Board member Patricia O'Neill files for office using her actual address while Board member Shirley Brandman files for office using a P.O. Box that masks the fact that she lives directly across the street from Ms. O'Neill. Maybe having 2 Board of Education members from one neighborhood helps advocacy too?
Does it also help if MCPS' Chief Engagement officer will meet with you, as opposed to advocates who can't get a meeting with Mr. Warner? What is the criteria for getting a meeting?
http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/affluent-montgomery-county-has-pockets-of-poverty-mostly-in-the-east/2014/09/06/e09dbb6a-1cea-11e4-82f9-2cd6fa8da5c4_story.html“The parents in Bethesda squeal loudly enough, and they are organized to deal with it themselves,” said Tim Warner, a former minister and now chief engagement and partnership officer for MCPS. He said Briggs Chaney and other high-poverty Montgomery communities are hindered by a lack of “social capital,” or the ability to speak with one effective voice to those in power.
MCPS Chief Engagement (MCPS)
Here is what Shirley Brandman told the Whitman High School PTSA in February of 2008 about advocacy. She also left them with her personal e-mail address at a time when there was only 1 e-mail address for the entire Board of Education. Scroll down to end.
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Shirley Brandman, Board of Education, Guest Speaker
Laura Cecala introduced
Shirley Brandman, who was elected to the Montgomery County Board
of Education last year. Laura noted that they had served as elementary school PTA presidents
together, and that Shirley is a current Whitman parent.
Shirley Brandman began by noting that having come up through levels of PTA activities, she
thought she'd be well prepared for serving on the Board of Education (BOE). In fact, being a
member of BOE is completely different. Parents who once felt free to stop her in the hall for a
conversation view BOE members differently. The challenge is to stay connected to a broad
variety of parents across the county. Regarding the discussion about suspensions, she said that
BOE has a quasi-judicial role as the last appeal before expulsion. The Board is concerned about
the high level of suspensions across the county.
To give a flavor of her job, she described the issues she had dealt with that day. She met with
new teacher inductees and noted the importance of teacher retention—which faces challenges
from external factors such as the cost of living in Montgomery County. Since the school's
budget becomes public before tax revenues are known, decisions are made with incomplete
information. Since students are only in 6th grade once (ideally), middle school reform is getting
a lot of BOE's attention. BOE is pursuing a mentoring program as a way to help students.
Recognizing that consistency is not the highest virtue in a diverse county, BOE wants to meet the
needs of all their students. BOE is discussing what they feel should be available in every
community (such as music or help with homework)— where is the greatest need? They view
education as a county issue and are working to mobilize other county agencies with overlapping
interests.
In response to questions, Shirley made the following points:
•
Public BOE meetings are time-limited, but committee meetings are open to the public
and offer a good opportunity to communicate with the Board.
•
The Special Education Committee uses the Collaborative Action Process to consult
various resources before labeling a student "special ed." Attorneys recently gave a
presentation on avoiding litigation. BOE is currently looking into suspension rates
among special ed students. Universal Design for Learning is a technology program
aimed at making materials accessible to all students (e.g., information on a computer can
be made into larger type).
•
Shirley is pushing publicly for improvements in the writing curriculum. BOE is hearing
presentations about what is and is not worth keeping in the curriculum. They are moving
toward offering choices, for example, in summer reading instead of requiring everyone to
read the same book.
•
Each curriculum should be reviewed every 5 years (and more frequently for math).
•
Her advice to parents is to be vocal. If BOE receives 20 emails on a subject, that's a
lot— especially if they are personalized. If you have a concern, send a 3- to 4-sentence
email to boe@.... She will eventually get all emails sent to that address, or
write to her directly at Shirley.brandman@....
Feudalism: A social system, in which the nobility held lands, and vassals were in turn tenants of the nobles, while the serfs were obliged to live on their lord's land and give him homage, labor, and a share of the produce, notionally in exchange for protection.
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