Nancy Grasmick

Updated with Liz Bowie report from school headquarters: Maryland schools Superintendent Nancy S. Grasmick is stepping down from her post as the nation's longest-serving state education chief. Grasmick, 72, announced her retirement this afternoon to a large gathering of workers at the state Department of Education office that bears her name. She'll step down June 30. "I have made a very tough decision to leave," she said. She highlighted the state's accomplishments on its Advanced Placement performance, its preparation for kindergartners and its successful Race to the Top application.

Nancy S. Grasmick Age: 72 Personal: Married to Louis J. Grasmick, owner of a lumber company Education: A graduate of Western High School in Baltimore City, she earned her bachelor's degree from Towson University, her master's from Gallaudet University and her doctorate from the Johns Hopkins University. Work: She began her education career as a teacher of deaf children at the William S. Baer School in Baltimore; she went on to serve as a classroom and resource teacher, principal, supervisor, assistant superintendent and associate superintendent.

Like so many other articles in recent months, Nancy Grasmick's opinion piece that appeared in The Sun on March 14 emphasized the most recent buzz term in education, STEM ( "Maryland: The state of science" . Her statement, "Our nation has ignored science and math education for far too long," rang painfully true to me as a parent. When my daughter entered the Baltimore County school system as a kindergartner in 2006, at what was touted as one of the county's top schools, complete with excellent Maryland standardized test scores, I expected something more academically.

Maryland was one of nine states and the District of Columbia declared a winner Tuesday in the $4.3 billion education competition designed to reshape teaching in schools across the country. The $250 million the state will receive by Sept. 30 will help to fund what state leaders call a new wave of education reforms. In the past year, state education officials and lawmakers have changed the rules governing teacher tenure and evaluations, adopted a new set of standards for what will be taught in the classroom, agreed to overhaul failing schools and pledged to develop a new system for collecting student data — all in hopes of winning the federal money.

You know it's summer when Solstice hits — both on the calendar, and at the Maryland Science Center. The center's "Solstice" has become quite the summer gala, with some 700 guests indoors and out, under a tent or under the stars, swinging on the dance floor or swinging by one of many food stations and bars. Van Reiner , the center's president and CEO, chatted with honoree Dr. Benjamin Carson and his wife, Candy Carson . Meanwhile, board member Dr. Patricia Schmoke and her husband Kurt Schmoke , Howard University Law School dean and former mayor of Baltimore, browsed the buffet with Dr. Bruce Taylor , Taylor Service Company president, and his wife, Dr. Ellen Taylor , Northwest Hospital chief of gynecology.

School districts across Maryland are being asked this week to engage in discussions and activities addressing the issue of school bullying after several recent high-profile cases in Baltimore and the nation. Maryland first lady Katie O'Malley and state schools Superintendent Nancy S. Grasmick have designated May 24-28 as Bullying Awareness and Prevention Week. O'Malley, along with state education officials, will kick off the week Monday morning with a visit to Pikesville Middle School.

Nancy S. Grasmick began as a teacher of deaf children at the William S. Baer School in Baltimore. She subsequently served as a classroom and resource teacher, principal, supervisor, assistant superintendent and associate superintendent in the Baltimore County Public School System. In 1989, Gov. William Donald Schaefer appointed her special secretary for children, youth and families; in 1991, the State Board of Education appointed her state superintendent of schools, and last week, the panel extended her contract for four more years.

Am I the only one in Maryland feeling a twinge of sympathy for state school Superintendent Nancy Grasmick? Grasmick's taking heat for proposing that students who can't pass one or more of the high school assessments required for graduation be allowed to complete senior projects in lieu of the exams. Three months ago, Grasmick was telling me about the heat she was taking from parents because the tests were required for graduation. Throughout the 1990s, many Maryland teachers groused about Grasmick's support of the MSPAP -- the Maryland School Performance Assessment Program.

Whoever gets named Maryland Teacher of the Year at Martin's West tonight will get a $25,000 Pontiac convertible, $9,000 in cash, lots of computer hardware and software, a visit to the White House, and a trip to space camp in Huntsville, Ala. But wait, there's more! This year, for the first time, the winner will also get to sign a contract, saying he or she won't use the title to endorse any political candidates or products. The change was inspired by Linda Eberhart, who was identified as a former state teacher of the year in a campaign ad for Martin O'Malley.

Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. said yesterday that he would "proudly" veto a bill passed by the General Assembly that imposes a moratorium on a state takeover of city schools, but Mayor Martin O'Malley and city lawmakers insisted that they had the votes to overturn the governor's decision. The governor said yesterday that federal education funds would be jeopardized if the state does not act promptly to find new management for 11 failing Baltimore middle and high schools. The state school board, at the recommendation of Superintendent Nancy S. Grasmick, approved the takeover last week, believed to be the first of its kind under the federal No Child Left Behind Act. Many city lawmakers said the state action was heavy-handed and done without communicating with Baltimore leaders, and smacked of election-year politics.