Competing globally

Wednesday, Feb. 25, 2009

In trumpeting the stimulus package, President Obama has stated, "the stimulus will create hundreds of thousands of jobs in education equipping tens of thousands of schools with 21st-century classrooms, labs and computers to help our kids compete with any worker in the world for any job." This call for global competitiveness includes Charles County, Maryland's fastest-growing county.

After months of gloom coming from our state legislators swirling around the state's impending financial crisis, U.S. Sen. Barbara A. Mikulski visited Indian Head last month and told elected officials in Charles County that the new proposed $98.6 million high school was "exactly the kind of project" the stimulus bill, now law, will be looking to fund.

After inserting a half-a-million-dollar line item for a portion of a state-of-the-art digital classroom attachment on the proposed high school and giving Charles County elected officials a heads-up on the stimulus package, why are our elected officials dragging their feet?

Visiting a $40 million high school in relatively poor King George, Va., promoting initiatives (e.g., Branch Avenue to Waldorf light rail, cross-county connector) that will transport people out of the county and stripping down the proposed high school to the studs is hardly effective leadership considering the fortuitous largesse coming from the federal government for school construction.

The Charles County Board of Education needs to revisit the proposed high school as originally envisioned and look at including upgrades that can meet President Obama's call for global competitiveness in science and technology.

The Charles County commissioners must earnestly recognize why people move into the county and why people leave the county.

I contend that schools and education are definitely high on the list relative to a Metro stop or another clogged road.

Our paltry delegation of state legislators must do a better job in Annapolis fighting for our children, who will be among the future qualified orphans, district and circuit court judge selectees. We must look at our schools not only as places where learning takes place, but also as attractions to lure business and middle-class families to our great county.

Robert D. Harlan, St. Charles