Howard County schools Superintendent Michael E. Hickey emerged from the world of school board meetings and curriculum planning sessions into the limelight of the volatile political arena as he led the recent fight for higher school spending.

In the process, the 60-year-old Hickey rallied both political and popular support in a way that showed him to be one of the county's most influential leaders. More than 800 people attended a public hearing on the budget, and County Council members scrambled for days to come up with a figure that was acceptable to school supporters in an election year.

The council eventually gave the schools $3.46 million more than the recommendation of outgoing County Executive Charles I. Ecker, who is seeking the Republican nomination for governor. Though the figure fell nearly $6 million short of what Hickey had wanted, it marked the first restoration by the council in four years.

Hickey has been characterized by some in the community as the winner in this battle, but he declines the honor, saying, "I think in some ways everybody was a loser in this."

In his 14th year as superintendent and two years from retirement -- the school board is to begin the search for his replacement this fall -- Hickey reflected last week with The Sun about recent events and what they say about the state of the school system, both educationally and politically.

Politics definitely did come up [in the budget process]. Does this perhaps lay the groundwork for increased politicization of the budget process?

I hope not, I really hope that it doesn't. But I knew that this year, with the kind of election year it was going to be, with two Republicans competing for [Ecker's] office and then Chuck running the underdog campaign against [gubernatorial candidate Ellen R.] Sauerbrey -- it was going to be a very contentious process. I think [the election year] really did play against us in that Chuck's whole budget strategy, instead of being a Howard County strategy, was a statewide strategy intended to look at the issues that would have appeal and perhaps convey some meaning and some votes in the hinterlands, where he's less well-known. So I think that that really cast the die.

Your job description must have felt a little out of whack in the last month or so. You probably felt more like a politician than an educator.

I don't consider myself a politician. I do understand the political process, but I think that I'm an educator and, to the extent that politics impacts on education, then I'll deal with politics, but it's my least favorite part. I can tell you one thing to show you how apolitical I am. I would never, never in my life run for an elected office on any level. That includes county executive especially. There were some people that were assuming maybe that's what all this [budget] stuff was about. It certainly was not. If they need any reassurance, all they have to do is talk to me -- or my wife. I have no interest in it.

What will you do when you retire at the end of the school year in two years?

I'm looking at several possibilities, I guess. One would be to go to the university [University of Maryland, College Park] and teach. I teach there now. But I'm also looking at some possibilities in the private sector. I've had some contacts and some conversations with some companies. It's something I'd also like very much to do. The third and least likely possibility would be to take a superintendent's position in another state.

And what advice would you give to your successor?

The first one is people come first. I think another piece of advice is don't be afraid to admit that you're wrong. I guess the other thing is we need to understand that we can always do better in what it is we're doing. The first time we get complacent, Carroll County and Frederick County will just blow right by us. It's been nice to be able to say, well, we're No. 1, but I know that No. 2 is less than two points behind us -- and has been, really. So the

competitive factor is sort of a fun element, and it's also a good economic development tool to be able to say we have the top school system in the state.

Getting back to the superintendent's role will that person, do you predict, be around for as long as you have? Is this person coming into a situation that is more volatile?

Well, look at the volatility here. We've built 18, 19 schools. By the time I leave we will have built and opened I think 21 schools, plus additions on a good many of them and renovations and all of that. So that has been a real challenge. Depending on how long he or she stays, someone will be dealing with the declining enrollment.

Schools will be closed?

At some point, yes, they will. The way I look at it is that they'll be available for other uses. I think, too, the drop-off when it occurs is not going to be precipitous. It's going to be gradual, particularly if we maintain the quality of life that we have here.

What about the future? We've talked a little bit about things like English as a Second Language and what's often called the changing demographics of the county. I don't imagine that's going to stop.

No, I don't think it is. I don't know, if you look at Montgomery County and look at how the demographics of Montgomery County have changed in the last 10 years, maybe in a way that could be presaging of what's going to happen here in Howard County. Again, it depends because unless low-income housing is increased substantially, you're still going to see a relatively high socioeconomic level. So I think we'll see continued growth in [ESL].

What about the progress of black students? The average black student does not perform as well as the average white student.

Well, in terms of why, I don't know. The linkage is pretty clear between a low socioeconomic level and lower educational performance. If people are deprived of opportunities other people had -- that's not race-driven, that's socioeconomic. Many African-American students coming into the system are coming in various stages of their educational careers. Some are coming in high school, and some of [their previous] schools have not had the resources or program quality that we would have liked. But taking our own blame, too -- which we really have to do -- we as a system have not found ways to meet the needs of all these students. We probably have as high a percentage of high-performing African-American students as any system in the state. I don't know that we will ever come up with a solution that works for everybody, but I know the blame lies with us as educators and the challenge lies with us. We've got to find it, we've got to do the best we can. We can't write those kids off. It's immoral to do that.

And so what do you have in mind for the school system to deal with this?

I think that there are a number of those things we're doing now with early assessments and much more accurate assessments than we've ever used in the past to identify [at-risk] kids even before they set foot in the schoolhouse door. And then we are looking at strategies that tend to be very costly strategies. But if you make this investment now, you're not going to be seeing this kid on the welfare rolls or seeing him or her in prison or underemployed or in whatever part of the underclass. I think we're just going to have to help the public to understand that it's going to take a greater investment, but that investment is going to pay off in the social costs on down the road for the rest of that person's life.

Do you see the political climate as being friendly to that?

Well, I think the political climate is ambivalent about it. As a campaign issue, depending on which side of the aisle you're on, you may argue for that as a social investment and you may not. Most politicians in general -- including the County Council -- they don't have much data that they're going with. And they've got a short little span of attention that runs from one election to another. Without a doubt, Chuck knows the education budget better than any executive in history. But the County Council is asked to wrestle with this thing in a very compressed time frame.

Is there anything I haven't touched on that you'd like to?

We're going to be starting the process this fall to replace me. Part of the reason for encouraging the board to start so early is to allow them the luxury of time to have that kind of public participation process that I really believe is important, and I know the board does too. The board will meet and talk about a process, and probably lay down some sort of time line. They will, I'm sure, and I'm going to strongly encourage them to engage a consultant or headhunter to work with them.

Pub Date: 6/07/98