Learning For Life—one of the most important classrooms in many schools. This is a classroom that provides a flexible hands-on education to students who have special needs such as autism, down syndrome, behavior disorders, health impairments, etc. These students partake in the core classes, in addition to basic life skills such as taking care of themselves and cooking. 

Recently, budget cuts have been made across many schools by Frederick County Public Schools Central Office, specifically in the Learning For Life (L4L) program at Brunswick High School.

Not having an adequate amount of funding disrupts these students quality of education as they are not able to make purchases that are essential to their learning. Erica O’Leary the Special Education teacher at Brunswick High School shares that concern.

“When I request materials that seem essential to instruction, I am typically told they must come from my classroom budget [or] that we must fundraise,” O’Leary said. 

This sparks major controversy because why should Special Education classrooms have to fundraise for a basic education? Especially an education that should have opportunity to learn life skills that are essential for students’ futures? 

O’Leary has been a Special Education teacher with Frederick County Public Schools for the past ten years, and the past four years have been at Brunswick High School. O’Leary explained how when she arrived at Brunswick High School the classroom didn’t consist of much besides an “outdated overhead projector.”

She explained how there were no whiteboards and had to ask for donations in order to obtain the whiteboards currently in the classroom. 

“That should not be necessary,” O’Leary said. 

The Learning For Life program is designed to provide a hands-on, community based, experiential instruction. O’Leary mentioned how the teachers and assistants in the classroom are expected to build a community.

“Take students into the community, teach cooking and independent skills, provide individualized accommodations and supports, [and] prepare students for state assessments,” O’Leary said.

Each of these experiences cost money. 

For example, in her classroom on Fridays the students cook meals. There are eight students in addition to multiple assistants that are required to be fed.

This quantity of food can get costly, “Cooking instruction alone can cost $60 or more per week…” O’Leary said. 

In addition to the classroom standards, students are held to performance standards that require instructional materials that other classrooms receive. The students require materials ranging from kindergarten-level supports to high school-level content. Some examples of this provided by Mrs. O’Leary is that she doesn’t have the county-provided math curriculum or assessments specific to Learning for Life, as well as her secondary students are unable to access materials from the Earth Space and Science Lab (ESSL) or go on field trips there, even though elementary classrooms are permitted to do so. As a result, she purchases the current math curriculum and science materials with her own money. 

At the high school level the funding instructions are left unclear, but Mrs. O’Leary gave an estimated breakdown of the funds that she receives. For the Special Education Department funds she does not have the exact amount but she is able to access it for supplies such as laminating materials and Velcro, but each purchase requires approval. She also gains Teacher of Record Funds, in the past years this has ranged from $100-$250 per year. These funds are used for basic classroom supplies such as dry erase markers and paper to name a few.

Lastly there are Learning For Life program funds which are typically around $350. Unfortunately over the past couple of years these funds “have been clawed back to offset broader budget shortfalls,” O’Leary said.

For the 2025-2026 school year this budget was originally $315 but they were unable to spend any of it before they were withdrawn in December. 

In past years, O’Leary was able to use the money at the end of the school year for the following year’s startup. Now she is unable to because the county has already taken the money back. She explained how herself and other teachers were left scrambling for resources and materials within a few days notice before the break, resulting in them having to use their own money.

In addition, she used to be able to purchase materials and submit receipts for reimbursement, but as of last year, reimbursement was capped at $100. Her costs exceeded this amount, often, and by a lot. It is important to note that she does obtain a purchasing card, that has improved access to certain activities that have been raised by previous students. Yet, core instructional funding remains inconsistent and insufficient.

“With equitable funding, I would have more time to focus on planning and delivering effective instruction instead of recreating materials or researching alternatives,” O’Leary said. 

She went on explaining how she would spend many hours putting together curriculum, assessments, and instructional resources that would’ve been readily accessible if there was proper funding. If she didn’t have to do this, the time would be reinvested into student’s learning and individualized support. 

As for how students are impacted, O’Leary explained how the majority of Learning for Life students around the county typically under perform on state assessments. She states that this should be a, “strong indicator that we need better access to instructional materials and resources.” In relation to the materials provided, as of last year the classroom did not have a SmartBoard even though majority of the other classrooms did. This is used to display presentations, write on live documents, present videos, and search the web. 

Currently, Brunswick High School is being reviewed to have a rebuild. While this is a major win for the Brunswick community, it leaves a major downfall on the Learning for Life program. O’Leary mentioned how currently the new school building will not have a kitchen in the classroom.

“This is a huge loss to our most effective life skills programming. Kitchen skills are central to student independence and provides our students to meaningful skills for future employment,” O’Leary said.

Staff and students have noticed these challenges and the lasting effects it has on them and students. Everyday it becomes a bigger issue that the Learning for Life classroom does not have the same level of investment as all the other classrooms. 

Time is one of the most valuable resources in the classroom, and when teachers and assistants are spending excessive time compensating for funding gaps, “students lose access to richer instructional experiences,” O’Leary said. 

As fundraising has become more popular across various Learning for Life classrooms it leaves room for debate. Fundraising can be beneficial for these students as it provides them with enrichment activities but it ultimately is concerning that students must raise money to fund core instructional materials and required learning experiences. 

It is a challenge for teachers to balance life skill instructions and academic mandates with minimal funding. Alongside not having comprehensive curricula for math, science, or life skills. Learning for Life programs are put under increasing state pressure to improve academic performance and having minimal funding makes it increasingly challenging.