Use this quick and easy method to send the below email to State Board of Education President Clarence Crawford and his colleagues demanding the immediate removal of Superintendent Mohammed Choudhury. And if you haven’t already, sign the petition!
State Board of Education President Clarence Crawford, Board Members –
As a Maryland resident and taxpayer, I demand that State Superintendent Mohammed Choudhury be immediately removed and barred from his position.
In the Superintendent’s short tenure, he has proven to be an ineffective leader of our state education system who, rather than partner with local education systems, has taken unprecedented steps to erode the rights of locally elected school boards, teachers, and parents.
House Bill 119, Choudhury’s failed attempt to takeover local education, would have granted absolute authority to his office to dictate every aspect of curriculum, frameworks, standards and instructional materials for all classroom topics including gender identity. HB119 would have allowed Choudhury to withhold millions of dollars from local school systems deemed by his office to be “non-compliant” with state standards, impacting teacher salaries and children’s education.
The Superintendent’s attack on local rights comes as counties grapple with the policies and financial deficits of the state-mandated Education Blueprint. It is critically important that locally elected school boards be given the authority to implement these standards in a way that best fits their communities and budgets. Choudhury’s attempt to enforce strict application of these standards thru financial penalties will further exacerbate the challenges faced by local jurisdictions and directly harm students.
Choudhury’s pattern of tyrannical behavior began from the onset of his tenure. In one of his first moves as Superintendent, he issued an unprecedented, statewide emergency regulation to mandate school masking, taking away the ability for local boards to manage COVID policy when it was clear there was not a “one size fits all” solution to the pandemic.
The Superintendent has also shown he is not willing to take accountability for the performance of Maryland Public Schools. It was recently reported on Fox 45’s Project Baltimore that the MSDE took measures to illegally hide state test scores of failing schools from the public. How is the MSDE to help the schools that most need it when our education officials are concealing the problem?
Teachers, parents, and local school boards across the state have lost confidence in Superintendent Choudhury’s ability to lead the Maryland State Department of Education. His self-obsession with top-down control has proven him to be incapable of his post and a danger to Maryland students and teachers.
It is for these reasons I demand for the immediate removal of State Superintendent Mohammed Choudhury.
Regards,
Maryland Taxpayer for Local Education
