MCAAP Not Pleased with MCPS or McKnight and BOE's Leadership

[Anonymous]

BE PARENTS TO YOUR KIDS and stop relying on the school system. Schools are there for educational curriculum not to teach your kids how to act or how to be socially aware. That’s the parents job.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Did people read the PD post? Last Monday was a complete wasted day for teachers. No wonder morale is low. I don’t blame McKnight for the PD debacle but it all makes you wonder about who the hell is she hiring? MCPS Central seems like a hot mess. She is clearly in over her head.

That's odd since everyone at our school loved it.

Most of the teacher's at our school also felt it was great.

Then name both schools. I would like to know what level (elem,middle,high) benefited from it. It was not well received at our Wheaton elem feeder school.

I think you are responding to a Russian Bot

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Can someone please help me understand why the Board wouldn't fire the superintendent and bring someone new in to clean up the colossal mess that is MCPS? Why are they so protective of her?

maybe it's because it's not a colossal mess and your are delusional

So you think MCAAP and MCEA, who represent admin and teachers, are all lying and you're the source of truth on the state of MCPS? Do you realize how narcissistic and selfish it is to convince yourself of that in the face of so many testimonies from people in all positions within MCPS telling you otherwise?

No, but I think you're bitter and have an axe to grind so are trying to misrepresent MCAAP and MCEA's views to suit your agenda.

Nailed it!
[/quote

But you don’t have an agenda, of course.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Did people read the PD post? Last Monday was a complete wasted day for teachers. No wonder morale is low. I don’t blame McKnight for the PD debacle but it all makes you wonder about who the hell is she hiring? MCPS Central seems like a hot mess. She is clearly in over her head.

That's odd since everyone at our school loved it.

Most of the teacher's at our school also felt it was great.

Then name both schools. I would like to know what level (elem,middle,high) benefited from it. It was not well received at our Wheaton elem feeder school.

I think you are responding to a Russian Bot

More like a Central Office drone.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Can someone please help me understand why the Board wouldn't fire the superintendent and bring someone new in to clean up the colossal mess that is MCPS? Why are they so protective of her?

Possibly because they just hired her in 2022 after conducting a national search, and they had an unimpressive field of candidates.

They offered it to at least one other person who decided not to take it. I like that Dr Knight is local to MD. At this point, the only "national" folks we are going to actually convince to come here are only doing it to move on somewhere else quickly (and won't be here long enough to make any change) or are grifters and see an opportunity to make some cash on the side. McKnight makes $320,000 for managing a 3+ billion dollar organizational budget. Housing is extremely expensive here. And you are expected to solve inequality in education in a school system that over 30% FARMS with a very high ESOL population. Who is moving from another part of the country to take this on?

My own rant. I don't understand why we have this ever-increasing budget but can't get class size down in ES.

These issues can be resolved without getting class sizes down. And, stop blaming the FARMS kids. We went to a FARMS school. The kids weren't the issue. The principal, teaching style, lack of structure and bad curriculum were.

Because reducing class size requires 1)Additional teachers, 2)additional space, and 3) additional equipment. It’s not an answer you can snap your way out of.

[Anonymous]

The MCEA has more withering words for MCPS.

Source: https://montgomeryperspective.com/2023/10/16/mcea-mcps-has-severely-damaged-its-reputation-as-an-employer/

Dear Colleagues,

The Montgomery County Education Association (MCEA) is pleased to see the Montgomery County Board of Education and Superintendent Dr. Monifa McKnight acting now to replace leadership who were negligent in their duties to protect employees from abuse, who failed to take seriously scores of complaints from staff, parents, and students, and who chose to protect and promote a principal whose character and behavior were highly suspect. But this must be only the first step in creating a new culture in Montgomery County Public Schools. Through systemic dysfunction and a series of unforced errors, MCPS has further eroded the morale of already overburdened educators and severely damaged its reputation as an employer.

The release of the report by Jackson Lewis on MCPS’s profoundly flawed investigation and ill-considered promotion of Joel Beidleman confirms what MCEA members have long known: MCPS leadership has an established pattern of ignoring instances of bullying and abuse by principals and instead provides cover and excuses for school leaders who commit such offenses. Even worse, the bad behavior of those in MCPS management’s ranks is often sanctioned and rewarded rather than addressed.

Even though we already knew the basic outline of events in handling the Beidleman case, we on the front lines are further outraged to learn the details of the malfeasance uncovered by Jackson Lewis. Although the report has been redacted to the point that it looks like a bureaucrat’s “mad lib” game, it’s clear that scores of complaints – including from union representatives—were routinely and summarily disregarded.

Moreover, when an investigation was finally made, and a conclusion was drawn that there was substance to the complaint, a superior overruled that finding and ordered a rewrite absolving Mr. Beidleman of wrongdoing. The direction to change the report came after the board of education approved the promotion. No effort was made by top leadership who knew of the investigation to probe into the nature of the complaint or the investigation’s findings, and the promotion of Mr. Beidleman moved forward to the board.

Finally, facts in the Jackson Lewis redacted report imply that there was deliberate falsification of records with the intent to mislead, changing the dates in the Beidleman investigation timeline to show the case to have been decided in his favor before his promotion rather than afterward, as was the actual case. Despite all the blank spaces in the redacted report, it’s appallingly apparent that MCPS’s central office culture is corrupt and corrosive.

We’ve continued to ask MCPS’s top leadership to include us as they develop new policies and processes regarding harassment, bullying, and other complaints. So far, they have failed to do so. The following changes are needed:

1. The union should have the right to grieve decisions made through the administrative complaint process or any other processes that are designed to address concerns about workplace climate or working conditions.

2. The union should also have the right to grieve when any such complaints are ignored or dismissed without investigation.

3. MCEA should be able to grieve any breach of policy or procedure affecting our members’ working conditions or workplace climate.

If MCEA had had the right to grieve violations and decisions in this situation along the way, MCPS would have been forced to address the problems years ago. Instead, after being spurned by management, MCEA members had no choice but to reach out to the press in their search for justice.

Educators, students, parents, and communities across the county deserve to know their concerns will be heard and addressed. If it’s true that those leaders involved in this debacle feel “genuine remorse” and “have learned from this situation,” as Jackson Lewis reports, then it’s high time they meet our demands to ensure accountability. All staff in MCPS must feel respected, safe, and empowered to be their best. Our students deserve no less.

In solidarity,

Jennifer Martin

President

So yeah, tell me again how I'm misrepresenting the MCEA and MCAAP's words and feelings about McKnight and the BOE.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Can someone please help me understand why the Board wouldn't fire the superintendent and bring someone new in to clean up the colossal mess that is MCPS? Why are they so protective of her?

The Board is almost always deferential to MCPS because they see their work as a part-time job and don't have any independent staff to support them in taking a true oversight role... they vote on what MCPS brings to them based on the spin that MCPS gives them, and don't have the capacity or inclination to dig deeper on their own. This is unlikely to change until the structure of the BOE itself changes, although it could be helped by electing board members who are willing and able to challenge MCPS's take on things.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Reading between the lines of what she said, which seems like a direct response to McKnight throwing several admins out of MCPS as the scapegoats for the Beidleman debacle, MCAAP appears to be saying:

1) Our ability to do our jobs and be effective is hindered by your poor communications, lack of consistency and policy, and absence of vision.

2) McKnight and the BoE are all talk but no action.

3) McKnight and the BoE are focused on things (antiracism, LGBTQ+ books and representation) that detract from what should be MCPS's main focus: Teaching and learning

4) McKnight and the BoE really suck at listening and communicating

If MCAAP, the MCEA and parents are all saying similar things about MCPS and McKnight, I think it's pretty clear who the problem is with. How much longer can this state of affairs last?

Monifa:

Standing ovation. Im an Uber progressive. When I see my children actually distracted from learning by things like pride dances at lunch (when they're supposed to be finishing work) I become less and less progressive. School has a purpose. That purpose is academics. I'm happy to see progressive topics included in the curriculum but more and more I see the academic curriculum thrown to the side. Wellness lessons replace core academics. I'm so tired of it. I wouldn't send my children to mcps if I had known what was going on.

The jobs of tomorrow will rely less heavily on the traditional academic content and more on soft skills such as getting along with people of different races, religions, secual orientation, etc. If more families were teaching their kids these explicit skills/thoughts, the schools wouldn't have to do it. We have the scary levels of -isms throughout society because the majority are not doing it.

Schools are getting away from their original purpose because society has failed our youth and educators are left holding a bag they didn't want to hold. Then people get on these blogs and emails to bad mouth these same educators. Its a vicious cycle, and these combined reasons and more are why educators are leaving the field in droves.

What a load of horse manure

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Reading between the lines of what she said, which seems like a direct response to McKnight throwing several admins out of MCPS as the scapegoats for the Beidleman debacle, MCAAP appears to be saying:

1) Our ability to do our jobs and be effective is hindered by your poor communications, lack of consistency and policy, and absence of vision.

2) McKnight and the BoE are all talk but no action.

3) McKnight and the BoE are focused on things (antiracism, LGBTQ+ books and representation) that detract from what should be MCPS's main focus: Teaching and learning

4) McKnight and the BoE really suck at listening and communicating

If MCAAP, the MCEA and parents are all saying similar things about MCPS and McKnight, I think it's pretty clear who the problem is with. How much longer can this state of affairs last?

Monifa:

Standing ovation. Im an Uber progressive. When I see my children actually distracted from learning by things like pride dances at lunch (when they're supposed to be finishing work) I become less and less progressive. School has a purpose. That purpose is academics. I'm happy to see progressive topics included in the curriculum but more and more I see the academic curriculum thrown to the side. Wellness lessons replace core academics. I'm so tired of it. I wouldn't send my children to mcps if I had known what was going on.

The jobs of tomorrow will rely less heavily on the traditional academic content and more on soft skills such as getting along with people of different races, religions, secual orientation, etc. If more families were teaching their kids these explicit skills/thoughts, the schools wouldn't have to do it. We have the scary levels of -isms throughout society because the majority are not doing it.

Schools are getting away from their original purpose because society has failed our youth and educators are left holding a bag they didn't want to hold. Then people get on these blogs and emails to bad mouth these same educators. Its a vicious cycle, and these combined reasons and more are why educators are leaving the field in droves.

What a load of horse manure

Really? Why are there so many racist and antisemitic messages found at schools? Because the people at the schools are influenced by their families' bigoted thoughts. Someone's got to teach the counterstory which ends up being the schools.

[Anonymous]

I wouldn't say MCPS is doing a good job of teaching the counter-story though. If anything, they're sending the message that there's little accountability and revealing the absence of cultural sensitivity. While different people have different ideologies and priorities, I'm struck that right now people across the political spectrum are united in feeling like Central Office continues to bungle everything. I'm on the liberal end politically and recognize that the system is facing changing demographics and rising hate nationwide, but the fact remains that they've lost their way. They've lost the public's confidence by lying, obscuring, defrauding, changing assessment data and policies to make their numbers look better, promoting abusive people and so forth. If the BOE members cared about their constituents, they would bring in new leadership. If they cared about optics and the negative press their own district is receiving, they would bring in new leadership. If they cared about retaining staff and educating students, they would bring in new leadership. I can only conclude that they don't care.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I wouldn't say MCPS is doing a good job of teaching the counter-story though. If anything, they're sending the message that there's little accountability and revealing the absence of cultural sensitivity. While different people have different ideologies and priorities, I'm struck that right now people across the political spectrum are united in feeling like Central Office continues to bungle everything. I'm on the liberal end politically and recognize that the system is facing changing demographics and rising hate nationwide, but the fact remains that they've lost their way. They've lost the public's confidence by lying, obscuring, defrauding, changing assessment data and policies to make their numbers look better, promoting abusive people and so forth. If the BOE members cared about their constituents, they would bring in new leadership. If they cared about optics and the negative press their own district is receiving, they would bring in new leadership. If they cared about retaining staff and educating students, they would bring in new leadership. I can only conclude that they don't care.

Indeed. NO ONE seems to like CO.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I wouldn't say MCPS is doing a good job of teaching the counter-story though. If anything, they're sending the message that there's little accountability and revealing the absence of cultural sensitivity. While different people have different ideologies and priorities, I'm struck that right now people across the political spectrum are united in feeling like Central Office continues to bungle everything. I'm on the liberal end politically and recognize that the system is facing changing demographics and rising hate nationwide, but the fact remains that they've lost their way. They've lost the public's confidence by lying, obscuring, defrauding, changing assessment data and policies to make their numbers look better, promoting abusive people and so forth. If the BOE members cared about their constituents, they would bring in new leadership. If they cared about optics and the negative press their own district is receiving, they would bring in new leadership. If they cared about retaining staff and educating students, they would bring in new leadership. I can only conclude that they don't care.

Then people should vote for new BOE members. They don’t elect themselves. The fact that many are still there show a huge portion of the constituents are not upset enough with them or CO enough to vote for someone else. It also shows they others are not willing to step up. It’s easy to say on DCUM that others don’t care. Better to look in the mirror and ask how you are contributing? How many school PTA meetings have you run? How many MCCPTA committees are you on? What election did you add your name to the ballot? What community council meeting did you attend? Etc etc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I wouldn't say MCPS is doing a good job of teaching the counter-story though. If anything, they're sending the message that there's little accountability and revealing the absence of cultural sensitivity. While different people have different ideologies and priorities, I'm struck that right now people across the political spectrum are united in feeling like Central Office continues to bungle everything. I'm on the liberal end politically and recognize that the system is facing changing demographics and rising hate nationwide, but the fact remains that they've lost their way. They've lost the public's confidence by lying, obscuring, defrauding, changing assessment data and policies to make their numbers look better, promoting abusive people and so forth. If the BOE members cared about their constituents, they would bring in new leadership. If they cared about optics and the negative press their own district is receiving, they would bring in new leadership. If they cared about retaining staff and educating students, they would bring in new leadership. I can only conclude that they don't care.

I think you are discrediting A LOT of well run schools that are still doing the work (counterstories, etc) regardless of the shenanigans taking place around them. These schools have committed staff who shouldn't be forgotten in this mess. Every MCPS employee should not be grouped in with the dysfunction. Many are thriving, or at least trying to, despite everything else. Kudos to all of them! We see you!!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I wouldn't say MCPS is doing a good job of teaching the counter-story though. If anything, they're sending the message that there's little accountability and revealing the absence of cultural sensitivity. While different people have different ideologies and priorities, I'm struck that right now people across the political spectrum are united in feeling like Central Office continues to bungle everything. I'm on the liberal end politically and recognize that the system is facing changing demographics and rising hate nationwide, but the fact remains that they've lost their way. They've lost the public's confidence by lying, obscuring, defrauding, changing assessment data and policies to make their numbers look better, promoting abusive people and so forth. If the BOE members cared about their constituents, they would bring in new leadership. If they cared about optics and the negative press their own district is receiving, they would bring in new leadership. If they cared about retaining staff and educating students, they would bring in new leadership. I can only conclude that they don't care.

Then people should vote for new BOE members. They don’t elect themselves. The fact that many are still there show a huge portion of the constituents are not upset enough with them or CO enough to vote for someone else. It also shows they others are not willing to step up. It’s easy to say on DCUM that others don’t care. Better to look in the mirror and ask how you are contributing? How many school PTA meetings have you run? How many MCCPTA committees are you on? What election did you add your name to the ballot? What community council meeting did you attend? Etc etc.

You are 100% right. More parents need to invest time in bureaucratic process of managing our school system, which involves the things you mentioned. I hope this is a wake-up call for parents. But I bet they'll still sit on the sidelines and just complain about everything and expect someone else to fix the problems.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I wouldn't say MCPS is doing a good job of teaching the counter-story though. If anything, they're sending the message that there's little accountability and revealing the absence of cultural sensitivity. While different people have different ideologies and priorities, I'm struck that right now people across the political spectrum are united in feeling like Central Office continues to bungle everything. I'm on the liberal end politically and recognize that the system is facing changing demographics and rising hate nationwide, but the fact remains that they've lost their way. They've lost the public's confidence by lying, obscuring, defrauding, changing assessment data and policies to make their numbers look better, promoting abusive people and so forth. If the BOE members cared about their constituents, they would bring in new leadership. If they cared about optics and the negative press their own district is receiving, they would bring in new leadership. If they cared about retaining staff and educating students, they would bring in new leadership. I can only conclude that they don't care.

Then people should vote for new BOE members. They don’t elect themselves. The fact that many are still there show a huge portion of the constituents are not upset enough with them or CO enough to vote for someone else. It also shows they others are not willing to step up. It’s easy to say on DCUM that others don’t care. Better to look in the mirror and ask how you are contributing? How many school PTA meetings have you run? How many MCCPTA committees are you on? What election did you add your name to the ballot? What community council meeting did you attend? Etc etc.

I like the current BOE.