Barbara Hildt of Amesbury, a former state representative, was asked to testify at Wednesday's Task For on Public Integrity. Since she could not attend, she sent Governor Deval Patrick and the panel the following memo:
Thank you for being concerned about the need to restore integrity to all areas of public service. While we cannot afford corruption in government, the problem is bigger than just the integrity of public servants.
Lack of integrity, social conscience and ethics in the general population affects our security both socially and economically. Billions of dollars are "stolen" from individuals and businesses when people lie, cheat, embezzle, shop lift, scam and "cook books."
Billions in federal and state revenues needed to pay for public services are lost because people fail to truthfully report their assets and income to the IRS. Most of them probably think of themselves as good, upstanding Americans, not as scofflaws and perpetrators of fraud.
Lately it's been business as usual for government to give millions and billions of our tax dollars to corrupt contractors for things like the "Big Dig," Hurricane Katrina and rebuilding Iraq.
Greed and unethical behavior of investment bankers and sub-prime mortgage dealers nearly caused the collapse of the entire international banking system which taxpayers are now bailing out. How many of these white collar criminals will serve time in prison as do those convicted of robbing a pharmacy or bank to get drugs to feed their addictions?
We may need tougher laws, better surveillance and harsher punishment, but we also need to make teaching ethics a part of public education at every level. Ethics can be taught through study and discussion about ethical dilemmas in literature, history and real life experiences. But people learn best through activities and experiences of building trust in relations with others. We must also teach our youth through our examples of ethical behavior. Let them know that when people break trust, lie, cheat and steal — the consequences are negative. When trust is broken, the harm done to relations and economies can endure for a long time.
When I served as an elected representative in the state Legislature, constituents would sometimes tell me they didn't agree with me on issues but voted for me because I told the truth. Unfortunately, many people have a stereotype of politicians as dishonest. Distrust of government officials makes it easier to be a cynical critic of government programs.
A recent study by The Josephson Institute reports that cheating is schools is rampant and getting worse. According to Peter Anderson, principal of Andover High School who was quoted in an Associated Press news story about the study says: "This generation is leading incredibly busy lives — involved in athletics, clubs, so many have part-time jobs, and — for seniors — an incredibly demanding and anxiety-producing college search."
The tile of the article summarizes the problem: "Students lie, cheat, steal, but say they're good."
If integrity and ethical behavior is to be the norm for our society, we must begin to once again teach ethics in our schools, colleges and graduate schools. I hope you all agree. For this to happen in Massachusetts it may be necessary to include questions about ethics on the MCAS exams. Perhaps the task force will encourage the governor to file legislation to make ethics a subject on these standardized tests because ethical reasoning is as important as any subject we require students to learn.
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