Metro

Equal Funds for Charter Schools

The Maryland State Board of Education ruled Friday that school systems must provide as much money to charter operators for youths enrolled in charter schools as they spend on regular public school students.

The board's three nearly identical rulings on appeals by Baltimore and Prince George's County charter schools could force school systems to spend more than they had anticipated on charter schools.

The decisions also could give charter schools much more control over their programs and free them from dependence on fundraising or on such deep-pocketed partners as foundations. Charter schools are funded publicly but operate independently under contracts with school boards or regulating agencies.

VIRGINIA

Gunman Caught After Chase

A man fleeing Fairfax County police yesterday ran into a Shoppers Food Warehouse on Route 1 in the Hybla Valley area and took several employees hostage for a brief time before being apprehended, police said.

The man was first spotted shortly after 3 p.m. in a Home Depot on Route 1, said Shelley Broderick, a Fairfax officer. Employees at the store, which was robbed last weekend, grew suspicious of the man and called police, Broderick said. As officers arrived, the man ran through the parking lot and waved a handgun, police said.

The man darted briefly into a Ruby Tuesday restaurant where, unknown to police, he dropped his gun, Broderick said. He then ran into the Shoppers Food Warehouse in the 7600 block of Richmond Highway (Route 1) and, with something white wrapped around his arm, went to an employee area behind the bakery and took four hostages, police said.

Officers moved into the area near the bakery and eventually fired one beanbag round from a shotgun, knocking the man down, Broderick said. The man's name was not released, pending charges being filed.

THE REGION

Zoo Tigers' Birthday Celebrated

National Zoo officials yesterday celebrated the first birthday of three male Sumatran tigers -- Besar, Jalan and Marah -- that were conceived through a breeding program aimed at saving the species from extinction.

The species has become endangered largely because of poaching on the Indonesian island of Sumatra, Seidensticker said.

The zoo offered cake and ice cream to the public yesterday, he said.

QUOTE OF THE DAY

"Why would I cry? I was absorbed in how beautiful this child was. Here was a baby who smiled incessantly. I was completely taken with her."

-- Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-D.C.), discussing her reaction when her daughter, Katherine, was born 35 years ago with Down syndrome. -- C1

Compiled from reports by staff writers V. Dion Haynes, Ovetta Wiggins, Tom Jackman, Martin Weil, Amit R. Paley and Elizabeth Williamson and the Associated Press.