How to improve state work force
Lt. Gov. Melvin Steinberg's proposal to eliminate the state Department of Personnel is a misguided idea. The state government should make more efficient use of its current resources first. There are several ways this is possible.
The first might be to establish a whistleblower's hot line for corruption/mismanagement within the government. This would be a way to anonymously report wrongdoing.
The second is to establish an idea hot line that rewards people suggestions that save money if adopted.
Establish a volunteer board of management/employees to review these ideas. Offer a financial reward to employees whose ideas are adopted that save the government money. The state has a lot of creative brainpower among its hard working employees -- tap it.
The third is to crack down and eliminate deadbeat employees and managers. There are not many, but they do much damage.
Some managers are blatantly racist, despite their denials, or ignore obvious violations of state rules and regulations. Friends familiar with government have reported some of the following:
* Clerical staff spending most of the day staring at themselves in the mirror or parading around the office prying into other employee's business as they worked.
Meanwhile the office suffered as they had to do their own clerical work, and had none of some vital supplies, enough to last to the next year of others.
As the employee was a chronic complainer, management did not want to tackle the necessary discipline.
* Another classic example is former employees who returned to visit their friends, sell items on the side or make numerous personal calls -- all on state telephones and during working hours.
One staff member who complained to the manager about this was promptly told, "Don't tell me how to run this office." Meanwhile tax dollars got wasted.
* Then there are managers who play favorites with staff, violate equal employment opportunity laws in promotion, retaliate against employees who complain about such unfair conduct. Some offices are so bad their employees would pull coup d'etats on the managers if it were possible.
A humorous but sad case is where staff are given reprimands without any investigation or attempt to hear both sides of the story. The employee is then told by supervisors to "act professional."
Most state government employees are hard-working, dedicated people who enjoy helping the public under what can be trying circumstances.
They deserve a pat on the back for their efforts. But the dead wood does a lot of damage, and more effort needs to be done to eliminate it.
Michael Hinterberger
Sykesville
Presidential
I for one am sick and tired of the endless criticisms of Bill Clinton with regard to military service.
Like it or not, Mr. Clinton is the duly elected president of the United States of America. As such he is this country's head of state and commander-in-chief of the armed forces.
It was only fitting and proper that he represented the American people, veterans and civilians alike, during D-Day commemorations on the beaches at Normandy.
Anyone who heard him speak there knows he did so eloquently, with honor and dignity.
Ronald W. Cammarata
Baltimore
Scrutiny needed
The implementation of outcome-based education (OBE) by the Baltimore County public schools may prove to be less of an answer to the "education crisis" than advertised by the county's public school administration.
As one digs into the successes and failures of OBE as it has been tried in other districts throughout our country, it becomes apparent that there is little substantiated data to support the claims that are being made by Baltimore County OBE proponents.
In Virginia, OBE was eliminated as an answer to educational reform because of a strong campaign by concerned citizens against the teaching of values to students as part of the proposed OBE curriculum.
Others cite the movement away from basic core learnings, such as rote learning of multiplication tables and phonics to "improved" learning methods involving group learning, whole language and interdisciplinary learning.
Other states and cities are carefully studying the potential effect of the OBE-based curriculum on their school systems and proceeding with due caution. Some have indicated that the implementation process will take five to 10 years.
What do Baltimore County school administrators know that the rest of the education establishment has missed?
Could it be the smell of federal dollars that is driving this reckless move to OBE? Will the county school administrators assume full accountability for a poorly thought-out and implemented program?
I urge people to get involved and look closely at the proposed curriculum change, which will be fully implemented by school year 1995-1996.
Require that the county administrators be held accountable for their actions in this area. The children's future is at stake.
Robert J. Furmanski
Parkton
Mount Royal strings
Regarding Glenn McNatt's column "Nurturing Musical Gifts" (June 11), I had the good fortune recently to hear a performance by the Mount Royal Elementary School String Orchestra, a group of about 40 young people divided equally between beginners on violin and cello and those who have been working a little over a year. The children receive regular orchestral training and semi-private instruction two to five days a week.
It would be hard to describe how deeply impressed I was by the dedication, enthusiasm and skill these children demonstrated. I was therefore much disturbed to learn that state and local funding for this excellent project is in danger of being curtailed.
Though any training is better than none, this cut would mean that all the time, effort and seriousness these children have invested in a very demanding program is leading nowhere. There is no way most children from this community can afford such instruction -- not to mention the purchase of stringed instruments -- without financial assistance.
It is so easy to criticize the city schools for their shortcomings.
Yet here is an enterprise of enormous promise that the community apparently is willing to turn its back on.
I urge anyone in a position of influence in the cultural life of the city to give this matter serious attention.
Louise A. Armstrong
Ruxton
New hope for the homeless
New federal policies give us hope for the homeless. Advocates who have been calling for a continuum of care to address the multi-faceted needs of Maryland's homeless citizens applaud leaders in Washington who believe that homelessness is a solvable problem and are willing to act. The recognition that local communities know their needs best and that prevention as well as long-term solutions are needed is truly welcome.
However, federal action in response to homelessness should not be viewed as a replacement for local, state or private efforts to fund services for the homeless.
New federal dollars will significantly increase the state's capacity to respond to homelessness. For Baltimore City, this means a proposed allocation of $14.7 million that can be counted upon each year. Baltimore City has fared very well in competitive programs for federal dollars (currently receiving over $18 million) and started new projects with these funds. Local, state and private sources will be counted upon to make up the difference when these multi-year funding commitments run out.
However, Baltimore City's local contribution to solving homelessness has actually decreased in the last couple of years.
A perfect opportunity exists to keep the city's commitment strong. In 1991, the City Council unanimously passed a resolution calling on the mayor and the Board of Estimates to use a portion of the existing hotel tax to increase funds for homeless services.
No action has yet been taken. As the City Council now considers a 2 percent increase in the hotel tax to fund expansion of the Convention Center, we hope city officials remember their commitment to the homeless. Since the blight of poverty discourages out-of-towners from visiting the city, increasing services for the homeless through the hotel tax or other revenue sources makes sense.
An increase in local funds would be wisely spent to support a continuum of care for Baltimore City's homeless -- outreach on the street, emergency and transitional housing services including the wet shelter that has long been promised, job training and referral, prevention services and permanent housing.
Norma T. Pinette
Baltimore
The writer is executive director of Action for the Homeless.