Practical Feminism: A Review of Fox-Genovese’s Reevaluation of Feminism

For the vast majority of men, the basic pattern of life has not changed in 3,000 years. As young boys, males play, go to school; later, they get jobs, get married, raise families. Life is now more competitive than it used to be, and the rhythm of life accelerated as students learn computer science and […]

Schmoke’s Gamble: A Conversation with Urbanologist Fred Siegel

Last year, Frederick F. Siegel, a history professor at New York’s Cooper Union for the Arts and Sciences, released a somewhat pessimistic book on the fate of America’s cities, The Future Once Happened Here.1 During one of his recent visits to Maryland, the Calvert Institute conducted a lengthy interview with Siegel. In particular, the institute […]

Unfinished Work: Baltimore Academy of Excellence Looks to Future

The Baltimore Academy of Excellence (BAE) is located on the 4200 block of Belair Road in Baltimore, next to Herring Run Park.1 It was founded by Jacqui Gough (see photo 1) almost three years ago, supported by the Greater Grace World Outreach, a nationwide, nondenominational church that places great emphasis on urban outreach projects. Though […]

The Right Choice for Taxpayers: How Parental Choice would Save Public Funds

In the winter 1998 issue of this journal, Robert C. Embry, Jr., president of Baltimore’s Abell Foundation, asked in a letter to the editor, “A graduated voucher [system] would certainly reduce the public cost of existing private school students – but would it be enough to keep or attract the middle class?”1 In part, the […]

Flunking H.B. 999: Do’s and Don’ts for Charter Legislation in Maryland

Maryland has no legislation authorizing charter schools, nothwithstanding the fact that the charter-school movement is one whose time has undoubtedly come. Regardless of Maryland’s tardiness, there are currently 787 charter schools serving students in 23 states and the District of Columbia.1 One inhibiting factor is that the powerful Maryland State Teachers’ Association is, at best, […]

Union Rules: A Summary of Liebmann’s Agreement

Last July, the Calvert Institute published a Calvert Issue Brief by Baltimore attorney George Liebmann. Called “The Agreement: How Federal, State and Union Regulations Are Destroying Public Education in Maryland,”1 the study included the first analysis of all 24 teachers’ union contracts currently operative in this state. A summary of the report is reproduced below. […]

The Agreement: How Federal, State and Union Regulations Are Destroying Public Education in Maryland

About the Author George W. Liebmann, J.D. George W. Liebmann is a practicing lawyer in Baltimore City. He is the author of two books, The Little Platoons: Sub-Local Governments in Modern History (Praeger, 1995) and The Gallows in the Grove: Civil Society in American Law (Praeger, 1997). He has also authored numerous articles on constitutional […]

Padded Payroll: An Examination of Municipal Employment Practices in Baltimore City

About the Author Kantayhanee Whitt is currently an assistant program manager with a Baltimore-based non-profit enterprise that provides training and technical assistance to organizations and institutions involved in community development. She received her master of arts degree in policy studies at the Johns Hopkins University in 1997. In 1995, she received her bachelor of science […]

Focus on the Facts: Deadly Maryland

Despite recent self-congratulation due to Maryland’s declining crime rate over 1997, the fact remains that this state compares most unfavorably. According to FBI violent crime data taken from the Census Bureau’s Statistical Abstract of the United States for 1996, in 1990 Marylanders experienced 919 violent crimes per 100,000 state residents. This made the Free State […]

The Interview: Ellen R. Sauerbrey, Former House Minority Leader

We continue our series of interviews with the major contenders in the 1998 gubernatorial race. In this issue, we talk with Ellen Sauerbrey, the Republican gubernatorial nominee in 1994 and the former minority leader in the Maryland House of Delegates. Calvert Question. What accomplishments were you most proud of as minority leader in the House […]