Correction?

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 yourself a writer….-Christine O'Connor

Here is the post on The 53:

Maybe get the facts straight if you want to call yourself a journalist. Dr. Foose has addressed the community's concerns. The two contrarians on the Board are impeding our progress.

Posted by: Christine

 

I saw enough similarity there to believe it was the same author. It's also true that I was willing to believe that it was. (The difference between a blogger and a journalist, perhaps?) And that's all I know.

There are plenty of other things to talk about this week. I'm looking forward to the HoCoBlogs party tonight at Nalley Fresh. With plenty of local bloggers in attendance, there'll be plenty of stories swirling.

 

Vocabulary Lesson

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 facts straight if you want to call yourself a journalist. Dr. Foose has addressed the community's concerns. The two contrarians on the Board are impeding our progress.

Posted by: Christine | February 24, 2016 at 05:21 PM

I find it stunning that Ms. O'Connor does not know the difference between a blogger and a journalist. To be sure, definitions of the word blogger aren't very flattering (see Urban Dictionary) and definitions of journalist aren't entirely perfect as journalism evolves. But I don't think it is unreasonable to expect a local elected official to know the difference. Especially one whose area of expertise is, well, learning and knowledge.

While journalists must abide by a code of professional behavior, bloggers have no such obligations. (Possibly why we are deemed the lowest of the low by many.) So Mr. Woodcock really owes Ms.O'Connor nothing, with the possible exception of allowing her to talk back in the comments section. This is probably why most elected officials don't put themselves out there in the comments section of blogs, because they don't want to risk the likelihood that they will be getting down in the mud with pigs, as it were.

Ms. O'Connor clearly doesn't know the difference. And it isn't the first time. She jumped in on this blog during the last election cycle when she didn't like my summary of a Town Hall candidates' event at The Other Barn. She just couldn't resist. She had to put me in my place.

In my opinion this doesn't show very good judgement. There are going to be times, as an elected official, that biting one's tongue is going to be the best course of action. On the other hand, it is far more genuine than local officials who comment anonymously or create sock puppets to parrot the party line.

Above all, it is essential to realize that one's position of prominence doesn't automatically guarantee extra courtesies and deference. Building relationships and building up credibility in the community are a big part of the job of a public servant. Of course, understanding that is predicated on understanding that one is a public servant.

So, for the folks in the back row, a quick review:

 

A Little Paradise in Maple Lawn

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 husband and I went to dinner at Ananda. We were the recipients of a gift certificate from my husband's guitar class parents. They knew we love Indian food. We had heard so many rave reviews. But setting aside an evening for just the two of us when neither of us was sick, tired, or committed elsewhere took a lot longer than either of us had expected.

What can I say? Ananda is the perfect date night restaurant. The ambience is perfect. You will be able to hear your dinner companion speak. A table for two is still large enough for you to reach your hand across the table and give your partner's hand a squeeze. Service is gracious, the pace is smooth, unhurried. We arrived just before sunset and the views around us as the sky changed from light to dark were gorgeous.

Just enough dark. Just enough light. Fairy lights around the ceiling, plus a multitude of tea lights fluttering around the edges of the room gave a magical glow. And a fire in the fireplace. (Were those real gaslights at the entrance?) Many carefully thought out details combine for a feeling of warmth. Eating dinner at Ananda is a special occasion.

The food was unbelievably fresh and gave me the feeling that someone had lovingly cooked for me in their home kitchen. I tried things I hadn't had before, and loved it all. My husband was able to order two favorites from his Manchester conservatory days that he's never before found in the U.S. : onion bhaji, and a chicken Madras. If we hadn't been so comfortably full we would have ordered dessert, because we really could have stayed there for hours.

In fact, we ran into some of my husband's friends from work on the way out and stayed a while longer to chat. They were sitting at a table in the bar area, which was a very popular place to be on a Friday night. A note: I made reservations through the Ananda website, and it's clear that reservations are recommended.

Columbia often seems to be the home of a continuous string of chain restaurants. I have been hard-pressed to come up with that many that I consider "date-y" or romantic. Ananda hits the mark. It is an oasis of all the good things in a world that's often too fast, too cruel, too cheaply made.

Would I move to Maple Lawn to be closer? Probably not. But maybe, if someone built me a house directly next door to Ananda, I might consider it.

 

 

 

 

Disney Dreams

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 a new park in Symphony Woods were on the table, critics were quick to blast the Inner Arbor design as a Disney-fied nightmare, a sort of theme park house of horrors. We can't seem to decide how we feel about Rouse and Disney here in Columbialand, The New American City. In fact, the only part of that phrase we probably all agree on is the American part.

Some fear anything "new". Some look around at how dated Columbia is beginning to look and laugh at the idea that it's new. Some long for a transformation that speaks of its newness. As to "city", well, that's a word that makes many long-time Columbians nervous. No matter how often they see it, they are perpetually in denial. Surely their suburban utopia was never meant to be a city...

Monorail. I think it's an appealing concept. It's also probably wildly expensive and we may not have the density to support a viable system. Whatever public transit system we commit to in the future, I hope it does have an element of fun. I truly believe that for public transit to catch on in a bigger way in Columbia, that it will have to appeal to our imaginations and be fun to use in addition to being convenient and affordable.

Disney Dreams. Rouse Dreams.

What are your dreams?

 

Smoke, Mirrors, and Special Education

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 has mushroomed to over $800,000 per year.

Think what we could do for $800,000 rather than paying expensive lawyer consultants (she got rid of in-house counsel) that charge by the hour. Paraeducators for example, have been greatly reduced in kindergarten, a year of great transition when more staff support is needed, not less. Inclusion is a wonderful model, but you cannot cut the supports that make it successful and not degrade the quality of education for all.

*****

So on the one hand we have school system presentations, and on the other hand we have facts. As stakeholders we undoubtedly expect that those two things will be the same, but clearly they are not. While Dr. Foose once suggested that the budget could not be understood by members of the public unless they had advanced degrees, it seems that it would be more helpful to be a detective, or the Amazing Randi.

A simple analogy: recently I deduced that prices were going up at my local grocery store. Why? Take a look.

Wow! Maraschino cherries! Exciting!

Wait, what? Why should I be so excited by maraschino cherries? Similar "Wow" signs were sprouting all over the store. And then there's this:

Hummus. I love hummus. And it's a "low price." Great!

Does anyone see something wrong here? Well, use this for comparison:

I'll admit this isn't the greatest bargain. I'm not sure a "wow!" Is truly justified. It's only ten cents off, after all. But how do we know that?

We know that because we know how much the item usually costs, what the sale price is, and how much we save per item. Then we can make a decision as an informed consumer as to whether we are willing to purchase that specific item at that specific price.

When my grocery started posting a boatload of "wow!" signs around the store without information to back them up, it was pretty clear to me that they were trying to draw attention away from the fact the food prices were rising. There's an entire field of study pertaining how to get people to buy things at the grocery store, and clearly there's a lot of smoke and mirrors involved.

But when it comes to our special education students, or any other part of the school budget, for that matter, honesty is the best policy. Not glossy p.r., not eye-catching charts with partial truths, not prevarication honed to a fine point. Honesty. The Amazing Randi would have called the tactics we are seeing now nothing more than "woo-woo." And we deserve better.

If you are looking for honesty, and are tired of "Wow", you have it in your power to make a difference. Use your vote to bring real change to the Board of Education.

 

 

 

 

 

A Day to Remember

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 there to share in that experience and see that someone cares about them and what they are learning. Celebrating teachers--the work they do and the relationships they build--is something I think we should do more of. Acknowledging the importance that arts education has in the lives of our children doesn't just make teachers feel good. It helps our children to thrive and grow.

So, although my day today is off to a rough start, I have some happiness to hold on to.

And now I'm going to make an enormous pot of coffee.

The Time for Silence Is Over

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. The time for hoping that you will come to your senses and see how bad things have become 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 and other staff.

Just over the past weeks, during an increasingly turbulent winter, the Board and Superintendent have come under unprecedentedcriticism by a bipartisan group of elected officials, up to and including the two highest elected officials in Maryland and nearly the entire Howard County delegation to the State House. Governor Larry Hogan, in an official public meeting, stated that "There’s a palpable loss of trust between many parents and the county school system, and in particular with the superintendent." Peter Franchot, the Comptroller of Maryland, all but accused the school system of covering up a health crisis and putting the wellbeing of staff and children at risk to avoid embarrassment. Howard County State Representatives of both parties have also weighed in. Delegate Frank Turner said: "If we filled our rooms full of administrators and staff, shut our doors and not allowed public testimony do you realize the kind of criticism we would face …I don't expect it to happen in our county." Delegate Warren Miller said that "It's not normal activity for a board or public school system to do some of the things that they've been accused of, I hope that there is a change of a spirit, both at the school board and public school system, to be more open. Until there is, I think we all have to be vigilant about looking out for our constituents."

It would be bad enough if this was simply an issue between you and other elected or public officials. However, it is not. There is an unacceptable level of animosity between you the people you serve, the citizens of Howard County. Beginning with a forum on December 8th hosted by the Howard County State Delegation, there have been multiple meetings, sometimes attended by hundreds of people, where well-meaning and involved citizens have expressed anger and frustration about the actions of the Board and Superintendent. In every case, you have been dismissive of those concerns, showing nothing but contempt for us, the citizens of Howard County. Perhaps this contempt (and an unspoken acknowledgement of this state of affairs) is what led to the embarrassing process in which the contract of Dr. Foose was renewed, without any public input or even the ability of dissenting voices within to the Board to be heard before a vote.

This is not how things work in Howard County and it is antithetical to our shared values,the honorable history of theschool system, and to our continued success. Action on your part is needed now:

Dr. Foose, please acknowledge the reality that you are not the right leader for our school system. Please do what is best for the school system and children that you claim to serve. I call on you to withdraw your candidacy for Superintendent of Schools before your new contract takes effect. This will likely mean an acting Superintendent for a year, but it will give the Board (including newly elected members) the opportunity to choose a leader who can better serve our county.

Members of the BOE, whether you will ever admit to fault or not, please acknowledge the obvious lack of trust between you and the people you serve. I don’t know if you can fix that as individuals, but as a system you must. I call upon you to take immediate actions to dramatically increase transparency for school system and BOE operations. Some actions you should take include:

• Publically support proposed legislation that would require the state public access ombudsman to investigate the integrity of county school officials' denials of public information requests from July 1, 2012 — when Dr. Foose became superintendent — through December 31, 2015.

• Reinvigorate transparency mechanisms within the HCPSS that you have allowed to atrophy: the independent audit office, the school system ombudsman and the public budget committee.

• Immediately put in place independent audits and public reports for the following:

o The process for renewing the Superintendent’scontract – including criteria you used, opportunities for public input, and potential irregularities during the meeting itself.

o Potential health and financial concerns regarding the conditions and maintenance of HCPSS buildings

o The provision of special education services and how our actual practices follow the intent of school system polices and how they compare to actions of other counties in Maryland.

 

 

It is also worth noting that every member of the Board will be up for reelection either this year or in 2018. Each of you should objectively look at the current situation and ask yourself if you really are the right person to lead this system. It may be the best thing you can do for the county is to step aside and allow for new leadership.

Thank you for your attention and consideration,

Joshua Kaufman, former Member and Chair,

Howard CountyBOE, Elkridge, MD

*****

Shared with permission.