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Who is in the running to be Superintendent of Schools?

The names of candidates for Superintendent of Schools are beginning to surface.  


Here are the list of candidates narrowed down for consideration in Ann Arbor Michigan:

The candidates are:

• William DeFrance, superintendent of Eaton Rapids Public Schools in Michigan;
• Patricia Green, superintendent of the North Allegheny School District in Pennsylvania;
• Paul Long, chief executive officer of the Pennsbury School District in Pennsylvania;
• Michael Munoz, chief academic officer of Des Moines Public Schools in Iowa;
• Shelley Redinger, superintendent of the Oregon Trail School District in Oregon
• Manuel Rodriguez, assistant superintendent of Baltimore County Public Schools in       Maryland

Too bad we don't live in Ann Arbor, Michigan.   We'll never see this level of transparency in Montgomery County.  

I'd trade transparency for snow - and at least in Michigan the school systems are used to dealing with weather.


The good news for those in MoCo who are lamenting the secrecy of our own school board search, the news from Ann Arbor is good- we know the identity of some of the candidates looking to change jobs.  


Even if our own search firm is keeping mum on the search, we can learn from our fellow parents in Falls Church and Ann Arbor.  


Now I wonder - are we getting a good value from the MoCo search firm?  How much do the search firms under contract in Falls Church and Ann Arbor charge for their services?


And what is the salary for the head of Public Information in Ann Arbor?  Maybe we should look into recruiting their PIO for MoCo too.

Morally, ethically, legally defensible Gifted and Talented Education

A silent majority of us have advocated, and continue to advocate, a morally, ethically, legally defensible gifted and talented education.

We utterly reject the belief that a select few are more knowledgeable than others.

We eschew the notion that parents should be led by the nose to feed at the trough of GT.

Instead, we have embraced data driven change.

We have demanded that Advisory Committee meetings should be “open,” and, as has been announced the April 16 meeting will be an open meeting.

We have initiated requests for and pursued release of the GT ID data.

We have insisted on the release of the proposed policy IOA being released to the public together with the overview.

We have irrevocably embraced state law as it applies to GT education.

We have demanded that all sides demonstrate the validity of their claims.

We do not believe that “GT lost” and we do not believe that people must be manipulated to embrace a view. We believe in the glaring sunlight and openness that must be part of a fair and impartial debate.

We believe the data shows that MCPS GT education has barely changed in thirty-years.

We believe that the philosophy of secret “Advisory Committees” of a chosen few must become a thing of the past.

We have and will continue to advocate for GT.

Board member walks out to avoid Open Meetings Violation

Board member Jennifer Abell walked out of a Charles County Board of Education meeting on February 6th rather than risk being found in violation of the Maryland Open Meetings Act.

On January 30, 2009, the Maryland Open Meetings Compliance Board found the Montgomery County Public School Board of Education to be in violation of the Act. As of yet, no MCPS Board of Education member has spoken publicly about this violation and the MCPS Board of Education has not discussed this issue in Open session.

In sharp contrast to the demeanor of members of the MCPS Board of Education, Charles County Board member Jennifer Abell publishes a blog that details her activities to her constituents, including her refusal to participate in a meeting that should have been open to the public.