Md. Bill To Target Tenure of Grasmick

"The governor is not interested in exercising direct control over the appointment of the superintendent," said Joseph C. Bryce, O'Malley's chief legislative officer. "But the current system . . . doesn't make sense."

Going forward, the four-year term of a superintendent would end two years into the term of a new governor, ensuring that the governor has input into the selection of an important member of his Cabinet for at least part of his term, Miller said.

The bill would also give the governor the option of appointing an education adviser to his Cabinet other than the superintendent. Of O'Malley's two dozen Cabinet members, only Grasmick does not serve at the pleasure of the governor.

O'Malley accused Grasmick of "doing Ehrlich's bidding" during his 2006 campaign by seeking to embarrass him over the performance of Baltimore schools. The relationship between O'Malley and Grasmick reached a low point in March 2006, when state education officials moved to seize control of 11 struggling Baltimore schools.

Grasmick said the state had authority under the federal No Child Left Behind Act. The legislature promptly passed a bill blocking Grasmick's action and then overrode Ehrlich's veto of the measure.

More recently, O'Malley has called Grasmick "the poster child" of No Child Left Behind and "a pawn" of the state Republican Party. Grasmick is a registered Democrat but was considered as a running mate by Ehrlich.

Few policy rifts have emerged publicly between Grasmick and O'Malley in the year he has been governor. The most notable centered on alternate routes to graduation for students who fall short on high school exit exams. But O'Malley has said he feels impeded in pushing education initiatives, such as expanding vocational offerings for high school students and using teacher surveys to gain more feedback about the classroom.

The board's decision in December to extend Grasmick's term drew sharp rebukes from Miller and Busch, who had written members a letter asking them to hold off on a decision until July. Grasmick's staff in the boardroom in Baltimore gave her a standing ovation when board President Dunbar Brooks announced the decision to extend her tenure.

Grasmick's selection as superintendent in 1991 followed legislation pushed by Schaefer that reconstituted the board to facilitate Grasmick's hiring. Schaefer had been outraged in 1988, early in his tenure as governor, when the school board hired a superintendent who was not his preferred candidate.

A bill passed the following year increased the number of board members and reduced the length of their terms, moves that were widely viewed as helping Schaefer gain control of the board more quickly.