Upset over Gov. Larry Hogan ignoring their opposition, ranking Democrats have asked for the state Attorney General’s opinion on the Executive Order the governor signed last week preventing any school system in Maryland from starting before Labor Day and going beyond June 15.
Make no mistake, this is only because they, like school system superintendents, don’t like having something pushed down their throat by a Republican. The outcry over the Executive Order makes it seem like these sorts of measures are never used by governors or presidents. That’s simply not the case. There is plenty of precedent for a high-ranking official to use the power of the position to affect a change. It happens all the time. It’s been a week since the governor’s announcement on the Boardwalk and the drama continues to unfold.
On Wednesday at the state’s Board of Public Works meeting, Treasurer Nancy Kopp, a Democrat, expressed her view that Hogan’s “abuse of executive authority” will ultimately be confirmed by Maryland Attorney General Brian Frosh. For his part, Hogan said, “I appreciate your opinion. It just happens to be wrong.” Clearly, the governor was within his right to mandate this change.
What’s been interesting to observe over the last week has been the rhetoric on display by opponents to this move. It’s reached laughable proportions actually. The fact here is former Gov. Martin O’Malley (a Democrat who took an ill-timed shot at the presidency this year) supported this post-Labor Day start. He’s on record as for it. It was he who created a state task force to study the issue. That task force, comprised of a diverse group of stakeholders, reached the conclusion a post-Labor Day start would not hurt students or impact their achievements.
Hogan took this extreme measure of executing the mandate because the special interests who have the ear of legislators in Annapolis were not going to let this change be passed. The votes may or may not have been there in the full Senate and House, but the fact was legislation was not going to escape the subcommittee level. That’s compelling because every poll taken on the subject shows the majority of Marylanders supports a post-Labor Day school start.
In a statement this week, Hogan addressed the claims that spring break and other holiday vacation periods would be cut as a result of the post-Labor Day start and the June 15 last day requirement.
“This nonsense about we’re going to do away with Christmas and spring break is ridiculous,” Hogan said. “Some of these school systems have 15 mandated days off by the teachers union to do various things. You don’t have to skip a single day of spring break.”
Everyone enjoys blasting weather forecasters. They are easy targets, and they took some heated criticism on social media last weekend as a result of the errors made with Hermine’s predicted path and the impact on Ocean City.
Like most people, I was shocked to see the sun on Sunday morning. That was not expected by any weather forecast I saw the day before. In fact, most reports seemed to indicate the worst of Hermine’s impacts were going to be felt in the Ocean City area on Sunday. That seemed significant last weekend because Saturday was a messy day, particularly along the coast.
I actually think the forecasters deserve a break on this one. This was a complicated weather pattern, and it was best for everyone to prepare for the worst and hope for the best. It was a pleasant surprise to be able to get outside on Sunday and Monday. If the storm had taken the expected loop and stalled off our coast, the stories in today’s paper would have been quite different. I’m glad that wasn’t the case, even if it meant the weather forecasters looked silly.
Among the packet of information sent home with Worcester County Public School students on Tuesday was the “Annual Report 2016-2017,” which was an interesting read. The report is full of data and is available on the school system’s website if you want to read it over. Among the highlighted numbers I found of note were the following.
•Forty-three percent of students come from households at or below the poverty level, compared to the state average of 38 percent. The school system knows this by the 2,850 students receiving FARMS, which stands for Free and Reduced Meal Services.
•Of the 6,663 students in the school system, 846 receive special education services (about 13 percent) and 133 are English Learners.
•Student population by race includes Caucasian, 66 percent; African-American, 20 percent; and Hispanic, 7 percent.
•Of the 467 graduates last June, 79 percent were headed to college, while 13 percent eyed employment.
•Worcester’s graduation rate of 93 percent compares favorably to the state average of 87 percent.
•The percentage of teachers who have 21 years of experience or more in Worcester is as follows: 37 percent for high school; 25% for middle school; and 38 percent for elementary school.
