The Committee Bangs Away At It

Last night was the meeting of the MCPS citizens advisory committee that is evaluating and suggesting revisions to the new sex-ed curriculum. This job is incredibly tough. There are details of the curriculum that have to be correct, for instance, words have to be defined in a correct and natural way -- last night we discussed the meaning of the word "respect." You try to define it. But beyond that, there are nuances that suggest philosophies and beliefs that maybe everybody is not comfortable with -- not just, is this correct, but does this say something that could be interpreted as having some implication you don't intend. Very tough: dragons be there.

Like last night, the CRC representative brought in a different definition for gender identity, and I liked it. I had planned to vote for it, but then the guy from MCPS pointed out that the reference was the DSM-4, and its full title is Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, which would be on the student handout. He said the kids will really make a big deal out of that "mental disorder" bit. So I ended up voting against it, but then she had another definition that was from a more acceptable source and said essentially the same thing, so we voted and accepted that. See what I mean? Dragons.

Then there are the personalities. These aren't just random people from the county. Everybody in that room is used to being right, we all like to run at the front of the pack, we all like to have the last word, even the student members, it seems to me. We know what we think and we are strong enough, each of us, to try to convince the others. The glance-catching and nearly-imperceptible expressions are incredible, everybody is reading everybody else's mind through the whole meeting. People on the same side of an issue, and people on opposite sides, both. It is very exhausting.

There are usually only a few people in the audience -- well, this is the most boring spectator sport I could possibly imagine. But several times I've heard them out there, muttering under their breath, just dying to be part of the discussion. A couple of people have even come up to me at the table and passed me notes. It's not usually anything really important, not like the coach sending in plays, but more often just pointing out where someone got a fact wrong, or there was something that nobody mentioned. Stuff that you can't really do anything about, they just couldn't help themselves.

Last night the school district introduced the tenth grade curriculum, and then we went through suggested changes for eighth grade. The first part went fast. The second part is going very slowly. We take one suggested change at a time. The person who proposed it explains what they meant by it. Somebody has a question, or a comment, or we notice that it ties in to some other part of the course, and we try to figure out how to fit it all together. Sometimes we discuss and debate these angels-on-the-head-of-a-pin things for a long time. And you just know, some bunch of stinky, sweaty, zit-faced teenagers are going to file into a classroom, plop themselves down, and stare out the window while some poor teacher tries to teach them this stuff we've worked so hard over.

For some crazy reason I think this is really fun. We have people who are adamant about some things, people who are open to different ideas, well, maybe we are all both of those things at different times. All in all, it seems to me that we work together pretty well. It's hard when you propose something and the group doesn't vote to accept it, or you have an idea and then somebody points out something obvious about it that you missed, but everybody keeps their chin up. It's not the World Series, but it's hardball.

This is how a community group should work, it seems to me. We knew from Day One that we will not agree on everything. We cheer whenever there is a unanimous vote... well, there weren't any last night, but it has happened. We don't expect that. We do listen to one another's ideas, and often it turns out there's something reasonable in them. Sometimes there's not, and we vote and the proposal doesn't pass and we move on. We can do this. We can work together.