The Washington Post: Montgomery considers multiple factors in math exam failure rates

http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/montgomery-considers-multiple-factors-in-math-exam-failure-rates/2013/05/19/3a8af27a-be4e-11e2-9b09-1638acc3942e_story.html

"Child loves math, but way teacher teaches doesn't apply to him."

WTOP: Montgomery Co. math failure rates spark outrage, plans

http://www.wtop.com/52/3329101/Montgomery-Co-math-failure-rates-spark-outrage-plans

Anne Arundel Residents: Tell Verizon Wireless - We don't want a cell phone tower at Elementary School

Verizon Wireless has proposed to erect a 99 foot tall cell phone tower on Piney Orchard Elementary School property. Many parents whose children attend the elementary school, as well as many residents who live in the surrounding neighborhoods are strongly opposed to installing a cell phone tower in this location...

http://www.change.org/petitions/piney-orchard-residents-tell-verizon-wireless-we-don-t-want-a-cell-phone-tower-at-piney-orchard-elementary-school....

Breaking News! Math Exam Failures have gotten worse over 5 years

  Five Year History District Wide by Parents' Coalition of Montgomery County, Maryland

Breaking News! Math Exam Grade Data by Race and Special Ed and English as Second Language

  Semester 1 Final Exam and Course by Parents' Coalition of Montgomery County, Maryland

Breaking News! School by School Math Final Exam and Course Grade Data

  School by School With Course Grade by Parents' Coalition of Montgomery County, Maryland

More Excuses: Starr Blames the Economy for Math Exam Failures

More from the May 14, 2013, Board of Education meeting discussion of the revelation that significant numbers of high school students fail their county wide math exams.

WJ High School Parent: Start School Later!

Watch the video first, then read the Audit:

Superintendent Joshua Starr may not be familiar with what the State of Maryland Audit said about MCPS transportation routing procedures.  The 2009 State Audit (see page 45) found ways that the MCPS bus service could be improved.  The MCPS response?  "We do not agree."


Maryland State Audit Recommendation 14 (see page 8)
MCPS should enhance existing policies to address all appropriate factors that impact bus routing.  MCPS should also use the automated routing software in conjunction with other relevant information to help improve the efficiency of bus routes. In this regard, MCPS should consider changing its policy by requiring students to ride a specific bus route.

MCPS Response 
MCPS agrees and is committed to addressing all factors that will improve the efficiency of bus routes. The Department of Transportation utilizes an annual process of reviewing all routes. This process requires depot supervisors and routers to analyze all regular education bus routes for safety and efficiency. All factors contributing to safety and route efficiency are considered, including student load, mileage, ride time, and stop locations. Information is obtained from a variety of sources, including the computer assisted routing program, MapNet. As these factors are considered, recommendations for safety and efficiency improvements are formulated.
Following this process at the depot level, the depot and routing staff are required to present review results to a panel consisting of the director, assistant director, and bus operations manager. When recommended route improvements are approved by the department director, a timeline for implementation is established. A study is under way to determine if this process would be effective in reviewing special education bus routes.

We do not agree with the recommendation that students should be required to ride a specific bus route. The Department of Transportation has previously considered assigning students to specific routes and stops, but has rejected this idea. Accurately assigning students to specific stops would require maintaining data on the pick-up and drop-off address. MCPS has experience doing this with special education students, where students are assigned to specific stops. This is
a very labor intensive process. In addition, changes to initial student information are received for 50 percent of the students on an annual basis. In regular education, it is much more efficient to publish stop locations and allow students to use the stop that works best for them. In addition, assigning students to a specific stop is not possible since we do not know about day care arrangements or other places students may be before or after school. One variable that is not
known until school starts is how many eligible bus riders will use some other form of transportation to get to and from school. Many parents drive students to school. Because this number is hard to predict, it sometimes leads to over- or under-loaded buses. Adjustments are made shortly after the school year starts. Allowing families to choose a bus stop accommodates family needs and provides greater customer service.

Teachers at Kemp Mill settle

...By law the Board of Education must approve all payments greater than $25,000, but Patricia Via, chief for the county’s division of litigation which represented Starnes and the school system, said there is no requirement for the money agreed to in the settlement to go before the Board of Education for a vote of approval because the Board carries comprehensive liability insurance to protect itself and employees, as required by state law.
“Under that statute, the BOE is self-insured up to $100,000 per occurrence,” Via said. “The Board participates in the Montgomery County Self-Insurance Program and any settlements or judgments are paid through the Self-Insurance Program within the Board’s self-insurance limits.”
An occurrence, Via said, does not refer to the number of plaintiffs. In this case, she said, there was one occurrence and the maximum amount offered in a settlement would be $100,000...

article continues at this link  The Sentinel

No Jail Time for Former MCPS Employee, Washington Post Reports

Former Montgomery County school employee given probation in sex-offense case
By Dan Morse, Published: May 15, Washington Post

A former Montgomery County school employee was sentenced to five years of supervised probation Wednesday for grabbing the buttocks of two teenage students and exposing his buttocks to a third.

Aaron LaMere, 41, also was ordered to complete at least 18 months of “psychosexual” therapy as part of his sentence.

LaMere worked as a media-services technician at Northwood High School in Silver Spring. He resigned in 2012, a short time before he was arrested in the case, according to court records.

To read the whole Washington Post article, CLICK HERE.

High school keeps AP scores after cellphone video | WashingtonExaminer.com

High school keeps AP scores after cellphone video | WashingtonExaminer.com

Ding Dong! Apple Ballot Handler Out!

The majority of MCPS Board of Education members, with the notable exception of Rebecca Smondrowski, were picked for their seats by a MCEA staff member named Jon Gerson.  For years Mr. Gerson would pick candidates and then bring them to the MCEA Board (Teachers' union) for "approval" prior to any other candidates even filing to run. It was impossible for the MCEA Board to evaluate all the candidates for any BOE seat when they were only offered one "choice".  

The Jon Gerson choice would then be placed on the "Apple Ballot" and citizens from all over the county "thought" they were voting for the teachers' picks.  MCEA would hire staff to stand at the polling places to hand out the "teachers' ballot". Again, citizens believed that all of the people handing out these ballots were MCPS teachers and they wanted to support their local teachers.  

Mr. Gerson was also privy to the discussions at the MCPS Secret Budget table and, for example, knew about the 2008 behind closed doors purchase of $14 million+ in Promethean Boards while teachers lost pay. 

According to this article in Center Maryland, Mr. Gerson will no longer be running the Apple Ballot for the teachers' union. 

Josh Kurtz: Union Powerbroker Taking New Role

A major power in Montgomery County politics is stepping aside this campaign season.
Jon Gerson, the longtime – and controversial – political director of the county teachers’ union is no longer serving in that capacity. While he remains employed by the union, serving on its School Assistance Team, focusing on new teachers, he will no longer be part of the political operation...
...A shrewd political operator, Gerson, 55, knows where all the political bodies are buried in Montgomery County and how to work the levers of power...

...But Gerson became an increasingly divisive figure during his time at the union, with an enemies list topped by, but not limited to, the editorial writers at The Washington Post, which has a long history of hostility to organized labor – and to public employee unions especially.
Despite MCEA’s occasional hardball tactics, a recommendation on the union’s “Apple Ballot,” which Gerson trademarked, remains highly coveted in Montgomery County races – rivaled only by the Post’s endorsement – and the union’s preferred candidates always prevail at an admirable rate (44 of 47 endorsed candidates won their primaries in 2010)....

Starr Blames Weast, Budget, Professional Development, Culture... for What Went Wrong with Math Exam Grades

Superintendent Joshua Starr:
   "...Data in isolation is completely useless..."

Superintendent Joshua Starr has been in charge of MCPS for 2 years.  However, he is only now discussing the ongoing fact that vast numbers of students fail the County wide end of semester exams.
These grades were a problem when he arrived yet, he did nothing about it.  It is only because one principal leaked the exam scores that Starr is now forced to explain these massive failures.

Listen to his excuses from the May 14, 2013, Board of Education meeting in the video clip below.

Listen to Starr complain about the release of the math exam data as "useless".

And, guess what? Pearson/MCPS Curriculum 2.0 will solve everything! And, work groups - more work groups will fix it!

"Educational Malpractice" says former MCPS BOE member on math exams

The first student member of the MCPS Board of Education presented public comment at today's BOE meeting, but now from the position of a parent.

What will be "done for current students" taking these  exams in just a few weeks?
It is "likely the school system's failure."
"Self-inflicted wounds that the school system is giving to its own students."

Gazette: Failure rates for Montgomery students on math finals go back nearly a decade

Montgomery County school board members are concerned about the high percentage of high school students who are failing their math final exams, especially after realizing that this has issue has gone unaddressed for years.
A 2004 report by Montgomery County Public Schools’ Office of Shared Accountability shows that close to half of high school students taking grade-level courses such as algebra, geometry and biology failed their first semester exam that school year.
The data is similar to countywide results from the first final exam this school year that was released publicly a few weeks ago after parents and principals raised concerns.
Of the high school students enrolled in Algebra I this school year, 61 percent failed; of those in geometry, 62 percent failed; of those in Algebra 2, 57 percent failed; of those in precalculus, 48 percent failed, according to the data.
Of high school students enrolled in Algebra 1 in 2004, 57.71 percent failed; of those in geometry, 43 percent failed. The report does not include information from the other courses mentioned below, but it does include biology, showing a high failure rate of 60 percent in that course.
School board Vice President Philip Kauffman (At-large) of Olney pointed out the data when discussing the issue at the school board meeting on Tuesday...

http://www.gazette.net/article/20130514/NEWS/130519581/1022/failure-rates-for-montgomery-students-on-math-finals-go-back-nearly-a&template=gazette

More on Pearson's incompetence; and a Pearson protest rally on May 23

More on Pearson's incompetence; and a Pearson protest rally on May 23

Exclusive: Starr Creates New Budget Process

At Monday's Board of Education Fiscal Management Committee meeting an April 30, 2012, Memorandum was made public that describes the "new" behind closed doors process for setting the MCPS Operating and Capital Budgets.

BOE Committee meeting documents are not made public on the MCPS website.  Thanks to Parents' Coalition member Danuta Wilson for attending this meeting and making this memo public.  

What is interesting about this memo is that the MCPS budget process has been a secret for years!  So, it's impossible for us to say what is "new" about this process.  The secret committee members sign bogus Confidentiality Agreements swearing that they will never reveal what goes on in these budget meetings!  (The oath includes "cross my heart and hope to die...")  Somewhere along the way Montgomery County citizens forgot that a public school budget is created in a public process, not behind closed doors. 

For those new to MCPS land, Maryland law mandates that the BOE will set the public school budget.  But, in Montgomery County our BOE doesn't do that anymore.  They used to, but they stopped around 2006.  Apparently, they found it boring.  We don't know.  The BOE never voted to stop creating the MCPS budget.

Here's the "new" process.  Good luck guessing what's changed.

  2013 New Budget Process by Parents' Coalition of Montgomery County, Maryland

MCPS Website - Out of Order

Monday, May 13, 2013 9:00 AM

Starr: "...teacher education programs...are not providing districts with the workforce they need..."

The following question and answer are from Superintendent Starr's presentation at the American Youth Policy Forum in February of 2013.

How are SDUSD and MCPS using research to provide teachers with increased information and professional development?...Starr related that teacher education programs, while working very hard, are not providing districts with the workforce they need. MCPS spends a lot on professional development for new teachers and the union is very involved in the development of teachers.

Council will Review MCPS Operating and Capital Budgets at 1:30 PM May 13th

  2013 May 13 County Council Review of MCPS Budgets by Parents' Coalition of Montgomery County, Maryland

Happy Mother's Day!

Happy Mother's Day to all our wonderful moms

from the Parents' Coalition of Montgomery County, MD

Some Pa. state schools allow guns amid review

Just in time for those summer college tours, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania has reviewed its policy on guns on college campuses and decided that students should be allowed to pack.  So, fair warning, if you are heading to Pennsylvania, be aware that your child's dorm mates could be packing.

From the article by reporter Michael Rubinkam (AP) (yellow highlights my own):

At least five Pennsylvania state-owned universities are now allowing guns on campus after the state's lawyers concluded that an outright ban on weapons was likely unconstitutional.

Kutztown, Shippensburg, Edinboro, Slippery Rock and Millersville universities have all quietly changed their policies over the past year to reflect the advice of lawyers in the governor's office and the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education. Students in those schools are now allowed to have weapons on campus, though they are still generally banned from school buildings and athletic events.

Read the full story by reporter Michael Rubinkam here.

Einstein Principal Issues Apology Letter

May 8,2013

Dear Parent(s)/Guardians,
I am writing to apologize to you, your child, and family for a letter I authored
about the transfer of the Extensions program to Albert Einstein High School.
While it certainly was not my intention, I now realize that some of the language
in the letter-which was posted on our school website-was inappropriate and
offensive. As a teacher and principal for 42 years, I have been committed to
meeting the needs of all students, including those with special needs. The
language in the letter did not reflect that commitment and for that I am very
sorry.

As principal of Albert Einstein High School, I am extremely pleased to welcome
the Extensions program to our school community. I know this program is a highly
rated and exemplary model of special education services in Montgomery County
Public Schools (MCPS) and throughout the state of Maryland. We will make sure
your child receives the best services and support at Einstein and will welcome
these students as a part of the Titan community. I would like to invite you to
visit our school and meet with me and others on May 16, at 7:30 p.m. Also attending the meeting will be Ms. Gwendolyn Mason, director of the Department of Special Education Services, Mrs. Chrisandra Richardson, associate superintendent of Special Education and Student Services, and Ms. Bronda Mills, our community superintendent. Childcare will be provided.
I know I will need to work hard to earn your trust and it is my goal to do just
that.
I look forward to working with you and other MCPS stakeholders to welcome the
Extensions program to Einstein High School and to serve your child to the
highest level.

Principal
Albert Einstein High School

Montgomery settles with group of teachers who sued Kemp Mill principal

Montgomery County officials have reached an out-of-court settlement with six former employees at Kemp Mill Elementary School who accused their one-time principal of misconduct and retaliation.

The settlement, which came just days before a trial was scheduled to begin Monday, puts an end to a civil lawsuit that, according to court documents, included allegations that the principal escorted unruly children into a closet-size room to calm them down and subjected staff members to unwanted touching, verbal abuse and harassment.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/montgomery-settles-with-group-of-teachers-who-sued-kemp-mill-principal/2013/05/10/75e79a18-b8d5-11e2-92f3-f291801936b8_story.html?hpid=z3