A good article on AIM and Dr. Hairston's grilling in Annapolis last week

Here it is, from Bryan Sears:

Delegates and senators from Baltimore County said they didn't get a lot of answers out of Baltimore County Public Schools Superintendent Joe Hairston last week . . .

Not many people believe this:

Hairston told legislators Feb. 18 that the directive had been sent out without his knowledge, while he was on medical leave for a double knee replacement.

"While all of this was going on, I was not on duty," Hairston said. "I came back on duty and corrected all this."

This is accurate:

Much of the two-hour meeting with Hairston was fraught with tension. More than once, legislators indicated frustration or irritation as Hairston, who attended with Joanne Murphy and Ed Parker, president and a member of the Board of Education, respectively, declined to answer questions, citing confidentiality or personnel issues.

The hearing was filled with momemts like this:

That prompted Sen. Jim Brochin, a Democrat who represents the Towson area, to ask if Hairston could offer any specifics on the communications issue.

Hairston, Murphy and Parker sat mute. Brochin asked a second time, then moved on.

Del. Wade Kach, a former teacher, is doing some good things:

Kach said a majority in the House of Delegates is willing to ask Maryland Attorney General Douglas Gansler to investigate AIM on two fronts. . . whether AIM's implementation represents a conflict of interest [and] whether a school system committee studying AIM violated the state's open meetings act . . .

"This is a big deal," said Kach, who taught for 30 years in the school system. "People are very upset."