Did Dr. McKnight's antiracist speech fall flat?

[Anonymous]

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I liked the speech but also was listening for the action steps and was left feeling like it was a lot of talk. I think most of us, and certainly those with kids who are getting bullied, would like to hear what, specifically, the consequences are now for hate speech and behavior, and how the curriculum will be altered to address this as well. It’s not that I think she doesn’t care, it’s that I want to see the tangible changes in school policies. I think that’s what she wants too, so I want her to be brave and just enforce standards of decency. Give the words some teeth.

This is a broad problem for society that MCPS can't possibly address. The school system should focus on doing its job of educating kids.

But you can't educate kids when they are afraid to come to school because they are targets of racism and bias. Even if they do come to class, if they are distracted all day because someone said something mean to them, they can't learn. Try getting a kid to focus on today's science lesson when a kid in their previous math class commented about their grade on a quiz with reference to their race (I've seen Asian kids get a B on a quiz and told they were a poor representation of their race. I've seen Black kids get an A on a quiz and asked "what, are you trying to be Asian?") Kids are brutal and unkind to each other, especially if the adults around them model similar behavior towards anyone perceived as "other". The only place to address the diversity in our community and how to get along with each other is with explicit instruction in the classroom. Kids can't learn if they feel unwelcome at school.

I didn't hear anything in Dr. McKnight's speech that would stop or impede the mean and racist comments you gave examples of. Addressing those behaviors would mean spelling new or significant changes in consequence and discipline for students who do engage in the behavior you outlined.

But let's be clear: The biggest impediment to student success is NOT racists comments between other races. It's the comments WITHIN races that are the most toxic and destructive.

Comments among black kids who say things like:
- Being a good student or caring about academics is "acting white"
- Speaking English without relying on slang is "talking white"
- Going against the tropes that are popular in hip-hop and social media, like not doing drugs or engaging in language that uses the n word and the b word, is "acting white"

Racism, meaning one group targeting another group, is not the biggest issue facing students at MCPS. Many of the conflicts that break out at school happen between kids of the SAME RACE.

For example, the national newsworthy shooting that happened at Magruder last year was between two black boys. Dr. McKnight's antiracist speech does NOTHING to address that. Most of the fights that break out at school are between kids of the same race over drugs, gang/clique battles, boyfriend/girlfriend squabbles and social media beef.

You, and Dr. McKnight, are focused on the wrong thing. Which is not a surprise since MCPS is horrible at diagnosing and troubleshooting the real problems with the right insights.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:99% of the county did not watch and does not care, OP. And rightly so, because it's meaningless. Families want schools that aren't falling apart, with working A/C and heating, no rodents, and hustling to build more schools to alleviate overcrowding. Also, they'd love to have an adequate number of qualified teachers to fill all empty positions, and enough bus drivers.

We can all dream.

This would be great, and more teaching vs. discussions and group projects, actual homework that relates to the class topics for reinforcement, textbooks for references and to guide the class, reading actual books in English class and going back to the basics - math facts, spelling, grammar, etc.

I care that my kids are in an environment where the religion they identify with is regularly being subjected to hate crimes but sadly we/they know there isn't anything anyone is going to do about it as its not a group of MCPS interest.

This is my reaction too. DC is subject to nearly daily racism in MCPS but because they are not a group of interest to them, Dr. McKnight and others choose to ignore it. I'm glad she is stepping up to address the anti-semitic attacks, finally, but there are a lot of other groups who are being hurt and they are doing nothing. I hate the hypocrisy.

Did you listen to the speech. She addressed every marginalized group (all races except white). What group is your DD that you think she did not address? In fact, you are demonstrating part of the rationale for the speech. Just because anti-semitic attacks have been in the new recently and are getting direct attention right now, doesn't mean that other groups targeted by racism and bias are less important.

Anti Semitic attacks are not new. They are ignored as most Jews are white and many think white peoples cannot experience racism or hate. How do you think it impacts our kids, some of whom lost great grandparents and other relatives to the holocaust?

[Anonymous]

As a teacher I watched part of it but got bored. I was expecting more than a speech. At best I see it as a roadmap. But Mcknight will have to work with the board to make some real concrete changes. I know they are going to change the attendance policies to require more attendance. I am hoping for concrete policies to deal with repeat offenders. There is a lot of repeat trolling racial/racist behavior coming from some students.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I liked the speech but also was listening for the action steps and was left feeling like it was a lot of talk. I think most of us, and certainly those with kids who are getting bullied, would like to hear what, specifically, the consequences are now for hate speech and behavior, and how the curriculum will be altered to address this as well. It’s not that I think she doesn’t care, it’s that I want to see the tangible changes in school policies. I think that’s what she wants too, so I want her to be brave and just enforce standards of decency. Give the words some teeth.

This is a broad problem for society that MCPS can't possibly address. The school system should focus on doing its job of educating kids.

But you can't educate kids when they are afraid to come to school because they are targets of racism and bias. Even if they do come to class, if they are distracted all day because someone said something mean to them, they can't learn. Try getting a kid to focus on today's science lesson when a kid in their previous math class commented about their grade on a quiz with reference to their race (I've seen Asian kids get a B on a quiz and told they were a poor representation of their race. I've seen Black kids get an A on a quiz and asked "what, are you trying to be Asian?") Kids are brutal and unkind to each other, especially if the adults around them model similar behavior towards anyone perceived as "other". The only place to address the diversity in our community and how to get along with each other is with explicit instruction in the classroom. Kids can't learn if they feel unwelcome at school.

I didn't hear anything in Dr. McKnight's speech that would stop or impede the mean and racist comments you gave examples of. Addressing those behaviors would mean spelling new or significant changes in consequence and discipline for students who do engage in the behavior you outlined.

But let's be clear: The biggest impediment to student success is NOT racists comments between other races. It's the comments WITHIN races that are the most toxic and destructive.

Comments among black kids who say things like:
- Being a good student or caring about academics is "acting white"
- Speaking English without relying on slang is "talking white"
- Going against the tropes that are popular in hip-hop and social media, like not doing drugs or engaging in language that uses the n word and the b word, is "acting white"

Racism, meaning one group targeting another group, is not the biggest issue facing students at MCPS. Many of the conflicts that break out at school happen between kids of the SAME RACE.

For example, the national newsworthy shooting that happened at Magruder last year was between two black boys. Dr. McKnight's antiracist speech does NOTHING to address that. Most of the fights that break out at school are between kids of the same race over drugs, gang/clique battles, boyfriend/girlfriend squabbles and social media beef.

You, and Dr. McKnight, are focused on the wrong thing. Which is not a surprise since MCPS is horrible at diagnosing and troubleshooting the real problems with the right insights.

It’s not just Black kids who experience hat and racism. And if your kids are doing that to each other what are you doing as parents to stop your kid’s behavior and language.

You are missing the point or you don’t care. If you keep focusing on just one group, what about all the impacted kids in other groups. Some of us cannot afford to pull our kids to privates as ones like JDS are expensive and the academics are not great.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:99% of the county did not watch and does not care, OP. And rightly so, because it's meaningless. Families want schools that aren't falling apart, with working A/C and heating, no rodents, and hustling to build more schools to alleviate overcrowding. Also, they'd love to have an adequate number of qualified teachers to fill all empty positions, and enough bus drivers.

We can all dream.

What are you going on about? The speech was inspiring, and McKnight is a fantastic role model for our kids. We are so lucky to have such a great leader!

Nothing has improved in the last year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I liked the speech but also was listening for the action steps and was left feeling like it was a lot of talk. I think most of us, and certainly those with kids who are getting bullied, would like to hear what, specifically, the consequences are now for hate speech and behavior, and how the curriculum will be altered to address this as well. It’s not that I think she doesn’t care, it’s that I want to see the tangible changes in school policies. I think that’s what she wants too, so I want her to be brave and just enforce standards of decency. Give the words some teeth.

This is a broad problem for society that MCPS can't possibly address. The school system should focus on doing its job of educating kids.

This. Not MCPS’ job to fix racism.

MCPS needs to focus on EDUCATION. For all kids. Smaller class sizes and a solid curriculum.

Get rid of some of the useless Central Office bloat and get rid of the useless initiatives that don’t benefit our kids.

You can't separate racism and EDUCATION, though. No matter how much some people keep insisting that you can.

I don't need her to give a speech on racism. Her job is to make sure kids, of all races, are getting a solid education. Making speeches about racism (or global warming) isn't going to achieve that goal.

Tell us what you are going to do about the abysmal test scores. Tell us what you are going to do about the low staff morale. Tell us what you are going to do about the prevalence of drugs in our schools. That's really what parents and staff want to hear about from McKnight.

She needs to create a safe environment for all students. Racism is a small part of it. Parents also need to be held accountable.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I liked the speech but also was listening for the action steps and was left feeling like it was a lot of talk. I think most of us, and certainly those with kids who are getting bullied, would like to hear what, specifically, the consequences are now for hate speech and behavior, and how the curriculum will be altered to address this as well. It’s not that I think she doesn’t care, it’s that I want to see the tangible changes in school policies. I think that’s what she wants too, so I want her to be brave and just enforce standards of decency. Give the words some teeth.

This is a broad problem for society that MCPS can't possibly address. The school system should focus on doing its job of educating kids.

This. Not MCPS’ job to fix racism.

MCPS needs to focus on EDUCATION. For all kids. Smaller class sizes and a solid curriculum.

Get rid of some of the useless Central Office bloat and get rid of the useless initiatives that don’t benefit our kids.

You can't separate racism and EDUCATION, though. No matter how much some people keep insisting that you can.

I don't need her to give a speech on racism. Her job is to make sure kids, of all races, are getting a solid education. Making speeches about racism (or global warming) isn't going to achieve that goal.

Tell us what you are going to do about the abysmal test scores. Tell us what you are going to do about the low staff morale. Tell us what you are going to do about the prevalence of drugs in our schools. That's really what parents and staff want to hear about from McKnight.

She needs to create a safe environment for all students. Racism is a small part of it. Parents also need to be held accountable.

What, specifically, does "parents need to be held accountable" mean? Who is going to hold parents accountable, and what does holding parents accountable consist of?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I liked the speech but also was listening for the action steps and was left feeling like it was a lot of talk. I think most of us, and certainly those with kids who are getting bullied, would like to hear what, specifically, the consequences are now for hate speech and behavior, and how the curriculum will be altered to address this as well. It’s not that I think she doesn’t care, it’s that I want to see the tangible changes in school policies. I think that’s what she wants too, so I want her to be brave and just enforce standards of decency. Give the words some teeth.

This is a broad problem for society that MCPS can't possibly address. The school system should focus on doing its job of educating kids.

This. Not MCPS’ job to fix racism.

MCPS needs to focus on EDUCATION. For all kids. Smaller class sizes and a solid curriculum.

Get rid of some of the useless Central Office bloat and get rid of the useless initiatives that don’t benefit our kids.

You can't separate racism and EDUCATION, though. No matter how much some people keep insisting that you can.

I don't need her to give a speech on racism. Her job is to make sure kids, of all races, are getting a solid education. Making speeches about racism (or global warming) isn't going to achieve that goal.

Tell us what you are going to do about the abysmal test scores. Tell us what you are going to do about the low staff morale. Tell us what you are going to do about the prevalence of drugs in our schools. That's really what parents and staff want to hear about from McKnight.

She needs to create a safe environment for all students. Racism is a small part of it. Parents also need to be held accountable.

What, specifically, does "parents need to be held accountable" mean? Who is going to hold parents accountable, and what does holding parents accountable consist of?

Involve parents. Have teachers communicate regularly to keep parents informed, let them know about behavior, involve them in consequences and academics. Often parents have no idea about what is going on if kids don’t tell them.

[Anonymous]

I really wish she had left out the line about "quiet servants". Religious types use it to minimize the power and voice of women. It implies teachers are not too be paid as much as other male dominated roles since we are caregivers.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I liked the speech but also was listening for the action steps and was left feeling like it was a lot of talk. I think most of us, and certainly those with kids who are getting bullied, would like to hear what, specifically, the consequences are now for hate speech and behavior, and how the curriculum will be altered to address this as well. It’s not that I think she doesn’t care, it’s that I want to see the tangible changes in school policies. I think that’s what she wants too, so I want her to be brave and just enforce standards of decency. Give the words some teeth.

This is a broad problem for society that MCPS can't possibly address. The school system should focus on doing its job of educating kids.

This. Not MCPS’ job to fix racism.

MCPS needs to focus on EDUCATION. For all kids. Smaller class sizes and a solid curriculum.

Get rid of some of the useless Central Office bloat and get rid of the useless initiatives that don’t benefit our kids.

This x10!!!!!
MCPS is not going to fix racism! What they can fix is an environment that holds kids accountable whether it’s for using phones in class, talking back to teachers, violating a dress code policy, vaping or fighting, exhibiting any racist behavior and more!!!! A code of conduct and consequences fixes every problem.

Agreed. Ship has sailed and people are ready to move on and fix other problems that impact many more kids.

[Anonymous]

I thought it was 55 minutes of storytelling to then introdce 5 minutes of concrete action. And I don't need to hear about her personal background. I did like the part where she described the demographic transitions of MoCo - that was important context. But at least half of her words were fluff and should have been edited out in order to allow for more meat in the action items. Like timeframes, metrics, what success would look like, how teachers can be empowered, etc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I liked the speech but also was listening for the action steps and was left feeling like it was a lot of talk. I think most of us, and certainly those with kids who are getting bullied, would like to hear what, specifically, the consequences are now for hate speech and behavior, and how the curriculum will be altered to address this as well. It’s not that I think she doesn’t care, it’s that I want to see the tangible changes in school policies. I think that’s what she wants too, so I want her to be brave and just enforce standards of decency. Give the words some teeth.

This is a broad problem for society that MCPS can't possibly address. The school system should focus on doing its job of educating kids.

This. Not MCPS’ job to fix racism.

MCPS needs to focus on EDUCATION. For all kids. Smaller class sizes and a solid curriculum.

Get rid of some of the useless Central Office bloat and get rid of the useless initiatives that don’t benefit our kids.

This x10!!!!!
MCPS is not going to fix racism! What they can fix is an environment that holds kids accountable whether it’s for using phones in class, talking back to teachers, violating a dress code policy, vaping or fighting, exhibiting any racist behavior and more!!!! A code of conduct and consequences fixes every problem.

Agreed. Ship has sailed and people are ready to move on and fix other problems that impact many more kids.

So, basically, because it doesn't impact your kids and just a small minority we shouldn't care. But, if it impacts those of color or identity we should make it a priority. Making schools safe needs to be a huge priority. Having hate symbols painted all over schools is not a safe environment. Kids cannot learn if they don't feel safe.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I really wish she had left out the line about "quiet servants". Religious types use it to minimize the power and voice of women. It implies teachers are not to be paid as much as other male dominated roles since we are caregivers.

It was all about her and her feelings and beliefs. She doesn't see that her words and actions could offend others. Higher level teachers are paid well, entry level are not.

[Anonymous]

This lady doesn’t care about real issues, better off sending your kids to private or homeschooling.