Gov. Martin O'Malley really doesn't want the federal Race to the Top money, he wants the teachers' votes ("Not No. 1 in reform," Dec. 22). After all, they already endorsed him months ago, and he hasn't even kicked-off his re-election campaign. That's why he wants to submit a lame application for the federal pot of gold that's intended to focus on critical reform issues like teacher tenure and evaluations.

By the time decisions are made in the first round of the Race to the Top competition in April (and Maryland gets turned down because its application didn't address these issues), it will be too late for our legislature to take action on the real reason students can't learn - ineffective teachers that can't be touched because of tenure. In other words, Governor O'Malley is buying the teachers' votes at the expense of Maryland students.Joan Maynard

The writer is a former member of the Maryland State Board of Education.