I read your story "Gov. O'Malley's school reform plan debated before Senate panel" (Mar. 4) with great interest as I have proposed two bills that would help further Maryland's potential application for federal Race to the Top funds. One bill would remove the requirement that charter school educators join the teachers union, but it would still allow them to form a bargaining unit or join the union if they so chose. My second bill would make public charter schools eligible for capital funding, which is directly cited by the U.S. Department of Education's regulations for awarding these funds. I invite Gov. Martin O'Malley to join me in building an even stronger application in this race for education funding because showing up with only a partial resume probably won't cut it.

Sen. Nancy Jacobs, Annapolis

The writer is a Republican representing Harford and Cecil counties.

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