Franchot: Some education bureaucrats don't believe in accountability & transparency. Well, I respectfully disagree.

Some education bureaucrats don't believe in accountability & transparency. Well, I respectfully disagree. https://t.co/YpSYZSCtpY

— Peter Franchot (@peterfranchot) March 24, 2016

...Because the current hearing process was set up through legislation, PSSAM asked the legislative leaders, both Democrats, to cut the Board of Public Works out of the process and let the Interagency Committee on School Construction make the final call on funding decisions.

On Wednesday, Franchot called the request an affront to transparency and an attempt to move hundreds of millions of dollars in school construction funding decisions to a little-known committee.

He said the letter was the “most offensive” he’s received in office.

The comptroller’s office followed up with a four-page letter to Alban, written by Chief of Staff Len N. Foxwell.

That letter questioned the wisdom of the superintendents’ decision to question two of three members of the board — Franchot and Hogan — who are also the elected officials.

“Irrespective of whatever nebulous political objectives may have been achieved with this letter, it is difficult to see how it satisfies the best interests of those who you and your colleagues have actually been hired to serve,” Foxwell wrote.

Much of the letter was directed specifically to Alban and Frederick County’s annual funding request, but the superintendent said the letter was a culmination of association members’ feelings that have been building for years.

“This wasn’t just this past year,” Alban said Wednesday, speaking on behalf of the association. “If we don’t try to do something to change, then we’re part of the problem.”

Alban said PSSAM voted unanimously[note: That would include MCPS - Larry Bowers.] to send the letter. She is unsure if the group will respond to Franchot and said it is waiting for responses from Miller and Busch.

The association’s next meeting is April 1, shortly before the 90-day General Assembly session ends on April 11.