Please reassure me that MCPS teachers aren't this radicalized

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm from the Midwest, and I think your first mistake is to assume that the leanings in Montgomery County are "political" in nature. In case it really hasn't sunk in yet, this area is one of the most diverse in the country - in every dimension (race, religion, SES, etc.) You really have a hard time living around here if you somehow believe certain people are "less than" other people. If you think immigrants should go back to where they came from, this is not the county for you. Teachers in the school system especially have to value each and every student for who they are. If that is not a core value, you can't be a good teacher here. So yes, most teachers in this county will be able to say "black lives matter" because they understand the historical and current systemic oppression happening to people of color. That doesn't make them radicalized, nor does it make them Democrats. It makes them empathetic and caring about the needs of others (typically a core value of teachers.)

You also have to consider that there are two traditional axes on the political spectrum - socially liberal or conservative, and fiscally liberal or conservative. I would say there is a definite socially liberal slant in the county (diversity again) but a slight lean towards fiscally conservative (depends on the year and the issues.) As to why we have Hogan - Democrats didn't vote that year because they weren't very inspired by their nominee for governor, and assumed everyone else would vote. There were a lot of surprised (and pissed) people when they woke up with a Republican governor. It hasn't had a huge effect because there is a democratic super-majority in the Assembly, so Hogan can't veto a lot of legislation. But irritatingly, he takes credit for things he has opposed, and people who don't understand how the government works or follow the details think he is responsible. That's why he is still popular. MoCo broadly hates him, because Hogan has made no secret that he hates MoCo. He has withheld funding for school buildings that was approved by the general assembly, he has shifted transportation funds away from MoCo towards the Eastern Shore (real nice new 4 lane highway out there). He made a pretty close to unworkable mandate about school year start and end dates, and followed up with scathingly nasty letters to the BOE when they asked for clarifications or modifications. Hope that quick history gives you some sense of why we are where we are. For more, you can head to the Politics Forum, if you dare.

OP here. My first mistake? I didn't express political beliefs just my very general observation (yes perhaps stereotyped midwest vs east coast) of the local scene... but from a neutral perspective. Why are you projecting belief systems on me? Perhaps because the the article called out a teacher radicalized to the Left. it could have been an article about a rightwing radical but my guess is such a teacher would have been ID'd and rooted out sooner in this area.

Let me simplify this. In Midwest... people are less outwardly political yet in Minnesota this, perhaps disturbed, teacher thought such comments were perfectly OK
Maryland is more outward politically (yet I think a open minded state... thus the traditional blue state did elect a red governor) So the question is; is this an environment where there could be more teachers like the one in Minnesota, or less, or is it a non issue and that teacher is a one and done.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The "Everyone is welcome" signs do not mean Everyone.

Conservatives, republicans, Trump people, blue collar folks, traditional Christians and those from flyover country are not included in "Everyone".

Well, waddya know - "Everyone" does not include those who think "Only some are welcome."

Jokes aside, this is BS - this is the county that kept electing Connie Morella year after year while voting for Dems in other races.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:MoCo has always been very liberal and mostly democratic. So, the signs, etc. on private property are normal and has nothing to do with MCPS. As of MCPS, I haven't noticed that at all.

former MCPS teacher - We've since moved out of the area. A friend, however, who's at a challenging ES school (poverty, language barriers), said the school opened up safe spaces for their students after the election, as many feared deportation.

So while Mo Co has always been heavily D, I do think the school system overstepped its bounds during this election. My daughter was in a middle school when the walkouts occurred. She said many of the kids just walked out (they weren't allowed to leave campus) for the fun of it. same is true - even more, based on anecdotal evidence - for high school kids who did get to leave campus

I believe in protest. I believe in change. But many of these kids can't even name their local reps. So there's no sense in protesting when you have no clue whom to contact.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:MoCo has always been very liberal and mostly democratic. So, the signs, etc. on private property are normal and has nothing to do with MCPS. As of MCPS, I haven't noticed that at all.

former MCPS teacher - We've since moved out of the area. A friend, however, who's at a challenging ES school (poverty, language barriers), said the school opened up safe spaces for their students after the election, as many feared deportation.

So while Mo Co has always been heavily D, I do think the school system overstepped its bounds during this election. My daughter was in a middle school when the walkouts occurred. She said many of the kids just walked out (they weren't allowed to leave campus) for the fun of it. same is true - even more, based on anecdotal evidence - for high school kids who did get to leave campus

I believe in protest. I believe in change. But many of these kids can't even name their local reps. So there's no sense in protesting when you have no clue whom to contact.

I recently saw the twitter feed of a friend’s friend—a Mcps counselor—and was shocked by all the anti immigrant pro trump tweets she likes and shares. She works at a very diverse middle school which seems like perhaps not the best match. She’s allowed to have her own opinions but I think airing them given her role shows a lack of judgment. And I hope my kid never ends up with her as a counselor.

[Anonymous]

OP, I am a midwesterner also. And I admit I'm mildly annoyed with your post. You're asking for reassurance that people with poor judgment don't exist here. Of course they do. That MN teacher didn't talk about assassination because she is from MN. She did it because she is a nut. You can't honestly be asking if MD has less nutty teachers than those in the mldwest. Nuttiness isn't tied to any region.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The "Everyone is welcome" signs do not mean Everyone.

Conservatives, republicans, Trump people, blue collar folks, traditional Christians and those from flyover country are not included in "Everyone".

Well, waddya know - "Everyone" does not include those who think "Only some are welcome."

Jokes aside, this is BS - this is the county that kept electing Connie Morella year after year while voting for Dems in other races.

Oh the irony.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP, I am a midwesterner also. And I admit I'm mildly annoyed with your post. You're asking for reassurance that people with poor judgment don't exist here. Of course they do. That MN teacher didn't talk about assassination because she is from MN. She did it because she is a nut. You can't honestly be asking if MD has less nutty teachers than those in the mldwest. Nuttiness isn't tied to any region.

+1

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, I am a midwesterner also. And I admit I'm mildly annoyed with your post. You're asking for reassurance that people with poor judgment don't exist here. Of course they do. That MN teacher didn't talk about assassination because she is from MN. She did it because she is a nut. You can't honestly be asking if MD has less nutty teachers than those in the mldwest. Nuttiness isn't tied to any region.

+1

+2 - signed another midwesterner from a very red state

[Anonymous]

When my son was in first grade, his MOCO teacher wore an Obama shirt with his picture and a raised fist to school. I had a conference with her that afternoon and she spent 20 minutes talking about Obama. She was also a horrible teacher. Zero classroom control. Inappropriate language in the classroom. She threatened to smack a child. I was there and heard it. I complained to the principal. He told he he had expressed his concerns about her to his leadership and was told that she was "untouchable".

I am a liberal Dem. Needless to say, we moved to Fairfax.

[Anonymous]

"Radicalized" teachers are the least of your concern in MCPS. Problems right now: a failed curriculum, shrinking resource base, rising poverty, leadership focused solely on closing the achievement gap.

[Anonymous]

My child had a middle school teacher (who was African American) who was pro-Trump during the election and talked about it with the students. This was in a very diverse magnet program.

Same child went to 1st period high school the other day and his teacher was playing some conservative podcast that seemed to be a bunch of conspiracy theories.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The "Everyone is welcome" signs do not mean Everyone.

Conservatives, republicans, Trump people, blue collar folks, traditional Christians and those from flyover country are not included in "Everyone".

What a dumb, small-minded comment. My neighborhood, where you can see loads of the welcome signs, is full of Christians, midwesterners, blue collar folks, and even (pre-trump) conservatives. You are are right about trumpies. Haters are not welcome.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, I am a midwesterner also. And I admit I'm mildly annoyed with your post. You're asking for reassurance that people with poor judgment don't exist here. Of course they do. That MN teacher didn't talk about assassination because she is from MN. She did it because she is a nut. You can't honestly be asking if MD has less nutty teachers than those in the mldwest. Nuttiness isn't tied to any region.

+1

+2 - signed another midwesterner from a very red state

+3 another Midwesterner who thinks the Hate has no Home here feels very midwestern. But I lived in a relatively diverse city in the Midwest and was thrilled at the even more diverse community here.

[Anonymous]

OP, you can find a crazy nut anywhere. Noplace is immune to having one or two radicals (on either side of the spectrum, or even about issues unrelated to politics) pop up.

DC doesn’t breed craziness any more than other regions. It does tend to be more political, because a higher percentage of the people here work for the government than other places, but most people are sane and reasonable about it. But a guarantee that there will never be a crazy person who manages to get herself a job in the local school system? Sorry, that’s an impossible ask for any region.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Our principal holds a get together in the spring for incoming parents of K students. At this event, in response to an at best tangentially related question, she stated that she would never go to an MD beach to spite the current R governor. (The governor mandated that schools start after Labor Day in large part to help businesses at the MD beaches.)

Regardless of what you think of starting school later, or the governor more broadly, it is crazy that she would make such a sharp political jab at a welcoming event. Either she didn't care, or she just assumed every would agree with her, neither of which is really ok.

I will bet you dollars to donuts she didn't mention "Republican" - that she just said she would never go to the beaches to spite the Governor, or that she would never go to the beaches because of the Governor's EO. That's not partisan politics, that's disagreement with a policy that the governor implemented (that is contrary to all educational research, and makes life harder for innumerable people).

FWIW, I feel the same way as she does, and I'm voting for Hogan.