LINING UP AGAINST HOGAN ORDER: Prince George’s County Executive Rushern Baker said in an interview on WBAL-AM Thursday that Gov. Larry Hogan’s executive order on school start dates didn’t just shut out legislators. It also shut out local concerns in favor of a one size fits all solution.
- The Baltimore Sun does a quick roundup of what local school boards think of Gov. Hogan’s directive.
- Erin Cox and Liz Bowie of the Sun write that school administrators across the state say they will consider shortening spring break to meet the requirements of Hogan’s executive order. From Allegany County to the Eastern Shore, Maryland school systems will be ripping up their tentative 2017-2018 calendars and trying to squeeze in five to 10 more days of instruction between Labor Day and June 15.
- Anne Arundel County school officials said they would have to cut vacation days to comply. Cindy Huang of the Annapolis Capital writes that Bob Mosier, spokesman for Anne Arundel County Public Schools, said the system will have to convert 10 vacation days into school days to comply with Hogan’s order.
- Some Maryland legislators are considering challenging an executive order issued by Gov. Hogan that mandates all public schools in Maryland start their academic year after Labor Day, reports John Rydell for WBFF-TV.
- Andy Campbell of the Huffington Post reports that the order exacerbates an ongoing battle between education leaders and Democrats in the state legislature ? who called the order “extraordinary and legally questionable” ? versus the governor and the tourism industry. The education side says students and parents will pay the price for an extended summer, while Hogan’s camp argues that families will have more time together and local economies will thrive.
- State Sen. Bill Ferguson writes in MarylandReporter.com: “If we are to have a conversation about adjusting our school calendar, let it not be about starting the school year later, let it be about making the year longer, richer, and more purposeful.”
- The Sun offers up an interactive calendar where you can pick and choose the days of the school year to attend according to Hogan’s executive order.
- The Washington Post editorial page says Hogan’s move “will hurt Maryland students … We would say it is a sad day when education policy is driven by Tilt-A-Whirl attendance in Ocean City rather than what’s best for students. Let’s hope lawmakers figure out a way to return rationality to this matter.:
HOGAN, OTHERS DEFEND DECISION: MarylandReporter.com publishes a press release issued by the governor’s office that is an unusual direct response to criticism found in news stories related to Gov. Larry Hogan’s order to begin the school year in 2017 after Labor Day.
- Summer meets fall in September — when schools should open for the academic year. That’s the popular opinion among Princess Anne-area students and parents, who welcome Gov. Larry Hogan’s order to launch the school year in September after Labor Day. That’s even if a delayed start shortens winter or spring breaks or extends the academic year by a day or two, Gino Fanelli and Deborah Gates report in the Salisbury Daily Times.
DIVERSITY COMPLAINT OVER POT LICENSES: Leaders of the state’s medical marijuana commission are meeting with Attorney General Brian E. Frosh next week to figure out how to achieve more racial diversity when the panel awards licenses to companies to dispense the drug. There are 811 applications for up to 94 dispensary licenses pending. They are being reviewed and ranked without regard for the identity of the applicants, reports Erin Cox in the Sun.
- The Maryland Medical Cannabis Commission is facing outrage from policymakers and some prospective companies because minorities lead few of the 30 businesses that the commission approved to grow and process marijuana for medical purposes, Fenit Nirappil of the Post reports.
CHAIR DEFENDS PANEL: The chair of the Maryland Medical Cannabis Commission has fired back at claims that the panel could and should have considered racial and ethnic diversity when reviewing applications to grow and process the plant, reports Daniel Leaderman for the Daily Record.
SCHUH ASKS RECONSIDERATON ON TRANSGENDER RULE: Anne Arundel County Executive Steve Schuh on Wednesday asked the Anne Arundel Board of Education to reconsider allowing transgender students to use bathrooms of their gender identity. In a letter to school board president Stacy Korbelak, Schuh wrote that the guidelines infringed on the rights of students who may be uncomfortable sharing locker rooms or bathrooms with transgender students, writes Cindy Huang for the Annapolis Capital.
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