Legal notice system is wasteful and obsolete
The Maryland-DC-Delaware Press Association executive director’s op-ed attacking House Bill 1258 (“Preserving local journalism: Why governor must veto HB1258,” April 22), which sought to reduce multi-million-dollar government subsidies to local newspapers...
Maryland’s take-no-prisoners newspaper lobby
By J.H. Snider The writer is the president of iSolon.org and author of Speak Softly and Carry A Big Stick: How Local TV Broadcasters Exert Political Power. He is also a former fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School’s Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics and Public...
House Bill 1258 op-ed was misleading
The Maryland Press Association’s April 23 op-ed attacking House Bill 1258, which seeks to reduce multi-million-dollar government subsidies to local newspapers with substantial monopoly power, was highly misleading. The government mandates that both private businesses...
Student members of school boards present a dangerous conflict of interest
Op-ed published in the Capital
Lierman is no friend of transparency
Letter to the editor published in the Capital
Pittman falls short on transparency pledge
Op-ed published in the Capital
Untying Redistricting’s Gordian Knot
Commentary published in Maryland Matters
Maryland Needs a New Open Government Paradigm
Op-ed published in Maryland Matters
Partisan vs nonpartisan elections is a false choice for Annapolis
Op-ed published in the Capital
Police in Anne Arundel schools can be used to intimidate critics
Letter-to-the-editor published in the Capital
False Transparency: Change to Maryland Public Infomation Act not really a change at all
Letter-to-the-editor published in the Capital
The General Assembly’s Make-Believe ‘Open Government’ Legislation
Op-ed published in Maryland Matters
A Secret Government Bill Masquerading As AN Open Government Bill
Testimony Before the Maryland General Assembly
Attacking only one senator’s message bill is unjust
Letter published in the Capital
who Will Guard The GuaRdians? When The Enforcers of Maryland’s Right-To-Know Laws Are Part Of the Problem
Public Information Act requests to Maryland Open Meetings Act Compliance Board
When Schools Are Hostile to Online Course Choice
Op-ed published in Maryland Matters
Anne Arundel schools block students from taking the best outsourced online courses
Op-ed published in the Capital
Anne Arundel schools budget presentation a clever illusion
Letter published in the Capital
Anne Arundel gets an F for water bill transparency
Letter published in the Capital
Make Covid-Era K-12 Local Education More Like Daycare
Article published in Education Next
The illegal cover-up of Maryland’s anti-choice distance-learning policies
Op-ed published in the Washington Examiner
OBSTACLES TO EVALUATING AACPS’S ONLINE COURSES
Public Information Act correspondence with the Anne Arundel County Public Schools
Obstacles to Evaluating AACC’s online courses
Public Information Act correspondence with the Anne Arundel Community College
“fear and sycophancy” at Anne Arundel schools
Letter-to-the-editor published in the Capital
Teachers’ unions share responsibility for mediocre distance education
Op-ed published in the Capital
AACPS’s PR Operation & Censorship by PIO
Public Information Act correspondence published on eLighthouse
Critique of General Assembly’s Latest Government Transparency Legislation
Letter-to-the-editor published in the Capital
Testimony before the Maryland Senate’s Education Committee on Blueprint for Maryland’s Future
Testimony Before the Maryland General Assembly
Having a parent who excels at local public-school politics shouldn’t be a precondition for a child to get a good teacher
Op-ed published in The Hechinger Report
Critique of Capital’s Reporting of “Teacher Salaries”
Letter-to-the-editor published in the Capital
The School System’s Highly Politicized TV Coverage of School-Related Events
Letter-to-the-editor published in the Capital
The growing and hidden pay gap between junior and senior teachers is a disgrace
Op-ed published in the Washington Post
Ed Week heaps accolades on AACPS’s SMOB as students’ rather than staff’s voice
Comment published in Education Week
A critique of Anne Arundel County’s webcasting of “public” meetings
Letter-to-the-editor published in the Capital
Should Anne Arundel raise local taxes to fund increased senior teacher pay?
Op-ed published in the Washington Post
Kudos to the Capital for Publishing My Critique of their Government Subsidies
Letter-to-editor published in the Capital
J.H. Snider’s testimony calling for better data on junior vs. senior teacher pay
Testimony published on eLighthouse
CRASC implements Snider’s proposal for televised student SMOB debate
Published on eLighthouse
Capital’s Error Correction Policy
Comment published on eLighthouse
A jury should decide on Maryland’s next redistricting map
Op-ed published in The Capital
School board’s ambivalent relationship to policies/laws
Comment published on eLighthouse
J.H. SNIDER’S TESTIMONY BEFORE THE ANNE ARUNDEL SCHOOL BOARD APPOINTMENT COMMISSION
Testimony published on eLighthouse
The Capital finally shining a light on the ethical cesspool of Anne Arundel County’s Ethics Commission
Comment published on eLighthouse
Capital finally admits a conflict of interest in its coverage
Comment published on eLighthouse
Where was the Capital when the Legislature was designing the new school board election Process?
Comment published on eLighthouse
Where is the School Board’s Ethics Panel when it comes to a blatant ethics violation such as this?
Comment published on eLighthouse
Prince George’s County pension-spiking is ripping off Maryland taxpayers
Op-ed published in the Washington Examiner
With no explanation, the Capital has deleted all previous comments and turned of new comments
Published on eLighthouse
Implementing the Capital’s Journalistic Ethics Claims
Letter published in the Capital
Anne Arundel’s Professional Wrestling Style Education Politics
Comment published on eLighthouse
The Capital’s coming out against school board politics
Comment published in the Capital
The Capital (finally) does some original reporting on school board politics
Comment published in the Capital
Where are the Capital’s claimed stories about “school system scandals”?
Comment published in the Capital
Who should be blamed for the public’s ignorance about the School Board Appointment Commission?
Comment published in the Capital
Since when do newspapers publish unverified allegations about a candidate two days before an election?
Comment published in the Capital
Why does the Capital only report the top salaries for certain bargaining groups?
Comment published in the Capital
On the politics of making class size data public
Comment published in the Capital
Local law enforcement officials will not investigate the politically powerful
Letter published in the Capital
The Capital’s Holier Than Thou Talk About Lying In Politics
Comment published in the Capital
If the legislature doesn’t pass redistricting reform, use a redistricting jury
Comment published in the Capital
Another example of highly politicized K12 compensation auditing & reporting
Comment published in the Capital
How much does Superintendent Arlotto earn? The Capital ain’t going to tell you
Comment published in the Capital
Newspaper Ethics Statements
Published in eLighthouse.info
The unreported story of why and how the SMOB election became so transparent in 2018
Comment published in the Capital
The Capital’s Panglossian (and highly profitable) investigative reporting practices
Comment published in the Capital
On the politicized framing of Maryland’s gerrymandering debate
Comment published in the Capital
The SMOB Election: Shame on the Capital for pretending there is no difference between news and PR
Comment published in the Capital
On the Anne Arundel State’s Attorney Hiring His Campaign Manager
Comments published in the Capital
Parsing School Board Candidate Ray Leone’s Campaign Statements
Comment published in the Capital
Adding SROs has downsides that need to be managed
Comment published in the Capital
Reporting on non-partisan elections requires more and different work by newspapers
Comment published in the Capital
On framing the discussion of the superintendent’s new contract
Comment published in the Capital
Understanding AACPS turnover
Comment published in the Capital
The Capital’s Under-reporting of Arlotto’s Compensation Package
Comment published in the Capital
SBAC Appointment May Win Award for Shortest Winning Application
Comment published in the Capital.
J.H. Snider’s Testimony Before The Anne Arundel School Board Appointment Commission
Testimony published in eLighthouse
The Capital’s Endemic Confusion About the Various School Board Selection Processes
Comment published in the Capital
Capital kills story on fraudulent claims concerning SBAC appointment credentials
After my Nov. 27 op-ed concerning the fraudulent claims made by AACPS and SBAC senior officials concerning their letters of appointment to the SBAC, the Capital informed me that it was launching an investigation into the matter. I should have gotten the message that...
When AACPS staff use government resources for political purposes….
Comment published in the Capital
Clinton email practices the rule in Maryland
Op-ed published in the Capital
Capital Relies on SBAC, Which relies on AACPS PR Office, for Sending Out Press Releases
Comment published in the Capital
Explaining why the school board appointment commission appointed neither candidate
Comment published in the Capital
appointed vs. elected school board: beside the point
Comment published in the Capital
Anne Arundel school board pick may have been invalid
Op-ed published in the Capital
J.H. Snider testifies about his Capital Op-Ed and Public Information Act Complaint Regarding the SBAC
Public Testimony of J.H. Snider Before the Anne Arundel School Board Appointment Commission (SBAC), November 27, 2017 As all of you know, my name is J.H. Snider. At the first meeting of the Anne Arundel School Board Appointment Commission, I presented written...
A story behind the story of the school appointment commission’s non-appointment?
Comment published in the Capital
Why I withdrew from PIA Ombudsman mediation
Addendum: When I filed this complaint, I did not know that the Public Information Act ombudsman had implemented a new policy in late summer 2017 requiring that anybody filing a complaint with her office sign a confidentiality agreement concerning her mediation. I had...
The SBAC: If 22 candidates are a sign of success, are 2 a sign of failure?
Comment published in the Capital
Complaint filed with Maryland’s Public Information Act Ombudsman regarding SBAC’s/AACPS’s use of private email accounts
Published in eLighthouse.info
Anne Arundel’s Culture of Orwellian Amnesia
Comment published in the Capital
SBAC transparency PR in high gear
Comment published in the Capital
Our opinion leaders’ fantasies about the new Anne Arundel School Board Appointment Commission
Comments published in the Capital
On The Nature of Del. Pam Beidle’s Leadership on the School Board Selection Bill
Comment Published in the Capital
A Glimpse at the Politics Behind the SBAC’s appointment of Colin Reinhard to the BOE
Comment Published in the Capital
J.H. Snider’s Follow-up Testimony Proposing Procedures for the New School Board Appointment Commission
Testimony before the School Board Appointment Commission of Anne Arundel County
Capital Wrong: Board of Education entering a mixed appointment-election era, not a pure election era
Comment published in the Capital
The type of reporting one gets when an education reporter resigns and someone from another beat temporarily replaces her
Comment published in the Capital
Make Believe about the Anne Arundel School Board Application Commission
Comment published in the Capital
The he-said, she-said spat between Delegate Herb McMillan and Capital Columnist Mike Collins
Comment published in the Capital
Seek equal pay for equal work? Don’t become a K-12 teacher
Published in Hechinger Report
J.H. Snider’s Public Testimony Proposing Procedures for the New School Board Appointment Commission
Testimony before the School Board Appointment Commission of Anne Arundel County
The new School Board Appointment Commission should not repeat the anti-democratic practices of its predecessor
Comment published in the Capital
The Capital’s Advocacy to Preserve its Government Public Notice Subsidies
Comments published in the Capital
A major story that wasn’t reported in the Capital’s coverage of the new teachers’ contract
Comment published in the Capital
Capital should note the financial as well as organizational interests backing county council candidates
Comments published in Capital
On the School Board Selection Process: Sometimes a partisan prism can be misleading
Comment published in the Capital
To address AACPS misinformation, post the data in question online
Comment published in the Capital
Our General Assembly representatives’ scary ignorance about the new school board selection system they passed
Published in eLighthouse.info
The public deliberation canard on the elected school board cum appointment commission legislation
Comment published in the Capital
On Del. Pam Beidle’s Credit Claiming Op-ed: Those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it
Excerpt published in the Capital
America’s $1 million per year K12 public school teachers
Published in the Washington Examiner
The Capital’s Red Herring Editorial on the SMOB Election Process
Published in the Capital
The evolving politics behind the administrator controlled SMOB nominating panel
Comment published in the Capital
AACPS’s dubious claims on behalf of the SMOB nominating panel
Comment published in the Capital
The open meetings act double standard for the SMOB election
Comment published in the Capital
Steve Schuh and Julie Hummer: Cases of Bizarre Credit Taking
Comments published in the Capital
Drawing an analogy between United Airlines and AACPS customer service
Comment published in the Capital
Ignoring the problem of the primary lends the current BOE selection debate an infantile quality
Comment published in the Capital
Dealing with the BOE vacancy between now and the Nov. 2018 election for new BOE members
Comment published in the Capital
Anne Arundel Delegation Passes Carelessly Drafted School Board Election Bill
Comment published in the Capital
Press release, paraphrased in Capital, ignores the corrupt nominating process for SMOB
Comment published in the Capital
On our elected officials’ spurious tiredness trope concerning an elected school board
Comment published in the Capital
AACPS Superintendent employs Red Herring argument to protect his safe vote on the Board of Education
Comment published in the Capital
Critique of Del. Simonaire’s consociationalist argument for diversity on the School Board
Comment published in the Capital
Anne Arundel County Delegation Votes 8-7 to prevent SMOB Election Transparency
Short report published in eLighthouse.info
Critiques of the Capital’s Coverage of the General Assembly’s School Board Election Bills
Comments published in the Capital
Del. Morhaim’s Conflict of Interest in Preventing the General Assembly Email Retention Bill from Coming up for a Vote
Comments published in the Washington Post and Baltimore Sun
J.H. Snider’s Testimony before the Maryland General Assembly on a bill creating a governemnt email retention policy for Maryland
Testimony before the General Assembly’s Health and Government Operations Committee
Comment on Excuses used by Newspapers and Elected Officials to Avoid Doing Their Jobs
Comment published in the Capital
J.H. Snider’s testimony before the Maryland General Assembly on three bills related to AACPS governance reform
Testimony before the General Assembly’s House Ways & Means Committee
Maryland should be truthful in reporting teacher pay
Op-ed published in the Washington Post.
On politicians disparaging use of the word “political” regarding school politics
Comment published in the Capital
No politician is against open government except when it matters
Comment published in the Washington Post
Correcting an endlessly repeated fallacy regarding equity in school board election design
Comment published in the Capital
J.H. Snider’s MSDE Presentation on the Transparency of Teacher Salary Data
Testimony Before the Maryland State Department of Education’s Board of Education
The Quest for Controversial Salary Statistics from the Anne Arundel Public Schools
This post is divided into two sections: Correspondence prior to the MSDE meeting on January 24, 2017 Correspondence after the MSDE meeting on January 24, 2017 Correspondence prior to the MSDE meeting on January 24, 2017 From: 'J.H. ("Jim") Snider' Sent: Tuesday,...
The Quest for Controversial Salary Statistics from the Maryland State Department of Education
This post is divided into two sections: Correspondence prior to the MSDE meeting on January 24, 2017 Correspondence after the MSDE meeting on January 24, 2017 Correspondence prior to the MSDE meeting on January 24, 2017 From: 'William Reinhard -MSDE' Sent: Wednesday,...
Fixing the school board election process without also fixing the primary isn’t enough
Comment published in the Capital
When interpreting the Capital is like interpreting Pravda during the heyday of the Soviet Union
Comment on Capital Article
Let’s talk about these emails
Published in the Washington Post
Another technique the Board of Education uses to effectively bypass the Open Meetings Act
The Board of Education has taken to using pseudo public meetings to discuss the public's business. In this particular case, the meeting is technically open the public and there is a brief public presentation, but the rest of the meeting is effectively private even...
Good luck getting controversial but legally public compensation, email, and calendar data from AACPS
Public Information Act request to AACPS
Testimony on local government officials’ dismal email practices before a joint committee of Maryland’s General Assembly
Testimony before the Maryland General Assembly’s Joint Committee on Legislative Information Technology and Open Government
Why the Media’s Double Standard On Clinton’s Emails?
Article published in the Huffington Post
Surprising Disagreement: Are the seven referendums on the ballot controversial?
During the past week, the Capital reported the seven questions on this year's ballot as though there was no controversy surrounding them. But the recommendations of the Capital, County Executive Steve Schuh, and County Council Chair Jerry Walker all differ on at least...
In the Press: Education Groups Call for FCC Action on Huge Tech Resource
Cited in a front page Education Week story
Fix Anne Arundel’s decennial charter revision process
Published in the Washington Post
Procedural concerns related to BOE’s Sept. 21 Meeting & Start Times Discussion
Published in the Capital
Recommendations for Improving the School Board Appointment Process
Testimony Before the Anne Arundel Education Subcommittee of Maryland’s General Assembly
J.H. SNIDER’S TESTIMONY BEFORE THE ANNE ARUNDEL COUNTY COUNCIL ON JULY 18, 2016
A few years ago County Executive John Leopold was forced from office in part for using government resources for political purposes. Those of you on the Council at that time endorsed the principle that government resources should not be used for political purposes....
Hogan upholds rigged election system
Gov. Larry Hogan has appointed the 2016-17 school year student member of our school board. The student member, who has the same voting rights as the adult members, was nominated by a countywide student council delegated with that task by the General Assembly. The...
‘Mayoral control’ best for our schools
Op-ed published in the Capital
Comment on Capital article "School board candidate interviews held amid pending lawsuit"
Comment published in the Capital
Comment on the poorly framed debate between an appointed and elected school board
Comment published in the Capital
The SMOB Election and Riva Road’s Culture of Intimidation
Investigative report published in eLighthouse.info
Public Information Act request and other correspondence seeking the SMOB nominating commission member names
Introductory Note: It took approximately one-month for me to get the most politically sensitive information I requested concerning the names of the adults who served on the SMOB nominating commission for the 2016 election. I began by asking CRASC's President for this...
SMOB Nominating Commission Members: FY2012-FY2016
Introductory Note The new election rules for the SMOB nominating commission (called an "interview panel" by CRASC and AACPS leadership) were first implemented in FY2015. No record of the passage of the new election rules is provided on the CRASC website, and in...
Lawsuits Filed by SBNC Commissioners Against the 1) State of Maryland and 2) SBNC
Republican Lawsuit Against the State of Maryland The lawsuit (which, as of the date of this posting, May 20, 2016, the Capital had not made available to the public). The Capital news article announcing the lawsuit. The Capital editorial on the lawsuit. The Capital...
Capital deactivates timely commenting on its article about an SBNC lawsuit
Comment published in the Capital
Comment on the narrow legal principles employed in the SBNC commissioners' lawsuit against the State of Maryland
Snider comment in the Capital
Comment on why so few candidates applied for the District 21 school board seat
Comment published in the Capital
Comment on making Maryland Government more efficient
Comment published in the Capital
Comment critiquing the Capital’s repeated pejorative use of the word "political"
Published in the Capital
Comment on Delegate Beidle's "Facts" Op-ed on the SBNC
Comments published in the Capital
Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan should veto the Anne Arundel student nomination
Op-ed published in the Washington Post
Comment on the Capital’s usage of "community members" rather than "stakeholders"
Comments published in the Capital
Fact-checking the Capital’s article on the SBNC
Comment published in the Capital
Comment on Capital Article on SMOB Election (why aren't the interview panelists' names public?)
Comments published in the Capital
Critique of the Capital's description of the newly passed SBNC legislation
Comment published in the Capital
Comments on Governor Hogan’s Veto of Anne Arundel’s SBNC Legislation
Comments published in the Baltimore Sun, Capital, and Washington Post
Comments on Capital article on the SMOB nomination process
Comments published in the Capital
Comment on Capital article announcing passage of SBNC reform bill
Comment published in the Capital
Comment on Capital article on the Governor's rapid school board pick
Comments published in the Capital
Comment in and on Capital's article "School board panel split over public discussion"
Comments published in the Capital
Comments on the Capital's framing of the Leopold trial, including the misuse of government resources for political purposes
Comments published in the Capital
Comment on “Local leaders seek diversity on school board”
Comment published in the Capital
Comments on the Capital’s abysmal Sunshine Week news and editorial articles
Comments published in the Capital
Comments on Capital's editorial and op-ed critiquing the SBNC
Comments published in the Capital
J.H. Snider’s public testimony proposing SBNC procedural reforms
Public testimony published in eLighthouse.info
Comments on the legality of proposed Maryland General Assembly changes to the SBNC
Comment published in the Capital
Comment on Capital article "School Board Nominating Commission to live-stream its meetings"
Comment published in the Capital
On the agony of requesting politically sensitive public information from AACPS
Public Information Act correspondence from Aug. 7, 2015 to March 11, 2016 seeking FY2015 AACPS employee salary data; published in eLighthouse.info
Citations & Comments: Capital News Article and Editorial on Televising Future SBNC Meetings
Citation and Comments published in the Capital
Comment on Capital Article "Arlotto should examine whether teacher morale is sinking"
Comment published in the Capital
Comment on Capital Editorial Concerning the Future of AACPS School Board Governance
Comment published in the Capital
Comment on Capital Oped on the politics of SBNC diversity
Comment published in the Capital
Comment on Capital article "Delegates delay changes to school board nominating process"
Comment published in the Capital
Comment on factual mistake in Capital Oped on SBNC
Comment published in the Capital
House Ops Chair strong-arms Del. Sid Saab into withdrawing HB492, the Prevent-Hillary-Clinton-Like-Email-Practices bill
Testimony before the Maryland General Assembly’s Government Operations Committee
Comment on Baltimore Sun editorial "Watching the legislature in action"
Comment published in the Baltimore Sun
Bills seek to boost government transparency, accountability
Coverage published in the Maryland Reporter
Comment on Capital article concerning CRASC's request for a seat on the SBNC
Comment published in the Capital
Comment on the Capital's framing of the debate over an elected v. appointed school board
Comment published in the Capital
Comment on the Capital's uninformed assumptions in reporting on school board diversity
Comment published in the Capital
Comment on Capital commentary asserting that AACPS school board should have privileged access to public information
Commentary published in the Capital
A modest proposal for the Capital: Fire your reporters and replace them with photos
Op-ed published in eLighthouse.info
Comments on Capital's endorsement of "descriptive representation" for Anne Arundel school board
Comments published in the Capital
Comment on Capital article on the SBNC's diversity
Comment published in the Capital
Capital Letter-To-The-Editor on the SBNC's deficient second public hearing for candidates
Letter-to-the-editor published in the Capital
Comment on Capital reporter's due diligence claims in reporting on the SBNC
Comment published in the Capital
