Commentary

Analysis: Moving students around in Howard County is not enough to achieve equity

Children from lower-income families are concentrated in Columbia’s older neighborhoods and the Route 1 corridor because that’s where their parents can afford to live. Achieving equity in education for these students requires the additional resources laid out by the Kirwan Commision on Innovation and Excellence in Education. Simply moving them to higher performing schools, as the superintendent has proposed, is not enough.

Commentary

MarylandReporter.com celebrates 10th birthday

Happy 10th Birthday to MarylandReporter.com. Ten years ago this Saturday, on November 2, 2009, MarylandReporter.com launched the original nonprofit news website in Maryland covering our state government and politics. We hope you’ll send us a 10th birthday gift to keep us going for another year – and have your gift doubled by four national foundations.

Commentary

Opinion: What students from low-income homes really need

Instead of spending close to $3 million dollars as that is the projected transportation cost associated with Dr. Martirano’s proposal, a prudent way to spend this money would be educating school staff about trauma. No curriculum or instruction provided by the best Howard County teachers will succeed if a student is under chronic stress. 

Environment

Analysis: A Bay bridge too many, some say

The cries of outrage and opposition by Anne Arundel officials of both parties were predictable when the Maryland Transportation Authority announced in August that it had narrowed it choices for a third Chesapeake Bay bridge.

Environment

Scientists witness dolphin give birth in the Potomac River

A team of researchers studying dolphins in the Potomac River got unexpected fruit from their labors last month when they witnessed a dolphin being born near the river’s confluence with the Chesapeake Bay. Bottlenose dolphins are among the most studied species in the world, but a wild birth has only been documented in scientific literature on one other occasion: in 2013 off the coast of Georgia. 

Commentary

Opinion: Moving kids is no shortcut to educational equity

Psychiatrist Shobhit Negi writes that the recommended area adjustment plan for Howard County schools is a shortcut approach to a larger issue that our society faces.  It is analogous to applying a Band-Aid over a wound while letting it bleed internally.  His concerns are related to the biological and psychological ramifications associated with implementation of the superintendent’s recommendation.

Commentary

Opinion: Howard County is not segregated

The Howard County superintendent’s redistricting plan forces 7,300 students to switch schools, promoting equity by reducing the presence of low-income families at some schools and increasing their presence at other schools. Many of the plan’s proponents cannot defend it in good faith. Consider the example set by the County Council’s own segregation smear.