Parham leaves system in promising shape

Anne Arundel schools: Board must find superintendent who can continue the progress.

SHE WAS the right leader at a tough time.

In eight years, Carol S. Parham has guided the 74,000-pupil Anne Arundel Public Schools out of a terrible scandal and provided sage, common-sense leadership.

Dr. Parham announced Monday that she will leave Jan. 1 to become a professor at the University of Maryland College Park's College of Education.

Her resignation came as a surprise, but it should have been expected. Dr. Parham's tenure has been longer than that of the average superintendent, and she has been a hot commodity in education circles. She stabilized the system after a state investigation faulted her predecessor's handling of a horrible sex scandal. She has preached the sermon that education and economic development are twin towers for growth, and she has done it with great eloquence.

Fighting for education hasn't been easy. Dr. Parham's public battle with former County Executive John G. Gary over support for education was nasty and was partly responsible for the former executive's defeat.

During the feud, many school buildings were neglected, leaving the county with a maintenance backlog that reached $400 million. Dr. Parham's partnership with County Executive Janet S. Owens has started to close the school maintenance chasm. Construction crews worked on 80 schools last summer and will bring tools to 80 schools this summer, too.

Thanks to the Owens-Parham partnership, a bigger chunk of the county's operating budget is going to education, enabling schools to reduce class sizes in lower grades, support reading-intensive programs and raise teachers' salaries.

If Dr. Parham's role was to put public education at the top of Anne Arundel County's agenda, her successor's job will be keeping it there.

She says the time is right for her to go. Perhaps. But the past eight years certainly have been the right time for her to serve.