BOE/MCPS is a mess

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Sure, they are a complete mess, as evidenced by the last Board meeting, but I wouldn't cite the crazy Parents' Coalition for that.

Yes this “org” is crazy and I am putting it in quotations because it only has one member - Janis Sartucci. Don’t believe the hype. She also posts here a lot - would not be surprised if she was the one giving kudos to her “org”.

Why do multiple people post on the blog? Earning your $130/h?

Thank goodness for Janis. Without her, we wouldn't know half the crazy and unethical crap that MCPS is doing. I don't understand the hate towards her.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Sure, they are a complete mess, as evidenced by the last Board meeting, but I wouldn't cite the crazy Parents' Coalition for that.

Yes this “org” is crazy and I am putting it in quotations because it only has one member - Janis Sartucci. Don’t believe the hype. She also posts here a lot - would not be surprised if she was the one giving kudos to her “org”.

Why do multiple people post on the blog? Earning your $130/h?

Thank goodness for Janis. Without her, we wouldn't know half the crazy and unethical crap that MCPS is doing. I don't understand the hate towards her.

Especially all that fictional stuff that people love to complain about.

[Anonymous]

I love the mental gymnastics of "MCEA doesn't do curriculum and isn't in charge of what happens to students," and "How dare you suggest not voting for the people we selected for public office to further our agenda, our agenda is your agenda!" LOL. Clearly it's not.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Sure, they are a complete mess, as evidenced by the last Board meeting, but I wouldn't cite the crazy Parents' Coalition for that.

Yes this “org” is crazy and I am putting it in quotations because it only has one member - Janis Sartucci. Don’t believe the hype. She also posts here a lot - would not be surprised if she was the one giving kudos to her “org”.

Why do multiple people post on the blog? Earning your $130/h?

Thank goodness for Janis. Without her, we wouldn't know half the crazy and unethical crap that MCPS is doing. I don't understand the hate towards her.

It's not hate. She's a crank, that's all.

[Anonymous]

Honest question: Who in the process does advocate for the interests of students, other than parents who are routinely denigrated as selfish troublemakers?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Honest question: Who in the process does advocate for the interests of students, other than parents who are routinely denigrated as selfish troublemakers?

Parents. Specifically,

1. parents who are adult enough, and confident enough in the positions they're advocating, to not care that other people might call them mean names
2. parents who vote

Also, students, both in their own capacity and via the SMOB. (Note that student advocates are routinely denigrated, on DCUM, as ignorant, self-serving, and/or mindless.)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Honest question: Who in the process does advocate for the interests of students, other than parents who are routinely denigrated as selfish troublemakers?

Parents. Specifically,

1. parents who are adult enough, and confident enough in the positions they're advocating, to not care that other people might call them mean names
2. parents who vote

Also, students, both in their own capacity and via the SMOB. (Note that student advocates are routinely denigrated, on DCUM, as ignorant, self-serving, and/or mindless.)

Teachers. They may be more discreet about it but they are fighting daily for their students.

(Yes, every profession has a few rotten apples)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Honest question: Who in the process does advocate for the interests of students, other than parents who are routinely denigrated as selfish troublemakers?

Parents. Specifically,

1. parents who are adult enough, and confident enough in the positions they're advocating, to not care that other people might call them mean names
2. parents who vote

Also, students, both in their own capacity and via the SMOB. (Note that student advocates are routinely denigrated, on DCUM, as ignorant, self-serving, and/or mindless.)

Teachers. They may be more discreet about it but they are fighting daily for their students.

(Yes, every profession has a few rotten apples)

I think PP meant at the bargaining table. MCEA is for the teachers, MCPS BOE is for the system, but no one is for the students. The parents sort of have MCCPTA but their advocacy ignores the upper and middle cohort of students because "they'll be fine."

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Honest question: Who in the process does advocate for the interests of students, other than parents who are routinely denigrated as selfish troublemakers?

Parents. Specifically,

1. parents who are adult enough, and confident enough in the positions they're advocating, to not care that other people might call them mean names
2. parents who vote

Also, students, both in their own capacity and via the SMOB. (Note that student advocates are routinely denigrated, on DCUM, as ignorant, self-serving, and/or mindless.)

Teachers. They may be more discreet about it but they are fighting daily for their students.

(Yes, every profession has a few rotten apples)

I think PP meant at the bargaining table. MCEA is for the teachers, MCPS BOE is for the system, but no one is for the students. The parents sort of have MCCPTA but their advocacy ignores the upper and middle cohort of students because "they'll be fine."

That's because the topic at the bargaining table is the contract between the employer (MCPS) and the employees (the teachers).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Honest question: Who in the process does advocate for the interests of students, other than parents who are routinely denigrated as selfish troublemakers?

Parents. Specifically,

1. parents who are adult enough, and confident enough in the positions they're advocating, to not care that other people might call them mean names
2. parents who vote

Also, students, both in their own capacity and via the SMOB. (Note that student advocates are routinely denigrated, on DCUM, as ignorant, self-serving, and/or mindless.)

Teachers. They may be more discreet about it but they are fighting daily for their students.

(Yes, every profession has a few rotten apples)

I think PP meant at the bargaining table. MCEA is for the teachers, MCPS BOE is for the system, but no one is for the students. The parents sort of have MCCPTA but their advocacy ignores the upper and middle cohort of students because "they'll be fine."

That's because the topic at the bargaining table is the contract between the employer (MCPS) and the employees (the teachers).

And if you can't see why parents need a seat at that table then you're part of the problem. Example: Years ago, our son's teacher kept calling in sick week after week after week. The school kept throwing subs in. After 4 weeks of no learning, I called the principal to ask what the plan was and she said it was an HR matter. So an issue between MCPS and a teacher directly affected the students. I gathered up the PTA and we raised hell with the central office until they agreed to send in a permanent sub who was fantastic. Another more general example is the number of days they're whittling away from the school calendar.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Honest question: Who in the process does advocate for the interests of students, other than parents who are routinely denigrated as selfish troublemakers?

Parents. Specifically,

1. parents who are adult enough, and confident enough in the positions they're advocating, to not care that other people might call them mean names
2. parents who vote

Also, students, both in their own capacity and via the SMOB. (Note that student advocates are routinely denigrated, on DCUM, as ignorant, self-serving, and/or mindless.)

Teachers. They may be more discreet about it but they are fighting daily for their students.

(Yes, every profession has a few rotten apples)

I think PP meant at the bargaining table. MCEA is for the teachers, MCPS BOE is for the system, but no one is for the students. The parents sort of have MCCPTA but their advocacy ignores the upper and middle cohort of students because "they'll be fine."

Then parents and teachers should get more involved with their school PTAs and MCCPTA. Yhey have no problem engaging during a boundary study. Imagine if they had that same engagement and enthusiasm all year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:And if you can't see why parents need a seat at that table then you're part of the problem. Example: Years ago, our son's teacher kept calling in sick week after week after week. The school kept throwing subs in. After 4 weeks of no learning, I called the principal to ask what the plan was and she said it was an HR matter. So an issue between MCPS and a teacher directly affected the students. I gathered up the PTA and we raised hell with the central office until they agreed to send in a permanent sub who was fantastic. Another more general example is the number of days they're whittling away from the school calendar.

That's not how employment contracts work, and it's not how collective bargaining works. As a fan of men's basketball, do you expect to have a seat at the bargaining table with the NBA and the NBA players? As a person who shops at Safeway, do you expect to have a seat at the bargaining table with Albertson's and the Safeway employees? As a person who goes to the dentist, do you expect to have a seat at the table in employment negotiations between your dentist and their dental hygienists?

The employer is MCPS. MCPS is overseen by the Board of Education. The voters vote for the members of the Board of Education. That's your seat at the table.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:And if you can't see why parents need a seat at that table then you're part of the problem. Example: Years ago, our son's teacher kept calling in sick week after week after week. The school kept throwing subs in. After 4 weeks of no learning, I called the principal to ask what the plan was and she said it was an HR matter. So an issue between MCPS and a teacher directly affected the students. I gathered up the PTA and we raised hell with the central office until they agreed to send in a permanent sub who was fantastic. Another more general example is the number of days they're whittling away from the school calendar.

That's not how employment contracts work, and it's not how collective bargaining works. As a fan of men's basketball, do you expect to have a seat at the bargaining table with the NBA and the NBA players? As a person who shops at Safeway, do you expect to have a seat at the bargaining table with Albertson's and the Safeway employees? As a person who goes to the dentist, do you expect to have a seat at the table in employment negotiations between your dentist and their dental hygienists?

The employer is MCPS. MCPS is overseen by the Board of Education. The voters vote for the members of the Board of Education. That's your seat at the table.

I agree with you that employment contracts are between an employer and employees. Yes, parents vote for the BOE (and the County Council, which decides how much funding MCPS gets but not how it's allocated), and they often, but not always, choose the Apple Ballot candidates because they are on the Apple Ballot, and therefore many BOE members have an incentive to prioritize teachers over students.

I see that teachers believe whatever is good for teachers is good for students, but that is simply not true. The MCEA always pushes compensation increases above all. Students don't directly benefit from compensation increases, and they would likely benefit more from a better balance between compensation (which is obviously needed to recruit and retain teachers) and service improvements.

[Anonymous]

You are kidding, right? PARENTS have to advocate for their own students! It is your job as a parent.

As far as listening to groups of students, have you seen BOE member Lynne Harris's campaign information, Lynne for Students? She also gave up some of her testimony time to students before she was a Board member.

You know what? I don't care what a group of teenagers think. Their frontal lobes are not fully developed, they are not paying property taxes, and only a small few are old enough to vote.

Ad far as I am concerned, what a group of teenagers thinks is irrelevant. What parents want - that is important. Work with your principal, your PTA, MCCPTA, even Board of Education members directly to get what you need for your child.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You are kidding, right? PARENTS have to advocate for their own students! It is your job as a parent.

As far as listening to groups of students, have you seen BOE member Lynne Harris's campaign information, Lynne for Students? She also gave up some of her testimony time to students before she was a Board member.

You know what? I don't care what a group of teenagers think. Their frontal lobes are not fully developed, they are not paying property taxes, and only a small few are old enough to vote.

Ad far as I am concerned, what a group of teenagers thinks is irrelevant. What parents want - that is important. Work with your principal, your PTA, MCCPTA, even Board of Education members directly to get what you need for your child.