The Wicomico County Republican Central Committee is deeply concerned that the State of Maryland is increasingly seizing control of Wicomico County Schools and ignoring the wishes of Wicomico citizens. Let's look at recent developments.
During the recent General Assembly Session the State decided it can now dictate how much Wicomico County will spend on its schools, regardless of how much our elected Wicomico County Council believes we can afford. If the Council disagrees with the State, the State will simply bypass the county's General Fund and send money directly to the Wicomico County Board of Education.
The members of our Board of Education are appointed by Democratic Governor Martin O'Malley. As a consequence, approximately half of the County budget is controlled by individuals who are not directly accountable to the citizens of the County.
For decades Republican and Democratic applicants for the Board of Education submitted applications to their respective County Central Committees. The Central Committees interviewed their applicants, and submitted their recommendations to the Governor. Yet this tradition has been circumvented by Governor O'Malley, who has regularly ignored recommendations from the Republican Central Committee. Worse, last year we learned the Democratic Central Committee was interviewing and recommending Republican applicants!
Earlier this year the Republican Central Committee vetted six individuals for a Board of Education opening and recommended three well-qualified individuals to the Governor. Kim Hudson wasn't among our choices, nor did she ever submit her name to us for consideration. Instead, Governor O'Malley completely ignored the local input he received. Unbelievably, two people from the governor’s appointments office, who may or may not have ever set foot in our county, conducted telephone interviews with the applicants – and that was the extent of the evaluation process.
It is this complete lack of local input that showcases the absolute imperative for a locally-elected school board. The Wicomico County School Board should be directly accountable to the citizens of the county, not to the Governor! Will Annapolis attempt next to decide who should be our Sheriff, our State's Attorney, or even the members of our County Council?
We do not believe the Governor should be making these educational decisions, nor should the political parties’ Central Committees. We believe the citizens of Wicomico County deserve an opportunity to vote in a referendum to determine whether we want to remain one of the few Maryland counties with a Board of Education appointed by the Governor, or if we want to have a Board of Education with elected members. Our Virginia neighbors in Northampton County will have their referendum on this very issue on November 6, but the citizens of Wicomico County will not. Why?
As it stands now, Norm Conway, Rudy Cane, and Rick Pollitt believe our Governor and faceless interviewers can make better decisions than Wicomico citizens regarding the education of Wicomico County's children. For the past two Legislative Sessions, these individuals and the Maryland Democratic Party have deliberately prevented Wicomico County from conducting such a referendum.
It's long past time for the citizens of Wicomico County to rise up and condemn this misuse of political power. The citizens of Wicomico County need to tell these politicians to stand aside and let the people discuss, debate, and then decide the best course of action for our county.
A referendum to determine what the citizens desire is but the first step in the process. Each of us should ask why the Democrats are opposed to the citizens of our county making such a choice.
Dave Parker, Chair
Joe Collins, Vice Chair
Michael Swartz, Secretary
Bob Laun, Treasurer
David L. Goslee Sr.
W. Blan Harcum Sr.
Mark McIver
John Palmer
Ann Brittingham Suthowski
Dave Parker
Chair, Wicomico County Republican Central Committee
DelMarVa's Premier Source for News, Opinion, Analysis, and Human Interest Contact Publisher Joe Albero at alberobutzo@wmconnect.com or 410-430-5349
We don't need a state board of education. It should be left in the hands of the counties.
ReplyDeleteThat governor does not pay taxes in this county nor do the people who sit and interview someone over the phone. Until they start paying taxes here, they need to butt out and mind their own business.
ReplyDeleteIf half of you in this county had any say so there would be little to no funding for the county schools. I've seen the posts on here with people complaining about every dime for education. As I have seen it education of kids in this county doesn't matter to any of you that aren't parents. This is sad as the children are our future and education for wealthy or poor is everything.
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ReplyDeleteStupid comment no one thinks that
Our graduating classes struggle with first year college pre req's. The bar is so low they think AP classes are high level. The disillusioned students and their parents think they are of higher academic levels than their peers not in AP classes. The only reason they created these programs such as magnet, CM, and AP is to separate those students that are there to learn from those that are there because they have to be. Maryland schools are pathetic. They don't allow teachers to teach anything more than how to take a test, a test to prove they can read, write and do basic math. PATHETIC!
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