PGCPS Eisenhower Middle School students out of control and Drug use is a concern.

John Mangrum is the principal at Dwight D. Eisenhower Middle School, he sixth principal at the school. (Photo courtesy)

Laurel, Md. (Reform Sasscer) – Ask anyone who has worked in some of America’s failing public schools and nearly all of them will tell you the same thing: The biggest problem isn’t the quality of the teachers. It’s the behavior of the kids: angry, disruptive, and disrespectful kids whose behavior is out of control. This is true not only in the poor schools in the inner cities, but in schools in the largely white rural parts of the US as well. The kids themselves are only partly to blame — students, after all, are what adults make them. The ongoing fiasco at Bladensburg High School is a tip of the iceberg in Prince George’s county. Parents, staff and students must demand answers and the county citizenry must stand in solidarity to create proper reforms.

After our reports earlier this year concerning Prince George’s County Public Schools (PGCPS) Eisenhower Middle School, reports reaching Reform Sasscer Movement indicate that, the same School is out of control. According to the information received by several sources who did not want to be identified, “kids told the staff they were running the halls because they did it last year and still passed to the next level,” stated one concerned member.

The principal told the teachers recently to address people outside of the classroom before they address him. He is afraid to run the school. There are concerns that new teachers receive little to no support. There are reports that the Instructional Director (ID) has been watching and it’s possible that she knows of the situation but is powerless.

Last month during parent-teacher conferences, the Principal told several staff that they were not permitted to go to the restroom against the union rules. He wanted the teachers to meet with more parents and thought they would leave early. The principal has allegedly turned several staff members away, but one Mrs. Johnson kept walking and went on. She had to go to the bathroom according to the reports received. During the same conferences, a lot of parents were complaining about all the bullying going on at the school.  However, President Theresa Dudley of Prince George’s County Education Association (PGCEA) has failed to respond to many challenges affecting teachers in the county including at Eisenhower Middle School, Bladensburg High School and others due to all conflicts of interests she is engaged in.

Recently a parent complained that she came to the school and saw students twerking on desks. New teachers are not being supported and they want to leave the teaching profession all together because of the lack of support. The principal, Mr. Mangrum, can do better according to the staff members who shared their concerns.

Inadequate Monitoring

Corruption thrives where principals (the rank and file) cannot effectively control their agents (union officers) or hold them accountable. External monitoring of union officers is weak as seen in Prince George’s County. Past reports concerning union corruption have pointed out that “it is all too easy for racketeers to control and exploit, in part because there is no effective mechanism for policing internal union affairs. The Landrum-Griffin Act was passed in an attempt to assure that workers would be represented by democratic unions” (Goldstock et al. 1990, 49).

In the 1980s, congressional hearings surfaced sharp criticism of the Department of Labor’s failure to monitor unions and their pension and welfare funds effectively (Jacobs and Mullin 2003). Because the Department of Labor’s “primary mission is to resolve labor-management problems [,] this necessarily requires good working relations with high-ranking labor officials, and makes investigating and enforcing the complaints . . . against top labor officials at best awkward and, at worst, a conflict of interest” (Goldstock et al. 1990, 181).

Drug Use at Eisenhower Middle School

Smoking weed in the bathroom is a common occurrence. Parents and teachers smell it when they enter. Many teenagers try marijuana and some use it regularly. Teenage marijuana use is at its highest level in 30 years, and today’s teens are more likely to use marijuana than tobacco. Many states allow recreational use of marijuana in adults ages 21 and over. Recreational marijuana use by children and teenagers is not legal anywhere in the United States. Today’s marijuana plants are grown differently than in the past and can contain two to three times more tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the ingredient that makes people high. The ingredient of the marijuana plant thought to have most medical benefits, cannabidiol (CBD), has not increased and remains at about 1%.

There are many ways people can use marijuana. This can make it harder for parents to watch for use in their child. These include:

• Smoking the dried plant (buds and flowers) in a rolled cigarette (joint), pipe, or bong
• Smoking liquid or wax marijuana in an electronic cigarette, also known as vaping
• Eating “edibles” which are baked goods and candies containing marijuana products
• Drinking beverages containing marijuana products
• Using oils and tinctures that can be applied to the skin

Parents and Prevention
Parents can help their children learn about the harmful effects of marijuana use. Talking to your children about marijuana at an early age can help them make better choices and may prevent them from developing a problem with marijuana use later. Begin talking with your child in an honest and open way when they are in late elementary and early middle school. Youth are less likely to try marijuana if they can ask parents for help and know exactly how their parents feel about drug use.
Tips on discussing marijuana with your child:

• Ask what they have heard about using marijuana. Listen carefully, pay attention, and try not to interrupt. Avoid making negative or angry comments.
• Offer your child facts about the risks and consequences of smoking marijuana.
• Ask your child to give examples of the effects of marijuana. This will help you make sure that your child understands what you talked about.
• If you choose to talk to your child about your own experiences with drugs, be honest about why you used and the pressures that contributed to your use. Be careful not to minimize the dangers of marijuana or other drugs, and be open about any negative experiences you may have had. Given how much stronger marijuana is today, its effect on your child would likely be much different than what you experienced.
• Explain that research tells us that the brain continues to mature into the 20s. While it is developing, there is greater risk of harm from marijuana use.

Sometimes parents may suspect that their child is already using marijuana. The following are common signs of marijuana use:

• Acting very silly and out of character for no reason.
• Using new words and phrases like “sparking up,” “420,” “dabbing,” and “shatter”
• Having increased irritability.
• Losing interest in and motivation to do usual activities.
• Spending time with peers that use marijuana.
• Having trouble remembering things that just happened.
• Carrying pipes, lighters, vape pens, or rolling papers.
• Coming home with red eyes and/or urges to eat outside of usual mealtimes.
• Stealing money or having money that cannot be accounted for.

Effects of Marijuana
Many teenagers believe that marijuana is safer than alcohol or other drugs. When talking about marijuana with your child, it is helpful to know the myths and the facts. For example, teenagers may say, “it is harmless because it is natural,” “it is not addictive,” or “it does not affect my thinking or my grades.”

However, research shows that marijuana can cause serious problems with learning, feelings, and health.

Short-term use of marijuana can lead to:

• School difficulties
• Problems with memory and concentration
• Increased aggression
• Car accidents
• Use of other drugs or alcohol
• Risky sexual behaviors
• Worsening of underlying mental health conditions including mood changes and suicidal thinking
• Increased risk of psychosis
• Interference with prescribed medication

Regular use of marijuana can lead to significant problems including Cannabis Use Disorder. Signs that your child has developed Cannabis Use Disorder include using marijuana more often than intended, having cravings, or when using interferes with other activities. If someone with Cannabis Use Disorder stops using suddenly, they may suffer from withdrawal symptoms that, while not dangerous, can cause irritability, anxiety, and changes in mood, sleep, and appetite.

Long-term use of marijuana can lead to:

• Cannabis Use Disorder
• The same breathing problems as smoking cigarettes (coughing, wheezing, trouble with physical activity, and lung cancer)
• Decreased motivation or interest which can lead to decline in academic or occupational performance
• Lower intelligence
• Mental health problems, such as schizophrenia, depression, anxiety, anger, irritability, moodiness, and risk of suicide

Medical Marijuana
Some teens justify use of marijuana because it is used for medical purposes. Marijuana use with a prescription for a medical reason is called “medical marijuana.” Laws for medical marijuana are rapidly changing and are different from state to state. In some states, children of any age can get medical marijuana if they have a “qualifying medical condition.” There is very limited research supporting use of medical marijuana in children or teens for most conditions. In most states that allow medical marijuana, the marijuana is not regulated and therefore is not checked for ingredients, purity, strength or safety. There is no evidence that medical marijuana is any safer than other marijuana.

Cannabidiol (CBD)
Many parents have questions about CBD and how it may be helpful for their child. There is ongoing research on the use of CBD-containing products for conditions such as epilepsy, , PTSD, Tourette’s disorder, pain, and other diagnoses. For now, the use of CBD is only FDA-approved in children for specific forms of epilepsy and in adults for chemotherapy induced nausea and vomiting. At this time, there is  not enough evidence to recommend CBD for other uses, in children and adolescents including the treatment of autism and other developmental disorders. The approved CBD requires a prescription. Many stores sell CBD products. However, there are no safety and quality requirements for non-prescription CBD. They may have harmful additives or interfere with prescription medication. If you are considering using CBD for your child, please discuss this with their physician prior to starting to prevent harmful effects.

Conclusion

There are ongoing problems at PGCPS Eisenhower Middle School and other schools in the county in which teachers, parents, and students are affected. This is due to lack of support from the administration of CEO Monica Goldson and lack of professional development which has been stopped until further notice.

Marijuana use in teens can lead to long-term consequences. Teens rarely think they will end up with problems related to marijuana use, so it is important to begin talking about the risks with your child early and continue this discussion over time. Talking with your child about marijuana can help delay the age of first use and help protect their brain. If your child is already using marijuana, try asking questions in an open and curious way as your teen will talk more freely if not feeling judged. If you have concerns about your child’s drug use, talk with your child’s pediatrician or a qualified mental health professional.

In addition, the parents and Prince George’s County employees must demand action due to the Union shenanigans currently at play in Prince George’s County public Schools (PGCPS) and illegal interference of the Maryland court system. At the moment, local court system appears currently hijacked by the cartels tied to the union corruption due to lack of external monitoring of union officers in Maryland.

Call your local elected representatives  and state officials. Demand answers ASAP on PGCPS shenanigans led by PGCEA, MSEA, AFSCME International and ASASP Union corruption currently in progress in Prince George’s County! Demand corrective actions immediately. #Resist

• Read more>>> Fiasco after PGCPS Bowie High School teacher charged with sexual abuse of former student
• Read more >>>PGCPS Largo High Sch teacher arrested after major fight 
• Read more >>> Update: PGCPS Largo Teacher Charged with Assaulting Student
• Read more >>> Prince George’s County special ed teacher among 27 charged in federal drug bust in DC area
• Read more >>> ‘Corruption in Plain Sight’- Prince George’s County Cannot Afford the Kirwan Plan – Or Much Else

An email recently sent to PGCPS staff partly shown here means that, there will be no more professional Days (PD) during school day until further notice.

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PGCPS student robbed after being dropped off at wrong bus stop

LANDOVER, Md. – A Prince George’s County middle school student says after orientation day at his new school, his bus driver dropped him off at the wrong stop and he was robbed of his new Nike sneakers and cell phone.

The seventh grader’s mother says her son was left at Kenilworth Avenue and Eastern Avenue on Tuesday, which is nearly two miles from their home in Fairmount Heights.

Tameika Jackson didn’t want her 12-year-old son to be identified, but she let him speak with FOX 5 about what happened. He says a group of men approached him soon after he got off the bus.

“This one guy, he came up to me and then he said, ‘Give me your phone and then your shoes,'” the boy said. “And they were at least 20 years old, so I didn’t know what else to do. So I gave them my shoes and my phone. And after that, there was this one girl at the [Metro] bus stop, I walked up to her and asked her if I could use the phone to call my mom.”

The boy said he had told the bus driver where he lived, but was dropped off there anyway. Jackson says she is furious.

“I picked him up, he was barefoot, no shoes on,” she said. “And there was a bunch of junkies out there. He was upset, he was shaking and I just told him everything was going to be fine, but I will get to the bottom of it. And I brought him home. He says he doesn’t want to go back to school tomorrow.”

Jackson says she called FOX 5 because she couldn’t reach anyone at G. James Gholson Middle School in Landover where her son attends.

A Prince George’s County Public Schools spokesperson says they are now investigating what happened and alerted the school’s principal to the situation.

The principal later called Jackson and apologized, saying she will personally make sure the boy is on the correct bus headed to the correct location on Wednesday and in the days to come. The transportation director also contacted Jackson by phone Tuesday night.

Jackson says she never got bus information in the mail prior to the start of school, so her son’s father drove the boy to school Tuesday and spoke to school staff about which bus he was supposed to be on.

She says the child got on the bus he was told to ride. Jackson says she has an older child who attended Gholson and he got dropped off at a bus stop two blocks from their home.

“I’m to the point now that I don’t want to go to work the rest of the week because I want to make sure that he feels comfortable getting on the bus and getting off the bus,” Jackson said.

School officially starts on Wednesday in Prince George’s County, but some students had orientation on Tuesday.

via Fox5DC

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Democrat Michael Vaughn of Prince George’s resigns from state legislature

Maryland state Del. Michael L. Vaughn (D-Prince George’s), shown standing at right, has resigned his seat. (Steve Ruark/Associated Press)

Longtime state Del. Michael L. Vaughn (D-Prince George’s) resigned Wednesday morning, less than an hour before the official start of the 2017 legislative session, citing health reasons.

His departure is the latest blow to Maryland Democrats, who have become embroiled in a long-running bribery and corruption investigation that U.S. Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein says involves “more than one” current lawmaker.

On Tuesday, Rosenstein announced that former Prince George’s council member and state delegate William A. Campos (D) had pleaded guilty to accepting bribes in exchange for official favors as part of that investigation.

Last week, federal authorities reported the arrests of a Prince George’s County liquor board commissioner, the executive director of that board and two liquor store owners, who are accused of paying bribes to influence state legislation and secure grant money and favorable regulatory decisions.

Vaughn’s two-sentence resignation letter was delivered to the office of House Speaker Michael E. Busch (D-Anne Arundel) Wednesday morning, shortly before the noon opening of the General Assembly’s annual legislative session.

There was no indication in the letter that Vaughn’s decision to leave the legislature was connected to the probe.

But the court filings from last week said that one elected official accused of accepting bribes, who is not named in the documents, voted in a 2015 House Economic Matters Committee hearing for a bill expanding alcohol sales in Prince George’s.

Eighteen members of the committee voted in favor of the bill, including Vaughn. Vaughn was the only Prince George’s lawmaker to vote yes. The court papers do not specify the lawmaker’s jurisdiction.

Vaughn has listed on state ethics disclosures that he receives income from the Joseph Smith and Sons scrap yard in Capitol Heights, Md., one of several locations where FBI agents searched for evidence last week.

Vaughn, 59, has not returned repeated calls or messages left at his home in Mitchellville in recent days. Numerous members of the Prince George’s delegation said they have sent him messages of support as word spread that his resignation was imminent, but had not spoken to him directly.

A spokeswoman for Busch declined to say Wednesday whether Vaughn’s resignation was linked to the investigation. In a statement released Tuesday night, after Campos’s guilty plea was announced, Busch said that he was “painfully disappointed that any member of the House of Delegates would compromise this institution and the public trust.”

“There is no room for this type of behavior in the House of Delegates,” his statement said. “Each of us needs to redouble our efforts to rebuild the trust with our constituents that has been compromised by the actions announced today.”

Vaughn was born in Tuskegee, Ala. He attended DuVal High School in Prince George’s County before receiving a bachelor’s degree from Southern University.

Since taking office in 2003, he has served on the Economic Matters Committee, which deals with bills that regulate alcohol, as well as banking, economic development, insurance and utilities. He has chaired the business regulation subcommittee for Economic Matters since 2007. In 2006, he was House deputy majority whip.

Vaughn supported 2015 legislation authorizing Sunday liquor sales in Prince George’s County, and a follow-up bill in 2016 that limited an expansion in the number of Sunday licenses to five.

The federal investigation unveiled last week accused David Son, a longtime Prince George’s liquor regulator who worked for his county’s senators in 2015, of arranging bribes from two liquor store owners to two elected officials for their work on the bills.

Del. Jay Walker (D-Prince George’s), the chairman of the county’s delegation, said in a statement that the lawmakers were “deeply disappointed” in the federal allegations of corruption and the assertion that current or former lawmakers were involved.

“The Prince George’s Delegation strives to meet the highest standard of legislative ethics,” Walker said. “These allegations should not reflect on the hard working members of the Prince George’s Delegation who are deeply committed to representing their constituents with integrity and independence.”

Walker said that he has not spoken to Vaughn in recent days.

Before being elected to the House, Vaughn worked in banking and finance, according to his official House of Delegates biography. He came under scrutiny for falsely claiming on his campaign website that he played football for the Dallas Cowboys for three years, which he retracted in 2010 after questioning from a Washington City Paper reporter.

He also worked in sales for Marriott Corporation and the Hilton Washington Embassy Row for a year. Vaughn currently owns ADDR Properties, a real estate company in Mitchellville, according to Maryland assessment records.

via Washington post

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Lynette Mundey became upset and was removed from the courtroom in handcuffs

Lynette Mundey

UPPER MARLBORO, Md. — In what is turning out to be a bizarre and comical situation in search of justice, according to WTOP, a former board of education member in Prince George’s County (Lynette Mundey) who was convicted on Thursday  2/18/2016 of stealing from the school system, became upset and had to be removed from the courtroom in handcuffs, according to prosecutors.

Unable to regain her composure, the remaining guilty verdicts had to be read without Mundey in the courtroom. She was found guilty Thursday of collecting more than $1,700 worth of free and reduced lunches for her child between 2010 and 2015 even though she didn’t qualify for the lunch program. The convictions included felony theft, filing a false public assistance application, welfare fraud and several other charges.

 Sentencing is set for April 28. Mundey could face up to 49 years in prison.

 “It’s important to this community that we have people in place who lead in this county, who our citizens can trust,” said Prince George’s County State’s Attorney Angela Alsobrooks.

Mundey was a federal employee of the Government Accountability Office and it was that agency that discovered the crime. Mundey was among six GAO employees found guilty of misusing the program, which is only available to families making less than $40,000 a year. The employees combined pulled in $13,000 worth of free and reduced lunches.

 “The convictions will remain on their records forever, which is important so that future employers will know what kind of individual they would be dealing with if they attempt to get hired by those agencies,” said prosecutor Jeremy Robbins.

When she was indicted, Mundey was making $93,000 annually as an education board member and a federal employee.

 For now, Mundey remains an employee of the GAO, spokesman Chuck Young said in an email to WTOP.

“We will be looking at her status in the wake of the fact she has now been found guilty,” Young said.

 According to Alsobrooks’ office, Barbara Rowley pleaded guilty to making a false statement on a public assistance application and is expected to receive a three-year suspended sentence, three years of probation and 50 hours of community service. She will have to pay $3,322 in restitution.

A jury found Jamilah Reid guilty of felony theft, welfare fraud and other charges. Reid is set to be sentenced Feb. 26.

 A judge found Tracy Williams guilty of felony theft, welfare fraud and other charges. Williams received a 3.5-year suspended sentence plus three years of probation and was ordered to pay $2,146 in restitution.

Charlene Savoy pleaded guilty to felony theft and was sentenced to three years of unsupervised probation, 100 hours of community service and was ordered to pay $781 in restitution.

 Terri Pinkney pleaded guilty to making a false statement on a public assistance application and is set to be sentenced on March 1, 2016. She is expected to receive a three-year suspended sentence, three years of probation, 50 hours of community service and to pay $1,737 in restitution.

Pinkney’s husband, James Pinkney, was originally charged with the scheme but the charges against him were dropped when his wife admitted to filling out the application, according to Alsobrooks’ office.

By Mike Murillo Via WTOP  Video by PGCTV

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Supreme Court majority is critical of compelled public employee union fees

United States Supreme Court justices.

By Robert Barnes

A majority of the Supreme Court on Monday seemed prepared to hand a significant defeat to organized labor and side with a group of California teachers who claim their free speech rights are violated when they are forced to pay dues to the state’s teachers union.

By their questioning at oral argument, the court’s conservatives appeared ready to junk a decades-old precedent that allows unions to collect an “agency fee” from nonmembers to support collective-bargaining activities for members and nonmembers alike.

It is the most important Supreme Court case of the year for unions and one of a clutch of politically charged cases that puts the justices in the spotlight as the nation turns its attention to the elections of 2016.

The case involves only public-employee unions — not private workers — but those unions are the strongest segment of an organized labor movement that is increasingly tied to the Democratic Party. At the same time, Republican governors across the nation have become embroiled in high-profile battles with the public-employee unions in their states.

Conservative groups have directly asked the court to overturn a 1977 decision, Abood v. Detroit Board of Education, that favored the unions. That ruling said that states could allow public-employee unions to collect fees from nonmembers to cover the costs of workplace negotiations but not to cover the union’s political activities.

The unions say losing those fees would be a heavy blow because there is no incentive for workers to pay for collective-bargaining representation they could receive for free. About 20 states, including California, allow what the unions like to call “fair-share” fees.

But conservative justices sharply questioned whether it was possible to separate public-employee negotiations from the kind of public policy questions — teacher salaries and classroom sizes, for instance, and the tax dollars that must be raised to pay for them — that are raised.

“When you are dealing with a governmental agency, many critical points are matters of public concern,” said Justice Anthony M. Kennedy, who traditionally is the most likely of the court’s conservatives to join with liberals to form a majority.

Some teachers disagree with their unions on issues such as merit pay, promotion and the importance of seniority, Kennedy said.

The fees “require that employees and teachers who disagree with those positions must nevertheless subsidize the union on those very points,” he said.

It is not enough to argue that the teachers can speak out on their own as citizens, he said.

In the current case, union leaders were not counting on Kennedy but on another conservative, Justice Antonin Scalia.

Scalia in the past has expressed sympathy for the view that the unions needed to collect the fees to prevent “free riders” — those who benefit from the agreements that unions reach with government employers but who do not pay for the union’s costs. But he did not pose any questions Monday that favored the union’s view and said he shared Kennedy’s concerns.

“The problem is that everything that is collectively bargained with the government is within the political sphere, almost by definition,” he said.

He also questioned the contention that the unions would not survive without collecting the fees. Already, there are 25 states that do not require their collection, and Scalia said the unions should do a better job of persuading those eligible to join.

California Solicitor General Edward C. DuMont, who was aligned in the case with the teachers union, said the California unions already had extraordinary participation but prohibiting agency fees fights human nature.

“Many people can want something in the sense they view it as very advantageous to themselves, but if they are given a choice, they would prefer to have it for free, rather than to pay for it,” he said. “This is a classic collective-action problem.”

Oral arguments are not always predictive, but it seemed clear that DuMont, California Teachers Association attorney David C. Frederick and Solicitor General Donald B. Verrilli Jr., representing the Obama administration, were treading against the tide.

The court’s five conservatives in 2012 and 2014 had expressed grave doubts about whether the Abood decision had properly taken into account the First Amendment rights of the union objectors.

It has been the pattern of the court headed by Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. to take incremental steps toward undermining a precedent with which it disagrees before delivering a final blow.

The court’s liberals said the challengers had not made the case for why the court should abandon a precedent rather than take the normal path of upholding it.

[Two teachers explain why they want to take down their union]

Justice Stephen G. Breyer said the Abood “compromise” had worked pretty well over the last 40 years. When the court starts overruling precedents, he said, “What happens to the country thinking of us as a kind of stability in ­­a world that is tough because it changes a lot?” Breyer asked.

Justice Elena Kagan also pushed that theme, telling Washington attorney Michael A. Carvin, who represented the objecting teachers, that he had a “heavy burden.”

“That’s always true in cases where somebody asks us to overrule a decision. It seems to be particularly true here,” Kagan said. “This is a case in which there are tens of thousands of contracts with these provisions. Those contracts affect millions of employees, maybe as high as 10 million employees. So what special justification are you offering here?”

Carvin replied that the strongest reason for overturning a precedent is when it “erroneously denies a fundamental right’’ — in this case, freedom of speech and association.

Kagan and other justices said the court’s precedents were clear that when government is acting as an employer, it can act as any employer in restricting employee rights.

Frederick argued for leaving the decision about requiring fees to the individual states, rather than forbidding the process. “Different states have different experiences, and this is an opportunity for the states to draw upon those distinctive experiences in coming up with a system that’s fair for everyone,” he argued.

There seemed to be two options if a majority disagreed with Abood but was reluctant to overturn the precedent.

The justices could remand the case to the lower courts. Carvin and his clients had raced through the lower courts in hopes of getting the case to the Supreme Court faster.

The justices could also change how the agency fees are collected. Currently, the fees must be paid, and then employees “opt out” of funding the union’s political activities and receive money back. Objecting employees say that minimizes the burden on them.

But there was limited questioning from the justices about whether such a change might be an alternative to overturning the system.

The case is Friedrichs v. California Teachers Association.

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The Cruel Charter School Addiction in Philadelphia

Dr. William Hite Jr is involved in charter schools fiasco in Philly. The lure and promise of magic with millions of dollars squandered on charter schools that are no better–and often worse–than the public schools is an endless blame game which appears to have no end in sight.

Eileen DiFranco, a retired school nurse in Philadelphia, describes an episode from “The Twilight Zone” in which a sober family man encounters slot machines in Las Vegas and becomes an addict. He can’t help himself. He gambles everything and can’t stop.

She compares this gambling fever to the charter school addiction of districts like Philadelphia. No matter how many charter schools fail, the district leaders led by Dr. William Hite Jr want more of them. They are in love with the lure and promise of magic and they can’t stop. Meanwhile, the public schools suffer as do the children who attend public schools, while millions are squandered on charter schools that are no better–and often worse–than the public schools.

She writes:

With their “no excuses” mantra, highly paid charter school CEOs promise school administrators that they will bring students up to grade level in no time at all. It all sounds so attractive. And believable. School districts all over the country have been sucked in by this big, brash idea that sounds wonderful on paper, but has largely failed to deliver on its promises. This has not stopped the charter school operators from repeating their claim of educational superiority over and over again until it takes on the ring of truth.

But the reality is that the charter schools’ claims contain more “truthiness” than actual truth. According to Kevin Welner, director of the National Education Policy Center (NEPC), a national study by CREDO that many cited to tout the superior performance of charters actually found that “less than one hundredth of one percent (<0.01 percent) of the variation in test performance in reading is explainable by charter school enrollment.”

Let’s put that alleged 0.01 percent success rate into a Philadelphia perspective. The SRC has approved charter school establishment and expansion even while the traditional public schools languish. As children are injured, or even die, as did Laporshia Massey at Bryant Elementary, or as violence occurs, as it did at George Washington High School, the fault somehow lies with the resource-starved schools and not the SRC’s addiction to the lure of charter schools.

The underwhelming performance of charter schools for an overwhelming amount of money should set off alarms. Their quick solutions to educational woes follow the logic of past failures: Just hand over the money and we’ll do it all for you. In the end, however, there is only one certainty: If something is too good to be true, it is not the truth.

Several questions need to be asked about this scenario. The first is, why would the SRC allow the majority of Philadelphia’s children to attend dirty, unsafe schools without counselors, nurses, and assistant principals while other children clearly do not? Why is there hardly any discussion about this glaring disparity?

I have a couple of answers. The first is that there is a plan afoot to break public schools deliberately so that they can be handed over to charters. Thus, the SRC and Hite are wreaking havoc by deliberately deferring maintenance and cutting staff to dangerous levels in traditional schools. This practice effectively insures the failure that is necessary to hand over the now low-performing, intentionally broken “seats” over to more “successful” charter operators who feel justified in cutting into the resources available to District schools. This is being done in a calculated way in order to break the teachers’ union, the whipping boy of modern school reform.

The second is that District leaders and politicians are trying to appease elected officials in rural areas who perceive city schools and urban children as great leeches feeding off public dollars who divert resources away from more deserving populations. For them, giving more money to ”those” children in urban areas is like throwing money into a pit. The idea in the Pennsylvania House and Senate is that throwing money at schools doesn’t fix them, although they believe that having enough money fixes just about everything else.

The third is that the SRC has become the ball carrier for hedge fund managers for whom education is a place where they can make money. The fact that school reform is being led by MBAs rather than by educators is telling.

Philadelphia public schools are dying. Who will be held accountable? The legislature? Former Governor Tom Corbett? Superintendent William Hite?

The leaders are chasing a rainbow, bright promises that have never come through for the children. They are killing a democratic institution that society depends on and needs. Can they sleep at night?

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Md. may no longer technically be No. 1 in education

Maryland’s superintendent of schools has no plans to take down dozens of signs in the windows of her agency’s headquarters that proclaim Maryland No. 1 in education. Likewise, Gov. Martin O’Malley is unlikely to stop bragging that Maryland is No. 1 in the nation, a point he made again Wednesday on Twitter.

But technically, Maryland cannot claim that distinction anymore. Education Week, a national education newspaper that has given Maryland schools the top mark for the past five years, has stopped ranking the states in its annual Quality Counts report. It was considered the most comprehensive ranking of the nation’s schools.

Released Thursday in a more streamlined version, the latest report focuses on just three categories, including student achievement, instead of the usual six. And unfortunately for Maryland’s politicians and education officials, in those three categories the state never hits No. 1 in the nation.

Read more: http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/education/blog/bs-md-number-one-ranking-20140108,0,2900778.story#ixzz2psisbxJs

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Dr. Lillian Lowery Embattled State Superintendent is currently presiding over deep-seated corruption in Maryland school system. She has demonstrated a culture of discrimination and racism while on the job.

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Teacher’s resignation letter:

…‘My profession … no longer exists’

Increasingly teachers are speaking out against school reforms that they believe are demeaning their profession, and some are simply quitting because they have had enough. Here is one resignation letter from a veteran teacher, Gerald J. Conti, a social studies teacher at Westhill High School in Syracuse, N.Y as highlighted by Washingtonpost.: >>> Read more Resignation letter

OPINION

Freedom of speech, press, assembly, and petition have long been celebrated as crucial to democratic government. United States Supreme Court decisions have, quite rightly, justified strong protection of these freedoms because of their crucial role in the functioning of American democracy.

The Supreme Court has often noted the crucial function of free speech and press for democratic government. In Stromberg v. California (1931), Chief Justice Charles Evans Hughes’ opinion for the Court said “a fundamental principle of our constitutional system” is “the maintenance of the opportunity for free discussion to the end that government may be responsive to the will of the people. ” 1 In Roth v. United States (1957), the Court said that “[t]he protection given speech and press was fashioned to assure unfettered interchange of ideas for the bringing about of political and social changes desired by the people.” 2 Seven years later, the Supreme Court decided New York Times v. Sullivan, a case involving an Alabama public official who sued the Times for libel based on an advertisement. The ad had criticized the way state government officials responded to civil rights demonstrations. The Court said, “the First Amendment . . . ‘presupposes that right conclusions are more likely to be gathered out of a multitude of tongues, than through any kind of authoritative selection. . . .’ ” 3 The modern Supreme Court has often quoted a famous concurring opinion by Justice Louis Brandeis in Whitney v. California (1927): the preferred remedy for “falsehood and fallacies” is “more speech, not enforced silence.” 4 In the United States, freedom of the press, in particular, has been celebrated for its role in checking government misconduct and informing the electorate.

As demonstrated here in Maryland and in Prince George’s county, Unable to counter sense, dissent and the struggle for more democratic space with arguments, the powerful make the messengers the culprits, abuse and demean them, and finally just censor or close them down instead of embracing good ideas enacted by teachers and other staff members within the school district.

Let us remember that in the absence of writing and exchanging good ideas, many staffers in this country are likely to leave in the absence of exposure. Many years ago, our media was the songs, stories and dance used to celebrate the achievements of the community. But the same songs and stories were also used to devastating effect as accountability tools, to criticize leaders when they went wrong, point out vices (especially of selfishness and greed) among prominent people, and satirise those who focused only on themselves rather than the community.

Freedoms are and have always been universal. So has the demand for them. And it is the oppressed and underdogs who always value them more than those in power.

Maryland State Board of Education leaders led by Dr. Lillian Lowery and Dr. Charlene Dukes who are involved in conflict of interest better be more careful with their actions including speeches lest they be remembered in the same breath as colonialists, slave-owners and supporters of apartheid.

Of course supporters of colonialism, slavery and apartheid also use these same freedoms to perpetuate their oppression. That is as it should be in democratic societies. But because they can’t win the argument, logically and rationally, they then resort to abuse, venom, and stigmatization. When that does not work, they eventually go down the road of strong-arm tactics like censorship, bans, illegal decisions, imprisonment and killings.

To them, the constitution is just a piece of paper which they embrace when it suits them and discard when it does not. People can no longer express themselves freely anymore and give proper solutions to society. This is not the Maryland we want our future generations to inherit.

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>>> Attend Common Core protest at MSDE…on November 18, 2013. Call your elected officials now and the media. Demand changes due to Maryland State Board of Education leaders involved in corruption and abuse of power. (video)

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Dr. Lillian M. Lowery Maryland State Superintendent  of schools has been criticized for showing very poor leadership skills in various ways including discriminatory conduct and received an F grade for Common Core meetings so far.

In our opinion, We aver and therefore believe Maryland State Board of Education President Dr. Charlene Dukes shown here has demonstrated a culture of corrupt leadership style and continues “an integrated pattern of pay to play” and manipulation during her tenure.

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Opponents to hold Common Core protest at MSDE…

…as part of national event.

Opponents of Common Core and takeover of schools in Maryland will be holding a protest on Monday, November 18, 2013 from 10am to noon at the headquarters of the Maryland State Department of Education at 200 West Baltimore Street in Baltimore.

The event is part of a national protest against Common Core and public corruption in Education that will take place in states across the country. Some parents are against common core and others are driven by the fight against public corruption in Education here in Maryland. The chosen date has significance to the movement, being not only the first day of American Education Week, but also Revolution Day.

Organizers are encouraging parents, students, teachers, and others to attend.  More information, will be posted as it becomes available on the Facebook page “Stop Common Core in Maryland”. This is a bipartisan event involving people of different diverse backgrounds who mean well for their communities and the United States.

Above all, they want to see a greater level of accountability and transparency involving the Maryland state Board of Education which yields a lot of power. Many homeless students and other unfortunate students in the system are being left behind by the unmonitored standards.

The problem was created by a top-down philosophy; the solution will come from the bottom up. Many parents in PG County are supportive of  president Obama and Maryland Governor O’Malley but they want to see an end to corruption within Prince George’s County public schools and Maryland. Maryland state has  senior officers involved in discrimination starting with Dr. Charlene Dukes President of Maryland State Board of Education and Dr. Lillian Lowery Maryland State superintendent of Schools pictured below.  Please help spread the word and join us on November 18, 2013.

To join the fight against public corruption in schools, join the Facebook pages: Call your elected officials now and demand changes within the top school system leadership in Maryland. We must create accountability and transparency. Say “No” to corruption. This is because of entrenched ethnicisation and political manipulation, the ugly face of repression is raising its head. The system and its hirelings are already working hard to prop up a repressive system. Just like it happened many years ago in the state, the democratic ideals enshrined in the constituton are being betrayed by the conscienceless and unashamed clique of usurpers who are remnants of the former repressive regimes of Jack Johnson era. To them, the constitution is just a piece of paper which they embrace when it suits them and discard when it does not. People can no longer express themselves freely anymore and give proper solutions to society. This is not the Maryland we want our future generations to inherit.

In Maryland:

Dr. Lillian M. Lowery Maryland State Superintendent  of schools has been criticized for showing very poor leadership skills in various ways including discriminatory conduct and received an F grade for Common Core meetings so far.

In our opinion, We aver and therefore believe Maryland State Board of Education President Dr. Charlene Dukes shown here has demonstrated a culture of corrupt leadership style and continues “an integrated pattern of pay to play” and manipulation during her tenure.

Our children cannot live on election promises, expensive hairdo’s, decorated buildings with their names and top of the line auto imports. Please let us focus on where our bread is battered. Performance, integrity and high values. When our kids succed, then you can go get your hairdo on – until then, please refrain from this unagreeable behavior.

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Prince George’s Schools CEO…

…names transition team and serious concerns emanate

Kevin M. Maxwell, the Chief Executive Officer of Prince George’s County Public Schools.

Prince George’s County Schools Chief Executive Officer Kevin Maxwell has selected a transition team to analyze the school system and offer recommendations on how to move the struggling system forward.

The 32-member panel, which includes local and regional educators, is scheduled to hold its first meeting on Monday.

“This transition team will help me to determine the needs for the district and the appropriate next steps as it relates to key areas of school operations,” Maxwell said in a statement.

The committee will review data, conduct interviews, determine the district’s strengths and identify areas the need additional attention. It will also focus on teaching and learning, communication, how to use resources and the organizational structure.

Maxwell became the district’s eighth school superintendent in 14 years in August. He took over the system following a contentious debate over the future of the county schools.

Earlier this year, County Executive Rushern L. Baker III (D) asked the General Assembly to approve a bill that would give him control over the school system. Under a compromise bill, Baker received the power to select the schools chief, name three members to an expanded school board, and choose the board chair and vice chair.

The team members are:

Maryland Superintendent of Schools Lillian Lowery; Prince George’s Deputy Superintendent Monique Davis; Prince George’s County Community College President Charlene Dukes; Douglass Anthony, the executive director of the school system’s Human Capital Management; Maritza Gonzalez, the school system’s Latino affairs officer; Max Pugh, the school system’s acting communications officer; Pamela Shetley, the director of Human Capital Management; Frederick Douglass High School principal Rudolph Saunders; Oxon Hill Middle School principal Wendell Coleman; Cesar Chavez Elementary School principal Jose Taboada II; Gladys Noon Spellman Elementary School principal Susan Holiday; Albert Lewis, the 2013 Teacher of the Year; Earnest Moore, the president of the county’s PTA Council; Kenneth Haines, president of the Prince George’s County Educators’ Association; Shirley Adams, president of AFSME (Local 2250); Carnell Reed, president of SEIU (Local 400); Dwayne Jones, president of the principals’ union; Rukayat Muse-Ariyoh, the student school board member; Betty Morgan, the former Washington County school superintendent; Lethia Jackson, who works in the computer science department at Bowie State University; Diane Lee, the vice provost and dean of Undergraduate Education at the University of Maryland in Baltimore County; Linda Ferrell, the former deputy chief of teaching and learning for the District of Columbia Public Schools; Joe Hairston, the president of Visions Unlimited and former Baltimore County school superintendent; Aggie Alva, vice president of product marketing and communications at Discovery Communications; Leslie Fenwick, the dean of the School of Education at Howard University; Shawn Joseph, the superintendent of the Seaford School District in Delaware; Zakiya Lee, assistant to the senior vice chancellor at the University System of Maryland; Pat Martin, assistant vice president of the College Board; Christian Rhodes, Baker’s education policy advisor; Susan Marks, the former superintendent of the Norwalk School District in Connecticut; Donna Wiseman, dean of the University of Maryland College of Education; Bob Wise, the former West Virginia governor of president Alliance for Excellent Education.

The transition team is scheduled to finish its work in December and submit a report to the Board of Education. >>> Read more Washington Post

OPINION

Reform Sasscer Movement for Prince George’s county is challenging Prince George’s county citizens to be prepared to make sacrifices for their county and to protect the gains already achieved while they seek for more. We must make sacrifices to build on the gains achieved so far and learn from America’s experiences especially in the field of protection of rights and decentralization of power and resources.

Martin Luther King Jr., George Washington and others who fought for freedom knew that freedom is not given; it must be won through struggle, persistence and faith in the future.

As we have mobilized political leaders, we have been a witness to history. In our own small way, we have contributed to the history of our county. We have been a witness as the tide of history turned in our county as a model for others. As participants in some of the events that changed our county school system. As residents and workers we have pushed forward toward freedom and we can tell you nothing comes easy, and surrender cannot be an option at this time.

Dr. Lillian M. Lowery Maryland State Superintendent  of schools has been criticized for showing very poor leadership skills in various ways and received an F grade for Common Core meetings so far.

Maryland State Board of Education President Dr. Charlene Dukes shown here has demonstrated a culture of corrupt leadership style and continues “an integrated pattern of pay to play” and manipulation.

Now this brings us to the raging debate on why an appointment was made of such a large group (32) to review an issue which led to the appointment of Dr. Kevin Maxwell as the CEO of Prince George’s County public schools. Before he interviewed and accepted the job, we had already identified “the top priorities“. So what happened? In our honest opinion, this appointment of two of the top leadership (Dr. Lillian Lowery and Dr. Charlene Dukes) to run the affairs of the county is dishonest, misplaced and hypocritical. First, Charlene Dukes who served as a previous Board member during a time of high levels of corruption should be viewed with a lot of suspicion.  Why would any leader thrive in the suffering of his  or her people who either freely elected him or her or surrendered all authority to him or her to govern? What was the purpose of appointing the expanded Board of Education and their supposedly expertise of some of the new members? If a grievance arose of such a group who will resolve it given Dr. Lillian Lowery and Dr. Charlene Dukes are supposedly neutral of which they are not? Isn’t what they are doing illegal and creates a conflict of interest? Why appoint someone and then follow him to throw your power/ weight around? Where is the outrage?

The current group led by Dr. Charlene Dukes and Dr. Lillian Lowery is comprised of a bunch of people without a clue of what has been going on. While some of them are good men and women, How are they going to make recommendations to solve a problem within the county they do not even understand or believe in themselves? The people of Prince George’s County needs a chance to come up with their own solutions. Top of their list should be eliminate the current group (32) which has their own selfish agenda to derail the progress made so far. The Unions need to be reformed first, we do not expect them to shoot themselves on their feet. Do you? How about Mr. Dwayne Jones (President ASASP) mentioned in our blogs? Does anyone in their right mind expect him to reform the principal’s union? Mr. Jones does not even have time to add a message to his followers on the website. We do not think so…

The Washington post article mentions that, “The transition team is scheduled to finish its work in December and submit a report to the Board of Education.”  The poor unfortunate Prince Georges children and their parents deserve better than this. Take a look at some of those names on the “team”. Same people with the same philosophy. This is the ultimate definition of insanity. This was never about anything but raw political power to some of these people.

Power, they say, does not flow along the lines of an organization’s organograms; power is fluid and often asymmetrical.

Access is power, those who have unlimited access to leaders often tend to have more power and influence on decision-making processes than elected leaders holding seemingly powerful positions.

As political historian Hedrick Smith writes in his book, The Power Game – HowWashington Works’ access to a president means involvement in major decisions and actions of the State. Smith writes the most vital ingredients of power are often intangible. Information is power. Visibility around the president or his deputy is power and so is access to the inner sanctums of government.

The fear of political manipulation and arbitrariness in Prince George’s County Board of Education duties has led several Board members to question the new order of doing Business. They are correct.  The HB1107 did not create space to include such a large number of personal friends to investigate themselves.

A great deal of criticism should be directed at the Maryland state Board of Education by various parties as a result of several errors committed by the state agency in managing the affairs of the county and Maryland as a state.

In our view and consistent to those expressed by many others, beyond seeking justice, we must entertain self-preservation as a key motive of the Maryland state Board of Education. The Maryland state Board of Education must demonstrate results to funding county Boards and various interest groups. This motive raises the probability of miscarriage of justice and selective prosecution as is quite apparent in the several cases lately.

Under the current structure, Maryland state Board of Education is likely to continue losing support. Its scope of powers and especially the office of the Attorney General is too broad and wide open to political manipulation that it would be irrational to expect fair adjudication of justice.

Unless serious reforms are undertaken to ensure Maryland state Board of Education can be trusted to execute justice fairly, it will continue digging its own grave and in the process undermining justice.

In essence, Folks, there’s no more doubt. Maryland state Board of Education is its own worst enemy and living to the claims of a state agency. It does not have the capacity and the expertise to do what is right for the children of the state of Maryland.  The time to act is now.  We have got a runaway state board of education with no oversight, not subject to election, and doing reforms not subject to legislative review.  All without citizen input nor consent.  And wielding a billion dollar budget. The future of Maryland state Board of Education is either radical reforms or a funeral. We must say “NO” to the latest shenanigans.

When you see us pushing for these things, we hope you will understand where we are coming from. We have seen freedoms taken away and opportunities frustrated and killed and we have learnt that if we sit back, nobody will apologize and say sorry. The powerful just move on while the poor and the weak suffer.

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