School & District Management

Gov.-Elect Wants Chief to Go

By Vaishali Honawar — December 05, 2006 1 min read
  • Save to favorites
  • Print

Maryland’s newly elected governor believes it’s time for state schools Superintendent Nancy S. Grasmick to say goodbye, but she says she’s not leaving the job she’s held for 15 years any time soon.

Nancy S. Grasmick

According to Rick Abbruzzese, a spokesman for Gov.-elect Martin O’Malley, who is serving his last few weeks as the mayor of Baltimore, Mr. O’Malley and Ms. Grasmick have not spoken directly in months.

Mr. O’Malley, a Democrat, has said in a series of radio and television interviews since his election Nov. 7 that he believes it is time for a change at the state department of education, which Ms. Grasmick, 67, has led since 1991 under governors of both major parties.

“I think it would be a great time for a fresh start. ... I think in her heart of hearts, she probably knows that, too,” Mr. O’Malley told the Washington-based WUSA-TV last month.

Mr. O’Malley and Ms. Grasmick, who have long been at loggerheads over how to improve the Baltimore city schools, particularly clashed earlier this year after the superintendent attempted to take over four of the city’s low-performing schools under provisions of the No Child Left Behind Act—the first attempt in the country to invoke the federal law as grounds for a state takeover.

The legislature thwarted the attempt, but Ms. Grasmick’s move was interpreted by many in Maryland as political.

Although a Democrat, she has been a close ally of outgoing Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr., a Republican who, at the time, was anticipating his eventual contest with Mr. O’Malley over the governorship.

Mr. O’Malley has no direct power to remove Ms. Grasmick, who was appointed by the 12-member state school board and is part way through a four-year contract that will expire in June 2008.

“The state department of education was designed to be separated from politics, and that has served the citizens of Maryland really well,” said Bill Reinhard, a spokesman for Ms. Grasmick.

A version of this article appeared in the December 06, 2006 edition of Education Week

Events

Ed-Tech Policy Webinar Artificial Intelligence in Practice: Building a Roadmap for AI Use in Schools
AI in education: game-changer or classroom chaos? Join our webinar & learn how to navigate this evolving tech responsibly.
Education Webinar Developing and Executing Impactful Research Campaigns to Fuel Your Ed Marketing Strategy 
Develop impactful research campaigns to fuel your marketing. Join the EdWeek Research Center for a webinar with actionable take-aways for companies who sell to K-12 districts.
This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
Privacy & Security Webinar
Navigating Cybersecurity: Securing District Documents and Data
Learn how K-12 districts are addressing the challenges of maintaining a secure tech environment, managing documents and data, automating critical processes, and doing it all with limited resources.
Content provided by Softdocs

EdWeek Top School Jobs

Teacher Jobs
Search over ten thousand teaching jobs nationwide — elementary, middle, high school and more.
View Jobs
Principal Jobs
Find hundreds of jobs for principals, assistant principals, and other school leadership roles.
View Jobs
Administrator Jobs
Over a thousand district-level jobs: superintendents, directors, more.
View Jobs
Support Staff Jobs
Search thousands of jobs, from paraprofessionals to counselors and more.
View Jobs

Read Next

School & District Management Opinion A Good Principal Knows When It's Time to Leave
I didn’t leave my job because of burnout; I stepped away from being a school leader because it was in everybody’s best interest.
Matthew Ebert
4 min read
Conceptual illustration of someone handing off a baton to someone else over a completed puzzle.
Vanessa Solis/Education Week via Canva
School & District Management Principals Tell Politicians on Capitol Hill: We’re Burning Out
Students' mental health top principals' growing list of concerns.
6 min read
People walk outside the U.S Capitol building in Washington, June 9, 2022.
Visitors walk outside the U.S Capitol building in Washington on June 9, 2022.
Patrick Semansky/AP
School & District Management Women Superintendents Experience Bias on the Climb to Leadership
Interpersonal slights and inequities make it hard for women to land the job and stay in it.
3 min read
Woman stands in front of a staircase in different colors. She is about to walk up the stairs. Concept of standing in front of a challenge and finding the right solution and courage to move on.
mikkelwilliam/E+
School & District Management Fewer of Today's Superintendents Are at Retirement Age
A new survey of superintendents adds to what we know about the people who lead the nation's school districts.
4 min read
Conceptual illustration of money, salaries and data.
iStock/Getty