Tenure

By now the pattern is familiar. President Bush comes before Congress all earnest and full of sweet talk about working together. But by morning, his promises often prove empty or disappear. With Mr. Bush's presidency at a political and popular ebb - and the opposition party running Congress for the first time during his tenure - a more truly conciliatory approach would seem obligatory for a leader in search of a positive legacy. Yet the president - despite some gracious words for House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and her late father, Baltimore Mayor and Rep. Thomas J. D'Alesandro Jr. - made clear last night he doesn't see it that way. He missed two prime opportunities for shared progress on domestic issues with his showcased initiatives on health care and energy.

Jane Kenworthy, the energetic, enterprising executive director of the Annapolis Symphony Orchestra for the past three seasons, said last night that she is resigning, effective in early January.Kenworthy, 54, said she is leaving to accept a position as executive director of the Greater Twin Cities Youth Symphonies, an organization that oversees eight young people's instrumental ensembles in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area.Kenworthy, who began her career in arts administration by managing the Greater Boston Youth Symphony Orchestra, expressed delight at the prospect of working again with talented young musicians.

You need a whole lot of fingers to point at everyone who has contributed to the Orioles' pitiful start in 1999. The players, the manager, the general manager, the owner -- it takes a village to go 16-27 with an $84 million payroll. Even the prior front office regime deserves blame.But when listing the villagers in order of culpability, don't put rookie general manager Frank Wren near the top.The underachieving players are ahead of him, as are the manager and owner.True, Wren signed setup guy Mike Timlin as a closer, gave Delino DeShields a regrettable three-year contract and botched the Xavier Hernandez signing -- moves that won't earn him any Executive of the Year votes.

WASHINGTON -- A woman who postponed her college teaching career to raise two children failed to get a hearing yesterday in the Supreme Court on her claim that her marriage and family were used against her by faculty peers who denied her tenure.The case of Cynthia J. Fisher, a biology professor at Vassar College, attracted attention among women's rights groups as a major test of the legal hurdles that women -- especially married women -- must surmount to prove they were the victims of sex discrimination.

Morgan State University was within its rights when it fired a state delegate who had taught at the school since 1972, the Court of Special Appeals ruled yesterday.Del. Salima S. Marriott, a West Baltimore community activist and former assistant professor at Morgan State, sued the university in 1995, alleging that it had wrongfully rescinded her tenure.Morgan State dismissed her in June.Suit's dismissal affirmedThe court affirmed Baltimore Circuit Judge David B. Mitchell, who dismissed the suit last year.

With a motion to adjourn its last meeting of the academic year, the Baltimore school board ended its turbulent tenure and closed out an era in city school management late last night.Except for the tears and the impromptu tributes, the board's final meeting was business as usual: awards for teachers, calls for increased parent participation, suspensions and personnel matters.In its final action, the board voted to authorize the drafting of contracts for four nonprofit groups to manage four schools.

WASHINGTON -- A former graduate student at Yale writes in the Chronicle of Higher Education that she has purged her shelves of certain professors' books because she can no longer read them ''without literally becoming nauseated.'' What sickens her is that the professors resisted recognition of a graduate-students' union. That is just one form of the strife that is depressing the quality of increasingly expensive college educations.Last year, to protest what they consider ''exploitation,'' Yale graduate students who are teaching assistants conducted a ''grade strike,'' refusing to turn in grades for the undergraduates they had taught.

WASHINGTON -- A former graduate student at Yale writes in the Chronicle of Higher Education that she has purged her shelves of certain professors' books because she can no longer read them "without literally becoming nauseated." What sickens her is that the professors resisted recognition of a graduate-students' union. That is just one form of the strife that is depressing the quality of increasingly expensive college educations.Last year, to protest what they consider "exploitation," Yale graduate students who are teaching assistants conducted a "grade strike," refusing to turn in grades for the undergraduates they had taught.

Citing allegations of secret meetings and incompetence, faculty leaders of Baltimore County's community college system the largest in Maryland -- are demanding that the system's board of trustees resign amid a rancorous reorganization.The call from professors at Essex, Catonsville and Dundalk comes after the 10-member board proposed eliminating tenure for new faculty members and other related policies. The professors say the moves undermine academic freedom and quality education for the system's nearly 67,000 full- and part-time students.

A state appeals court reversed yesterday an $822,000 judgment awarded by a Baltimore Circuit Court jury to two professors who sued after they were fired by Johns Hopkins Hospital in 1994.The Court of Special Appeals ruled that Drs. Samuel B. Ritter and A. Rebecca Snider were never offered tenure when they were recruited in 1993 and were owed no explanations when they were fired.Dr. Frank Oski, the hospital's director of pediatrics, clearly was in no position to offer tenure when he recruited Ritter from Cornell and Snider from Duke University, the court ruled.

Gov. Martin O'Malley defended on Monday Maryland's efforts to qualify for Race to the Top federal education funds, saying the state is competitively positioned despite being characterized by some as visibly lagging behind other states. The Democratic governor acknowledged that some states might be doing a better job meeting individual criteria set by the Obama administration to win a share of $4 billion in grants, of which Maryland could receive $150 million to $250 million. But he added that no state is doing better overall and touted Maryland's progress in turning around lower-achieving schools, coordinating educational efforts and emphasizing science, technology and math.

A national report on teacher quality gave Maryland a barely passing grade yesterday, saying teachers are tenured too easily and dismissed with great difficulty. Maryland is one of seven states that give tenure to teachers after two years of teaching, according to the National Council on Teacher Quality. The nonprofit, nonpartisan, Washington-based group is headed by Kate Walsh, who was appointed to the Maryland state Board of Education by Gov. Martin O'Malley in July. "Tenure is effectively automatic," Walsh said.

Give up your tenured job and get a big fat pay raise. That's the deal Washington schools chief Michelle Rhee is offering teachers in the nation's capital, and if enough of them decide to take her up on the proposal, its impact could be felt on school systems across the country. Ms. Rhee, who was appointed to her job in 2007, argues that all the benefits of tenure go to adults, not students. That's because tenure rules make it harder to fire ineffective or incompetent teachers. Since taking the job, she has dismissed hundreds of central office employees, principals and paraprofessionals as well as more than 200 uncertified teachers in her drive for excellence.

Mayor Sheila Dixon traveled to Chicago yesterday to meet with Mayor Richard M. Daley, a city leader who has focused much of his tenure on making the nation's third-largest city greener. The two-day trip, which also included First Deputy Mayor Andrew Frank and other city officials, was set so that Dixon and other key officials could learn about Chicago's environmentally friendly initiatives. The trip was funded with contributions from Gallagher, Evelius and Jones, a law firm that has represented clients in lawsuits against the city; the Parks & People Foundation; the Downtown Partnership; a foundation tied to M&T Bank; and the Waterfront Partnership.

Lest there be any remaining doubt, President Bush's refusal to allow even former aides to testify before Congress about contacts with the Justice Department is a tacit admission that he and Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales have plenty to hide. Yet it serves neither justice nor the dysfunctional Justice Department for Congress to wage a constitutional battle with Mr. Bush over his claim to "executive privilege." The president may well lose such a fight in the courts, but that outcome likely wouldn't come until after the end of his term in January 2009.

By now the pattern is familiar. President Bush comes before Congress all earnest and full of sweet talk about working together. But by morning, his promises often prove empty or disappear. With Mr. Bush's presidency at a political and popular ebb - and the opposition party running Congress for the first time during his tenure - a more truly conciliatory approach would seem obligatory for a leader in search of a positive legacy. Yet the president - despite some gracious words for House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and her late father, Baltimore Mayor and Rep. Thomas J. D'Alesandro Jr. - made clear last night he doesn't see it that way. He missed two prime opportunities for shared progress on domestic issues with his showcased initiatives on health care and energy.

A national organization of college instructors has removed two Baltimore-area institutions from a list of those that it said failed to abide by tenets of academic freedom and tenure, more than a decade after the schools were sanctioned. Members of the American Association of University Professors voted at the organization's annual meeting Saturday to remove the Community College of Baltimore County and the Maryland Institute College of Art from its censure list. The organization censured what was then Essex Community College in 1995 after four tenured professors were dismissed and the school eliminated its tenure system.

JERUSALEM -- Ariel Sharon's outsized brown leather chair sat empty at his Cabinet's table for the last time yesterday as government ministers formally ended the stricken Israeli leader's tenure as prime minister. By a unanimous vote, the Cabinet declared Sharon, who has been in a coma since suffering a devastating stroke Jan. 4, to be permanently incapacitated. The vote was a formality, spurred by legal necessity. Sharon's deputy, Ehud Olmert, assumed the duties of office the night the 78-year-old leader suffered a massive hemorrhagic stroke.

WITH 275 National Education Association members spending part of their summer vacation as delegates to the Democratic National Convention, it wasn't surprising to see NEA President Reg Weaver on the list of speakers last evening. The NEA wields enormous political influence. It has 2.7 million members in 13,000 American communities. And for nearly two decades it has been an efficient machine for the Democratic Party. Since its first presidential endorsement of Jimmy Carter in the 1980 election, the NEA has favored only Democrats.

Spurrier's personality didn't fit in with NFL Whether Steve Spurrier's style of football, namely concentrating on the passing game, will ever become a standard in professional football has not been answered by his brief tenure with the Washington Redskins. Instead, the question as to whether a gentleman with too much concern for the owner, the players and the assistant coaches can ever be successful in professional football has been answered with a resounding no. The highly competitive nature of professional football and the financial end of the sport play a large role in whether an individual who does not go for the jugular can ever succeed.