Board wants Monifa to step down

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Who else was involved in the "shenanigans"? Who else at MCPS is on the way out?

Key and Hull?

Is there anyone else left?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The board also needs to go as they are equally responsible.

How on earth are they equally responsible? McKnight and her deputies orchestrated a coverup to keep the information from the board and the public.

And, the board has known for how long and done what?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The board also needs to go as they are equally responsible.

How on earth are they equally responsible? McKnight and her deputies orchestrated a coverup to keep the information from the board and the public.

And, the board has known for how long and done what?

I think it's proper for them to allow the OIG investigation to be completed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The board also needs to go as they are equally responsible.

How on earth are they equally responsible? McKnight and her deputies orchestrated a coverup to keep the information from the board and the public.

And, the board has known for how long and done what?

I think it's proper for them to allow the OIG investigation to be completed.

It is done. They have it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The Board has known for months that McKnight withheld information from them. What have they been doing all this time?

Gotta be careful when trying to break a contract. Very careful. Unless you want a 7 figure judgment against you.

+all the points
Realistically, MCPS is going to have to pay out the rest of the contract. The only way they could get into trouble is if they start making accusations against her (either out of spite or to try to argue for firing for cause).

So, looking at her contract, it appears MCPS could fire her without cause and they'd only be on the hook to pay her one year's severance.

Maybe that's why she wants to fight termination. I don't think she'd get a similarly-paying job within a year, and I don't think she and her husband have a lot of money.

Should have saved up, especially if she didn't spring for a MoCo residence.

Regardless, it's interesting she seems to want to fight this when the board has broad authority to fire her under her contract. What is she hoping to achieve, versus quietly negotiating a less painful exit?

Honestly, I think it is the same impulse that keeps JB posting on this board. Neither of them have ever seen a consequence before, so they don't know it when it comes for them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think it's rude to call her or an educator by their first name, however, our principal signs everything with their first name only. I think its really unprofessional.

Josh Starr insisted he be called Josh

Oddly, however, DCUM did not refer to him as Josh. It was "Damn you, Joshua Starr!1111111111!!!!!!!!!!1111" - his full first name plus his last name.

People don’t refer to the President as Joe but they sure did refer to a former candidate as Hillary even when she was a Senator and a Secretary of State. It’s gendered.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The board also needs to go as they are equally responsible.

Yes, they're equally responsible for running an awesome school system!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think it's rude to call her or an educator by their first name, however, our principal signs everything with their first name only. I think its really unprofessional.

Josh Starr insisted he be called Josh

Oddly, however, DCUM did not refer to him as Josh. It was "Damn you, Joshua Starr!1111111111!!!!!!!!!!1111" - his full first name plus his last name.

People don’t refer to the President as Joe but they sure did refer to a former candidate as Hillary even when she was a Senator and a Secretary of State. It’s gendered.

It's a right-wing ploy used to diminish women. Whenever you see someone refer to dr. McKnight as monifa you know they have an ax to grind.

[Anonymous]

I think it is interesting that Dr. McKnight knew the Board wanted her out last week and suddenly a more comprehensive plan to address the issues with the JB debacle. What has been happening with the 1st iterations of the corrective action plan? Why is it that they only take public action when something forces her hand?

Honestly, our system is horribly broken. It will rake years to get out of this. We were not in good shape before all this. How do we get out of this? Just 💔 for all at this point.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think it is interesting that Dr. McKnight knew the Board wanted her out last week and suddenly a more comprehensive plan to address the issues with the JB debacle. What has been happening with the 1st iterations of the corrective action plan? Why is it that they only take public action when something forces her hand?

Honestly, our system is horribly broken. It will rake years to get out of this. We were not in good shape before all this. How do we get out of this? Just 💔 for all at this point.

The problem is they focus on this nonsense instead of education.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There is an incredible poetic justice to McKnight and MCPS being brought to its knees by a substitute teacher for the system.

Talk about a David and Goliath story!

I’m a fan of Alexandra’s articles, but it’s not exactly a David and Goliath story. She is a Yale grad who writes books. It’s possible she initially decided to work as a substitute teacher because she was researching a book about teachers. Good for her and good for the system, whatever the reason she chose to sub. It’s quite clear to me that good reporting and bad PR are the only way to change mcps. Those 18 complainants got nowhere until she&WP reported on it.

According to Wikipedia she already published the book. Robbins, Alexandra (2023) The Teachers: A Year Inside America’s Most Vulnerable, Important Profession, Dutton

[Anonymous]

“They all participated in that culture,” said a former MCPS administrator who claimed to have attended happy hours on several occasions with McKnight, Beidleman and the two chiefs when they were middle school administrators during the 2012-2013 academic year. “I often felt uncomfortable by the excessive drinking, inappropriate sexual jokes and other innuendos of the other administrators in my cluster, including Dr. McKnight. While Dr. Beidleman clearly did some inappropriate things, there’s a bigger issue with the culture of MCPS leadership, and Dr. Beidleman is a product of the environment that groomed him. It was an unprofessional culture, one of hazing, bullying and other inappropriate actions. This is how we were trained.”


Beidleman is taking McKnight and others down with him.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:“They all participated in that culture,” said a former MCPS administrator who claimed to have attended happy hours on several occasions with McKnight, Beidleman and the two chiefs when they were middle school administrators during the 2012-2013 academic year. “I often felt uncomfortable by the excessive drinking, inappropriate sexual jokes and other innuendos of the other administrators in my cluster, including Dr. McKnight. While Dr. Beidleman clearly did some inappropriate things, there’s a bigger issue with the culture of MCPS leadership, and Dr. Beidleman is a product of the environment that groomed him. It was an unprofessional culture, one of hazing, bullying and other inappropriate actions. This is how we were trained.”


Beidleman is taking McKnight and others down with him.

Beidleman can't remember what his own actions from a year ago but he can remember drunken night details of McKnight from 10 years ago?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:“They all participated in that culture,” said a former MCPS administrator who claimed to have attended happy hours on several occasions with McKnight, Beidleman and the two chiefs when they were middle school administrators during the 2012-2013 academic year. “I often felt uncomfortable by the excessive drinking, inappropriate sexual jokes and other innuendos of the other administrators in my cluster, including Dr. McKnight. While Dr. Beidleman clearly did some inappropriate things, there’s a bigger issue with the culture of MCPS leadership, and Dr. Beidleman is a product of the environment that groomed him. It was an unprofessional culture, one of hazing, bullying and other inappropriate actions. This is how we were trained.”


Beidleman is taking McKnight and others down with him.

We've become Abbott Elementary.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think it's rude to call her or an educator by their first name, however, our principal signs everything with their first name only. I think its really unprofessional.

Josh Starr insisted he be called Josh

Oddly, however, DCUM did not refer to him as Josh. It was "Damn you, Joshua Starr!1111111111!!!!!!!!!!1111" - his full first name plus his last name.

People don’t refer to the President as Joe but they sure did refer to a former candidate as Hillary even when she was a Senator and a Secretary of State. It’s gendered.

It's a right-wing ploy used to diminish women. Whenever you see someone refer to dr. McKnight as monifa you know they have an ax to grind.

Are you nuts? Of course people refer to the President as “Biden” and “Joe.”

You should be focusing on McKnight’s incompetence and intransigence but instead you want to make it all about whether this woman is being treated like the Queen of England, rather than as a lazy and poor performing public employee who should have been fired months ago. If she were a white or Asian woman she would already be long gone from MCPS.