News

Maryland Governor Martin O'Malley visits Bladensburgh High School

Tour of Bladensburg High Part of O'Malley's Effort To Change the Subject
By John Wagner
Tuesday, January 29, 2008; Page B02, Washington Post.com

Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley gamely pushed his sleeve above his bicep as a student in a nursing class at Bladensburg High School prepared to take his blood pressure yesterday.
"Now, I had some coffee on the way here," O'Malley (D) warned playfully. "Like I had five gallons of it."

But not to worry. The reading, 121 over 70, was pronounced normal. And O'Malley, followed by a throng of media types and county officials, continued his merry tour of the three-year-old school building in Prince George's County.

Hypertension was not on the itinerary.

During a high-stakes special session in November, O'Malley and lawmakers did a number of things that were not politically popular, as the governor now puts it. Chief among those was raising taxes in an effort to fix the state's finances.

Yesterday's visit was designed to give O'Malley another opportunity to talk about one of the most popular things he and lawmakers plan to do during the current session: spend what they say is a healthy amount on school construction.

O'Malley first proposed spending $333 million at a news conference in Annapolis nearly two weeks ago. That was followed by a visit to a Baltimore County school, which would get a new roof under the governor's construction plan.

Yesterday will not be the last time O'Malley visits a school to promote his plans, aides acknowledged, particularly if the television cameras kept showing up.

"Let's go tour," O'Malley said, after arriving about 45 minutes behind schedule and being greeted by County Executive Jack B. Johnson (D), several Prince George's school board officials and other elected leaders.

First stop: a county-run health clinic in the school, something O'Malley would like to see more of in Maryland.

Next: an appearance in an Advanced Placement biology class on the fifth floor. O'Malley was offered the elevator but insisted on climbing five flights of stairs, to the seeming dismay of some in his entourage.

"Pardon the interruption," the governor told star-struck students before asking them to rate the performance of their teacher -- he seemed well liked -- and expressing admiration for the class's work on "some high-advanced biology stuff."

The visit to the nursing class followed. It was an example of the kind of vocational opportunities for high school students that O'Malley would like to see more of in Maryland.

"What if we find out the governor has a dire health condition?" O'Malley asked to laughter as his blood pressure was checked.

Next door was a cosmetology class that had the look and smell of an actual hair salon. Students, who were working on mannequin heads, can get Maryland cosmetology licenses after completing the class, O'Malley was told.

"How many people like this class better than Algebra II, raise your hand?" the governor asked before heading to the media center for a news conference.

There, Johnson praised O'Malley for including $2.9 million in his budget to reimburse the county for part of the construction costs of Bladensburg High.

It was completed in 2005, replacing an older building. The money would fulfill a pledge made several years ago to pay for $25 million of the school's $60.5 million price tag. Under the previous governor, Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. (R), the state fell behind on its contributions, Johnson said, leading him to think that he would never see the money.

"Today's announcement is about our state stepping up again to protect the priorities of our people when it comes to school construction," O'Malley said.

Before leaving, the governor was presented with a school mug.

"Today," O'Malley said in response, "I am a Bladensburg Mustang."