#montgomery county public schools

[the-garbanzo-annex-jr]

The Zionist Organization of America (ZOA) has filed a civil rights complaint against Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS), alleging severe, persistent and pervasive antisemitism in the schools that district officials have failed to address, in violation of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act.  The complaint, against Maryland’s largest school district, was filed with the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR) today.

The ZOA’s complaint documents years of antisemitic harassment and intimidation endured by Jewish students and staff, including the following: 

Ethnic slurs, such as “Jewish f—k,” “Jew-boy” and Hey, Jew”; “Heil Hitler” salutes; and Jewish “jokes” from peers that recommend that Jewish students should be put in a concentration camp. One Jewish student was recently told that Hitler had not done enough and that he should go back to Israel. 

School property throughout the district has been defaced with swastikas.

In December 2022, the entrance sign at one MCPS high school was vandalized with the words, “Jews Not Welcome.” The day before, several staff members at the high school received antisemitic email messages.

School staff who have publicly denied the Hamas massacre on October 7, 2023, and who have publicly called for Israel’s elimination are tolerated and remain in teaching positions in the district. MCPS retained a staff member who promoted the lie that “Palestinians are being killed and their organs are being sold.”  MCPS hired this staff member as a “diversity, equity and inclusion” teacher.

Student “pro-Palestinian” walkouts at MCPS high schools after the Hamas massacre disrupted school operations and caused many Jewish students to stay away from school out of fear for their safety. School officials tolerated the walkouts and remained silent even after student protesters at these walkouts legitimized and encouraged violence and terrorism against Jews and Israelis and called for Israel’s destruction.

At one MCPS high school, the organizers of the “pro-Palestinian” walkout posted on social media that “There is no country called Israel” and “‘Israel’ is a group of Zionist Jewish people from all over the world & dont [sic] have a state.” The organizers also openly called for Israel’s elimination, posting, “We want liberation, we want our lands back.  All of PALESTINE.  From the river to the sea.”  School officials not only failed to condemn the conduct; they allowed the walkout to proceed and disrupt classes, and later commended the protesters for “demonstrating peacefully.”

At another high school walkout in MCPS, a faculty member overheard one student say, “We should bring Hitler back,” and another student say, “Kill the Jews.” After being alerted to the antisemitic comments and threat, the principal failed even to alert the community or condemn the comments.  Instead, the principal praised the protesters for their “fantastic job.”  Moreover, MCPS retaliated against the faculty member who reported the antisemitic comments and threat, by knowingly making false accusations against her and baselessly sanctioning her.

MCPS retaliated against other staff members after they raised concerns about antisemitism in their schools.

ZOA National President Morton A. Klein and Director of ZOA’s Center for Law and Justice, Susan B. Tuchman, Esq., stated, “The ZOA’s complaint is based on horrifying reports from parents and teachers about the antisemitism that MCPS officials have known about for years and have failed to address.  Their indifference and inaction are a stark contrast to how vigilantly district officials have responded when other ethnic and racial groups were targeted.

“Members of the MCPS community have spent years trying to resolve the antisemitism in their school district. They’ve asked for district officials to speak out forcefully against antisemitism, to appropriately discipline perpetrators, and to provide students and staff with the training they need to understand how antisemitism is expressed today and how to respond to it effectively.  But these community members have largely been met with indifference and even hostility from district officials.

“We are grateful to the many community members who came forward to share their painful experiences with us.  And we are hoping that the Office for Civil Rights will investigate the ZOA’s complaint promptly and thoroughly.  It’s time that MCPS is finally held accountable under the law for failing to provide a learning environment that is physically and psychologically safe for Jews.”

[justinspoliticalcorner]

John Fritze at CNN, via The Advocate:

(CNN) — The Supreme Court on Monday declined to review an appeal from a group of parents who claimed their suburban Washington-area school district was hiding transgender support plans involving their children. Three parents sued the Montgomery Country school district in Maryland over guidelines adopted in 2020 that allow schools to develop support plans for transgender students and “respect the students’ wishes to keep certain information confidential.”

The Supreme Court’s decision, made without explanation, left in place an appeals court ruling that the parents lacked standing to sue because they never established the plans were put in place for their children. It’s the latest in a series of cases where the high court has dodged the issue of transgender rights at school – often leaving in place lower court rulings that sided with trans students. “This case presents an issue on the merits that is roiling parents and school districts from Maine to California,” the parents who sued over the policy told the justices in their appeal last year. “It is important for parents, their children, and public schools alike to have this issue addressed and resolved now.” The school district said the guidelines were put in place to “ensure a safe and respectful school environment” for all students. The fact that a student chooses to disclose information to a teacher or administrator, the school said, “does not authorize school staff to disclose a student’s information to others.”

SCOTUS refuses to grant review for the John and Jane Parents 1 v. Montgomery County Board of Education case regarding Montgomery County Public Schools' trans-inclusive policies that the 4th Circuit Court ruled that the parents lacked standing.

See Also:

Reuters: US Supreme Court won't hear Maryland school district gender identity case

[darkmaga-retard]

A school district in Maryland is finding out just how costly virtue signaling can wind up being.

By Tyler Durden

e county’s Office of the Inspector General reported that the buses were consistently delivered late. Dozens of buses scheduled for fiscal year 2022 arrived only after Christmas, instead of at the start of the school year as required.

A school district in Maryland is finding out just how costly virtue signaling can wind up being. 

Maryland’s largest school district in Montgomery County found out via an Inspector General's report that implementing electric busses “led to millions of dollars in wasteful spending”, according to WTOP.

The wasteful spending was caused in part by late deliveries and maintenance issues, according to the IG report. 

The report said that at a ribbon-cutting ceremony in October 2022, Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) announced that its 326 new electric buses would save 6,500 gallons of fuel daily and cut costs by 50%.

And then reality set in. Since entering into a $168 million contract for the buses, MCPS has faced significant delays, WTOP reports.

The county’s Office of the Inspector General reported that the buses were consistently delivered late. Dozens of buses scheduled for fiscal year 2022 arrived only after Christmas, instead of at the start of the school year as required.

“MCPS’s failure to hold the contractor accountable to the terms of the contract and their decision not to include provisions to offset incurred expenses has led to millions of dollars in wasteful spending,” the IG report said. 

A similar issue occurred in fiscal year 2024. Of the 120 buses slated for delivery, only 37 arrived by the end of September, 69 between October and December, and 14 more between January and April.

[reasonsforhope]

According to the World Resources Institute, the number of electric school buses operating or delivered in the United States more than doubled—from 598 in 2022 to 1,285 through June 2023—all driven to serve school children while providing cleaner air in 40 states.

Looking into the near future, the number of electric school buses that were already funded or on-order nearly tripled, and were spread across districts located in 49 states.

The emissions-free buses are found in 914 U.S. school districts and private fleet operators, according to the evidence-based nonprofit’s report published in September, 2023: State of Electric School Bus Adoption in the US.

California leads all states, with over 2,000 committed electric buses across the sprawling territory. This is more than five times as many EV buses as the next leading state, Maryland, with 391 commitments.

New Jersey has the second largest increase with 107 new buses, while West Virginia has the third largest increase with 42 new commitments. The updated data shows electric school bus commitments are now more evenly distributed across all regions of the country.

The Top 5 School Districts by Number of Electric School Buses are:

Montgomery County Public Schools (Maryland)

Los Angeles Unified School District

New York City Public Schools

Twin Rivers Unified School District (California)

Troy Community Consolidated School District (Illinois)

“We estimate approximately 69,000 students across the country are currently served by electric school buses that are delivered or in operation,” said the report authors, Lydia Freehafer, Leah Lazer, and Brian Zepka.

Zero pollution from tailpipes while buses are idling or driving means the students, staff, and community will be exposed to significantly less harmful air particulates that contribute to asthma and lung disease. The environment also benefits from reduced greenhouse gas emissions.

The federal government’s Clean School Bus Program, administered by the Environmental Protection Agency, is one of the biggest funders of these vehicles, having awarded 2,339 electric school buses—with more on the way.

-via Good News Network, December 30, 2023

[eretzyisrael]

By  Luke Rosiak

A Maryland school system knowingly used false information to discipline a Jewish teacher in response to her reporting to her principal that at a pro-Palestinian walkout — which the principal called “fantastic” — students praised Adolph Hitler and called for the death of Jews.

The Daily Wire reported in January that Paint Branch High School Principal Pam Krawczel gave excused absences to students to walk out of class in protest of Israel, and praised them even after the Muslim Student Association (MSA) faculty sponsor informed her that some made violent and genocidal remarks. In response, Krawczel falsely suggested that the MSA faculty sponsor, Brooke Meshel, was The Daily Wire’s source, doxxed a child, and took a photograph of students.

As a result, Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) has now prohibited Meshel from interacting with any member of the MSA, impeding her ability to teach her classes.

Krawczel knew the accusation was false because MCPS itself — not Meshel — was The Daily Wire’s source. Shortly after the highly-publicized walkout, the publication filed a public records request for Krawczel’s emails on the topic. The day the emails were received, this reporter emailed Krawczel asking her for comment, explaining that the story was based on the emails she had turned over.

Nonetheless, Krawczel summoned Meshel and drafted a “Summary of Concern” memo for her file, expressing “concern about the article posted in the Daily Wire in which Ms. Meshel was said to be the source.” Krawczel ordered Meshel to “reflect on the meeting” and stated that, “per this memorandum…. you are no longer to serve as the sponsor of MSA. Do not interact with any students in the MSA. Do not post any pictures of PBHS students.”

As evidence that Meshel was the source, Krawczel cited that an unnamed collection of students told her “Meshel had provided information to the writers” and told The Daily Wire “the whole event was anti-Semitic,” neither of which occured.

The letter also relied on another statement from a student that began, “to whom it may be concerned [sic], I have been asked to provide my statement on the article from the Daily Wire which has used my photograph without my permission,” claiming it “poses a threat to our lives.”

The student’s statement claimed, bizarrely, that a stranger appeared on campus distributing signs — from the Freedom Road Socialist Organization — and that the students decided to hold them and pose for photographs though the signs were “not representative of my personal or political views.” The photo was, in fact, proudly posted to Instagram by student walkout organizers, as the story made clear.

[opspro2005]

Two things:

Get your kids out of public schools now.

Every teachers union official, every school administrator, every school board member that aids and abets this child abuse should be considered an enemy combatant and treated accordingly.

[beardedmrbean]

Maryland’s largest school district does not have to allow parents to opt their K-5 children out of classes and books that discuss LGBTQ topics like sexuality and gender, at least for now, a federal appeals court ruled on Wednesday.

The 2-1 ruling by the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed a lower court decision denying a preliminary injunction on the basis that the parents had not shown how the policy – initiated by the Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) board – would violate their children’s First Amendment right to free exercise of religion.

The parents had argued that refusal to provide an opt-out from their children’s exposure to LGBT-themed books and related discussions violates federal and state law.

Some of the book titles include "The Pride Puppy," "Uncle Bobby's Wedding," and "Born Ready: The True Story of a Boy Named Penelope." 

The parents argued that the books contradict their religious duty to train their children in accordance with their faith on "what it means to be male and female; the institution of marriage; human sexuality; and related themes."

The litigants - three sets of parents who are Muslim, Jewish and Christian, along with a parental rights organization -- argue that the responsibility for what their children learn should fall to them, instead of the schools.

However, the court ruled that the mere exposure to ideas contrary to one’s faith is not enough of a burden to implicate the First Amendment and that exposure to issues that one disagrees with, even for religious reasons, is "part of the compromise parents make when choosing to send their children to public schools," the ruling states.

"We take no view on whether the Parents will be able to present evidence sufficient to support any of their various theories once they have the opportunity to develop a record as to the circumstances surrounding the Board’s decision and how the challenged texts are actually being used in schools," U.S. Circuit Judge G. Steven Agee, President George W. Bush appointee, wrote for the majority in the opinion.

"At this early stage, however, given the Parents’ broad claims, the very high burden required to obtain a preliminary injunction, and the scant record before us, we are constrained to affirm the district court’s order denying a preliminary injunction."

U.S. Circuit Judge A. Marvin Quattlebaum, Jr., who was appointed by former President Trump, dissented, writing that he disagreed with the district court motion finding the parents failed to establish that the board burdened their First Amendment rights. 

"The parents have shown the board’s decision to deny religious opt-outs burdened these parents’ right to exercise their religion and direct the religious upbringing of their children by putting them to the choice of either compromising their religious beliefs or foregoing a public education for their children," Quattlebaum wrote.

"I also find that the board’s actions, at least under this record, were neither neutral nor generally applicable. Finally, I find the parents have established the other requirements for a preliminary injunction. So, I would reverse the district court and enjoin the Montgomery County School Board of Education from denying religious opt-outs for instruction to K-5 children involving the texts."

Eric Baxter, a senior counsel and vice president at the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty which is representing the parents, tells Fox 5 DC that the group is disappointed with the decision and says the themes are inappropriate for students.  

"They involve issues around sexuality that are simply too mature for such young children," Baxter said. 

Baxter tells The Hill they plan to appeal the ruling.

"The court just told thousands of Maryland parents they have no say in what their children are taught in public schools," Baxter tells the publication. "That runs contrary to the First Amendment, Maryland law, the School Board’s own policies, and basic human decency."

MCPS, which is the wealthiest district in Maryland, announced in 2022 efforts to include an LGBTQ-inclusive reading list as part of its English language arts curriculum. The decision sparked several rallies pushing for the school district to put the opt-out policy back in place.

Bethany Mandel, a mother and contributing writer for Deseret News, told "Fox & Friends First" last year that she believed it's a parent's right to tackle controversial topics, including sexuality and gender ideology, with their children on their own terms.

"Some of the books were first, second, third-grade read-aloud books about transgender ideology, about sexuality," Mandel told Carley Shimkus. "Some of the parents who spoke in favor of banning the opt-out said… 'I'm gay, and a book didn't make me gay and... There's no way that your child, if you shield them in this manner, can sort of operate in the outside world,' and that's not what anyone is asserting."

"No one thinks that our kids can turn gay by reading a book. What we're asserting is that children are best learning about these sort of tricky, sticky subjects from their parents, and their parents should have a right to determine how their kids are first introduced to this," she continued. 

[lboogie1906]

Edgar Daniel Nixon (July 12, 1899 – February 25, 1987) known as E. D. Nixon, was a civil rights leader and union organizer in Alabama who played a crucial role in organizing the landmark Montgomery bus boycott.

A longtime organizer and activist, he was president of the local chapter of the NAACP, the Montgomery Welfare League, and the Montgomery Voters League. He had led the Montgomery branch of the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters Union, known as the Pullman Porters Union, which he had helped organize.

Martin Luther King Jr. described him as “one of the chief voices of the Negro community in the area of civil rights,” and “a symbol of the hopes and aspirations of the long oppressed people of the State of Alabama.”

He was born in rural, majority-African-American Lowndes County, Alabama to Wesley M. Nixon and Sue Ann Chappell Nixon. As a child, Nixon received 16 months of formal education, as African American students were ill-served in the segregated public school system. His mother died when he was young, and he and his seven siblings were reared among extended family in Montgomery. His father was a Baptist minister.

After working in a train station baggage room, he rose to become a Pullman car porter, which was a well-respected position with good pay. He was able to travel around the country and worked steadily. He worked with them until 1964. In 1928, he joined the new union, the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters, helping organize its branch in Montgomery. He served as its president for many years.

He married Alease Curry (1927-1934). She died in 1934. They had a son, Edgar Daniel Nixon Jr. (1928–2011) who became an actor known by the stage name of Nick LaTour. He married Arlet Campbell. She was with him during many of the civil rights events. #africanhistory365 #africanexcellence

[brightlotusmoon]

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We are in the midst of Shop Maryland Tax-Free Week, which helps families with the cost of school clothes, supplies and backpacks. Tax-free week ends on Saturday, Aug. 19.

The incentives include tax-free purchases for qualifying apparel and foot ware, and each item cannot exceed $100. Sweaters, shirts, underwear, belts and shoes are examples of items that qualify. The first $40 of a backpack or bookbag also is tax-free.

This promotion is unique to Maryland and not available in neighboring jurisdictions like Washington, D.C., or Northern Virginia. This is good for County retail businesses to attract shoppers from neighbor states to shop in our stores. This week, Maryland Comptroller Brooke Lierman joined my weekly media briefing to discuss how the sales tax break is good for our local businesses. You can watch her here. For families with limited means, these savings can make a difference in back-to-school expenses.

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Hang on, it's the 18th and I'm just now hearing about this.

[mybeautifulchristianjourney]

by Joshua Q. Nelson | A Tennessee school district offered voluntary training to its staff about "cultural competency" which included instruction that "White Christian" people are privileged while "people of color" and "polyamorous" people are oppressed. According to documents obtained via a public records request, the Clarksville-Montgomery County School System sent Parents Defending Education (PDE) a presentation from the district’s ENGAGE conference, which…

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Robert Reich:

Yesterday, Joe Biden spoke out against antisemitism. I’m glad he did. But I also worry that by speaking out against antisemitism without acknowledging what has sparked the student protests across America, he is conflating those protests with antisemitism.

By and large, the protests are not motivated by antisemitism. There may be some antisemites among demonstrators. Protest movements are often ignited by many different things and attract an assortment of people with a range of motives. But after many talks with demonstrators and faculty, it seems clear to me this protest movement is centered on moral outrage at the killings of tens of thousands of innocent people in Gaza, most of them women and children. Many of the demonstrators are themselves Jewish. Jews have been involved in these protests for the same reason Jews were so involved in other social justice movements — such as the struggles for women’s rights, worker’s rights, civil rights, voting rights, free speech, and LGBTQ+ rights. And against the Vietnam War, apartheid in South Africa, and the Iraq War. The oppression that Jewish people have experienced for hundreds if not thousands of years has taught Jews the necessity of standing up to injustice — whatever its form and whenever it appears.  

Yesterday, House Republicans continued their hearings on antisemitism. They called public school officials from three of the most politically liberal communities in the nation — Berkeley, California; New York City; and Montgomery County, Maryland. Their hearings on antisemitism in higher education helped topple the presidents of Harvard and the University of Pennsylvania and pushed Columbia’s president to promise a crackdown on campus antisemitism. Her crackdown led to the arrest of more than 100 protesters at Columbia and a further surge in student activism there. House Republicans are politicizing and weaponizing antisemitism. They are using supposed antisemitism in education as a means of pursuing their cultural populist agenda, which for years has denigrated universities and public schools. They are also intent on splitting liberal Democrats over the war in Gaza.

[...]

I was reminded of this by the Antisemitism Awareness Act, passed in the House of Representatives on May 1, by a 320-91 vote. It would codify, for the purpose of enforcing federal civil rights law in higher education, a definition of antisemitism that includes rejection of Israel as a Jewish state. The bill also adopts the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s definition of antisemitism, which includes “claims of Jews killing Jesus.”

Although the bill was initiated by House Republicans, much of the opposition to it has come from the Christian right, which wants to be able to continue saying that Jews killed Jesus. [...] But antisemitism can’t and shouldn’t be legislated away. Once we start defining what views are impermissible on a university campus or in public schools — for getting a job, receiving research funding, or getting promoted — we’re back in the era of Senator Joe McCarthy and communist witch hunts. And once we start conflating antisemitism with protests against mass brutality, such as the slaughter in Gaza, we invite blindness to injustices in which America is complicit.

Robert Reich nails it in this piece about antisemitism and college campus protests. The protests at campuses across the country are not motivated by antisemitism, but anger over Israel's genocide campaign in Gaza.

The Congressional hearings on antisemitism in colleges serve a purpose: to politicize and weaponize the definition of antisemitism and to generate anti-higher education sentiments.

[libraryofjoy]

12, 17, and 19 for the book asks! :]

12. Any books that disappointed you?

Daughter of the Moon Goddess and Heart of the Sun Warrior by Sue Lynn Tan. This duology is actually pretty solid, but I'd gotten used to reading fan-translated Chinese fiction that was originally written for Chinese audiences, so I found some of the localizations distracting. I also didn't really enjoy the love triangle. Nothing inherently wrong with it, just not my thing.

17. Did any books surprise you with how good they were?

The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi. Listen. I was expecting this book to be good but I was unprepared for how much I'd love this fiercely protective middle-aged mother protagonist with a complicated past and a sincere faith. It's a very entertaining adventure story with a lot of heart.

The Blue Castle by Lucy Maud Montgomery. Yes, it was sappy and overdramatic and the One Giant Plot Twist at the end was...a lot, but it made me think seriously about my life. Also I love the sort of story where a miserable person gets to be loved and happy.

The Artisans by Shen Fuyu. This books is a fascinating glimpse into rural life in 20th-century China. It's told as a collection of stories, about each artisan and their traditional craft as remembered by the author from his boyhood.

19. Did you use your library?

Sort of? When I'm living in Georgia for grad school, the public library within walking distance belongs to a different county than the one where I live, so I'm not actually able to use it! So the in-person library I used was the theology library at my university. For non-academic stuff, the main way I accessed books was the Libby app (almost entirely audiobooks, so I could use my commute time)

[commonsensecommentary]

Recent news story: Montgomery County (Maryland) Public Schools will reevaluate its homework policies . . . “with an antiracism lens” to determine how homework affects “social-emotional learning” and whether it negatively impacts “marginalized communities”

Reposted (again). The anti-homework crowd is anti-learning and anti-student success. Woke madness at its finest!

[eretzyisrael]

By  Luke Rosiak

A Maryland high school principal approved a request for a anti-Israel walkout on the anniversary of Kristallnacht and told students he was “proud” of them when they said they were following a call by the Palestinian Youth Movement, records show.

Principal Edward Owusu of Clarksburg High School in Montgomery County granted excused absences to students who skipped class, provided equipment to “support the protest,” and overrode a Jewish teacher who correctly marked students absent, according to emails obtained by The Daily Wire under public records laws.

On November 7 at 5:54 p.m., a student leader of the Muslim Student Association (MSA) wrote to Owusu that “the national Palestinian Youth Movement has organized ‘Shut it Down for Palestine’ on Thursday, November 9th. This event calls for all students to walk out of school, employees to walk out from work, and to protest the Israeli and US government. Clarksburg’s MSA is in unequivocal support for a ceasefire and would like to walk out this Thursday.”

Owusu quickly replied, “I am proud that the Muslim Student Association has made a collective decision of support. Please make plans to see Mr. Haynes regarding plans for the Walk Out.”

November 9 is the anniversary of Kristallnacht, the night of anti-Jew terrorism that helped kick off the Holocaust with the assistance of the Hitler Youth. That’s not likely a coincidence, given that the Palestinian Youth Movement is a radical group that supports terrorism.

[jamienoguchi]

I've been feeling rather shit about the prospects of AI image generation and how it will affect my future, but sometimes it helps to kind of step out of the internet and see what else is going on. Randomly bumping in to the MCPS (Montgomery County Public Schools) countywide art show at Westfield Montgomery Mall was just the happy accident I needed to get me out of this funk. There's still time to check it out and see some amazing work done by young artists, but the last day of the show is May 21.