Three Little Words

North Point High School:  The Board of Education passed three little resolutions during their Monday night work session which caused great rejoicing between the teachers association representatives who also attended the meeting at North Point High School. 

The BoE voted to reinstate Women’s History Month, Fine Arts Month and Secretaries’ Week for recognition within the school system.  Meg MacDonald from the local chapter of the Maryland State Teachers’ Association told The Bay Net that these monthly focuses are popular within the schools.  Teachers frequently create displays for the themes on bulletin boards in classrooms and hallways.  They work the themes into the regular curriculum to give students more exposure to information about otherwise under-valued groups of people. 

MacDonald also sees these monthly focuses as a chance to equalize the value placed on contributions from woman and minorities in our society.  She feels men’s accomplishments are more frequently studied within the curriculum. 

In September 2004 the BoE failed to renew the resolutions for these themes.  MacDonald and Bill Fischer (President of the Education Association of Charles County) have worked since then to get them reinstated.  Even they weren’t certain why something that enriches the curriculum and costs the school system next to nothing generated enough opposition to keep it from the schedule for two years.

Jennifer Abell Member, BoE

Board Member Jennifer Abell, the sole vote against yesterday’s resolution, told The Bay Net that the resolutions are not as innocuous as they seem.  She feels they are divisive particularly when considering employee recognition weeks; more people need recognition than have assigned weeks.  Unfortunately, the Board simply doesn’t have time to recognize every group with its own week.  She thinks American Education Week recognizes every group in the school system equally. 

But, there’s another, bigger reason for her ‘no’ vote.  “I am not one to pacify or patronize someone with a [fancy] piece of paper if there is no substance behind it.” Abell told the Bay Net, “our students and employees deserve more substance and less symbolism.”  She feels strongly that the Board’s limited meeting time should be focus on substantive, meaningful ways to support and enrich all students and employees so they feel their worth on a daily basis.  “We can say we appreciate people all we want, but what do we actually do on a day to day basis or in a new initiative that will prove our words accurate.  In my opinion, our resolutions were symbolism over substance.  And, in my opinion, that's not the way to conduct business.”