So a bill with bipartisan support (and constituent support if that mattered) went down thanks only to members of the majority party. Somehow this bill's defeat will still be Ehrlich's fault or something, I'm sure.

Kasemeyer is not a catonsville democrat. He lives in Howard County which already has a hybrid school board.

Senator. Stone did not vote the way his voters wanted. He is out of touch with education.

Everyone that voted against this bill should be targeted for defeat at the next election. They think you are smart enough to vote for them but not to be trusted to vote for members of the school board. Such arrogance needs to be swept away! And don't let them give some song and dance argument about why it should be kept as an appointed body. There is nothing more to it than they want to keeping power and influence over the selection process.

Considering the momentum on the issue it seems a silly thing to be delaying. This is akin to gay marriage. Its going to happen so why take the political hit?

Good vote.

Damage by the divide remains in full force...what would be the lesson here...?

I'm glad this was defeated. I think the Kasemeyer is in tune with what the majority of people in this county want. I personally know a lot of people who are concerned that elected members of the School Board will politicize it and possibly even lead to attempts to alter curriculum to suit ideological beliefs. In other locals, newbie politicians have used the elected school board positions as stepping stones to furthering their political career; they have not put the children first.

Oh Larry. What you said is exactly what happens with an anointed board.

I will remember how Ed Kasemeyer voted today and this long-term Democrat will not be voting for him again.

Updated to include interview with Sen. Ed Kasemeyer who said he still supports an elected school board but this was "a matter of timing."

Most people in this County can't remember the three delegates that represent them let alone judges they voted for in the last election. Now we want them to figure out school board members too? Good luck. I can see a bunch of unqualified single issue candidates running for office now. Don't want that new elementary school in Lutherville. Don't want that school closed in Dundalk. Want that air conditioning in Perry Hall right now? Want the Ten Commandments placed in every school lobby? Here they come folks, right out of the woodwork. Be very careful of what you wish for, you may get it.

I don't know about all of them. Mr. John A. Olszewski, Jr. Jumps out. He's a State Delegate and his father is a County councilman. Incidentally, he favors a hybrid school board.

Yes he does

I meant The Delegate does and the father does not. If I'm wrong about the Councilman, I apologize. I'm glad he does and I regret my source was wrong. I'm glad you corrected me.

Baltimore County does not have a countywide Language Arts curriculum.

If you think that MSDE curriculum is uniformly implementedcountywide, you have no grasp of the current Baltimore County School System.

Senstor Ed Kasemeyer is a hypocrit. It is fine for him to rationalize not voting for an elected school board in Baltimore County because he knows what is better for the citizens in Baltimore County. Of course
he lives in Columbia in Howard County where the School Board is fully elected.

We should push for a fully elected Baltimore County School Board. 18 of 24 School Boards on MD are fully elected.

Time for the distinguished Senator from Dundalk to start packing up his things.

Many. Howard and Montgomery Counties to name 2.

How do you really know how well Baltimore County is doing?

That said MD schools are number one in the nation for the past 5 years.

How are poor and minority students doing in Baltimore County or is that something you really do not want to know. Baltimore County Public Schools stopped producing the Minority Achievement Report a few years ago
Wonder

John

D. Kelly is a kamenetz "Rubber Stamp".

Ya got what you voted for!

Can anyone provide details to the argument "matter of timing ". What matter prevented a vote a yes?

Still waiting for a full-time online/virtual school for our county families.

I hope no one is too dejected. We still have Lafferty's bill in the House.
There are three times that killed the hybrid bill in the Senate.
First, is the alleged time Kasemeyer says Dr. Dance needs "in office" before he's confronted with...Elected School Board Members!!!
Next, is the time Kamenetz spent in Kasemeyer's and Getty's offices.
This bill is not about education; it's about politics, power and patronage.
Finally, is the time when Kasemeyer and Getty are not in Baltimore County. At the last hour, Senator Getty's poisin pill amendment changed the bill from 6 to 7 elected members. That didn't pass last year. Conceivably board members and councilmen in the same district might compete for the same office. From an incumbent's point of view, that's a bad thing.
The same Governor, who makes political patronage appointments to the school board, also draws election district lines which cross jurisdictional boundaries. Hybrid district Delegates and Senators do not represent the minority portion of their districts. Kasemeyer and Getty don't fear Baltimore County voter retribution because their districts are predominantly in Howard and Carroll Counties. Incredibly, Getty's district won't include any of Baltimore County next year.
There, that's too much time.

So here we have a Howard Co. legislator telling the citizens of Baltimore Co. that we do not have the right to vote on how 52% of our county budget is spent! That's right - the school budget is actually greater than the rest of the entire Baltimore County budget, and it is currently managed by a 100% non-elect, non-accountable school board. If it came to a vote in the State Senate, Sen. Kasemeyer would undoubtedly do away with an elected Baltimore Co. Council as well, because a Council appointed by a governor of his party would no doubt be more to his liking. Back in 1776, we went to war over this issue.

As someone who grew up in Baltimore County but now lives in Carroll County (hence I don't have a dog in the fight), can I offer some objective comments? People on both side of this issue have said some things that I find, um, a little off, but perhaps I can put this in the context of the 30-plus year history of having a fully elected school board in Carroll. Let me also offer the caveat that what happens in Carroll might not work out the same in Baltimore County and might not work the same in the county executive form of government as opposed to the commissioner form of government.
First of all, I don't think BOE candidates are any less qualified than appointed board members or other electeds. I think more than a few folks would argue that the current BoE in Carroll is probably more thoughtful than our current commissioners.
Second, by most state measurements, Howard, Montgomery, Carroll and Frederick are almost always in the top 5 in the state based on the standardized testing. While it is true that Howard and Montgomery have very high per-pupil spending rates, the same cannot be said for Carroll and Frederick. The method of selecting BoE members is less important to the outcomes than some combination of money, parental involvement, family expectations and school management. Just look at the highest performing districts (in general) in Baltimore County and you will generally find a correlation with income, parental involvement and educational expectations.
--more--

Third, Carroll BoE is not elected by districts. (Of course, our commissioners were not elected by district until one of our genius state delegates thought we would be better off with 5 commissioners elected by district than 3 at large.) I'm not sure Baltimore County should hang its hat on district BoE elections, but perhaps that might be needed to assure minority representation. (I grew up in Baltimore County back when the council members represented districts but were elected on a county-wide basis, and I'm pretty sure Dr. Ben Carson couldn't have won a council seat in Baltimore County under that system. Ironically, one of Carroll's first black elected officials was Richard Dixon, who went on to represent Carroll in the House of Delegates and later became state treasurer. Of course, he was a very conservative democrat -- a stockbroker --so he was very electable in Carroll back in the 70s and 80s. A democrat -- even a conservative one -- couldn't even be a dog catcher in Carroll these days.)
Fourth, Carroll's BoE elections are very apolitical. First and foremost, they are non-partisan. While various candidates certainly have had different points of view over the years, the elections have usually not been exceedingly contentious.
Fifth, while MSDE does indeed have a good bit of control over curriculum, local boards have control over specifics, such as suitable texts and other details.--more--

Ed over the years the cost of education has risen 277% and take a look at the cost of college. For all those billions where are we now?

This is from the NAACP:

http://naacp.3cdn.net/e5524b7d7cf40a3578_2rm6bn7vr.pdf

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/08/15/cost-of-college-degree-increase-12-fold-1120-percent-bloomberg_n_1783700.html

Many of these loans go unpaid and take a look at the ranking of the U.S. in the world of education. Talk to any teacher and listen to them tell you the reality of our system.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/12/07/us-falls-in-world-education-rankings_n_793185.html

If you don't like these links there are many others that tell the same story. The parents and teachers should have a voice in the system. A government for the people. The people being us and our children, not some bureaucrat.

"Many of these loans go unpaid..."

Link?

Do you have any kids in the system Beeker or is this part of your agenda?

In Carroll, for example, our schools still teach that abstainence is the preferred method of birth control and avoiding STDs, something not all counties teach. That also shows that in Carroll's case, the elected school board in general is in keeping with the conservative views of the county.
Six, in Carroll, anyway, the BoE is generally not seen as a stepping stone to higher office. After about 30 years of boards that I am familiar with, I can only recall 3 moving up to higher office -- the aforementioned Richard Dixon, Jeff Griffith, a relatively liberal democrat who later became a county commissioner, and Susan Krebs, a moderately conservative Republican who now serves in the House of Delegates. I may have missed a few, but it is not many. (By the way, our school board has five elected members and a non-voting student member.)
A few other quick points.
Remember that in Maryland, NO BoE (regardless of selection method) has the power to tax. As we see in Carroll, there is a lot of given and take between the commissioners and BoE.
Carroll has hired several very good superintendents in recent years (in my opinion) but also has a disastrous hire about 12 or 13 years ago (was found to have been involved sexually with a minor), so an elected BoE does not guarantee there won't be screw ups.
--more--

Because our BoE is not elected geographically, there is less chance of them worrying about one school in particular, but just like an appointed board, they can be swayed by local elected officials. Several years ago, there was an outcry in the northeast corner of Carroll to build a new high school because the existing school was significantly overcrowded. This was while the building boom was still on. Local electeds, including then county commissioners and a couple of mayors (including one that is now a commissioner) DEMANDED a new high school immediately. The school board caved, the school was built, the economy tanked and we are actually LOSING student population. We have over capacity, but probably not enough to close any large school (such as a high school) without an expensive redistricting and massive transportation expenses. Interestingly NONE of the school board members that approved building that school lived in that part of the county, they were just trying to do what the population wanted. The population cost us a heck of a lot of money with that move.
Any type of BoE depends on school staff for guidance and research, but a good board will work closely with school staff to make sure they understand the context of the needs of the greater community along with the needs of the school system when suggesting programs and items for discussion and vote.
--more--

I know this has been rambling but I hope it provides some background to make an educated decision about the best way to pick a BoE, and more important to expect that no matter HOW the BoE is selected, they will make mistakes and not everyone will agree with them all of the time. Such is our system (still the best in the world, in my humble opinion).

Ed I guess I misunderstood your stance. As Buck stated it was very detailed and offered a variety of issues.

From my prospective I don't trust the government and I was a cop for 39 years. What ever system is in place mistakes will be made and I think that the choice should be left up to the parents and voters.

There are so many issues at the local, state and federal level that are troubling and in my opinion the direction of the county, state and nation are not headed in the right direction.

Our ranking in the world is at its lowest point during my lifetime. I guess the difference is I have seen the government at work up close and personal and it is not pretty.

Our public education systems are stuck in a mold of dumb down...government approval of the process that is used...regardless of who or how it's run will maintain in this apathetic state of dumbness until the mold is broken...new idea's, new approach to education is what is needed....it's a curriculum thing in the long run..

Buck, accountability; there is none. In NY the students are allowed to curse at the teachers while in class and they will not take any action claiming it will disrupt the child's learning experience.

I have several friends that are county teachers and the experiences they tell are almost beyond comprehension.

Talk to any business CEO or manager and they will tell you what's out there. Our college grads are ill prepared for the business world and this was reflected in our police department years ago.

A shift sergeant once told me he gave up on reading reports because the grammar was so bad he couldn't understand it. Now they want to do away with cursive when kid's can't even read or write as complete sentence.

Karl, I know one gentleman who lost his race for council based on that formula. Sounds crazy to run county wide when most people in their home district don't know the name of their own councilman or woman. Too run county wide would be like flipping a coin

Thanks Senator Brochin for your vote. We will keep re-electing you.