When Superintendent Stuart Berger helped open Sudbrook Magnet Middle School this month, he told the students that "what Sudbrook is, is different. It is not that it is better."
With four specialized curricula, a longer school day, student uniforms and voice mail for teachers, Sudbrook is definitely different from most schools in Baltimore County.
But all of the county's 15 magnet programs are different. They teach high finance in Lansdowne, Japanese in Pikesville, dance in Towson, advanced math in Parkville and the science of fitness in Essex. They tap into the latest technology and teaching techniques that often are unavailable elsewhere.
There is also a feeling that the burgeoning magnet programs -- one of the most visible signs of educational change in the county -- are indeed better.
Asked why she chose the Carver Center for Arts and Technology Towson, freshman Billie Laws said, "I didn't want to go to a public school."
Some critics and even supporters are worried the magnet schools have benefited at the expense of neighborhood schools. Among the questions they raise:
* Will magnet schools create a two-tier educational system, fostering elitism in the magnets and depriving the rest of Baltimore County's 100,000 students? Or will they inspire neighborhood schools to become more innovative and in tune with their students?
* Will the magnets siphon all the good students -- and many good teachers -- from neighborhood schools? Or will they rejuvenate the interest of students who might otherwise languish in classrooms?
Whatever the answers, about 6,000 elementary, middle and high school students have enrolled in magnet programs. And the magnet mania continues. Last year there were seven magnet schools. This year there are 15, and next year there will be at least 22.
Magnet schools get their name because they focus on a particular subject or approach to learning. They draw students with common interests from a wide area, sometimes the whole county. For example, Carver's 650 students come from every middle school in the county to study visual, performing or literary arts, said principal Mary Cary.
Magnet schools aren't new. Not even to Baltimore County.
The county's former technical centers have been providing half-day technical training for students from a variety of "home" high schools for years. Eastern Technical High School, the county's first comprehensive magnet, has been drawing students from Essex and the northeast for 24 years.
But the magnets that have opened in the last 14 months greatly expand these programs. They mirror what's been happening in other districts -- including neighboring Baltimore City -- for more than 20 years.
A strong proponent of magnets, Dr. Berger said they put choice into the public school system.
They traditionally have been a tool of voluntary desegregation, usually to draw white students into predominantly black schools without politically or racially divisive boundary changes.
Way to create seats
In Baltimore County, magnets are also an economical way to get more seats in a hurry to handle a growing enrollment. By turning the underused Carver and Western School of Technology into comprehensive magnet high schools, the system created 1,500 slots for less than $5 million in capital expenditures. Building a high school for 1,500 would cost five times that much, said county magnet coordinator Anita Stockton.
Likewise, by reopening Sudbrook and Cromwell Valley Elementary, both of which were closed in the 1980s, the school system reclaimed another 1,500 seats. By designating those schools as magnets, school officials avoided heated boundary battles.
No matter what the motivation, interest has been keen. In fact, the county's response when too many students applied to Cromwell and Sudbrook sparked fiery debates with racial overtones. The uproar even forced school officials to promise additional magnets to appease parents of students who were left out.
"Magnets have just caught on in this county. I think it's going to keep going beyond what I thought," said Dr. Berger. "I'm thrilled with it."
School board president Paul Cunningham recalled board members talking with Dr. Berger shortly after he was hired in 1992. "We said we didn't know a whole lot about magnets. You will have to do a sell job," he said they told the superintendent.
Soon magnet proposals were rolling in. "It must have been a heckuva sell job," Mr. Cunningham said. "An overwhelming number of board members support magnets."
So do magnet students and their parents.
"These are people here who are not sick of teaching," said Carver junior Melissa Frost. "They're very open-minded."
Carver freshman Jamie Welebob is "surprised with all the freedom. It really amazes me that you can eat and drink in class."
Junior David McShea likes the openness, too, and the opportunity to get more experience in theater -- the main reason he moved to Carver from Parkville.
"Everyone has a mutual respect for each other," he said. "You can make friends better because you all have the same interests."
Parent David Feldman is "a very strong believer in them." The Randallstown resident has a son at Carver and a daughter at Sudbrook.
"It was like two different kids," he said of his son, Matthew, when he transferred to Carver for 10th grade. "When he was going to Randallstown, it was murder getting him up in the morning.
'Atmosphere is nicer'
"The education, not that's it's any better. I just think that the atmosphere is nicer. The kids want to be there," he said. "They're not having to worry about kids who are there who don't want to be there."
That sentiment surfaced repeatedly, as people around the county cited choice and motivation as reasons for the good feelings emanating from magnet programs.
"I wanted to work with fairly highly motivated students. They do make a difference," said Sudbrook math and science teacher Jim McGowan. He called the Sudbrook situation the "best I've ever seen" in 33 years of teaching.
"Are we getting more motivated students in magnet schools? Probably" said Dr. Stockton. "And we're getting more motivated parents behind them."
One of those parents is David Soloweszyk, who fought to get his younger son into Sudbrook after he was turned down and now juggles four car pools to get one son to Sudbrook and the other to the Western School of Technology and Environmental Science in Catonsville.
"Getting them back and forth is a pain, but you make a commitment," he said.
The county provides bus service to the schools from centralized pickup points, often at a student's neighborhood school.
Because some students have long rides, they start early: The first high school pickups are about 6 a.m. for a 7:30 a.m. start.
The early hours and long rides have hurt some magnets. Lansdowne High accepted 78 ninth-graders into its business and finance curriculum this year, but "once the reality set in" only 54 showed up, said magnet coordinator Peggy Spaight.
County school buses do not run for after-school activities. "That's the real kicker to magnet schools: If you want to do extracurriculars, you are on your own with transportation," Mr. Soloweszyk said.
Still, he said, "I'm pleased with the curriculum. I'm pleased with the teachers. I'm pleased with the students he associates with. I think it's terrific."
Neighborhood school threat?
Despite his praise, Mr. Soloweszyk is concerned about what the magnet programs are doing to neighborhood schools. "You are pulling out the element from neighborhood schools that you most want, the children who want to learn and the parents who are involved," he said.
Dr. Berger denies that neighborhood schools are being ignored for the sake of the magnets, though he does concede that disparities exist. "I don't so much think it's magnet vs. non-magnet, as much as it's a hit-and-miss deal. There have always been disparate resources in the county," he said.
Dr. Berger said his biggest concern is that magnets will create elitism. "This has scared me from the beginning." To prevent that, he said schools should choose students by lottery. "But the temptation is too great [to take the most talented]," he said. "Elitism is the downside."
In the early going, magnets have not fulfilled one of their promises -- correcting racial imbalances -- although the county did get an another $1.8 million in federal desegregation funds this year for six programs in racially isolated schools. Last year, the county used $2.2 million in federal desegregation funds to help finance magnet programs.
At Woodlawn High, where only 16 percent of the enrollment is white, 60 percent of the magnet students are white, but the program is so small that it has no effect on the enrollment percentages, Dr. Stockton said.
Moreover, the math-science magnet there cannot accept more white students because that would shut out minorities, a frequent complaint about challenging programs.
The two magnets at Milford Mill Academy, where 95 percent of the students are black, have not helped to balance the enrollment either. In fact, the Milford programs have been so unsuccessful the school will not get federal money this year.
"We voluntarily made the decision that the time and energy was better used to deliver high-quality programs for the students we have," rather than trying to attract white youngsters, Dr. Stockton explained.
Milford's rigorous International Baccalaureate magnet has only 23 ninth-graders and 56 10th-graders, said its new magnet coordinator, Patricia Brent. But, she said she's confident that the program will build smoothly now that the rocky first year is over.
Program at Hillendale likely
The need for racial balance most likely will mean that the %J predominantly black Hillendale Elementary School near Towson will become a magnet next year.
All of the white students who tried to transfer from Hillendale to Cromwell were denied admission because their departure would have increased Hillendale's minority population in violation of federal guidelines.
Their parents were outraged, and Dr. Berger eventually promised to help all Hillendale students with some extra money this year and plans for a magnet there next year.
Despite worries and skirmishes, the magnets are getting high marks from almost everyone -- even principals who lost students to them.
"We've lost some very wonderful families," said Ann Eicholtz, principal of Pleasant Plains Elementary, which lost 67 students to Cromwell. "But most of the parents who opted to stay here are happy with the school and with the staff. I don't think there's any looking at each other as 'Gee, I wish . . .'
"My people looked at it as a wonderful opportunity and it is," she said. But "I'm very comfortable with the progress that we are making in the field of technology."
Mr. Cunningham said he is comfortable with the magnets' progress, although he wants a master plan and some way to measure their effectiveness.
"I don't know how many is enough," he said, citing a concern that some programs need to be duplicated at several sites around the county to give students equal access.
Dr. Stockton's office will be releasing results of a study that looks at magnet schools' attendance, achievement, retention and other factors, including opinions of students, parents and teachers.
"Generally, the feeling is very positive," said Dr. Stockton of the survey.
BALTIMORE COUNTY MAGNET SCHOOLS
HIGH SCHOOLS
* Carver Center for Arts and Technology, Towson. Countywide. Career-oriented technology, visual arts, performing arts and literary arts.
* Eastern Technical High School, Essex. Northeast and Essex area. Engineering and career-oriented education in 17 subjects.
* Kenwood High School, Essex. Two magnet programs. Academic International Baccalaureate for ninth- and 10th-graders from the eastern county. Countywide Sports Science Academy.
* Lansdowne High School, Lansdowne. Business and finance. Countywide now, eventually for west side.
* Milford Mill Academy, Milford. Two magnet programs, western county. Academic International Baccalaureate and a technical program with career-oriented training/
* Parkville High School, Parkville. Eastern county. New math, science and computer studies program.
* Southeastern Technical Magnet School, Dundalk. Half-day career and technical program for students from Dundalk, Kenwood, Sparrows Point, Chesapeake and Patapsco high schools.
* Western School of Technology and Environmental Science, Catonsville. Countywide. Focuses on technology and environmental science.
* Woodlawn High School, Woodlawn. Western county. Pre-engineering, math and science.
MIDDLE SCHOOLS
* Sudbrook Magnet Middle, Pikesville. Western county. Four extended-day magnet programs: performing arts, visual arts, Japanese and mathematics/science.
ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS
* Church Lane, Randallstown. Northwest county. Computer technology program stresses computer-assisted learning, especially in English and math.
* Cromwell Valley School of Technology, Towson. Computer technology. Students accepted from seven area elementaries.
* Eastwood Center, Dundalk. Sets aside traditional primary graded classrooms in favor of "multiage" groups that allow youngsters to progress according to their development. Countywide, but Dundalk-area residents get priority.
* Lutherville Elementary School, Lutherville. Focus on science, math and communications through a new science-oriented curriculum that is not being used anywhere else in the county. For neighborhood students and those from nearby schools.
* Wellwood Elementary School, Pikesville. International focus, with foreign languages, world culture and music. Open to neighborhood students and those from Fort Garrison and Summit Park elementaries.