Ekey: Sharp Drop In Harford County Public School Graduation Rates For Special Ed. And African American Students

July 30, 2008

Dear Board Members:

In the July 13, 2008, edition of The Sun Sunday, President Hess is quoted as saying “With CSSRP, our graduation rates have increased, our dropout rates have decreased, our HSA scores have gone up.” I was curious about the validity of that statement, especially regarding the dropout rate and the graduation rate, so I have been spending some time with the data at www.mdreportcard.org. I gave extra attention to the data for special education students and for African American students. Continue reading Ekey: Sharp Drop In Harford County Public School Graduation Rates For Special Ed. And African American Students

Who’s Pulling the Strings? Councilman Slutzky Asks Gov. O’Malley to Release Info on School Board Appointments

Gov. Martin O’Malley was misinformed. How else to explain the letter from his education adviser explaining it was O’Malley’s job to pick the candidates “he believed were the most highly qualified” for the Harford County Board of Education?

If the Governor thought his selections were the most eager, or had rallied the right political support; fair enough. But the most qualified? Continue reading Who’s Pulling the Strings? Councilman Slutzky Asks Gov. O’Malley to Release Info on School Board Appointments

Ekey: “Unacceptable Level Of Failure” In Harford County Public Schools Warrants Scrutiny

Dear Mr. Smilko: 

      The Aegis reported recently that you made the statement that “the dropout rate is decreasing”.  In fact, the dropout rate for the Harford County Public Schools for 2007 is the second highest dropout rate out of the past five years.  The rates in 2003, 2004, and 2005 were all lower than the rate for 2007.  The trend for the dropout rate over the past 8 years does not indicate a consistent, year to year decline. 

      Please consider the graduation rate as a more appropriate measure of school system success.  The graduation rate for 2007 is the third highest in the past decade and started showing sustained improvement in 2003.    Continue reading Ekey: “Unacceptable Level Of Failure” In Harford County Public Schools Warrants Scrutiny

Want To Be On the Board Of Education? Get Your Resumes Ready

Candidates interested in being recommended to the governor by the newly formed Harford County Board of Education Recommendation Committee have until 5 p.m. on Tuesday, June 24 to deliver a letter of interest and a resume addressed to County Councilman Richard C. Slutzky, chairman of the committee at 212 South Bond Street in Bel Air. Submissions must be made in hard copy only.

Applicants must be at least 21 years old, may not be current employees of Harford County Public Schools and must have lived in the county for at least two years.  Interviews will be held on Monday, July 7th beginning at 6:30 p.m. Opening statements of up to five minutes will be allowed, followed by questions from committee members. The public will be able to attend the interview session, although the vote will be held in a closed session, immediately following the interviews. Continue reading Want To Be On the Board Of Education? Get Your Resumes Ready

Harford County’s Temporary Board of Education Nominating Committee Meets To Establish Rules

Anyone interested in seeing Harford County’s Temporary Board of Education Nominating Committee in action will get their chance tomorrow, Thursday, June 12, from 8 – 9 a.m. in the Harford County Council Chambers when the group meets for the first time to establish rules and procedures. The Dagger has learned the seat reserved for the Harford County Delegation will be shared by Delegates Susan McComas, Wayne Norman and Donna Stifler.

State Senators Barry Glassman and Nancy Jacobs will share the seat allocated to Harford County’s senators. The two positions representing the county executive’s office will be filled by Frank D. Boston Jr., Manager of the Harford County Office of Human Relations, and H. Roxanne Lynch, Director of the Office of Government and Community Relations.

Here’s the full press release:

MEDIA ALERT

On behalf of the Harford County Council 

Date:  June 3, 2008                      Contact: Diane Burch

Bel Air, Maryland                                                                                   Phone No: 410-638-3343

EVENT	Temporary Board of Education Nominating Committee Meeting
DATE/TIME    LOCATION	Thursday, June 12, 2008 from 8:00 to 9:00 A.M.  Harford County Council Chambers 212 S. Main Street Bel Air, Maryland 21014

ACTIVITY

This will be the initial meeting of the Temporary Nominating Committee established by Harford County Council Resolution No. 24-08 for the purpose of establishing a temporary process that allows candidates interested in a Position on the Harford County Board of Education to submit their names to a committee of local officials who shall review the applicants and submitRecommendations to the Governor

PARTICIPANTS

The Honorable Richard Slutzky, Councilmember District E, the Honorable Dion Guthrie, Councilmember District A, the Honorable James McMahan, Councilmember District C. Other appointed members of the Temporary Nominating Committee

 

Thanks To Concerned Parents and A Phone Call, Fixes and Changes Are On The Way At Patterson Mill Middle/High

As of a couple weekends ago, the damaged Verizon utility box alongside the parking lot at Patterson Mill Middle/High School still had not been fixed after more than 6 months, despite many requests from the community.  Exposed wires protruded from the split-open casing which jutted from the ground in an area frequented by the public and children of all ages. In response to recent inquiries, school staff reported that they were still waiting for the contractor and/or Verizon to address the problem.

Last Monday, The Dagger called the toll free number for Verizon’s repair service out of frustration and concern that this safety hazard would go another 6 months and possibly cause harm that should have been prevented. Verizon issued a call for service for the following day and in less than 24 hours, the entire box was removed. Continue reading Thanks To Concerned Parents and A Phone Call, Fixes and Changes Are On The Way At Patterson Mill Middle/High

Student Voice: Baltimore City School Student Sees State Setting Youth Up For Failure

By Raven Moniqu’e Coleman (a Junior at Doris M. Johnson High School in Baltimore City)

I bet the state is content with many of Baltimore City’s students having a bleak future.

In 2000, Judge Joseph H. Kaplan ordered that the state issue adequate funding to the city after he deemed that students would need to receive between $200- $260 million in addition to other funds in order to comply with students’ constitutional rights.

As expected, these demands have yet to be met. I think the state doesn’t want to admit that they set our youth up for failure. Continue reading Student Voice: Baltimore City School Student Sees State Setting Youth Up For Failure

Harford County Council Resolution Establishes New Panel To Endorse Candidates For Board Of Education

Rarely do politicians pull back the curtain and let the public see how political appointments are made, but Harford County Councilman Richard Slutzky has done just that by introducing the resolution to open up the selection process for school board members. Designed as a temporary fix until elections are approved by the General Assembly, the resolution establishes a 7-member panel composed of elected officials and representatives from the county executive’s office which will review and endorse candidates for the school board in view of the voting public.

Currently, school board members are appointed by the governor who relies on endorsements from local officials; a process that serves almost no one. Local officials are often flying blind because they have no formal way to recruit or to vet the candidates, candidates are dependent on having the right political connections and the public has no way of knowing who’s in the running or who’s backing whom.

Such is the case with the Bel Air seat on the board of education which will soon be vacated by current president Tom Fidler. Fidler reportedly favors a certain candidate as his replacement, one who does not support an elected school board, and on whose behalf he has been contacting local officials. This type of thing now happens behind closed doors, but may soon be brought into the open. Continue reading Harford County Council Resolution Establishes New Panel To Endorse Candidates For Board Of Education

“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

Why 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