By Steve Crane | Editor-in-chief
“I believe public education is a ministry. I told our staff that ... when I met with everybody. Whatever your religion is, or whatever you believe in, this is not a job. When you come here, you’re going to work harder than you’ve ever worked, but you’re also going to get to experience joy and a sense of being a part of something bigger like you’ve never had before. We’re all educators.” - Worcester County School Superintendent Annette Wallace, on the approach that has helped the Eastern Shore school system repeatedly post the highest comprehensive test scores in the state.
Welcome back to the working week. We have a look at a state school system that’s found the magic sauce for success and a look at President Donald Trump’s legal maneuvering, which pushes the limits, but doesn’t exceed them, experts say.
Worcester County schools, with just over 7,000 students, have repeatedly finished at the top of the state for their students’ comprehensive test scores. William J. Ford visited the county and talked to teachers, parents and administrators to try to find out the key to the systems’ success, which seems to lie in its culture, the tenure of its staff and attention to individual student needs.
President Donald Trump has suffered a number of policy losses in federal courts, but that has not stopped him from trying to get around court rulings to push for his agenda with what one expert calls “creative lawyering.” But experts also say his moves are not illegal or even unusual in modern politics, when executives routinely test the judiciary, although Trump has been more aggressive than most of his predecessors. Ashley Murray has that story.
Those stories, plus a look at concerns over the potential environmental impact of the Six Flags redevelopment, commentary and headines from the past week are below to help you get your week started. Enjoy!
Pocomoke Elementary third-grade teacher Jennifer Copenhaver looks over the student job assignments Aug. 25 in preparation for the first day of school in Worcester County. (Photo by William J. Ford/Maryland Matters)
By William J. Ford
Jennifer Copenhaver was getting her colorful third-grade classroom at Worcester County's Pocomoke Elementary School ready last week -- big-screen Smart TV, an oversized blue bean bag and one pink flamingo propped on a light blue bookshelf, waiting for about 20 students Monday.
“I can’t wait,” Copenhaver, a 15-year teaching veteran who’s entering her second year at Pocomoke Elementary, said Tuesday. “It’s feels like a community here [in Worcester] because everybody’s so inclusive and loving and caring. Everybody really, really cares about the kids and wants to do what’s best for the students.”
That shows up in test scores for Pocomoke Elementary, a Title 1 school that receives additional resources due to the number of economically disadvantaged students there. It achieved a four-star rating out of five on a state report card.
But Pocomoke is just one example of the “wonderful things going on” in the Worcester County school district, which has achieved the highest level of proficiency on the Maryland Comprehensive Assessment Program in math two years and in English for the last three years. Five of the county's six elementaries were four-star schools in 2024-25 school year -- the sixth was not eligible that year -- as were all three middle schools. One of its three high schools got four stars while the other two received five stars on the state’s annual report card.
President Donald Trump speaks during an Aug. 6 Oval Office event when he signed an executive order denying birthright citizenship to children of foreign diplomats, a little more than a month after the U.S. Supreme Court limited an earlier order. (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images)
By Ashley Murray
President Donald Trump has not slowed his pursuit of central policy goals and personal passions, even after major setbacks at the U.S. Supreme Court and other federal courts.
The high court in its 2026 term delivered blows to Trump’s core campaign promises to upend a constitutional provision governing who becomes a U.S. citizen at birth and to swiftly address the growing national debt with “trillions of dollars” raised by taxing imports. The justices also ruled the president cannot fire, without cause, Federal Reserve Board Gov. Lisa Cook and deny her a chance to plead her case. And a lower court blocked Trump from installing his name on the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.
But even after the Supreme Court ruled against him, Trump is forging ahead and using what some legal observers describe as “creative lawyering” to find alternative routes to push his agenda, even as public support fades. He ordered new blanket tariffs in late July on at least 60 trading partners. He signed a new round of birthright citizenship orders Aug. 6. Reports also revealed that Cook received a letter Aug. 5 from administration officials that Trump is again “considering” firing her. The moves test the power dynamic between the executive and judicial branches, but are not illegal or even unconventional in modern times, experts said.
IN OTHER NEWS
Flagging Six Flags worries: Plans to redevelop the old Six Flags amusement park into a housing and entertainment hub raised hopes of Prince George's County officials, and fears among conservationists worried about the pristine Belt Woods preserve next door.
Pepco rate request reined in: Pepco customers’ electric bills will go up, but by far less than the utility wanted after state regulators rejected more than half of its proposed rate increase, authorizing $50.9 million of the utility's $119.8 million request.
Virginia data center changes course: Amazon Web Services is changing course on how it gets water for a planned data center in Virginia, after a proposal allowing withdrawals of up to 6.4 million gallons a year from the Potomac aquifer raised concerns.
TODAY'S COMMENTARY
The Blueprint for Maryland's Future is admirable for the ambitious goals it set for the state's schools, but achieving those goals is proving to be a challenge for some local school systems, writes Kalman Hettleman, who says it's time for a course correction.
MATTERS YOU MAY HAVE MISSED
Redistricting suffers second court loss: Lawmakers violated the state constitution and the Declaration of Rights and failed to follow election laws when they passed a proposed redistricting amendment to the state constitution, a circuit court ruled Friday.
A new March on Washington: Just four months after the Supreme Court gutted racial protections in the Voting Rights Act, protesters rallied at the Lincoln Memorial Friday -- the 63rd anniversary of Martin Luther King Jr.'s “I Have a Dream” speech there.
Trump plans fed pay freeze: Most civilian federal employees will not see a pay raise in 2027 under an alternative pay plan quietly issued last week by President Donald Trump, whose plan includes raises for federal law enforcement officers and the military.
It may be a game, but it’s still a job: A former Washington Commanders football player who ruptured his Achilles tendon during training camp in 2023 is entitled to workers’ compensation benefits for the injury, the Appellate Court of Maryland ruled.
MOST-READ STORIES OF THE WEEK
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