I couldn't disagree more with the Board of Education's statement.

There is no evidence that Rushern Baker is using this simply as "political gambling chips". That's a cheap shot and Mr. Baker has a HISTORY - every effort he has taken since first elected was for the good of the community - never for his own aggrandizement. I challenge them to cite any instances in his time as County Executive when he wasn't motivated by the interest of the citizens of Prince Georges County. The same CANNOT be said for many members of the Board of Education.

The Board of Ed has had forever and produced no results. Give Mr. Baker a shot. He will look to and act toward producing better educated students - even if it upsets the status quo and is a blow to the current bureaucracy.

Go get em' Rushern!

Get rid of the incompetent, dishonest board members, hire a qualified Supt. from the county and say a prayer. In order for the school system to go forward " THE RIGHT SPIRIT" must be within that selected individual. If the County Executive wants to govern a corrupt school system, he must be willing, ready and able, to govern Maryland Park/Planning and WSSC...as well.

Mr. Baker was the person who spear headed the replacement of the elected school board with an appointed school board headed by Beatrice Tignor. Now he wants full control over the elected by the people board decisions and superintendent. The final decisions will rest with him which will render the board as puppets with no strings and the peoples voices MAY NOT be heard. Not a good idea.

What has been the accomplishments of the Board? Why are students in PGCPS lagging behind Montgomery and Howard county school systems? If the board cannot fix the problem, it should not be part of the problem.

Mr. Baker should stick to running Prince George's County. The only thing he should have any say in is to require (demand) that all sitting Board of Education members have at least a master’s degree. Check out this link to a Washington Post article dated November 4, 2012: http://articles.washingtonpost.com/2012-11-04/local/35503116_1_board-members-school-board-college-degree. It is a disgrace in this day and age to have a school board comprised of only high school graduates with two of its members holding a bachelors degree. My wife's parents were both Prince George's County educators both of whom held Masters Degrees in Education almost fifty years ago. How can a school district that requires a Masters Degrees of their teachers, have a school board comprised of high school graduates? How can this school district ever hope to improve while its top supervisory educators lack the knowledge needed to manage subordinates that have superior educational credentials?

I say it's about time someone recognized the mess our county is in and did something about it. The turnover in superintendents, the waste and bureaucracy, funding programs that put money in private industry and useless certifications, a slipshod approach to hiring that's cost us some of the best teachers I've met and put others in place who have no business teaching at all - these are all endemic of a problem with our county's school system and its leadership. The school board has had plenty of time to get their house in order. It's time for a different tactic.

I totally agree with Michael. The minimum education level for a board member should be a masters degree!! I also think Baker wants control of the school board budget the money is at the root of this legislation.

I have been a Prince Georges County resident for six years now. I welcome the takeover of the school system. Since I have lived in the county I have been upset and disgusted with how our schools are run in Prince Georges County! I applaud Rushern Baker and respect him ever more for having the leadership ability to stand and say enough is enough! I feel the boards opposition is due mainly to keeping their jobs. I empathize with them however some of them are not qualified for the position. What have they done for the county? We have the highest drop out rate of all the counties in Maryland! Our students test scores are some of the lowest in comparison to Montgomery and Howard Counties. There are few AP courses and minimal global travel amongst students in the county. Disciplinary and Bullying problems are rampant in the system. The school buildings and facilities are old,out dated and in desperate need of repair! We do not have adequate Special Education resources and most importantly we are Falling Behind other students and counties when it comes to technology in the classroom!!! It's time for a change. I'm on board because I am tired of paying for expensive private or catholic schools. It's time for a change and I am a Prince Georges County resident who supports Rushern's takeover all the way!

On one hand I think it may make sense that the superintendent does not report to the Board of Education. Its sort of akin to the county executive reporting to the county council. The BoE should probably just be focused on putting together policy and not running the school system on a day to day basis. However, I fear that this could have an unintended consequence in that each new county executive would want to have their own pick in place for superintendent leading to more turnover. This would negate the assertion that we want to have a superintendent in place for the long term.

The one thing I do like about what Mr. Baker is asking for, is total control of the school boards budget. Since all the counties in Maryland are now required start paying for the teachers retirement package. We do need more control on the school board budget and controlling their authority to give out unsustainable pay increases. Which in turn raises the cost across the board for all of us.

As a PGCPS teacher under what seems to be a selfish Board full of cronyism & nepotism running rampant, I would love to see what County Executive Baker would do to change the corruption that is clearly evident in Prince George's County Public Schools.

Concerned educator I agree! The problems is the use of retreads in leadership. I am also a PGCPS teacher. The problem falls on leadership not in the school setting. Failed principals are the area directors or supervisors of this or that. There are overlapping leadership positions being held by persons that should have retired years ago, but have it to good to give up their six figured salary. We have the reputation of training the best to help run other school systems. If you look into other counties I'm sure you will find a former PGCPS teacher or administrator thats making things happen for them. The leadership would rather hire an assistant principal or principal that retired from another school system than to give one of their own an opportunity to lead. thus they pay that person mid level salary instead of entry level for a fresh new up and comming leader that has been trained using PGCPS funds. In closing Mr. Bakers doesn't need to take over, he needs to hold back the funds until the school system cuts the fat and brings in qualified entry level leadership so the savings can go to the teachers and hopefully help retain or internally trained educators. In other words stop being a recruiting grounds for the counties and the second paycheck for people just looking to stay five years to be vested in two systems.

Absolutely Mr. Baker should take over the Board. I echo all the sentiments already expresed here about the Board. They are completely ineffective, and have little to no success as evidenced by the PGCPS record and their inability to attract, hire and retain a qualified Superintendent. Their own lack of education in the chosen industry is an embarassement and completely appalling. The School Board is cronyism at its best. Ms. Jacobs, Esq. while, a lovely lady, is only the big fish because she is the most educated. While I think that an elected school board is the way to go, there is not enough interest on the part of the community to elect a qualified school board anymore because half if not more of the parents who genuinely care about their children have long since given up and sent them to private schools. So this 'elected Board' is elected by less than 10% of the county. Clean house, Mr. Baker.

Hate to sound redundant: If the County Executive wants to govern the school system, he must be courageous enough with the " RIGHT SPIRIT" to " clean house" at Maryland Park/Planning and WSSC. The cover ups, political clicks, illegal hiring and promoting, stealing, educators afraid to discipline students, and the list goes on, must come to an end.

As a resident with a child that attends a PGCPS school, I absolutely welcome a county takeover. The alleged nepotism and corruption that continues to surround this board and some of the leaders in Upper Marlboro is appalling. The status quo should not be allowed to continue.