Reply to How much does MCPS pay for school administrators to travel out of state?

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Dog Whistle calling out our African-American Superintendent for visiting her HBCU alma mater and proposing a collaboration with the HBCU ???[/quote]

Agreed.[/quote]

Yup.  Get a life.  You don't actually care about the travel budget. :roll: [/quote]

Teachers care. Especially the under paid minority teachers who keep leaving mcps.

You don’t really support minority teachers either.[/quote]

I would think McKnight visiting her HBCU alma mater would be part of an effort to recruit more minority teachers.[/quote]

Yet she didn’t meet with one single student and got a paid trip home on taxpayers. Fooling you is so easy.
[/quote]

You're acting as though she was taking a vacation and relaxing on a Hilton Head beach, daiquiri in hand and sunglasses on. No! It's for the long-term benefit of our district.[/quote]

How does this benefit MCPS?  If it were a MD state school, I can understand that, but how many kids are going to her HBCU alma mater and how would they help MCPS from a distance?[/quote]

I'm more than happy to shed color on this. For [i] years [/i], kids from [b]all [/b] backgrounds have craved having Black teachers in the classroom. A big reason why these racist incidents have taken place in MCPS is that these mostly White teachers from Jersey and PA, while well-meaning, but may not be able to relate to the kids in terms of creating that culture of respect or working with people who've had diverse experiences or adverse childhood situations. In these incidents, there's almost zero accountability and sometimes even the White teachers join in gaslighting the Black students or being more prone to call security on them for things that can honestly be de-escalated. Sometimes, they even go out of their way to make the BIPOC teachers uncomfortable, leading to a retention issue. The teachers should look like the changing population in the system, case closed.

Before questioning me, I went to East County schools for K-8 and a W for 9-12. I know MCPS processes and secrets inside out. One time, solely because of my little sister's name (she speaks perfect English and we are from an English-speaking country in West Africa), they recommended her for ESOL when she's in adavanced reading. I guarantee you no Black teacher would be quick to underestimate and label her in a away that will last for the rest of her life. It's no secret that we have to advocate for minority students way more.

When Black teachers are in the classroom, the Blacks students stand straigher, and the majority students break stereotypes about who can lead, who is truly worthy in society. Since we lack Black teachers, we are then going to lack Black administrators and beyond -- it's an funnel effect and every subgroup needs specific alleviating measures as they enter and progress through their careers. Black administrators are more likely to get Title I schools in this county or be pushed out or not get as much credit whereas their White peers can fail and immediately get that second chance. It's about a culture of respect and it's a much needed initiative, in my opinion.[/quote]

You do realize your statement is pretty racist too.  And, your comments have no justification as to why she took the trip.[/quote]

+1 Just because a wrong happened to your sister and your family is from an English speaking West African country, doesn’t mean that wrong happened to your sister because she is black. The same thing happened to my son who was born here in Rockville. English is my first language, but not my spouse‘s. We speak dual languages in our house and my child has never been below grade level in language arts. However, he was flagged for ESOL and he is white. My son was quickly dismissed when they actually saw where he was performing and that he did not have deficits with English. [/quote]

And that's exactly why racism is more dangerous now. People try to excuse it, skirt around it, and be genteel about it - "oh, we're post-racial". BS. The point of the matter is that they would have NEVER asked a White kid those questions. My parents are diplomats and the Argentine, Chilean, Canadian kids are not being put in those same situations. When some of these teachers see Black and Brown kids, they always try to downplay their abilities or operate knowing that their parents won't push back as much because they're busy working, etc. Sometimes the kids even internalize those mentalities and stereotypes because they're trained that the teacher is always right, which affects their confidence. In MCPS, once your levels are given in ES, they're very hard to shake because we have a history in this school system of academic tracking that still goes on to this day, where the gatekeepers (counselors) can be quite condescending. There are systematic efforts in MCPS to over-label certain kids for ESOL, just as there has been a historical systematic effort to flag Black kids, especially Black males, for special education at very high rates. Look. Both. Of. These. Concepts. Up.

I'm sorry that happened to your child, yet at the same time, we need to be conscious of experiences when it comes to racism/microaggressions, not say that the person was well-intentioned so there's no way it's racist. Bottom line: very few White kids would be treated like that. It's something called "implicit bias", very dangerous, and I encourage y'all to look it up. That ESOL title would affect how people view her for advanced math, magnet, and many other opportunities. Thank God she had the resources and support system around her, because many Black students end up lacking that. When BIPOC share their experiences, they need to be believed.

Going back to Dr. McKnight: as a rising business leader, I understand the crucial nature of not just human capital, but retention. As a BIPOC in the workplace, I know what does and doesn't work, and her trip is a full-proof way to show her seriousness towards these efforts. Make up all the rumors that you want. She has 4 years, and she's using them quite wisely in my book.[/quote]

I had a black principal tell me she did not like my child’s hair and I needed to cut it.  It was regularly trimmed.  Other races had similar styles and hair in their face.  She also targeted some of the white kids with harsher punishments or only punished the white kids when a group of kids were involved.  It’s everywhere.  [/quote]

Again -- very sorry about that. Bias is everywhere, but in this situation, I was speaking about how it especially affects the outcomes of Black and Brown students and how this trip will help her hire a workforce that can combat that. It's about the long-term strategic game and picking up best practices from all places, not a problem that will be solved overnight. If she's traveling down South, she's still working, connected to her schedule, etc. Managers and higher-up C-Suite leaders (pre-COVID) would travel all the time, and it's ramping back up. Y'all are blowing things way out of proportion, as usual.[/quote]

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