By Liz Bowie | Liz Bowie,liz.bowie@baltsun.com | October 24, 2008

Clarification: An article in yesterday's editions about the Maryland High School Assessments might have left the incorrect impression about when results of last spring's tests will be released. The results will be released to members of the state school board Tuesday morning, before board members might take a vote on whether to delay requiring that students pass the exams to earn high school diplomas, according to a state



M onday's announcement that federal oversight of Baltimore City's special education programs will be ending within two years was rightly hailed by civic and educational leaders as a major milestone. It is a testament to how far the city school system has come recently and a reminder of how dysfunctional it was for most of the 26 years the lawsuit has been in effect. But as good news as the announcement was, one has to ask: Why did it take the city schools so long to persuade the plaintiffs in this case that it was finally prepared to do the things that it should have been doing all along?

When Lillian Gonzalez started out in public education 20 years ago, she began in a classroom in the South Bronx teaching mentally retarded children. Since then, she has built a career on helping students with special needs -- the developmentally disabled, those who don't speak English, the homeless, children born to drug-addicted mothers.It is a journey that brought her to the Washington public school system 2 1/2 years ago, to a job in which she has overseen the delivery of services to special education and bilingual students, as well managing adult and community education.


Marie Anita Bailey, 71, special education teacher Marie Anita Bailey, a retired Baltimore public school educator and African-American history buff, died of cardiovascular disease Tuesday at her Forest Park home. She was 71. She was born Marie Anita Jefferson in Baltimore and raised on Etting Street. After graduating from Douglass High School, she attended what was then Morgan State College before transferring to Coppin State College. Mrs. Bailey earned her bachelor's degree in education from Coppin State College in 1963, and returned to the college to earn a master's degree in special education in 1973.

By Arin Gencer | Arin Gencer , arin.gencer@baltsun.com | October 7, 2009

The Baltimore County school board unanimously approved a $2.5 million contract Tuesday night for special-education services for children from birth to age 5. The five-year contract, to be funded with federal stimulus money, will provide behavioral consultation, and assessment and support services for children with developmental delays or disabilities. "The first five years of life, we're providing the foundation for learning for the rest of that child's career in school," said Paula Boykin, the district's birth-to-5 supervisor, who also directs the Infants and Toddlers Program.