“Take Your Child To Work Day” gets a no go from Superintendent Haas
“Take Your child To Work Day”… seems like an easy concept. I can remember as a child I looked forward to the fact that my mom, a speech pathologist in the school system, would take my sisters and I to work on that special day.
The whole day was so cool right down to eating lunch in the classroom and using the faculty restroom. Wow, we were easily pleased. We saw all that the ‘big bad’ world had to offer and that our mother was something other then ‘mommy.’ She was someone that taught and was important to others as well. I can remember marveling at the teachers and then returning home to play school.
Now, that very same “Take Your child To Work Day” is considered an UNLAWFUL ABSENCE. I have a real problem with that.
Our eldest daughter has been asking about this day for years and now that she’s old enough to understand the concept and follow directions safely, she will not be able to attend work with her father on Thursday, April 24th.
Continue reading “Take Your Child To Work Day” gets a no go from Superintendent Haas
What Ever Happened to Local Courtesy? Who is the Roadblock to an Elected School Board in Harford County?
The fate of the elected School Board bill goes down to the wire in Annapolis. For the latest updates, check out the comments to this article…
When a majority of delegates from a local jurisdiction sponsor legislation affecting their jurisdiction alone, the custom of the Maryland General Assembly is to approve it as a “local courtesy.” The bill proposing an elected Board of Education in Harford County should be a good example the Annapolis political tradition.
When the bill establishing a fully elected board was amended to create a partially elected, or blended school board, http://mlis.state.md.us/2008rs/billfile/SB0306.htm, it got the support of all three Harford County senators, unanimous approval in the full state senate and unanimous approval by a vote of the Harford County delegation - although Delegate Mary-Dulany James, a staunch opponent of elections, was not present for the delegation vote (remember this for later).
With no recorded votes in opposition to the partially elected Board of Education legislation and overwhelming public support for it, the bill should be well on its way to passage, courtesy of local courtesy. Why, then, are two members of the House of Delegates from outside of Harford County trying so hard to kill it?
Continue reading What Ever Happened to Local Courtesy? Who is the Roadblock to an Elected School Board in Harford County?
“First, do no Harm” - Councilman Slutzky Questions the Merit of Board of Education School Reform
Read the ‘Erroneous and Malicious’ Comments that Forced the Board of Education President to Announce He’s Leaving Office
Public frustration with the Comprehensive High School Reform Plan (CSSRP) prompted the Harford County Council to make an unprecedented address to the Board of Education at its meeting tonight (Monday) in Bel Air.
The half-hour presentation delivered by county councilman Richard C. Slutzky, a veteran educator of 39 years, reflected questions raised by parents, students, teachers and administrators who had contacted the council as a result of what they believed was a lack of response from of the board since CSSRP was presented in 2005 and implemented in the fall of 2006.
Before councilman Slutzky was able to begin his presentation, board president Thomas Fidler, Jr. announced that he will not seek a second term and wanted to clear the air about “erroneous and malicious” comments made on a website regarding the scheduling of the county council’s discussion.
Slutzky began by commending the board for their efforts at reform, but noted that an evaluation was necessary to determine whether the “good intentions” of the board had actually been carried out by CSSRP. Using the board’s original rationale for reform as a framework, Slutzky posed questions which he said would assist the board in determining whether intended results were being achieved and what unintended consequences have resulted. He also suggested areas for future exploration.
March 16, 2008 at 9:22 pmWhy the Board of Ed Doesn’t Want You to Know About the Harford County Council Visit Monday Night
UPDATE: At tonight’s (3/17) Board of Education meeting, board president Thomas Fidler, Jr. announced he will not seek a second term on the board. Stay tuned for details.
You might not know by looking at the agenda released by the Board of Education, but The Dagger has learned that the Harford County Council is expected to raise a series of serious questions Monday night regarding secondary school reform in the Harford County Public School system.
Prompted by public concern over the Comprehensive Secondary School Reform Plan (CSSRP), County Councilman Dick Slutzky is expected to make a presentation on behalf of the entire county council during the Board of Education meeting Monday, March 17 at 6:30 p.m. in Bel Air.
As rare an occasion as it would be to have most, if not all, of the Harford County Council in attendance for the Board of Education meeting, Slutzky’s presentation has been curiously dubbed “County Council Discussion” and buried 2/3 of the way down the agenda under General Public Comments.
Continue reading Why the Board of Ed Doesn’t Want You to Know About the Harford County Council Visit Monday Night
A Survey With Sense: Harford Students and Parents Weigh-In On Constrictive School Reform
Remember that bogus survey with the $46,000 price tag, all about high school reform in Harford County?
The Dagger just received another survey that’s full of questions the folks who got paid the $46,000 didn’t even think to ask. The new survey was created by a local high school teacher who wanted to know more about one of the Concepts of Comprehensive Secondary School Reform (CSSRP) - the one theorizing that students should choose a “career pathway” in high school, because students would be more interested in school if they had “coursework with an exit purpose.”
So let’s find out what kids really think about picking a career path when they are still freshman in high school and what happens when students are, as one of them put it, “pigeon- holed” into taking certain classes. Continue reading A Survey With Sense: Harford Students and Parents Weigh-In On Constrictive School Reform
State Senate Amends Legislation And Paves The Way For A Partially-Elected Board of Education In Harford County
UPDATE: The Harford County delegation voted UNANIMOUSLY to support the amendments creating a blended school board. Del. Dan Riley, who had abstained from voting on the all-elected board, voted in favor of the amendements. Del. Mary-Dulany James was absent from the vote.
An amended version of Senate Bill 306 passed by the state senate today (Tuesday) would establish a nine-member Board of Education in Harford County with three members appointed by the governor and the remaining six members elected in-district.
The amended elected school board bill, SB 306, received a favorable report from the Senate’s Education, Health and Environmental Affairs Committee on Friday and received local courtesy today in the state senate, passing on second read.
There were no questions in the senate, and no further amendments in Tuesday’s action. A third reading of the bill is scheduled for Thursday.
With the first hurdle of senate approval out of the way, Sen. Barry Glassman cautioned today, “Still have my work cut out on House side.”
March 10, 2008 at 1:28 pmC. Milton Wright High School Science Teacher and Wrestling Coach Arrested For Multiple Child Sex Offenses
David “Dewey” Louis Vasses, a 29-year-old Science Teacher/Wrestling coach with C. Milton Wright High School in Bel Air, was arrested Saturday on charges that stem from information that a teacher at the high school was having a sexual relationship with at least one student at the school.
On Saturday, March 8, 2008, Harford County Sheriff’s deputies arrested Vasses, of the 100 block of Kipling Court in Abingdon, on charges of sexual child abuse, 4th degree sex offense and unnatural and perverted practices.
Vasses was released on $50,000.00 bond.
Continue reading C. Milton Wright High School Science Teacher and Wrestling Coach Arrested For Multiple Child Sex Offenses
The Elected School Board Stunt of the Week
Take a wild guess – throw a dart with a blindfold on – and you might divine that I’m not a big fan of establishment politics. Nor am I big on PR stunts. The problem with PR stunts is they are inherently deceptive. The stuntmen and stunt women want us to believe what we’re seeing is real. The problem with establishment politics is that society’s pressing need – “the children,” for instance – always ends up playing second fiddle to flaccid businessmen and guileful dealmakers.
PR stunts and establishment politics go hand in hand. One such stunt, designed to protect the status quo against what has become a groundswell of support for an elected school board in Harford County, played out in Annapolis Wednesday.
Del. Mary-Dulany James (D-District 34) considers herself a stalwart of the community’s educational institutions. She has every right to. Not just because her father helped found Harford Community College, but because she’s been a voice of reason during heated education debates past – and because she’s been a defender of the liberal bastion of education in the conservative bastion of Harford’s suburban farm country.
Continue reading The Elected School Board Stunt of the Week
“A Republic, If You Can Keep It” - Part II
You have to wonder what Del. Mary-Dulany James and Del. Dan Riley really think about the people they represent. Maybe we could get them on “Moment of Truth”, that new reality show where people are hooked up to a giant lie detector and then asked embarrassing questions such as:
Do you think your constituents are incapable of electing their own board of education?
That would be one way to get at the truth. Or we could just take a look at HB 806, the legislation James and Riley put together to thwart the elected school board bill being sponsored by the rest of the Harford County delegation.
Continue reading “A Republic, If You Can Keep It” - Part II
What do we really get out of the Board of Education’s budget spending? Survey says…
It’s budget season in Harford County, when public hearings are held, pleas for funding are made and grumblings about taxes waft through the air. At one such hearing last Wednesday night, Harford County Public Schools were a hot topic. But don’t you wonder what the Board of Education does with its money? Let’s look at one example.
A few years back, the Board of Education approved a series of high school reforms known as Comprehensive Secondary School Reform (CSSRP). One of the core concepts behind reform was that students would be more engaged in school if they could take more electives, which also meant that students would spend less time in classes covering math, science, English and social studies.
The idea was that something had to be done to improve student achievement; and this was definitely something. Despite warnings from teachers, parents, students, a few brave administrators and a boatload of research, the Board of Education approved the change. In light of those same warnings however, the board promised an independent review by the end of the first year of implementation.
Continue reading What do we really get out of the Board of Education’s budget spending? Survey says…
