MCPS is hiring a new agency for its crisis communications

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Did they really approve the contract? Was there any discussion on it or was it just rubber stamped??

They did. There was a lot of discussion about the diesel school bus contract, but not the communications firm.

More rubber stamping by the BOE. Dr. McKnight requests the emergency contract for PR spin control so the BOE approves her request. Perhaps if the BOE would dig a little deeper into Dr. McKnights appointees and her requests, then MCPS wouldn’t be in crisis.

And when Dr. McKnight does her own PR, people on DCUM just complain about poor communications. Seems like she can't win with some of you.

So true!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Did they really approve the contract? Was there any discussion on it or was it just rubber stamped??

They did. There was a lot of discussion about the diesel school bus contract, but not the communications firm.

More rubber stamping by the BOE. Dr. McKnight requests the emergency contract for PR spin control so the BOE approves her request. Perhaps if the BOE would dig a little deeper into Dr. McKnights appointees and her requests, then MCPS wouldn’t be in crisis.

And when Dr. McKnight does her own PR, people on DCUM just complain about poor communications. Seems like she can't win with some of you.

We expect leaders to be able to communicate effectively, not "do PR". It's a big part of the job.

This is truly an excellent point. Mcknight is very good at PR, particularly promoting herself. She is not so good at communicating effectively and honestly.

+1

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Did they really approve the contract? Was there any discussion on it or was it just rubber stamped??

They did. There was a lot of discussion about the diesel school bus contract, but not the communications firm.

More rubber stamping by the BOE. Dr. McKnight requests the emergency contract for PR spin control so the BOE approves her request. Perhaps if the BOE would dig a little deeper into Dr. McKnights appointees and her requests, then MCPS wouldn’t be in crisis.

And when Dr. McKnight does her own PR, people on DCUM just complain about poor communications. Seems like she can't win with some of you.

We expect leaders to be able to communicate effectively, not "do PR". It's a big part of the job.

This is truly an excellent point. Mcknight is very good at PR, particularly promoting herself. She is not so good at communicating effectively and honestly.

Hence the need for pros to help!

How about we get an actual pro to do a professional job in the first place?

That's what they're hiring.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Did they really approve the contract? Was there any discussion on it or was it just rubber stamped??

They did. There was a lot of discussion about the diesel school bus contract, but not the communications firm.

More rubber stamping by the BOE. Dr. McKnight requests the emergency contract for PR spin control so the BOE approves her request. Perhaps if the BOE would dig a little deeper into Dr. McKnights appointees and her requests, then MCPS wouldn’t be in crisis.

And when Dr. McKnight does her own PR, people on DCUM just complain about poor communications. Seems like she can't win with some of you.

We expect leaders to be able to communicate effectively, not "do PR". It's a big part of the job.

This is truly an excellent point. Mcknight is very good at PR, particularly promoting herself. She is not so good at communicating effectively and honestly.

+1

+100

[Anonymous]

Why don't you tell those pr people that you won't hire them unless they want to teach students. Wait a minute teacher respect is not a thing in mcps. Scratch that idea. Bring in the pr we gotta white wash all the negative feedback from teachers.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why don't you tell those pr people that you won't hire them unless they want to teach students. Wait a minute teacher respect is not a thing in mcps. Scratch that idea. Bring in the pr we gotta white wash all the negative feedback from teachers.

There are so many hyper-privileged parents who post here and complain about everything that MCPS needs a firm like this to help manage demands.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why don't you tell those pr people that you won't hire them unless they want to teach students. Wait a minute teacher respect is not a thing in mcps. Scratch that idea. Bring in the pr we gotta white wash all the negative feedback from teachers.

There are so many hyper-privileged parents who post here and complain about everything that MCPS needs a firm like this to help manage demands.

Let’s look at a non-Biedleman example: electric buses.

MCPS signs a contract for electric buses.

MCPS/McKnight use this contract to generate positive media attention for themselves. This includes getting national media coverage and also doing events with local politicians.

But all is not right with the electric buses. The contract was financially irresponsible and tainted by corruption allegations. The buses were poorly made and would be out of service for months when they broke down. And eventually MCPS had to acknowledge reality and break the contract.

Shouldn’t MCPS/McKnight come under criticism? Shouldn’t part of that criticism also be about their electric bus PR campaign?

If you want credit for success, you also need to take responsibility for your failures. MCPS, especially under McKnigjt loves to generate the positive PR, but refuses to accept accountability for their bad decisions.

And this is how they end up hiring a crisis communications firm.

They need to stop with the self promotion and PR and instead focus on running the school system better.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why don't you tell those pr people that you won't hire them unless they want to teach students. Wait a minute teacher respect is not a thing in mcps. Scratch that idea. Bring in the pr we gotta white wash all the negative feedback from teachers.

There are so many hyper-privileged parents who post here and complain about everything that MCPS needs a firm like this to help manage demands.

Let’s look at a non-Biedleman example: electric buses.

MCPS signs a contract for electric buses.

MCPS/McKnight use this contract to generate positive media attention for themselves. This includes getting national media coverage and also doing events with local politicians.

But all is not right with the electric buses. The contract was financially irresponsible and tainted by corruption allegations. The buses were poorly made and would be out of service for months when they broke down. And eventually MCPS had to acknowledge reality and break the contract.

Shouldn’t MCPS/McKnight come under criticism? Shouldn’t part of that criticism also be about their electric bus PR campaign?

If you want credit for success, you also need to take responsibility for your failures. MCPS, especially under McKnigjt loves to generate the positive PR, but refuses to accept accountability for their bad decisions.

And this is how they end up hiring a crisis communications firm.

They need to stop with the self promotion and PR and instead focus on running the school system better.

In fairness, I think the electric bus failure falls more on Brian Hull's shoulders than Monifa's, since he's charge of operations for the school district. But you're right, she wasn't transparent or communicative about the problems or issues with the electric bus contract.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why don't you tell those pr people that you won't hire them unless they want to teach students. Wait a minute teacher respect is not a thing in mcps. Scratch that idea. Bring in the pr we gotta white wash all the negative feedback from teachers.

There are so many hyper-privileged parents who post here and complain about everything that MCPS needs a firm like this to help manage demands.

Let’s look at a non-Biedleman example: electric buses.

MCPS signs a contract for electric buses.

MCPS/McKnight use this contract to generate positive media attention for themselves. This includes getting national media coverage and also doing events with local politicians.

But all is not right with the electric buses. The contract was financially irresponsible and tainted by corruption allegations. The buses were poorly made and would be out of service for months when they broke down. And eventually MCPS had to acknowledge reality and break the contract.

Shouldn’t MCPS/McKnight come under criticism? Shouldn’t part of that criticism also be about their electric bus PR campaign?

If you want credit for success, you also need to take responsibility for your failures. MCPS, especially under McKnigjt loves to generate the positive PR, but refuses to accept accountability for their bad decisions.

And this is how they end up hiring a crisis communications firm.

They need to stop with the self promotion and PR and instead focus on running the school system better.

In fairness, I think the electric bus failure falls more on Brian Hull's shoulders than Monifa's, since he's charge of operations for the school district. But you're right, she wasn't transparent or communicative about the problems or issues with the electric bus contract.

And this is why she needs a crisis communication firm. She prioritized doing interviews with ABC News and hobnobbing with Rep. Raskin over providing honest and transparent communication and never takes responsibility.

The only people that she has in her corner now that will pick up the phone when she calls in the BOE. She may want to reflect on what she did to cause that to happen.