THE BUZZ!
Kenya Barris to write, direct modern re-imagining of ‘The Wizard of Oz’
The Wizard of Oz a musical classic is getting a remix. Kenya Barris, an Emmy award winning writer and producer was chosen by Warner Bros. to write and direct a re-imagining of the hit musical.
Deadline reports Kenya Barris, the creator of black-ish, will develop the fantasy classic based on L. Frank Baum’s book “The Wonderful Wizard of Oz,”
Things are pretty tight lipped as far as creative details go.
Looks like we will just have to wait to see what the new Wizard of Oz will look like.
Bu with is track record, i’m sure it’ll be really good.
source: The Griot
Thousands of substitute teachers to close the teacher gap in Baltimore
This could be a good, or a bad thing.
Baltimore is facing a teacher shortage and the new school year is set to start in less than two weeks.
Data from the Maryland State Department of Education shows more than 5,500 teachers statewide left their jobs in 2022. That is a lot of open jobs.
So what to do?
How about hiring substitute teachers to close the teacher gap.
That is the plan for many school districts. Some will be hiring substitutes in the thousands.
President of the Teachers Association of Baltimore County said, “Substitutes have always been the go to for school systems when there are openings, you need somebody in the room with those students, she added “that while substitute teachers are trained before starting, being well-versed in curriculum is a challenge, “ it’s not the same as having a certified educator in that room.”
Education is too important, more has to be done to attract quality educators.
Source: Baltimore Fishbowl / WYPR
Maryland Lottery, casinos, sports wagering breaks income records with $1.511B in 2022
This year Maryland has received the most financial contributions from gaming profits in history. That’s because the lottery and the six casinos in the state contributed a record $1.511 billion, the most ever. That number beat the prior mark set last year by $120 million.
The casino grossed revenues of over $2 billion, contributed $832 million to the state. And, of that, $611 million goes to the Education Trust Fund.
Casino gaming revenue supports education; the communities and jurisdictions where the casinos are located; Maryland’s horse-racing industry; and small, minority- and women-owned businesses.
Maryland Lottery and Gaming Director told 11 News “On the revenue side, the biggest contributing factor was really our growth in instant ticket lottery sales, the scratch-off sales, which topped the $1 billion mark for the first time.”
Profits from the sale of lottery tickets go to the Maryland General Fund, which supplies budgets for many state programs, including schools, public health and safety services and environmental programs.
Maryland Lottery and Gaming is the state’s fourth-largest source of revenue after income, sales and corporate taxes.
Source: WBAL
