Opinion: "address and change the culture within Montgomery County Public Schools"

The writer of the opinion piece below is repeating what has been said for decades by families of students needing special education services. The families that were bullied, stalked, harassed and sued. 

The writer is repeating what the families of children who have been victims of sexual abuse by MCPS staff IN schools have said in courtrooms at sentencing hearings when it has been revealed that MCPS kept KNOWN sexual abusers IN classrooms for DECADES. The writer is another voice speaking to the culture of MCPS that does not value children.

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...The first incident happened in eighth grade where we had to take the Measures of Academic Progress-Reading, or MAP-R, test. MAP-R was used to determine one’s reading level.

The first time I took it, my score came back saying that my reading level was the equivalent of a senior in high school. That should’ve been the end of it. However, two weeks later I was called into the office and in there were my folks, the principal, my English teacher and someone from the school system. They had called me in there not to congratulate but to accuse me of cheating on the test.

Mind you, my English teacher had told them that I was very well-read, and my folks always took me to libraries and bookstores so it wasn’t a shock to see that I could read.

The person from the school system said, “There’s no way that this kid, from this side of the county could’ve scored that well. He had to have cheated.”

Needless to say, I was forced to take the test again in a room with a teacher, a security guard and two police officers. Each time I looked up those officers would leer at me like a wolf at its prey. I finished, and this time my score showed my reading level was the equivalent of a college freshman.

In other words, I scored higher, and I went off on everybody in the room. I told the officers that while they were busy looking at a nerd, they could’ve been chasing real criminals. I told the security officer that this time I did nothing wrong, and I pointed out that the teacher had just wasted time...

https://www.marylandmatters.org/2020/01/14/opinion-is-montgomery-as-progressive-as-everyone-thinks-it-is/?fbclid=IwAR3f_ZW9CQ1KCYWljSY6lcdu29bo_WKOgy43BQ6LQmF49GU1rlBh67Pz_rQ

Forget Plastic Straws, Board of Ed. is Dumping Ground Up Tires in Streams in Cabin John Watershed

Remember when FieldTurf told the Montgomery County Council in 2011 that when artificial turf is removed "every single component will be recycled?"

Here we are 7 years later and this is the reality.  The Richard Montgomery HS artificial turf has been ripped up and 120 tons of ground up tires (crumb rubber) are being spread all over the school grounds, parking lot, roads and are going into our storm drains, ponds and creeks in the Cabin John Watershed.

All of the black dots you see in the pictures below are ground up tires (crumb rubber) used as the infill on the artificial turf field at RMHS.  Each artificial turf field requires 120 tons of ground up tires. All pictures were taken in the last two days and after the recent rain storm.

Drain surrounded by ground up tire pellets from artificial turf infill on 

Richard Montgomery High School artificial turf field. 

To report illegal dumping in the City of Rockville:

Construction materials questioned in College Park fire #MGA17

...Joshua Baca is with Build With Strength, a group that includes the concrete industry that pushes for tougher building codes. The group advocates for steel and concrete to be used. The building that burned Monday used wood materials on the upper floors.

"This is a legal building under the current code in Maryland; however, it is dangerous, as we can see," Baca said. "We believe that building with noncombustible products like concrete are safer. They are cheaper in the long run for consumers, and they last a lifetime."

Bills heard last year in the General Assembly that would have implemented such requirements failed. The building industry argues lightweight construction materials are safe, cheaper and faster...

http://www.wbaltv.com/article/construction-materials-questioned-in-college-park-fire/9560040