Some people in five counties in western Maryland want to “secede” from the rest of the state and establish what would be America’s 51st state. Except for the argument that Maryland won’t allow hunters in Garrett County to kill enough bears, all the arguments for secession are political. Even after NCLB and all the other now-dysfunctional laws we have on the books, this is flat-out the stupidest idea I’ve ever heard, and I wanted to look at it from students’ eyes.
First, the argument of the secessionists, as well as it can be presented, was outlined, very succinctly, in a piece by Baltimore Sun columnist Dan Rodricks, here. He wrote, “Residents of Carroll, Frederick, Washington, Allegany and Garrett counties are sick of the tyrannical rule of smug, liberal, socialist-leaning Democrats who live in central, urban-suburban Maryland, who support the welfare state, abortion and gun control, who raise taxes and fees or finagle federal funds for things that have nothing to do with Western Maryland while ignoring the needs of rural counties and running businesses out of the state.”
That sums it up. These are important issues, but I don’t think slamming the door shut is the right solution. Even talk of secession encourages others to talk about cutting off services now for people in western Maryland, and that might lead to trouble down the road, even if the counties don’t secede in the end. We can learn from our history that talk of secession stirs emotions that might lead to discriminatory ends.
Maryland residents aren’t the first in history to make this case, as I’m sure you know. The state of Texas, under Governor Rick Perry, considered seceding from the United States as recently as 2009. The state also considered a similar move before the Civil War. A letter to the editors of the New York Times, published on Sept 10, 1860, had this to say about Texas:
Can the reports that are in circulation about Texas be true? Can she in reality be so ungrateful as to even think of seceding? Her secession would be the blackest blot of ingratitude on the page of history.
Her independence and annexation alone cost the United States about 50,000 men and $60,000,000, and, in addition, the United States afterwards paid off her debt, [amounting] to some 8,000,000 or more of dollars.
It is a singular fact that in a speech made in 1845, we then expressed our apprehensions of her in the following words: “May we not be nourishing a viper, which will at some future day turn upon and sting us for our generosity to it? May we not, at some future time. I say, rue the day when first we joined her to our Confederacy?”
A viper indeed! As Mr Rodricks points out, the entire state, including those socialist-leaning Democrats who live in urban Maryland, have been nourishing western Maryland for years. The most obvious example comes in the form of snow removal. Baltimore hasn’t had much snow for the past two years, but its residents continue to send money to the five western counties for snow removal. Actually, only the westernmost two counties use the bulk of snow removal funding.
But there are other ways, too, that the entire state funds the activities of western Maryland, notably through the state university system. The University of Maryland, the state’s flagship, has a highly ranked graduate program in education, the A James Clark School of Engineering, and the Robert H Smith School of Business. The university leads the way to sustainable existence by pushing strong efforts to compost dining hall waste. Famous alumni include NASA scientist Charles Bennett, broadcast journalist Connie Chung, and Sesame Street and The Muppet Show creator Jim Henson.
The other state universities are also treasures, for everyone in Maryland, and secession would deprive approximately 8,000 high school seniors, who graduate from public schools in those five counties every year, of the opportunity to attend a college in the state university system at the in-state tuition rates.
In-state tuition for the University of Maryland, College Park, is $9,162 this year, but out-of-state students pay $28,348. That difference will force more than a few students from the five western counties to pursue other alternatives, which might not provide them with the same, high-quality education they would receive in College Park.
Secession would also require a new state board of education, since the one that built up public schools in this state to what Education Week has called the nation’s No. 1 state school system for five years in a row, will probably disown any separated schools as if they were in Wyoming.
Also, the efforts of the high school athletic associations, of which Maryland, unlike most states, already has two, one for public schools and one for private schools, would go to waste in a new state, which would have to form new conferences and associations. They would be much smaller, and the value of “state” championships, great motivating factors for high school students, would be diminished.
Likewise, the teachers’ unions, the principals’ associations, and other educational support groups would all have to be developed anew in any new state, because if you think the liberal socialists are going to send their money and talent to counties that are just going to turn around and bite them for their generosity, you need to get out a little more.
Now, I’m not questioning anyone’s right to secede here. You can talk about how the five counties are underrepresented in the state legislature, how you want to kill more bears, and how the taxes you pay are subsidizing programs for the liberal people in the state. However, keep in mind, those liberal people provide services for conservative folk in the mountains and rural areas, too. To deprive your own residents of these services, for which all the people of Maryland have worked, to which they all have contributed, would cause irreparable harm to the younger generation.