Caroline Boice is an education policy analyst and writer with more than a decade of experience in analyzing the fiscal and policy implications of State legislation on State and local governments. In addition to her own work, she is co-leader of a team of over 20 policy analysts focused on education policy and is responsible for reviewing and assigning projects.
She is known for finding and analyzing data to inform policy decisions and for her engaging writing on a variety of education policy topics from the transfer of college credits to remote learning to prekindergarten. She has a passion for researching and explaining complex policy topics and for the thoughtful use of public funds. Ms. Boice is constantly searching for better data and data visualization techniques. She also enjoys reading about education policy, fiscal policy, and better management strategies.
During each 90-day legislative session, she writes and reviews over 100 analyses, known as fiscal and policy notes. These nonpartisan analyses are used by legislators, staff, and the public to understand the fiscal and policy implications of legislation.
When not writing her own analyses she manages teams of writers to produce high-profile data-intensive reports for publication such as the higher education portion of the 90 Day report which summarizes the legislation passed by the General Assembly each session.
In the past, she coordinated the Joint Committee on Children, Youth, and Families. This included presenting to the committee and arranging presentations by nationally and State known speakers. She also assisted the Maryland Commission on Innovation and Excellence in Education (AKA Kirwan Commission) which was a multi-year initiative to research and develop major funding and policy reform to improve the quality of Maryland’s public education system. Her work included prekindergarten funding formulas, high school education pathways including career technical education, educator career pathways, and teacher preparation.
Prior to her current government role, Ms. Boice worked for nonprofit organizations. Her projects ranged from educating members of the United States Congress about legislation to writing grant applications to managing grant-funded projects. A notable project was the $1 million historical restoration of the George Washington House in Bladensburg, MD for the Anacostia Watershed Society which included a hand-crimped standing seam metal roof and rain garden.
Before earning a Master’s in Public Policy from the Johns Hopkins University, Ms. Boice was a field and bench scientist. In her scientific career, she studied primarily photosynthesis and vitrification of radioactive waste for long-term storage. Ms. Boice earned a Bachelor of Arts in Biology from St. Mary’s College of Maryland. She also completed the renowned archeology field school program at Historic St. Mary’s City, Maryland’s first capital. At field school, she found lead print type which helped led to the identification of the print house run by William and Dinah Nuthead. She also conducted biology field research in Australia (ants as an indicator of rainforest health), Belize (eelgrass chemical defense), Maryland (chloroplast movement in Columbine leaves as a defense from photodamage), and Wyoming (photosynthesis of snow algae).
