By Jackie Spinner and Eugene L. Meyer
Washington Post Staff Writers
Thursday, January 29, 1998; Page A09

Patricia Dennis, whose four children attend Prince George's County schools, threatened yesterday to teach her daughter at home if the state takes over her Temple Hills middle school.

County Council member Thomas R. Hendershot (D-New Carrollton) accused the state superintendent of picking on majority-black school systems.

Principal Willie L. Banks, whose Overlook Elementary School was one of nine schools that the state put on notice to improve academic performance, accepted the intervention. "Whatever the weaknesses are the state will strengthen them," he said.

The news that the state was insisting that four elementary and five middle schools either improve their test stores or be subject to a takeover was met with a mixture of outrage, begrudging acceptance and embarrassment yesterday.

"It is a very sad situation," said Janette Bell, president of the Prince George's County Educators Association, which represents about 7,800 teachers and other school employees. "Prince George's has been put under a microscope that is different than the rest of the state."

Wayne K. Curry File Photo

Some said the county and the state had failed to provide the resources needed for improvements. County Executive Wayne K. Curry (D) said the school board was at fault and got what it deserved. Others pointed to teacher turnover and the high numbers of low-income children in the school system.

Ada Carter, president of the Parent Teacher Association at Overlook Elementary, blamed everyone.

"I hold the state responsible for not funding us," she said. "I hold the county and the school board accountable because they should have monitored this. I even hold the community responsible, the parents. If you are not involved, you are not effective."

Still others, such as George A. Brugger, chairman of the board of the Prince George's Economic Development Corp., said the state's actions should be seen as a positive step. The school system's struggles have made it difficult to attract business to the county in recent years, he said.

"If this improves the schools, God bless them," Brugger said. "We are glad the schools are getting attention."

School administrators, likewise, tried to look on the bright side. "We accept this as a challenge," said Sinie M. Evans, principal of Nicholas Orem Middle School, one of the targeted schools. "We're hopeful the state will afford us additional resources -- personnel, finances, facilities. We will reach our mandate."

As the students filed out of Nicholas Orem yesterday and onto awaiting buses, Brenda Quailey, 34, of Hyattsville, waited in her car for her daughter, Shenelle, 12, a seventh-grader.

"It's a good school. The teachers are very nice," Quailey said. Shenelle said: "It's okay. It could be better. The teachers could teach more and explain the work."

Dennis, whose son attends G. Gardner Shugart Middle School and whose daughter will attend the school next year, said her beef is not with the county but with state education officials.

"I resent the fact the state has resorted to making threats," Dennis said. "I resent the fact that the state can come in and do things."

Hendershot, the newest member of the council and a former school board member, who is white, lambasted state officials for "picking on" Prince George's and Baltimore schools, "because these are the predominantly black school systems in the state."

If State Superintendent Nancy S. Grasmick "were holding people accountable, she'd be doing it in other jurisdictions," he said.

In addition to the Prince George's schools, the state has targeted 79 in Baltimore, including 29 identified yesterday; one in Anne Arundel County; and one in Somerset County.