What's Your Issue?

• Music/arts education
  
• Fair treatment of teachers and support staff
• Special education
• Transparency/MPIA requests
• Reducing high stakes standardized testing
• Addressing racism
• Bullying, sexual harassment, sexual assault
• Mold and hazardous conditions
• Electing a better board of education

What's your issue? One? More than one? What about one or two I haven't even listed? More recess, healthier school breakfast and lunches, non-sexist dress code, school overcrowding, school redistricting...

Right now in Howard County parents are pretty much on their own. The necessary qualities for collaboration with the school system are notably absent: respect, responsiveness, accountability, transparency. If you want to make change, you need to create your own network and mobilize your own grassroots organization. It can be overwhelming.

So many important issues are being neglected or downright suppressed that parents and community members are put in the position of advocating, organizing, investigating, publicizing, seeking and assessing stakeholder input, reaching out to public officials. In short, they are doing the work of the school system.

It is a heavy weight to carry.

How do parents, who may be motivated by one specific and all-consuming issue, find a way to work together for over-arching goals without losing forward momentum on their own? It's hard. Parents don't have the money and institutional resources that are provided to the school system. They are taking on this mission on top of everything else they already do.

Juggling priorities when so many are desperately important is a challenge. I don't think it's impossible. I continue to be impressed with the tenacity and compassion of Howard County Parents. This is not a stupid population HCPSS is serving. If something needs doing, they get to work to get it done.

That doesn't mean that this is the way things ought to be, however. No one I know has a desire to run the school system. The goal is school system leadership that knows how to do the job and does it, with respect, responsiveness, accountability, and transparency.

I don't think that's too much to ask.

*****

A footnote: I lead off with music/arts education because that's how I first got involved--in trying to defend elementary music and art programs from cuts to instructional time. I don't put it first because I think it's more important than the others. I put it there to say: this is what reached out and grabbed me and said, "Pay attention!"

.

 

The More Things Change

Today the Board of Education will vote on next year's budget directly after a hastily-rescheduled work session which begins at 8 am. Although so much has happened since this time last year, in many ways we are exactly where we were. Do we have any reason to believe that this year's vote will be different?

Last night I re-read Board Member Bess Altwerger's statement on the occasion of last year's budget. It's chilling to me that absolutely no progress has been made on any of her points of concern. Take a moment to read it. It's a beautiful combination of respect, courtesy, and dissent. And it floors me that our board as a whole hasn't addressed any of these concerns. Not one.

As a community we have worked to make changes for our schools, most notably at the polls and in Annapolis. Parents, teachers, and community members are awakened and engaged and active in the cause of improving our schools. Our County Council is responding to issues of accountability and transparency.

This does not change the fact that in December we will have a better board of education, but now, as the budget vote looms, we do not.

Today community members will be in attendance at Central Office. They will be wearing blue to support the teachers who cannot be present due to the last-minute time change of the meeting. They will be there as witnesses, to be the eyes of the community. Their presence says that, no matter what happens at today's meeting, these things will not change:

• Our community supports teachers
• Our community continues to work for a better board of education
• Our community will support the work of elected officials who share these goals, and hold accountable any elected officials who obstruct them*

Last year, Bess Altwerger said,

After deep reflection, I have decided to vote against the budget in accordance with my own conscience and best judgement, and in response to the public comments and testimonies coming from educators, parents and community members who believe that this budget does not reflect the priorities that have kept our schools among the best in the state and the nation. I agree with many of their concerns.

Priorities. That's it in a nutshell. If the Superintendent and the Board use the budget impasse as a tool to violate negotiated agreements with teachers, then their priorities will be quite clear. A budget should not be used as a weapon against those who are unable to fight back. If it is used in this way it will wound not only teachers and staff, but our children.

Keep your eyes open, Howard County. There's six months until December and it looks like it's going to be a bumpy ride.

*That last one may bear revisiting. Pay close attention to how the budget circus plays out.

 

Cleanup Crew

Jason Whong works for The Maryland Daily Record. He also lives in Columbia. While I follow him on Twitter because of his news connection, a recent theme has emerged in his Twitter stream that bears sharing with my readers.

Removed from stream in #ColumbiaMD #HoCoMd.: plastic, polystyrene, metals. Please don't litter! (May 22nd)

 

Here's what I am picking up today from this stream bed in #ColumbiaMD #HoCoMd. It never ends.... (May 24th)

 

Today's #cleanup from a stream in #ColumbiaMD #HoCoMd.: blue ribbon, polystyrene, plastic spoon. #dontpollute (May 28th)

 

If you're wondering why I'm often cleaning this stream in #HoCoMd., here's why:

 

These days I read a lot of complaints about what's wrong with Columbia which center around making demands and railing against the evils of change. Demand that the noise at Merriweather stop. Demand that commercial development stop. Demand that no trees are ever to be cut down. Demand that CA's Open Space be controlled by Pioneers.

 

Well I have a demand, too. No, a suggestion. I'm just not the demanding type.

 

Stop littering. Teach your children and grandchildren not to litter. And while you are at it, do what Jason Whong does. Walk the pathways with a trash bag and pick up trash. It's a little thing that we can do to make Columbia and better place that doesn't involve angry demands, contentious public meetings, or biting letters to the editor.

 

All of the Columbia Villages organize cleanups every year, and that is wonderful. I have participated in one, and it was surprisingly fun to do dirty work with a bunch of friends and neighbors. But don't wait for an annual event. Just jump in where you are. We really can make a difference, one person at a time.

 

"A City Where Man and Nature Co-exist", a reporter called Columbia in 1982. But to coexist we must contribute, to accept responsibility for being a positive partner rather than a force for destruction. Like Jason, we all have personal reasons for protecting and preserving the natural environment of our home.

Find your reason.

 

The Party House

Quadroplexes. It's a word I had never heard until I moved to Columbia. I live in a community of homes which are four houses stuck together, dotted across the rolling suburban terrain in that peculiar Columbia way. I've heard that Rouse wanted the natural topography of the land to be left untouched as much as possible. For us this means some great sledding hills and some terrible runoff issues every time it rains.

But I digress.

Each little house has its own fenced-in patio. Some have small yards, some none at all more than a tiny flower bed out front. It just depends on how the building is situated. The grassy areas all around are common area. I'd love to see them used more and enjoyed more, but usually they're just green, well-mowed, and empty.

The house at the top of the hill, on the corner, is a bit different from the rest. Long ago an owner removed the fencing around the patio so their back yard opens up into the common space. Something about that layout has made that particular home the best one in the neighborhood for outdoor entertaining. When my daughter was little she dubbed it "the party house."

It has never been a problem. It's just something interesting about my quirky little neighborhood. Well, maybe it was a problem to my daughter, who wondered why we could see people having cook-outs and having fun but we never got to join them, Because, while we know all the people in our immediate vicinity, we don't know anyone "at the top of the hill." You'd think it was in a different time zone or something. Silly, when you think about it. But our paths never cross. Maybe they park in the other parking lot on the other side of the neighborhood.

Sounds lame, doesn't it?

Well, last night, when we got home from visiting a friend, the Party House was kicking it up a notch with the biggest outdoor party this neighborhood has seen in the last 15 years, complete with amplified music. It was loud. It was loud enough that we could still hear it when we went inside the house, but not painfully so. We have decent windows that muffle a lot of outdoor sound, plus the intermittent blowing of the AC provided a filter.

It was a little annoying. But it wrapped up at a decent hour and didn't interfere with anyone here getting to sleep. It was one loud party in a neighborhood that doesn't have enough parties. I'd love to get a bunch of acoustic guitars out on the grassy areas outside our house for a jam session, or see a neighborhood-wide water balloon battle for kids out back.

This morning I could be complaining, and most people would think I was completely justified. But I'm not. It was the first big cookout of summer. Maybe it was a graduation party. Who knows? It was a temporary inconvenience for us but it also was a sign of life.

People live here, celebrate here. That's a good thing.

 

 

 

Popsicles

I work in an afterschool program in an independent school. Each day follows a general overall pattern: snack, time for indoor play/reading/homework, some sort of activity for the day, outdoor play. We've done everything from building and decorating a cardboard city, going on nature hikes, having a scavenger hunt, planting seeds and caring for them, making gak, making homemade ranch dip for trying lots of raw vegetables for snack...you get the picture.

Probably the best part of this program to me is how different it feels from the standardized approach of most childcare and school programs. It is the closest thing one's child could have to playing in a home neighborhood with neighborhood kids and plenty of supportive adults on tap to support their play and keep things safe. Many of us had this experience as children but have seen it disappear from modern life.

Wednesday's activity was making popsicles. The kids prepped and sliced strawberries, squeezed oranges for juice, mixed with simple syrup and blended the mixture in the blender. (I should note the the students are divided into three groups by age, so each group did these tasks in a way that was appropriate to their abilities.) When it was ready, we poured it into paper cups, added popsicle sticks, and put them in the freezer.

The next day, Thursday, was hot. The kids came to aftercare excited about enjoying their homemade snack. But when the afternoon began there was an added treat--the lower school instrumental ensemble was preparing for a concert and was going to do a performance for us--outside. The music room is in a "relocatable" trailer sort-of-thing, with the added bonus of a screened-in porch facing the playground. The instrumentalists were set up there, ready to play.

This is how it went down: older kids helped set up chairs and benches for the audience, and a big blanket was laid out on the grass for younger kids. Then we all had our popsicles while listening to familiar early level tunes such as Hot Cross Buns, Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star, and Skip to My Lou. The music teacher invited kids to get up and skip to that last one, and, by golly, they did. A flute student played the Star Wars theme as a solo. That was a huge hit with the audience.

We sat in the shade, eating homemade popsicles and listening to music. The frozen treats weren't perfect--we hadn't strained out the strawberry seeds. The music wasn't perfect--it was a beginning ensemble, after all. The seating wasn't perfect--the sun started beating down on the blanket so we got everyone up and moved it into a shadier spot.

What made this such a brilliant event was not perfection. It was (and I cringe to use this word which has been co-opted by the ed reform industry) authentic. It was real life, in the way that childhood should be. On a hot day we had a cool treat that we helped to make ourselves, listened to our friends make music while we sat in the shade, and then we got up and played on the playground.

Each child comes to us needing the real nourishment that comes from real experiences to explore, create, play, share, question, discover. These are the kind of life experiences that help to make us fully human. I could analyze every single component of this to show how valuable it is but--you get it, don't you? The long term investment we make in our children should not be in data collection, strengths finder quizzes, standardized testing and compliance with The System. All of these are false gods.

"You parents--if your children ask for a loaf of bread, do you give them a stone instead?" (Matthew 7:9)

If our only goal is "college and career ready", we are falling so pitifully short of the mark. We all need to be "living and loving ready", most of all. If we don't make that a priority, we are denying our children the most basic tools for life.

It can begin as simply as a homemade popsicle. I'd like to turn it into a movement. Join me.

And Now, Over to You

I spent most of the day yesterday out of the house and away from social media. By the time I got home at seven, I had missed all the excitement of the County Council meeting. Thank goodness I had two articles in the Howard County Times plus eyewitness accounts on social media to bring me up to speed.

If you haven't already, you might want to read:

• "Howard County Council adopts $1.8 billion budget for fiscal year 2017" by FatimahWaseem
• "Ahead of Howard school budget adoption, financial audit, oversight committee proposed" by Fatimah Waseem

The most immediate takeaway is that the County Council unanimously passed the County Executive's budget for the school system, not the substantially larger one submitted by Central Office. It maintains the specific allocations for negotiated compensation for teachers, for special education, and for the hiring of necessary new teachers. In addition,

[County Council Chair] Ball's proposed [budget oversight] committee will help the Council analyze the Board of Education's budget and provide recommendations in preparation for next year's fiscal year 2018 budget, Ball said. The audit, by the county's auditor, may include analysis of items that have been frequently questioned in public sessions during the current budget season, including special education, the school system's health and dental fund and legal services.

The County Council has spent a huge amount of time on this. In this decision we see the culmination of studying two different budgets, hearing from the school system and community members, working collaboratively with the County Executive and with eachother to respond to a difficult challenge. I think they have navigated this treacherous terrain astoundingly well.

Yesterday was a victory for community input, for financial prudence, and for transparency in our school system. But it wasn't the end of this matter by any stretch of the imagination. Tuesday morning, at 8 am (remember that?) the Board of Education will respond as they hold their annual meeting to vote on their budget.

I would like to believe that the message that the County Executive and the County Council are sending here will be received. Experience suggests that it will not. How will Central Office (instruct the Board to) respond? Tune in Tuesday morning to find out. The more eyes on this, the better.
Nice job, County Council. Enjoy your holiday weekend. You've certainly earned it.

Commencement

Yesterday my social media feed was dominated by this photo:

Why? Some people mentioned possible costs, in light of the current budget crisis, but overall the reaction was not to money but to message: how does this look? What does it say to the community? On a day which should be about young people graduating and beginning new lives we are dumbstruck by another moment of institutional disconnect.

But let's move on. As parents we know that these days should be about the kids, and about the families who have supported them in their educational journey. Four years ago Tom Coale wrote this post about commencement speeches on HoCo Rising. It's especially relevant to me today. He quotes a speech by writer David Simon:

So for God's sake, fight. And get angry if you need to get angry. A little anger is a good thing if it isn't on your own behalf, if it's for others deserving of your anger, your empathy. And if you see the wrong around you getting bigger and uglier, then speak up, and call that wrong by its true name. Learn to refuse, to dissent. And in demanding something more from yourself and from your society, you may be surprised to find that you are not entirely alone. That other voices are saying the same things, that others want the same things.

That's a good message for everyone, not just for graduates. The title of his piece, "Yesterday Was About You, Tomorrow Is About Us" feels particularly apropos. When the new journey begins, it's a journey we take together.

I hear that by later in the day the specially-printed sign had been removed from the Superintendent's private trailer. Someone must have gotten the message that when it comes to commencement, it's not about you, it's about us.