J.H. Snider’s public testimony to the SBNC regarding how it got into its current mess
Public testimony published in eLighthouse.info
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Category: Subject
Stop the Anne Arundel Nominating Commission's Undemocratic Practices
Commentary published in the Anne Arundel Patch
Read MoreUpdate on the Anne Arundel County School Board Nominating Commission
Article published in eLighthouse.info
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Board’s student member lacks independence
Op-ed published in the Capital
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Record number of school board applicants compete for Anne Arundel County seats
Op-ed published in Watchdog Wire
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Gov.-elect Hogan faces K-12 test
Op-ed published in the Capital
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School governance can be fixed
Op-ed published in the Capital
Read MoreConstitutional Convention records speak for themselves
Op-ed published in the Warwick Beacon
Read MoreConstitutional Convention and the out-of-state-money bogeyman
Op-ed published in the Providence Journal
Read MoreConstitutional Convention purpose? Democratic reform
Op-ed published in the Valley Breeze
Read More1787: Vote No Against Convening a National Constitutional Convention
Op-ed (a satire on the current debate on whether to call a state concon) published in the GoLocalProv
Read MoreR.I. handbook shows blatant bias
In the Internet Age, Rhode Island style voter information handbooks have become a First Amendment archaism, in the way the government-imposed Fairness Doctrine became after Americans got access to dozens of TV channels. It has...
Read MoreR.I.’s poor preparation for convention
In another case of the fox guarding the chicken coop, Rhode Island’s bipartisan preparatory commission has been a failed experiment in explaining to the public the advantages of constitutional convention over...
Read MoreWill Incoming Anne Arundel County Schools Superintendent Arlotto Be A Maxwell Clone?
Op-ed published in Watchdog Wire
Read MoreIs anything less than true e-voting adequate for today’s post office challenged youth?
Maryland’s absentee voting technology for the June 24 statewide primary assumes U.S. Post Office skills and resources that the newest generation of young voters not only lack but are not anxious to acquire. My son, a rising...
Read MoreMaryland Transportation Authority Gets An "F" For Customer Service
MDTA service compares to failed Maryland health exchange. One day in late May 2014, my wife drove back to Maryland from Connecticut through seven toll booths that use E-ZPass: two in New York, three in New Jersey, one in...
Read More‘Dark money’ drives R.I. constitutional convention votes
Rhode Island’s campaign finance disclosure law explains its purpose in high-minded democratic terms: “the source of political spending is vital information for voters,” as it “allows voters to properly weigh speakers and...
Read MoreBig Surprise at Meeting to Select New AACPS School Board Members
To select a new school board member by July 1, the Governor will have to claim emergency appointment powers despite no emergency. There is usually nothing more predictable and unexciting in Anne Arundel County politics than the...
Read MoreIs the AACPS School Board Embarrassed by the Incoming Superintendent’s Compensation?
More than six weeks after the Board offered George Arlotto the superintendent position, it still has not disclosed his compensation. More than six weeks ago the Anne Arundel County Public School System (AACPS) School Board...
Read MoreOn Landmark Media (the Capital’s Owner) Cashing Out
Since January 2008, Landmark Media has been trying to cash out its investment in the Capital-Gazette, but could not get the price it wanted. Finally, on May 1, 2014, more than 2,000 days since it was placed on the market,...
Read MoreExpected $2.4 Million ‘Signing Bonus’ For Chosen AACPS Superintendent
Op-ed published in Eye on Annapolis
Read MoreR.I. needs a constitutional convention
This November, Rhode Islanders will vote on whether to convene a constitutional convention. Throughout most of American history, state constitutional conventions were a regular occurrence. But not one has been approved during...
Read MoreHow the Next Superintendent Will Really Be Selected
We have recently observed Russia’s “democratic” takeover of Crimea. As a democratically elected Crimean parliament holds a democratic referendum to join Russia, the stage-managing has been superb. However, AACPS has...
Read MoreOur Highly Politicized Board of Education
Members of our Board of Education love to pretend that they are above politics; that such behavior is reserved for County Council, General Assembly, and other public officials. As for themselves, they claim all they care about...
Read MoreCourt Likely to Let Leopold Run for Public Office
In January 2013, a local court convicted former County Executive John Leopold on two counts of misconduct in office. In addition to requiring him to serve jail time, it banned him from running for elective office for five...
Read MoreTwo General Assembly Bills to Democratize the AACPS School Board
Last Wednesday the Maryland Senate’s Education, Health and Environmental Affairs Committee held hearings on two bills to create a more democratically accountable system for selecting school board members in Anne Arundel County. ...
Read MoreExplaining the Capital’s Inane Political Reporting
Campaign finance articles are a staple of good journalism, as campaign contributions may signal to the public more credibly than campaign promises the type of interests a politician will represent once in office. But good...
Read MoreMore Misleading Education Reporting From The Capital
Yesterday the Capital ran a story on the results of the superintendent survey designed to elicit feedback on the characteristics the public wants in its next public schools superintendent. From November 22 to December 12,...
Read MoreThe public, not the courts, should decide
Snider, J.H., The public, not the courts, should decide, Baltimore Sun, December 16, 2013. In countries such as Russia and Iran, the public can vote in elections, but the elections are often viewed as less than fully democratic...
Read MoreSuperintendent Search Update: AACPS Answers Capital’s Criticism
Last summer the Capital criticized AACPS for a lack of public involvement in the interim superintendent search (see Capital-Gazette Takes On AACPS ). AACPS promised to address that issue in its search for the next fulltime...
Read MoreGetting What We Pay For: Are our school board members underpaid?
How much is a school board worth? Should we apply to the Anne Arundel County Board of Education the maxim that “you get what you pay for”? Regular school board members earn $6,000/year (the president earns $8,000/year) to...
Read MoreCapital-Gazette Takes On AACPS
In the last few weeks, the Capital-Gazette ( Capital ) has flipped from years of mindlessly repeating AACPS talking points to a critical stance, including a news story with multiple, competing sources. How well did it do?...
Read MoreSchool Board Pays Maxwell $4,582/Day In July; Maryland Taxpayers Pay Perkins $410,018 Signing Bonus on Top of $249,735 Annual Salary
The Anne Arundel County Public Schools (AACPS) Board of Education has been generous to outgoing superintendent Kevin Maxwell for his last month of employment ending July 31, 2013. Excluding his health benefits and the increase...
Read MorePoll: Media Coverage of Superintendent Maxwell
Superintendent Kevin Maxwell’s last day in office is tomorrow, July 31, 2013. On August 1, 2013, he takes over the helm of the Prince George’s County Public Schools. The Anne Arundel County Public Schools (AACPS)...
Read MoreMaxwell’s Political Legacy: Not Pretty
After more than seven years at the helm of the Anne Arundel County Public Schools (AACPS), Superintendent Kevin Maxwell will resign and become head of the Prince George’s County public schools, effective August 1, 2013. What is...
Read MoreUnderstanding The Capital Gazette’s Political Biases
My Ph.D. is in the field of political communications, and I’ve worked in various capacities covering media policy, including as an American Political Science Association Congressional Fellow in Communications and Public Policy,...
Read MoreMaxwell’s Unreported $1 Million Signing Bonus with Prince George’s County, Courtesy of Maryland Taxpayers
Prince George’s County has hired Anne Arundel County Public Schools(AACPS) Superintendent Kevin Maxwell for a reported annual salary of $290,000, a $33,000 year increase on his $257,000 current salary from AACPS. ...
Read MoreGovernor to reappoint two incumbents to AACPS school board
In the next few days, Governor O’Malley will reappoint two incumbents, Andrew C. Pruski (Board President) and Teresa Milio Birge (Board Vice President), to the Anne Arundel County Public School System (AACPS) Board of...
Read MoreAnne Arundel’s Next Superintendent Should Restore Integrity to School Board Elections
Op-ed published in Eye On Annapolis
Read MoreAACPS School Board Nomination Applications Due May 24
This year the School Board Nominating Commission (SBNC) of Anne Arundel County must nominate candidates for two seats on the Anne Arundel County Board of Education. Candidate applications are due by the close of the business...
Read MoreShame On Maryland’s State Board Of Elections
Have you observed how a politician often answers a reporter’s question that he doesn’t want to answer? Instead of truthfully replying that he doesn’t want to answer the question, he may pretend to answer the question while in...
Read MoreThe Leopold case: bad behavior, vague crimes
Source: Snider, J.H., The Leopold case: bad behavior, vague crimes, Baltimore Sun, January 29, 2013. This type of conduct is common among elected officials, but the applicable rules are ambiguous and rarely enforced. Circuit...
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In the Dark About Early School Buses
Snider, J.H., In the Dark About Early School Buses, Education Week, January 4, 2013. Lots of apps,...
Read MoreGuest Commentary: Maryland manipulates ‘majority’ vote
Some vote counting scandals receive front page news coverage and shock the world; others remain invisible. Such is the difference between Florida’s 2000 presidential election and Maryland’s 2010 referendum to convene a state...
Read MoreAnne Arundel County’s Undemocratic Nov. 6 School Board Election
Three school board candidates are on the Nov. 6 ballot. In 2007, Maryland’s General Assembly created a new system for selecting school board members in Anne Arundel County. An 11 member commission would nominate at least two...
Read MoreSpending on ballot questions highest in Maryland’s history
Spending exceeds not only all previous ballot questions but all previous ballot items of any kind, including gubernatorial elections. According to data compiled by iSolon.org and VotersEdge.org from the Maryland State Board of...
Read MoreOn gambling vote, what is meant by a 'majority'?
Legislature applies different interpretations according to its self-interest. What type of majority is necessary to approve Maryland’s Nov. 6 ballot referendum to expand gambling? Maryland’s Constitution says:...
Read MoreAACPS Creates Online Video Archive of BOE meetings
At long last, the Anne Arundel County Board of Education enters the YouTube age. In February 2009, Anne Arundel County Public Schools (AACPS) began broadcasting select Board of Education (BOE) meetings covered under the Maryland...
Read MoreMD General Assembly Releases Beta Legislative Website 2.0
Website omits allowing constituents to easily track the roll call votes of their representatives. On July 18, 2012, the Maryland General Assembly’s Joint Committee on Transparency and Open Government released a beta version of...
Read MoreAACPS.net blog replaced by articles in local news outlets
AACPS.net was a blog focusing on coverage of the Anne Arundel County Public Schools; specifically its core democratic institutions: the Anne Arundel County School Board Nominating Commission and Anne Arundel Countywide Citizen...
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Author
J.H. Snider