Gazette: Ervin blasts superintendent over ‘rogue' funding plan for schools

From today's Gazette:

http://www.gazette.net/stories/11112009/montnew182201_32531.shtml

The chairwoman of the County Council's Education Committee called the head of the county school system a "rogue superintendent" in the wake of a state attorney general's opinion last week involving education funding that has touched some nerves.

Councilwoman Valerie Ervin (D-Dist. 5) of Silver Spring castigated Superintendent Jerry D. Weast for not communicating adequately with the County Council or the school board.

"It's really a problem," she said. "He's basically a rogue superintendent."

[...]

In a statement Nov. 4, Weast said he was "disappointed, but not surprised" by the attorney general's opinion. "We had serious concerns that the County Council's plan did not meet the maintenance-of-effort provision and, unfortunately, we were correct," the statement said.

The school board and Weast agreed Tuesday to ask the state to hold the schools system harmless on any penalties.

On Monday, Ervin took issue with Weast's comments and said he "doesn't seem to be controlled in any way."

"At this point, the superintendent has no bearing on the discussions," she said. "There's a lot going on here, and a lot of it is Jerry running his mouth when he doesn't need to run his mouth."