At Budget Time, County Council Gets a Shopping List

Under the new law, the four candidates who win the greatest percentages of the vote in their districts in the 2010 election will serve four-year terms. The remaining five winners will serve two-year terms. When those five seats come open again in 2012, the winners of that election will serve four years. The result is to have roughly half the school board come up for election every two years.

Supporters of the old system said it forced board members to rise above parochial concerns to consider the interests of the entire county. Opponents argued it confused constituents and required candidates to run for election across the county, giving an advantage to candidates able to win the backing of state legislators.

Despite running into opposition in past legislative sessions, the bill passed both houses of the General Assembly with relative ease this year.

"Obviously, we're delighted that we've finally gotten back to where we should have been all along," said David L. Cahn, co-chairman of Citizens for an Elected Board, which had lobbied for the change for years. "The return to nine single-member districts means that the school board will be directly accountable. Each member will be directly accountable to the voters in his or her community."

A Dinner for Young Dems

About 200 young Democrats, and Democrats young at heart, gathered at the Lexington Hotel in Oxon Hill last Thursday for the annual Kennedy-King dinner of the Prince George's County Young Democrats.

Rep. Steny H. Hoyer gave the keynote address at the event, a fundraiser for the group aimed at Democrats 36 and younger. Luminaries in attendance included Comptroller Peter Franchot, Democratic nominee for Congress Donna F. Edwards, newly elected County Council member Andrea Harrison, state party Chairman Michael Cryor and former county executive Wayne K. Curry.

Numerous state delegates, senators and county central committee members attended.

"The young Democrats are really committed to making positive change, not just in our county but statewide," said Kim Ross, press secretary for the group. "We've shown this in primaries across the country. The youth vote has had real force. Part of what we try to do is engage young people, not just to vote but to invest in the future."

Ross said the fundraiser is part of a strategy to expand the group's visibility. Young Democrats also hosted a recent women's history event, as well as a debate before last month's special election for the District 5 County Council seat.

Weighing the 'Tag Along' Policy

The head of the Prince George's County Board of Education asked Superintendent John E. Deasy to come up with options for expanding specialized programs last week, putting off a debate over a proposal in which the siblings of students accepted into the programs would no longer have the right to be automatically admitted to those schools.

Board Chairman Verjeana M. Jacobs (At Large) said the proposal had generated plenty of public reaction. Long waiting lists have formed for admission to the academically successful Robert Goddard and John Hanson French immersion and Montessori programs, among others. Supporters of the "tag along" policy say admitting siblings helps keep brothers and sisters together; opponents say it unfairly restricts admission to those schools to a few lucky families.

Jacobs said she was on the fence on the issue and asked Deasy to look at whether it would be possible to replicate the specialized program, opening it to more students. In a previous meeting, Deasy had said the tight financial climate made that difficult.