I was appalled to read The Sun's editorial "The toughest case" (Jan. 17) noting the Maryland's Department of Juvenile Services' inability to help their most serious offenders succeed and the The Sun's conclusion that this problem "likely always will" exist.

The editorial spoke of recidivism, inexperience of staff, the need for training and re-training, faulty statistical methods, interviewing discharged youth and problematic methodology, but no mention of education, the key for all people to succeed in this country.

Neither DJS Secretary Donald W. DeVore, The Sun's editorial board, nor the Maryland Juvenile Justice Monitoring Unit identified educating troubled youth as a prerequisite for responsible citizenship.

One reason for the recidivism rate is partially reflected in the number of school dropouts incarcerated nationwide. According to the National Center for Educational Statistics, dropouts make up 75 percent of U.S. state prisons and 59 percent of U.S. federal prisons. Those numbers are bound to increase given the challenges of many urban schools and their myopic curriculums.

The present structure of U.S. society and the embedded structure of education/socialization will only maintain hegemony, "and likely always will."

DJS officials, educators and politicians must make efforts to provide the most troubled youth with educational opportunities leading to legal employment while instilling traditional family values. As such, strategies must be developed to strengthen the educational components of all DJS schools, their curriculums and follow-up educational services once youth are discharged.

As Carter G. Woodson once wrote, "Real education means to inspire people."

Walter Gill, Baltimore

The writer is author of Teaching in Urban America: A Formula for Change

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