Remember that the MCPS Student member of the Board of Education is NEVER an average or below average student. No, a certain GPA is required to even be involved in student government in MCPS. Don't expect to see a student that is struggling or has issues about her/his public school education to get a seat representing students on the Board of Education. Don't expect those voices to ever be represented at the Board table. What about a student that is not in a traditional neighborhood school? Would they ever get a seat on the Board of Education? Not in Montgomery County.
That's just like in adult campaigns, right? The adult Board of Education members have a minimum Grade Point Average (GPA), right? No traffic tickets or financial issues, right?
A Bill is about to zip through Annapolis to give the MCPS Student member of the Board of Education the brand new power to vote on the MCPS Operating and Capital Budgets.
1. The Student Member of the Board of Education is supervised by a MCPS employee. This relationship creates an obvious conflict of interest as the Board of Education is the governing body for the school system.
Yet, for the SMOB, an employee that they oversee, supervises them. If MC 9-12 passes, the SMOB would be in the position of voting on the compensation of the person that supervises their position.2. The MCPS Student Member of the Board election is run by the Montgomery County Region of the Maryland Association of student Councils (MCR). The MCR Executive Board home page states that students must maintain a 2.0 Grade Point Average, even though there is no requirement in the state statute of a minimum grade point average for participation as a Student Member of the Board of Education.
The organization that governs the election and nominating convention for the SMOB is apparently only made up of students who satisfy this grade point average minimum. Do adult members of the Board of Education and the citizens that vote for them have to demonstrate a similar qualification?
3. The MCPS Student Member of the Board needs the signature of their school's principal to run for office. This requirement is not found in the Maryland law. Below is the form that a candidate for the SMOB office must fill out. (It is unclear why the form references Section 3-701 of the Education Article of the Annotated Code of Maryland, as that section applies to Howard County.)
Again, the SMOB candidate is beholden to a MCPS employee. In this case the SMOB must obtain the signature of a MCPS employee in order to even "qualify" to run for this position.
Then the form below must be turned in to a MCPS employee in order for a student to be a candidate. Do adult Board members have any such similar requirement when they run for office?
4. The Nominating Convention for the Student Member of the Board of Education is overseen by MCPS staff. Note at the link that only "authorized adults" can register students to attend the Nominating Convention.smobApp2010
There is NO GPA requirement for the Student Member, because it is NOT an extracurricular activity, as he or she is an elected official in a position established in Maryland LAW. Representing it as such is misleading and false. Furthermore, the Principal cannot refuse to sign the form, as he or she is only VERIFYING the fact that the student is enrolled in Montgomery County Public Schools. Additionally, the Staff member that you allege oversees the Student Member does NO such thing. She advises the County level student governments and runs programs given to her by the Department of Student Services. She does work with the SMOB to advocate for student rights, because that is the goal of her positon as well as the goal of the Student Member. As for authorized adults, adults have NO suffrage when it comes to Student Member elections, and having outside adults is disruptive to the academic and security environment of the school as an educational institution. Your opposition to the Student Member's voting rights because you wil have no influence over them and you are afraid that student issues will actually be addressed instead of your agenda.
ReplyDeleteSadly, Alex, there is a GPA requirement to be involved in student government. Those are the students that run the election, not the everyday walking the hall students. Student government is an extra curricular activity.
DeleteWho says the principal can't refuse to sign the form? What adult has to get a "note" before they can run for office? Students should be able to file to run just like the adults. Want adult powers? Then get adult responsibility. The citizens of Montgomery County are seriously supposed to trust a student with a $2.1+ BILLION DOLLAR budget but that same student needs a note to run for office?
The activities of the MCPS employee that handles the SMOB position have been documented on this blog. That relationship has been well established.
Student issues would actually be addressed if ALL students were allowed to file to run for the SMOB position and participate in the process. Unfortunately, student issues - like the charging of curricular fees - have been DROPPED by SMOBs who ran on a platform to address that issue. Students have not seen their issues brought to the Board table by their student representatives.
Alex, why don't you do an analysis of the voting record of the SMOB. Let us know what you find. How often does the SMOB EVER diverge from the Board majority? And what about the many OPEN MEETINGS ACT violations that the Board has incurred? That's what students support?
One issue not brought up by Alex, above is the issue of the student as an elected official.
ReplyDeleteIn the past, student members of the Board of Education have been protected by the adult Board of Education members and shielded from inquiry. Again, want full powers? Then be prepared to take full responsibility.
$2 BILLION DOLLARS is a lot of money. Those that vote on how to spend those funds had better be prepared for a review of their decisions. If the SMOB is given full voting rights, then this isn't just a $5,000 scholarship opportunity, this is full adult responsibility for decisions.
Does anyone really believe that a student with LESS than a 2.0 GPA should be committing to be a student Board member? The time committment is pretty daunting. The argument that students with less than a 2.0 aren't properly represented is pretty bogus. A student with less than a 2.0 should be studying harder, not spending time on the BoE. It's a giant committment, with tons of background reading before meetings. A student with less than a 2.0 probably isn't finishing their regular homework, let alone their BoE reading.
ReplyDeleteThanks for making the point that the student member of the BOE is a restricted position and not open to ALL students.
DeleteWhere does the law say that the ADULT members of the Board of Education have to have a minimum GPA or degree or even be able to read?
Where does the law say that the ADULT members of the Board have to have a certain amount of time to devote to the position?
There's no evidence that the current Board members devote "tons" of time to their positions. Last meeting the Board took the afternoon off and went to lunch!
If the student member of the Board position has restrictions and requirements that the adults do not, then clearly this is not a position that is elected through an open election by the student population at large.
This is a select position chosen through a process that limits student participation to those in the "club", and that rewards the winner with a scholarship.
If the student has too much homework then how is it that they are being given responsibility for a $2.1+ BILLION DOLLAR budget?
Your point is that if the student is too busy they can't devote time to the job, in which case they simply become a rubber stamp for the adult Board members.
Take a look at what happened in Howard County with their student member of the BOE when that student became tangled in the student versus adult debate.
@Anonymous Mar 23 7:22 PM, no one running for office who files is required to have any restrictions that would be comparable. That is like saying, for example, someone running for office must own their own home, because someone is making a judgement call that the candidate who rents cannot be very responsible, can they? Or like saying a candidate must have graduated college, because only graduating from High School doesn't show responsibility. Those judgement calls are up to the individual voter in our society. It is up to the voter to vet these candidates as we step into the voting booth. Given that this BOE member is responsible now for directing the spending of over $2.1Billion they must be treated like every other candidate. In MoCo for the BOE, yes, there are district reps. But everyone in the county can vote for those candidates. Frankly I am not even sure if this is constitutional, to have an elected gov't. official who is required to adhere to different rules than all the other candidates in the race, and, given our system in the county, to have a restricted class of voters voting for that candidate. Is that even legal?
ReplyDelete