WASHINGTON 鈥� One day after Maryland鈥檚 governor said the Prince George鈥檚 County School system鈥檚 CEO should be fired, the school chief responded.
Kevin Maxwell said he was caught off-guard by Hogan鈥檚 comments.
鈥淚 don鈥檛 know where they came from,鈥� Maxell said. 鈥淚鈥檓 proud of the work we鈥檝e been doing here in Prince George鈥檚 County.”
He suggested that Gov. Larry Hogan鈥檚 comments were rooted in politics.
鈥淵ou know I鈥檓 not running for an office. I鈥檓 trying to run a school system,鈥� Maxwell said.
Prince George鈥檚 County Executive Rushern Baker, a Democrat and Maxwell’s boss, is running for office. Baker hopes to get his party鈥檚 nomination to run against Hogan, a Republican, who is running for re-election in a state where Democrats still outnumber Republicans nearly 2 to 1.
But Baker could be vulnerable on the question of education: He pushed for legislation giving him the ability to hire and fire the school system鈥檚 CEO. Baker has authority to appoint some of the members of the local board of education, as well.
Hogan has hit hard on the problems uncovered in a state audit after several members of the board called for Maxwell鈥檚 resignation, and members of the House Delegation asked for an investigation. Citing criticism Maxwell has received from inside Prince George鈥檚 County, Hogan referred to the concerns voiced by the Prince George鈥檚 County chapter of the NAACP.
鈥淭he NAACP has come out for his removal,鈥� Hogan said.
And just last month, the Prince George鈥檚 County Educators’ Association issued a vote of no confidence in the structure of the current county board of education.
Maxwell said it wasn鈥檛 clear the governor had read the audit from the state Board of Education. He repeated his prior insistence that while the State Board of Education found serious deficiencies with record keeping and concerns that there was inadequate documentation connected to hundreds of diplomas that had been awarded, there was no finding of a systemwide directive to commit grade fraud.
Maxwell suggested that the governor should pay a visit to Prince George鈥檚 County Public Schools. Baker said Hogan had not visited a single county school since being elected.
On Thursday, after checking, the governor鈥檚 Deputy Communications Director Amelia Chass茅 stated that the governor had visited Beacon Heights Elementary School in March last year, and that Lt. Gov. Boyd Rutherford had visited 鈥渁t least a half a dozen Prince George鈥檚 County schools, including Charles Carroll Middle School this past September.鈥�
Hogan repeated his assertion that Maxwell should be removed, in an interview with 草莓传媒.
鈥淗e needs to go, he needs to resign or the county executive needs to fire him,鈥� Hogan said.
While he continues to serve at the pleasure of the Prince George鈥檚 County Executive 鈥� who appointed him to a second four-year term, Maxwell said he would keep doing his job. 鈥淚 came back to Prince George鈥檚 County to try to fix issues.鈥�
