In light of the recent news of Superintendent Jack Smith retiring, it is imperative that MCPS be on the search for a new superintendent who is inclusive, specifically a new superintendent who is more interested in authentic student learning than numbers and data. 

Since 1991, MCPS has had only one Black superintendent, and none of them were female. Since 1991, MCPS has undergone a major shift in demographics, as white flight in certain neighborhoods continues to encourage inequities in funding, learning and health resources. I strongly urge that MCPS searches for a candidate who is more than willing to examine the properties of authentic learning, rather than statistics. 

What does “authentic learning” look like? I’m reminded of a scene in the 2016 film Hidden Figures in which a young sixth grader Katherine Goble (later married as Katherine Johnson) transferred to the West Virginia Collegiate Institute. 

The scene bounces from young Katherine solving a polynomial equation in an advanced math course, with all of the students (all Black students, might I add) and the professor staring at her in disbelief, to a conversation with the elementary school teachers and the parents. “In all my years of teaching, I have never seen a mind like the one [Katherine] has,” the teacher said in the scene. While this may be a rare scenario, this is authentic learning. 

Authentic learning is when the student grows in their learning, without the restrictions of a curriculum that demands all teachers teach the exact same thing in the exact same way. Learning in all forms should result in a student who is excited to acquire new skills, understand new facets of the topic, without worrying about inflated or deflated expectations and grades. It is teaching to the students’ strengths and weaknesses, providing them with resources, time and opportunities to develop those weaknesses.

It is important to note that these weaknesses should not be revealed through standardized tests or statistics, but experiences in the classroom. Statistics can conceal just as much information as they reveal. 

While authentic learning is becoming increasingly difficult as school continues on a virtual platform, this struggle is undoubtedly and unquestionably better than spreading COVID-19 to my teachers and fellow students. It is also a necessity that the new superintendent must recognize and address. 

The new superintendent should stress and practice incorporating student and teacher voices, specifically those who are not white and affluent, as these students and teachers who face the brunt of county decisions. It needs to be someone who values and incorporates the input of teachers, who are front line workers of our education system. These same teachers are being overworked to meet the rigorous and fluctuating expectations of the county, in the midst of an emotionally draining pandemic and politically charged state of our nation. 

MCPS has become and is becoming more diverse. Because MCPS currently focuses on statistical analysis, allow me to provide statistics that might astonish you. Watkins Mill High School is a minority majority school, as 81.4 percent of students are Black and Latinx, 8.2 percent identify as Asian, 7 percent identify as white, while 50 percent of our students are on a Free and Reduced Meal (FARMS)  plan, often used as an indicator of low income. Watkins Mill, and other majority minority high schools, represent the direction of MCPS. Currently, MCPS students are 26.9 percent white, 21.4% Black, 32.4 percent Hispanic, 14.1 percent Asian, and 33.8 percent FARMS. 

The new superintendent should understand the values and challenges of such diversity. They must have the will to address these challenges,  particularly as the county is trending along the same lines of American society. In doing so, we will be able to close the gap in student performance between students of color and white students, particularly those schools that need extra support and resources. Some people refer to this as “equality;” however, this is not “equality.” This is “equity.”

Equity is not teaching the same “whitewashed” curriculum, at an accelerating pace that was deemed “standard,” based on biased data. Equity is properly recognizing that not all students in the county have the same 24 hours in a day, and working to support those students. Many work jobs, some to provide a stable income for their families. Others consistently play sports in order to avoid gang violence or even domestic abuse. Others turn to drug use due to the absence of mental health resources at home and school. The majority of students return to homes without stable internet and Wi-Fi in order to understand and finish their homework. 

I ask that the Board of Education consider these requests when seeking the next superintendent. Yes, numbers can be manipulated to make us look good to surrounding districts, but at what cost to the actual authentic education that our increasingly diverse community needs?