Village Green/Town²

This just in (as they say)--Bill Woodcock notes on The 53 that: ....also in the world of Christine O'Connor, apparently my blog escaped her lips at Thursday's Board of Education meeting, as she said that she was not the "Christine" who commented upon my filtration of truth of her letter. If Ms. O'Connor did not write that comment, then the post I wrote yesterday is wrong. There's no way around it. I reached out to Mr. Woodcock and, after discussing this with him, all I can really say is that we don't know. She says she didn't write it, but at this point there's no way to verify that. Here is the post Ms. O'Connor left on my blog in 2014: I truly hope that those few who read this blog will take the time to find out more actual facts about ALL of the candidates, even those who did not get endorsed by the HCEA. This "summary" of the candidate forum leaves MUCH to be desired. Also, I highly recommend using spell check when you call you...

This week the Howard County Times extended a professional courtesy to Board of Education Chair Christine O'Connor by publishing her 'letter to the editor' which was, at 583 words, more than twice the allowed word limit. As an elected official, she may feel that it is her due, but it was, in fact, a courtesy. The Howard County Times has guidelines, space considerations, and time constraints for a reason. Newspapers--their editorial staff and journalists--live by a set of guidelines and principles meant to serve the spreading of news first and personalities second. It makes for better journalism. Shortly after Ms. O'Connor's letter appeared local blogger Bill Woodcock wrote a response piece on his blog, The 53. While Ms. O' Connor's letter chided those in disagreement with the board as failing to Choose Civility, it was interesting to note that the very first comment to his blog post was this snippy rejoinder from Ms. O'Connor herself: Maybe get the fact...

The first time I ventured into the residential part of Maple Lawn I was entirely creeped out. It reminded me of trailers I had seen for The Truman Show. So evocative, so derivative, so many perfect details that reminded one of real places without actually being a real place. At least that is how it felt to me. Like a movie set: beautiful, but fake. If there is such a thing as being the victim of emotional architectural manipulation, that is how I felt. I have since met real people who live in Maple Lawn, and who are quite happy to live there. And I am also keenly aware that my personal experience doesn't automatically translate into the truth for all people. I'm sure there are people who venture into Columbia who have similar feelings about our neighborhoods, with the added discomfort of feeling that this is a movie set that's getting rather worn around the edges. A less-than-important back lot, perhaps. Anyway... Last night, after saying we would for almost a year, my husb...

Saw this tweet last night: @iankennedy7 At this #downtowncolumbiamd transportation demand management meeting and someone legitimately just called for a #monorail. #HoCoMD Monorail ? Monorail. In a 1997 article in the Washington Post about Robert Tennenbaum's book, "Creating a New City: Columbia, Maryland", reporter Anna Borgman notes: Public transportation was considered essential (Rouse hoped for a monorail system), and Columbia's planners expected many residents to use bicycles and scooters. Most of us think of Disney when we think of monorails, unless we have lived in a place that actually has one. We think of Walt Disney the man, the seemingly limitless horizon of the 1960's, Tomorrowland, and it feels nostalgic and a bit dated. The world of tomorrow--yesterday. Plenty has been written about the connection between Rouse and Disney. There seems to be a consensus that both men were visionaries of their time, admired eachother, perhaps. And yet when plans for ...

Used with permission from Howard County Parent Kim Bir: I'm fuming at Superintendent Foose's misrepresentation of facts here . ("Supporting Special Edcation", by Superintendent Renee Foose.) This post is thinly veiled attempt to discredit the criticism regarding special needs funding. It is a complete and utter misrepresentation of the facts. Four Million dollars has been directed out of special education (money that is in the budget, but gets moved around later) in the four years she has served, while the student and special needs population has been rising. Additionally, she fails to acknowledge that the 2014/15 special needs budget was reduced by over twenty-five per cent from the previous year. So the modest increases each year since then still do not have us at the levels we were a few years ago. This has had terrible consequences. The school system now feels their money is better spent fighting parents than providing services - notice how the legal budget ha...

The Keurig has stopped working. I haven't had any coffee. My daughter isn't feeling well and is staying home from school. I sliced the tops of two of my fingers trying to cut a sandwich roll yesterday. Last night the pizza place sent my Greek salad with ordinary black olives rather than the Kalamata olives advertised on the menu. The weather report for the day predicts more gloom. It is not shaping up to be the best day ever. First world problems , I haz 'em. So let me yield some space here for something positive. Yesterday the Chair of the Howard County Council, Dr. Calvin Ball, stopped by my husband's Music Technology class to present him with a resolution honoring his semi-finalist status in the Grammy Music Teacher Awards and his commitment to teaching music in Howard County. (Photos by Eric Solomon, Sam McCready, and Donna Pidel.) What a wonderful thing for the County Council to have done, not just for one teacher, but for the students who were the...

An Open Letter to Howard County Superintendent of Schools, Dr. Renee Foose and the Howard County Board of Education from a former Chairman of the Board of Education February 16, 2016 Dear Dr. Foose and Members of the Howard County Board of Education, I write this open letter in response to recent actions by the Board and HCPSS, the disturbing approach to governing that the Board and Superintendent have adopted , and the completely unprecedented alienation between you and the citizens of Howard County and elected officials at the highest level of state office. The time for silence is over. T he time for hoping that you will come to your senses and see how bad things have be come is also over . Each of you (Dr. Foose and the Members of the Board), must take immediate and dramatic action or see the school system that you claim to hold dear enter into a period of significant decline, lack of parental involvement and rapid departures of your best teachers, administrators an...