The Howard County Schools Are Very Sick

In a statement of blistering stupidity, Leslie Stellman claims the proposed school budget review committee violates state law. From the article, Stellman reportedly told the Board of Education,

The county’s fiscal authority through an agency such as this creation would erode your immunity as a state agency.

This is obviously incorrect, since the the County Council is responsible for approving the budget of the school system, per Maryland Education Article § 5-102. The Board of Education has no immunity as a state agency to begin with, as sole fiscal responsibility for the school system lies with the Howard County Council. There’s a lot of beef to be had with the committee structure, but if the Council wishes to constitute an advisory board to support the exercise of its state-mandated duties, that is both the responsibility and prerogative of the Council.

The School Board’s objections to the bill are groundless and fundamentally antithetical to the democratic process.

Image by FlugKerl2 / Wikimedia Commons.