Fredericksen Needs A Little Economics Lesson

It’s pretty obvious from yesterday’s Daily Times op-ed that Wicomico County schools superintendent John Fredericksen never bothered taking an economics class during his many years of post-secondary education.  Fredericksen seems to be under the delusion that the Wicomico County Board of Education (WCBOE) is somehow an “economic engine” that grows our local economy:

The Wicomico County school system is one of the region’s top three employers, an economic engine with 25 schools and more than 2,500 employees. Our employees support the Wicomico County economy and the communities where they live, magnifying the effect of dollars that are spent on public education.

While I certainly don’t expect Fredericksen to grasp Adam Smith’s Wealth of Nations, he should at least take the time to tackle Henry Hazlitt’s Economics in One Lesson.  Government spending CANNOT CREATE WEALTH.  Wealth creation is what grows an economy over the long term.

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Media Monday, 02/01/2010 – Spinning Travel Abuse at the WCBOE

Tracey Sahler, “Public Information Liaison” (that’s “Spin Doctor at Taxpayer Expense” for you non-bureaucrats out there) for the Wicomico County Board of Education (WCBOE) really earned her pay this week.  She’s proving the old adage “It’s not what you know, but who you know” is definitely true when it comes to the WCBOE and the Daily Times.  Thanks to her relationship with the paper’s managing editor (her husband, Erick Sahler), Daily Times reporter Greg Latshaw will not only print the WCBOE’s spin, but their lies as well.

Sunday, the paper ran a front page story – “Wicomico School Travel Expenses Scrutinized”.  This piece was in obvious reaction to pieces ran last week by both Delmarva Dealings and Salisbury News outlining just a few of the abuses found by Wicomico County Councilman Joe Holloway.  Holloway has spent months attempting to get this information from the WCBOE and has been stonewalled every step of the way.  He has requested copies of the receipts for specific line items and has still not received those!  Yet, what was Mr. Latshaw’s lead for this puff piece?

The Wicomico County school system is viewing every out-of-town conference or business lunch with increased scrutiny as it prepares for big budget reductions.  "We would anticipate the (seminars and conferences) budget to be substantially and significantly reduced," said Superintendent John Fredericksen.

The WCBOE has refused to cut this year’s travel budget – instead choosing to cut from SPECIAL ED!  They have been caught using taxpayer funds for trips to Hooter’s, junkets to Vegas (including tickets to a Toby Keith concert), and dinner at Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse!  It appears that the taxpayers have even been charged for Superintendent John Fredericksen and Wicomico County Executive Rick Pollitt to have lunch.  Yet, Latshaw (and his boss Erick Sahler) want the public to believe that the WCBOE is attempting to be a faithful steward of the taxpayers’ money.

Fredericksen Lies … Again

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Rick Pollitt Takes Dog and Pony Show on the Road

Wicomico County Executive Rick Pollitt took his anti-revenue cap show on the road this morning.  Speaking before a Salisbury / Wicomico Economic Development (SWED) meeting, Pollitt and a member of his finance staff argued that the county’s existing revenue cap is simply unsustainable.

I would agree that the revenue cap is unsustainable without a genuine re-structuring of the county government.  This point has been argued for several years by Wicomico Councilwoman Stevie Prettyman.

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Where Will Education Cuts Come From?

There is no joy seeing Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley finally admit that the state’s level of education spending is unsustainable.  If O’Malley had confessed that simply throwing money is not the solution to any problem there would be some cause for applause; unfortunately, this is a lesson that O’Malley is unlikely to learn.

There is no question that pain will be felt at boards of education around the once Free State.  The question will be – WHO feels the the pain?

Will bureaucracy take the hit before classroom instruction?  Doubtful.  If you live in a county like Wicomico you will be TOLD that this is the case.  Of course, you are already being told that all taxpayer monies are well spent.  As you will see next week, the WCBOE doesn’t have a very good record when it comes to truthfulness.  This is particularly so when money is being discussed.

Parents (and taxpayers in general) need to contact their ELECTED representatives and start demanding that tax dollars need to be going to EDUCATE CHILDREN, not FEED THE BUREAUCRACY.  Appointed boards seem to believe that they serve employee unions rather than taxpayers and the children they are charged with educating.  The only hope for citizens seeing that their tax dollars are well spent is from their county council members or commissioners.

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Maryland Teachers Endorse O’Malley, Kratovil

In the words of that great scholar Gomer Pyle, “SURPRISE! SURPRISE! SURPRISE!”.

The Maryland State Teachers Association (now traveling under the moniker “Maryland State Education Association”) has endorsed Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley and Rep. Frank Kratovil for re-election.

Why would this, or any other supposedly non-partisan group, endorse these candidates over one year before the election?  Money.

We need to remember that the MSEA is no more about education than the United Auto Workers.  They are a union, plain and simple.  Their purpose is to get more teachers hired and negotiate higher pay for those teachers.  Their job is make sure that teachers can’t be fired for poor performance and to ensure that teachers’ work as little as possible.  That said, they are no more concerned with providing quality education than the UAW is with making sure that GM, Ford, and Chrysler build quality cars.

To do so, they need to tie themselves to Democrats.  Wait!  I thought that the MSEA was supposed to be non-partisan?

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WCBOE Fiddlin’ Along With Board President Mark Thompson

This is an update to last night’s story regarding the misstatements of Wicomico County Board of Education (WCBOE)  President Mark Thompson.

WCBOE “Public Information Liaison” Tracy Sahler is back in her office today, but she’s hiding the facts from the public.  To understand the extent to which the WCBOE will go to prevent citizens (and even our elected officials) from knowing the truth about what goes on at the corner of Mt. Hermon Road and Long Avenue (the WCBOE offices), we’ll give you a little background.

After reading Thompson’s statements in Thursday’s Daily Times, I decided to do a little research.  A couple of things didn’t ring quite true.  After finding out more about the Reading Forever Fund (an admirable charity) and how it works, I asked two SPECIFIC questions of the WCBOE:

 

1. Where does the money which is given by schools to the Reading Forever Fund come from?
2. If the WCBOE (or an individual school) did not order the books in question, who did?

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It’s Been A Rough Week At the Wicomico Board of Education

Wise people learn from their mistakes and view adversity as opportunity.  This may be a cliché, but true none the less.  One thing we have learned this week is that the people running the Wicomico County Board of Education (WCBOE) are not wise men and women.

After being denied a budget transfer by the Wicomico County Council for the first time in memory, members of the board and senior staff were then hit with the public revelation that one or more school libraries were stocking material wholly inappropriate for school students.  Has the WCBOE learned from its mistakes?  No.  Are they turning a bad situation into an opportunity for improvement?  Hell No!

Instead, we have Superintendent John Fredericksen flip-flopping right and left as to what will be done.  Basically it depends who is interviewing Fredericksen as to what will be done about the book scandal dubbed by one public official as “ComicGate”.

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Fredericksen Tries to Spin “Dirty Book” in Wicomico Schools

John Fredericksen, Superintendent of the Wicomico County Public Schools, is attempting to draw attention away from the core issues revolving around yesterday’s report of inappropriate material found in an elementary school library.  Fredericksen wants the public to believe that issue is closed with the POSSIBLE removal of the book in question.  Fredericksen failed to address the WCBOE’s complete lack of a coherent policy regarding the approval and purchasing of books for school libraries.

"I’d say it’s coming off the shelves as soon as I can get a phone call back to the office," Fredericksen said.

But later in the same interview with Daily Times reporter Greg Latshaw, Fredericksen states:

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Wicomico Schools Peddle Smut to Children

Many years ago, when I was a child, public schools had librarians.  These kind, quiet ladies made sure that our schools were stocked with material that would help us learn AND was appropriate for our age.  Today, at least in Wicomico County, schools don’t have librarians.  They have MEDIA SPECIALISTS; and, as I have recently discovered, they don’t worry about making sure that what goes on the school library shelf is appropriate for the children they are charged with helping to educate.

A couple of weeks ago, a nine year old child came home from Pittsville Elementary School with a library book.  It was a “graphic novel” (which is really a comic book bound as a book) called Dragon Ball.  Fortunately, that child’s parent took the time to look through the book.  What she found caused her enough distress that she paid a visit to her county councilman – Joe Holloway.

WARNING – The balance of this article contains pictures and attachments that many may  (and should) find offensive.

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It’s For The Teachers …

It definitely isn’t “FOR THE CHILDREN”.  If it were, the Baltimore Teachers’ Union would be attempting to duplicate the success of KIPP’s Ujima Village Academy.  The problem is that the Ujima Village Academy is a charter school.

Teachers at the Ujima Village Academy work two hours more per day and every other Saturday.  They are available to their students around the clock via phone and email.  According to their students, they actually care about these kids getting a good education.  For this, they are paid an average of 18% more than the average Baltimore teacher.  The union wants them to be paid 33% more, which has resulted in larger class sizes and layoffs.  The KIPP teachers never asked for the extra money.  They would prefer that more money be spent on their students.

If the teachers from that particular school are willing to work more hours, why would the Baltimore Teachers’ Union fight it?  The reason is pretty simple.  They don’t want charter schools like the KIPP Ujima Academy to succeed.  If enough charter schools do succeed, the Teachers’ Unions will lose what little credibility they still have.  Even the Democrat Party won’t be able to stand by their number one special interest group.

That’s OK, They still have the trial lawyers and the AFL-CIO.

H/T – Charlie Copeland @ Resolute Determination

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