Richard Montgomery HS, July 25, 2012
In her opening remarks, Shirley Brandman stated that the goal of the work session was not to come to a final resolution with regards to defining core values but rather to develop a consensus that will serve asa foundation guiding the Board in formulating those core values. Members of the Board of Education and MCPS staff present at the work session had received copies of the Core Values Definition, the Core Purpose Statement as well as a list of offered and proposed Core Values. These definitions were prepared by the Core Value Ad Hoc Committee whose members included Pat O’Neill, Judith Docca, Chris Barclay and Larry Bowers. Shirley Brandman asked for feedback on the draft Core Values Definition which reads as follows:
“Principles that define the culture of the organization and guide the behavior of employees in relationship with students, parents and community”.
Questions were immediately raised with regards to what groups should be included in the definition. Dr. Starr pondered if parent and student behavior should be expected to reflect the core values. Shirley Brandman agreed that core values reflect and guide culture and it is therefore important to determine who is expected to affiliate with those values. A question was also raised whether or not the Board should be included in the definition. Chris Barclay thought that the question for a Board member should
be “Is this an organization I want to work for and have oversight responsibility?”
Judith Docca added that she considers herself an employee of the school system and therefore she expects to be guided by these values.
Following the initial discussion, the draft definition of core values was revised and it now reads:
“Principles that define the culture of the organization and guide the behavior of employees, and relationships among students, parents, staff and community.”
The discussion moved on to the draft Core Purpose Statement which was proposed by the Ad Hoc Committee as the following:
“To provide an education that develops the potential of all students and prepares them to participate in, and contribute to a global society”.
Dr. Starr opened up the discussion by stating that he gets very nervous around the word “potential” because the word often tends to imply that only certain students have potential and others don’t. He did express his preference for simple but inspirational language. Dr. Starr also raised a relevant issue of how the Montgomery County school system wishes to position itself in terms of how it views the value of education. Is education a public good or a private commodity? He gave examples of several school systems where education is considered a private commodity. The list includes New York, Denver, New Orleans.
Shirley Brandman asked other Board members and staff to break into groups to come up with additional descriptions to enrich the current Core Purpose Statement. After soliciting those ideas, she also determined that the participants showed a tendency to consider an education as a public good as opposed to a private commodity. The input provided by the Board members and staff included the following:
-to prepare students for their future
-to inspire teaching and learning for students every day so that they can change the world
-to provide an education that maximizes the opportunities for students and provides endless possibilities to participate in a global society
The group then proceeded to discuss the draft core values proposed by the Ad Hoc Committee. Those core values include: equity, excellence, continuous improvement, collaboration, and respect. Dr. Starr stated that “equity is all about a belief system and defines who we are”. Pat O’Neill added that it also captures students as assets. Both Judith Docca and Chris Barclay agreed that it is important to treat students as assets and move away from the negative language that now defines topics such as increased enrollment, high FARMS rate or diversity, and start discussing these issues as positives.
The Board continued to discuss individual core values and their tag lines for the rest of the afternoon.
Let's see: so far IN PRACTICE, the Board of Education's core values seem to be:
ReplyDelete1. Harassment of families of disabled children.
2. Approving theft of a child's school work.
3. Promoting pollution and toxic runoff via artificial turf fields.
4. Promoting pollution by burning styrofoam trays (instead of permitting reusable trays).
Personally, the comment that resonated most with me during the discussion on who should be included in the core value definition was an aside by Board member O’Neill that “MCCPTA represents only SOME parents”. Even our new Superintendent uses the words “PTA” and “parents” interchangeably. For example, when asked recently why the additional funds went to salaries and benefits rather than to create smaller classrooms, the Superintendent replied that this is what the parents wanted.
ReplyDeletePat O’Neill’s remark acknowledges that we parents are truly a diverse group. The PTA priorities are often influenced too much by the needs of MCPS administration and school principals and indeed do not appeal to all parents. There are other voices advocating on behalf of our children and those need to be recognized, heard and respected rather than called names.
D. Wilson
Westbrook ES parent
I was struck by Judith Docca's remark that she considers herself an employee of the school system and would therefore want to be guided by its core values. While it's a good idea for MCPS and BOE to be working under the same general assumptions, Ms. Docca is a publicly elected official, and like all BOE member is an employee of the electorate, the tax-paying citizenry--not MCPS. I think many of the Board's more controversial actions (and inactions) over the last decade or so can be traced to this misconception on members' own parts-- that as BOE members they are employees of MCPS rather than independent outside auditor/governors whose responsibility is not to the Superintendent or any MCPS program or policy, but to the general public whom MCPS serves. This perhaps why Fred Evans, another MCPS insider, is not our best choice to fill Laura Berthiaume's shoes.
ReplyDeleteH. Mordhorst
Sent from iPad