Missing the point, creating controversy
The Sun article of June 14, "Teachers union backs 4 for office" by Larry Carson not only missed the point, it went out of the way to create controversy where none exists. The Howard County Education Association is very pleased to recommend four candidates to its members in the upcoming Primary elections in Howard County. Unfortunately, in all too many of the "races" county voters have no choice at all - they are uncontested primaries. That is why HCEA chose to interview candidates in districts where its members, and the voting public, will face a choice among a number of qualified candidates.
The notion that support for these four Democratic candidates in the primary election demonstrates that HCEA is somehow a "pawn" of the Democratic Party is absurd. In recommending two candidates in contested primaries, we chose Democrats over Democrats, not Republicans.
In making recommendations for the General Election in November, we will interview candidates from both parties. Mr. Carson failed to point out that HCEA supported two Republican candidates for Howard County School Board in the last election, information that I provided to him.
Mr. Carson also provides the fact that I made a personal donation to Ken Ulman's campaign last October. With this statement following the discussion of HCEA's support of Mr. Ulman, it may imply that I somehow influenced the vote for Mr. Ulman. That is totally untrue.
The Government Relations Committee that conducted the candidates' interviews consists of teachers and instruction assistants who are HCEA members. I did not participate in the Committee vote for the recommendation of Mr. Ulman, and as President, I conducted the vote of the Board of Directors but did not participate myself. In fact, I would have excused myself from such a vote because of the donation.
Since Mr. Carson examined state campaign records to uncover my contribution to Mr. Ulman's campaign, he also knew, or should have known, about my contribution to Mr. Chris Merdon's campaign last November. Mr. Carson's failure to report information that contradicts his premise of union support only for Democrats is plain and simply unprofessional journalism.
HCFA members are registered Democrats, Republicans, and Independents. In making recommendations to our members, we have a responsibility to look at candidates from both parties. In fact, five of the 14 letters containing questionnaires and requests for interviews sent to candidates in state and local races were sent to Republicans - not one responded to HCEA.
At the same time, there are strong reasons why the Howard County Education Association, the Maryland State Teachers Association, and other "teachers unions" across Maryland frequently support Democratic candidates for public office. This is because those candidates support issues and legislation that is important to union members.
It was Democrat Parris Glendening who sponsored the "Governor's Challenge" to raise teachers salaries throughout Maryland and supported collective bargaining reform sponsored by MSTA.
In Howard County, few long-time employees of the Board of Education can forget the years when Chuck Ecker served as County Executive. Mr. Ecker broke the teacher and support personnel contracts with the Board of Education by refusing to fund negotiated raises, at the same time that he had legislation passed to allow him to collect both his State Teachers Retirement and salary as County Executive (something no one else could do at the time). When Mr. Ecker became County Executive, salaries in Howard County ranked third in the state; by the time he left we had fallen to twelfth place.
Mr. Robey has worked hard over the past four years to correct this situation. In a year of deficits he refused to balance the budget on the backs of county employees. Mr. Robey has earned the continuing support of all of our members!
Joseph R. Staub Jr. Ellicott City
(The writer is president of the Howard County Education Association.)