Council hearing on MCPS

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Glass: BOE requires full-time status. They need to be paid more than $25K per year - it's not a living wage. A 2019 recommendation recommended $60 K. We need the BOE to succeed in overseeing a $3.2 billion budget and we need adequate resources for this.

I’m all for a full-time board if they also get the authority to determine the schools portion of the property tax. Then the council won’t be able to claim they’re funding schools when they’re actually raising taxes for something else and people will take BOE elections more seriously.

That is not going to happen. It's not how local government in Maryland is structured. So does that mean you oppose a full-time board?

We need a full-time board. The system is too big for having an early 20th century oversight system. This Beidleman mess was years in the making and it's going to take more than three months to turn this ship in the right direction with established checks and balances that hold over time.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:(Remember when, hundreds of minutes ago, posters were insisting that this was going to be a meaningless charade and the fix was in for MCPS?)

What do you think changed from this hearing?

Albornoz is on the council's education committee. I think he'll press forward. He's impressive. I wish he would run for county executive.

So nothing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Glass: BOE requires full-time status. They need to be paid more than $25K per year - it's not a living wage. A 2019 recommendation recommended $60 K. We need the BOE to succeed in overseeing a $3.2 billion budget and we need adequate resources for this.

I’m all for a full-time board if they also get the authority to determine the schools portion of the property tax. Then the council won’t be able to claim they’re funding schools when they’re actually raising taxes for something else and people will take BOE elections more seriously.

That is not going to happen. It's not how local government in Maryland is structured. So does that mean you oppose a full-time board?

We need a full-time board. The system is too big for having an early 20th century oversight system. This Beidleman mess was years in the making and it's going to take more than three months to turn this ship in the right direction with established checks and balances that hold over time.

Go listen to what Councilmember Fani-Gonzalez said. It's not about money or time, it's about attitude.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Glass: BOE requires full-time status. They need to be paid more than $25K per year - it's not a living wage. A 2019 recommendation recommended $60 K. We need the BOE to succeed in overseeing a $3.2 billion budget and we need adequate resources for this.

I’m all for a full-time board if they also get the authority to determine the schools portion of the property tax. Then the council won’t be able to claim they’re funding schools when they’re actually raising taxes for something else and people will take BOE elections more seriously.

That is not going to happen. It's not how local government in Maryland is structured. So does that mean you oppose a full-time board?

We need a full-time board. The system is too big for having an early 20th century oversight system. This Beidleman mess was years in the making and it's going to take more than three months to turn this ship in the right direction with established checks and balances that hold over time.

The biggest companies in the world don’t even have full-time boards. The board needs to establish policy and processes and ensure accountability when there’s noncompliance.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How is that April Key still works in HR in light of the Walker allegations? Shouldn’t she be on leave now?

Could say the same about Hull.

Have we figured out who the numbered employees are in the “less” redacted report? I’m specifically curious about Employee 5 since they also received sexual advances from Beidleman but didn’t report anything.

And what about all these staff members engaging in sexual relationships with their boss? How are they still employed by MCPS? Is this not against a code of conduct?

Staff needs to report these issues. Now would be a good time to do that, because if ever something was going to be done about it, it would be now when MCPS is on fire.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Glass: BOE requires full-time status. They need to be paid more than $25K per year - it's not a living wage. A 2019 recommendation recommended $60 K. We need the BOE to succeed in overseeing a $3.2 billion budget and we need adequate resources for this.

I’m all for a full-time board if they also get the authority to determine the schools portion of the property tax. Then the council won’t be able to claim they’re funding schools when they’re actually raising taxes for something else and people will take BOE elections more seriously.

That is not going to happen. It's not how local government in Maryland is structured. So does that mean you oppose a full-time board?

We need a full-time board. The system is too big for having an early 20th century oversight system. This Beidleman mess was years in the making and it's going to take more than three months to turn this ship in the right direction with established checks and balances that hold over time.

Go listen to what Councilmember Fani-Gonzalez said. It's not about money or time, it's about attitude.

I heard her and I hope she inspires the BOE to demand more from staff instead of settling for the usual deflections, lies, and obfuscations. But it really is money, time, and attitude. MCPS' $3.2 billion budget: as taxpayers, we need a more robust oversight system to ensure a better job.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Glass: BOE requires full-time status. They need to be paid more than $25K per year - it's not a living wage. A 2019 recommendation recommended $60 K. We need the BOE to succeed in overseeing a $3.2 billion budget and we need adequate resources for this.

I’m all for a full-time board if they also get the authority to determine the schools portion of the property tax. Then the council won’t be able to claim they’re funding schools when they’re actually raising taxes for something else and people will take BOE elections more seriously.

That is not going to happen. It's not how local government in Maryland is structured. So does that mean you oppose a full-time board?

We need a full-time board. The system is too big for having an early 20th century oversight system. This Beidleman mess was years in the making and it's going to take more than three months to turn this ship in the right direction with established checks and balances that hold over time.

The biggest companies in the world don’t even have full-time boards. The board needs to establish policy and processes and ensure accountability when there’s noncompliance.

Montgomery County, Maryland, has a full-time board: the Montgomery County Council.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Glass: BOE requires full-time status. They need to be paid more than $25K per year - it's not a living wage. A 2019 recommendation recommended $60 K. We need the BOE to succeed in overseeing a $3.2 billion budget and we need adequate resources for this.

I’m all for a full-time board if they also get the authority to determine the schools portion of the property tax. Then the council won’t be able to claim they’re funding schools when they’re actually raising taxes for something else and people will take BOE elections more seriously.

That is not going to happen. It's not how local government in Maryland is structured. So does that mean you oppose a full-time board?

If they’re not going to have full responsibility it doesn’t need to be a full-time job. I don’t need to pay for them to get more briefings on the minutiae of third-grade math curriculum.

There’s no reason government has to keep the same structure. This isn’t working.

DP. Right. Because approving a good curriculum isn't important and we should keep them to rubber-stamping whatever MCPS puts in front of them.

Have you watched many BOE meetings? Noticed how much gets dumped into presentations, there, but how many key pieces of information are left out? Seen the breadth of concern in public testimony that they rarely have time to discuss?
Realized that that is a fraction of the public's desired interaction because of a 2-minute limit and limited signup slots (that tend to get booked within hours of their being available)? Extrapolated the time it would take to make properly informed decisions?

It would be at least a full time professional's job (not talking just 40 hours, here) to do what we expect them to be able to do. That's if they had a full staff. And without the additional work of a taxing authority, though I don't think your idea, there, isn't worthy of consideration.

$25k is insulting versus the expectation and $60k is little better. If we want them to do an amount of work similar to that performed by the Council, pay them like it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Glass: BOE requires full-time status. They need to be paid more than $25K per year - it's not a living wage. A 2019 recommendation recommended $60 K. We need the BOE to succeed in overseeing a $3.2 billion budget and we need adequate resources for this.

I’m all for a full-time board if they also get the authority to determine the schools portion of the property tax. Then the council won’t be able to claim they’re funding schools when they’re actually raising taxes for something else and people will take BOE elections more seriously.

That is not going to happen. It's not how local government in Maryland is structured. So does that mean you oppose a full-time board?

If they’re not going to have full responsibility it doesn’t need to be a full-time job. I don’t need to pay for them to get more briefings on the minutiae of third-grade math curriculum.

There’s no reason government has to keep the same structure. This isn’t working.

DP. Right. Because approving a good curriculum isn't important and we should keep them to rubber-stamping whatever MCPS puts in front of them.

Have you watched many BOE meetings? Noticed how much gets dumped into presentations, there, but how many key pieces of information are left out? Seen the breadth of concern in public testimony that they rarely have time to discuss?
Realized that that is a fraction of the public's desired interaction because of a 2-minute limit and limited signup slots (that tend to get booked within hours of their being available)? Extrapolated the time it would take to make properly informed decisions?

It would be at least a full time professional's job (not talking just 40 hours, here) to do what we expect them to be able to do. That's if they had a full staff. And without the additional work of a taxing authority, though I don't think your idea, there, isn't worthy of consideration.

$25k is insulting versus the expectation and $60k is little better. If we want them to do an amount of work similar to that performed by the Council, pay them like it.

Do you really want elected individuals making detailed decisions about what the school teaches rather than professionals? Have you seen the sort of people that get elected to the BoE? Or even the county council?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There are an unknown number of unresolved HR complaints in the system currently and neither the top staff or the BOE president know the answer to how many complaints have either been left to go fallow or are still under active investigation. WOW. I guess that speaks to how badly things were done, and the chaos that churned, under McKnight.

MCPS looks terrible in this hearing thus far.

Were you expecting anything else? To have to hold this meeting is terrible.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Glass: BOE requires full-time status. They need to be paid more than $25K per year - it's not a living wage. A 2019 recommendation recommended $60 K. We need the BOE to succeed in overseeing a $3.2 billion budget and we need adequate resources for this.

I’m all for a full-time board if they also get the authority to determine the schools portion of the property tax. Then the council won’t be able to claim they’re funding schools when they’re actually raising taxes for something else and people will take BOE elections more seriously.

That is not going to happen. It's not how local government in Maryland is structured. So does that mean you oppose a full-time board?

We need a full-time board. The system is too big for having an early 20th century oversight system. This Beidleman mess was years in the making and it's going to take more than three months to turn this ship in the right direction with established checks and balances that hold over time.

The biggest companies in the world don’t even have full-time boards. The board needs to establish policy and processes and ensure accountability when there’s noncompliance.

Montgomery County, Maryland, has a full-time board: the Montgomery County Council.

The council doesn't oversee the school district, it just funds it. Feel free to work with the governor and legislature to change the system. Good luck.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The stream died again

it's part of the conspiracy!

+162000

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Glass: BOE requires full-time status. They need to be paid more than $25K per year - it's not a living wage. A 2019 recommendation recommended $60 K. We need the BOE to succeed in overseeing a $3.2 billion budget and we need adequate resources for this.

I’m all for a full-time board if they also get the authority to determine the schools portion of the property tax. Then the council won’t be able to claim they’re funding schools when they’re actually raising taxes for something else and people will take BOE elections more seriously.

That is not going to happen. It's not how local government in Maryland is structured. So does that mean you oppose a full-time board?

We need a full-time board. The system is too big for having an early 20th century oversight system. This Beidleman mess was years in the making and it's going to take more than three months to turn this ship in the right direction with established checks and balances that hold over time.

The biggest companies in the world don’t even have full-time boards. The board needs to establish policy and processes and ensure accountability when there’s noncompliance.

The boards of the biggest companies in the world are paid millions via stock, whether owned or granted as compensation. In tax-advantaged ways. And professionally benefit from a round robin of board sitting by the executives they oversee. And further enrich themselves by using their position to facilitate partnerships among those companies.

Should we be finding the average total compensation of board members of companies with operating and capital expenditures of around $5B and make that the proper BOE compensation? Though nowhere near that of the largest companies, I'd venture it'd be far more than the full-time professional salary that others have suggested for BOE members.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:How is that April Key still works in HR in light of the Walker allegations? Shouldn’t she be on leave now?

They say they need a staff/body in the position. Could that be why?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Glass: BOE requires full-time status. They need to be paid more than $25K per year - it's not a living wage. A 2019 recommendation recommended $60 K. We need the BOE to succeed in overseeing a $3.2 billion budget and we need adequate resources for this.

I’m all for a full-time board if they also get the authority to determine the schools portion of the property tax. Then the council won’t be able to claim they’re funding schools when they’re actually raising taxes for something else and people will take BOE elections more seriously.

That is not going to happen. It's not how local government in Maryland is structured. So does that mean you oppose a full-time board?

If they’re not going to have full responsibility it doesn’t need to be a full-time job. I don’t need to pay for them to get more briefings on the minutiae of third-grade math curriculum.

There’s no reason government has to keep the same structure. This isn’t working.

DP. Right. Because approving a good curriculum isn't important and we should keep them to rubber-stamping whatever MCPS puts in front of them.

Have you watched many BOE meetings? Noticed how much gets dumped into presentations, there, but how many key pieces of information are left out? Seen the breadth of concern in public testimony that they rarely have time to discuss?
Realized that that is a fraction of the public's desired interaction because of a 2-minute limit and limited signup slots (that tend to get booked within hours of their being available)? Extrapolated the time it would take to make properly informed decisions?

It would be at least a full time professional's job (not talking just 40 hours, here) to do what we expect them to be able to do. That's if they had a full staff. And without the additional work of a taxing authority, though I don't think your idea, there, isn't worthy of consideration.

$25k is insulting versus the expectation and $60k is little better. If we want them to do an amount of work similar to that performed by the Council, pay them like it.

Do you really want elected individuals making detailed decisions about what the school teaches rather than professionals? Have you seen the sort of people that get elected to the BoE? Or even the county council?

I want elected individuals getting details enough to make good decisons on our behalf, allowing them to correct course for a well-meaning, perhaps, but otherwise autocratic behemoth of an organization when that course conflicts with the will of the electorate (or at least their representation of that). Maybe if we offered reasonable compensation, we'd get more capable candidates.