Strong leadership can uplift public schools

Originally published in the Baltimore Examiner

By Alison Lake
Published on Monday, April 10, 2006
Recently the state department of education targeted 11 Baltimore City schools for eventual takeover. No Child Left Behind allows such action with schools that demonstrate a sustained pattern of low test scores for five years or more. The city’s broken special education system has been under state control since summer 2005. Now, four high schools and seven middle schools are the first in the country to be overtaken by the state under the auspice of No Child Left Behind. Read More »

The Contradictions of Government and Tobacco Use

By Alison Lake
Published on Wednesday, January 18, 2006
For Marylanders who detest cigarette smoke for health or personal reasons and for Marylanders who savor the experience of lighting up a cigarette, state and county tobacco policies are fraught with contradictions. For example:   The Baltimore County sports fan with an allergy to cigarette smoke might not be able to watch a football game in a sports bar unless he drives out of his way to a smoke-free bar in Montgomery, Talbot, or Prince George’s counties.   The smoker living in Montgomery, Talbot, or Prince George’s who pulls out a lighter in a restaurant or bar will be breaking the law unless she takes her offending activity out to the sidewalk.  A state that officially values green space, farming, and its agricultural heritage tries to discourage the activity of farming tobacco, even though tobacco is a lucrative market for farmers and is a cornerstone in the state’s agricultural history.   Maryland taxes cigarettes higher than any other retail product and profits $1.20 for every pack of cigarettes sold.  Of over $400 million received yearly from the states’ tobacco settlement, Maryland spends only $9.2 million on smoking cessation programs. Read More »

Parents With Special Needs

Originally Published in the Washington Post

By Alison Lake
Published on Sunday, December 04, 2005
Last month the Supreme Court ruled in a case involving Montgomery County Public Schools that parents must assume the burden of proving that the special-education plan the schools devise for their child is lacking [front page, Nov. 15]. Read More »

School Options Opening Up For Parents

Originally Published in The Baltimore Sun

By Alison Lake
Published on Tuesday, August 16, 2005
It was once unfashionable, even unpatriotic, to criticize one’s local public school, and for years mainstream media were reluctant to reveal a systemic decline of public education. For better or worse, No Child Left Behind changed all that. Suddenly, schools became accountable and their shortcomings were made public. That was four years ago. Read More »

With Prescription Drug Reimportation, the Invisible Hand is Tied

Originially Published in the Washington Times

By Alison Lake
Published on Tuesday, February 08, 2005
Benjamin Disraeli once observed, “Free trade is not a principle, it is an expedient.” When it comes to the debate over reimportation of prescription drugs, the free trade of goods and services is not at question. The Montgomery County Council’s plan to reimport prescription drugs for its employees is illegal and is not guaranteed to save money for employees and providers in the long term. Read More »