As General Assembly leaders considered ways to reverse the State Board of Education's decision to renew Superintendent Nancy S. Grasmick's contract, Gov. Martin O'Malley announced yesterday three nominees for the board who could eventually give him the leverage he needs to oust her.
Grasmick has stayed in power for 16 years, thanks in part to strong backing in the legislature. But even as many lawmakers praised Grasmick's service, leading lawmakers said yesterday that they would consider changing state law to make it easier to fire her.
O'Malley, who clashed with Grasmick when he was mayor of Baltimore and she attempted a takeover of 11 city schools, had made clear that he wants a state schools superintendent more in sync with his views.
Once O'Malley's new picks take office in July, his appointees would control the board. Yesterday, nominees did not directly answer questions about whether they thought Grasmick should be replaced, but they said they supported the governor's desire for a new direction in education policy.
"The governor feels that he should have the right to have his own person in the office," said state board nominee Kate Walsh, president of the National Council on Teacher Quality. "I am sure that it is an issue that the legislature is likely to take up, and if not, the new board may have to look at it."
O'Malley declined to answer questions yesterday about Grasmick's appointment.
Grasmick's current four-year contract is set to expire July 1, but the board voted in a closed-door meeting Tuesday to give her another term.
Legislative leaders had asked the board not to renew Grasmick's contract until O'Malley's appointees outnumbered those selected by former Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr., a Republican defeated by O'Malley last year. Though Grasmick is a Democrat who was appointed by then-Gov. William Donald Schaefer, she had close personal and political ties to Ehrlich.
In response to Tuesday's action, lawmakers said they will consider legislation to allow the state board to fire the superintendent at will.
Many local school boards have the power to buy out the contracts of their superintendents. Currently, the state school superintendent can only be terminated for cause.
Supporting Grasmick
Grasmick has supporters in the legislature. State Sen. Janet Greenip, an Anne Arundel County Republican, said she has disagreed with Grasmick over the years on standardized testing policy, but she said it's impossible to argue with the progress Maryland students have made under her tenure.
