Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan gives the State of the State address at the statehouse in Annapolis this month. (Marvin Joseph/The Washington Post)

THE MARYLAND state Board of Education has done a good job of recruiting and hiring state school superintendents, who have contributed to the state’s reputation as a leader in education. Similar sound judgment has been shown by the Board of Regents in the selection and appointment of chancellors, who have helped build Maryland’s university system. Now some lawmakers are seeking to upend this success by giving veto power over these appointments to the Maryland General Assembly.

The impetus for politicizing these critical education jobs is obvious. Democrats don’t like having a Republican in the governor’s office, so they hope to chip away at his authority.

Under legislation pending in the state Senate, appointment of the state school superintendent would be subject to confirmation by the Senate, while selection of the chancellor of the University System of Maryland would have to be approved by the House of Delegates and the Senate. Currently, the appointments are made, respectively, by the state Board of Education and the Board of Regents without interference from either the governor or the General Assembly.

“Searching for and recruiting a system head is challenging and difficult enough,” Board of Regents member James T. Brady told the Senate. He observed that good candidates are not likely to be interested in a job in which they would be in political limbo with the risk of rejection. State education board President Guffrie M. Smith Jr. called the proposal “nationally unprecedented in the governance of public education” and said it would impede the board’s ability to make effective and timely decisions.

Proponents defend the shift as “just a check and balance,” but Maryland education law is carefully calibrated to give the executive and legislature a say in public education while insulating specific decision-making from political interference. Members of the two boards are appointed by the governor and subject to Senate approval. As Mr. Smith argued in a letter to the Senate, “to the extent that the Senate is concerned about a nominated Board member’s ability to select a Superintendent with qualities the Senate seeks in that role, the Senate could reject that nominee.”

No doubt, as The Post’s Ovetta Wiggins reported, some Democratic lawmakers disagree with Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan (R) over education issues. But diluting the independence and autonomy of boards that have served Maryland and its students well is not in the public interest. This ill-advised and thinly disguised power grab should be rejected.