Montgomery County sentinel. [volume] (Rockville, Md.) 1855-1974, 1944-10-26
AGAINST

AAON \ 1AA w II
The Charter is replete with con-
fusing and misleading language =
"double-talk," as some would say.
Take for instance Section 3 of Ar
ticle 5, entitled Department Of
Education" Zone of the many bur-
eaus provided therein). 1t is III
two paragraphs. Paragraph (a)
states that "There shall be De-
partment of Education under the
immediate direction of the County
Board of Education constituted as
provided by law" If this language
means anything, it contemplates
two distinct bodies, one the present
County Board of Education as now
appointed by the Governor which
the Charter can not now affect by
express provisions of State law,
and the other the useless now bur-
eaucratic group called the Depart
ment of Education" subservicnt to,
or to use the words of the Charter,
under the immediate direction of
the County Board of Education"
Why both are needed, no one has
yet explained.
But the double talk here includes
the language "as provided by law"
Whose law? That of the County
Council, if the State law has by
that time been amended at Anna
polls and the amendment to the
State law signed by the Governor,
otherwise under the State law as
it now stands. This situation means
the only way that the County De-
partment of Education can grow
beyond small and useless group
of new bureaucrats is for the
Charterites to fight to amend the
State law as far as the Montgo-
merry County school system is con-
cerned, and when they do accomp-
fish that, take over the school sys-
tenn. If so, that will mean con-
slant fight over, about and in the
County school system. Is that the
Charter program? No one has said
yes, no, or maybe.
To confirm this inference, read
paragraph (b) from the Charter on
the question of education, quoted
as follows: "The Department of
Education shall, subject to the pu-
bic general laws, have the follow
ing functions: Such functions as
are vested by public general laws
in the public school authorities of
the County (which now means and
can only mean the Board of Educa-
ton as now appointed by the Gov
ernor) and such other functions as
may be provided by the public
local laws of the County Council"
The Brookings Reports gave the
Montgomery County school system
an excellent rating. The general
prevailing opinion of the County
school system is that is good and
constantly improving. So this
somewhat camouflage opportunity
for the Charter bureaucracy to
start and maintain fight to take
over the County school system at
some indefinite later date appears
to be or certainly can be one of
the secondary detectives of the
Charter movement.
At any rate, the two paragraphs
of the Charter dealing with educa-
ton are a sloppy and confusing
piece of work which has not been
and, in fact, can not honestly be
explained or made understandable
Forgetting for the moment the in
creased cost of such a proposal to
the taxpayers, it is fruitful of the
greatest confusion, even if anyone
really knew what is the meaning
of the entire Section 8.
What has been said about the
Department of Education is true
about the Department of Health
and its conflict with the
Health Officer, the State Board of
Health also appointed by the
Governor and the Statewide
laws on that subject matter; about
the Department of Welfare and its
conflict with County Welfare
Board appointed by the State
Board of Welfare and the State
law on the subject of welfare:
about the Department of Finance
and its conflict with the State Su-
pervisor of Assessments, and about
the other bureaus and Depart
ments' as they euphemistically
called in the Charter.
Observation-Disclosures" which
the Charterites are so prone to
use, is less offensive word than
Bureaucracy" but there is no ma