Political Overreach
Editor:
All parents agree nothing is more important than our children, and a quality education is the first step to their economic prosperity. That’s why schools are the bedrock of this community.
Last week, under the banner of “transparency” Commissioners voted 5-2 to underfund our schools. This attack on teachers, students, and families resulted in cuts, including after-school, summer school and graduation. These cuts hit north end schools particularly hard.
Public schools are transparent, with almost every aspect in the Public Record (except student files and certain personnel matters). WCPS is audited annually by multiple agencies and has long established Financial Integrity. School board budgets do increase, but historically mirror inflation.
Cuts to education should only be made in dire economic times. Wall Street is enjoying a Bull Market, Unemployment is hovering around 3.5% and Ocean City is booming. WCPS is one of the top performing districts in Maryland, but we rank near the bottom for starting teacher pay. Teachers asked for 4% raise – barely enough to match inflation – which is fair considering the commissioners gave themselves an 8.5% raise.
Here’s the truth: Our schools make up around half of the county budget, not because of frivolous spending, but because WCPS is the county’s largest employer, and educating children our most important endeavor. The main school budget issue we face is The Maryland Blueprint, legislation which invests in our children’s future. Any talk of “Five Year Plans” must include strategies for how to effectively fund The Blueprint.
The Maryland Constitution created two separate branches of county government – a Non-Partisan School Board and Partisan Board of Commissioners – building a firewall between schools and political overreach. “Line-Item Budgets” are not required for commissioners to make financial projections, unless the goal is to exert political pressure against specific programs or expenditures. That is exactly the kind of political overreach the Maryland Constitution is supposed to prevent. As frustrating as it may be for Commissioners, they must respect and abide by this separation of powers. Instead of provocative social media posts and political antics, our students deserve leaders willing to implement The Blueprint.
Please contact your Commissioner and tell them to Fully Fund Our Schools.
Everett Evansky
Stockton
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Detailed Request Reasonable
Editor:
Let’s get past the “we’ve never had to provide a line item budget before.” The county funds approximately 80% and the state funds 20% toward the Worcester County Board of Education budget. Fifty percent of Worcester County’s revenue goes to fund that 80%. The remaining 50% gets distributed to the other County departments and financial obligations of Worcester County.
Why does the Board of Education feel that all their requests must be met and the rest of the county departments and county obligations can divide what’s left? Because they have always been fully funded with no accountability. The teachers are expecting an additional 4% COLA and a step (they already received a smaller increase earlier this year) negotiated by the Board of Education. The rest of the county employees are expecting a 2% COLA and a step. BOTH the teachers and other county employees will see changes in the healthcare plan and premiums. The commissioners spent several months trying to find the best healthcare for the employees and have supplemented it in order for it to be more affordable to all employees.
The mandated BluePrint for Maryland Schools will strain or drain the 23 counties and city of Baltimore’s budgets. Every year more and more funds are directed to the educational system, and test scores continue to decline, but counties have never faced the monetary obligation forced on them by the Blueprint. It’s $3.8 million per year for the next 10 years. We are talking about an escalating budget for the next 10 years for the Board of Education with an uncertain economy and escalating cost for everything. I understand why the County Commissioners are requesting a line-item budget from the department where 50% of our revenue is allocated. The Board maintains that they have
undergone possibly 17 audits in the last year, but many of these audits may be specific to the grants and funding the Board entered into. The Board of Education establishes a budget each year, allocating and prioritizing expenditures at their discretion, it was disappointing to learn that they have chosen to significantly underfund the Teachers Retirement Plan, budgeting only $2.8 million this year.
Thankfully the County Commissioners have covered that deficit for the last several years, about $8 million this year, so our retired teachers continue to receive the pensions they worked for and are counting on. The Commissioners are also investing funds to grow the Teachers Retirement Fund. The ESSER (Covid) funds have been mentioned as a source of income for this year’s budget shortfall. The Board of Education maintains that these funds can only be used for specific expenditures that must be approved by the state. So, lets shift some budget items around this year and use ESSER funds where they can be used, surely we can reappropriate funds and keep some of the events and programs that the board plans to cut. These would be things like the outdoor graduation ceremonies, after school programs, summer school, a 50% cut to special education materials or employee COLA funds. There was no mention of parking any of the approximately 60 vehicles including, $70,000 SUVs, which display no Board of Education emblem or eliminating $55,000 plus in expensive luncheons, only programs that will hurt or disappoint students or upset parents to prompt them to criticize the County Commissioners, who did not choose what programs to cut.
Also with regard to grants, the Board of Education enters into grants to subsidize programs, activities or curriculum. An example would be The Nest Early Learning Center for 2-3 year olds, expected to be available this fall at
the Tech Center, and funded by grant money. When the grant money runs out, yet we have offered and provided this service, will the county taxpayer be faced with funding this program through the Board of Education budget to maintain it. If a grant is entered into by the Board of Education that may eventually impact the Board of Education’s budget, which is primarily funded by the County, should the County Commissioners be advised of these grants before the Board enters into a contract. Our County Commissioners support our teachers and appreciate their dedication to educating our Worcester County students, the Commissioners did not choose what would be trimmed from the Board of Education’s budget, they are being fiscally responsible to the taxpayers of Worcester County in their request for a line-item budget. If the Board has produced the budget, why were they so reluctant?
Patricia Barbely
Newark
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ID Not Required To Vote?
Editor:
Fair and free voting is the most important activity the citizens of a free society can engage in. Without this, we lose our republic. Everything that the government does can be changed or supported by means of citizens voting the associated lawmaker in or out of power. There is substantial evidence that the trend in early voting and election day voting are being reversed when the mail-in ballots are counted. This was found to be evident with 17 Maryland statewide contests. All Republican candidates were leading but were all reversed after the mail-in ballots were counted. Coincidence?? I think not! We need to adopt paper ballots, single day voting and eliminate mail-in ballots, drop boxes and voting machines.
What I want to take issue with here is the fact that we do not have mandatory ID requirements when we vote. Our Worcester County Board of Elections are in favor of this but were stymied by the state claiming imposing such a requirement on our citizens is discriminatory. Oh really, then let me show you what other activities in our society are discriminatory.
A valid ID is required for: driving, boarding an airplane, purchasing a car, getting a car registration, renting anything, buying insurance and plane tickets, obtaining a passport, picking up mail from Fed X, UPS and the post office, visiting a doctor’s office or hospital, getting outpatient testing, donating blood, getting a prescription, buying certain over-the-counter products, applying for a job or a school, applying for a professional license, getting married, checking out a library book, joining the military, adopting a child, transacting with a bank, sending a wire transfer, applying for online banking, applying for store credit, establishing a utilities account, getting a credit card, opening a retirement account, applying for a mortgage, buying a house, applying for apartment rentals, renting a hotel room, buying a cell phone, going to court, entering federal buildings, getting a business license, getting a state ID, cashing a large lottery ticket win, obtaining Medicare and Medicaid, applying for food stamps and welfare, applying for unemployment, using social security services, applying for section 8 housing, applying for a H-18 Visa or Green card, holding a rally or protest, buying a firearm, applying for a hunting or fishing license, joining a gym, using a pawn shop, entering a night club, volunteering at non- profit organizations, voting in a union election, buying cigarettes or liquor, visiting a casino, buying an M rated video game, going to jail, participating in outdoor dangerous activities, buying annual tickets to an amusement park, adopting a pet and the most contradictory requirement demanding ID is the participation in a political event but not in the political event of voting.
So if we are to believe that demanding an ID is discriminatory does that excuse fit all these? Isn’t applying for food stamps and welfare needing an ID discriminatory? You cannot adopt an animal but you can vote without an ID.
Those that are against voter ID are only against it because they want to cheat. This is the only reason; not because they think it is discriminatory which makes no sense.
Right now conservative votes are not being counted or are being drowned in illegal votes by dead people and people that do not exist. We are campaigning against, not other voters but against pa-per ballots, a printing press in reality. This has been proven.
We must “true the vote” and demand that every voter show a picture ID (like a driver’s license) is the beginning of this. If we don’t, we will lose our republic as Benjamin Franklin forewarned. Remember the expression: “you don’t know what you have until you lose it.”
Dennis Evans
Berlin