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iMmi ta|§eM A4 The School Budget r' is unfortunate that the huge operating budget of the Board of Education had to be presented just prior to the holiday season. This is not the time to douse cold water or cold criticism on anything. But we are afraid that this budget for the 1961-62 operating expenditures for the school system leaves far too many broad areas over which cold criticism could be leveled. An increase of nearly $8 million is a tremendous jump. And we are afraid the Superintendent and his staff have been far too liberal in their estimates. Furthermore, there are too many vague spots, especially in the Superintend ent’s analysis of the recommendations. There is no excuse for the following: - “In the area of school building operations, the recom mended amount would improve the supervision of custodial work, thereby providing better protection of our invest ment and enhancing the safety of the buildings.” The .amount of $75,000 is recommended for this. Just what does it mean? Does the Superintendent intend to hire night watchmen? Does he want police dogs to patrol the schools? This has been suggested before. And how much damage was done to the schools during the current year? All of this should be spelled out. He certainly should be able to convey his thinking a little clearer than this. The same is true with many other items that amount, to thousands and even millions of dollars. £' What is meant by this: “Improved leave policy, which will permit teachers up te 2 days of ‘personal leave’ a year, within their total sick leave allotment. This type of leave covers situations that must be accommodated during the school time. It is estimated that substitutes for this type of leave in 1961-62 will cost $53,360.” What is “personal leave”? That’s a new term to most government officials. It is either annual leave or it isn’t. It certainly should not be sick leave. The Superintendent also recommends that Adminis trative and Supervisory personnel be put on a 12-month program. Who will the Supervisors supervise during the summer months? Time does not permit a full examination of this pro posed operating budget, but a quick look shows a sub ftantial increase in salaries for almost all administrative personnel. One could not find too much fault with a fair 10% overall raise for administrative personnel. However, the Superintendent has recommended raises up to $3,000 annually. A modest two or three hundred dollar increase appears to be the exception rather than the rule. Further more, there could be some questions raised concerning the apparent and proven ability of many of those recom mended for high increases in pay. It is certain members of the School Board will give this proposed budget close scrutiny. It is also fairly certain that rather substantial cuts will be made before going to the County Council. We believe the people of Montgomery County, •specially those with school children, are willing to pay a just amount for the operation of the school system, but we doubt if they want unnecessary and vague amounts thrown into a budget without proper clarification and assurance of need. A Real Hero VE7E haven’t stopped thinking about the great act of ** heroism displayed by the pretty young Patricia Floyd, 17, when she rescued three-year old Kenneth Brown recently from certain death in an ice-covered pond at Manor Country Club. Such a great act couldn’t help but warm your heart, especially at Christmas tin:". There are many wonderful actions on the part of men, women and children but it isn’t often that we know enough about them to bring their unselfish deeds to the attention of others. The Floyd and the Brown families have already had much to be merry about this Christmas. We join them in their high spirits. We also extend sincere greeting to all this holiday season. Old Man Winter TtI'ANY persons have spent hours telling about the real winters we used to have in the twenties. And how lucky we have been to have such mild weather during what used to be winter. Perhaps, these same people are going to have an opportunity to see these wild winters come back. And if this is the case, the officials might just as well pre pare to take care of the situation. We can’t continue to have our activities crippled for days at a time. The loss of time, money and patience will be too great. We hesitate to welcome so-called real winters back. Snow and nippy weather has its charm but enough is enough. An Arts Center though the people of Montgomery County are closely associated with cultural activities in Wash ington, the Capital of the United States, it is apparent that the county has grown to such an extent in the last few years that it needs a cultural center of its own. Developments during the past few months have been encouraging toward reaching this goal. Members of the Cultural Center Committee, appoint ed by the County Council, and advocates in the Arts Cen ter, Inc., have done yeoman work in bringing facts and figures before the County Council and the citizens. It was also good to hear Frederick Gutheim, presi dent of Arts Center, tell the Council that his group is more interested in community participation in the arts, not so much in viewing a spectacle of the arts. Mr. Gutheim cited a need for concert, theatrical and meeting halls in Montgomery County that is not being met by any recreational or educational facilities present or proposed. The creation of a centrally located Arts Center would be a wonderful addition to our nice way of life in Mont gomery County. We hope ways and means can be found in the very near future so actual construction can begin. Thursday, Dacambar 22, 1960 "BANNER HEADLINE" ! A _ Letters to the Sentinel A Teacher Speaks Out The teachers of Montgomery County have a serious problem which they need help in solving —two problems really. The first, possibly you can help us solve. How can we express our protests without fear of re prisal or have some weight given to anonymous letters, ar ticles, etc.? This fear of reprisal is not an unwarranted fear. We have seen It happen! We feel that we have legitimate com plaints. Those of us who were in the county under Dr. Norris had petty little peeves and the usual gripes of normal, healthy Americans but never once did we question his allegiance to the educational system, to the teachers or to the citizens whose children we are respon sible for 180 days of the year. That faith and trust is gone. There is something basically wrong with the school adminis tration In Montgomery County today. The core of the system —the teachers—is decaying from within. There are many of us who are seriously worried about this situation. We need our Jobs (not many of us work outside the home unless it is necessary) and we resent being forced from Jobs if the fault lies elsewhere—especially if we have not had a chance to “speak our piece." On the other hand, it is very frustrating to work in a situation where you have no voice, you don’t dare speak out for fear of bringing repercussions down on 1) your self, 2) your school and 3) your principal (who has expressed her own fear of her job, a cut in salary or transfer to a lesser position). Which brings up the other point—-where do we get effec tive representation? We pay S4O a year in “professional” memberships, which, believe me, are not on a voluntary basis. There are other methods of force than the physical one. After all, “our school must have 100 percent participation!” That is beside the point.. Our local organization, the MCEA, is not presenting the views of the teachers as a body. As an example: what are they doing about the Career Recognition Plan? Ask the teachers what they think!! Here again we run into the question of bucking the administration. What kind of re gime is this where no one will put up effective opposition? Mr. Symonds will come into the schools and butter up the facul ty but back down and reverse himself when put to the test. Our own school representatives to the MCEA will not “stick their necks out” ot “be the goats” in any controversial is sues. Dissenting votes on im portant issues or petitions agreed to by 85-90 percent of the faculty have been quelled before they left the school be cause they would throw an un favorable light on 1) the school, 2) the faculty, and 3) the prin cipal. Believe me, I am proud of my school. I have nothing but ad miration and affection for my principal. I don't blame her one bit for trying to protect her long years of excellent service in the profession. And this let ter will attest to my perplexity in finding a better answer to this problem. However, working RIMES of the TIMES It Must Be Christmas! I was never one for Christ mas . . . Believed it commer cialized . . . That Yuletide cele brants all should ... Be psy choanalyzed ... I thought Christmas cheer was corny . . . And sending cards a farce . . . I guess I must at last admit... My stock of faith was sparse . . . Then I saw the wistful wishing ... Of some kiddies in a shop . . . And a bit of 'liiWi mas spirit . . . Made ray haiw ened heart go plop! . . . When carol singers in the snow . . . Sang “Silent Night” for me . . . Then Christmas spirit came at last . . . With that sweet litany . . . Now I’m all enthused far Christmas . . . And childish ec stasy . . . Have stars again in once hard eyes . . . And believe in Santa C.! —Richard Hobart in these conditions is contrary to everything we have been taught to believe in. There must be another answer. Now voices are beginning to be heard that, come September, members of the faculty will not join the MCEA and lend sup port to its new headquarters in Twinbrook. That is all well and good; however ,we still lack rep resentation. I am not “chicken” and I would sign my name to this in a minute if it would serve a pur pose. One voice would do no good. We have got to be repre sented as a group or nothing will be gained. I realize that anonymous com munications are not usually ac knowledged or answered, but I wonder if comment could not be Invited on this subject or some of your writers make com ment. I sincerely believe this to be an Important issue and one which would be of widespread interest not only to teachers but another much larger group—the public—the parents of the chil dren we teach. They are really the most effective pressure bearing group—if they could be informed. A Worried Teacher I am writing to thank you for the $25 United States savings bond which was presented at the Annual 4-H Achievement Banquet. I am very sorry that I was not present to receive the award personally but was at tending the 4-H dairy confer- Montgomery County SENTINEL CY M. CAMPBELL, Publisher Byron Sedgwick, Editor W. H. Smith, AMOclate Editor EiUbllshed 1853 by Matthew Field* MEMBER MARYLAND PRESS ASSOC. AFFILIATE MEMBER NATIONAL EDITORIAL ASSOCIATION SENTINEL PUBLISHING CO.. INC. Published weekly . . . Thursdays at 213 East Montgomery Avenue, by the Sen tinel Publishing Co., Inc.. Cy M. Camp boll. president. Entered as second class matter at the Boat Office at Rockville. Man'l and, under Act of Congress. March 3. 1879. 4 -0> SUBSCRIPTION DATES Mall in Maryland and tha District of Columbia. One Yaar *4.00 ence in Chicago at the time. I was very thrilled however to re ceive this award. Awards such as these encour age 4-H’ers to do a better Job. Thank you for your interest in the 4-H program in this county. Connie Mills Monrovia Band First of all let me say that I am not in any way connected with the Rockville Municipal Band. I am merely a citizen who is very Interested In the iband and who Is appalled at the 'Seeming tack of interest In it by the citizens of Rockville. Out of the thousands living here, there must be more music lovers than the pitifully small numbers which attend the con cert. The reason must be the lack of publicity. I attended the Christmas Concert last evening with friends and I must say the band outdid itself! It was wonder ful. And the new auditorium is lovely. The next concert is scheduled for January 22nd at 8 p.m. Can we have just a little publicity, please. You may use this letter if you wish, but if you do, please don’t use my name. Rockville Citizen Trials of a Correspondent Deadline is tomorrow, Better get the newt. Call up on the telephone Anyone I choose. “Any news That I can usef Been going somewhere special? Have you had some guests? Attended any meetings Or song, gab, eating tests?’’ Jot it down, write it up, Polish it with care. Get the facts and names correct For each item and affair. Type it up, send if in. And unit for publication. Will they print it all this time Or will they cut and ration? Paper's out, let’s have a look; Turn the pages fast. They didn’t even put it inf I’ve looked from first to last. All that work for nothing. How can I explain To all the ones who give me news? It isn’t very plain. What prompts an editor to make Decisions which omit An area from coverage — From births to an “obit.” Some weeks when the news is in, The errors are so thick, It makes the correspondent Sound like a country hick. Button comes out “Dutton," And King is printed "Kink," Apostrophes are all fouled up, What must people think? A writer’s satisfaction Is sometimes far from bright. When people read their names in print, They like to see them right. —Deborah Hunsberger Lens An Opinion- No Reason to Manufacture Fight Many newspaper people attended recently the victory dinner for Mac Mathias, newly elected Republican member of Congress. The State man for the Washington Star, Paul Hope, was there. So was John Anderson of the Post And most of the county papers were represented. Last week there appeared a story on the front page of the Bethesda Tribune with 4- column headline to the effect that the dinner provided the spot for the “opening gun in an all-out war for control of the Montgomery County Republican organization.” The story went on to say, “Mrs. Aubinoe of Bethesda, a member of the County Central Committee and long a leading spirit in GOP affairs, reportedly is one of the targets of an insurgent group led by June Shields and Edward Clark.” We tried to keep up with political events here in the county and sixth district during the past few months and years, so it might be well to review some of the activities and give some of the impressions gained. Let’s start in 1958. There was a rather heated Republican Party Primary. A group headed by David Scull wanted to put new life in the Party. Walter Dawson, a very popular leader of the GOP for many years, headed the more or less old-line members of the Party. Mrs. Aubinoe was on his side. So was Ted Ray, veteran Silver Spring political leader. The newer group happened to win control of the Central Committee. However, Walter Dawson and Mrs. Aubinoe were elected to the GOP Committee. And the functions of the Committee operated fairly smoothly through the 1958 election, although there were a few Republicans who did not recover from that bitter primary. Ted Ray was one of them. Last year Republican leaders in the Sixth District began the search for a suitable candi date to run against John R. Foley, the Demo cratic Congressman who had beaten the three termer DeWitt Hyde. According to Smith Was Brother Bob A 800-Boo? We’ve been somewhat surprised at the relatively little cfmmept on the action of President-designate Kennedy in appointing his brother. Bob, to the rather important post of Attorney General. We must admit we felt our own eyebrows arch a trifle when we read of the appoint ment, and we certainly expected it to be fol lowed by a rash of criticism from Kennedy opponents. That it hasn’t materialized thus far, it seems, must be due to the extreme tolerance and generosity of Kennedy foes or, more likely, the inclination toward a later blast that might be given greater impetus by continuing developments. We sincerely hope there will be no con tinuing developments to make the appoint ment of Bob Kennedy more unfortunate than It appeared on the surface, and we are con vinced that he can and will do a highly ef fective Job as attorney-general. Nevertheless, we think his appointment was unfortunate simply because it exposed the President-designate to criticism he wouldn’t have Inherited through the appoint ment of someone whose name isn’t Kennedy— albeit the alternate appointee might have been no more qualified for the post than Robert Kennedy. We would have no quarrel at all with County Low He Shut His Eyes And Went to Sleep It was said “the little boy closed his eyes and went to sleep," and with these words the life and death of the 11-year-old Baltz boy be came a part of our history. He is the young ster who was dressed “in a grey suit with a grey hat with a feather In it” who sat in the tall of a DC-8 on the trip from Chicago to New York to see his mother on Christmas Day. He is the youngster in the picture who is shown lying upon a bank of snow wrapped with blankets before whom a man of appar ent wisdom is kneeling, above whom a woman is standing pointing to the east, and beside whom another woman is kneeling holding an umbrella to protect him from the falling snow. And this tragic tableau took place within the shadow of a Church named “The Pillar of Fire.” And he was taken to a Methodist hospital where he was joined with his family and where he fought courageously and bravely to keep from slipping off of this earth. Why, he even spoke of “looking beneath him at a city blanketed with snow” which was a lovely sight like “fairy-land at night” But his burns and his aching lungs could endure only so much and he followed the other 137 who had gone before him into a realm the existence of which was unknown, undreamed of, un thought upon and unsuspected prior to the birth of the Nazarine on Chirstmas Day so many years ago. £3 Several names were presented. Mrs. Aubinoe even suggested in all seriousness that David Scull would be a good candidate. And it is well known that David Scull and Dottie Aubinoe have never been close political friends. However, for Party harmony, Dave Scull suggested that Mrs. Aubinoe be elected as the Party Chairman for the Sixth District Finally, there were three candidates who entered the Republican Congressional pri mary. Mac Mathias won the primary quite easily. Many felt that Mrs. Aubinoe was not com pletely neutral in the Primary race. So when It came time for Mathias to select his cam paign manager he chose Ben Fisher and June Shields. And they worked through the several county committees. This left Mrs. Aublnoa out as the Sixth District Chairman —a post she didn’t fight for once she had It Ben Fisher and June Shields with the help of many Republican leaders conducted a very impressive campaign. They did not receive, nor did they seek, any of the help that Mrs. Aubinoe always gave her good friend DeWitt Hyde. She was busy on the State and Na tional level. At no time did there appear a report that June Shields, Ben Fisher or Ed Clark were trying to make Mrs. Aubinoe a "target” for anything. They seemed too busy with the campaign. And Mathias always seemed on the best terms with the Aubinoes. David Scull a few weeks ago resigned his post as Chairman of the Republican Party in order to prevent a continuation of the 1958 “fight.” And we don’t believe Mrs. Aubinoe would welcome the inference that she heads any group that could be the political target of anyone. And we are sure June Shields and Ed Clark have neither the time nor the interest in heading “an insurgent group” against Mrs. Aubinoe or anyone else. As a matter of fact, they are quite happy to have been part of a victorious campaign. m la i w# t • \ Wvl. 1 By William H. Smith Robert Kennedy’s appointment had It come from someone else. He has established a brilliant reputation in the field of law for a man of his age and experience, and his work as a rackets investigator for the government has contributed substantially to his qualifica tions for a key Job in the Justice Department But the mere fact that the new President chose his brother for a key cabinet post leaves him a wide-open target for charges of nepotism particularly by those anti-Ken nedy dements who had contended from the •tart of the campaign that his nomination was a family affair, engineered by his famous father reportedly zealously ambitious for the success of his own clan. We think within the ranks of loyal Demo crats there are a number of others well-veraed In the field of law who could perform effective service as attorney general, and we think If one of them had been selected, it would have left a better taste in the mouths of many Americans. By virtue of his blood ties with the Presi dent and the criticism that is sure to come beacuse of his appointment for that very reason Bob Kennedy faces an assignment more difficult than would confront an attorney general unrelated to the chief executive. We wish him well. ' \_ This Christmas the fathers and mothers of all 11-year-old boys who bounce from bed at the time the rooster crows on Christmas morning will think of the youngster lying on a snow bank in Brooklyn wearing a “grey hat with a feather in it.” And the thoughts that are thought will come closer to an under standing of the meaning of Christmas than we have had since that terrible time In tha Argonne forest during the Battle of the Bulge. Christmas is a pleasant period of the year during times of prosperity, good health, sing ing and decorating the home. I had some thing to say about that last week. But that type of a Christmas Is not the real Christmas. I believe that it is necessary for one to suf fer individually or as a member of a group before one can understand the spiritual signif icance of the birth of the Nazarine. The death of the young Baltz boy has furnished this suf fering for millions of Americans. We cannot help but associate his death with our children, and, like Job of old, ask of the meaning of life. 8 Job could never learn that meaning for he lived prior to the Nazarine and did not have Christmas as an answer. He thought that life was all tragedy, aa it was to him in deed. But on the first Christmas we humans received a gift which prevents life from being black and stark—namely the belief in the im mortality of man which makes it possible for us to say a “Merry Christmas to all.” Wick Bvroit Barnard T. Welsh