Montgomery County sentinel. [volume] (Rockville, Md.) 1855-1974, 1961-10-03
Budgets Are Necessary

The budget chairman Of the Montgomery County
Council Of Parent Teacher Associations has come I'D
with proposal that would In effect eliminate school
budgets.
The suggestions, advanced by Frank Vrataric.
calls on School Board members to prepare their educa-
honal programs without permitting budgetary consid-
erations to influence their actions
This is indeed a novel idea and one that has far
reaching implications for the taxpayers If this line
OF thought were followed in other county departments
we might end up with appropriations totaling several
hundred million dollars without any regard to the peo-
pies ability to finance such a staggering tax BILL
We fear Mr.. Vrataric has let his zeal for educa-
ton blind him to the economic facts of life This is as
true for county as it is for an individual There is
just so much money available to spend for specific
needs If we spend more than we take in, we go into
debt. And If we cannot pay off debts we go into
bankruptcy.
This is why we have budgets They give us an
overall look at needs as compared with our assets
and enable us to allocate certain amount to each
obligation depending on its Importance while making
certain we do not spend too much for one and not
enough for another
We sympathize with Mr. Vrataric's desire to re-
move budgetary restrictions on education so that any
program advanced by the School Board will have all
OF the money 1t needs. But this completely ignores
other county needs including street Improvements,
public welfare, police and fire protection libraries,
parks and recreation. These too have their support
ers who feel and rightly So that they are entitled to
just much consideration in the distribution of the
tax dollar as those who confne their interest to
schools.
II Is obvious that Mr.. Vrataric feels that educa-
tior should be paramount. And we are inclined to
agreebut only within the framework of the taxpay-
ers' ability to pay, and budget to show how much
he can afford to pay not only for school but for all
Of the other services which are essential to good gov
eminent Without these limitations the county would
be counting bankruptcy And that certainly would not
do Mr. Vrataric or the school system any good
No. Mr.. Vrataric, this is no time to eliminate
budgetary considerations. Rather it is time for the
County Council to take long hard look at all depart
mental requests for funds, including those of the
School Board, and to demand thorough justification
for all new programs in order to determine whether
they are actually needed
It is time also for the School Board to devote
of its efforts to determination and to critical
evauation and Improvement of existing procedures
rather than to embark series of new, expensive
experiments.
Certainly the need for improvement is apparent
the result Of the recently published curriculum
study reports Members Of the Council of Parent
Teacher Associations would be performing worth
while public service if they concentrated their efforts
behind the Curriculum Study Committee recommen-
dations rather than trying to county financial
safeguards.