Baker, Jacobs square off over Prince George's County schools takeover plan
The chairman of the Prince George’s school board on Saturday lashed out at County Executive Rushern L. Baker III, calling his plan to take over operations of the county’spublic schools a “last minute power grab.”
In her sharpest public comments to date, Verjeana Jacobs (District 5) said such a shift in power away from the elected school board could contribute to further instability in a system seeking its sixth superintendent in more than a decade. “It is a major structural change unaccompanied by a plan,” she said.
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Baker (D) and Jacobs sparred publicly about the proposal for the first time at a county House delegation meeting. With two weeks left before the Maryland General Assembly adjourns, Baker conceded that the timing was not ideal. But he told state lawmakersthat it was imperative that changes be made before a new superintendent for the 123,000 student system is hired.
“We can’t kick it down the road anymore,” Baker said.
Delegates from the county on Saturday said they agreed that the system is in need of a major overhaul. The question is: Who should be granted control? The county executive, who has little legal authority over the school system and would like more? The nine-member elected school board? Or a combination of the two?