for operating the schools is left in the hands of local officials like your-
selves. We are skeptical, we are fearful, of too much centralization.

The great strides we have made in public education here in Maryland
are due in no small part to the energetic, intelligent, foresighted activities
of our local boards of education. You deserve the gratitude of people
of your communities, and of all of the people of the State, for that matter,
for the contributions you have made in the great effort to bring education
and enlightenment to the citizens of Maryland.

ADDRESS, MARYLAND STATE TEACHERS CONVENTION

BALTIMORE

October 19, 1961

Thank you very much Dr. Pullen and thank you ladies and gentlemen
for inviting me to address your splendid convention. I come here today
fully cognizant of the fact that many of you in the audience have been
brought to the conclusion that I have not done my utmost to support
the teachers of this State.

I have not come seeking your political support, rather I am here today
to present to you firsthand what I consider to be the problems facing the
teachers of Maryland in relation to problems that affect the citizens of
Maryland at large. There is no doubt in my mind that many of you are
dissatisfied because your goal of a $4, 000 to $6, 000 statutory State
minimum pay scale for teachers has not been enacted by the Legislature.
Others are dissatisfied because, from what you have read or heard, you
believe that our state teachers colleges have become stepchildren within
the framework of our educational system. Many of you, I am sure,
would be relieved if I were to choose the pasture rather than politics. I
may disappoint you but then again, I may not.

Before I discuss specific issues affecting education which have arisen
during my Administration, let me first remind you that the chief exec-
utive of any State has an obligation to promote the general welfare of
all citizens, not merely to bow subserviently to the wishes of high pressure
lobbyists who represent organizations promoting only their own interests.
There is no effective organization protecting the citizen—the taxpayer—
that burden falls primarily upon the chief executive and to fulfill the
obligations of his office, the Governor of this State, whoever he is, regard-
less of party, must bear this uppermost in his mind.

227