The Face in the Mirror

Meanwhile, back at the Board of Ed...

The numbers are in for the Jump Start program and folks are concerned that it will not reduce overcrowding in a meaningful way. Overcrowding is a serious issue. Parents are right to have concerns.

However...

I’ve seen quite a bit of online posturing about how the Superintendent and BOE “caved” when it came to making the tough decisions on redistricting.

Oh, please.

We spent a summer of protest: sign-making, t-shirting wearing anger and rabble-rousing. Post after post dripping with thinly veiled racism. NIMBY-ism at its finest. People waving their property values around. Members of the community impugning the intent of the AAC.

In short, our foray into possible redistricting showed a truly ugly side to Howard County that many of us are still trying to shake from our minds.

Throughout this entire debacle, the saner voices suggesting we should all pull together and make this transition work for our children (and everyone’s children) were drowned out by echoes of anger, discontent, and privilege. Not my kids. Not my neighborhood. That’s not what I paid for.

Well, congratulations, folks. You got what you asked for. We wanted a Superintendent and BOE that were more responsive to the community, remember? And while redistricting may have been the best solution for the problems we are facing right now, the community fought it tooth and nail. I find it to be the height of hypocrisy to look back on this and say that “they” should have made the tough choices.

It’s like a child with a belly ache from too many sweets blaming the parent for giving in to their whining and wheedling. “You gave me the candy I asked for. You should have held out and said no. You should have known better!”

If the community had come together in a positive way around redistricting, then that is what we would have. If the Superintendent and BOE are working on alternative plans to overcrowding and we don’t like them, then let’s place the blame where it belongs.

Look in the mirror, Howard County.