Bill Giving MD Schools Flexibility on Start Date Gains Traction in Assembly (Opposed by Governor)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

"Obscure religious holidays" = "religious holidays I don't observe"

No they are religious holidays that the government and work places do not observe. If everything else was closed on those days fine but somehow MCPS is special and needs to be the ONLY place closed on those days.

In the survey MCPS did last year, 17% of staff said they would not be at work on Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. They would not have enough substitutes for that number of people.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The governor has already said he will fight any effort to change the calendar.

Yes, but there's a supermajority in the General Assembly to override his veto.

Yes, but Hogan is trying to get a referendum vote on the ballot. Current estimates are that 70% of residents favor the Governor's XO vs the school district calendars and a referendum will override the legislature.

[Anonymous]

Yes, but Hogan is trying to get a referendum vote on the ballot. Current estimates are that 70% of residents favor the Governor's XO vs the school district calendars and a referendum will override the legislature.

So how does a referendum in MD work? Do voters need to come out for a special vote? Is the measured tabled until the next election cycle in 2020 and it becomes a ballot measure?

70% of residents may favor the Gov's plan BUT its the school unions that are against it. They will be handing out Apple ballots to everyone without kids telling them teachers don't want the gov's plan (regardless of whether teachers want it or not).

The labor unions in MD are like the NRA -it often doesn't matter what 70%-90% of the citizens actually want.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Yes, but Hogan is trying to get a referendum vote on the ballot. Current estimates are that 70% of residents favor the Governor's XO vs the school district calendars and a referendum will override the legislature.

So how does a referendum in MD work? Do voters need to come out for a special vote? Is the measured tabled until the next election cycle in 2020 and it becomes a ballot measure?

70% of residents may favor the Gov's plan BUT its the school unions that are against it. They will be handing out Apple ballots to everyone without kids telling them teachers don't want the gov's plan (regardless of whether teachers want it or not).

The labor unions in MD are like the NRA -it often doesn't matter what 70%-90% of the citizens actually want.

https://sos.state.md.us/Pages/Election/Petitions-for-Referendum.aspx

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The governor has already said he will fight any effort to change the calendar.

Yes, but there's a supermajority in the General Assembly to override his veto.

Yes, but Hogan is trying to get a referendum vote on the ballot. Current estimates are that 70% of residents favor the Governor's XO vs the school district calendars and a referendum will override the legislature.

the 70% number came from a really misleading survey, It did not mention anything about the problems. Spring break of less than a full week. Less time for AP study. Snow days coming out of planned off days. It was more of a How would you like to start after Labor Day? survey.

[Anonymous]

Mcps decided our children couldn't have 5 days off for Spring Break this year.

Don't tell me teachers care about how the children fare in AP classes. My kid has a long-term substitute in one of their APs and was harrassed to the point dropping out of an AP last year for not offering accommodations and after getting physically assaulted on school grounds sustaining a concussion.

I fully support Governor Hogan and his interest in keeping MoCo students safe.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Mcps decided our children couldn't have 5 days off for Spring Break this year.

Don't tell me teachers care about how the children fare in AP classes. My kid has a long-term substitute in one of their APs and was harrassed to the point dropping out of an AP last year for not offering accommodations and after getting physically assaulted on school grounds sustaining a concussion.

I fully support Governor Hogan and his interest in keeping MoCo students safe.

+1 I could have written these EXACT words. Shame on MCPS for taking away Spring Break instead of the professional days. It was their choice, not Hogan's

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

"Obscure religious holidays" = "religious holidays I don't observe"

No they are religious holidays that the government and work places do not observe. If everything else was closed on those days fine but somehow MCPS is special and needs to be the ONLY place closed on those days.

In the survey MCPS did last year, 17% of staff said they would not be at work on Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. They would not have enough substitutes for that number of people.

Yes, but 15% of staff also said they would not be at work on Veterans Day, which is currently a school day (and typically has parent-teacher conferences). I don't see how that can be true (or if it is true, then a 15% absentee rate apparently isn't a problem). That result made me question the truthfulness of the rest of the survey, unfortunately. Stats from: https://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/uploadedFiles/calendar/survey2018/180719-MCPS-Calendar-Survey-Final%20Rpt(1).pdf

[Anonymous]

The Dems have a veto-proof majority in the legislature, don't they? So, when the BOE entertains the new calendar without the arbitrary restrictions set by Hogan, all of the posters who like the longer summer can have their say.

Why would we need a referendum??

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Yes, but Hogan is trying to get a referendum vote on the ballot. Current estimates are that 70% of residents favor the Governor's XO vs the school district calendars and a referendum will override the legislature.

So how does a referendum in MD work? Do voters need to come out for a special vote? Is the measured tabled until the next election cycle in 2020 and it becomes a ballot measure?

70% of residents may favor the Gov's plan BUT its the school unions that are against it. They will be handing out Apple ballots to everyone without kids telling them teachers don't want the gov's plan (regardless of whether teachers want it or not).

The labor unions in MD are like the NRA -it often doesn't matter what 70%-90% of the citizens actually want.

Pretty much everyone I know in MoCo hates the Hogan calendar. It's the Ocean City people who like using the school calendar as a form of corporate welfare to their beach resorts.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The Dems have a veto-proof majority in the legislature, don't they? So, when the BOE entertains the new calendar without the arbitrary restrictions set by Hogan, all of the posters who like the longer summer can have their say.

Why would we need a referendum??

I guess because Hogan doesn't like losing. Funny that for a Republican, he really doesn't believe in local control of schools.

[Anonymous]

Pretty much everyone I know in MoCo hates the Hogan calendar. It's the Ocean City people who like using the school calendar as a form of corporate welfare to their beach resorts.

Yeah no. People hate what MCPS has done in response to the labor day opening. They don't hate ending mid June and starting after Labor Day. It comes down to whether you look at other counties and notice that "Hey wait, all those other counties still have a normal spring break and winter break with the mid-June-labor day calendar, why can't MCPS do that" or if you just believe whatever BS MCPS gives you.

MCPS is a political beast. They intentionally made the calendar as screwy as possible combining it with the spin that they had no choice and just assuming no one would look at other counties. The intent was to get people in MoCo to push to give MCPS back control of the calendar. We'll see if it works.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
The Dems have a veto-proof majority in the legislature, don't they? So, when the BOE entertains the new calendar without the arbitrary restrictions set by Hogan, all of the posters who like the longer summer can have their say.

Why would we need a referendum??

Well the BOE only listens to the union not the actual citizens that it serves.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Pretty much everyone I know in MoCo hates the Hogan calendar. It's the Ocean City people who like using the school calendar as a form of corporate welfare to their beach resorts.

Yeah no. People hate what MCPS has done in response to the labor day opening. They don't hate ending mid June and starting after Labor Day. It comes down to whether you look at other counties and notice that "Hey wait, all those other counties still have a normal spring break and winter break with the mid-June-labor day calendar, why can't MCPS do that" or if you just believe whatever BS MCPS gives you.

MCPS is a political beast. They intentionally made the calendar as screwy as possible combining it with the spin that they had no choice and just assuming no one would look at other counties. The intent was to get people in MoCo to push to give MCPS back control of the calendar. We'll see if it works.

MoCo has Jewish holidays off. Not all other counties do. Sorry if that bothers you, but it is what it is, and the current schedule with a 3 day spring break week makes no one happy. Which is why local control of calendars to better reflect the needs of a particular district makes sense. It's what Republicans used to advocate, but people like Hogan forget that when it's expedient.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Pretty much everyone I know in MoCo hates the Hogan calendar. It's the Ocean City people who like using the school calendar as a form of corporate welfare to their beach resorts.

Yeah no. People hate what MCPS has done in response to the labor day opening. They don't hate ending mid June and starting after Labor Day. It comes down to whether you look at other counties and notice that "Hey wait, all those other counties still have a normal spring break and winter break with the mid-June-labor day calendar, why can't MCPS do that" or if you just believe whatever BS MCPS gives you.

MCPS is a political beast. They intentionally made the calendar as screwy as possible combining it with the spin that they had no choice and just assuming no one would look at other counties. The intent was to get people in MoCo to push to give MCPS back control of the calendar. We'll see if it works.

This is just NOT TRUE. Hogan gave Garrett and another mountain county exceptions - they start before Labor Day. Howard County couldn’t fit the days into their schedules. Lots of other counties have less than a week of spring break. You are just WRONG.