Lynne Harris: "People complain about Montgomery County Public Schools until they go somewhere else"

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:Lynne Harris has a really nasty, condescending, dismissive attitude toward feedback and criticism about MCPS.

Here she is again, sarcastically mocking parents who tell her they're concerned that their kids aren't reading full novels or writing essays in fifth grade:

Starts at 54:19 where she says, "It's tough times in Montgomery County. Lots of people think they can criticize pretty much everything we do. And one of the things we've been hearing is 'We moved here for the great schools, our experience has been mediocre. For example, in fifth grade, my child wrote one essay the whole year.'"

She does not have the heart of a public servant. She is not humble.

Have you been smoking pot? She is perfectly repesctful and engaged in understanding the new curriculum. This is her doing the work of a public servant.

Yeah those are the kind of questions I want to see BOE members asking MCPS! Too often they don’t but I find Garris is willing to do so. Thanks for sharing PP.

I have no problems with her asking the follow-up questions. I have a problem with her whining and sarcastically mocking the fact that people have complaints about the school system and painting them as unreasonable, which she clearly did here. You can say you don't mind her tone but the tone is there and I don't like it.

I'm not any of the PPs, and in fact I clicked on that link thinking that I would find her asking the difficult question about why our kids are not reading full-length books. I was extending the benefit of the doubt. However, she very much seems to be trying to coach the central office person into a specific answer, and one that makes MCPS look good.

Look, I don't want an adversarial relationship between the central office and the Board of Education, which is why I'm not voting for folks like Hidayat and Mandel. But the Board of Education is the designated oversight body, which means it would be great to see a little bit less chumminess between them, and a little bit more pressing on questions that parents are actually concerned about.

Correct. Harris does not view herself or the BOE's role as an oversight body, but rather she sees herself as one with the system, hence her "us vs. them" defensiveness in her remarks.

If she wants to work for MCPS, she should apply for a job there. The BOE is supposed to be more critical, discerning and objective.

Harris is always the board member asking questions of staff, trying to get more information to make informed decisions. She is a leader in restructuring the school district power structure, so that the BOE is not so dependent on CO staff, who make word-salad responses a fine art, in order to get evidence-based information to advance the school system.

Then why is she upset and indignant that people complain about MCPS?

I guess it depends on the complaint. Not all are valid. Some are kind of crazy even. Overall MCPS does a good job and leaders like Lynne are trying to make it better.

+1. I can only imagine what her inbox is like.

The Harris campaign is working DCUM pretty hard. The current state of MCPS is abysmal no thanks to her apathy. You can try to sugar coat it, but Harris has been on the BOE during some of the systems darkest days (Damascus attack, Magruder shooting and the infamous WaPo article) and hasn’t done much to move the needle on safety, accountability or transparency. And now to disparage parents!? Seriously!? Vote No on Harris!

I'm sure it was Silvestre and Harris who said enough is enough and got rid of McKnight. And Harris started in Dec. 2020, well after the Damascus attack.

You need to provide a source if you’re going to say that they ousted McKnight. Otherwise it’s just false.

You need to provide a source if you're going to say it's false. Otherwise, with the action coming in closed session, we just don't know, but we do know there was support for her ouster from at least 4 of the 7 (I don't think the student member would get a vote on this action, though they may have had a voice), and reasonable conjecture is that Evans and Wolff, given their earlier support, were not in the majority if there was a 4-3 split. That would leave a 1 in 5 chance, at most, of Harris having been among those seeking to keep McKnight.

I wouldn't be surprised if it was 5-2, or even unanimous after the eventual tally was obvious. We likely will never know. Politics.

It's not politics. It's a personnel matter that is subject to privacy laws. I am sure that those who were instrumental in moving McKnight out would like to be more transparent, but they are prohibited from doing so.

Different bag from normal HR/personnel, as the Sup is under contract to the BOE. Even if the nature of the action were such that details were subject to privacy-related statute, the BOE could have held the vote to terminate the contract in public view. Politics.

It would have served their purposes to do so; yet, the BOE did not, because it was a confidential process.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Lynne Harris has a really nasty, condescending, dismissive attitude toward feedback and criticism about MCPS.

Here she is again, sarcastically mocking parents who tell her they're concerned that their kids aren't reading full novels or writing essays in fifth grade:

Starts at 54:19 where she says, "It's tough times in Montgomery County. Lots of people think they can criticize pretty much everything we do. And one of the things we've been hearing is 'We moved here for the great schools, our experience has been mediocre. For example, in fifth grade, my child wrote one essay the whole year.'"

She does not have the heart of a public servant. She is not humble.

Have you been smoking pot? She is perfectly repesctful and engaged in understanding the new curriculum. This is her doing the work of a public servant.

Yeah those are the kind of questions I want to see BOE members asking MCPS! Too often they don’t but I find Garris is willing to do so. Thanks for sharing PP.

I have no problems with her asking the follow-up questions. I have a problem with her whining and sarcastically mocking the fact that people have complaints about the school system and painting them as unreasonable, which she clearly did here. You can say you don't mind her tone but the tone is there and I don't like it.

I'm not any of the PPs, and in fact I clicked on that link thinking that I would find her asking the difficult question about why our kids are not reading full-length books. I was extending the benefit of the doubt. However, she very much seems to be trying to coach the central office person into a specific answer, and one that makes MCPS look good.

Look, I don't want an adversarial relationship between the central office and the Board of Education, which is why I'm not voting for folks like Hidayat and Mandel. But the Board of Education is the designated oversight body, which means it would be great to see a little bit less chumminess between them, and a little bit more pressing on questions that parents are actually concerned about.

Correct. Harris does not view herself or the BOE's role as an oversight body, but rather she sees herself as one with the system, hence her "us vs. them" defensiveness in her remarks.

If she wants to work for MCPS, she should apply for a job there. The BOE is supposed to be more critical, discerning and objective.

Harris is always the board member asking questions of staff, trying to get more information to make informed decisions. She is a leader in restructuring the school district power structure, so that the BOE is not so dependent on CO staff, who make word-salad responses a fine art, in order to get evidence-based information to advance the school system.

Then why is she upset and indignant that people complain about MCPS?

I guess it depends on the complaint. Not all are valid. Some are kind of crazy even. Overall MCPS does a good job and leaders like Lynne are trying to make it better.

+1. I can only imagine what her inbox is like.

The Harris campaign is working DCUM pretty hard. The current state of MCPS is abysmal no thanks to her apathy. You can try to sugar coat it, but Harris has been on the BOE during some of the systems darkest days (Damascus attack, Magruder shooting and the infamous WaPo article) and hasn’t done much to move the needle on safety, accountability or transparency. And now to disparage parents!? Seriously!? Vote No on Harris!

I'm sure it was Silvestre and Harris who said enough is enough and got rid of McKnight. And Harris started in Dec. 2020, well after the Damascus attack.

You need to provide a source if you’re going to say that they ousted McKnight. Otherwise it’s just false.

You need to provide a source if you're going to say it's false. Otherwise, with the action coming in closed session, we just don't know, but we do know there was support for her ouster from at least 4 of the 7 (I don't think the student member would get a vote on this action, though they may have had a voice), and reasonable conjecture is that Evans and Wolff, given their earlier support, were not in the majority if there was a 4-3 split. That would leave a 1 in 5 chance, at most, of Harris having been among those seeking to keep McKnight.

I wouldn't be surprised if it was 5-2, or even unanimous after the eventual tally was obvious. We likely will never know. Politics.

It's not politics. It's a personnel matter that is subject to privacy laws. I am sure that those who were instrumental in moving McKnight out would like to be more transparent, but they are prohibited from doing so.

Different bag from normal HR/personnel, as the Sup is under contract to the BOE. Even if the nature of the action were such that details were subject to privacy-related statute, the BOE could have held the vote to terminate the contract in public view. Politics.

It would have served their purposes to do so; yet, the BOE did not, because it was a confidential process.

An ouster very much could have been a public process. It did not serve their purposes to do so publicly, however (political liability/alienation of a bloc), so they chose to handle it in a way that provided a shield of confidentiality and plausible deniability.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Lynne Harris has a really nasty, condescending, dismissive attitude toward feedback and criticism about MCPS.

Here she is again, sarcastically mocking parents who tell her they're concerned that their kids aren't reading full novels or writing essays in fifth grade:

Starts at 54:19 where she says, "It's tough times in Montgomery County. Lots of people think they can criticize pretty much everything we do. And one of the things we've been hearing is 'We moved here for the great schools, our experience has been mediocre. For example, in fifth grade, my child wrote one essay the whole year.'"

She does not have the heart of a public servant. She is not humble.

Have you been smoking pot? She is perfectly repesctful and engaged in understanding the new curriculum. This is her doing the work of a public servant.

Yeah those are the kind of questions I want to see BOE members asking MCPS! Too often they don’t but I find Garris is willing to do so. Thanks for sharing PP.

I have no problems with her asking the follow-up questions. I have a problem with her whining and sarcastically mocking the fact that people have complaints about the school system and painting them as unreasonable, which she clearly did here. You can say you don't mind her tone but the tone is there and I don't like it.

I'm not any of the PPs, and in fact I clicked on that link thinking that I would find her asking the difficult question about why our kids are not reading full-length books. I was extending the benefit of the doubt. However, she very much seems to be trying to coach the central office person into a specific answer, and one that makes MCPS look good.

Look, I don't want an adversarial relationship between the central office and the Board of Education, which is why I'm not voting for folks like Hidayat and Mandel. But the Board of Education is the designated oversight body, which means it would be great to see a little bit less chumminess between them, and a little bit more pressing on questions that parents are actually concerned about.

Correct. Harris does not view herself or the BOE's role as an oversight body, but rather she sees herself as one with the system, hence her "us vs. them" defensiveness in her remarks.

If she wants to work for MCPS, she should apply for a job there. The BOE is supposed to be more critical, discerning and objective.

Harris is always the board member asking questions of staff, trying to get more information to make informed decisions. She is a leader in restructuring the school district power structure, so that the BOE is not so dependent on CO staff, who make word-salad responses a fine art, in order to get evidence-based information to advance the school system.

Then why is she upset and indignant that people complain about MCPS?

She doesn't mind the complaints. She just hopes people see the whole picture. And if people can't see the good work that many are doing in MCPS, then they should move.

If we look at the clip the PP shared, what "whole picture" should we see?

I'll tell you what I see - outside of the CES programs and the various magnets, kids do not read an assigned novel in English class until high school, and they don't get differentiated English instruction until 11th grade.

Maybe we should ignore that because other things are fine, but as a parent I'm shocked that MCPS thinks it is appropriate for kids to just....not read, and I want my school board leadership to ask hard questions about how and why that decision was made.

o

So of the alternative candidates, who would be better at getting books back in the classrooms? Montoya? Kim? Amy others?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Lynne Harris has a really nasty, condescending, dismissive attitude toward feedback and criticism about MCPS.

Here she is again, sarcastically mocking parents who tell her they're concerned that their kids aren't reading full novels or writing essays in fifth grade:

Starts at 54:19 where she says, "It's tough times in Montgomery County. Lots of people think they can criticize pretty much everything we do. And one of the things we've been hearing is 'We moved here for the great schools, our experience has been mediocre. For example, in fifth grade, my child wrote one essay the whole year.'"

She does not have the heart of a public servant. She is not humble.

Have you been smoking pot? She is perfectly repesctful and engaged in understanding the new curriculum. This is her doing the work of a public servant.

Yeah those are the kind of questions I want to see BOE members asking MCPS! Too often they don’t but I find Garris is willing to do so. Thanks for sharing PP.

I have no problems with her asking the follow-up questions. I have a problem with her whining and sarcastically mocking the fact that people have complaints about the school system and painting them as unreasonable, which she clearly did here. You can say you don't mind her tone but the tone is there and I don't like it.

I'm not any of the PPs, and in fact I clicked on that link thinking that I would find her asking the difficult question about why our kids are not reading full-length books. I was extending the benefit of the doubt. However, she very much seems to be trying to coach the central office person into a specific answer, and one that makes MCPS look good.

Look, I don't want an adversarial relationship between the central office and the Board of Education, which is why I'm not voting for folks like Hidayat and Mandel. But the Board of Education is the designated oversight body, which means it would be great to see a little bit less chumminess between them, and a little bit more pressing on questions that parents are actually concerned about.

Correct. Harris does not view herself or the BOE's role as an oversight body, but rather she sees herself as one with the system, hence her "us vs. them" defensiveness in her remarks.

If she wants to work for MCPS, she should apply for a job there. The BOE is supposed to be more critical, discerning and objective.

Harris is always the board member asking questions of staff, trying to get more information to make informed decisions. She is a leader in restructuring the school district power structure, so that the BOE is not so dependent on CO staff, who make word-salad responses a fine art, in order to get evidence-based information to advance the school system.

Then why is she upset and indignant that people complain about MCPS?

She doesn't mind the complaints. She just hopes people see the whole picture. And if people can't see the good work that many are doing in MCPS, then they should move.

If we look at the clip the PP shared, what "whole picture" should we see?

I'll tell you what I see - outside of the CES programs and the various magnets, kids do not read an assigned novel in English class until high school, and they don't get differentiated English instruction until 11th grade.

Maybe we should ignore that because other things are fine, but as a parent I'm shocked that MCPS thinks it is appropriate for kids to just....not read, and I want my school board leadership to ask hard questions about how and why that decision was made.

o

So of the alternative candidates, who would be better at getting books back in the classrooms? Montoya? Kim? Amy others?

Kim, I think. I wouldn't want an entire BoE made up of Kims, but I think having ONE person who is laser focused on raising academic standards would be a game-changer. We have to expect more of these kids, and expecting a middle schooler to be able to finish a novel is not some out-of-touch rich person standard.

She won't win, though. Honestly, I think Harris will win again, but I'm hopeful that she comes out of this election with a better appreciation for what her constituents want and need.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Lynne Harris has a really nasty, condescending, dismissive attitude toward feedback and criticism about MCPS.

Here she is again, sarcastically mocking parents who tell her they're concerned that their kids aren't reading full novels or writing essays in fifth grade:

Starts at 54:19 where she says, "It's tough times in Montgomery County. Lots of people think they can criticize pretty much everything we do. And one of the things we've been hearing is 'We moved here for the great schools, our experience has been mediocre. For example, in fifth grade, my child wrote one essay the whole year.'"

She does not have the heart of a public servant. She is not humble.

Have you been smoking pot? She is perfectly repesctful and engaged in understanding the new curriculum. This is her doing the work of a public servant.

Yeah those are the kind of questions I want to see BOE members asking MCPS! Too often they don’t but I find Garris is willing to do so. Thanks for sharing PP.

I have no problems with her asking the follow-up questions. I have a problem with her whining and sarcastically mocking the fact that people have complaints about the school system and painting them as unreasonable, which she clearly did here. You can say you don't mind her tone but the tone is there and I don't like it.

I'm not any of the PPs, and in fact I clicked on that link thinking that I would find her asking the difficult question about why our kids are not reading full-length books. I was extending the benefit of the doubt. However, she very much seems to be trying to coach the central office person into a specific answer, and one that makes MCPS look good.

Look, I don't want an adversarial relationship between the central office and the Board of Education, which is why I'm not voting for folks like Hidayat and Mandel. But the Board of Education is the designated oversight body, which means it would be great to see a little bit less chumminess between them, and a little bit more pressing on questions that parents are actually concerned about.

Correct. Harris does not view herself or the BOE's role as an oversight body, but rather she sees herself as one with the system, hence her "us vs. them" defensiveness in her remarks.

If she wants to work for MCPS, she should apply for a job there. The BOE is supposed to be more critical, discerning and objective.

Harris is always the board member asking questions of staff, trying to get more information to make informed decisions. She is a leader in restructuring the school district power structure, so that the BOE is not so dependent on CO staff, who make word-salad responses a fine art, in order to get evidence-based information to advance the school system.

Then why is she upset and indignant that people complain about MCPS?

She doesn't mind the complaints. She just hopes people see the whole picture. And if people can't see the good work that many are doing in MCPS, then they should move.

If we look at the clip the PP shared, what "whole picture" should we see?

I'll tell you what I see - outside of the CES programs and the various magnets, kids do not read an assigned novel in English class until high school, and they don't get differentiated English instruction until 11th grade.

Maybe we should ignore that because other things are fine, but as a parent I'm shocked that MCPS thinks it is appropriate for kids to just....not read, and I want my school board leadership to ask hard questions about how and why that decision was made.

o

So of the alternative candidates, who would be better at getting books back in the classrooms? Montoya? Kim? Amy others?

Kim, I think. I wouldn't want an entire BoE made up of Kims, but I think having ONE person who is laser focused on raising academic standards would be a game-changer. We have to expect more of these kids, and expecting a middle schooler to be able to finish a novel is not some out-of-touch rich person standard.

She won't win, though. Honestly, I think Harris will win again, but I'm hopeful that she comes out of this election with a better appreciation for what her constituents want and need.

That expectation already exists, officially. Individual schools/teachers may not be sticking to the guidelines, but MCPS English 6, 7, and 8 are all supposed to include "Study of one full-length text per marking period (novel, play, or non-fiction text)"

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/10rXMartGmyDZDMhf0P-U0W18It8pMd4F?usp=sharing

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Lynne Harris has a really nasty, condescending, dismissive attitude toward feedback and criticism about MCPS.

Here she is again, sarcastically mocking parents who tell her they're concerned that their kids aren't reading full novels or writing essays in fifth grade:

Starts at 54:19 where she says, "It's tough times in Montgomery County. Lots of people think they can criticize pretty much everything we do. And one of the things we've been hearing is 'We moved here for the great schools, our experience has been mediocre. For example, in fifth grade, my child wrote one essay the whole year.'"

She does not have the heart of a public servant. She is not humble.

Have you been smoking pot? She is perfectly repesctful and engaged in understanding the new curriculum. This is her doing the work of a public servant.

Yeah those are the kind of questions I want to see BOE members asking MCPS! Too often they don’t but I find Garris is willing to do so. Thanks for sharing PP.

I have no problems with her asking the follow-up questions. I have a problem with her whining and sarcastically mocking the fact that people have complaints about the school system and painting them as unreasonable, which she clearly did here. You can say you don't mind her tone but the tone is there and I don't like it.

I'm not any of the PPs, and in fact I clicked on that link thinking that I would find her asking the difficult question about why our kids are not reading full-length books. I was extending the benefit of the doubt. However, she very much seems to be trying to coach the central office person into a specific answer, and one that makes MCPS look good.

Look, I don't want an adversarial relationship between the central office and the Board of Education, which is why I'm not voting for folks like Hidayat and Mandel. But the Board of Education is the designated oversight body, which means it would be great to see a little bit less chumminess between them, and a little bit more pressing on questions that parents are actually concerned about.

Correct. Harris does not view herself or the BOE's role as an oversight body, but rather she sees herself as one with the system, hence her "us vs. them" defensiveness in her remarks.

If she wants to work for MCPS, she should apply for a job there. The BOE is supposed to be more critical, discerning and objective.

Harris is always the board member asking questions of staff, trying to get more information to make informed decisions. She is a leader in restructuring the school district power structure, so that the BOE is not so dependent on CO staff, who make word-salad responses a fine art, in order to get evidence-based information to advance the school system.

Then why is she upset and indignant that people complain about MCPS?

She doesn't mind the complaints. She just hopes people see the whole picture. And if people can't see the good work that many are doing in MCPS, then they should move.

If we look at the clip the PP shared, what "whole picture" should we see?

I'll tell you what I see - outside of the CES programs and the various magnets, kids do not read an assigned novel in English class until high school, and they don't get differentiated English instruction until 11th grade.

Maybe we should ignore that because other things are fine, but as a parent I'm shocked that MCPS thinks it is appropriate for kids to just....not read, and I want my school board leadership to ask hard questions about how and why that decision was made.

o

So of the alternative candidates, who would be better at getting books back in the classrooms? Montoya? Kim? Amy others?

Kim, I think. I wouldn't want an entire BoE made up of Kims, but I think having ONE person who is laser focused on raising academic standards would be a game-changer. We have to expect more of these kids, and expecting a middle schooler to be able to finish a novel is not some out-of-touch rich person standard.

She won't win, though. Honestly, I think Harris will win again, but I'm hopeful that she comes out of this election with a better appreciation for what her constituents want and need.

That expectation already exists, officially. Individual schools/teachers may not be sticking to the guidelines, but MCPS English 6, 7, and 8 are all supposed to include "Study of one full-length text per marking period (novel, play, or non-fiction text)"

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/10rXMartGmyDZDMhf0P-U0W18It8pMd4F?usp=sharing

My kid read more books in 4th grade CES than all of MS. It was a joke.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Lynne Harris has a really nasty, condescending, dismissive attitude toward feedback and criticism about MCPS.

Here she is again, sarcastically mocking parents who tell her they're concerned that their kids aren't reading full novels or writing essays in fifth grade:

Starts at 54:19 where she says, "It's tough times in Montgomery County. Lots of people think they can criticize pretty much everything we do. And one of the things we've been hearing is 'We moved here for the great schools, our experience has been mediocre. For example, in fifth grade, my child wrote one essay the whole year.'"

She does not have the heart of a public servant. She is not humble.

Have you been smoking pot? She is perfectly repesctful and engaged in understanding the new curriculum. This is her doing the work of a public servant.

Yeah those are the kind of questions I want to see BOE members asking MCPS! Too often they don’t but I find Garris is willing to do so. Thanks for sharing PP.

I have no problems with her asking the follow-up questions. I have a problem with her whining and sarcastically mocking the fact that people have complaints about the school system and painting them as unreasonable, which she clearly did here. You can say you don't mind her tone but the tone is there and I don't like it.

I'm not any of the PPs, and in fact I clicked on that link thinking that I would find her asking the difficult question about why our kids are not reading full-length books. I was extending the benefit of the doubt. However, she very much seems to be trying to coach the central office person into a specific answer, and one that makes MCPS look good.

Look, I don't want an adversarial relationship between the central office and the Board of Education, which is why I'm not voting for folks like Hidayat and Mandel. But the Board of Education is the designated oversight body, which means it would be great to see a little bit less chumminess between them, and a little bit more pressing on questions that parents are actually concerned about.

Correct. Harris does not view herself or the BOE's role as an oversight body, but rather she sees herself as one with the system, hence her "us vs. them" defensiveness in her remarks.

If she wants to work for MCPS, she should apply for a job there. The BOE is supposed to be more critical, discerning and objective.

Harris is always the board member asking questions of staff, trying to get more information to make informed decisions. She is a leader in restructuring the school district power structure, so that the BOE is not so dependent on CO staff, who make word-salad responses a fine art, in order to get evidence-based information to advance the school system.

Then why is she upset and indignant that people complain about MCPS?

She doesn't mind the complaints. She just hopes people see the whole picture. And if people can't see the good work that many are doing in MCPS, then they should move.

If we look at the clip the PP shared, what "whole picture" should we see?

I'll tell you what I see - outside of the CES programs and the various magnets, kids do not read an assigned novel in English class until high school, and they don't get differentiated English instruction until 11th grade.

Maybe we should ignore that because other things are fine, but as a parent I'm shocked that MCPS thinks it is appropriate for kids to just....not read, and I want my school board leadership to ask hard questions about how and why that decision was made.

o

So of the alternative candidates, who would be better at getting books back in the classrooms? Montoya? Kim? Amy others?

Kim, I think. I wouldn't want an entire BoE made up of Kims, but I think having ONE person who is laser focused on raising academic standards would be a game-changer. We have to expect more of these kids, and expecting a middle schooler to be able to finish a novel is not some out-of-touch rich person standard.

She won't win, though. Honestly, I think Harris will win again, but I'm hopeful that she comes out of this election with a better appreciation for what her constituents want and need.

Given her continued condescension and disdain for constituent feedback, I don't know why you're holding onto that hope.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Lynne Harris has a really nasty, condescending, dismissive attitude toward feedback and criticism about MCPS.

Here she is again, sarcastically mocking parents who tell her they're concerned that their kids aren't reading full novels or writing essays in fifth grade:

Starts at 54:19 where she says, "It's tough times in Montgomery County. Lots of people think they can criticize pretty much everything we do. And one of the things we've been hearing is 'We moved here for the great schools, our experience has been mediocre. For example, in fifth grade, my child wrote one essay the whole year.'"

She does not have the heart of a public servant. She is not humble.

Right. I had one kid go through CES and Eastern, and another go through regular ES and TPMS. The older one was assigned a diverse selection of books, some of which he hated (The Giver, The Pearl, Number the Stars) and some of which he loved (Outsiders, Hobbit).

The one who didn't have access to that enriched literacy curriculum never read a full novel in ES or MS ELA class. She read novels in HIGH, but not English.

If you have kids in the magnets, I think you might not know how terrible the StudySync curriculum is/was, and why parents are so frustrated.

Have you been smoking pot? She is perfectly repesctful and engaged in understanding the new curriculum. This is her doing the work of a public servant.

Yeah those are the kind of questions I want to see BOE members asking MCPS! Too often they don’t but I find Garris is willing to do so. Thanks for sharing PP.

I have no problems with her asking the follow-up questions. I have a problem with her whining and sarcastically mocking the fact that people have complaints about the school system and painting them as unreasonable, which she clearly did here. You can say you don't mind her tone but the tone is there and I don't like it.

I'm not any of the PPs, and in fact I clicked on that link thinking that I would find her asking the difficult question about why our kids are not reading full-length books. I was extending the benefit of the doubt. However, she very much seems to be trying to coach the central office person into a specific answer, and one that makes MCPS look good.

Look, I don't want an adversarial relationship between the central office and the Board of Education, which is why I'm not voting for folks like Hidayat and Mandel. But the Board of Education is the designated oversight body, which means it would be great to see a little bit less chumminess between them, and a little bit more pressing on questions that parents are actually concerned about.

Correct. Harris does not view herself or the BOE's role as an oversight body, but rather she sees herself as one with the system, hence her "us vs. them" defensiveness in her remarks.

If she wants to work for MCPS, she should apply for a job there. The BOE is supposed to be more critical, discerning and objective.

Harris is always the board member asking questions of staff, trying to get more information to make informed decisions. She is a leader in restructuring the school district power structure, so that the BOE is not so dependent on CO staff, who make word-salad responses a fine art, in order to get evidence-based information to advance the school system.

Then why is she upset and indignant that people complain about MCPS?

She doesn't mind the complaints. She just hopes people see the whole picture. And if people can't see the good work that many are doing in MCPS, then they should move.

If we look at the clip the PP shared, what "whole picture" should we see?

I'll tell you what I see - outside of the CES programs and the various magnets, kids do not read an assigned novel in English class until high school, and they don't get differentiated English instruction until 11th grade.

Maybe we should ignore that because other things are fine, but as a parent I'm shocked that MCPS thinks it is appropriate for kids to just....not read, and I want my school board leadership to ask hard questions about how and why that decision was made.

o

So of the alternative candidates, who would be better at getting books back in the classrooms? Montoya? Kim? Amy others?

Kim, I think. I wouldn't want an entire BoE made up of Kims, but I think having ONE person who is laser focused on raising academic standards would be a game-changer. We have to expect more of these kids, and expecting a middle schooler to be able to finish a novel is not some out-of-touch rich person standard.

She won't win, though. Honestly, I think Harris will win again, but I'm hopeful that she comes out of this election with a better appreciation for what her constituents want and need.

That expectation already exists, officially. Individual schools/teachers may not be sticking to the guidelines, but MCPS English 6, 7, and 8 are all supposed to include "Study of one full-length text per marking period (novel, play, or non-fiction text)"

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/10rXMartGmyDZDMhf0P-U0W18It8pMd4F?usp=sharing

My kid read more books in 4th grade CES than all of MS. It was a joke.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:Lynne Harris has a really nasty, condescending, dismissive attitude toward feedback and criticism about MCPS.

Here she is again, sarcastically mocking parents who tell her they're concerned that their kids aren't reading full novels or writing essays in fifth grade:

Starts at 54:19 where she says, "It's tough times in Montgomery County. Lots of people think they can criticize pretty much everything we do. And one of the things we've been hearing is 'We moved here for the great schools, our experience has been mediocre. For example, in fifth grade, my child wrote one essay the whole year.'"

She does not have the heart of a public servant. She is not humble.

Have you been smoking pot? She is perfectly repesctful and engaged in understanding the new curriculum. This is her doing the work of a public servant.

Yeah those are the kind of questions I want to see BOE members asking MCPS! Too often they don’t but I find Garris is willing to do so. Thanks for sharing PP.

I have no problems with her asking the follow-up questions. I have a problem with her whining and sarcastically mocking the fact that people have complaints about the school system and painting them as unreasonable, which she clearly did here. You can say you don't mind her tone but the tone is there and I don't like it.

I'm not any of the PPs, and in fact I clicked on that link thinking that I would find her asking the difficult question about why our kids are not reading full-length books. I was extending the benefit of the doubt. However, she very much seems to be trying to coach the central office person into a specific answer, and one that makes MCPS look good.

Look, I don't want an adversarial relationship between the central office and the Board of Education, which is why I'm not voting for folks like Hidayat and Mandel. But the Board of Education is the designated oversight body, which means it would be great to see a little bit less chumminess between them, and a little bit more pressing on questions that parents are actually concerned about.

Correct. Harris does not view herself or the BOE's role as an oversight body, but rather she sees herself as one with the system, hence her "us vs. them" defensiveness in her remarks.

If she wants to work for MCPS, she should apply for a job there. The BOE is supposed to be more critical, discerning and objective.

Harris is always the board member asking questions of staff, trying to get more information to make informed decisions. She is a leader in restructuring the school district power structure, so that the BOE is not so dependent on CO staff, who make word-salad responses a fine art, in order to get evidence-based information to advance the school system.

Then why is she upset and indignant that people complain about MCPS?

She doesn't mind the complaints. She just hopes people see the whole picture. And if people can't see the good work that many are doing in MCPS, then they should move.

If we look at the clip the PP shared, what "whole picture" should we see?

I'll tell you what I see - outside of the CES programs and the various magnets, kids do not read an assigned novel in English class until high school, and they don't get differentiated English instruction until 11th grade.

Maybe we should ignore that because other things are fine, but as a parent I'm shocked that MCPS thinks it is appropriate for kids to just....not read, and I want my school board leadership to ask hard questions about how and why that decision was made.

o

So of the alternative candidates, who would be better at getting books back in the classrooms? Montoya? Kim? Amy others?

Kim, I think. I wouldn't want an entire BoE made up of Kims, but I think having ONE person who is laser focused on raising academic standards would be a game-changer. We have to expect more of these kids, and expecting a middle schooler to be able to finish a novel is not some out-of-touch rich person standard.

She won't win, though. Honestly, I think Harris will win again, but I'm hopeful that she comes out of this election with a better appreciation for what her constituents want and need.

That expectation already exists, officially. Individual schools/teachers may not be sticking to the guidelines, but MCPS English 6, 7, and 8 are all supposed to include "Study of one full-length text per marking period (novel, play, or non-fiction text)"

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/10rXMartGmyDZDMhf0P-U0W18It8pMd4F?usp=sharing

My kid read more books in 4th grade CES than all of MS. It was a joke.

Right. I had one kid go through CES and Eastern, and another go through regular ES and TPMS. The older one was assigned a diverse selection of books, some of which he hated (The Giver, The Pearl, Number the Stars) and some of which he loved (Outsiders, Hobbit).

The one who didn't have access to that enriched literacy curriculum never read a full novel in ES or MS ELA class. She read novels in HIGH, but not English.

If you have kids in the magnets, I think you might not know how terrible the StudySync curriculum is/was, and why parents are so frustrated.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Lynne Harris has a really nasty, condescending, dismissive attitude toward feedback and criticism about MCPS.

Here she is again, sarcastically mocking parents who tell her they're concerned that their kids aren't reading full novels or writing essays in fifth grade:

Starts at 54:19 where she says, "It's tough times in Montgomery County. Lots of people think they can criticize pretty much everything we do. And one of the things we've been hearing is 'We moved here for the great schools, our experience has been mediocre. For example, in fifth grade, my child wrote one essay the whole year.'"

She does not have the heart of a public servant. She is not humble.

Have you been smoking pot? She is perfectly repesctful and engaged in understanding the new curriculum. This is her doing the work of a public servant.

Yeah those are the kind of questions I want to see BOE members asking MCPS! Too often they don’t but I find Garris is willing to do so. Thanks for sharing PP.

I have no problems with her asking the follow-up questions. I have a problem with her whining and sarcastically mocking the fact that people have complaints about the school system and painting them as unreasonable, which she clearly did here. You can say you don't mind her tone but the tone is there and I don't like it.

I'm not any of the PPs, and in fact I clicked on that link thinking that I would find her asking the difficult question about why our kids are not reading full-length books. I was extending the benefit of the doubt. However, she very much seems to be trying to coach the central office person into a specific answer, and one that makes MCPS look good.

Look, I don't want an adversarial relationship between the central office and the Board of Education, which is why I'm not voting for folks like Hidayat and Mandel. But the Board of Education is the designated oversight body, which means it would be great to see a little bit less chumminess between them, and a little bit more pressing on questions that parents are actually concerned about.

Correct. Harris does not view herself or the BOE's role as an oversight body, but rather she sees herself as one with the system, hence her "us vs. them" defensiveness in her remarks.

If she wants to work for MCPS, she should apply for a job there. The BOE is supposed to be more critical, discerning and objective.

Harris is always the board member asking questions of staff, trying to get more information to make informed decisions. She is a leader in restructuring the school district power structure, so that the BOE is not so dependent on CO staff, who make word-salad responses a fine art, in order to get evidence-based information to advance the school system.

Then why is she upset and indignant that people complain about MCPS?

I guess it depends on the complaint. Not all are valid. Some are kind of crazy even. Overall MCPS does a good job and leaders like Lynne are trying to make it better.

+1. I can only imagine what her inbox is like.

The Harris campaign is working DCUM pretty hard. The current state of MCPS is abysmal no thanks to her apathy. You can try to sugar coat it, but Harris has been on the BOE during some of the systems darkest days (Damascus attack, Magruder shooting and the infamous WaPo article) and hasn’t done much to move the needle on safety, accountability or transparency. And now to disparage parents!? Seriously!? Vote No on Harris!

I'm sure it was Silvestre and Harris who said enough is enough and got rid of McKnight. And Harris started in Dec. 2020, well after the Damascus attack.

You need to provide a source if you’re going to say that they ousted McKnight. Otherwise it’s just false.

You need to provide a source if you're going to say it's false. Otherwise, with the action coming in closed session, we just don't know, but we do know there was support for her ouster from at least 4 of the 7 (I don't think the student member would get a vote on this action, though they may have had a voice), and reasonable conjecture is that Evans and Wolff, given their earlier support, were not in the majority if there was a 4-3 split. That would leave a 1 in 5 chance, at most, of Harris having been among those seeking to keep McKnight.

I wouldn't be surprised if it was 5-2, or even unanimous after the eventual tally was obvious. We likely will never know. Politics.

It's not politics. It's a personnel matter that is subject to privacy laws. I am sure that those who were instrumental in moving McKnight out would like to be more transparent, but they are prohibited from doing so.

Under the law, you’re right. But should the law give a $300k executive the same privacy protections than it gives a $60k teacher? I argue that it shouldn’t because at the highest levels, the public interest trumps employee privacy.

[Anonymous]

The 60k employee will be directed to manipulate the data and inflate grades. Then they will be fired without cause. The 300k employee gets all the protection and hefty payouts for creating this dynamic.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The 60k employee will be directed to manipulate the data and inflate grades. Then they will be fired without cause. The 300k employee gets all the protection and hefty payouts for creating this dynamic.

How do we get admin fired for this crap? As a parent, it infuriates me that anyone would be directing teachers to do this crap. I rely on teacher's grades to know if my kid is or isn't on track. If they're inflated or inaccurate, I'm being gaslit.

[Anonymous]

For someone who dislikes complaining, Lynne Harris sure does complain a lot:

SOURCE: https://moco360.media/2024/05/14/primary-day-2024-cloudy-skies-and-low-turnout-as-voters-head-to-polls/

Harris said she is ready for the school board race to be over because she’s frustrated by negative rhetoric expressed about the school system by some candidates.

Harris is one of three incumbents among 14 candidates running for the school board in the primary election, including Rebecca Smondrowski (Dist. 2) of Gaithersburg and Shebra Evans (Dist. 4)of Silver Spring. The top two vote-getters in the races for the at-large and District 2 and 4 seats will advance to November’s general election.

Harris, who is running for a second term, is facing five at-large candidates: Laytonsville resident Sharif Hidayat,Bethesda resident Melissa Kim, Germantown resident Jonathan Long, Silver Spring resident Rita Montoya; and Brookeville resident Fitzgerald Mofor.

In District 2, Smondrowski is running for a fourth term against Gaithersburg resident Brenda Diaz and Rockville residents Ricky Mui, Aby Thioye and Natalie Zimmerman. Evans is running for a third term against Silver Spring residents Bethany Mandel and Laura Stewart for the District 4 seat.

“There’s sadly been a lot of negativity. Yes, we have issues we need to fix … but there’s no problem we have that we can’t fix, and I see magic happening in schools everyday,” Harris said. “I am optimistic in that way.”

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:For someone who dislikes complaining, Lynne Harris sure does complain a lot:

SOURCE: https://moco360.media/2024/05/14/primary-day-2024-cloudy-skies-and-low-turnout-as-voters-head-to-polls/

Harris said she is ready for the school board race to be over because she’s frustrated by negative rhetoric expressed about the school system by some candidates.

Harris is one of three incumbents among 14 candidates running for the school board in the primary election, including Rebecca Smondrowski (Dist. 2) of Gaithersburg and Shebra Evans (Dist. 4)of Silver Spring. The top two vote-getters in the races for the at-large and District 2 and 4 seats will advance to November’s general election.

Harris, who is running for a second term, is facing five at-large candidates: Laytonsville resident Sharif Hidayat,Bethesda resident Melissa Kim, Germantown resident Jonathan Long, Silver Spring resident Rita Montoya; and Brookeville resident Fitzgerald Mofor.

In District 2, Smondrowski is running for a fourth term against Gaithersburg resident Brenda Diaz and Rockville residents Ricky Mui, Aby Thioye and Natalie Zimmerman. Evans is running for a third term against Silver Spring residents Bethany Mandel and Laura Stewart for the District 4 seat.

“There’s sadly been a lot of negativity. Yes, we have issues we need to fix … but there’s no problem we have that we can’t fix, and I see magic happening in schools everyday,” Harris said. “I am optimistic in that way.”

She's so right about this too.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The 60k employee will be directed to manipulate the data and inflate grades. Then they will be fired without cause. The 300k employee gets all the protection and hefty payouts for creating this dynamic.

How do we get admin fired for this crap? As a parent, it infuriates me that anyone would be directing teachers to do this crap. I rely on teacher's grades to know if my kid is or isn't on track. If they're inflated or inaccurate, I'm being gaslit.

If only there were real evidence that these things happen, right now it's mostly just in the imagination of a few DCUM trollers.