An Untenable Position

Long before Howard County Schools Superintendent Dr. Renee Foose came to town, Rebecca Amani-Dove was a contributing part of the school system. She's a HoCo local. Several people I know have known her for years, and speak highly of her. This is her town, so to speak.

Yesterday Ms. Amani-Dove's decision to leave her position as Communications Director for hcpss was detailed in an article in the Howard County Times. She has accepted an offer from Discovery Communications. She will be the Director of Acquisitions Marketing for Discovery Education, a division of the Silver Spring-based firm.

Having observed Ms. Amani-Dove at PTACHC meetings, I can say that her job was an extremely difficult one to have. She has been in the business of having to go places and say things that made people angry, or at the very least, that were received with suspicion or a lack of enthusiasm. I don't think this job has been any fun for a long, long time.

I get the feeling that she came to feel that local bloggers and any independent parent groups trying to disseminate information were just plain hindrances in her mission to get her job done. I recall her pointed comment at a PTACHC about people "spreading misinformation." Her job was to keep communications "on message" and that seemed to become more and more a process of tightening and narrowing the circle of information.

I don't know Ms. Amani-Dove, and I have no way of knowing her reasons for leaving. But I don't blame her one bit. And I hope she is very happy in her new job. This is her town. The parents, students, and even teachers and staff from Howard County are her neighbors. I would imagine that giving up her role in the spotlight and becoming one of them might be a deliciously refreshing thing to do.

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I probably don't need to say this, but please refrain from any personal attacks in the comments.