Hopkins 270 Blog

In a prior post I addressed my concerns about the status of the progressive wishlist of programs and policies being implemented by the Hopkins 270 district administration since the change of leadership in 2017-2018. In this post I am addressing why I was open to allowing opportunities to implement some progressive changes in this district under the guise of Vision 2031, and why in retrospect I think it has gotten out of control.

Historical Harms and Tikkun Olam

To start, there is extremely strong evidentiary support for the conclusion that there have been significant historical harms to marginalized communities through implementation of exclusionary and inclusionary educational programs in our public school systems.

It seems to me that the Hopkins 270 district administration has chosen to take an activist role through making radical, fundamental changes in our education system. After the murder of George Floyd in May 2020, I can, as a liberal, understand the draw if just wanting to made radical changes to right the myriad of history wrongs visited on people in marginalized communities. Some argue that to fix these prior harms, the best approach is to “rip off the band-aid.”

Jews have a term for this (in Hebrew): Tikkun olam — often translated as “repairing the world.” As a Liberal Jew, this is a core, operating tenet in my life. And I 100% understand the desire of the modern American Progressive Movement to enact radical change, particularly given the ascendency of the MAGA wing and its Project 2025 that seeks to take our society backwards into the 1850s.

Primum Non Nocere

While it is unquestionable that historical harms have occurred in our society, including in our educational system, there are significant questions — and disputes — about how we should as a society at large address those harms nationally across the U.S., regionally in States and Metropolitan areas, and locally in specific school districts.

The latin term primum non noncore, commonly translated as ‘first, do no harm” is often associated with a physician’s oath, but the principle applies more broadly in life; particularly, in my view, when it comes to making decisions about our children’s education.

As I noted in my address to the School Board on June 11, 2024, I was skeptical of several of the progressive changes being made by the district administration given my life experience. One core area of concern — which I have often with activists across the political spectrum — is a combination of righteousness in their cause and over-confidence in their ability to effectuate massive change in complex systems on the fly.

The principle of primum non noncore — along with other important considerations to be addressed later in this blog — is an essential component of change management. Yet, it seems to be a completely absent from the planning and implementation of the progressive changes made by the district administration.

Emotion Has Overtaken Logic and Planning

My skepticism of the changes being made in Hopkins 270 is based on my life experiences, both personal and professional. I completely understand and appreciate the emotional draw to the implement a form of tikkun olam across the board — to right the wrongs of centuries of injustice and to make the world a more ideal place where all humans are treated with dignity and respect.

I want to see a public education system with true equity: where all students get what they need to achieve the objective of the best possible outcome. But we cannot allow emotions to overtake us when that action results in real, material harm to others.

In later posts I’ll address my views on equity, but for now, let me end with this… We need to develop an education system where resolving centuries of injustice does not create new injustices, such as depriving children of getting what they need on the basis of the color of their skin or other incidents of their birth.