PGCPS in Crisis - Veteran Teachers' Salaries and Ouster of Former Superintendent Millard House, II

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Listen in as Tamara discusses the teacher salary scale with Prince George's County Educators Association union member, Stephanny Powell, a teacher at Melwood Elementary School.  Learn how you can engage and ask our Prince George's County Board of Education to be transparent with our tax dollars they are spending and how you can be an advocate for our educators, especially seasoned and veteran teachers.  

Episode Transcript

SPEAKER_02 (00:01):
Welcome back to another episode of All Politics
Association with me, your host,Tamara.
I have a good friend that I'minterviewing today, Miss
Stephanie Powell.
Now, I know Miss Powell becauseshe and I both had children at
Prince George's County Schoolstogether, specifically John

(00:25):
Hansen Montessori School, and wewere both very active in our
PTSA.
Little did I know though, um, Idon't think I knew at the time
that she was also an educator inthe school system.
And I just knew her.
We called ourselves the PTSAWarriors back in the day because

(00:47):
if there was anything that theMontessori school needed or
lacked, we were on it.
We were at the school boardmeetings, we had the
administrators to come in to ourum school and said, hey, we need
to protect the integrity of theMontessori program and
curriculum.
You guys are getting way toooff-focus with all these tests,

(01:10):
state-mandated tests andeverything.
And so we really advocated for atrue and authentic Montessori
curriculum and classrooms at theum pre-K level all the way up to
eighth grade.
So welcome, Miss Powell.
Glad to have you on All Politicsis local.

SPEAKER_00 (01:30):
I am so glad to be here with you today.

SPEAKER_02 (01:34):
Thank you, thank you, thank you.
So we're gonna just jump uhright in.
So besides being a Montessorimom, tell us a little bit more
about yourself.
Give us a little bit more biofor our listeners.

SPEAKER_00 (01:49):
Oh, absolutely.
Thank you.
I'm so glad to have you when youwhen you were sharing that.
I was like, yeah, we did a lot.
Not only did we do it for our chfor our children, but we also
instilled that our children nowbecome advocates.
And so I have been in the um inthe state of Maryland for 28

(02:10):
years.
Um more specifically, I've beenum in Clinton, Maryland, for
about 21 years of those 28years.
I um graduated of um HowardUniversity.
I graduated with a pre-lawdegree, um, administration of
justice.
And then I came back, um, wentback to New York.

(02:31):
I'm originally from Jamaica byway of New York, went back into
New York, came back to get my ummaster's in education.
And so at the time when I wasadvocating um for our children,
I was not working in PrinceGeorge's County, I was working
in the District of ColumbiaPublic School.

(02:51):
And so I, yes, so I was aneducator then, but many
individuals didn't know becauseit was just really I wanted them
to focus on, as you said, makingsure that our children get what
they need.
And so been advocating for umfor a while, been a part of the
union um for a long time out ofum Washington, DC, um, as well.

(03:13):
Um, I am uh I'm a mom.
I love to advocate for um forour children.
I love public education.
And um I I love to really makesure that not only our children
are getting what is needed, butalso our educators as well.
So those are the things thatI've been doing, been an elected

(03:35):
um building rep for my school,been mentored to new teachers,
been a delegate for um NEA andMSEA.
And so that's just a little bitum, you know, of my background.
And I've been an educator forover 32 years.

SPEAKER_02 (03:52):
We are both Howard University grads.
H U, U.
H U, don't you know?
So glad to hear that.
I don't think I knew that aboutyou, um, that you were a Howard
uh graduate as well.
So um we know that the advocacyruns deep.

SPEAKER_03 (04:09):
Absolutely.

SPEAKER_02 (04:10):
You know, at the law school they called us uh we were
told to be social engineers.
And that's what really kind ofled me into this whole life of
public policy following civicsand really using my law degree
to be of benefit to thecommunity to break down what the
law actually says in layman'sterm and what it really means

(04:34):
once it's implemented and andimpacted and you know, try to
break through that tra um thatlegal ease and bring
transparency and accountabilityum for our government.
Cause I I I think the only waythat we can have a government
that's of the people, by thepeople, and for the people is to
have an educated electorate thatyou just and that's the whole

(04:57):
purpose of this podcast.
It's not just it's for you tomove past being um going to the
ballot box and s and voting andsaying, I've done my
constitutional duty, and thenyou just let the the legislators
and those you elected in office,you know, continue to do
whatever they want to do atwill.

(05:19):
And we see where our governmentis now in terms of the of our um
federal government, but ittrickles down also to our local
government and school boards andand so forth.
And so I think it's reallyimportant that we have these
conversations um about localgovernment as well, and that's

(05:42):
why the podcast is is named AllPolitics is local, because what
really matters at the end of theday is what's happening in your
local school boards, what'shappening in your county
councils, city council meetings,all of those things affect you
more directly and impact youmore directly than even at the
federal level.
Yeah, things have changed at thefederal level, so I can't say

(06:04):
it's hasn't impacted us moredirectly.
It certainly has.
We've even um experienced it inour own household.
Um, but so tell me how long youhave actually been an educator
in PGCPS, because you saidyou've been an educator for over
30 years.
Yes.
In PGCPS, how long have you beenan educator?

SPEAKER_00 (06:24):
Um it's around 20.
It's around 20 years.

SPEAKER_02 (06:27):
Yes.
Okay.
So now tell us about, and I hadno idea until I started
receiving your emails of latethat PGC EA even had a black
caucus.
Uh because uh for those of youwho are listening that may not
live in in Maryland orspecifically in Prince George's

(06:49):
County, Prince George's Countyis a predominantly African
American county in terms ofpopulation.
And so most of the educators andadministrators for that matter,
and members of our school boardare African American.

(07:09):
So tell us about the PG CEABlack Caucus, kind of how it got
started, what we actuallyneeded.
Go ahead.

SPEAKER_00 (07:17):
Absolutely.
And so um I am a part of the NEABlack Caucus.
So that is the NationalEducation Association Black
Caucus.
And I recognize being in um inPrince George's County, and and
as you stated, majority of oureducators are, you know,
predominantly black.
And I realized that there was amissing piece where we did not

(07:39):
have a caucus to address theneeds of our black and brown
students and educators.
And so when I went to um thelast um I went to the last NEA
RA, that's the NationalEducation Association um RA, we
meet every once a year.
Um, I connected with the BlackCaucus, the NEA Black Caucus,

(08:02):
which I'm a member of.
And one of the action items thatwe wanted, I said it was
important for us to be able tostart a black caucus within our
local.
And so that was something thatum that I took.
And um, you know, I went toBaton Rouge, Louisiana.
They had a conference there.
I shared with them this was whatI wanted to do.

(08:24):
And um that, you know, and theygave me all, you know, all of
the things that I needed to beable to move forward.
And so fast forward in 2023,Prince George's County Education
Association, that's my local,which I'm a part of, they um um
added something to our um to ourbylaws and to the policy where

(08:47):
we could establish our owncaucus.
And so I was like, here we go.
And so I was able to like, okay,this is one that is necessary
and that's needed because of somany different issues that um
our educators are going through,our students or black and brown
students are are going through.
And we wanted to make sure thatwe have a caucus that would

(09:08):
support um these black and ourblack and brown students and and
and educators alike.
And so that's what we did.
Um I fought, I went out, and asyou said, our Howard, um, as an
Howard graduate, it has beenensuing us how to advocate and
how to get things moving.
And so I went out and I, youknow, got petitioned, I got um

(09:30):
our members to sign, over ahundred members to sign saying
that this was what we needed tosee.
And so fast forward, it is it isit is actually brand new because
we're in like our second year.
So we finally got our officialpush.
We had to go against the grainto be able to get it.
You know, we finally got got itum last year, um, the end of

(09:52):
like last October.
However, we were doing thingsbefore we um officially got our
title.
When we were in um Pennsylvanialast year, there was a stripe.
We actually came together andcollected um um toiletry for the
homeless.
So those are some of the thingsthat we wanted to do to be
impactful to our community aswell.

SPEAKER_02 (10:13):
Okay, absolutely.
Okay, so this, okay, this, sothis is new.
I was like, Yes, this has beenhas this been around a long
time?
I come I'm just gonna be.
No, it's about weird.
Okay, okay.
Very good, very good.

SPEAKER_00 (10:25):
And so I'm assuming your role in the caucus uh is
there any like elected uh is theyes currently I I am the chair
of the chair and the founderright now, and so we're putting
things in place so that we themembership, what we did was the
membership for this year and umwas free, right?

(10:48):
So we didn't charge anything.
We just wanted the individuals,the members who are part of it
to understand that they they'regonna have to do some fundraiser
and they're gonna have to giveback, right?
Because we want to be able to,we actually gave out a
scholarship um the last May toum in the in the tools of$500 um
to the Prince George's CountyEducation Foundation.

(11:11):
So we wanna be um, you know, umpurposeful and we wanna be able
to make sure that we are umhaving an impact on our students
and our educators.

SPEAKER_02 (11:20):
Okay, very good, very good.
All right, so now I understandum how the Black Caucus started
and and and everything, and andum thank you for sharing that
because again, that wassomething that I did not know
existed in this county.
Um so one of the things that youhave been sounding the alarm
about is the teachers' unionscontracts, and your emails have

(11:47):
been very eye-opening, if youwill, so very informative, but
also very detailed.
And so we want to just kind ofkeep it very simple here for our
listeners.
But what's the primary issuethat you have been sounding the
alarm about with the recentratification of the teachers'

(12:07):
union contract in PrinceGeorge's County Public Schools?

SPEAKER_00 (12:12):
Yes, so we have currently now about 9,000
members, and we have membersthat are master educators,
expert educators, veteran umeducators, and they are at the
top of the salary scale.
And so what we have been sayingis that we want a fair contract

(12:33):
for all 9,000 members.
So currently what it is, whathas happened, what has um been
um negotiated um is that the thethe two the newer teachers that
are coming in, they get a 24%raise in three years.
While the senior teachers, theteachers who are the veteran

(12:54):
teachers, were only um they onlynegotiated a 9% um in well, it's
not even an increase becausewe're getting 4% less than what
we have been getting over thelast three years.
And so that's problematic,right?
And so um I've been sharing withum with our members, um, we also

(13:16):
had a contract that we never wedid not see the details of the
contract, right?
And so until last week when theywanted us to vote on the
contract.
So a lot of information in thecontract does not support the
educator, does not protect umthe educator.
And I wanted educators to knowthat it's not only just the

(13:37):
money, um, it is also the factthat we have not acquired any
more additional um planningtime.
We've been talking, and the theteachers have such an uh
overload on things that need tobe done.
And we have asked for that.
We did not get that, we're notsafer um in the school.
If um if the teachers areattacked, we don't have a salt

(13:59):
leaf, but the principal do.
So there's a lot of different umdiff different um components of
the contract that is notbeneficial to our educators.

SPEAKER_02 (14:09):
Okay, I I I get it, I get it.
And that's unfortunate in termsof our veteran teachers, because
we're always hearing aboutteacher shortage, um, not just
nationwide, but specificallyhere in Prince George's County.
And if the teachers are theveteran teachers are feeling

(14:29):
like, well, actually, I'm notgetting even a 9%, I'm really
getting a 4% increase.
Yet you're bringing in the newerteachers with a much higher
increase.
What is there, why is there areason for me to to to stick
around, you know, and then thatadds to the shortage.
So we see, you know, a lot ofretirement of our veteran

(14:51):
teachers who are the really goodeducators.
And and I can kind of relate tothis because um I don't know if
you knew, Stephanie, that my umsister was an educator um in the
um in Houston, well, actuallythe umble independent school
district.
And I used to always say to her,you should always stay in a

(15:15):
classroom.
I went to visit her in aclassroom and she just had total
command of her classroom.
But her salary, I guess she alsogot to, you know, the high end
of the salary.
And the only thing you can do isbec go into administration.
You can't keep a teacher in theclassroom and pay them a higher

(15:39):
salary, which I think theyshould do be simply because they
are the veteran teachers, theyhave experience and exposure.
And not everybody is meant to bean administrator or a boss.
They need to be able to takethat salary higher.
You know, you know, in theUnited States, we can pay
millions and millions of dollarsfor somebody to run, you know,

(16:01):
run with the ball, bounce aball, do this and that, but yet
we're paying 20,000, 30, 40,50,000 to educate uh the next
generation of leaders in ourcountry.
And we don't understand whythings are falling apart the the
way they are.
People are not educated, peopleare not being critical thinkers.

(16:23):
Yes.
That we know in the monastery wworld that you train your
children to be criticalthinkers, not to take a test,
but to be able to problem solve.
And that's what we need in thiscountry, problem solvers.
So it's um I'm I'm saddened tohear that our veteran and

(16:43):
seasoned educators are um notable to get the same amount of
rate increase and raises thatsome of the younger and so
forth, and and now it's I have abetter understanding of why so
many are leaving the profession.
In addition to the fact of whatyou talked about, how the

(17:06):
discipline is an issue.
And if someone is attacked, youknow, if it's a principal, they
can get leave.
But if it's an educator, theydon't have that same, that same
protection, that same ability tohave a benefit to get leave and
so forth.
And so um, you know, I'm reallypraying for our educators, um,

(17:27):
praying that we do the the rightthing for and by them.
And that's really a a job of thePrince George's County School
Board.
And we'll we'll talk about thata little later, but thanks.
Thanks for outlining those threethings that those issues are.
So it's salary specifically forour veteran teachers.

(17:51):
It's benefits for if um ateacher is assaulted, and it's
more common, telling thelisteners now, it's more common
than you think it is that thishappens.
You you may see a a few videosgo viral here, there or
whatever, but it's absolutelymore common.

(18:11):
I don't know where these whatthese parents are doing or
telling their students, theirchildren about uh respecting
authority and respecting adults,but it's got to change.
And until it changes, we need tobe on the side of our educators
and our teachers and supportingthem that this nonsense has to

(18:33):
stop.
Yes.
And if it doesn't stop, you'vegot to give them benefits to
help deal with the altercationsand the issues.
And and and you know, it's notit should be non-negotiable.

SPEAKER_03 (18:46):
I agree.

SPEAKER_02 (18:47):
Yep, yep, yep.
So thank you for outlining umthat.
But it's easy to say what theproblem is, and this is one
thing that I always uh try todo.
It's like it's easy to say whatthe problem is and complain
about it.
But my next question to you iswhat should educators be doing

(19:08):
to actually resolve this issue?
Now I know you are spotlightingand highlighting these issues
with respect to the the thecontract.
And tell me before we talk aboutthe resolutions, how long is the
contract good for?

SPEAKER_00 (19:24):
So the contract is good for three years, so it's
gonna run from 2020, um, 2025,2026 to 20 um to 2028.
So it is good for three years.

SPEAKER_02 (19:35):
Okay, okay.
So because the contract is umgood for three years, the fact
that it's been ratified and it'sin place, what can an educator
do now to all to resolve thisissue?
Can they go back and say, hey,we want a new contract ratified?

(19:57):
Can they tell the leadership canwe want a new contract ratified?
Um, do they have to wait for thethree years?
Obviously, you want to beproactive and get get ready to
to make your demands to theschool board and the
administration, you know, inyear maybe 2027, you know, maybe
even starting as early as nextyear.

(20:18):
But what can um the educators donow?
Because I see, like I said, Isee your emails, I see you
educating them, talking aboutthe different step increases and
the and what have you.
But what um what can we do nowso that they're not caught
unaware and vote on a contractthat they really don't know the

(20:39):
terms in?
And how did that happen anyway?
How do you vote on somethingthat has not been shared with
you, the details of which hasnot been shared with you?
You've already started theschool system and you just saw
the contract last week.
The specific details.
What uh again, transparency, youknow, I I don't even understand
how that works.

SPEAKER_00 (21:00):
Yes.
Yes, yes.
And and that's where I am too,right?
Because I've been asking for thecontract.
I've been asking for thelanguage, I've been asking back
and forth.
When I say I've been asking,I've been sending email to the
Prince George's County UmEducation Association
leadership, um, the PresidentDonna Christie, the um executive
director, um Yanni Um Easton.

(21:22):
Just say we need to see thelanguage, right?
And so that never happened.
Nothing that I asked for, we wewe were given.
We were given at one point intime, closer to the end, um,
links that add and went tolinks.
And so it was never anything.
I actually got an email from theexecutive director, um Yan A.

(21:42):
Easton, saying that, oh, um,they're gonna send out a cleaner
version.
So in actuality, I I've comeI've coined it, it's in my
email, that we've actuallygotten a dirty version, right?
As educators, we've gotten adirty version.
So we never received a contractthat was the thing that kind of
broke down and gave thecomparison.

(22:03):
So I what I got, I tried to gothrough it and kind of broke it
down and was like, okay, this iswe're not getting anything for
this.
We're not getting, so it was nota gain.
It w it was not a gain in thisparticular contract.
And so you ask a question abouthow did individual vote for the
because they had um like someonewould come and say vote for the

(22:25):
contract.
And so we you you shared earlierthat we're not using our
critical thinking skill anymore.
We're not questioning anythinganymore, right?
We and so it's trickled down,right?
Individuals are just being led,like, oh, do this, and no one is
asking.
And if you do ask that question,you kind of get, you know, kind
of whitewashed, you kind of get,you know, um pushback, like, oh,

(22:47):
you want to be silenced, youwant to be suppressed.
And so that's really where weare right now.
Individuals don't necessarilywant to align themselves with,
as you said, transparency, asyou said, you know, um being um
fortright with the information.
But as you said, it's ingrained.
Um, we were taught from our umfrom our legacy, being a Howard

(23:08):
Eye, that we, whenever we seethings that are not that are not
right, we have to speak upagainst it.
Um, or then we become a part ofthis um if we don't speak up.
And so um I I will continue tospeak, I will continue to share
the information.
Now, in terms of it there's apart in the contract um in in

(23:29):
the year 2027, um, 2026, thatthey um in the contract it is
stated that if there's moremoney, they can come back to um
to PGCPS um and ask for more.
I'm hoping, and we're I'm gonnashare that and make sure that
our members are aware of that sothat they can demand you stated

(23:50):
this, you need to go back to thecontract, go back to the
negotiation table, especiallyfor the people at the top.
And we're not saying that thenewer teachers that are coming
in, they should not get 24%.
But what we're saying is thateverybody should get 24%.
Um, you know, um, nowhere inhistory I went back and I
looked, we have seen anythingsuch as this.

(24:12):
You don't give your entryindividually, entry level
individuals um more than yougive in your senior.
Um, you know, in it it just I'mI'm just dumbfounded.
And so, but here we are now.
And so you ask, I I love thequestion that you asked.
I I I don't admire the problem.
Uh, we want solution, right?
And so those are some of thesolutions that we gave, that

(24:34):
they cut off the bottom, thebottom two steps, and we asked
them to put it at the top.
So now you would have we'll movefrom 21 to 22 and 23.
And so we have given themsolutions.
And so we're hoping that thatlanguage where it says that, you
know, if more we can go back tothem with that language and say,
this is what we're demanding,this is what we're asking for

(24:56):
now.

SPEAKER_02 (24:56):
Okay.
Well, we know that's gonna be anissue because one, the state,
the state is uh facing somestructural deficits and they're
looking for ways to cut.
And then I'm assuming with theblueprint, Maryland's blueprint
for education, blueprint forsuccess, um, a lot of uh the

(25:16):
operational cost is now beingpushed to the county.
So things that um we need tosupport our teachers is being
pushed to the county.
Now, other jurisdictions, othercounties in Maryland may not
have this problem, but we knowfor sure in Prince George's
County that we've had somebudget um issues as well, and

(25:38):
and it will continue over thenext couple of cycles because we
are losing some major umfinancial resources.
For example, if the commandersuh move out in 2028, which
there's nothing that says thatthey are gonna stay in Prince
George's County, we're gonna,you know, lose the the funding

(25:59):
that we get from the commandersand their stadium.
Um we're, you know, losing somebig employers uh in the area for
our youth.
Uh people talk about the closingof Six Flags and how it, you
know, employed a lot of ouryouth.
Um, but that um that amusementpark also paid substantial

(26:23):
commercial dollars into um thecounty's um budget and county
treasury, I should say, andrevenues.
So any event um that's that'sgonna be interesting, but I
think I already know what thewhat the administration and what
the school board is gonna say iswe don't have any more money.
Um we there's no more money andwe're not gonna be able to go

(26:46):
back and negotiate.
But I do think a maybe areasonable um a reasonable
solution, and I'm just gonnaoffer this to you, and it just
came to me off the top of myhead, is if you can't do 24%
across the board, maybe you do asmaller percentage to ever for

(27:07):
everyone, but it's still acrossthe board.
Maybe it's fifteen percent,maybe it's ten percent.
I don't know what that magicnumber is, but do make it
equitable across the boardbecause I do I do see that once
our seasoned and our veteranteachers get a hold and truly
understand what you've beenadvocating for, that they're

(27:28):
gonna be like, well, you know,why should I stay in Prince
George's public schools?

SPEAKER_03 (27:33):
Absolutely.

SPEAKER_02 (27:33):
And again, you you lose that that brain drain that
you will get from not having uhum your educators, your veteran
teachers, and and you know, andthey become mentors to the
younger teachers as well.
So it you know, they become aresource to the younger
teachers.
I kinda I kinda laugh.
We think about it, we laugh atum Abbott Elementary, the

(27:59):
television show.
But you see the mentorship thatgoes on uh between you know the
two teachers, Miss, I'mforgetting the names of the
characters uh the teachers rightnow, um Miss Janine and and the
um Miss Howard, I think that'sher her last name.
But you know, she goes to MissHoward all the time to ask for

(28:23):
information and and you know youknow that takes place.
It has to take place in schools.
And if we if our veteranteachers wake up to the fact
that, hey, I'm not getting whatI deserve here, and in fact, I'm
actually getting less.

SPEAKER_03 (28:38):
Less.

SPEAKER_02 (28:39):
Yes because it's the contract says nine percent, but
actually when you do the mathhave like you have done, it's a
four percent rate.
And so I really would hate tosee that the uh educators wake
up to that.
And um I'm assuming the PrinceGeorge's County school system
and the school board doesn'twant them to wake up to that.

(29:02):
But again, that's what we do onthis this podcast.
That's what I do in my emails,that's what you're doing in your
emails, is to say, hey, this iswhat this really looks like.
I've read I've read thecontract, I've done the math,
this is what this really means,and this is really how it
impacts us, and you need tospeak up and speak up for

(29:22):
yourself and and so forth.
But anyway, so my littleresolution is is perhaps the the
better solution is again make itequal across the board, but then
it has to be a little bit lessthan 18%.

SPEAKER_00 (29:37):
I mean 18%, you know.

SPEAKER_02 (29:40):
Right, 18% right, right.

SPEAKER_00 (29:42):
Because the last three years, the last, and and
that that's the reason why I waslooking at that.
The last three years, ourcontract, we had a 13% base on
the base salary.
We were able to get 13%.
And so just in my mind, I'm likewho negoti who negotiates
something less.
Less than what the educators hasgotten.

(30:03):
You know, I mean, that's to me,is just like, oh, wait a minute
now, you know.
So that was problematic for me.
And then I was like, wait aminute.
And then, as you said, you usedthe word equity, however, the
and fairness, right?
That was one of the tenets thatum our educators would be
getting high um, you know, fear,um, highly compensated because

(30:24):
you know, we we are experteducators.
That was not the case.
And so that to me was veryalarming.
And money was being found forother things, and we're gonna
talk about that as we go deeper.
Because I was like, oh, theywere able to find money over,
you know, almost three milliondollars, you know, for this
quagmire.
So, you know, help me out here.

SPEAKER_02 (30:43):
So right.
Yep, yep, yep.
Okay.
Um, so I think I can't rememberthe number, but I know at least
over the last month or so, I'vebeen getting at least one, maybe
two emails a week from you aboutthis issue.

(31:04):
So my question to you is though,how are your fellow educators
responding um to this issue?
Are they being awakened or dothey understand?
What kind of feedback are yougetting back from your fellow
educators?

SPEAKER_00 (31:21):
So they are waking up, right?
They are on their understanding.
And I I think because many ofour educators, right, they elect
um building reps from theirbuildings.
So this is how the process is.
So they elect the building repsfrom their building.
Um even though we still haveabout 70% of the schools that do

(31:42):
not have building reps, but umthe 30% that is.
About 70%.

SPEAKER_02 (31:49):
Oh my goodness.
So 70% of the schools, theteachers in the schools are are
not being represented and areleft in the dark about the
remote.

SPEAKER_00 (31:57):
They're not they're not being represented.
They're not at all.
And so that has always been oneof my push, my members, so that
they're aware.
And um, and and I will kind ofgive you a little bit of um
numbers in in just in a minute.
But so um, so that's that that'sa big issue, right?
And so they elect their buildingreps, the ones who have building
reps in there um in thebuilding, and they come, we meet

(32:18):
like once a month, and they areto bring the issues that are
impacting the educators withinthe school.
And so when I talk to theeducators, you know, face to
face, they're like, oh my, wedidn't realize that this is what
this is what is going on,because we elect these members
so that they can advocate onbehalf of us.

(32:38):
And clearly that's not what'shappening, especially the people
who are at step 21.
They are like, wait a minute,this is unfair.
You know, we want to go back tothe table.
And so there was some pushbackin that.
However, as I said, the languageand and it's a lot of, it's a
lot of paperwork, right?
And so you have to really do duediligence to say, okay, you know

(33:01):
what, I am going to sievethrough this to be able that, to
be able to know that I am awareas to what is being offered for
me.
And so that is the problem thatwe're having.
Many of the educators are notreading for one reason or the
other.
They're inundated with so manydifferent um tasks as being a
classroom teacher, the caseload,um, grading, learning synergy,

(33:24):
all of these things.
And so many of our educators arenot necessarily diving through
um and doing a deep dive to seewhat is being um advocating on
their behalf.
Thank God.
I would implore them and I sayto them, you know, come to a
meeting, right?
Come to a meeting.
We meet like one um every fourthum Monday.

(33:46):
Come and see who's advocating onyour behalf, right?
And ask the question as to whatis going on.
I don't believe this is notgonna hit them yet.
Um, they don't realize when thiscontract is ratified, how it
gave them nothing, how we lost.
We did not gain nothing.
I think right now, as thenumbers came back, which is a

(34:09):
little strange, but you know,the numbers came back in terms
of the yes, it's a 51% with4,600 uh 604 um four uh members
voting for it.
That's what it is said on the onthe information that we receive.
And then only 206 um educatorsum rejected it a little bit off,

(34:30):
you know, but that's anotherstory for another day.
But uh now that they see it, umI think they're really just kind
of like what we're dealing withnow, right?
Many individuals decide theycasted a vote and they see what
is happening in the country,right?
And so it is kind of similar,mirror, mirror that um, you
know, that kind of umtrajectory.

(34:52):
And so, as you said, we're gonnacontinue to advocate.
We're gonna continue.
I know you said that that money,but we're gonna say, you know,
money was found in um, you know,I don't know where it was found,
but money was found to be ableto pay two superintendents um
simultaneously.
And so I'm gonna share thatinformation with them.
And we also want our that's whyI wanted to do this, because we

(35:15):
also want our um our communityor residents to be able to know
what's going on because theirtax dollars are also um, you
know, meddling with this.
So it's it it doesn't, it's notjust a teacher thing.
It's as you say, it's all of us,you know, issue that this is
impacting.

SPEAKER_02 (35:29):
Exactly.
And yeah, um, I was I was justgonna say that even though we
don't have we no longer havechildren that matriculate
through the Prince George'sCounty school system, our tax
dollars go toward paying for theoperating cost at at the school
system.
Every seven seventy cents on thedollar in property taxes,

(35:53):
basically, um not just propertytaxes, but all of the budget
really 70 percent of the uh goesto the Prince George County
public schools, another, youknow, ten, fifteen percent goes
to the uh public safety forpolice and fire.
And then, you know, we have alittle bit left to try to run

(36:16):
the rest of the county.
So you let's segue because youmentioned yeah, you you you
mentioned the the elephant inthe room, which is PGC EA out of
the blue came out and issuedover the summer this no
confidence vote in formersuperintendent um Miller House.

(36:39):
And, you know, it just itsplashed all over the news and
was like, okay, where where didthis come from?
Why is this mad?
Because if you look at it, umtwo of the issues that he was
kind of hired to resolve anddeal with was graduation rates,
which went up to eighty.
Yeah, which went up to eightypercent, including our English

(37:02):
language learners, went upfifteen more per percent in
terms of graduation rates, andthen this whole school bus
issues.
Yes.
Um and he had re you know,resolved that.
Um not so much resolved it.
I I know there's still ashortage of bus drivers, but in
terms of picking the students uptimely and getting them to

(37:24):
school on time, the tracker thatthey're now talking about was
actually instituted under underformer superintendent house.
So it's like, okay, well, theman's doing good, and it's only
his second year, and he'salready turning some things
around and addressing what youhave.
Where did this vote of noconfidence come from?
So tell the tell our listenersum confidence in what?

(37:50):
What exactly was it that theyhad no confidence had no
confidence in?
That's number one.
And then we can kind of go intoum this this whole resignation
slash firing, coming toagreement for firing, and then
all of a sudden finding overhalf a million dollars to pay

(38:11):
him plus another half a milliondollars to pay um an interim
superintendent to um to come inand lead the school system.
But explain to me what whatconfidence did PGCEA lack in
former superintendent MillwoodHouse?

SPEAKER_00 (38:32):
So lots of queries, right?
And very, you know, veryimportant queries.
And so um, because we're askingthe same question.
We're, you know, we wereblindsided.
Um we knew that umsuperintendent, former
superintendent House came in.
He, as you said, he was hired todo particular things.
And as the advocate that I am, Inormally like to go to the

(38:55):
horse's mouth.
So I've gone to the bus driversand I've asked them, you know,
um, what are your thoughts onthis?
How do you see these newchanges?
How are they how have they beenworking?
And they were like, it has beenworking fine, right?
And so, as you said, he did notfinish his second year when this
came up.
And so the problem that theytaught, um, that they were

(39:18):
saying that was connected tohim, he inherited these things.
And so it was not unique um tohim.
So that is a really goodquestion that we're trying to
find the answer.
No, voter, no confidence in whatwhat specific things that you
were, you know, that they weretalking about.
And so that took, um, you know,I was, you know, very when I was

(39:39):
there and I heard that, I waslike, where's this coming from?
It's a little bit, it'spremature because he did not, he
was not given the adequate timeto be able to do all of these
things that um, you know, you wewe know the county is going, um,
is having problems when we talkabout vacancy.
That's not unique to him, right?

(40:00):
There's a teacher shortagearound the country.
And so uh as I said before, wewe're we were dumbfounded um
when that came up and um thatvote of no confidence and and
the way how it was orchestratedand the way how it was presented
even to the media was um missingwas a misinformation and it was

(40:22):
inaccurate.
And so it was stated in themedia that was go uh go ahead.

SPEAKER_02 (40:27):
No, so so help me to understand.
So, did they call a meeting ofall the PGCEA members, or was
this just the board, and theboard made a decision and then
kind of yeah, how did how didthat actually happen?

SPEAKER_00 (40:45):
PGCA called a um, it was an emergency virtual
meeting.
Um, when I when I received theinformation, I thought that it
was going to be about thecontract because we were in the
deadbeat of the contract.
Okay.
Um so I was like, okay, we'regoing in, we're gonna be
discussing these numbers thatyou know PGC came back with.

(41:05):
Because just just to um I justwanted to put this in there.
When um PGCEA um initiallystarted a contract, they were
asking for 27%.
So that was the original, and soAnd was that across the board?
That was across the board.

SPEAKER_02 (41:20):
Okay.

SPEAKER_00 (41:21):
That was across the board.
So it was 27% across the boardfor everybody.
That was the original request umfor everybody.
And then PGCEA came back, PGCPScame back.
And so I just wanted to makejust to clarify that PGCEA,
PGCPS came back, and they cameback with about, I want to say
7%.
It was two, um, I think 2.5, 2%,and then 2.

(41:45):
So it was a total of um 7% thatthey asked when we came with
27%, they came with 7%.
And so um, right, so you you cansee how we came from 27% to 9%.
Just still, you know, bafflingto me.
Right, still baffling to me.
So I just wanted to put that inhere.
So we thought that that's whatit was going to be about.

(42:07):
And so that emergency meetingwas for um the building reps.
So, as was noted, that thebuilding reps are elected by the
members to come and re representthem.
However, it was not, um, it wasnot all of the building reps,
because as I said, it wasvirtual, many people didn't get
it.
And so that's when that cameout.
And we were kind of shockedlike, where's this coming from?

(42:28):
It was also mentioned that therewas a survey that was given.
Um, and I know many of theindividuals, educators that I
spoke to said that they did notdo the survey.
And so the they the survey waspresented as just to get the
temperature of where we are.
And so apparently that surveywas used to create the voter no

(42:52):
confidence that we have neverseen it.
I've never seen the result ofthat particular survey.
And so when we um when we wereon the meeting, we heard that um
many of the um the educatorswere suppressed, me included, to
be able to, you know, kind oflike we we shared our um our um
dissatisf dissatisfaction andnot being in agreement to it.

(43:15):
And um it was kind of like verymuch orchestrated, right?
Um there were information thatwas given.
Oh, um we we were gonna look umstupid if we didn't go through
it.
They there was apparently themedia was already contacted
prior to the vote evenhappening.
And so um, yeah, it was it justseems to me like we were being

(43:37):
used as pawns.
Um we were um there were as someabuse of power um in regards to
this.
And so when the information cameout, it says 80% of the members
uh voted for it, which was notaccurate.
That was um um that was that wasa lie, if I could say that.
Um it was not accurate.

(43:58):
It was less than 60 membersvoted for um that.
Wow.
So yeah, so yeah.

SPEAKER_02 (44:05):
Yeah, and and I also saw that um, I think I saw in
the news that the PrincipalsAssociation did not, you know,
it blindsided them as well.
They were not, you know, theydidn't obviously vote, have a
vote of no confidence.
And so it it was it wasblindsided.
So did have we ever found outwhy they wanted Superintendent

(44:30):
House out of that position?

SPEAKER_00 (44:34):
Right.
Um, so so um the the word on thestreet, he was not um he he he
was gonna stand on principle.
He was gonna stand on onintegrity, right?
And so there's a lot of things.
Um, as I said before, you and Italk.
We have had this, we'reexperienced where we have gone
to the board meetings and wehave testified.

(44:55):
I have never seen any discourseum between the board and or the
superintendent when I amattended.
So I I am still trying to figureout what what was the reason um
for that.
At one point in time, we werehearing that it would have
bought us, um, it potentially umbought us more um more money in

(45:16):
terms of the negotiation.
That's not true.
We we see where we are rightnow.
Right.
And so I I am still kind ofdiving through, trying to, you
know, do some investigative umum, you know, um sessions and
and duty on that because I Istill don't know.
But we have heard that there hewas gonna stand on principle and
stand on business.

(45:37):
There are things that, you know,they wanted to happen, and he
was not going to move forwardwith some of those things.

SPEAKER_02 (45:42):
And they meaning the school board or the school
board, meaning the meaning ofthe school board.

SPEAKER_00 (45:47):
I mean, we can see politics in play, right?
We can see some political umaction in in in play as well.
And so that that's kind of likewhat we what we're hearing as
we're you know doing someinvestigation.
That's what we're called to do.
And so we're doing someinvestigation to see um, you
know, what what was the the theexact you know um tenets as to

(46:09):
why um he was ousted in, youknow.

SPEAKER_02 (46:14):
Okay, okay.
And I have seen, and I'm gonna,we're gonna put in our uh sh um
episode show notes.
I saw an article on um inMaryland Matters, which talks
about how politics um underminesPrince George's County public

(46:34):
schools that was done back inJune.
I think this is right after uhthe vote of no confidence and
the um you know the supposedresignation settlement agreement
to leave.
So he was paid, Bill House waspaid what tell me the amount of
money he was paid to leave.

SPEAKER_00 (46:55):
So so if if I could interject this the same, I think
his name um what I read the samearticle and I think it was done
by Timothy Myers.
I think that was the um and andhe also gave a video um speech
that was never aired at the umat the school board.

SPEAKER_02 (47:14):
And I think I saw that I think I saw that you
posted that video, right?
Okay.
Yes, yes, yes.

SPEAKER_00 (47:20):
So no one who had any questions about it, and
we're not saying, as we said,we're not saying um, you know,
there's anything um in terms ofum the new the the new interim
superintendent um Dr.
Joseph, we're not saying thatthere's anything bad at this
junction.
What we're saying is that theprocess was not followed um
accurately.

(47:40):
And so to touch to segue, ifwe're talking about being
fiscally responsible, let's goback to the money, right?
Right, we were talking aboutmoney.
And so there is um we have asuperintendent, a former
superintendent who is not nolonger with us, but we um Prince
George's County Public Schooland taxpayers dollars have to

(48:01):
pay him.
And so we're looking at when welook at the package and the
buyout in tunes of over$2million, okay?
Oh my goodness.
And so, and then when we thinkabout the new intern
superintendent with his packageand everything else, over half a
million dollars.
So we're talking about over$2.5million, where it could have

(48:23):
gone to pay the teachers at thetop, who um 30 teachers at the
top, teachers at the bottom,about 50.
So we're just looking at wheredid that those funds come from,
right?
Very quickly.
And so um, you know, those aresome of the things that we are
going to, you know, really beingasking, um, you know, put to
the, you know, put in theforefront and also to get our

(48:44):
our community residents involvedin it because they are very much
impacted.
And so those are some of thethings that we decide that we
are going to be doing at thistime.
Because as we said, many of oureducators are leaving.
I know some that left alreadybecause they're at step 20.
They understand that we are notgoing past step 21.

(49:04):
So what they did was they tooktheir expertise and they went to
other jurisdictions that they'regetting much more money for, and
they're able to move out of the,as you said, on that um career
ladder as well.
Um, we know that Prince George'sCounty, we have um invested and
we have really great educatorshere that are really about

(49:27):
educating our children.
And with their expertise, um,you know, they are in demand.
And so we want that to be outthere to the board because I
will be um, you know, definitelyum testifying and talking to
them.
I didn't get the opportunity toshare my concerns um back in
June.
And so um, you know, and andit's very balanced, right?

(49:48):
And so we want to make sure thatthe money you could find that
money, we want to find thatmoney for our wonderful, um, um,
illustrious um educators thatare educating our children in
the classroom day in and dayout.

SPEAKER_02 (50:03):
Exactly, exactly.
Yep.
So yeah, I'm always about beinga good steward over the tax
dollars that the residents andhomeowners and other hardworking
people pay into our system andmake sure that we're using it
wisely.
And and if there was no realreason other than politics to

(50:28):
push former superintendent houseout, and yet we can find, you
know, uh a a million and a halfand almost two million for these
new um for the newsuperintendents.
Why can't we find the money towhen we get ready to ratify the
contract for our uh educatorsacross the board, especially our

(50:52):
seasoned and our veteran umeducators?
Because like you said, and wetalked about earlier, we get
that brain drain and they gotake it somewhere else.
And so that is really such atravesty.
And I think one of the thingsthat we need to do as a county
and the residents needs to be upin arms about is accountability

(51:13):
for the money that we'respending like this.
Because, you know, we this iswhat our fourth superintendent
in what like six less than sixyears or something like that.

SPEAKER_00 (51:25):
And we're paying them simultaneously.
And so it's a pattern.
And so when we're talking aboutwhen we're talking about our
children, right?
Consistency.
Our children need consistency.
So if we keep every every year,we're having a different
superintendent to come in.
We, you know, we have shortfallsand we have gaps, and we're
seeing this now within thescores for our children as well.

SPEAKER_02 (51:49):
Yeah, yep.
Okay.
Um, I I understand.
And so again, I'm always aboutsolutions.
It's easy to bring up theproblems and you know, everybody
can see the problems andcomplain, but who's gonna do the
hard work to get it done?
So my last two questionsactually relate to one, what can

(52:10):
parents do?
And even if you're not if ifyour children are no longer in
PGCPS like our children aren't,they're now adults, young
adults, what can parents andresidents do to support our
educators here in PGCPS?
Um, and then two, what can boththe parents and the educators do

(52:33):
to be more involved in theschool system administration?
Um, you know, it like I said, ifespecially if you're you don't
have a child matriculatingthrough the system, what can we
do to say, hey, listen, thisyou're wasting our tax dollars
here.
You're wasting our tax dollarshere.

(52:53):
You have teachers leaving, youhave veteran teachers leaving
because they are are not beingvalued at the level that they
know that they're worth becausethey have this expertise,
because you know, they areseasoned, they have 20 plus
years, they have whatever in theschool system.

(53:16):
What can we do to support youand then what can we do to be
more involved in theadministration?
I don't want to just have apodcast and we complain about
what's already been talked aboutin June.
Let's try to find a solution.
So help me there.

SPEAKER_00 (53:35):
Thank you so much for asking that question.
All right, I appreciate you andthat question.
Um, there's a board meeting.
As we there's a board meeting.
I I want to say they they meeton Thursday.
I need to give you the exact,um, the exact they meet on
Thursday, but I want to tell youexactly when.
So I need to find that so I'mable to tell you exactly when

(53:57):
the board, Prince George'sCounty Public School board
meets.
And that's really where you needto go.
And even prior to that, call andsign up to speak.
As members, I'm a resident, eventhough I'm an educator, I'm a
resident, I'm a taxpayer of thiscounty.
And I love this county.
You can lend your voice, right?

(54:19):
And you can call your boardmembers and let them know this
is unacceptable.
We want our educators, theseasoned educators, to get more
than the 9%, right?
So those are practical thingsthat you are able to do.
You vote.

SPEAKER_03 (54:35):
Right.

SPEAKER_00 (54:36):
You vote, you vote them in, and you can vote them
out.
And so those are some of thethings, that's the power that we
have as residents within thiscounty.
And get more informed.
I do have, you know, at theteacher's lounge, I do make um
do Zoom meetings and just sendinformation out as well, so that

(54:58):
our members, not only oureducators, but also our
community members, can be awareof what is going on and how they
are able to adjust to give, um,lend their voice.
But yes, calling your schoolboard members to let them know
this is unacceptable.
My property tax is being, youknow, I'm using, I'm giving

(55:20):
property taxes, being it ishigh.
I want it to be able to use formaking sure that our educators
are able to get the funds sothat they can educate the
children um, you know, withinthis wonderful district.
And so that that is somethingthat comes to mind.
Um, another thing you ask aboutboth the parents and teachers.

SPEAKER_02 (55:38):
Hold that, put a pen in that because I did look up
the um upcoming board meeting.
So the the the first uh, youknow, after the school system
has started back up, we're nowback in school.
There's a there's a lot of quoteunquote work sessions and um uh
um board meetings, but the firstopen business board meeting is

(56:01):
not until Thursday.
You're right, it's on Thursdays.
Um it's Thursday, September the25th from five um from 7 to 9
p.m.
So you can go there to sign upto speak um on those issues.
However, there's some prior tothe end of the month, there's

(56:22):
some additional meetings thatmay be worth your while.
For example, um tomorrow umthere is a Board of Education
audit committee meeting.
Audits are very good.
I I like audits, and so um itthere's um there's an audit
committee meeting tomorrowstarting at six o'clock.

(56:45):
Um there is a parent communityadvisory council meeting um on
Wednesday from seven to eight.
So all this week there are um umsome really good meetings.
This next one is really goodbecause it deals with um capital
improvement plans.
So if you want to see schoolbuild, school renovated on

(57:09):
Thursday, September 4th from 6to 8, it is a capital
improvement public hearing.
And so that that tells me thatthat is a hearing that's open to
the public.
And you can come in and say, ourschool needs this, that, the
other, our school building needsto be torn down, and we need to
have it part of that um P3 andget a new school.

(57:34):
Um, you know, we need new airconditioning, we need whatever.
Um, so that's what the um CIPbudget is um for, and that's so
that hearing is the firsthearing.
Capital improvement plan publichearing is this coming Thursday,
the fourth.
Um there's quite a bit of umother meetings, a disabilities

(57:57):
issue advisory board meeting,there's an academic achievement
committee meeting on the 15th ofSeptember.
So I encourage everyone that'slistening to just go to the
website pgcps.org, um, selectboard of education, or actually

(58:18):
it just says board.
If you select board, there's acalendar, and you can go through
that calendar to try to um signup and register to attend those
meetings and and bring thoseconcerns that Ms.
Powell is talking about beinggood steward over the tax
dollars that we're paying, andnot just property tax, because

(58:40):
if even if you live in anapartment, you're paying income
tax to the state and the countyand you're and those funds are
going into that general treasurythat the county council is
ultimately giving the money overto the school board to spend to
help educate and run our schoolsystem.

(59:01):
Um so there's quite there'squite a bit of um uh meetings
coming up this this month justabout um this week is starting
tomorrow.
There's a meeting every dayexcept for Friday in the evening
that you can tune into, you canregister to speak, but the
actual um board meeting that'sbusiness meeting that's open to

(59:24):
the public is September the30th, um starting at um again.

SPEAKER_00 (59:30):
Is the 30th or the 25th?

SPEAKER_02 (59:33):
Um I'm sorry, I'm sorry, the 25th, the 25th,
starting at 7 p.m.
They do have a 5 30 to 7business meeting, but that's the
closed session.
So what closed session and andand closed sessions are not bad
in the sense that sometimes theydo deal with personnel issues,
which obviously has to remainprivate.

(59:55):
Um, I don't like closed sessionsa lot of times because that's
when Um, you know, when we sawthe whole thing about um
superintendent house, the newswas there, and so they were, you
know, recording the meetings andthen they went into a closed
session.
And so the news reporters arechasing after the chair, and

(01:00:19):
he's like, Well, you know, it'sa personnel matter, so we can't
disclose it and they close thedoor, and then all of a sudden,
you know, we hear um that he'sbeen let go, it's uh he he
agreed to resign or what haveyou.
And and you know, and Iunderstand, again, personnel
matters um uh should be private,especially when they involve

(01:00:43):
whatever action that is goingon.
But when you're s potentiallyspending one point something
million taxes to pay, to buy himout, right, to finish his
contract out, pay him out, this,that, you owe an explanation to

(01:01:03):
your taxpayers as to why you'redoing this, just to say that
PGCEA came out with a vote of noconfidence, and we still don't
know what that confidence was.
I think I saw I did seesomething about I did see
something about um salaries, butI had not heard prior to that

(01:01:24):
vote of no confidence that thecontract that there was a real
big issue.
Like you said, you went into themeeting as an educator and your
build being your building, youknow, we were gonna talk about
the contract, and then all of asudden they're talking about
voting no confidence on thesuperintendent without going
through the details of that.

(01:01:46):
So something is amiss.
And I'm not gonna say we'regonna be able to get to the
heart of the matter on September25th at the school board
meeting.
But what parents and whatresidents need to know is that
we need to let our voices beheard.
Yes.
That this kind of uh wastefulspending of our money is one

(01:02:12):
unacceptable and is the reasonwhy you see the attrition of our
teachers, our seasoned teachersgoing away.
If you can find money to pay twosuperintendents simultaneously
and finish up paying contractsfor the others that have left in
the last four to six years aswell, you certainly can find

(01:02:33):
money to pay across the boardincreases for all of our
teachers and use the moneywisely.
And I think that's the messagethat we need to leave our
listeners today, Ms.
Powell.
I think we need to leave them tosay, hey, write your school
board representatives, write umum the county administration,

(01:02:54):
whether it's the uh countyexecutive as well as the county
council to say, hey, this isunacceptable, um especially
since we know and it shows thatthe graduation rates were going
up under former superintendenthouse.
That was one of the issues thatthey complained about the prior

(01:03:14):
transportation.
And the transportation issue.
And he had the tracker, sothey're trying to say that the
tracker system came as a resultof our our current interim
superintendent, which we knowthat's not true because the
contract for that.
I saw the the contract for thattracker system was well before
um he came on.
So we know that House wasdealing with that transportation

(01:03:37):
issue, even with the fact thatwe don't have still don't have
enough school bus drivers.
But though I know those werethose were two issues.

SPEAKER_00 (01:03:48):
And and we have four, we have four.
If I just if I just interject,we have four, I think, you know,
really strong unions.
And out of the four unions, younever have.
You only took one.
Right, you only took one.
The other three are like, whatis going on?
So it wasn't like a bareimbalance, right?
And so that to me it's like, uh,you know, so yeah, but but I

(01:04:10):
like what you said.
That is a good way, you know, toend and to say parents and
community um um um members, youcan come into the schools.
Um, you can come and you canvolunteer, just make sure that
you get your fingerprinting.
You can, you know, and and andthat's how you can support us as
well, um, you know, to be ableto continue to have our voice um

(01:04:32):
being heard and to support us aswell.

SPEAKER_02 (01:04:35):
Right, right, right.
Well, Miss Powell, um, this hasbeen very enlightening.
I'm gonna keep following all ofyour detailed emails.
I I love how you do the math forus.
You make it very simple,actually.
It's a it's a lot of material todigest, but I'm hoping that the
teachers that you are respondingto and communicating with are

(01:04:58):
taking the time to read itbecause you do do the heavy
lifting in terms of doing theanalysis and the critical
thinking behind the numbersversus you know the different
steps, and if you have amaster's degree versus just
having a bachelor's degree, yougo into all of that great
detail, and again, that's thatHoward H U education.

SPEAKER_00 (01:05:20):
Okay, thank you.
Thank you, because I learnedfrom you.
I learned from you.
I want to say that.
I I know we kind of worktogether, you know, on different
things with our when ourchildren was in school, but I
really want to say I applaud theway how you have given
transparency for years sinceI've been in this county.
And so I appreciate you and I'velearned very much a lot from you

(01:05:43):
and keep doing what you knowwhat you're doing.
We need individuals like youwithin our um political sphere
so that we can continue to gettransparency, we can continue to
get integrity and get what isnecessary for our students, for
our community um individuals aswell.
So thank you.

SPEAKER_02 (01:06:03):
All right, well, that's good, that's good.
So parents and listeners, um,please share this episode with
people you know, particularlythose who have children in
Prince George's County publicschools.
Um, but even if they don't andthey are confused about, you
know, this whole thing thathappened in June and where um it

(01:06:24):
goes, it doesn't have to stopand end there.
The conversation needs to betake taking place of how to use
our money and be good stewardsover the tax dollars that we're
having.
And so you need to um come tothe school board meetings, um,
write, email, call, whatever youhave to do, your school board

(01:06:46):
representatives so that they canbe accountable for the tax
dollars that we're spending andreally wasting that could have
gone to the educators, thatcould have gone to um helping to
bridge that gap between a 24%increase versus only a full
nine, which really is only fourpercent increase.

(01:07:08):
Um and as a result, we're losingour season, our good veteran
teachers.
So we want you to um share thisinformation.
We want you to take action.
We just don't want you again tolisten and hear the problem and
say, let somebody else handleit.
No, roll up your sleeves and andand and at least make a call.

(01:07:28):
Making a call doesn't take muchtime um to register um your
concern about that.
If you can't make it, you know,send out an email.
If you can sit on social mediaand make comments, you can make
comments to your representativesas well.
So I want to thank our guesttoday, Miss Stephanie Powell,

(01:07:48):
educator at Millwood ElementarySchool, former PTSA warrior at
John Hansen, but moreimportantly, that Howard Howard
Grant that knows how to do theyou know, that really knows how
to um dig deep and get thedetailed information.
Um Stephanie, somebody wantedto, Ms.

(01:08:09):
Powell, if someone wanted to umget the emails that you're
sending out, I had not I had notforwarded on my listserv because
it was so detailed.
So I I felt like I felt likepeople would be overwhelmed with
the type of information.
I try to, you know, make again,I always try to take the legally

(01:08:29):
stuff and the other stuff andmake it so simple that people
really understand.
But if people wanted to um getmore information, and
particularly our educators,honestly, because I don't know
what your reach is outside ofyour Melwood community and where
you live here in Clinton, butwhat your reach is, um what's

(01:08:50):
the best way for them to emailyou to say, hey, I'd I'd like to
know more information?

SPEAKER_00 (01:08:56):
Certainly.
And so do you I could give them,um we have two emails.
Um I could give them the SPowell um one if you want me to
share that with them.
So that is S Powell, so S as inSam, P as in Peter, O as in
Onward, W as in water, E as inEcho, L as in Love, L as in
Love, L as in Love, 422 atgmail.com.

SPEAKER_02 (01:09:20):
So S Powell, P-O-W-E-L-L, 3L 422 at
gmail.com.
If you have um want to find outa little bit more um from an
educator's perspective, um toreach out to Miss Powell and she
can kind of tell you, give youthe whole background about the

(01:09:41):
contract and what the contractlooks like.
And then she actually does themathematical analysis on all of
the different steps.
If you're uh um first coming inwith just a bachelor's degree
versus having a master's and soforth in the number of years,
she goes through all of thatdetail.
So please contact Ms.

(01:10:02):
Powell if you want moreinformation.
We will put on the show notesfor this episode, the Prince
George's County Council's, notCounty Council, sorry, school
board's website with the boardcalendar information so that you
can hear that.
And then I'll also drop the Ithink the video that Ms.

(01:10:23):
Powell was talking about fromMr.
Myers, as well as a link to hisarticle in Maryland Matters
about the politics playing inPrince George's County schools
and really um setting us back.
You know, we keep having tostart again, as Ms.
Powell mentioned, with uh everytime there's a new

(01:10:45):
superintendent that comes inwith their um direction.
Mission County, you you startthe process all over again.
And we just need to stop thatthat that revolving door and get
some stability for our studentsas well as for our teachers.
So, Ms.
Powell, thank you so much foryour time.
You are welcome.

(01:11:06):
It was my pleasure.
Thank you so much for joiningus.
And um we thank all thelisteners for listening uh to
All Politics is local with me,your host, Tamra Davis Brown.
Please do uh share this podcastwith uh all of your neighbors,
friends, let them know um to getinvolved and that we need to

(01:11:27):
move beyond the ballot box toaction and holding our elected
officials accountable and beingtransparent about what's going
on in our local, federal, local,state, and federal elections.
So thank you for joining us,Katie.
We'll see you next time.