Letter to the Editor published in Washington Post Montgomery Weekly, December 31, 1998

Money and Schools

Maintaining and improving an outstanding public education system should be the first order of business for Montgomery County's newly elected officials. Recent history does not encourage the belief that our elected officials recognize the magnitude of the task.

Widespread support for reduced class size has produced some progress, but there remain 902 classes over the school system's stated maximums and another 63 combined-grade classes in the elementary schools. Exceptionally early high school and middle school opening times, the consequence of too few school buses, are addressed with a confusing plan for split sessions at a few schools, and standardized test scores for minority students remain unacceptably low.

It's time to bite the bullet. We all know it's going to cost money to solve these problems, and our elected officials must find the money and put it to good use. That doesn't mean raiding teachers' pensions, as some school board members proposed, nor reducing taxes, as the county executive proposed, nor low spending ceilings, as the council passed.

This is a critical moment for our schools. A new school superintendent will be selected this year; there is a growing teacher shortage in the region; and the school population is expanding as younger families move to the county based on our schools' reputation.

The county executive's proposed tax decrease is troubling. It tells us that years of testimony, lobbying and other advocacy by thousands of people is viewed as of lesser consequence than the voice of the anti-tax groups. The reported $26 million tax reduction proposed could fund as many as 500 new teachers. Instead we are faced with the council-passed spending affordability guidelines which provide for a paltry 1.7 percent budget increase for next year, intended to reflect only projected enrollment increases. Even that figure is suspect as the school administration underestimated the enrollment increase for this year by 800 students.

Elected officials are misreading their constituents. Tax cut rhetoric sounds good until citizens see the direct benefit those taxes provide. Quality schools are one clear example of a visible, direct benefit. Moreover, elected officials must see past the unsubstantiated statement that because most county residents don't have children in the schools, they aren't concerned about those schools. One senior citizens group, the BCC Chapter of the National Association of Retired Federal Employees, unanimously passed a strong resolution in support of the county's schools generally and class size reduction specifically.

We must also redouble efforts to eliminate the troubling disparity in standardized test scores between African American and Hispanic students and Asian and white students. The efforts to date have not succeeded, and there must be a new emphasis and coordinated effort among the groups responsible for the educational process. This is particularly important in light of an increasingly diverse school population.

Visible leadership, cooperation, stated goals and most importantly, adequate resources, will protect Montgomery County's reputation and the real quality education its schools have provided. Unless the issues are moved past the rhetorical phase to ensure the money is available for real needs, the problems will not adequately be resolved.

Kenneth S. Colburn

Bethesda