Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I applaud those that spoke last night. Both sides did a great job and I watched the whole thing online with my children. I am so supremely impressed with our counties high school students. And for everyone who is constantly bashing the BOE...would you want that gig? would you want to get paid what $25K and have everyone know who you are etc? No you wouldn't. You may not agree with all of what they say or do but you have to commend them for serving the public because that is exactly what they are doing with those salaries and the hours they put in. Also the speaker who put up the stats regarding KP and GP etc.....she did a great job.....that is what people need to see....areas where we can fix inequities right on boundary lines.....stop talking about bussing! The county is not going to ship people from one end to the other but where available along boundary lines they need to readdress and I am happy to see that they are!

To me it is sad because it seems adults are telling them exactly what to think about all this stuff. It doesn’t appear any of them think for themselves or can provide a unique perspective.

Perhaps, in an alternate universe but in this reality most students seem at odds with most of the greedy short-sighted adults who only care about the possible impact on their property values.

what makes you say that? What are some examples that make you think this? Do you think teens are just inherently selfish so there is no way that they would want equity? Doesn't the fact that they are students who go to these schools give them a more unique perspective than parents?

I'm not the PP but MCPS is VERY careful to coach, prep and supervise the testimony from these kids. Heck, they put on the pressure when parents testify on those regular rounds too. My friend agreed to testify once and our principal drove her nuts requiring all these prep phones calls, demanding to review her written testimony first, making edits and pressuring her for suggestions. She was so fed up she told her that next time they should have the PTA pay for actors.

They can't control the parents who don't agree with them so they do whatever they can to stack the deck with kiss ups. Its really crazy the degrees of charades these people go through for these events.

Sounds to me like the BOE doesn't have a clue as to why certain schools are underperforming, so they think if they just shuffle the deck, the problem will disappear. Our schools are already quite diverse. The BOE needs to figure out how to raise up the underperfroming schools, not how to knock down the better schools to their level.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I applaud those that spoke last night. Both sides did a great job and I watched the whole thing online with my children. I am so supremely impressed with our counties high school students. And for everyone who is constantly bashing the BOE...would you want that gig? would you want to get paid what $25K and have everyone know who you are etc? No you wouldn't. You may not agree with all of what they say or do but you have to commend them for serving the public because that is exactly what they are doing with those salaries and the hours they put in. Also the speaker who put up the stats regarding KP and GP etc.....she did a great job.....that is what people need to see....areas where we can fix inequities right on boundary lines.....stop talking about bussing! The county is not going to ship people from one end to the other but where available along boundary lines they need to readdress and I am happy to see that they are!

To me it is sad because it seems adults are telling them exactly what to think about all this stuff. It doesn’t appear any of them think for themselves or can provide a unique perspective.

what makes you say that? What are some examples that make you think this? Do you think teens are just inherently selfish so there is no way that they would want equity? Doesn't the fact that they are students who go to these schools give them a more unique perspective than parents?

News flash: the BOE doesn’t give a hoot about public comment. All they care about is taking a position where they can be assured that they will get the union endorsement, and thus, win their election.

This X100. The MCPS employees do not care whether kids are bussed or not. As long as the BOE keeps the raises up and accountability for employees low it only needs to distract the public. What better way then to start pursuing one of the most antagonistic and failed educational actions ever -bussing.

The whole boundary discussion is a wonderful distraction for the BOE because it distracts from all the other failures within MCPS. They will keep the public enraged and engages about bussing for the next few years while they continue to fail to implement student safety, address predators on MCPS staff, screw up yet another curriculum, see their scores drop even more, buildings fall further into disrepair, spend more on consultants and lawyers to get them out of their self inflicted messes etc etc.

I'm not saying that some BOE members do not believe whole heartedly in forced bussing. Several do because they are stuck in the 1970s but not smart enough to remember how badly it failed.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I applaud those that spoke last night. Both sides did a great job and I watched the whole thing online with my children. I am so supremely impressed with our counties high school students. And for everyone who is constantly bashing the BOE...would you want that gig? would you want to get paid what $25K and have everyone know who you are etc? No you wouldn't. You may not agree with all of what they say or do but you have to commend them for serving the public because that is exactly what they are doing with those salaries and the hours they put in. Also the speaker who put up the stats regarding KP and GP etc.....she did a great job.....that is what people need to see....areas where we can fix inequities right on boundary lines.....stop talking about bussing! The county is not going to ship people from one end to the other but where available along boundary lines they need to readdress and I am happy to see that they are!

To me it is sad because it seems adults are telling them exactly what to think about all this stuff. It doesn’t appear any of them think for themselves or can provide a unique perspective.

My kids have friends who are saying, "But property values!" which they surely heard their parents say. Are those the kids you're referring to?

Anonymous wrote:I applaud those that spoke last night. Both sides did a great job and I watched the whole thing online with my children. I am so supremely impressed with our counties high school students. And for everyone who is constantly bashing the BOE...would you want that gig? would you want to get paid what $25K and have everyone know who you are etc? No you wouldn't. You may not agree with all of what they say or do but you have to commend them for serving the public because that is exactly what they are doing with those salaries and the hours they put in. Also the speaker who put up the stats regarding KP and GP etc.....she did a great job.....that is what people need to see....areas where we can fix inequities right on boundary lines.....stop talking about bussing! The county is not going to ship people from one end to the other but where available along boundary lines they need to readdress and I am happy to see that they are!

To me it is sad because it seems adults are telling them exactly what to think about all this stuff. It doesn’t appear any of them think for themselves or can provide a unique perspective.

I applaud those that spoke last night. Both sides did a great job and I watched the whole thing online with my children. I am so supremely impressed with our counties high school students. And for everyone who is constantly bashing the BOE...would you want that gig? would you want to get paid what $25K and have everyone know who you are etc? No you wouldn't. You may not agree with all of what they say or do but you have to commend them for serving the public because that is exactly what they are doing with those salaries and the hours they put in. Also the speaker who put up the stats regarding KP and GP etc.....she did a great job.....that is what people need to see....areas where we can fix inequities right on boundary lines.....stop talking about bussing! The county is not going to ship people from one end to the other but where available along boundary lines they need to readdress and I am happy to see that they are!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Anyone attend or watch the BOE meeting last night who can provide some feedback?

https://bethesdamagazine.com/bethesda-beat/schools/hundreds-continue-debate-over-mcps-boundary-analysis/

All the students want diversity for all kind of reasons: half Asian girl attended majority white ES was shamed her Asian heritage but became happy after attending RM; Whitman boy wished all kids had opportunity to attend a “good” school,; some wishes they can take classes other schools offer. you can watch the whole meeting at BOE’s website.

Anonymous wrote:News flash: the BOE doesn’t give a hoot about public comment. All they care about is taking a position where they can be assured that they will get the union endorsement, and thus, win their election.

The BoE candidate with the most votes wins the election. It sounds like you're upset because the candidates you supported received fewer votes.

Anonymous wrote:Anyone attend or watch the BOE meeting last night who can provide some feedback?

https://bethesdamagazine.com/bethesda-beat/schools/hundreds-continue-debate-over-mcps-boundary-analysis/

Anyone attend or watch the BOE meeting last night who can provide some feedback?

Yes, and the SMOB is graduating and moving on to college next year and is therefore not up for re-election. So his position is irrelevant.

Anonymous wrote:Just a reminder, most of the students do not vote (Board of Education and County Council member are elected positions).

The Student Member of the Board is elected by the votes of middle and high school students.

News flash: the BOE doesn’t give a hoot about public comment. All they care about is taking a position where they can be assured that they will get the union endorsement, and thus, win their election.