Looking Up for 2011

Reading back on some of our most recent posts, we've noticed that traffic, construction, and general idiocy have been getting us down. But for 2011, at least in this entry, we're going to look at some bright spots.

As much as we hate the mass destruction of thousands of trees and an awesome sled riding hill at Box Hill South, when perusing a recipe last week we immediately thought, "Where in Harford County could we find these ingredients?" And then we had a happy thought. Maybe if at some point we can safely get through the bottleneck at Tollgate/MD 24 in September, we can go to Wegman's and buy the ingredients. What will it be like to be able to find the unusual right here in Harford County? And so close. When that construction is completed, we're sure we will breeze right over there, problem-free. (OK, we admit there might be just a smidge of sarcasm there.)
We're also hoping that a new movie theater will make an appearance at the Boulevard. On seeing "True Grit" on opening day, we were bombarded with noise from the movie next door. (Bonus movie critique: True Grit is a must-see.)

In some of our previous posts, there were also comments on Abingdon students attending Edgewood Middle and High Schools. While no one was more concerned than we were about sending our children to EMS with all the horror stories (everyone's on drugs, pregnant, homeless, gang-banged, etc) we could not be happier with the experience our student has had since attending this fall.

Two years ago we attended a meeting of the Alternate Governance Board which had chosen, of its available three options, to hire a new principal. We were skeptical that this indeed, would make any difference. But we have seen firsthand the difference one person can make when he has the tools and the authority to effect change. Dr. Lawrence Rudolph, who was given the authority by the state, not HCS, was able to hire and fire who he wanted. For years, Edgewood was a dumping ground for teachers who the county could not or would not fire. While the former superintendent talked about how much she wanted success in Edgewood, the actions of the front office clearly showed otherwise. When you walk into the building now, the change is palpable. While before when we went into EMS it was dirty with broken water fountains, it's cleaner and brighter. There are student organizations there now that didn't exist before. The teachers take time to talk to parents and work with the students.

It's not perfect, after all, it is middle school. There have been fights, just as there have been at any other middle school. There are students facing problems that students at Fallston don't have to worry about. That doesn't make them bad students--it just makes it more challenging to teach them. But when the drug-sniffing dogs came, the police officer said it was the cleanest school in the county. That's something you will never read in The Aegis.

We have had conversations with school board members in the past where they have said, "well, it's not really that bad there." They were trying to convince us to send our children there because, hey, it could be worse. They were apologists because they didn't really want to admit there was a problem. Once the state and federal government said there IS a problem, only then did it change. As much as this county hates state intervention, we would personally like to send them a thank you card for stepping in at EMS.

So we're starting out 2011 with optimistic realism, if that's possible. The bluebirds have returned to our back yard, the library's winter reading program has started, and for now, everything's looking OK.

Governor Signs School Board Bill

It's official. We here at TAA did not believe that the current school board would let this happen, but Gov. O'Malley signed this into law this a.m.:

HB0639
Harford County Delegation
HARFORD COUNTY – BOARD OF EDUCATION – SELECTION OF
MEMBERS
Requiring that specified members of the Harford County Board of
Education be elected; requiring that specified members of the county board
be appointed within a specified period of time; establishing the composition
of the county board; providing for the qualifications, terms of office, and
the filling of a vacancy of members of the county board; establishing a
procedure for the election and appointment of members of the county
board; etc.
EFFECTIVE JULY 1, 2009

What's the Agenda?

We are proud supporters of Abingdon Elementary PTA here at TAA. The PTA sponsors lots of activities for students and supports teachers and classes throughout the year. Fundraising is more difficult than it has been in previous years because of the struggling economy. But the PTA has our full support because it all goes back to our children's school.
Imagine our surprise yesterday when we received a fundraising packet for a Laps for Learning program from the Greater Edgewood Education Foundation. This had my student's name on it, grade, and looked "official." In fact, it caused quite a bit of confusion from parents who thought it was a PTA fundraiser, as the PTA is going to have its own Laps for Learning in the fall.
There are two problems with this in our opinion. One is that this rather vague organization is asking for money through the school, even though it is not directly affiliated through the school but rather "Edgewood feeder schools."
The bigger issue is that the president of the organization is an on-the-record opponent of the elected school board. Everyone is allowed to have political views, obviously. The problem that we have is that she spoke against this issue identifying herself as the president of the GEEF, not as a mother of an HCPS student, concerned citizen, etc. She used her title in the organization, which, follow us, makes it a lobbying organization. Not to mention that the chairman of the group is Mark Wolkow, who has been working overtime against an elected school board.
So why are our children asked to raise money for a lobbying organization?
I know at some schools PTAs are lobbying organizations, and that the PTA on a national level definitely is. But Abingdon's PTA focuses on the needs of the children/teachers, not a political agenda. Which is why it irks us here at TAA that some of the tight fundraising dollars will be siphoned to this organization.

New School Food "Reward" Policy

Although this hasn't gotten a lot of ink, here in this corner of Abingdon the Board of Education's new policy on not giving students rewards with food receives a resounding thumbs down.
Currently students can receive pizza parties, ice cream socials for achieving class goals. Sometimes these are given for outstanding academic outcomes/good behavior. The new policy disallows these parties citing them as rewards. The new policy also prohibits taking away recess as punishment because students need the entire 15 minutes to exercise.
We know that children are more overweight than ever, but is it really caused by a pizza party once every marking period? The gift of a candy cane to a child who's gotten a good report card is leading to a life of obesity?
This is one of those cosmetic fixes so that it appears the school board is addressing a serious problem without doing anything.
Here at TAA we rarely allow our students to purchase school lunches, or what's commonly known as the choice of pizza, mozarella sticks, nachos, chicken poppers, pizzatas, and other assortments of fried, artery-clogging stupefying foods. Oprah's guru Dr. Oz did an informal study at a school where he discussed with teachers what happens after students eat school lunches: nothing. The students are dazed and lethargic. Isn't this a greater problem?
The New York Times has an op/ed piece about this outlining the problems of the current system. You can read it here. With all the local farms closeby, wouldn't it be a win/win to try something like this? A help to the local farmers as well as healthy food for students.

The Aegis Nails It

We don't always agree with The Aegis editorial page (see below), but the paper got it totally right in Wednesday's edition with the editorial "The James Gang." The paper not only takes the delegate to task for being responsible for killing the elected school board issue last legislative session, but also recognizes the effects of the current governing system.

From the editorial:
"The continued opposition of one solitary county legislator, Del. Mary Dulany James, to having an elected school board is ludicrous. James has torpedoed every recent attempt to bring Harford County into modern times. Her arguments that an appointed board keeps politics out of school decisions and guarantees minority representation on the school board are disingenuous. Those who subscribe to the James view might want to take note that, nearly five and a half decades after Brown vs. Board of Education, Harford County continues to have one of the most racially segregated systems in the state, but that's a topic for another day."

We especially agree with that last sentence.

School Board Must Read

Over at The Dagger they've reprinted a very interesting letter from a school board member about how without an appointed board there would be no minority members on the school board. To read the political ploy to keep up the charade of the permanent nominating committee click here.

Delaying the Uniforms Again

Just got this in our inbox:

Dear Parents:

Due to economic constraints, all School Uniform Parent Community Meetings are cancelled and will be rescheduled. At this time, the Board of Education of Harford County is deferring the school uniform exploration process, as well as other new initiatives, in order to focus on current budgetary issues. The Board is analyzing all current initiatives in the operating budget and realize the need to focus their energies at this time. No decisions have been made regarding school uniforms and the process will continue at a later date. As soon as that timeline is available, it will be communicated promptly. Thank you.

Sincerely,

Teri Kranefeld, manager of communications

Harford County Public Schools

Harford County Schools--Uniform Edition

We just read The Aegis editorial about school uniforms. The editors predict, and we agree with them, that after a series of pointless meetings (if you remember, pointless meetings about this were already held last year), hearing from committees, dissenters, etc., the ultimate approval on school uniforms would lay with HCPS' Executive Director David Volrath.
Unlike The Aegis, we don't have a problem with the school system deciding on this issue. If they really think it's a safety issue and it might help thwart gangs or just stop poorer children being made fun of, we're for it. But decide already and focus your attention on REALLY important issues. Because with the middle school situation in Abingdon, most of the kids are wearing uniforms anyway -- when they attend St. Margaret's, Trinity, St. Paul's, etc.
We spent the summer searching in vain for a store that did not have Hannah Montana or High School Musical clothing. We dare you to try to find a non-boutique store without these. We would have gladly bought some khakis and a white polo shirt instead of searching in vain for something without a Disney-fied Lolita adorning it.
And we here at TAA are not worried about students not being able to express themselves by how they dress. For those students whining about the lack of self-expression, here's an idea: write about it! Discuss! Is wearing a shirt that says how much you hate your sister really effective after the 1,000th wearing?

Odds and Ends

Just got the kids' backpacks filled with their notebooks, tissues, washable markers, etc. We here at TAA are also trying to get organized, but have been unable to coordinate our thoughts in a cohesive manner. So here are some random thoughts/happening from the last week.

**Welcome to new blogger Around Harford County. Thanks also for the link to us at TAA!

**There was an armed robbery last week in the townhouses right across from the Constant Branch Pool last week. That's correct. An armed robbery which closely followed the assault on the woman who was walking her dog the previous week.

**Every time we see Mark Wolkow referred to as having children "who attended Edgewood schools" we want to scream. When did they graduate? Were they at Edgewood Middle School when the math score was a FAILING 39 last year? No. And as far as we are concerned, the Edgewood Community Alliance is part of the problem. If they would get ANGRY that these students are getting an unequal education, maybe someone would notice. Instead they keep up with the rah rah everything is fine.

**Abingdon Elementary School's open house for students is this Friday from 5 to 7 p.m. This gives the students a chance to see their new classrooms before school starts on Monday.

**Just received an e-mail from Zillow saying that home prices in Abingdon dropped 8%in the second quarter of '08 compared to '07. Nationally, home prices decreased 9.9%.

**Thanks to the unknown woman/good samaritan who saved a turtle from certain death on Tollgate Road near Crisfield Drive this a.m. Thanks!

Lipstick on a Pig

I previously linked to the glowing press release sent out when the MSA test scores came out for Haford County. And now that we're back from sunning ourselves/trying to stay out of rip currents and we've actually seen the test scores for ourselves, we just keep thinking of the phrase, "that's like putting lipstick on a pig." When HCPS talked about the great improvements! in test scores, we guess we were expecting a bit more. You know, improvement that didn't resemble failure.

The math scores for 8th grade at Edgewood Middle School averaged 39.9 for all groups. For African Americans that was 29.9, for white students, 48.0 -- all groups were below 50. Compare that to Bel Air Middle, where all 8th grade groups averaged 85.3 for math, and no group finished below 50.

Some will blame these scores on transient students, broken homes, blah blah blah. These students are not receiving the same education as other parts of the county. We are paying the same taxes as the people in Bel Air, and living a stone's throw away from the Patterson Mill district where 8th-grade students averaged an 80 in math and 92 in reading.

Are we at TAA the only ones angry about this. If one more administrator or Edgewood Community Alliance member says "it's not that bad," we are going to scream. Admit there's a problem and fix it. We're not idiots.

To see the Harford County breakdown
click here

MSA Results In

The Maryland State Assessments are Harford County School officials say there was significant improvement in scores all around. Unfortunately, the mdstatereportcard.org site hasn't been updated yet. What does the rise in scores for Edgewood Middle mean -- is it off the No Child Left Behind watch list yet?
Read the official press release here.