Education
My father, Senator Bob Kittleman, taught me that “education” is the great equalizer in that it allows people to overcome obstacles in their lives. It is for this reason that I have always been a strong advocate for public and private education.
In the 2010 General Assembly Session, I supported the Education Reform Act which improves the public education system in Maryland. It established performance pay for teachers and increased the time to obtain tenure from two years to three years. These reforms will improve teacher quality and will also enable Maryland to become more competitive in obtaining Federal “Race to the Top” funding.
I also supported the BOAST initiative that would have made it easier for private businesses to contribute to both public and private schools. Unfortunately, although the legislation was passed by the State Senate, it did not receive approval from the House of Delegates.
I opposed the so-called “Fairness in Negotiations Act” which was championed by the Maryland State Teachers’ Union. This legislation establishes for the first time in the United States a Public School Labor Relations Board (PSLRB) that has the power to bind local school boards. Therefore, it enables the PSLRB, an unelected body appointed by the Governor, to oversee the decisions of locally elected school boards. The Maryland Association of Boards of Education, the Carroll County Board of Education and the Howard County Board of Education opposed this legislation. Unfortunately, the legislation was enacted by the General Assembly and was signed into law by Governor O’Malley.
In addition to their legislative duties, it is important for elected officials to not only work on education issues during the General Assembly Session, but to also participate in many school activities and programs. For the sixth year, I assisted with the Simulated Congressional Hearings (SCH) in many Howard County Elementary Schools. The SCHs require 5th grade students to research the US Constitution and to explain their rights and responsibilities as citizens. I also spoke with political science students at Century High School in Sykesville.
Along with Delegates Gail Bates and Warren Miller, I sponsored TV Free Week in the Howard County Elementary Schools located in District 9. Delegates Bates and Miller and I arranged ice cream socials to reward the students who were able to complete the challenge to go one week without watching television.
