Maryland's long-reigning state schools superintendent, Nancy S. Grasmick, said yesterday that she has no intention of bowing to Mayor Martin O'Malley's suggestion that she step down from her job once he becomes governor.
"I don't want to leave," said Grasmick, 67, who has worked with three governors during her tenure as superintendent.
Grasmick doesn't have to go. Appointed to a four-year term by the Maryland State Board of Education, she has 20 months left on her contract. The governor has little direct say in hiring a superintendent except through appointments to the state school board, and Grasmick's contract will be up before O'Malley could appoint a majority of the board.
In addition, the current board rarely tangles with Grasmick and usually supports her proposals.
"She is the best superintendent in the United States, and we don't want to lose her," said Edward L. Root, board president.
Last weekend, in a series of television and radio interviews, O'Malley suggested that she should leave. The Washington Post reported that O'Malley said on WUSA-TV, "I think it would be a great time for a fresh start. ... I think in her heart of hearts, she probably knows that, too."
O'Malley did not return phone calls yesterday, but a spokesman, Rick Abbruzzese, confirmed that the mayor does believe it is time for a "fresh start" in the superintendent's office.
Grasmick said she doesn't know what that means. "When you are raising the achievement of students across the state, when you see the successes that Maryland has, I am not sure about a fresh approach," she said.
O'Malley and Grasmick had a good relationship during Gov. Parris N. Glendening's administration, but it deteriorated as O'Malley tried to increase his involvement in running the city schools.
First, he stepped in to give the system a financial bailout in the winter of 2004, undercutting Republican Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr.'s attempt to provide a state bailout with strings attached.
O'Malley's move irritated Ehrlich and Grasmick, who has made clear her support for Ehrlich.
Then, last winter, Grasmick attempted to use the federal No Child Left Behind law to take over four Baltimore high schools and force the city school board to put seven middle schools in the hands of third-party operators.
The mayor and the city delegation to the General Assembly fought the move and won in the legislature, which put a one-year moratorium on the takeover.
