Village Green/Town²

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, investigat...

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...

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 contro...

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 th...

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,...

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] com...

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 spe...