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Do you know what the Board of Education says they do?

According to our school system’s website: your Montgomery County, Maryland Board of Education continuously strives to:

  • get to know student and staff members as individuals to better serve them; engage in interest-based decision making with our partners to achieve mutually agreed upon goals; and build strong relationships with students, family, staff, and community to support learning.
  • model civility in all interactions and encourage candid conversations; deal fairly and honestly with each other; and listen to others’ perspectives with openness and accept that there are various points of view.
  • push unceasingly for continuous improvement; hold our practice and our work to the highest possible standards; and nurture a culture of creativity and inquiry that supports innovation and progress.
  • hold high expectations for all students and staff; distribute resources as necessary to provide extra supports and interventions so all students can achieve; identify and eliminate any institutional barriers to students’ success; and ensure that equitable practices are used in all classrooms and workplaces.*

I’m running for Board of Education At-Large because nowhere in the above statement does it say that they represent Montgomery County citizens.  I want every public school parent, every public school student, every teacher, every principal, in fact, every stakeholder in the public school system in Montgomery County, Maryland to feel represented.  Even more, I want everyone to believe that if they have a concern, the Board of Education will advocate to address that concern with the system.

I want YOU to feel like someone has gotten to know YOU.  I want YOU to feel listened to.  I want YOU to feel MCPS’ efforts towards continuous improvement.  I want YOU to feel that YOUR taxpayer dollars are going towards eliminating barriers towards YOUR students success and providing ALL MCPS students a chance for a better tomorrow.

I believe that our Board of Education needs to learn how to represent the citizens of this county.  If they understood their role, they would have eliminated their credit cards years ago, and not created a secret committee to examine their spending (they’re part of several organizations that could easily provide effective policies that ensure that public education funding is focused on public education).  If they understood their role, they would not respond to suggestions and ideas for improvement like Real Food Montgomery or Start School Later with excuses, rather they’d look for ways to take new ideas from the community, collaborate with the superintendent, and see how far we can go for our children.  If they understood their role, they’d take a long, hard look at what they’re doing with school property, and recognize that they don’t have a process for getting input from stakeholders in advance of land-use decisions (only after they’ve approved something). Do YOU want to vote for someone who doesn’t have a clear process for stakeholder engagement making decisions on half of the county’s budget?

Join me.  Because our children have only one chance at a great public school education.

* Learn more about the MCPS Board of the Education Vision, Mission, and Core Values.