Last week I asked the question, “Should Wicomico County borrow more money?”. This was primarily in reference to the swearing in of a new County Executive and County Council and council president Matt Holloway acted responsibly by pulling the item from the agenda. Yet, a greater underlying problem lurks beneath the surface for Wicomico taxpayers. How does the county provide a decent education for the children of Wicomico County and still live within its means?
West Salisbury Elementary School has been slated for rebuilding. There is also discussion by the Wicomico County Board of Education (WCBOE) to merge West Salisbury and Charles Chipman Elementary Schools. Why do we need a new school? Some may argue that we don’t, but the fact that West Salisbury has been denied any meaningful renovation since it opened in the early 1960’s means that a new school may have to be built.
West Salisbury is Bennett Middle all over again. Don’t renovate. Don’t maintain the physical plant more than absolutely necessary in hopes of building a new school. Evidently, building (first) and renovating schools looks good on a superintendent’s resume. In addition, the state pays for a hefty share of new school construction but doesn’t cover renovation costs. As I have noted earlier, Wicomico County can expect a decline in state aid (and possibly direct aid to the county’s schools). Currently Wicomico County pays less than 25% of the cost of the county’s schools. Compare this to 35% in Dorchester and over 75% in Worcester. In addition, Wicomico will no longer have the chairman of the House Appropriations Committee to look to. So what should Wicomico County, and its new County Executive, do?
It’s evident that more funding for Wicomico public schools is not the most politically popular stance. However, I take the view that our elected officials should LEAD, not pander. Forget the argument that a county’s schools are an economic driver (there are other factors that far outrank the perception of a county’s schools), we as citizens have a moral duty to educate our children. The WCBOE probably wastes more money than any other part of Wicomico County government. It’s also the biggest agency. (Does anyone believe that there isn’t money being wasted in the Sheriff’s department, the county Public Works department, etc.?) If the WCBOE showed the electorate that it was serious about cutting waste and fraud, the voters might be willing to pony up more funding. While there has been some improvement over the last few years, the WCBOE still seems to view the taxpayers like a slot machine. Bob Culver and the new County Council should place the burden on the WCBOE to show more concern for the hard working taxpayers of Wicomico County. They also need to start cutting costs elsewhere.
There are places to cut spending. There are ways to adequately fund Wicomico County’s schools. The question is – Will Wicomico County’s elected leaders act … or will they just continue with the status quo? The status quo is a route towards disaster.
This post also appears in the Delmarva Observer
6 comments:
Liberals have spent all the money allocated for schools, roads and bridges. They gave it away to welfare cheats, illegal aliens and social programs that benefit minorities unjustly. It's time to CUT all those vote buying giveaways and spend tax money where it will benefit EVERYONE.
Where should spending be cut? Look at the pie and what allocation goes to each function of county government and then decide what functions people will be happy to not have. That is the bottom line. What service(s) should be cut, not just "cut waste". That doesn't tell us anything other than the same line that has been said for the last 10 years when the revenue cap was passed. Has anyone ever pointed out any real waste that will amount to what is needed to adequately fund schools, police, roads, etc? Worcester County has a budget much larger than that of Wicomico County with about half the people. Funding a larger portion of schools, considering they have less needs, isn't as hard of a proposition.
Don't need no scools , don't learn notin noway.
techer suc !!
The schools' problem in spending is the ever-increasing cost of providing promised benefits and still giving more. It is unsustainable to pay out these crazy benefits, maintain the school buildings and provide some level of acceptable instructor/student ratio when the necessary costs are increasing in all three of these areas and the funding for schools is essentially staying the same. If you look at the school board, a strong majority are already govt employees or retired school employees. Some one needs to get a handle on the real costs of BOE salaries, benefits and retirement promises.
Anonymous said...
Where should spending be cut? Look at the pie and what allocation goes to each function of county government and then decide what functions people will be happy to not have. That is the bottom line. What service(s) should be cut, not just "cut waste". That doesn't tell us anything other than the same line that has been said for the last 10 years when the revenue cap was passed. Has anyone ever pointed out any real waste that will amount to what is needed to adequately fund schools, police, roads, etc? Worcester County has a budget much larger than that of Wicomico County with about half the people. Funding a larger portion of schools, considering they have less needs, isn't as hard of a proposition.
November 24, 2014 at 2:53 PM
What dork from the school board is this?
John Fredericksen makes nearly $200.000 a year so I know where we can start cutting.
Anonymous said...
The schools' problem in spending is the ever-increasing cost of providing promised benefits and still giving more. It is unsustainable to pay out these crazy benefits, maintain the school buildings and provide some level of acceptable instructor/student ratio when the necessary costs are increasing in all three of these areas and the funding for schools is essentially staying the same. If you look at the school board, a strong majority are already govt employees or retired school employees. Some one needs to get a handle on the real costs of BOE salaries, benefits and retirement promises.
November 24, 2014 at 4:48 PM
The problem is that the buildings are not being maintained. I mean what I say, they are not being maintained. Wood is rotting and metal is rusting. Something as simple as painting is being ignored and the problem lies with the Superintendent and the entire Board of Education employees at the Central Office. NEGLECT is the word and everyone at the top needs to be fired.
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