Weigh school board votes  carefully since a lot at stake

Editor,

We’ve all heard the expression “Be careful what you wish for – you just might get it!”

This has come across my mind a few times lately when pondering the Board of Education race here in Worcester County.

Worcester is blessed with a darn good public education system (best in the state by most metrics), which is largely due to parents, the school leadership, including the superintendent and staff, and the elected Board of Education. We also receive, by far, the lowest funding from the state.

That said, do we have problems? Yes. Are some things happening that concern me and others? Yes.

The vast majority of the problems are created by overbearing state and federal “involvement” in what is, constitutionally, a local matter. The fact is that, for the last few decades, this extra-constitutional involvement has increased to the point that local school districts have very little control over much of anything, from discipline to curriculum. This involvement (a better word is, perhaps, CONTROL)  has created a situation that leaves the parents out of a process and decisions that are absolutely within the parents’ purview, and not the concern of the public school system.  We also, unfortunately, have a great number of parents who really don’t “parent”, which puts the school system in a bad situation.  It is difficult, if not impossible, to teach children who are undisciplined and have no respect for authority or rules.

In 2016, a search for a new superintendent of schools was initiated, coordinated by the Maryland State Board of Education. The applicant pool was whittled down over time to two finalists.  I volunteered to serve on the citizen committee considering the qualifications of the applicants. The MSBE’s preference was Dr. Michael Martirano. We (and the other local committees) chose Lou Taylor. Thank God. Mr. Martirano later took the job of Superintendent of  the Howard County school system and a couple of years later was instrumental in adopting a redistricting plan based on family wealth. Yes, I said family wealth.

I believe this is where I point out that Worcester County dodged a very large bullet.

We could very easily have been saddled with Mr. Martirano with his radical ideas and he would have had the full support of the State of Maryland.  Think about that for a few minutes.

In closing, I ask – is any school system perfect? No. Is any superintendent, staff member, teacher, board member perfect? No. Are there problems? Yes. But the accusations and criticisms leveled by some county commissioners and citizens and BOE candidates against the school leadership and Board of Education members has been outrageous. I don’t think some of the candidates for the Board of Education understand the delicate dance our Board members must undertake to keep from running afoul of the all-powerful state agencies.

Sometimes I wonder if these candidates understand that we live in Maryland. If you have ever run a business, tried to make a living at farming or commercial fishing, run a local government (such as a County Commission ) you should understand. The state government is all-powerful and has its hands on everything.  Add to that the most left-wing Federal Government we have ever had that issues executive orders like toilet paper.

For years I bragged on Worcester County because we always seemed to work together for the best interests of the residents and taxpayers. There was a cohesiveness that was really refreshing. I can’t say I feel that way anymore. Some of the things that have been said to and about leaders in the school district and some board members have been painful to witness.  And, in my opinion, completely uncalled for.

Voters should carefully consider their votes in November. The state and federal governments do not take kindly to being challenged, and we could find ourselves in the position of “getting what we asked for.”

Carol Frazier
Ocean Pines