Open for business? Lack of school funding says otherwise: Letter
Wicomico County Executive Bob Culver says we can’t afford raises for teachers.
A chief competitor for the best teachers, Worcester County, has a larger tax base, according to Culver, and “I can’t keep up with them — no way.”
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That attitude flies in the face of recent discussions I’ve had in the past three weeks with county business leaders — Republicans, Democrats and Independents, for what it’s worth. They are unanimous in their view about Wicomico’s top budgetary priority — a much bigger investment in our public schools.
According to one major local employer, when he can hire a qualified candidate, they often choose to live in Worcester because of the schools there. As a local economist points out, that’s a prescription for failure for our county, because people pay their taxes where they live, not where they work.
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We are not attracting new businesses to the county because of the perception of our schools as substandard — resulting in a labor pool lacking in 21st century skills — nor can our major private-sector employers bring in top talent because of the perceived poor quality of our public schools.
The reality is our high school graduation rate ranks in the bottom half of Maryland's school districts, according to state budget records. Our county contribution to public education ranks next to last in per-student funding.
The consensus opinion among local business leaders about how we develop a sound economic vision for Wicomico is threefold: universal pre-K, higher salaries for teachers and tuition breaks for county students attending Wor-Wic Community College. One went so far as to say we need to rank in the top 10 for teacher salaries if we are going to reasonably compete in the Mid-Atlantic region to attract new businesses and start-ups, and to keep our aspiring entrepreneurs here from leaving.
You can’t run a government like a business for many reasons, but you can apply good business practices. That starts with wise foundational investment. A better-educated labor pool won’t happen overnight; like most start-ups, it takes up to three years to show a profit.
But the longer we take to make that investment, the further we fall behind our competitors for new business and top talent, and the longer it will take to achieve that vision.
Which county leaders recognize the importance of increased investment in education to yield a viable economic future for all of our citizens? It promises to be the top issue in the fall elections.
Gains Hawkins is president of the Democratic Club of Wicomico County.