Did Dr. McKnight's antiracist speech fall flat?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Equity has been A focus (which it should be), but McKnight has made it the sole focus and that is what is damaging our schools (in my opinion). We need to bring back a focus on high academic standards, safety, hard work, and striving for excellence. Not just excusing things with an excuse of equity.

Fair enough about McKnight.

And I agree completely with the bolded.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don’t agree with her stance which makes it hard to be a teacher in this county. She never speaks about academics or safety, just about racism. The schools are in real trouble- kids are so far behind academically and behaviors are out of control. This is leading to teachers leaving, subs refusing to cover classes, and horrible morale.

I just want her to help the county as a whole. We can’t fix all of society’s issues, and she is fixated on racism while leaving everything else to fall apart. MCPS is horrible for everyone right now BECAUSE of her equity focus.

Her single-minded focus on equity which seems to be this one size fits all approach to education also doesn't work short of the government taking on raising other people's kids.

I don’t think it’s fair to place all the blame on McKnight. Equity has been the focus of MCPS for about the past 10 years. This was the case even before McKnight.

The BOE and Central Office have made closing the Achievement Gap the most important goal. It’s clear from the BOE meetings and from MCPS’ own website.

MCPS has been run with the idea of #EquityNotExcellence for as long as my kids have been in school here.

So how come they haven't come close to closing that Achievement Gap? They are failing spectacularly in this regard.

Closing the gap is a fool's errand because not everyone wants the same outcome. All you can really do is ensure that everyone has the same opportunities and let them sort it out.

Or eliminate standards and inflate the grades to make it look like things are improving, which is what MCPS seems to be doing now.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don’t agree with her stance which makes it hard to be a teacher in this county. She never speaks about academics or safety, just about racism. The schools are in real trouble- kids are so far behind academically and behaviors are out of control. This is leading to teachers leaving, subs refusing to cover classes, and horrible morale.

I just want her to help the county as a whole. We can’t fix all of society’s issues, and she is fixated on racism while leaving everything else to fall apart. MCPS is horrible for everyone right now BECAUSE of her equity focus.

Her single-minded focus on equity which seems to be this one size fits all approach to education also doesn't work short of the government taking on raising other people's kids.

I don’t think it’s fair to place all the blame on McKnight. Equity has been the focus of MCPS for about the past 10 years. This was the case even before McKnight.

The BOE and Central Office have made closing the Achievement Gap the most important goal. It’s clear from the BOE meetings and from MCPS’ own website.

MCPS has been run with the idea of #EquityNotExcellence for as long as my kids have been in school here.

So how come they haven't come close to closing that Achievement Gap? They are failing spectacularly in this regard.

Closing the gap is a fool's errand because not everyone wants the same outcome. All you can really do is ensure that everyone has the same opportunities and let them sort it out.

Glorious dog whistle! Impressive!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don’t agree with her stance which makes it hard to be a teacher in this county. She never speaks about academics or safety, just about racism. The schools are in real trouble- kids are so far behind academically and behaviors are out of control. This is leading to teachers leaving, subs refusing to cover classes, and horrible morale.

I just want her to help the county as a whole. We can’t fix all of society’s issues, and she is fixated on racism while leaving everything else to fall apart. MCPS is horrible for everyone right now BECAUSE of her equity focus.

Her single-minded focus on equity which seems to be this one size fits all approach to education also doesn't work short of the government taking on raising other people's kids.

I don’t think it’s fair to place all the blame on McKnight. Equity has been the focus of MCPS for about the past 10 years. This was the case even before McKnight.

The BOE and Central Office have made closing the Achievement Gap the most important goal. It’s clear from the BOE meetings and from MCPS’ own website.

MCPS has been run with the idea of #EquityNotExcellence for as long as my kids have been in school here.

So how come they haven't come close to closing that Achievement Gap? They are failing spectacularly in this regard.

Closing the gap is a fool's errand because not everyone wants the same outcome. All you can really do is ensure that everyone has the same opportunities and let them sort it out.

The problem is giving kids the same opportunities is not helpful. Kids need different opportunities depending on their needs and some kids need more and some need less. Life isn't fair. But, we are failing kids by not providing what they need and catching issues early and remediating them, especially reading. And, when kids cannot read and keep up, that's often when you see behavioral problems.

With all this extra money they are demanding, they need to increase the tutoring, increase reading specialists, SLP's, OT's, PT's and ESOL teachers, to start. They also need to hire more evaluators and figure out what's going on with these kids to get them directed services. Early intervention is shown to be helpful.

And, go back to basics. As they push further away from the basics, the kids scores are going down, not up so clearly their new teaching and education styles are not working.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don’t agree with her stance which makes it hard to be a teacher in this county. She never speaks about academics or safety, just about racism. The schools are in real trouble- kids are so far behind academically and behaviors are out of control. This is leading to teachers leaving, subs refusing to cover classes, and horrible morale.

I just want her to help the county as a whole. We can’t fix all of society’s issues, and she is fixated on racism while leaving everything else to fall apart. MCPS is horrible for everyone right now BECAUSE of her equity focus.

Her single-minded focus on equity which seems to be this one size fits all approach to education also doesn't work short of the government taking on raising other people's kids.

I don’t think it’s fair to place all the blame on McKnight. Equity has been the focus of MCPS for about the past 10 years. This was the case even before McKnight.

The BOE and Central Office have made closing the Achievement Gap the most important goal. It’s clear from the BOE meetings and from MCPS’ own website.

MCPS has been run with the idea of #EquityNotExcellence for as long as my kids have been in school here.

So how come they haven't come close to closing that Achievement Gap? They are failing spectacularly in this regard.

Closing the gap is a fool's errand because not everyone wants the same outcome. All you can really do is ensure that everyone has the same opportunities and let them sort it out.

Or eliminate standards and inflate the grades to make it look like things are improving, which is what MCPS seems to be doing now.

+1 MCPS also tends to under report attendance and students are not held accountable for unexcused tardies or unexcused absences.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don’t agree with her stance which makes it hard to be a teacher in this county. She never speaks about academics or safety, just about racism. The schools are in real trouble- kids are so far behind academically and behaviors are out of control. This is leading to teachers leaving, subs refusing to cover classes, and horrible morale.

I just want her to help the county as a whole. We can’t fix all of society’s issues, and she is fixated on racism while leaving everything else to fall apart. MCPS is horrible for everyone right now BECAUSE of her equity focus.

Her single-minded focus on equity which seems to be this one size fits all approach to education also doesn't work short of the government taking on raising other people's kids.

I don’t think it’s fair to place all the blame on McKnight. Equity has been the focus of MCPS for about the past 10 years. This was the case even before McKnight.

The BOE and Central Office have made closing the Achievement Gap the most important goal. It’s clear from the BOE meetings and from MCPS’ own website.

MCPS has been run with the idea of #EquityNotExcellence for as long as my kids have been in school here.

So how come they haven't come close to closing that Achievement Gap? They are failing spectacularly in this regard.

Closing the gap is a fool's errand because not everyone wants the same outcome. All you can really do is ensure that everyone has the same opportunities and let them sort it out.

Or eliminate standards and inflate the grades to make it look like things are improving, which is what MCPS seems to be doing now.

+1 MCPS also tends to under report attendance and students are not held accountable for unexcused tardies or unexcused absences.

Attendance fraud?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don’t agree with her stance which makes it hard to be a teacher in this county. She never speaks about academics or safety, just about racism. The schools are in real trouble- kids are so far behind academically and behaviors are out of control. This is leading to teachers leaving, subs refusing to cover classes, and horrible morale.

I just want her to help the county as a whole. We can’t fix all of society’s issues, and she is fixated on racism while leaving everything else to fall apart. MCPS is horrible for everyone right now BECAUSE of her equity focus.

Her single-minded focus on equity which seems to be this one size fits all approach to education also doesn't work short of the government taking on raising other people's kids.

I don’t think it’s fair to place all the blame on McKnight. Equity has been the focus of MCPS for about the past 10 years. This was the case even before McKnight.

The BOE and Central Office have made closing the Achievement Gap the most important goal. It’s clear from the BOE meetings and from MCPS’ own website.

MCPS has been run with the idea of #EquityNotExcellence for as long as my kids have been in school here.

So how come they haven't come close to closing that Achievement Gap? They are failing spectacularly in this regard.

Closing the gap is a fool's errand because not everyone wants the same outcome. All you can really do is ensure that everyone has the same opportunities and let them sort it out.

Or eliminate standards and inflate the grades to make it look like things are improving, which is what MCPS seems to be doing now.

+1 MCPS also tends to under report attendance and students are not held accountable for unexcused tardies or unexcused absences.

I'm guessing that when you say "held accountable", what you mean is "punished".

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:No one has bothered to post or discuss the grandiose speech Dr. McKnight that teased and promoted through multiple MCPS communication blasts:

Article: https://moco360.media/2023/04/28/mcps-averages-one-hate-incident-a-day-mcknight-reports-outlining-response-plan/

I'm guessing the reason why no one DCUM is talking about it is because it fell flat?

For me, just as with the antiracist audit report, I heard a lot of talk and fluff but I can't figure out for the life of me what action she and/or MCPS are actually proposing. You say we need to do better, how will you make people do better? Training is a pathetic response to that question, in my opinion.

Ain’t no one got time for that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don’t agree with her stance which makes it hard to be a teacher in this county. She never speaks about academics or safety, just about racism. The schools are in real trouble- kids are so far behind academically and behaviors are out of control. This is leading to teachers leaving, subs refusing to cover classes, and horrible morale.

I just want her to help the county as a whole. We can’t fix all of society’s issues, and she is fixated on racism while leaving everything else to fall apart. MCPS is horrible for everyone right now BECAUSE of her equity focus.

Her single-minded focus on equity which seems to be this one size fits all approach to education also doesn't work short of the government taking on raising other people's kids.

I don’t think it’s fair to place all the blame on McKnight. Equity has been the focus of MCPS for about the past 10 years. This was the case even before McKnight.

The BOE and Central Office have made closing the Achievement Gap the most important goal. It’s clear from the BOE meetings and from MCPS’ own website.

MCPS has been run with the idea of #EquityNotExcellence for as long as my kids have been in school here.

So how come they haven't come close to closing that Achievement Gap? They are failing spectacularly in this regard.

Closing the gap is a fool's errand because not everyone wants the same outcome. All you can really do is ensure that everyone has the same opportunities and let them sort it out.

Or eliminate standards and inflate the grades to make it look like things are improving, which is what MCPS seems to be doing now.

+1 MCPS also tends to under report attendance and students are not held accountable for unexcused tardies or unexcused absences.

Citation

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Equity has been A focus (which it should be), but McKnight has made it the sole focus and that is what is damaging our schools (in my opinion). We need to bring back a focus on high academic standards, safety, hard work, and striving for excellence. Not just excusing things with an excuse of equity.

Folks always say this, but I’m curious what this looks like to you, how much you think it cost, and how you plan to see whatever it is implemented with fidelity across 200 schools.

[Anonymous]

At this point the problem is mostly the admin, students and parents. Individual teachers can also be an issue with regard to cultural differences and micro aggressions. A lot of that is due to a lack of training and consistent support. When there is a lack of support teachers get frustrated and make mistakes.

I am not sure forcing training on teachers addresses this. I think trauma informed instruction training should be given to students. The problem there though is that teachers are rarely informed of a students background so they are flying blind in many ways. We are also really given any behavioral instructional strategies to address it.

Look. I get that kids have different cultures and ACE’s. What do they actually want teachers on the ground to do? That is always the missing link. It’s lack of support, and it is driving away teachers.

[Anonymous]

I don’t think it costs more than what we have now. High standards is grading on accuracy, limiting retests, strict due dates, required attendance in class. Not telling teachers to just pass kids on (teachers already want this).

Safety relates to having kids who are unsafe in class pulled from class. Use school resources but when the child is a drain on the school require virtual academy. Resource officers in schools. Monitoring bathrooms.

Hard work and striving for excellence gave to be internal. With higher expectations kids need to rise up.

We can’t help those who don’t want to be helped but we can encourage and give support to everyone.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:At this point the problem is mostly the admin, students and parents. Individual teachers can also be an issue with regard to cultural differences and micro aggressions. A lot of that is due to a lack of training and consistent support. When there is a lack of support teachers get frustrated and make mistakes.

I am not sure forcing training on teachers addresses this. I think trauma informed instruction training should be given to students. The problem there though is that teachers are rarely informed of a students background so they are flying blind in many ways. We are also really given any behavioral instructional strategies to address it.

Look. I get that kids have different cultures and ACE’s. What do they actually want teachers on the ground to do? That is always the missing link. It’s lack of support, and it is driving away teachers.

I agree with this. Teachers can’t fix and help everyone, but the current system is harming more than it is helping. I also agree that the current policies are driving teachers away. You can’t expect adults just to accept the constant physical and verbal aggression being dished at them by students without quitting. And blaming everything on lack of relationships is just wrong. Doctors don’t get blamed when patients die as long as they gave them good care. We need to make the same true for teachers. If teachers are doing a good job TEACHING, they should not get blamed for students who are not successful. Teachers aren’t God. They have a passion for teaching and currently have very little opportunity to teach with love.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don’t agree with her stance which makes it hard to be a teacher in this county. She never speaks about academics or safety, just about racism. The schools are in real trouble- kids are so far behind academically and behaviors are out of control. This is leading to teachers leaving, subs refusing to cover classes, and horrible morale.

I just want her to help the county as a whole. We can’t fix all of society’s issues, and she is fixated on racism while leaving everything else to fall apart. MCPS is horrible for everyone right now BECAUSE of her equity focus.

Her single-minded focus on equity which seems to be this one size fits all approach to education also doesn't work short of the government taking on raising other people's kids.

I don’t think it’s fair to place all the blame on McKnight. Equity has been the focus of MCPS for about the past 10 years. This was the case even before McKnight.

The BOE and Central Office have made closing the Achievement Gap the most important goal. It’s clear from the BOE meetings and from MCPS’ own website.

MCPS has been run with the idea of #EquityNotExcellence for as long as my kids have been in school here.

So how come they haven't come close to closing that Achievement Gap? They are failing spectacularly in this regard.

Closing the gap is a fool's errand because not everyone wants the same outcome. All you can really do is ensure that everyone has the same opportunities and let them sort it out.

Or eliminate standards and inflate the grades to make it look like things are improving, which is what MCPS seems to be doing now.

+1 MCPS also tends to under report attendance and students are not held accountable for unexcused tardies or unexcused absences.

I'm guessing that when you say "held accountable", what you mean is "punished".

Held accountable:

1) Communicate with parents when students have unexcused absences and unexcused tardies. Have in person meetings with students and parents if attendance issues persists.

2) Bring back detention. Detention can be served in a classroom, counseling office, and main office - depending upon teacher discretion.

3) For days with unexcused tardies and unexcused absences, students cannot participate in after school activities including athletics.

4) Maintain and review data to evaluate school progress towards attendance goals.

[Anonymous]

Honestly it was just more of the harmful victim narrative. The statistics she cited indicated about 1 hate or bias incident a day in MCPS. Not acceptable but hardly surprising given a system with 150k immature children and adolescents. MoCo is one of the most left and tolerant counties in the country. Most people want to focus on other issues not political posturing.