Calvert County Democrats held their annual Louis Goldstein Dinner at the Rod N Reel Club.    This event is always well attended by Southern Maryland Democrats and draws a large number of elected officials from around the state.  I always look forward to seeing some people that I don’t get to see in my day to day business – either in Charles County or in Annapolis.

Today’s hearings centered on education issues and HB1263 – The Education Reform Act of 2010 gathered support from groups across the state.  Many of you know that the federal American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Race to the Top Fund) provides $4.35 billion to states through competitive grants to encourage and reward states for implementing significant education reforms.

This bill is sponsored by the Governor’s Office and proposes three major reforms to make Maryland more competitive for these grant monies:

1. The probationary period before tenure for teachers is increased from two to three years.  There will be annual evaluations by local boards of education and a mentor may be assigned after the first year of teaching if the teacher needs assistance.  (41 states currently require three to five years of teaching experience prior to tenure.)
2. A framework would be required to incorporate student growth data to be included as a significant factor in teacher and principal evaluations.
3. To facilitate a more equitable distribution of highly effective teachers across all schools, stipends would be available to those highly effective teachers and principals who teach in the State’s lowest performing schools.

These are new proposals designed to help Maryland be competitive in the grants race and keep Maryland schools top rated for the future.

Another long day in Hearings in Ways and Means – the subject today was “Campaign Financing.” While this may not sound interesting to many of you, this is both an ethical and fairness issue in elections.  Most of the bills today centered around who could give donations to candidates and when.  There is concern that large corporations and foreign corporations, may be in a position to influence elections by giving large donations to candidates.

Based on the testimony, there does not appear to be a problem at this time in local and state wide elections, but this has been an issue on the national level.

Christmas in April celebrated their 20^th anniversary with a party at the Old Waldorf School.  Their slogan was “Its time to Kick Off to Rebuild for 2010.” Christmas in April is dedicated to keeping elderly and disabled homeowners living in warmth, safety, independence, dignity and decency through home repair and rehabilitation services.

Skilled and unskilled volunteers work together on projects of painting, carpentry, plumbing, cleaning, and gardening.   This program depends solely on the contributions of money, materials, equipment and labor by local companies, organizations, churches and individuals.  If you are looking for a place to make a difference, please consider Christmas in April.

Joe’s Place scheduled their Volunteer Appreciation Spaghetti Dinner this evening.  Joe’s Place was started by Joe Plemons with the aid of Father David MacDonald at Christ Church Durham.  Joe solicited volunteers to rehab space owned by the church and then recruited volunteers and supplies to open a food bank.  Joe’s Place doesn’t stop there; they have not only provided enough food for 250,081 meals, but also 5,904 articles of clothing, 712 toys for children, and 708 personal hygiene and 415 paperback books to the residents at the Maryland Veterans home in Charlotte Hall.  Generous hearts attend Christ Church.

I took my grandson, Bryce, and we both had spaghetti.  Bryce says that Joe’s Place is a “good restaurant.”