Thread by @LindaLamppert

On Sept 12 the Howard County library held a “speed dating” event with the local #HoCoMD Board of Education candidates. I intended to spend time with all 4 candidates, but I’ve got to admit that once I got to Tudy Adler’s table, I couldn’t leave. Wondering why? Read on.

🧵1/20

Adler is the candidate I knew the least about, mostly because her public statements rely heavily on what a friend politely refers to as “word soup.” Needless to say, I was looking forward to hearing her answer questions directly from voters, including me.

2/20

I kicked off asking Adler about her goal of making sure students get what she calls a “robust education”… What does that mean to her? Adler said we should hold our students to “high standards.” What kind of standards? Is she talking test scores? Required curriculum?...

3/20

No, Adler is talking about teachers holding students to do more, for example, “read harder books.”
(I won’t go into the irony of her and her supporters giving the teachers they have been maligning for the past three years full responsibility for this important task…)

4/20

Speaking of standards, Adler is upset about students getting 50% credit for work that is not turned in on time or at all. The argument for this approach is that a 50% grade, while still failing, gives students a chance at recovery. 0% makes recovery very hard.

5/20

So when I asked what she *specifically* would do as a member of the Board of Education about holding students to “high standards” in pursuit of a robust education, the one specific thing Adler said she would do is make sure students don’t get 50% credit if it isn’t earned.

6/20

Adler also is very concerned about COVID learning loss, specifically in math & reading. She wants to fix this by focusing on core academics. I asked her about other subjects like social studies, the arts & topics related to social emotional learning. Where do those fit in?

7/20

“Oh, you mean CRT?”
.
.
(participants' jaws dropping and heads exploding...)
.
.
No, I don’t mean CRT. CRT is not a K-12 subject matter.

8/20

After a spirited discussion of what CRT is and where it is taught, Adler shared her opinion that parents should be responsible for all content that isn’t academic in nature. Even families that might struggle with this kind of thing for one reason or another?
“Yes.”

9/20

That last answer got me wondering, does Adler have any experience with Title 1 schools and families? So I asked her. And to her credit she answered.
“No, no experience.”

10/20

Of course, she explained, she can’t be expected to know about every group in the HoCo schools. And she has been busy running her campaign, so she hasn’t had time to learn. (We heard this excuse several times.)

11/20

(Side note: I know for a fact another BOE candidate has taken the time to schedule and attend multiple sessions to learn more about topics and populations they know less about while still running their campaign. But that is neither here nor there…)

12/20

Adler steadfastly maintains that she represents “Every Parent,” but I’m not sure how she does that when she self-admittedly knows nothing about our Title 1 schools and families, who represent almost a quarter of our population. That’s some 15,000 kids & their families.

13/20

Elsewhere there is a tweet on Adler’s response to a direct question about whether she would ever vote to ban a book as a member of the BOE. (Let me cut to the chase: Yes, she would.) Her direct response was “Sexually explicit books are inappropriate in K-12.”

14/20

That got me wondering if that is the case, how would health class or Sex Ed would be handled? Adler explained that parents can opt out of that instruction. So yes, kids, you can learn about sex, but only if your parents say it is okay (or you have access to a phone).

15/20

I came away from our date with a few impressions. Adler is very confident in her views, and those views are a mile wide, an inch deep, and invariably related to conservative talking points. When pushed for concrete HCPSS examples, she has at best 1 or 2 things to share.

16/20

The universe of what Adler does not know about HCPSS schools, especially our Title 1 schools, appears pretty large. To put it kindly, if she is elected to the Board of Education, she will have a huge learning curve. I’m all for learning, but not at our children’s expense.

17/20

I should take a moment to give a shout out to the intelligent, caring folks who turned out for this event in a monsoon. There was a group from @MomsDemand, HCPSS staff & folks concerned about LGBTQIA+ students, and others whose main concern was equity. That gives me hope.

18/20

The good news is that Adler and I do agree on one thing: here in HoCo, we need to find ways to bring people together to discuss issues that are dividing our community. This weekend’s HCLS Longest Table event is one opportunity. I will be there. I hope Tudy Adler joins me.

19/20

I keep telling folks that the Board of Education race is the most important one this year. What I learned about Adler on our speed date further reinforces that opinion. We depend on 7 elected adults to help determine our kids' futures. Tudy Adler should not be one of them.
20/20