By DeNeen L. Brown
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, January 29, 1998; Page A01

Maryland's state school superintendent yesterday declared nine poorly performing Prince George's County schools ripe for a state takeover and ordered immediate improvements by local officials.

The intervention, which puts school officials on a tight timetable to identify the schools' failures and prescribe corrections, represents the state's strongest censure of the troubled school system to date and gives state lawmakers ammunition to use against Prince George's school officials, who are asking for millions of dollars in new state construction and operating aid.

State Superintendent Nancy S. Grasmick said educators, administrators and parents should consider the action a "wake-up call for these schools because these schools are not performing in a satisfactory manner."

She added: "With these schools, we actually see declining progress."

Despite the stinging assessment, Prince George's school officials were optimistic about the announcement and said they already had identified those nine schools and 14 others as needing serious corrective action.

Jerome Clark File Photo

"The same schools the state identified, we have identified," said Prince George's Superintendent Jerome Clark. "If the state had not taken this action, the board and I would have taken this action."

In declaring them eligible for takeover, state officials cited poor and declining scores on standardized tests at the four elementary and five middle schools targeted in Prince George's: Beacon Heights, Lyndon Hill, Overlook and Seabrook elementary schools and Charles Carroll, G. Gardner Shugart, Nicholas Orem, Stephen Decatur and Thurgood Marshall middle schools.

The state also designated as takeover targets 29 more Baltimore schools -- adding to the 50 Baltimore schools already on the state's watch list -- and one school each in Anne Arundel and Somerset counties.

Prince George's school board Chairman Alvin Thornton (Suitland) acknowledged that the nine Prince George's schools clearly had performed poorly on state tests, but he said many other schools are in trouble, demonstrating the need for more state money.

"There are 30 or 40 schools that could be in the same place these nine schools are in," Thornton said. "The fact is there are 30 or 40 schools that have systematic problems."

Grasmick said there is no requirement that schools targeted for "reconstitution" be given any special state assistance, although Baltimore schools on the list have been given supplemental money.

Several state legislators have said Prince George's school officials must be held more accountable if they are to receive additional money from the state. Del. Howard P. Rawlings (D-Baltimore) has pushed for an appointed school board to replace the county's elected board.

Prince George's County Executive Wayne K. Curry (D) blamed the school board for failing to head off problems earlier and criticized members for rejecting his offers to help bring accountability to the system.

"We have an elected school board, which is independent," Curry said. "When you try to help them, they say you are intruding on their territory. They are simply reaping what they've sown."

Some county officials and parents said yesterday that they were horrified by the state's action and that the warning of impending intervention makes the county look bad.

"It really is a little disturbing, a little disheartening, but we can't hide our heads in the sand," said County Council member Dorothy Bailey (D-Temple Hills). "The schools drive where we are going in Prince George's County, and where we are going is somewhere great. But we need our schools to get there. That's the challenge."

Prince George's public schools posted the second-worst performance of all Maryland school systems on the Maryland State Performance Assessment Program tests last year, behind only Baltimore schools. The testing program measures the performance of third-, fifth- and eighth-graders in reading, writing, language usage, math, science and social studies. Only 29 percent of Prince George's public school students scored satisfactory or better on the tests last year.

For schools identified as eligible for "reconstitution," school officials are required to draft detailed plans on how they plan to turn the schools around. Prince George's school officials must submit to the state Board of Education by April 1 a report outlining how the schools are failing. By June 1, the school system must submit a plan that lists specific goals and deadlines for accomplishing those goals.

Schools will then have an opportunity to correct the problems they have identified; a takeover would occur only if the state determines the schools are not making significant progress.

State officials say it could take three to five years to see any progress in the schools. After that time, if the schools do not show significant improvement, the state could turn over the operation of those schools to a university or private education company. The state also has the authority to close schools if all else fails.

"Reconstitution will only occur when a school is failing to educate its students," Grasmick said.

Last year, Clark reorganized six poorly performing schools, replacing principals and requiring entire staffs to reapply for their positions. This month, he identified 23 schools that might be reorganized if their scores did not improve, although he said that the reorganization would not be as drastic or as "disruptive."

Yesterday, school officials said they could not say immediately why scores were dropping at the schools targeted by the state.

"Nobody seems to know why they are dropping," said school board member Marilynn Bland (Clinton).

Bland suggested that teachers were unhappy about their pay and said that although some teachers are doing a good job, others are doing "the bare minimum. You don't have a full dedication from everyone. Some of the teachers need to go."

Lewis Robinson, executive director of the Prince George's Educators Association, said yesterday that the county loses about 700 teachers a year to surrounding school jurisdictions, where pay is better. "We've become the training ground for surrounding school districts," Robinson said.

Staff writers Amy Argetsinger and Jackie Spinner contributed to this report.

PRINCE GEORGE'S SCHOOLS IN CRISIS

The Maryland Department of Education named nine Prince George's County schools as among the poorest-performing schools in the state.

One factor officials cited in naming the schools as possible takeover targets was their scores on the Maryland School Performance Assessment Program. The nine schools had among the lowest percentages of students who scored satisfactory or better on the state tests.

PERCENTAGE OF STUDENTS SCORING SATISFACTORY OR BETTER

Statewide 41.8%

Beacon Heights Elementary School 12.5%

Lyndon Hill Elementary School 12.1%

Overlook Elementary School 12.0%

Seabrook Elementary School 11.8%

Charles Carroll Middle School 18.1%

G. Gardner Shugart Middle School 17.0%

Nicholas Orem Middle School 19.3%

Stephen Decatur Middle School 19.7%

Thurgood Marshall Middle School 18.9%

SOURCE: Maryland Department of Education