BALTIMORE (Map, News) - Incumbent Marietta English swept the Baltimore Teachers Union election with a resounding victory, earning her a fifth term as president.

“I’m so excited that words can’t even express,” English said shortly after her win was announced Wednesday night.

English captured 609 votes, while her strongest competitor, Sharon Blake, a social studies teacher at the Institute of Business and Entrepreneurship, garnered 342 votes, said Tyrone Seymore, co-chairman of the elections committee.

The two other challengers trailed way behind. William Krehnbrink, a resource teacher at Collington Square Elementary/Middle School, and Joseph Gwin, a math teacher at Northwestern High School, earned 16 and 75 votes, respectively.

A total of 1,042 votes were cast, representing just 16 percent of the 6,400-member union, Seymore said.

The turnout for the election, held every two years, typically is dismal. The largest turnout in recent years was in 2000, when 2,000

voters cast ballots.

Teachers say they are fed up with students attacking them, making school safety the biggest issue during this year’s election.

“Hopefully, we’ll have a safe ending to the school year and a safer opening next year,” English said.

kvolkmann@baltimoreexaminer.com