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Commentary

To support Black children, school systems must engage their parents
May 6, 2021 -

COVID-19 has revealed the significant divide in educational opportunity in America. For decades, these disparities were widely known to researchers and educators, yet remained hidden from public view. They have now been brought out in the open. This pandemic set off a cacophony of angry cries from mostly middle-class, white parents outraged over school closures and the implementation of virtual instruction.

Read More: Baltimore Sun
Our Say: The tragedy of a family mental health crisis is keeping it secret
May 6, 2021 -

After a judge sentenced Donald John Bucalo to eight years in prison for the murder of his daughter, Anne Arundel County State’s Attorney Anne Colt Leitess released a painful yet necessary statement. Michelle Bucalo’s mental illness should not have been a death sentence. Bucalo shot his daughter to death while she slept in their Severn home. His defense against murder charges was that his daughter’s bipolar disorder had become so uncontrollable that she presented a present danger to her family members, including children.

Read More: Capital Gazette
‘We’ve Punched Below Our Weight in Maryland,’ Perez Says
May 5, 2021 -

When Tom Perez and I met at a Takoma Park restaurant the other day, the former Democratic National Committee chair was just a few weeks removed from knee surgery. So when we were offered seats at a high-top table, he declined. Being up high would be too uncomfortable, he explained, and he needed a place to sit where he could stretch his legs and spread out a bit. To me, it felt a little like a metaphor.

Read More: Maryland Matters
Using data to put brakes on speeders
May 5, 2021 -

Speeding has gotten out of control in many Frederick neighborhoods, and the police and the government are taking an innovative approach to try to curb the wave of lawbreaking that endangers drivers and pedestrians alike. This week, the city unveiled Operation Safe Speed, a data-driven attempt to get ahead of this disturbing trend. Police officers will be working with the engineers from the Public Works department to analyze complaints of speeding around the city and carefully target their response.

Read More: Frederick News Post
assorted books on wooden table
Has higher education learned any lessons from the pandemic?
May 4, 2021 -

The pandemic has struck higher education in the gut. And now it stands shaken, confused and hoarding hand sanitizer. Forced by the COVID-19 pandemic, colleges and universities begrudgingly moved away from the sanctity of lecture halls and transitioned to operating behind webcams. Now, as our nation begins to build immunity and we slowly reopen our vibrant campuses and grandiose halls, higher education is scrambling to re-assemble itself to its former glory.

Read More: Baltimore Sun
Employers have a role to play in combating the opioid crisis
May 4, 2021 -

At a New York hospital, a custodial worker passed out in a bathroom stall. In Ohio, police found a municipal employee slumped over his steering wheel in an IHOP parking lot. These individuals overdosed on the job — demonstrating how the opioid crisis has reared its head in America’s workplaces. According to federal government statistics, the opioid crisis costs the U.S. economy approximately $500 billion annually. And, contrary to public perceptions, most drug abusers are gainfully employed. Lifesaving interventions in the opioid crisis could happen, therefore, not in courts, hospitals or family living rooms, but instead in office cubicles.

Read More: Capital Gazette
Frank DeFilippo: Politics Is About Connectivity, And Biden’s Speech Made Contact
May 4, 2021 -

It’s great to once again have a president who can read. Comparisons suck, to roughly paraphrase Shakespeare. President Biden is no Barack Obama, nor does he need to be. The salient point is that neither is he a Donald Trump, which is important in the battle for literacy in the nation. We learn by example and experience. Trump was no role model.

Read More: Maryland Matters
As Anne Arundel moves to police body cameras, policy and training will be key
May 4, 2021 -

As we welcome the 91st recruit class of the Anne Arundel County Police Department into our community, the sweeping police reform legislation that recently passed in the General Assembly will change how police interact with the public across the state of Maryland. As new recruits start field training, they will be taught under new guidelines that emphasize renewed police accountability. In practice, the sweeping reforms will not be so difficult for new recruits because it will be all they know. On the other hand, durable and sustainable change will be difficult to maintain as police veterans may struggle and find the sweeping reforms particularly challenging.

Read More: Capital Gazette
And now, some budget fundamentals. Are taxes going up in Anne Arundel?
May 4, 2021 -

As the Anne Arundel County Council begins weeks-long deliberation of the $1.876 million budget County Executive Steuart Pittman has proposed, there is bound to be some confusion about what constitutes a tax increase. Some of this is political; there already are three declared or possible Republican candidates for county executive. But much of it has to do with the complicated nature of public sector finance and the unique history of taxes in this county.

Read More: Capital Gazette
This is how we help kids failing school because of the pandemic
May 3, 2021 -

School systems throughout Maryland, and the country for that matter, face a daunting task over the coming months to get students who have fallen behind during the pandemic back on the learning track. Failing grades have tripled in some cases amid virtual learning and the stress COVID-19 has put on students and their families. Students of all backgrounds are struggling, but especially those who faced challenges before the pandemic. But this is not the time to hold students back a grade, punishing them for the extraordinary crisis we find ourselves in, through no fault of our own.

Read More: Baltimore Sun

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