Please reassure me that MCPS teachers aren't this radicalized

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We are transplants coming from Midwest. Mostly apolitical middle 'flyover' America (but a bluish leaning state)...

School systems were much smaller but fairly good. Nowhere near the resources of MCPS but smaller so not necessarily needing such resources. Overall MCPS schools seem pretty good but we've noticed a Democrat leaning favoritism in the schools we've been (IE going to the Library and seeing President Books displayed... all Dems with the lone Republican being Teddy Roosevelt). No real biggie as most schools tend towards the Left side of the political spectrum. Kind of a given.

Maryland is a bit of a conundrum for us, MoCo seems very Liberal (Baltimore too) I.E. neighbors have 'hate has no home here' signs, impeach trump placards, the many language welcome sign, yet the state elected a Republican Governor. Except for a few days before elections, back home you would never see lawn placards.

Anyway the point of all this is... there is definitely a partisan vibe here even though it seems a blue state open minded enough to elect a 'red' governor. Then I read this:

http://www.startribune.com/rosemount-educator-on-leave-after-tweeting-kill-kavanaugh/495903561/

(essentially a School teacher from mild mannered Minnesota tweeting assassination recommendations. A school teacher!.)

My impression of MCPS is despite its bias towards the Dems, everyone seems pretty amiable and reasonable.

Please reassure me we don't have teachers like this here... because if this can happen in Minnesota... (close to my home and we don't see any of the partisanship displayed on the streets as we see here) could such be here within MCPS? We want my children to be exposed to all kinds of peoples, beliefs, and political view points... but not radical view points... so whats your feelings regarding MCPS? Does everyone get a fair shake or are the children taught to hate (right or left)?

Based on your poor syntax, grammar, and punctuation, I would take your analysis of the relative strengths of different school systems with a grain of salt. Clearly your education was lacking.

A grammar Nazi in every bunch... how about partaking in the discussion instead of declaring, ‘since the rules of syntax are not obeyed, I deem myself superior to this person who has rendered them self unworthy of a conversation with me, the self anointed know it all.’

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We are transplants coming from Midwest. Mostly apolitical middle 'flyover' America (but a bluish leaning state)...

School systems were much smaller but fairly good. Nowhere near the resources of MCPS but smaller so not necessarily needing such resources. Overall MCPS schools seem pretty good but we've noticed a Democrat leaning favoritism in the schools we've been (IE going to the Library and seeing President Books displayed... all Dems with the lone Republican being Teddy Roosevelt). No real biggie as most schools tend towards the Left side of the political spectrum. Kind of a given.

Maryland is a bit of a conundrum for us, MoCo seems very Liberal (Baltimore too) I.E. neighbors have 'hate has no home here' signs, impeach trump placards, the many language welcome sign, yet the state elected a Republican Governor. Except for a few days before elections, back home you would never see lawn placards.

Anyway the point of all this is... there is definitely a partisan vibe here even though it seems a blue state open minded enough to elect a 'red' governor. Then I read this:

http://www.startribune.com/rosemount-educator-on-leave-after-tweeting-kill-kavanaugh/495903561/

(essentially a School teacher from mild mannered Minnesota tweeting assassination recommendations. A school teacher!.)

My impression of MCPS is despite its bias towards the Dems, everyone seems pretty amiable and reasonable.

Please reassure me we don't have teachers like this here... because if this can happen in Minnesota... (close to my home and we don't see any of the partisanship displayed on the streets as we see here) could such be here within MCPS? We want my children to be exposed to all kinds of peoples, beliefs, and political view points... but not radical view points... so whats your feelings regarding MCPS? Does everyone get a fair shake or are the children taught to hate (right or left)?

OP, the fact that you think that the bolded beliefs and slogans are liberal values, and therefore antithetical to conservative values, is pretty troubling. Yet not at all surprising.

OP here- you make a great point. Actually I don’t think the values written on the placards are conservative or liberal (really they are classical liberal.. a combo of conservative and Liberal). But their use seems to be more by Dem voters (I say this because I see them with ‘impeach trump’ signs. Thus my association. I admit my assumption could be wrong. In the Midwest we are not hateful types either but we don’t advertise we don’t hate. It’s just kind of generally assumed. Anyway I agree with the other posters who said this teacher is a likely one and done nut job and sure they could be here too... just as I said before a right wing nut job can be out there too but seems nothing systemic which is very good. The point of this post was to see if others had concerning experiences. While some interesting and insightful anecdotes were told, nothing concerning was conveyed which is reassuring.

But boy, if I may add, this sure is a partisan crowd. Lot of intolerance from both sides displayed... I tried to be as innocuous as possible, sorry that I failed.

PS... hacking this out on smartphone, apologize in advance if it doesn’t pass thesis level academic editorial scrutiny...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:MD has always been heavily Dem, but people are more vocal now in reaction to Trump. His rhetoric and policies have discriminated against women, minorities and immigrants. He has made hateful comments. There has been a visual and vocal reaction to this. (Like the Hate has No Home Here signs, or the Everyone is Welcome Here signs). Would you call that radical? I wouldn't.

Signed,
Former Republican (Independent until recently. Democrat now)

+1

Signed,
Former moderate Democrat, increasingly left-leaning Democrat

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We are transplants coming from Midwest. Mostly apolitical middle 'flyover' America (but a bluish leaning state)...

School systems were much smaller but fairly good. Nowhere near the resources of MCPS but smaller so not necessarily needing such resources. Overall MCPS schools seem pretty good but we've noticed a Democrat leaning favoritism in the schools we've been (IE going to the Library and seeing President Books displayed... all Dems with the lone Republican being Teddy Roosevelt). No real biggie as most schools tend towards the Left side of the political spectrum. Kind of a given.

Maryland is a bit of a conundrum for us, MoCo seems very Liberal (Baltimore too) I.E. neighbors have 'hate has no home here' signs, impeach trump placards, the many language welcome sign, yet the state elected a Republican Governor. Except for a few days before elections, back home you would never see lawn placards.

Anyway the point of all this is... there is definitely a partisan vibe here even though it seems a blue state open minded enough to elect a 'red' governor. Then I read this:

http://www.startribune.com/rosemount-educator-on-leave-after-tweeting-kill-kavanaugh/495903561/

(essentially a School teacher from mild mannered Minnesota tweeting assassination recommendations. A school teacher!.)

My impression of MCPS is despite its bias towards the Dems, everyone seems pretty amiable and reasonable.

Please reassure me we don't have teachers like this here... because if this can happen in Minnesota... (close to my home and we don't see any of the partisanship displayed on the streets as we see here) could such be here within MCPS? We want my children to be exposed to all kinds of peoples, beliefs, and political view points... but not radical view points... so whats your feelings regarding MCPS? Does everyone get a fair shake or are the children taught to hate (right or left)?

OP, the fact that you think that the bolded beliefs and slogans are liberal values, and therefore antithetical to conservative values, is pretty troubling. Yet not at all surprising.

OP here- you make a great point. Actually I don’t think the values written on the placards are conservative or liberal (really they are classical liberal.. a combo of conservative and Liberal). But their use seems to be more by Dem voters (I say this because I see them with ‘impeach trump’ signs. Thus my association. I admit my assumption could be wrong. In the Midwest we are not hateful types either but we don’t advertise we don’t hate. It’s just kind of generally assumed. Anyway I agree with the other posters who said this teacher is a likely one and done nut job and sure they could be here too... just as I said before a right wing nut job can be out there too but seems nothing systemic which is very good. The point of this post was to see if others had concerning experiences. While some interesting and insightful anecdotes were told, nothing concerning was conveyed which is reassuring.

But boy, if I may add, this sure is a partisan crowd. Lot of intolerance from both sides displayed... I tried to be as innocuous as possible, sorry that I failed.

PS... hacking this out on smartphone, apologize in advance if it doesn’t pass thesis level academic editorial scrutiny...

I know a lot of Republicans who want Congress to impeach Trump. "Impeach Trump" is not a partisan sentiment.

I don't see intolerance on this thread.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The "Everyone is welcome" signs do not mean Everyone.

Conservatives, republicans, Trump people, blue collar folks, traditional Christians and those from flyover country are not included in "Everyone".

Well, waddya know - "Everyone" does not include those who think "Only some are welcome."

Jokes aside, this is BS - this is the county that kept electing Connie Morella year after year while voting for Dems in other races.

She has been out of office for close to 15 years, she would never win now in MC with a Republican tag. Please...

[Anonymous]

So... one person made an inappropriate comment in Minnesota? And that launched a discussion of whether there might be another person with similar values in Maryland?

Who knows--there are people of all stripes all over the country.

Why is there even national reporting about one (non famous) person's tweet about anything, at all?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The "Everyone is welcome" signs do not mean Everyone.

Conservatives, republicans, Trump people, blue collar folks, traditional Christians and those from flyover country are not included in "Everyone".

+1

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm from the Midwest, and I think your first mistake is to assume that the leanings in Montgomery County are "political" in nature. In case it really hasn't sunk in yet, this area is one of the most diverse in the country - in every dimension (race, religion, SES, etc.) You really have a hard time living around here if you somehow believe certain people are "less than" other people. If you think immigrants should go back to where they came from, this is not the county for you. Teachers in the school system especially have to value each and every student for who they are. If that is not a core value, you can't be a good teacher here. So yes, most teachers in this county will be able to say "black lives matter" because they understand the historical and current systemic oppression happening to people of color. That doesn't make them radicalized, nor does it make them Democrats. It makes them empathetic and caring about the needs of others (typically a core value of teachers.)

You also have to consider that there are two traditional axes on the political spectrum - socially liberal or conservative, and fiscally liberal or conservative. I would say there is a definite socially liberal slant in the county (diversity again) but a slight lean towards fiscally conservative (depends on the year and the issues.) As to why we have Hogan - Democrats didn't vote that year because they weren't very inspired by their nominee for governor, and assumed everyone else would vote. There were a lot of surprised (and pissed) people when they woke up with a Republican governor. It hasn't had a huge effect because there is a democratic super-majority in the Assembly, so Hogan can't veto a lot of legislation. But irritatingly, he takes credit for things he has opposed, and people who don't understand how the government works or follow the details think he is responsible. That's why he is still popular. MoCo broadly hates him, because Hogan has made no secret that he hates MoCo. He has withheld funding for school buildings that was approved by the general assembly, he has shifted transportation funds away from MoCo towards the Eastern Shore (real nice new 4 lane highway out there). He made a pretty close to unworkable mandate about school year start and end dates, and followed up with scathingly nasty letters to the BOE when they asked for clarifications or modifications. Hope that quick history gives you some sense of why we are where we are. For more, you can head to the Politics Forum, if you dare.

OP here. My first mistake? I didn't express political beliefs just my very general observation (yes perhaps stereotyped midwest vs east coast) of the local scene... but from a neutral perspective. Why are you projecting belief systems on me? Perhaps because the the article called out a teacher radicalized to the Left. it could have been an article about a rightwing radical but my guess is such a teacher would have been ID'd and rooted out sooner in this area.

Let me simplify this. In Midwest... people are less outwardly political yet in Minnesota this, perhaps disturbed, teacher thought such comments were perfectly OK
Maryland is more outward politically (yet I think a open minded state... thus the traditional blue state did elect a red governor) So the question is; is this an environment where there could be more teachers like the one in Minnesota, or less, or is it a non issue and that teacher is a one and done.

I guess the problem is your use of the word "radical." Being responding to vitriolic president by placing signs that say "hate has no home here" do not seem radical to me. Maybe you dug up an article about 1 wacky person, but why do you think expressing opposition to oppression is somehow "radicalization?"

OMFG. This.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:MD has always been heavily Dem, but people are more vocal now in reaction to Trump. His rhetoric and policies have discriminated against women, minorities and immigrants. He has made hateful comments. There has been a visual and vocal reaction to this. (Like the Hate has No Home Here signs, or the Everyone is Welcome Here signs). Would you call that radical? I wouldn't.

Signed,
Former Republican (Independent until recently. Democrat now)

+1

Signed,
Former moderate Democrat, increasingly left-leaning Democrat

-1 (hah)

Signed,
Former John Kerry Barrack Obama voting Democrat now independent but likely never voting Democrat again.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

-1 (hah)

Signed,
Former John Kerry Barrack Obama voting Democrat now independent but likely never voting Democrat again.

Only one r in Barack, eh?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm from the Midwest, and I think your first mistake is to assume that the leanings in Montgomery County are "political" in nature. In case it really hasn't sunk in yet, this area is one of the most diverse in the country - in every dimension (race, religion, SES, etc.) You really have a hard time living around here if you somehow believe certain people are "less than" other people. If you think immigrants should go back to where they came from, this is not the county for you. Teachers in the school system especially have to value each and every student for who they are. If that is not a core value, you can't be a good teacher here. So yes, most teachers in this county will be able to say "black lives matter" because they understand the historical and current systemic oppression happening to people of color. That doesn't make them radicalized, nor does it make them Democrats. It makes them empathetic and caring about the needs of others (typically a core value of teachers.)

You also have to consider that there are two traditional axes on the political spectrum - socially liberal or conservative, and fiscally liberal or conservative. I would say there is a definite socially liberal slant in the county (diversity again) but a slight lean towards fiscally conservative (depends on the year and the issues.) As to why we have Hogan - Democrats didn't vote that year because they weren't very inspired by their nominee for governor, and assumed everyone else would vote. There were a lot of surprised (and pissed) people when they woke up with a Republican governor. It hasn't had a huge effect because there is a democratic super-majority in the Assembly, so Hogan can't veto a lot of legislation. But irritatingly, he takes credit for things he has opposed, and people who don't understand how the government works or follow the details think he is responsible. That's why he is still popular. MoCo broadly hates him, because Hogan has made no secret that he hates MoCo. He has withheld funding for school buildings that was approved by the general assembly, he has shifted transportation funds away from MoCo towards the Eastern Shore (real nice new 4 lane highway out there). He made a pretty close to unworkable mandate about school year start and end dates, and followed up with scathingly nasty letters to the BOE when they asked for clarifications or modifications. Hope that quick history gives you some sense of why we are where we are. For more, you can head to the Politics Forum, if you dare.

OP here. My first mistake? I didn't express political beliefs just my very general observation (yes perhaps stereotyped midwest vs east coast) of the local scene... but from a neutral perspective. Why are you projecting belief systems on me? Perhaps because the the article called out a teacher radicalized to the Left. it could have been an article about a rightwing radical but my guess is such a teacher would have been ID'd and rooted out sooner in this area.

Let me simplify this. In Midwest... people are less outwardly political yet in Minnesota this, perhaps disturbed, teacher thought such comments were perfectly OK
Maryland is more outward politically (yet I think a open minded state... thus the traditional blue state did elect a red governor) So the question is; is this an environment where there could be more teachers like the one in Minnesota, or less, or is it a non issue and that teacher is a one and done.

I guess the problem is your use of the word "radical." Being responding to vitriolic president by placing signs that say "hate has no home here" do not seem radical to me. Maybe you dug up an article about 1 wacky person, but why do you think expressing opposition to oppression is somehow "radicalization?"

OMFG. This.

OP, your entire question and proposition was quite out there. The posters were actually quite tolerant in their responses to you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We are transplants coming from Midwest. Mostly apolitical middle 'flyover' America (but a bluish leaning state)...

School systems were much smaller but fairly good. Nowhere near the resources of MCPS but smaller so not necessarily needing such resources. Overall MCPS schools seem pretty good but we've noticed a Democrat leaning favoritism in the schools we've been (IE going to the Library and seeing President Books displayed... all Dems with the lone Republican being Teddy Roosevelt). No real biggie as most schools tend towards the Left side of the political spectrum. Kind of a given.

Maryland is a bit of a conundrum for us, MoCo seems very Liberal (Baltimore too) I.E. neighbors have 'hate has no home here' signs, impeach trump placards, the many language welcome sign, yet the state elected a Republican Governor. Except for a few days before elections, back home you would never see lawn placards.

Anyway the point of all this is... there is definitely a partisan vibe here even though it seems a blue state open minded enough to elect a 'red' governor. Then I read this:

http://www.startribune.com/rosemount-educator-on-leave-after-tweeting-kill-kavanaugh/495903561/

(essentially a School teacher from mild mannered Minnesota tweeting assassination recommendations. A school teacher!.)

My impression of MCPS is despite its bias towards the Dems, everyone seems pretty amiable and reasonable.

Please reassure me we don't have teachers like this here... because if this can happen in Minnesota... (close to my home and we don't see any of the partisanship displayed on the streets as we see here) could such be here within MCPS? We want my children to be exposed to all kinds of peoples, beliefs, and political view points... but not radical view points... so whats your feelings regarding MCPS? Does everyone get a fair shake or are the children taught to hate (right or left)?

OP, the fact that you think that the bolded beliefs and slogans are liberal values, and therefore antithetical to conservative values, is pretty troubling. Yet not at all surprising.

OP here- you make a great point. Actually I don’t think the values written on the placards are conservative or liberal (really they are classical liberal.. a combo of conservative and Liberal). But their use seems to be more by Dem voters (I say this because I see them with ‘impeach trump’ signs. Thus my association. I admit my assumption could be wrong. In the Midwest we are not hateful types either but we don’t advertise we don’t hate. It’s just kind of generally assumed. Anyway I agree with the other posters who said this teacher is a likely one and done nut job and sure they could be here too... just as I said before a right wing nut job can be out there too but seems nothing systemic which is very good. The point of this post was to see if others had concerning experiences. While some interesting and insightful anecdotes were told, nothing concerning was conveyed which is reassuring.

But boy, if I may add, this sure is a partisan crowd. Lot of intolerance from both sides displayed... I tried to be as innocuous as possible, sorry that I failed.

PS... hacking this out on smartphone, apologize in advance if it doesn’t pass thesis level academic editorial scrutiny...

OP, you posited an extreme view (because we have "Hate has no home" & "Impeach Trump" signs, teachers may be "radicalized"). We pointed out how extreme that was through rational explanation. How is that intolerance? Your presupposition (correlating speaking out against Trump/hateful speech/policies with "radicalization") was off-base, that's all.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My child had a middle school teacher (who was African American) who was pro-Trump during the election and talked about it with the students. This was in a very diverse magnet program.

Same child went to 1st period high school the other day and his teacher was playing some conservative podcast that seemed to be a bunch of conspiracy theories.

While this may exist, I think these are rare exceptions here.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The "Everyone is welcome" signs do not mean Everyone.

Conservatives, republicans, Trump people, blue collar folks, traditional Christians and those from flyover country are not included in "Everyone".

What a dumb, small-minded comment. My neighborhood, where you can see loads of the welcome signs, is full of Christians, midwesterners, blue collar folks, and even (pre-trump) conservatives. You are are right about trumpies. Haters are not welcome.

So the other half of the country?

It is your side that projects "hate" on to people who would like to have control over borders, a slower flow of immigrants (this has a lot more to do with social cohesion and available resources than race), and a proper vetting process from countries where people chant "Death to America". It is the simple minded who make everything about ad hominems. Maybe OP is hoping that MCPS teachers are a bit more analytical.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, I am a midwesterner also. And I admit I'm mildly annoyed with your post. You're asking for reassurance that people with poor judgment don't exist here. Of course they do. That MN teacher didn't talk about assassination because she is from MN. She did it because she is a nut. You can't honestly be asking if MD has less nutty teachers than those in the mldwest. Nuttiness isn't tied to any region.

+1

+2 - signed another midwesterner from a very red state

+3 another Midwesterner who thinks the Hate has no Home here feels very midwestern. But I lived in a relatively diverse city in the Midwest and was thrilled at the even more diverse community here.

The Hate Has No Home Here sign comes from the Midwest. (Chicago, but still!)) You can get it in red if that feels more welcoming.