Letter published in the Prince George's and Montgomery Journals, 9 May 2003

According to state Sen. Ulysses Currie's May 2 op-ed in The Journal ("Maryland's Perilous Fiscal Time"), he wants me to write to Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. and urge him not to make deep program cuts.

No! I intend to tell him just the opposite. As the session closed, I wrote to the person most responsible for the coming cuts - House Speaker Michael Busch, D-Anne Arundel - but he hasn't bothered to answer me.

Who caused Maryland's fiscal crisis? You folks in the General Assembly did! If Maryland is caught between a rock and a hard place, it's primarily because of your fiscal irresponsibility.

You not only created the problem, you then rejected the governor's reasonable solution. I am sickened by your blatant hypocrisy in blaming Ehrlich for the potential budget cuts.

You blame the governor for not funding education. Baloney!

You people in the General Assembly - not Bob Ehrlich - chose to give hundreds of millions of tax dollars in subsidies to out-of-state sports millionaires. Where was your concern for education then?

The General Assembly - not Bob Ehrlich - chose to spend tens of millions on luxurious Senate offices. Where was you concern for education then?

And they you people in the General Assembly - not Ehrlich - voted to spend millions on pay raises to reward yourselves for your wasteful spending. Where was your concern for education then?

In the session that just ended, Currie personally sponsored bills to spend millions on pork rather than education.

Even when you folks in the Assembly have money to spend, education is not your top priority. Giving you more taxes means you will spend it elsewhere, and then come back whining for more education money.

Just look at the obscene telephone tax Currie supported last year. When I add up all the taxes and government-created fees on my telephone bill, it comes to over 35 percent - as high as the sin taxes on booze and smoking.

You people in the General Assembly said the telephone tax increase you passed last year would be used for education. But Prince George's County Executive Jack B. Johnson (whom Currie supported) has refused to give all the proceeds to the schools, diverting a substantial portion to other programs instead.

You folks in Annapolis lied about how this tax increase would be used. Why should I - or anyone else - believe you the next time you want higher taxes for education?

Currie and many other politicians seem to accept the questionable notion that the Thornton Plan will solve our education problems. This is nonsense.

I find it hard to believe that our politicians even accepted such a plan from someone like Alvin Thornton. Just look at his record.

He was a member and then head of the School Board that presided over failing schools, and he got the latter position after misleading the voters about his re-election plans.

He then headed the elected School Board the General Assembly found so bad that it voted to kill it. If Thornton couldn't get it right when he was in charge of the schools, why do you think his current plan is any good?

And just what will more money for schools buy? More administrators? Pay raises for administrators? More busing?

That's where any increases seem to go, not into actual improvements in education. If more money actually meant better results, we wouldn't have such lousy schools now.

Prince George's County schools have received substantial increases in funding every year. Despite those increases, two things have remained the same:

The schools continue to fail to educate our children.

There is constant whining for more money.

What makes Currie think that giving more money to the same politicians and educrats who preside over our failing schools will buy anything other than more massive failure? We already spend more than the national average per pupil.

The District of Columbia's schools received huge increases in funding, and now spend much more per pupil than we do, but their schools are complete failures. Those funding increases did not cause any improvement.

My son was a honor student in the science and technology program at Oxon Hill High School. He went from there to a small, but very highly regarded engineering college in Indiana, which U.S. News and World Report rates as the best small engineering school in the country.

But he found himself poorly prepared. His rural Indiana classmates had a better grounding in math and science than he received at Oxon Hill. But those classmates came from communities that typically spend 20 percent less per pupil than we do. Why do they get better results?

If Currie really wanted to improve education, he would:

Stop throwing good money after bad.

Find out why our slightly above-average spending produces far below-average results.

Fix the real problem.

Insist on accountability for educational results.

Support alternative education programs that produce better results.

And stop supporting and funding failure.

What makes me sick at heart is not what may fall under the governor's budget knife, but rather how much of my tax money the members of the General Assembly have wasted on both nonessential and failed programs.

If it takes massive budget cuts to get them to set real priorities and spend money effectively, then those cuts are long overdue.

I have a fixed income. Every time they raise taxes, I must give up something. I have to budget my money to live within my income, and I expect them to do the same.

John M. Scroggins lives in Suitland.

Date: 7 May 2003
To: vaedit@jrnl.com
From: John M. Scroggins
Subject: "Maryland's perilous fiscal time", reply to Ulysses Curie

What follows below is a slightly edited version of an e-mail message I sent to Maryland Sen. Ulysses Currie in response to his "Viewpoint" column in the May 2 Prince George's Journal. I offer it to you for possible publication as a rebuttal to Sen. Currie. It is still in the form of a message to him. I would recast it in another format, but I'm about to leave town for a week and wouldn't have time until my return.

John M. Scroggins
3408 Weltham Street
Suitland, MD 20746
301-423-0031 (home)
240-350-6252 (wireless)

Dear Sen. Currie:

According to your recent column in the Journal, you want me to write to Governor Ehrlich and urge him not to make deep program cuts. NO! I intend to tell him Right On! As the session closed, I wrote to the person most responsible for the coming cuts--Michael Busch--but he hasn't bothered to answer me.

Who caused Maryland's fiscal crisis? You folks in the General Assembly did!

If Maryland is caught between a rock and a hard place, it is primarily because of the fiscal irresponsibility of you and your colleagues in the General Assembly. Your fiscal irresponsibility created the problem, and you people rejected the Governor's reasonable solution. I am sickened by your blatant hypocrisy in blaming Governor Ehrlich for the potential budget cuts.

You want to blame Governor Ehrlich for not funding education. Baloney!

You people in the General Assembly, not Bob Ehrlich, chose to give hundreds of millions of tax dollars in subsidies to out-of-state sports millionaires. Where was your concern for education then?

You people in the General Assembly, not Bob Ehrlich, chose to spend tens of millions of dollars on luxurious Senate offices. Where was you concern for education then?

In a further act of fiscal irresponsibility, you people in the General Assembly, not Bob Ehrlich, voted to spend millions of dollars each year on pay raises to reward yourselves for your wasteful spending. Where was you concern for education then?

In the session just ended, you personally sponsored bills to spend millions of dollars on pork rather than education.

Is your tax-based solution believable? NO!

As noted above, when you folks in the General Assembly have money to spend, education is NOT your top priority. Giving you more money in taxes means you will spend it elsewhere and then come back whining for more education money.

Just look at the obscene telephone tax you supported last year. Telephone service is more highly taxed than virtually any other product or service. When I add up all the taxes and government-created fees on my telephone bill, it comes to over 35%. It's like the sin taxes on booze and smoking.

You people said the telephone tax increase you passed last year would be used for education. The Gazette reports that Jack Johnson (whom you supported) has refused to give all the proceeds to the schools.* Instead he is diverting a substantial portion of it to other programs.

You folks in Annapolis lied about how the tax increase would be used! Why should I or anyone else believe you the next time you say you want higher taxes for education?

Is money the solution to our education problems? NO!

You and many other politicians seem to accept the questionable notion that the Thornton Plan will solve our education problems. NONSENSE!

Before even looking at the money issue, I find it hard to believe that you accept such a plan from someone like Alvin Thornton. Look at his record. He was a member and then head of the school board that presided over failing schools, and he got the latter position after misleading the voters about his reelection plans. He was head of the elected school board you found so bad that you voted to kill it (after your staff wrote to me and said you supported continuing the elected board).

If Thornton couldn't get it right when he was in charge of the schools, why do you think his current plan is any good?

Just what will more money for schools buy? More administrators? Pay raises for administrators? More busing? That's where increases seem to go--not into actual improvements in education. If more money actually meant better results, we wouldn't have such lousy schools now.

Prince George's County schools have received substantial increases in funding every year. Despite those increases, two things have remained the same:

1. The schools continue to fail to educate our children.
2. There is constant whining for more money.

What makes you think that giving more money to the same politicians and educrats who preside over our failing schools will buy anything other than more massive failure?

We already spend more than the national average per pupil, yet we get much poorer results. Why?

Look at the District of Columbia. Their schools have received huge increases in funding and now spend much more per pupil than our schools. But the DC schools are complete failures. Those increases funding increases did not cause any improvement in results.

My son was a honor student in the science and technology program at Oxon Hill High School. He went from there to a small, but very highly regarded engineering college in Indiana (a college US News and World Report rates as the best small engineering school in the country). He found himself poorly prepared. His rural Indiana classmates had a better grounding in math and science than he received at Oxon Hill. But those rural classmates came from communities that typically spend 20% less per pupil than we do. Why do they get better results?

If you really wanted to improve education, you would:

1. Stop throwing good money after bad.
2. Find out why our slightly above average spending produces far below average results.
3. Fix the real problem
4. Insist on accountability for educational results.
5. Support alternative education programs and proposals that produce better results.
6. Stop supporting and funding failure.

Giving more and more money to officials who fail is not true reform and is not a solution to our education problems.

Conclusion.

What makes me sick at heart is not what may fall under the governor's budget knife, but rather how much of my tax money you have wasted on both non-essential and failed programs.

If it takes massive budget cuts to get you to set real priorities and spend money effectively, those cuts are long overdue.

I have a fixed income. Every time you raise taxes I must give up something. I have to budget my money to live within my income. I expect you to do the same. If you can't, it is time for you to step aside in favor of someone who can.

John M. Scroggins
Suitland

* County executive's budget angers school board members
http://www.gazette.net/200314/princegeorgescty/education/151783-1.html

Response: None from Sen. Currie; published in the Journal, 9 May 2003.