Maryland Business

Maryland is in the top tier on this report card.

For the second year in a row, Maryland’s College Investment Plan is rated as a top choice by Morningstar Inc. in its report on the best – and worst – college savings plans.

Our state’s plan, managed by T. Rowe Price, earned its top position due to its “solid lineup of actively managed funds.” Low fees also count in its favor: the annual fees range from 0.68% to 0.97%, which is reasonable for actively managed funds.

Also included in the “best” category: Colorado, Illinois, and two plans from our neighbor, Virginia.

If you’re saving for your child’s education, Morningstar says, be glad you’re not in these states: Mississippi, Nebraska, New York and Ohio.

JACKIE SAUTER, Web Editor

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You may have seen Karen Buckelew’s report this morning on President Bill Brody’s impending (well, Dec. 31) retirement from Johns Hopkins University.

Watch below as Brody talks about his experiences with the JHU faculty, student body and connecting with the community during his twelve years as president.

Video shot by Daily Record photographer Max Franz.

Please enable Javascript and Flash to view this Flash video.

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Through free lesson plans and glossy handouts, Deloitte LLP urges classrooms full of high school students to “consider a career you may never have imagined: working as a professional auditor.”

They’re right about the imagination part.

A story in today’s Wall Street Journal highlights how Deloitte, Lockheed Martin and other corporations are lending a helping hand to high schools, providing materials, computers and training for teachers – and “hoping to create a pipeline of workers far into the future.”

At first glance, it seems like a win-win; companies are fearful of a future labor shortage, and state education funding isn’t cutting it.

But critics say the line between academics and commercialism is being crossed.

What do you think?

JACKIE SAUTER, Web Editor

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In another of a series of changes at Villa Julie College, Shelton Rhodes Ph.D. would be the new business school’s first-ever dean.

The move comes as school officials are also brainstorming on what to re-name the 60-year old college, which will be re-christened as a university.

According to a press release from the school, a total of about 80 names were originally suggested to the naming committee. From those, six finalists were selected and are now being reviewed by focus groups.

The names, in no particular order from Villa Julie’s Web site are:

• Billiart University — This name comes from the school’s founder, Sister Julie Billiart.

• Stevenson University — From the Villa Julie Web site, this name was selected because it reflected “the rural and sentimental roots of the College.”

• Tufton University — Pays homage to a community that lies between the Stevenson and Owings Mills campuses of the school.

• Great Oaks University — Inspired by seven oak trees on the college’s original grounds not to mention its legacy fund.

• Sagamore University — Chosen because it is the name of an estate that lies between the Stevenson and Owings Mills campuses.

• Greenspring University — I figured it was because the main campus was on Greenspring Valley Road. But, according to the site this name was inspired by “the valley, roads and history connecting our two campuses the “green” motif.”

BEN MOOK, Assistant Business Editor

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We had a lot of interest in recent news of a cash reward offered to HoCo high schoolers who “snitched” on the perpetrators of a food fight.

If you felt that a cash bribe for information was iffy, this might go entirely over the line in your estimation: students in Baltimore high schools will soon get a cash incentive to boost their scores on state graduation exams.

The AP reports:

Students who have failed at least one exam under Maryland’s High School Assessments will earn $25 for improving test performance by 5 percent. If they improve an additional 15 percent, they will get an additional $35. Another 20 percent improvement will earn an additional $50.

I wonder, now, what is the incentive to do well on the exam the first time?

JACKIE SAUTER, Multimedia Editor

Update: The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports here that Fulton County, Ga. students will be paid $8 per hour to attend after-school tutoring programs.

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WaPo has an interesting front-page profile today of Annapolis’s St. John’s College and its struggle to attract and enroll minority students. Its goal is shared by many academic institutions, including the University System of Maryland.

Only 35 of St. John’s 489 students are minorities – just over seven percent of the student body.

The story concludes by pointing out how the tables have turned: it’s no longer the school that needs to be convinced that it needs minorities; now, the minority students are the ones who need convincing that St. John’s is the best place for them.

JACKIE SAUTER, Multimedia Editor

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Tuition isn’t the only dollar figure climbing at universities across the country.

According to a new survey published by The Chronicle of Higher Education, the salaries for college presidents are going up, with 12 university presidents earning at least $1 million for the 2005-2006 school year.

Among the 12 was Maryland’s own William Brody of the Johns Hopkins University. Brody saw $1,938,024 in total compensation for the period.

An AP story on the report notes that the continued rise in tuition is outpacing inflation. I can’t help but think of all those massive corporations that pay their CEOs tens of millions of dollars while cutting back funding in other areas. Are presidential salaries really the best place to direct all those educational funds?

To tell you the truth, I have no idea. But I’m interested in what you think.

-JOE BACCHUS, Web Specialist

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For parents of disabled children in Maryland, it has to seem like there’s no good choice for their children’s education.

After reading this afternoon that more than 30 Baltimore city school bus drivers are refusing to work because their paychecks bounced, I happened upon an AP story that, for a moment, had me thinking privatization may be the answer.

Former social worker Mark Claypool entered the world of private, for-profit special education schools in 1999. Now his company, Educational Services of America, operates more than 120 schools in 16 states (none in Maryland). The company generated $75 million in revenue this year.

ESA, based in Nashville, Tenn., partnered with a private equity firm in 2004. It also receives funding from vouchers, state contracts and, of course, tuition, which ranges from $8K to $49K per year, depending upon the student’s needs.

One of ESA’s competitors is Baltimore-based Alternatives Unlimited, founded by Dr. Stuart Berger, who served as superintendent of both Baltimore County’s and Frederick County’s school systems. Berger also received a law degree from the University of Maryland.

But Berger’s company doesn’t operate any schools in Maryland. Although the company Web site says Berger “conceived Alternatives Unlimited because of his deep concern about the number of students who ‘fall through the cracks’ in public education, especially in urban school districts,” the nearest A.U. schools are in Pennsylvania and Washington, D.C.

Maybe that’s because of the controversy surrounding his tenure in Baltimore Co., including his “inclusion” program that reassigned many disabled students to mainstream schools.

How about it? Who should (and can) serve Maryland special education students best: private companies (any takers?) or the public system?

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