Should teachers use Facebook to air their disagreements with parents? When does a teacher’s right to free speech cross the line? The growing use of social networking sites by teachers, parents and students raises some thorny questions.
A case in point is the slugfest going on in Havre de Grace over the controversial drama production known as Drama Therapy.
To review:
Drama Therapy was developed four years ago by teachers and guidance counselors at Havre de Grace High School as a series of short skits that are part drama, part therapy, and mainly written by students. The skits deal with serious issues facing some teens, such as suicide, incest and abortion, but they also include more light-hearted fare. The founders of Drama Therapy expected that some students would seek counseling as a result of seeing the skits. The idea was to help those students.
The skits comprising Drama Therapy changed each year, but somehow ...Continue Reading
MDJ states, “…ordinarily state legislators do not, and should not, take it upon themselves to delve into critiquing or censoring local high school theater, particularly in an official capacity.” [paragraph 3]
I heartily disagree. It is the duty of every legislator to investigate how state (and local, insofar as we represent counties) tax money is spent in any area, particularly when constituents have brought abuses to our attention. The parents who initiated the queries into what happened at HdG HS were stonewalled by the school and by the HCPS administration. No information was released until help was requested from the delegate. And the administration tried to stonewall him.
On page 2, paragraph 2, MDJ states, “I have received two ...Continue Reading
The Havre de Grace High School community will come together to implement an action plan developed to make necessary changes to the drama production entitled “Drama Therapy.” After a concerned group of parents and teachers brought forth several issues regarding the drama club production, the action plan was developed and shared with the community to begin implementation.
The annual “Drama Therapy” production, now in its fourth season, grew this year from an evening production to include an assembly-like presentation during the school day. Concerns were raised regarding the process that led to the school-wide viewing of the production. In addition, the appropriate nature of the content, the degree of counseling service or direction provided, and the nature of the “pre-” and “post-” instructional activities were cited as potentially problematic.
The action plan will facilitate improvement of the production review process and will allow the community ...Continue Reading
The following letter was sent by John P. Mallamo of Bel Air:
HB 653 Real Property Tax Relief
On 25 February the Maryland General Assembly House Ways and Means Committee conducted the first reading and public hearing on HB653, Constitutional Amendment.
This Bill introduced by Del Richard Impallaria, (R-7) provides Real Property Tax Relief to all property owners and residents of Maryland. Important features of the Bill include:
1. A fixed cap on property assessments. Real Property Tax Assessments are limited to the lower of the Consumer Price Index or 2% per assessment period, unless and until a property is purchased or transferred.
2. Protection to property owners affected by government action. Property owners will not receive full cash value appraisals and increased assessments from the base value of their properties purchased as replacements for properties affected by actions resulting from ...Continue Reading
The following letter was sent from Del. Rick Impallaria to Harford County Public Schools Superintendent Robert Tomback. A copy was provided to The Dagger:
Robert M. Tomback, Ph.D., Superintendent
Harford County Public Schools
102 South Hickory Avenue
Bel Air, Maryland 21014
Dear Dr. Tomback:
I have reviewed the Havre de Grace HS drama therapy tape, and I find very little positive to say about it. It is even difficult to talk about what occurred on stage without using language which is both offensive and improper in any setting, school or otherwise.
In addition to viewing what was on stage, I also paid attention to the reaction of the students both to the skits being acted and to explanations of what they were about to see.
I found nothing improper in the short restaurant scenes between the longer skits, and my comments do not refer to them.
Each year I like to do a survey of Maryland residents to determine how they feel on certain issues. After I receive your responses (which are kept confidential), I tally the results,which I share with the Caucus, the Governor’s Office, and, of course, with you, the respondents. I hope you will enjoy participating in this survey and seeing the end results.
The asterisked * questions were suggestions from you who responded to my request in Update #1.
*1. Do you believe there should be term limits for elected officials?
Yes No
2. If the gubernatorial election were today, would you support Governor O’Malley?
Yes No
If not, write in who you would support.
3. On a scale of 1 – 10, 10 being the highest, rank the performance of the General Assembly over the past three years (since the last election).
I have introduced five pieces of legislation this year, and I’d like to give you a synopsis of them.
House Bill 653 – Taxes – Limitations is scheduled for a hearing on Thursday, Feb. 25 at 1 pm before the House Ways and Means Committee. It is modeled after California’s Proposition 13, which brought property tax reform to that state. This bill would set property values at their 2010 value and only allow property tax increases or decreases of 2% every two years based on the Consumer Price Index. It also prevents property values from being increased when the title is being changed due to death, divorce, or other circumstances where the property is staying in the hands of a family member. It also provides that, if a person’s property is purchased through condemnation, the assessed value of the new property ...Continue Reading
The Governor admitted in his State of the State address that Maryland is in quite a bad fiscal position, yet he bragged that the State still has a AAA bond rating. On the surface, this seems good. But the ability to borrow money means the ability to put more financial debt onto the taxpayers and future taxpayers — our children and grandchildren — so that they can continue to push their failed fiscal agendas.
I thought the Governor’s most dangerous statement was when he said that it was government’s job to step up to the plate and help business. I haven’t spoken to any business people lately who believe they need any more “help” from the government. Quite to the contrary, they need the government to get off their backs and out of their pockets.
The following was received from the office of Del. Rick Impallaria:
Annapolis Update #1 – Jan. 27, 2010
Greeting from Annapolis!
Normally, I would have done an Annapolis Update prior to this, but this Session seems to be moving slower than past Sessions and nothing of real substance, at this point, has “hit the fan.”
In my committee, which is the House Economic Matters Committee, we have had a briefing on the unemployment insurance problems with the Fund. The Fund has a major shortfall due to the economic downturn and the State’s formula to resolve that shortfall requires the employer’s contribution to go from 5 percent to 13 percent, which, in my opinion, could cause even greater job loss, due to the additional financial burden being placed on businesses that are struggling to make payroll now. I believe a one-year increase of 2 percent would be enough to replenish the Fund without ...Continue Reading
The following letter was received from Patrick McGrady:
On Monday, November 16, 2009 the Route 40 Republican Club hosted it’s first fundraising event at the Wetlands Golf Club in Aberdeen. More than 250 people attended the dinner and by 6:00PM the only space left was standing room.
Stephen Wright, the President of the Route 40 Republican Club spoke about the resurgence of conservative values in Harford County. Delegate Pat McDonough spoke next, saying that if Ehrlich were to run for Governor he would support him, but if he made the “wrong” choice (and chose not to run), McDonough would run for Governor. Delegate Rick Impallaria spoke next and continued to pump up the audience for the honored guest.
The featured speaker at the dinner was Maryland Governor Bob Ehrlich. Ehrlich spoke about taking back Maryland because even though “Maryland is the bluest state,” there is great opportunity to change the way government operates ...Continue Reading
