would not raise income, property, or sales tax rates to pay for the Blueprint's recommendations.

[36] In January 2020, progressive members of the Maryland House of Delegates proposed a package of bills to pay for the Blueprint, including eliminating subsidy programs, combined reporting for multi-state corporations, and restructuring the state's income tax brackets.

David Romans, coordinator of fiscal and policy analysis for the Department of Legislative Services, said in March 2023 that "ongoing revenues in the Blueprint fund are nowhere near enough to pay for the costs, which continue to grow each year through 2034".

[46] Republican members of the Maryland House of Delegates bitterly fought the proposals, arguing that they would cost taxpayers $32 billion over 10 years without a clear way to pay for them.

[48] Simonaire called on Democratic lawmakers to scrap the bill in January 2021, saying that its recommendations had become outdated because of the changes made to learning during the COVID-19 pandemic.

[43] In January 2020, Prince George's County executive Angela Alsobrooks and Baltimore mayor Jack Young were supportive of the Kirwan Commission's proposed reforms, but expressed concern with the costs associated with implementing the recommendations and asked lawmakers to alter the funding formulas in the bill.

[67] In April 2022, the Maryland State Education Association endorsed Moore's campaign, citing his support for the Blueprint reform effort.

[71] During his campaign, he promised to "work closely with local governments to make sure they are on board with their commitments to the Blueprint"[72] and supported instituting universal preschool and increasing funding for school construction, teacher wages, and after-school programs.

[84] Following this, the Maryland General Assembly voted in March 2022 to pass a bill to again delay the implementation of the Blueprint, aligning with the dates proposed in their timeline.

[91] During the 2025 legislative session, Moore introduced the Excellence in Maryland Public Schools Act, which proposed temporary pauses on plans under the Blueprint to gradually give teachers more "collaborative time" to work on professional development and planning outside of the classroom, reduce funding for programs to support students learning English, and freeze funding for community schools for two years.