“I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.
“I have a dream today.
“I have a dream that one day, down in Alabama, with its vicious racists, with its governor having his lips dripping with the words of interposition and nullification; one day right there in Alabama, little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers.”
Dr. Martin Luther King’s “I Have Dream” speech 50 years ago was replete with messages for the country’s education system. On Wednesday, on the 50th anniversary of the March on Washington at which that famous speech was delivered, the St. Mary’s County Board of Education remembered Dr. King in a number of ways and were also reminded about his message and legacy.
Board of Education Chairman Dr. Sal Raspa opened the meeting with a remembrance. And School Superintendent Dr. Michael Martirano showed a clip from the speech and talked about Dr. King’s commitment to equality in education that resonates throughout the school system
But Dr. Janice Walthour, a retired educator and Vice President of the St. Mary’s County Branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) brought the legacy to roost when she spoke during the public comment period on a proposed regulation change.
The proposal is to eliminate the system’s Budget Advisory Committee. The committee has been in school board policy since November of 1988, yet the system has allowed the committee to go dormant over the last five years. That fact was an issue in some of the school board races last year.
Dr. Walthour said Dr. King was an advocate for transparency in the schools which she said was what the advisory committee achieved. ”It produces a structure for input to the schools,” she said, adding, “The process is a great way of determining the needs of the constituencies you represent.&
