By Michael Phillips | MDBayNews
As the 25th anniversary of the September 11 attacks approaches, Maryland has no law on the books requiring public schools to provide dedicated instruction on it. Three attempts to change that — in 2018, 2022 and 2023 — each died in committee without reaching a floor vote. No fourth attempt has followed.
What exists instead is a 24-year-old symbolic resolution and a single bullet point buried inside a broader high school history unit.
A resolution with no teeth
“It creates no curriculum requirement, sets no instructional minimum and carries no enforcement mechanism for schools that do nothing.”
In 2002, the Maryland General Assembly unanimously designated September 11 as “Maryland Day of Remembrance of the September 11, 2001 Terrorist Attacks” through House Joint Resolution 13. The vote was lopsided: 131-0 in the House, 46-0 in the Senate. It became Joint Resolution No. 6, signed by the President of the Senate and the Speaker of the House on May 16, 2002.
But the resolution’s language is aspirational, not mandatory. It “encourages” parents and educators to teach children about the attacks “on September 11 and throughout the year.” It creates no curriculum requirement, sets no instructional minimum and carries no enforcement mechanism for schools that do nothing.
Three bills, three committee deaths
“Lawmakers have tried three times since to convert that encouragement into a requirement.”
Lawmakers have tried three times since to convert that encouragement into a requirement, moving from a modest commemorative-day proposal to an actual curriculum mandate.
Del. Johnny Mautz, R-Eastern Shore, introduced House Bill 313 in 2018, which would have added September 11 to the short list of days — alongside Washington’s Birthday, Lincoln’s Birthday, Veterans Day, Columbus Day and Arbor Day — that Maryland law already requires schools to set aside part of the school day to commemorate. Mautz said he introduced the bill after talking with his own children about the attacks. The bill got a single hearing in the House Ways and Means Committee on Feb. 8, 2018, and never advanced.
Sen. Johnny Ray Salling, R-Baltimore County, went further in 2022 with Senate Bill 237, which would have required an actual “unit of instruction” on the attacks in every public school and state-funded nonpublic school, built around content standards the State Board of Education would have had to develop by January 2023. That bill also received one hearing and no vote.
Salling reintroduced a nearly identical version as Senate Bill 149 in 2023, this time requiring standards by Jan. 1, 2024 and classroom implementation by the 2024-2025 school year. The state’s own fiscal analysis of that bill noted the Maryland State Department of Education already had a place for 9/11 in its existing framework — Unit 5, “Globalization, Terrorism, and Political Polarization,” part of the high school U.S. history course — and estimated that developing and implementing new 9/11-specific content standards would take MSDE a minimum of three years. The bill died in committee for a second time.
“The bill died in committee for a second time.”
No bill requiring 9/11 curriculum or instruction appears to have been introduced in the Maryland General Assembly since. Lawmakers have taken up September 11 in a narrower way in the meantime: companion bills in 2025 (House Bill 16/Senate Bill 169) and another version earlier this year (House Bill 1103) would designate the “Freedom Flag” as Maryland’s official state symbol of remembrance for the attacks. Those bills touch flag protocol, not classrooms.
What students actually get
Maryland’s high school U.S. history framework, revised by the State Department of Education in June 2025, does address September 11 directly. Under Unit 5’s “Domestic and Foreign Terrorism” indicator, one of five objectives — USH.5.3.c — directs students to evaluate how governmental responses to the September 11 attacks challenged the balance between safety and freedom.
“But that’s a single bullet point inside a broader unit, not a standalone requirement.”
But that’s a single bullet point inside a broader unit, not a standalone requirement. Maryland law sets no dedicated instructional time, no standalone 9/11 unit and no minimum content beyond what’s implied by that one framework objective. Local school systems, not the state, develop the actual curriculum guides that translate the framework into classroom instruction, so the amount and depth of instruction can vary by school system and course implementation. The framework also offers no guarantee of any 9/11 instruction before high school.
That leaves Maryland less prescriptive than states such as Arizona and Florida, which have enacted specific statutory 9/11 instruction requirements — Arizona through a dedicated 9/11 Education Day law, Florida through a mandate that specified students receive at least 45 minutes of instruction tied to statutorily defined subject matter. Maryland has no equivalent statute, only three failed attempts to pass one.
“Maryland has no equivalent statute, only three failed attempts to pass one.”
What to Watch
Maryland’s General Assembly reconvenes in January 2027 for its next regular session, roughly four months after the 25th anniversary. Whether any lawmaker reintroduces a version of Salling’s or Mautz’s bills — and whether a round-number anniversary generates the momentum three prior attempts couldn’t — remains an open question, with no curriculum bill currently pending.
Sourcing: Maryland General Assembly bill files and fiscal notes for HB 313 (2018), SB 237 (2022), SB 149 (2023), HB 16/SB 169 (2025) and HB 1103 (2026), mgaleg.maryland.gov; House Joint Resolution 13 (2002) legislative history, mgaleg.maryland.gov; Maryland State Department of Education High School United States History Framework, June 2025, marylandpublicschools.org.
Keep MDBayNews Reporting Free
MDBayNews exists to help Marylanders understand decisions made by state and local leaders — especially when those decisions affect daily life, rights, and public services.
If this article helped clarify what’s happening or why it matters, reader support makes it possible to keep publishing clear, independent reporting like this.
Have a tip or documents to share?
We review submissions carefully and confidentially. Anonymous tips are welcome when appropriate.
Discover more from Maryland Bay News
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.