WASHINGTON — In three weeks, Prince George’s County schools will be back in session, and Kevin Maxwell, the CEO of the school system, said kids will be returning to school at a time when what he calls “the national conversation” has turned ugly.
White nationalists and neo-Nazis taking their places in the public square, he said, and in Charlottesville, Virginia, that ended in violence and death last weekend. “People who want to spew hate feel empowered to do so, and that is troubling,” Maxwell said.
Sixty-one percent of the kids who attend Prince George’s County Public schools are African-American; 30 percent are Latino. That’s underscoring the need, Maxwell said, for teachers to focus on one of the very basics of public education: “Creating an environment that is a good environment for learning means that kids have to feel at ease and comfortable. The national conversation has been disheartening, has been challenging, for children.”
Despite what goes on outside of the classroom, Maxwell says teachers at all levels are equipped and experienced in helping students make sense of current events and emphasizing that everyone should feel safe.
It’s happened before
Maxwell said that during the debate on immigration and the rhetoric during the presidential campaign that happened last school year, many kids, especially children of immigrants and the most recent arrivals, expressed concern, even fear. Maxwell said some children cried when discussing their fears over escalating anti-immigration rhetoric. Maxwell said his administration worked with schools to post messages to communities that all are welcome in Prince George’s County schools, trying to reassure families that schools are a safe place for children.
To those who object to the schools enrolling children without regard to their immigration status, Maxwell said, “The law says that everyone who lives here in Prince George’s County and is of school age is required to be provided an education. There’s no caveat to that.”
Maxwell was recently reappointed to his post for another four years by County Executive Rushern Baker III. This week, after President Donald Trump repeated his assertion that there was violence on both sides in Charlottesville, and that there were some “very fine people” demonstrating alongside white nationalists and neo-Nazis, Baker said President Trump should be impeached.
Maxwell said of Baker’s statement; “Mr. Baker is in my view a great person. He cares very deeply about our children, about our county, about our state and about our country.” He added that he shares Baker’s concern regarding hate speech and symbols, but “as for impeachment and those kind of things, I’ll leave that to the politicians.”
“I find Confederate flags and swastikas and those kinds of things to be symbols of hate,” Maxwell said, adding that they have no place in schools. Asked his reaction if a student were to show up in school with a swastika or Confederate flag on a piece of clothing and declared it was protected by the freedom of expression, Maxwell cited the 1969 Supreme Court case Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District and said, “The Supreme Court has ruled: Clothing or other things that create disruption in school can be banned.”
