Nancy Grasmick

THE DEBATE about how education will proceed in Baltimore City rages unabated. I am thankful to Adrian W. Rich of Baltimore, who wrote a thought-provoking letter in response to Saturday's column about a proposed amendment giving the state total control of Baltimore's schools."

Wonderful. For 10 weeks, Our Lady of the Public Schools, Dr. Nancy Grasmick, has been selling this good-faith $254 million rescue plan for the schools of Baltimore, worrying she wouldn't be able to sell suburban legislators on the deal, only to find herself blindsided by politicians back in the city.The mayor of all Baltimore, Kurt L. Schmoke, is said to be having second thoughts, and maybe even third. Then the president of the City Council, Lawrence A. Bell III, a man of generally diplomatic temperament, talks of "hidden agendas" and "castration."

President Clinton arrived in Annapolis yesterday, glanced at 83-year-old State Comptroller Louis L. Goldstein, who's an old political acquaintance, and chuckled, "I was in first grade when he became comptroller." Then the president commenced his speech to a joint session of the Maryland General Assembly, during which an entire new generation of American first-graders had the time to grow up and, if not run for office, at least begin noticing the initial onset of puberty.Or maybe it just seemed that long.

THIS SEMESTER, I teach a bright, charming, talented young woman named Kate Devlin who, as I write this, is deciding how to spend the $60,000 in college scholarships she's won for excellence in the fine arts.I'm also privileged to know Annapolis High's Robin Dudley, a fine violinist who fiddles in the Chesapeake Youth Symphony and was recently awarded a four-year tuition waiver by Towson State University, valued in excess of $24,000. (She passed up a similar deal at West Virginia University to remain in state, by the way.)

A radio advertisement for a Baltimore bank says that Nancy S. Grasmick recommends its services, raising possible ethical questions for Maryland's superintendent of schools.On a commercial on radio station WBAL-AM, Dr. Grasmick's husband, lumber company executive Louis J. Grasmick, endorses Harbor Bank of Maryland and says his wife does, too."If you want a bank that's friendly, reliable and cares about your business, Nancy and I recommend the Harbor Bank of Maryland," Mr. Grasmick says.Later, an announcer urges listeners to visit a branch and says, "Like Lou and Nancy Grasmick, you will be convinced that the Harbor Bank of Maryland is Maryland's premier community bank."

Trauma workers make most of 'platinum' timeUshering a parent from the 12th-story heliport into a hospital's critical care waiting area, as his or her child is unloaded from a Maryland State Police MedEvac helicopter, can be one of the toughest parts of caring for pediatric trauma patients.Often these parents have watched a son or daughter change from a healthy, happy child to a critically injured one while riding a bike, crossing the street, swimming or engaging in other activities that can turn a daily experience into the cause of a child's death.

There was lots of excitement and some comic relief at Wednesday night's kickoff party for those involved with the planning of "100 Years of Broadway." This revue will be held in the Kraushaar Auditorium at Goucher College and will benefit Minds Across Maryland, a reading and learning campaign.The kickoff party took place at the offices of Diamond Comic Distributors, which is owned by Steve Geppi, one of the sponsors of the event scheduled for Oct. 28. His offices are, without a doubt, a comic book lover's dream come true and guests were treated to special tours where they saw his incredible and valuable collection.

School funds not best sign of excellenceAfter reading Frank Langfitt's Dec. 19 article, "School aid: reform hasn't changed much," I was again reminded when it comes to school spending, the matter with money is not how much but simply how.In the 1993 Maryland School Performance Report, I found that on the nine measures of the Maryland Functional Tests, 13 counties outperformed Montgomery County.These included Calvert County, whose students achieved eight excellent scores and one satisfactory.

An informal resume for Mary Ann Saar might identify her as a tough-as-nails prosecutor, a William Donald Schaefer loyalist and woman who once exchanged gunfire with three would-be robbers.She made her reputation in the city's criminal courts, where she was Maryland's first female chief deputy under then-State's Attorney William A. Swisher. She left the courtroom in 1983 for a series of political appointments under Schaefer, beginning with the Mayor's Coordinating Council on Criminal Justice.

The state Board of Education was to announce formally this afternoon that Nancy S. Grasmick, secretary for the Department of Juvenile Services, will take over as state superintendent of schools.The announcement was scheduled for 2:30 p.m. in the board's offices.Grasmick, who assumed the juvenile services post in January, will continue as special secretary for the Office of Children, Youth and Families, the state position that first lured her from the Baltimore County public school system two years ago.As superintendent, she replaces Joseph L. Shilling, who announced his resignation in May.Her departure from juvenile services means the department will have to find its third secretary this year.