Gov. Martin O’Malley was misinformed. How else to explain the letter from his education adviser explaining it was O’Malley’s job to pick the candidates “he believed were the most highly qualified” for the Harford County Board of Education?
If the Governor thought his selections were the most eager, or had rallied the right political support; fair enough. But the most qualified?
Dagger readers got to see some of the candidates’ resumes, including one from an O’Malley appointee. Any objective analysis shows a disparity in qualifications. One candidate who was overlooked was a Distinguished Principal, earned both the Maryland and National Blue Ribbon School of Excellence Awards and consistently led students to achieve top scores on state-wide tests. Another candidate the Governor passed up was a leader in education on two continents, won national awards for contributions to technical and vocational instruction and is a published author in that field. Both candidates had long careers in education, but more importantly, they had a record of success.
This is not to knock the newest members of the board; they have all our best wishes. But the public deserves a better explanation as to how they got there. Del. Mary-Dulany James may not think the public is smart enough to elect the school board, but we know a dodge when we see one.
Harford County Councilman Richard C. Slutzky has asked the Governor’s office to release any information relating to his decision that can be made public. Governor O’Malley, why not release the names of local officials who asked you to appoint the newest school board members? In a democracy, there is no valid reason to hide recommendations made by public servants to fill open seats on a public board. The public has a right to know who’s really pulling the strings.
The Governor’s girl has shown some real arrogance as well as lack of understanding. Don’t you kind of wonder why the Governor has an underling’s underling do his dirty work? Maybe this further explains why the Baltimore City Schools failed while he was the Mayor.
The city that ?
Oh…reads…
Go Dagger !
What the hell are all these documents? Im looking for resumes! Lackey documents ect !
Dam…the “romantic love letter” was deleted !
Does any of this suprise Dagger readers? We’re talking The Boy Blunder, The Boy Who Would Be King, Martin Pinnochioooooooooo’Malley…….O’Malley who stated that while mayor of Baltimore his administration greatly improved schools and that they “are on the mend for the first time in decades.” As one of his five most prominent achievements. He claimed that his administration “improved student test scores across the board”. A national study on the graduation rates in the nation’s 50 biggest cities found Baltimore to be second to last with respect to dropout rates (Detroit was in last place). His Baltimore City Public Schools were so good that his kids went to private school in Baltimore County!
It should not suprise anyone when candidate resumes are not as important as doing a political favor and getting a little lobbying help on trade off issues. It’s called politics. Politicians do not have your child’s education as a priority, they have important things like filling their own pockets and getting their own perks and taking care of friends who got them elected (and you thought that only Aberdeen government worked that way). Face it the days of a school board with qualified members with the students best interest in hand are long gone.
I like this one: “The Teflon Leprechaun” (nothing sticks to him)
I join the author in wishing the newest members of our Board of Education well. As a parent of 2 children in the school system, I hope the do a great job. But if our esteemed Governor truly believes he appointed the most qualified candidates….God help us!
Oh Danny Boy!
There’s some nice shared coverage at O’MalleyWatch about Gov. O’Malley’s Board of Education selections and the subsequent attempts by Councilman Slutzky and others to find out just how the governor made up his mind about who to appoint.
“The Pipes , the Pipes are calling…” Waiting to hear from you on the matter we discussed last week. This is Tuesday and nothing in the mail from you. Due to other responsibilities I will not be in my district office this Wednesday or Thursday. Will be in district office between 10:00A.M. and 2:00P.M. on Friday.
I was at the County Council this evening and Councilman Slutsky voiced his concern about the completion date of the addition to Aberdeen High School (wasn’t that school just reopened in 2004???). Anyway, he told Kathy Sanner from Harford County Public School Planning and Construction Department, that he was “woefully concerned” about Aberdeen High School being completed before the school year begins. He explained that he drives by the school almost daily to check on the status of the project and hasn’t seen much going on. Ms. Sanner said that Mr. Slutsky’s concern was miscategorized and that now the school falls under the category of “Adjusted Completion Date” due to bad weather this past winter. Mr. Slutsky reiterated the predicament the County Council was in because of lifting building moratoriums in the Aberdeen area based on the addition being completed in August. Mrs. Sanner assured the Council that the addtion will be complete by October 15 (that is the Adjusted Completion Date) and that Aberdeen High is able to absorb the students in the main building until that time.
I’m just wondering when they were going to tell the Aberdeen community about this but I guess they would have found out when school started! I really appreciate Mr. Slutsky being a good steward of our taxpayer dollars and trying to find out about all the issues concerning the school system since so much of our taxes go towards education.
Stay tuned…
I like Slutsky….he questions and doesnt accept the stock and standard answers.
Go Slutsky !
Actually, the parents at AHS were told about the delay in completion, when we asked. We were told November, YIKES! Time will tell. I found it interesting that when the BOE was discussing placing the magnet program at BAHS they stated that AHS would be able to relieve some overcrowding at C. Milton in a few years. Sure…..
The plan at Aberdeen seems to be the re-open the old North building for overflow and move the Restoration Academy to either of the two half-capacity elementary schools in town, Roye Williams and Halls Cross Roads.