"Does the state of willful ignore exempt you from liability?" Silicon Valley Philanthropist writes Montgomery County Schools

To the Montgomery County Board of Education:

My wife and I love to empower children and are proud to help fund education here in Silicon Valley. Our first large grant to education 12 years ago was used to buy new computers and upgrade the wireless network at our local public school.

So it may come as a surprise that I now believe that was a mistake. 

Obviously, we are still big supporters of education, but I believe the role of wireless networks (as opposed to wired Ethernet networks) needs to be carefully re-evaluated.

With the same goal of empowering children in mind, I am also an environmental health funder. I look at factors like toxic lead exposures that can undermine intelligence and the ability to learn. After researching wireless for the last 5 years and connecting with researchers who have spent over 30 years on the topic, I now have some grave concerns. I was surprised by how much evidence of harm has been published, not just recently, but for more than three decades.

This brings up some basic questions for educators:

• Does wireless exposure impact attention and learning?
• Do current wireless safety standards protect children? 
• What are the safety limits of other countries compared to the US?
• Why is school funding for wireless discussed in an ethics paper from Harvard?

Finally, there is the issue of liability. Will your Wi-Fi vendor or cell tower carrier be liable, or have they already exempted themselves from liability for health in their contact? If you find there are health concerns, can you get out of a cell tower contract with a wireless carrier? If you don’t look at the research after being informed about it, does the state of willful ignore exempt you from liability?

Like most people, I assumed this had been fully tested and failed to do adequate due diligence on this topic. Please don’t repeat my mistake.

A short video version of this letter can be watched here: http://bit.ly/wirelessEd

Sincerely,

Peter Sullivan

Read the full letter and more about Peter Sullivan here. 

Alster, Norm. Captured agency: How the Federal Communications Commission is dominated by the industries it presumably regulates. Cambridge, MA: Edmund J. Safra Center for Ethics, Harvard University. 2015. Read it here. 

Read about his work in Autism Magazine. Click here to learn more. 

16-year-old arrested at Wootton High School

Police Blotter: Unknown Man Pulls Knife on Woman After She Finds Him Inside Her Vehicle: The following crimes were reported to Montgomery County or Rockville police from Feb. 29 to March 8

Just in: High school calls foul on its football field; sues FieldTurf

WJHS artificial turf shredding as shown in 2014.

Watch the news report below, and read the litigation below that is about a school system that is suing FieldTurf because their plastic grass football field has shredded and disintegrated.

Then remember this is exactly what has already happened to Walter Johnson High School's artificial turf.
Same supplier.
Same disintegration of plastic grass.
No pursuit of a replacement field by MCPS.
And MCPS paid a whole lot more for WJHS' plastic grass than the school system in the news report. 


ABC10 News report:

http://www.abc10.com/news/high-school-calls-foul-on-its-football-field-sues-turf-manufacturer/87354944

Bret Harte Complaint v. FieldTurf by Parents' Coalition of Montgomery County, Maryland

Montgomery County - FieldTurf Report Now Used to Hawk FieldTurf Artificial Turf

Remember back in 2011, when the Montgomery County Council put out a "report" on artificial turf? That report was put together by County and MCPS staff and included a representative from just one plastic grass manufacturer.  FieldTurf, the no-bid choice of MCPS, had a representative on the workgroup that put out the Montgomery County report.

Parents were not allowed on the workgroup and neither were natural grass installers. The workgroup met in secret, and there were no meeting dates, agendas, or minutes. 

It should come as no surprise to anyone that the Montgomery County "report" is now being used to sell FieldTurf artificial turf.

Side-by-side Rain accumulation on plastic grass versus natural grass

Record rainfall in Portland today. Artificial field in the foreground vs sand-based grass field in background. pic.twitter.com/myGYMAiX9J

— Kevin White (@ATurfMan) December 8, 2015

HoCo Councilwoman @JenTerrasa asks Supt. Foose if there's more to $300,000, 26-page special education report

Howard County Councilwoman Jen Terrasa pressed Superintendent Renee Foose Wednesday for the full version of a report on special education that parents and elected leaders say school officials are hiding.
"For $300,000, I guess I'm just trying to understand," Terrasa said. "There is a 26-page document, but there was no more information?"...

...The Maryland General Assembly is currently considering legislation proposed by Miller, a Republican representing District 9A, that would open an investigation into the school system's refusals to fulfill public records requests since Foose took office in 2012.
Miller consistently refers to the special education report as an example of why the bill is necessary.
At the end of their discussion Wednesday, Terrasa asked Foose repeatedly if there is more information from the District Management Council's review than what is contained in the 26-page document that the school system released.
Foose said, "That is all the information synthesized from the information, the data collection."...


http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/howard/columbia/ph-ho-cf-board-county-council-0324-20160316-story.html

City of Rockville: A Cell Tower on Every Corner

Montgomery County is doing the exact same type of "small" cell tower installations in residential neighborhoods, just with a lot less transparency.  Try and find out what is going on with Montgomery County on this issue and let us know.  In the alternative, wait until one of these "small" cell towers is installed in front of your house or outside your window.
 
The text amendment proposed by Verizon for the City of Rockville would allow for the installation of small cell antennas most anywhere in the city.  These antennas are typically about two feet square, or two by three feet round and can be placed on a pole in front of a home.  

The amendment that is being considered by the City of Rockville  does not address locations.  These units are placed by the carrier where they believe extra coverage is needed.  

Verizon has indicated to City of Rockville staff that new antennas would likely be placed along the lower Rockville Pike area of the City and in Town Center.  These units are located on existing structures – buildings, utility poles, light poles, etc.  Under the proposal, they must be located at least 15 feet off the ground.  The proposed text amendment is shown below.  The City of Rockville planning staff says they plan to take this item before the Planning Commission for their review and comment on May 11, 2016.  The public hearing will likely be in early June.

 

   ZTA ApplicationTXT00244 by Parents' Coalition of Montgomery County, Maryland

When County Spending Exceeds County Income

Montgomery County Taxpayers League Meeting

 www.mctaxpayersleague.org

 Wednesday, March 23, 2016

 7:00 - 9:00 PM

5th Floor Conference Room,  Council Office Building
     100 Maryland Avenue, Rockville, MD 20850

                                                                       

Topic:  FY 2017 Budget for Montgomery County
 - Straight Talk

Speaker:  Jennifer Hughes, Director, Office of Management and Budget, Montgomery County

This meeting is scheduled for shortly after the County Executive submits his FY 2017 budget to the County Council.

As background, here is a link to a position paper we sent to the County Executive and County Council on closing the budget gap.

$324 hike in property taxes next fiscal year for the average county homeowner. Leggett Proposes Property Tax Increase In Bid to Increase Education Spending

No oversight of the MCPS budgets means MCPS will not have to make any cuts, put out contracts for bids, cut up any credit cards, or cut out take home cars and other perks.  Montgomery County taxpayers will just foot the bill for the Board of Education's failure to actually set the MCPS budget (they do not set the budget) and for the failure of any oversight over the MCPS budgets.  

Remember the State Audit of MCPS that is done very 6 years?  The next State Audit of MCPS has been held from January of 2015 and still hasn't been released.  Now you know why. 

Leggett Proposes Property Tax Increase In Bid to Increase Education Spending: Increase would mean $324 hike in property taxes next fiscal year for the average county homeowner; could require unanimous support of County Council

FieldTurf: "Yes, there is lead in our products."

The Parents' Coalition has previously reported on the fact that there is lead in the artificial turf that the Board of Education and Montgomery County Parks uses on football and soccer fields.

Lead levels are of no interest to our elected officials, PTAs or parent community and so there has never been any local action to address this fact.  Remember that artificial turf purchases made by the Board of Education are never put out for competitive bids, and there is never any discussion about the content of comparable products.  FieldTurf is the one and only plastic grass that the Board of Education buys. 

There is currently legislation being proposed in Annapolis  (House Bill 883) that would require signs at artificial turf fields based on warnings issued by the CDC.  On March 11, 2016, the Maryland House Ways and Means Committee held a public hearing on this proposed legislation.  A representative from FieldTurf spoke at the public hearing and answered a question about the existence of lead in FieldTurf products.  His answer is shown in the video below.


The Board of Education uses FieldTurf artificial turf at the following high school football fields:
Gaithersburg HS
Walter Johnson HS
Paint Branch HS
Richard Montgomery HS
Wootton HS

The Maryland National Parks and Planning Department uses Field Turf at the Montgomery Blair High School football field.

BOE Hiding Revenue from Council and State (No wonder BOE wants to get rid of State Audits!)

MCPS FY17 Operating Budget

The Parents' Coalition has confirmed that the Montgomery County Board of Education is hiding revenue from the County Council and from the State legislature.

The revenue that is not being reported in the Montgomery County Public Schools Operating Budget is the millions (?) of dollars collected from students, parents and guardians for class fees.

We know that the Board of Education allows local schools to collect class fees because we have obtained a list of the fees every year since 2008.  The fees are not a secret.

When we asked where the fees are accounted for in the MCPS Operating Budget, we learned that the fees do not show up in the public budget documents.

Lots of other student fees do show up in the budget.  For example, summer school fees, student activity fees, and lunch purchases.  Yet, when a student pays $40 to take a class at Thomas Edison High School of Technology, that $40 never shows up in the MCPS Operating Budget.  Some would say those payments are being "made under the table."

How much is the Board of Education collecting in class fees?  How is the money that is collected spent?   

Some of the 2016 class fees being charged at Edison HS

This isn't the first time that the Parents' Coalition has discovered unreported revenue being hidden by the Board of Education.  In 2009, we uncovered over $21 million in unreported funding from the federal government.  

What else is the Board of Education hiding?  

Now you can understand why the Board of Education voted to support legislation to get rid of the mandated state audits of MCPS.   

Montgomery County Civic Federation Meeting Mon, Mar 14th: It's Sunshine Week! Even in Montgomery County.

The Montgomery County Civic Federation is proud to participate in Sunshine Week which begins today! Tomorrow evening our program will be on the 'opendata Montgomery' websites. Please join us for an informal roundtable with lots of participation on how the publicly funded Montgomery County government is doing to open up government records. A representative from the Sunlight Foundation will also be participating. For more, go to our website.

DATE: Monday, March 14th
TIME: 7:45 pm
PLACE: Executive Office Building, Lobby Level Auditorium, 101 Monroe Street, Rockville



We will also be presenting a posthumous Community Hero award to Peter Murtha, founder of 350MoCo.  Mr. Murtha led the ongoing effort to divest the county's pension funds from fossil fuel companies that drive climate change. Currently MoCo's Employee Retirement System pension plans have over $65,000,000 invested in 65 of the world's 200 largest fossil fuel companies.

What happens when toddlers defend themselves against deportation?

From the Baltimore Sun, reporter Jessica Roy:

Can young children represent themselves in immigration court? One federal immigration judge thinks so.

 

Judge Jack Weil is assistant chief immigration judge for the U.S. Department of Justice. Part of his job includes coordinating training for other immigration judges and court staff. In a recently unsealed deposition, he asserted that migrant children as young as 3 are capable of representing themselves in deportation hearings.

The judge was speaking as an expert witness on behalf of the government in a case about whether unaccompanied minors who cross the border into the United States should be provided with legal counsel.

In his opinion, no.

"I've taught immigration law literally to 3-year-olds and 4-year-olds. It takes a lot of time. It takes a lot of patience," Weil said. "They get it. It's not the most efficient, but it can be done."

"I have trained 3-year-olds and 4-year-olds in immigration law. You can do a fair hearing," the judge elaborated. "It's going to take you a lot of time. But I really think that a great alternative to terminating a case for a child who may be eligible for relief where there's no counsel is to proceed very slowly, very carefully, and I'm going to tap every single resource I can to see if I can get the some help."

(The American Civil Liberties Union posted a transcript of the hearing last month. There is no guarantee of counsel in immigration court.)

So: Can 3- and 4-year-olds competently represent themselves in court? Immigration attorney Amy Maldonado decided to find out. She created a YouTube page where (adult) immigration lawyers put toddlers on trial.

 

To see the videos and read the entire story go here.

 

Here are a few of the videos:

 

 

 

CPS Sues Byrd-Bennett, SUPES Academy For $65 Million

CPS Sues Byrd-Bennett, SUPES Academy For $65 Million: The Chicago Public Schools have filed a lawsuit seeking to recover $65 million from former CEO Barbara Byrd-Bennett and SUPES Academy, the principal training firm at the center of a kickback scheme that led to her guilty plea on corruption charges.

ABC7: Elementary school worker in Silver Spring arrested for child abuse

...Anthony Smith was an assistant building services manager at New Hampshire Estates Elementary School... 

http://wjla.com/news/crime/elementary-school-worker-in-silver-spring-arrested-for-child-abuse

Teacher Resigns After Investigation Into Misconduct During Student Trip to Germany

http://www.nbcwashington.com/investigations/Fairfax-County-Teacher-Christopher-Rademacher-Resigned-After-Investigation-into-Misconduct-During-Student-Trip-to-Germany-371717951.html

"Jeanette Dixon said she disagreed with Kauffman and said it was important for the board to be accountable and transparent about superintendent decision"

Superintendent issue divides school board candidates in Monday forum

ROCKVILLE— Four of five candidates for the Montgomery County Public Schools Board of Education at-large seat said the board should explain a decision it made behind closed doors – firing  a superintendent – at a forum Monday.

“I guess I was part of that decision,” said incumbent member Phil Kauffman about the board choosing not to explain a superintendent decision.
Kauffman said he did not think the board should explain a decision to fire or not renew a contract because it is a personnel matter.
In February 2015, the board members did not agree on whether to renew previous superintendent Josh Starr’s contract and Starr resigned...

 http://www.thesentinel.com/mont/newsx/local/item/3219-superintendent-issue-divides-school-board-candidates-in-monday-forum

Board of Education Candidate Debate, March 24, 7-9 pm

LUXMANOR CITIZENS ASSOCIATION

 

WITH COSPONSORS

GREATER FARMLAND CIVIC ASSOCIATION

AND

NORTH BETHESDA CIVIC ASSOCIATION

Invite You to a Montgomery County Board of Education Candidate Debate

 

Jeanette Dixon

Sebastian Johnson

Phil Kaufman

Gwendolyn Love Kimbrough

Brandon Orman Rippeon

Shebra Evans

Anjali Reed Phukan

 

Jordan Cooper, Moderator

 

Thursday, March 24, 2016

7:00 to 9:00 p.m.

 

 

Luxmanor Elementary School

6201 Tilden Lane

Rockville, MD 20852

 

For further information contact Ed Farber

at edfarber@comcast.net

Bang to Rights: Science is taking big steps toward understanding the impact of concussion

From The Economist:

FRED McNEILL, an American-football player, died in November at the age of 63. Between 1974 and 1985 he appeared for the Minnesota Vikings. After leaving them he became a lawyer but in later years suffered from dementia and was told that he had signs of chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), a degenerative brain disease. His recent death has become a milestone in the understanding of brain disorders, for post-mortem examination has confirmed this diagnosis—retrospectively making him the first person to be so diagnosed while alive.

And:

Suffer the little children

In the end, adult athletes can make up their own minds about what risks they wish to take. Children, though, cannot. It is therefore children who should attract the greatest attention. Not only are some children obliged to play contact sports at school, but they may also be participating in an environment that encourages a “stiff upper lip” when they are injured. Yet it has been clear since a study published in 2012 by Andrew Mayer at the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque that subtle brain changes in children who have sustained a concussion persist for months after the injury, even when there are no longer any obvious symptoms.

Work published last December by Charles Hillman of the University of Illinois found that children who had sustained a single sports-related concussion still had impaired brain function two years later. Ten-year-olds with a history of concussion performed worse on tests of working memory, attention and impulse control than did uninjured confrères. Among the children with a history of concussion, those who were injured earlier in life had larger deficits. This study was small (it involved 15 injured participants) but if subsequent research confirms it, that will be great cause for concern.

Concussion—once an invisible injury—is rapidly being illuminated. Many sports-lovers have been disturbed to learn that injuries on the field have caused their heroes to undergo profound personality changes. And many parents now worry, with good reason, about their children playing sports. Taking one for the team is all very well. But the price of doing so may be paid over a lifetime.

To read the complete article go here.

Equity: Which MCPS Parent Club is Getting $200K from State and $500K from Board of Education for Plastic Grass?

Kennedy HS - Not getting $700,000 for new football field.

Springbrook HS - Not getting $700,000.

This will be easy, right?

Here are 3 MCPS high school football fields.

The parent booster club for one of these fields just won $200,000 from the State of Maryland through a Bond Bill, and $500,000 from the Board of Education so that parents can purchase a plastic grass football field.

As we are all about equity here in Montgomery County, you can be sure that the community with the greatest need will be getting that cash, correct?

But, no. 

Winner! Damascus HS