Teachers Association

Gov. Parris N. Glendening and Lt. Gov. Kathleen Kennedy Townsend picked up another endorsement from organized labor yesterday, when 12 Maryland locals of the United Auto Workers threw their support behind the Democratic ticket.Glendening and Townsend, who are running for re-election to a second term, are expected to lock up most of the state's union support over their primary challengers, Harford County Executive Eileen M. Rehrmann, Montgomery County businessman Raymond F. Schoenke Jr. and Prince George's County physician Terry A. McGuire.

It took a small group of retired teachers to save a retired schoolhouse. And it's not just any old schoolhouse. It is believed to be among the oldest public schools in the nation. Nestled between suburban homes of Davidsonville, in the community of Lavall, the tiny stone building had been home to the Annearrundell Free School of 1724, serving students from an area that now includes Howard County until the Civil War. It became a residence in 1875, was abandoned in 1956, and scheduled for demolition in 1975.

Daniel R. Lyle Jr.Ran schools programDaniel R. Lyle Jr., retired coordinator of the adult basic education program in the Baltimore City school system, died Monday of cancer at his home in the Morgan Park area. He was 66.He retired in 1983 after 30 years in the city school system. He started as a science teacher at Booker T. Washington and Cherry Hill junior high schools and joined the adult education program in 1970.He began his teaching career in 1950 in the Prince George's County school system.

Nicholas VrachosRetired history teacherServices for Nicholas Vrachos, who was a teacher in the Maryland and Colorado public schools for 30 years, will be held at 1 p.m. tomorrow at the Mitchell-Wiedefeld Home, 6500 York Road.Mr. Vrachos, who was 63 and lived on East Baltimore Street, died Saturday of lung cancer at the Johns Hopkins Hospital.He retired in 1985 after a teaching career that included more than 20 years at Dundalk High School. When he came to Baltimore in the late 1950s, he taught at Brooklyn Park High School.

The Maryland State Teachers Association posted a video on YouTube last week highlighting the shortcomings of the state's schools: old books, portable classrooms, sweltering classrooms, large class sizes. "We've made real progress over the last four years, but many schools lack the tools and resources they need to help all students succeed," the video says. "And now our leaders are talking about cuts to education to balance the state's budget." Yet look on the teachers association Web site, and it says that a vote in favor of Gov. Martin O'Malley's revenue package "is a vote for public schools."

It's unfortunate that reality and Trey Kovacs' recent commentary ("Unions business on taxpayers' dime," April 19) seem to bear little relation to one another. As the president of the Teachers Association of Baltimore County, I can say that he's way off on the two topics he attempts to tackle in his recent article: Fair Share and union release time. The Fair Share legislation will create an environment of fairness and equity among all of our educators, who all contribute to the negotiated benefits and legally required representation that they all enjoy.

Though Anne Arundel County school officials and teachers union leaders are pleased with a tentative three-year deal reached last week, funding the contract might be a tough sell to county officials. The agreement - if approved by teachers and the Board of Education - would give county teachers a 6 percent raise each year of the contract and restructure the teacher salary scale at a cost of about $30 million a year. The starting salary for a teacher with a bachelor's degree would rise from $36,339 to $39,041 a year, according to Oscar Davis, director of employee relations for the school system.

John D. Bethea, a former president of the Baltimore Teachers Union (BTU) who had been a track star during his high school and college years, died Sunday after a heart attack at his home in Forest Park. He was 51.He had taught for 22 years, at Lafayette Elementary School, then at Liberty Elementary School and finally at Hilton Elementary School.He was president of the BTU from 1974 through 1979. In 1976, the union and its rival, the Public School Teachers Association (PSTA), were decertified as bargaining agents for city school teachers as a result of a 1974 strike.

Priscilla HalpertRetired chief of nursingPriscilla Weeks Halpert, a retired chief of nursing at a veterans hospital in Dallas, died Oct. 31 at the Greater Baltimore Medical Center after a heart attack.Services for Mrs. Halpert, who was 91 and had moved to Broadmead shortly after its opening in 1979, were to be conducted at 10:30 a.m. today at the retirement community at 13801 York Road in Cockeysville.She and her husband, Dr. Bela Halpert, who had been chief of pathology at the same hospital, moved to Silver Spring about 20 years ago after they retired.

A CLASSROOM project has taken on more meaning for Robert Kegley, a 17-year-old Pasadena student at Archbishop Spalding High School -- winning him a $500 savings bond as a national finalist in the Duracell/National Science Teachers Association (NSTA) Invention Challenge 2000. Robert built a car -- a model one, anyway. It is battery-powered, hydraulic vehicle named Panther. It won't be running down Energizer bunnies, but through an attached control line the car can go through some hops of its own. The car was among 100 inventions selected from more than 1,400 entries in this year's contest, and rides into competition for the top prizes and a trip to the national NSTA convention in Orlando, Fla. Panther came to life as a final project for teacher Eugene Newman's engineering class at Spalding High in Severn.