Wicomico Board of ed and daily times attempt to scam tax payers

Wicomico Board of Ed and Daily Times Attempt to Scam the Taxpayers … AGAIN
May 21, 2009 by Cato Filed under Education, Fiscal Policy, Maryland, Media, Wicomico Politics
Never fear. The government is here to help you. In today’s case, it is the good folk at the Wicomico Board of Education (WCBOE) who are colluding with our own local version of Pravda to pick the pocket of the average, hard working citizen of Wicomico County.
The folks over at the WCBOE are going to scrimp and save to help fix a problem of their own making - a $2 million shortfall in the county budget which the board and Supt. John Fredericksen exacerbated by fighting the county’s request of a waiver of the state momentum of effort (MOE) rules. The Daily Times wants us to somehow believe that the WCBOE are the champions of our children.
It’s interesting. Just last week the WCBOE voted to increase the taxpayer paid portion of retiree healthcare benefits from 55% to 70%. Only board president Robin Holloway dissented. Yet, the $357,000 of taxpayer money to be spent on yet another juicy benefit for government workers and retirees would amount to almost 18% of the $2 million budget hole. The county’s budget will have been adopted before the public even gets a chance to find out whether Wicomico County teachers and staff will receive a pay increase next year, and how much.Where does Fredericksen plan on realizing savings? By deferring needed maintenance on school buildings, reducing school supplies and cutting school programs the WCBOE proves two things:
Public education in Wicomico County is about a lot of things, but it ISN’T For The Children
Public education in Wicomico County IS about keeping the board’s four employee unions happy.
I’m sure that Fredericksen and company will argue that we have to remain competetive in order to attract and retain teachers. Maybe. However, in a down economy this argument is specious to the point of being laughable. A few miles north, in Delaware, school district after school district has announced PAY CUTS, EMPLOYEE FURLOUGHS, and even EMPLOYEE LAYOFFS. In neighboring and nearby states, teachers are paid less than what teachers earn here, yet we are told that our teachers and staff are grossly underpaid. The wage inflation spiral caused by this sad argument has finally caught up to us in tough economic times. It may actually come down to an ambulance not reaching its destination in time to save a life so that artificially high wages can be maintained at the WCBOE.
I know. Supt. Fredericksen and his faithful acolytes will claim that this argument is ridiculous. Really? I recall a conversation with some members of the Salisbury Career Firefighters a couple of years ago where they shared some comparative salary data with a group of ordinary citizens who were (and still are) fighting to get these people well deserved pay increases. Firefighters in Ocean City are paid 40%+ more than their counterparts in Salisbury. Yet, Salisbury is still able to hire personnel. Sure, their retention rate could be higher, but that is a consequence that must be endured until Salisbury can find the money to pay its public safety personnel better. Additionally, the good men and women at the SFD aren’t staging “work actions” like the teachers in Delmar, DE who are upset at a small pay cut.
Back to the Daily Worker on the Wicomico. Reading today’s piece we are to believe that Fredericken and company are heroes. However, we need to remember that this coverage is literally in a vacuum. Where was reporter Candice Evans last week when a majority of the WCBOE essentially gave county taxpayers the finger? She sure wasn’t at the board of ed meeting.
While we have all read about the problems between the Worcester Board of Ed and Worcester’s County Commissioners, the Daily Times has been mute about the WCBOE. While we have read coverage of the Indian River school district and pay raises for their teachers we get fluff, if anything, about the WCBOE. Did any of you read about the retiree healthcare windfall in Wicomico? Now I know that Daily Times managing editor Erick Sahler SWEARS that coverage, or lack thereof, of the WCBOE has NOTHING to do with the fact that his wife is the board’s public information officer. I’m just getting a tad skeptical.
Unfortunately, I consider myself a rational human being. I believe that coincidence is rare. Given the fair amount of coverage given to neighboring boards of ed, particularly in the past few months, I am more than skeptical about the Daily Times‘ relationship with our local school board. I’m reminded of piece I wrote almost two years ago where I criticized Sahler and his boss for continually failing to disclose their relationships to people or entities that they cover (at the time Executive Editor Greg Bassett’s wife was Communications Director for then-Rep. Wayne Gilchrest). Sahler’s response was essentially that if he had disclose his relationship with his wife he would also have to disclose that Op-Ed editor Susan Parker is in the symphony everytime the paper mentioned a concert. Sophistry at its worst.
We need fair, balanced, coverage of our county’s third largest employer. Instead, we receive none … or the lopsided pablum we enjoyed under the Barrie Tilghman administration (and seem to keep getting under the reign of the pretenders - Barrie Comegys and Princess Louise).

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