Magnet Schools

We want your opinions ISSUE: Anne Arundel County Executive Janet S. Owens is pushing for a math and science magnet program for Meade High School, and she says a major county employer - defense contractor Northrop Grumman Corp. - is ready to become a partner in the effort. Local, state and military leaders have pursued a magnet program at Meade to bolster the school's academic reputation and attract thousands of defense workers, mostly from Northern Virginia, who are considering whether to relocate to Fort Meade amid base realignment.

A quality shuttle first Not to look a gift horse in the mouth, but the latest proposal to create a fare-less downtown bus - or "circulator" as it's known in the public transit world - may not be the ideal approach. What downtown Baltimore needs above all else is an attractive, reliable and yes, even fun, shuttle to serve downtown. A free bus may sound appealing, but it's quality service that would attract riders. Charge a token amount (50 cents, perhaps) and customers will recognize that they're getting something of value - and the city will have the money to invest in a premium product.

In Baltimore County County man charged with drunken driving after woman killed ROCKDALE - A Lutherville motorist was charged yesterday with driving while intoxicated after a Woodlawn woman was struck and killed by a car as she crossed Liberty Road late Sunday. The driver, Bryan Moore, 37, of the first block of Hazymorn Court, was being held yesterday on $25,000 bond, police said. Police said a 2002 Mercedes Benz struck Matilda Shiri Bayong, 52, of the 3500 block of Wild Cherry Road as she walked across Liberty Road at Liberty Place Road about 11:40 p.m. The vehicle stopped a block east of the accident, and the driver called 911, police said.

In his first six months on the job, county schools Superintendent Kevin M. Maxwell has visited nearly all 118 public schools, met with countless parents, students, teachers and administrators and held a weekend summit on turning around middle schools. With the information he has culled on this fact-finding mission, Maxwell is expected in his second six months to propose major policy changes to reform middle schools, define magnet schools and expand the ranks of black and Latino teachers.

TOWSON -- A closed board of trustees meeting -- scheduled in part to evaluate the performance of the chancellor of the county's three community colleges -- has been rescheduled to Monday at the system's headquarters, 401 Washington Ave.The meeting had been delayed by the Dec. 28 death of the father of Daniel J. LaVista, the chancellor who oversees two-year schools at Dundalk, Essex and Catonsville. LaVista took the job 18 months ago to reorganize the system, which has 70,000 students and a $76 million annual budget.

When Stuart Berger was fired as Baltimore County schools superintendent in August 1995, he asked a favor of the principal of the Carver School Center for Arts and Technology -- find a way for him to give his daughter her diploma when she graduated as he had done with his other four children.Last night, Berger got the opportunity -- and more.In a move that raised more than a few eyebrows among county educators, Berger was the featured speaker at Carver's graduation ceremony at the Lyric Theatre in Baltimore.

Old Mill and Annapolis high schools may become Anne Arundel County's first magnet schools, if school board members endorse the superintendent's plan to establish the International Baccalaureate program at those campuses. During a school board retreat yesterday, Superintendent Eric J. Smith told board members that the schools were logical choices to house the program of rigorous coursework because of their location and capacity to absorb more students. Old Mill, in Millersville, would serve students living in the northern parts of the county; Annapolis would serve those from the south.

Anne Arundel County School Superintendent Kevin M. Maxwell has presented the school board with plans to redistrict schools in the South County and Mountain Road areas of the county, attempting to disrupt as few community schools as possible and remedy many of the area's overcrowding issues using magnet schools. Maxwell's recommendations for the South County closely mirror those of a committee made up of community leaders and parents who studied the issue there. However, Maxwell largely veered from the panel's recommendations for the Mountain Road corridor, choosing to keep most students in their current home districts and feeder system, with hopes that he can solve some of the area's space problems with magnet schools and programs that would attract voluntary student transfers.

A Frederick woman and her son filed a $7.1 million suit yesterday against the Maryland Stadium Authority and the Baltimore Orioles, saying they were injured in 1994 when an escalator collapsed at Oriole Park at Camden Yards.Kathryn E. Welty and her son Joseph allege in the city Circuit Court suit that they suffered back injuries June 18, 1994, when an escalator carrying about 150 people stopped and reversed direction, causing riders to tumble on top of one another, and sending about 40 of them to hospitals.

For years, school officials have kicked around the idea of putting a performing arts magnet school at Havre de Grace High School. Earlier this month, Harford County Executive David R. Craig gave that idea a boost when he endorsed it at a county school board meeting. The school board agreed to put together a community study group. But critics say the idea is misguided, wasteful and counterproductive. "Why do we need a performing arts magnet school when we already have so many high schools doing great work?"