It would be nice to alleviate the fiscal problems of the State by acceptance of the Ed Dept's proposals to the Feds. However, the problem is, what will Grasmick and the school boards do with the money? Their prior record of innovation and raising MD students to world levels in math and languages is awful. Are Maryland families, particularly poor and working class families, all of whom are under great economic stress normally and even under more stress in the Obama Era, willing to crack down on their kids and make the sacrifices to put Education First at home as well as in the classroom?

MD like other states has received tens of billions from the Feds for poor districts, special ed and occupation ed in the past two decades. The results? Students in all districts who fall behind world standards. Praising ourselves for beating what our students did over prior performances is foolish, when you begin at an unacceptable level and rise to another mediocre level.

Grasmick and the stagnant never changing bureaucracy need to be replaced with innovative thinkers unafraid to step on the toes of legislators, O'Malley, and most importantly parents who lack the guts to make academics the primary activity in a house. The computer games and ipods need to go. The textbooks and literature, that's right, print, need to stay. Science needs to be mastered and at grades far lower than in the easygoing Nancyland kingdom

Maryland may be the best ed system in the USA or not (although why do kids in North Dakota read better with far less spending by the State?).

Whether or not it is the best, again, being the best among the mediocre is not good enough. How does our Race to the Top program fit against what Korea and China do for their kids with far lower per capita expenditures.

Family and society traditions and respect for teachers and the Past are what counts in education. Not fancy projectors and happy face group activities!