
During a protest Monday, Co-Chair of the group Citizens For An Elected Board, David Cahn (in front with white hat) said politics is being given priority over children. (WTOP/Kristi King)
UPPER MARLBORO, Md. — Fed up with recent scandals and repeated allegations of student abuse and neglect by employees of Prince George’s County schools, protesters Monday demanded new leadership and changes to how school officials are selected.
The law is commonly referred to as HB 1107.
Protesters called for the resignations of Baker and Maxwell, as well as school board chair Segun C. Eubanks and vice chair Carolyn M. Boston.
“HB 1107 needs to be repealed,” said the father of a four-year-old special needs student who is part of an ongoing investigation involving allegations of student abuse by a school bus aide. WTOP is not using the father’s name to protect his child’s identity.
Read Peterson’s entire statement to WTOP below:
When HB 1107 was passed in 2013, it was designed to create a governance structure that would better position Prince George’s County Public Schools to be more successful academically and operationally, and ultimately to move us from the bottom to the top in the state’s school system rankings.
- Significantly expanded full-day pre-kindergarten (we’ve increased this important first phase of education for our youngest students from 8 programs to 50 pre-kindergarten programs),
- Implemented more rigorous academic standards and programs, and provided more choice for students and parents, throughout all grades,
- Achieved historic highs in graduation rates (close to 80% of our students are graduating) and 9th grade promotion rates (which means that fewer of our students are dropping out),
- Improved test scores significantly (our students ranked in the Top 10 of statewide English and Language Arts scores),
- Increased enrollment in our schools substantially (130,000 students are now attending), and the overall college and career readiness of our children is improving as well.
The recent cases of deplorable behavior by some school employees are extremely disturbing, but we should not confuse these incidents with the governance changes that have paved the way for our success over the last few years. These challenges are a reflection of an organization that is going through a much needed cultural change after an inordinate number of leadership and policy changes that may have blurred our primary focus on the safety of our children. This is a defining moment for our school system and just as we focused like a laser on reforming our academic programs and offerings, we must approach the safety of our children with the same unwavering focus and vigor.
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During a protest Monday, Co-Chair of the group Citizens For An Elected Board, David Cahn (in front with white hat) said politics is being given priority over children. (WTOP/Kristi King)
