Dorothy Clowers arrived early at Dr. Henry A. Wise, Junior High School on a recent afternoon so she could secure a good spot at the front of the gym. Around her, dozens of other elementary school administrators would also vie for recruits, hoping to fill about 1,500 teacher and 479 staff vacancies before the first day of school. Clowers, the principal of William Paca Elementary in Prince George’s County, Md., eagerly held onto a sign bearing her school’s name as prospective teachers walked by.

This summer marks the 50th year of YouthWorks, with almost 7,900 jobs offered to Baltimore youth. YouthWorks, originally called Blue Chip, dates back to 1973. The five-week job opportunity gives young people from 14 to 21 an opportunity to make money, a chance to learn valuable skills and so much more. Students working on a mural Tuesday earn $13.25 an hour, and it’s money that comes in handy. Isis Queensbury, a Realtor’s assistant, is in her second year working for YouthWorks.

 

 

A new blue ribbon commission is scheduled to begin a series of hearings that could change how the state prioritizes and pays for transportation projects. Gov. Wes Moore (D), Senate President Bill Ferguson (D-Baltimore City) and House Speaker Adrienne A. Jones (D-Baltimore County) recently named the 31-member Maryland Commission on Transportation Revenue and Infrastructure Needs The commission is set to hold its first meeting on Aug. 24 in Annapolis.

Baltimore Comptroller Bill Henry thought long and hard about a request from a few Baltimore City power brokers, one that had been bouncing around a few tight-knit political circles: Run for mayor. But despite the closed-door coaxing and poll results that Henry believed showed a pathway to City Hall’s top office, Henry decided to run for reelection next year.

A public opinion poll making the rounds among Marylanders this week is gauging how people feel about a plan to revitalize Camden Yards, M&T Bank Stadium and the surrounding neighborhoods. “Camden Crossing,” according to the poll, could complement public-funded upgrades at the two sports parks with additional investment from the Baltimore Orioles into a “public-private partnership.”

A nasty fight over personnel matters between Wicomico County Executive Julie Giordano (R) and the seven-member county council is headed to court. Officially, it’s a dispute over Giordano’s desire to fill three high-ranking positions over the council’s objection. But it’s also the latest twist in an ongoing struggle between the executive and legislative branches in the Eastern Shore county, as Wicomico continues to settle in to its relatively new form of charter government.

 

The Board of Education will host a public hearing on the closure at 6:30 p.m. Aug. 23 at Pikesville High School and make its decision Sept. 12. The early learning center is recommended for closure because of students being routed to other schools. As part of capital improvement in the school system, 1,200 more seats are being added to elementary schools in the Northwest area, according to Pete Dixit, the system’s executive director of facilities management and strategic planning, and Paul Taylor, director of strategic planning.

Construction workers who work on federal projects are poised to receive better wages and worker protections under a Department of Labor rule touted by Vice President Kamala Harris on Tuesday. Speaking at a union hall in Philadelphia, Harris praised the Biden administration’s economic agenda and pointed out that the new rule would be the first update in more than 40 years to the Davis-Bacon Act, which requires paying prevailing wages on public works projects.

When hired to teach negotiation at the University of Baltimore, I felt prepared. I had spent a decade negotiating in 12 countries and with big companies like the NFL, Bloomberg and Google. I’d studied negotiation at Harvard and had a Ph.D. in Conflict Resolution. Turns out, I was far from ready. The first year: One student asked how, as a 6-foot, 4-inch tall, 220-pound Black man, not to intimidate white people during a negotiation; A second wanted to get her kids back from the court; and A third wanted to know how to divorce her husband without losing the financial support from her parents.

When a special educator in Baltimore County took leave for two quarters last school year, Beverly Folkoff’s caseload doubled. Relay Elementary School couldn’t find a substitute, so Folkoff, the county’s teacher of the year, and the only other special educator on her team, shared the extra six cases. That made it difficult to prioritize her teaching. “Am I going to teach the child in front of me or am I going to do this paperwork?” Folkoff asked herself. She always picked the kids, she said, but that meant spending extra hours after school to finish the paperwork.