Punish parents when kids skip school

The recent editorial, “Battling chronic absenteeism: Baltimore must do more” (Nov. 20), attempts to refine the analysis to improve proposed solutions. Glaringly absent in this, and other articles I’ve read, is the role of parents. Simply put, parents are legally responsible for the acts of their minor children and should shoulder the primary accountability for their child’s absenteeism.

Yes, it is unquestionably difficult and unpopular, but any “solution” that ignores it is a pipe dream and just an additional waste of resources. Stop focusing on the school system so much for solutions — it has a hard enough job teaching kids with so many more appealing distractions.

Intrinsically, every parent should be motivated to attempt to instill in their child an appreciation for a free education. However, if that “carrot” doesn’t work, maybe a “stick” is warranted. Current Maryland law requires any person with legal custody of a student who fails to ensure that the student attends school may be charged with a misdemeanor and, if convicted, subject to fines, imprisonment or both.

Maybe it’s time to consider enforcing (and presumably funding) that requirement. Or at least stop fooling ourselves that we’re taking this issue seriously.

— Michael MacKay, Lutherville

Ravens can do better than turkeys

With Giant Foods advertising turkeys at 29 cents a pound, I hope our professional ball teams are doing more philanthropy for Baltimore than just distributing turkeys (“Maryland families receive Thanksgiving dinners courtesy of Baltimore Ravens,” Nov. 18).

— Ellen Taylor, Pikesville

DOGE war on waste a worthwhile battle

The editorial suggesting the Grace Commission was a failure was partly true because a divided Congress failed to carry out its proposals to reduce government waste (“A reality check on $2T budget savings,” Nov. 20). What was not a failure was the commission’s identification in 1984 that a magnitude of nearly $2 trillion could be saved if specific recommendations (numbering more than 2,000) were implemented by the year 2000.

Imagine with inflation that number 24 years later. While it’s true social spending and interest expense command the lion’s share of the budget, the suggestion to accept and turn a blind eye to smaller amounts of waste and abuse is an affront to taxpayers. If anything the new Department of Government Efficiency provides identification and transparency of waste, outright fraud and structural inefficiencies in government spending and auditing. That in itself is a positive outcome. Icing on the cake would be to follow through with recommendations to ensure taxpayers are getting full bang for their bucks!

— Michael Ernest, Catonsville

Remember O’Malley — for hardship he caused state workers

Former Gov. Martin O’Malley is seeking to chair the Democratic National Committee (“Martin O’Malley, former Maryland governor and Baltimore mayor, to seek Democratic National Committee chairmanship,” Nov. 18). He said Democrats need to connect to the middle class. When O’Malley speaks, lies come flowing out of his mouth.

As if he is concerned about us! Where was his big concern when he eliminated prescription benefits for retired state employees — people who worked for state government 25, 30 or even 40 years? As long as it didn’t affect you and those cronies in Annapolis then who cares, right?

O’Malley is not fit to work for any organization. I guess we’ll see if Democratic leaders are smart enough to see who he really is, but I doubt it. Thanks again, O’Malley, for screwing over us state retirees. Maybe one day you will get screwed over in your job and see how you like it.

— Judy Francis, Towson

Big difference between peaceful protests and storming US Capitol

In response to letter writer Georgia Corso, I am neither too young nor am I suffering from dementia. I certainly remember all of those protests in 2017 when Donald Trump was inaugurated the first time. As I recall, not one of them caused death or nearly $3 million worth of damage to our U.S. Capitol.

The point of my letter was to explain how the transition of power is historically done in our country. Perhaps the writer is not familiar with the process. The events of Jan. 6, 2021, had nothing to do with previous demonstrations. Ms. Corso’s response suggests she clearly does not understand this. Vice President Mike Pence knew what his constitutional duty was, yet he was threatened with a noose. This doesn’t sound peaceful or dignified to me (“Trump-nominated judge says blanket pardons for Capitol rioters would be ‘beyond frustrating,'” Nov. 20).

I am a well read individual who believes in the democracy of America and I am certainly not your “hon.”

— Tracy Moore, Forest Hill