Here is the really big problem with politics: you can smell the bad odor, but you can’t tell where it comes from.
We have a board of education and a teachers’ union whose current leadership is characterized by a) ongoing parent and student demonstrations b) bogus attendance counts c) verbal abuse d) alleged predatory cover-up and e) legal threats. That’s quite a record for a short six months. If you accumulated a similar record in your private or federal job, chances are you’d be considered a failure.
Joel Biedelman has been the subject of complaints starting in 2016. That’s six years and change. Which of the currently serving MCPS board members and teacher’s union officials have been in office during that time?
| Leader | Term started |
| Karla Silvestre, President | 12/01/2018 |
| Shebra L. Evans, Vice President | 12/01/2016 |
| Grace Rivera-Oven, District 1 | 12/01/2022 |
| Rebecca Smondrowski, District 2 | 12/01/2012 |
| Julie Yang, District 3 | 12/01/2022 |
| Brenda Wolff, District 5 | 12/01/2018 |
| Lynne Harris, At-Large | 12/01/2020 |
| Sami Saeed, Student Member | 07/01/2023 |
| Jennifer Martin, President Teachers’ Union | 07/01/2021 |
| Nikki (Anzer) Woodward, VP Teachers’ Union | 07/01/2021 |
| Chris Lloyd, 2nd VP Teachers’ Union | 07/01/2021 |
| Justin Fauntroy, Middle School Director | 07/01/2021 |
| Angela Wolf, Middle School Director | 07/01/2022 |
Every one of these officials, with the possible exception of Ms. Angela Wolf, were in office long enough to take ministerial responsibility, if not actual responsibility, for the Biedelman cover-up. Ms. Smondrowski and Ms. Wolff in particular have been members of the Board of Education since 2012 and 2016, respectively; can we really believe that they never got wind of charges as serious as sexual harassment?
Clean Slate has run quite a few posts about the Board of Education without naming student representative Sami Saeed. That ends today. He should resign and show the adults on this wall of shame what an ethical compass looks like. Why does Mr. Saeed continue to associate himself with this group? If he’s interested in a career in politics, he’ll score much more support by resigning out of principle than hanging on to a ceremonial post. His future opponents will be sure to remind him of his decision to remain.
The foul odor is already in the room: after the demonstrations, insults, sloppy attendance records, and cover-up, nobody is being dismissed, reprimanded, or suspended. Why not? Someone is benefiting from the inaction, and we may never know who it is.
