Slip Slidin' Away

Don't miss the Jay Matthews Class Struggles blog post on Jerry Weast's efforts to get Jay Matthews to find out why Montgomery County Public Schools had slipped out of the America's 100 Best Schools list published by US News and World Report.

Wonder if Jerry Weast will share with the Board of Education the response he gets from US News and World Report?

Kauffman & Berthiaume Dissent in Favor of Students

Student member of the Board of Education Timothy Hwang votes along with Board members Brandman, O'Neill, Docca and Durso in deciding against students' contractual right to participate in scheduling decision at Eastern Middle School.

In a rare dissent, Board of Education members Phil Kauffman and Laura Berthiaume break from the Board majority and detail why they believe a decision of the Superintendent should be reversed. The decision stems from an appeal of a group of Eastern Middle School stakeholders requesting that the Superintendent reverse the decision to eliminate the 8 period day at Eastern.

There are two glaring problems with the majority opinion in this decision. First and foremost, the Board majority does not know whose decision they are reviewing. The Board is given the authority to review decisions of the Superintendent, but in this majority decision the Board states they are reviewing a decision of the Chief Operating Officer, Larry Bowers. Did the Board majority forget the school system is run by a Superintendent who is the final decisionmaker?

Second, the majority opinion spends an inordinate amount of text attempting to refute the dissent of Board member Laura Berthiaume. Was this text inserted after the Board had already written the majority decision from which Berthiaume dissents? A well reasonsed majority opinion should be able to stand on its own analysis. The majority opinion and both dissents are being reproduced for the public to review.

Here are two key paragraphs from Board member Berthiaume's dissent (page 24 of document below). 

The full text of the majority opinion, and Kauffman and Berthiaume dissents are below in Scribd format.

Eastern Middle School Appeal Decision

Board to Hide Off Camera to Revise Academic Priorities & Discuss Budget

If you attend only one Board of Education meeting all year, Tuesday, December 15, 2009 is the one to attend.  The Board meeting has a surprise Agenda that has just been released! 

The Board meeting won't be televised and won't be available via webcast.  The meeting will have only sparse minutes that, based on past practice, won't be released to the public without the filing of a Maryland Public Information Act request, followed by an Opinion from the Maryland Open Meetings Act Compliance Board. 

The only way to know what's going to be discussed

 and decided on Tuesday is to be there!

And what a meeting it will be! Take a look at the Agenda for this Board "retreat". As has been past practice the MCPS Board of Education uses the word "retreat" to go off camera and discuss the public's business out of the purview of the public.  Tuesday will be no different.

For the first half of the day the Board will be schooled in how to do their job!  That's right, they were elected to run the school system, but somehow they keep forgeting that Jerry "blur the lines" Weast doesn't really want them to have any role at all. He would prefer they simply exist as figure heads, wave and smile at the crowd. So the morning's Agenda includes a clear understanding of their role in "staying above the line".

Then the Board and MCPS staff in attendance will have lunch. Lunch and breakfast at retreats is typically paid for by you, the taxpayer.

For the afternoon, the Agenda gets even better. The Board will be discussing the Board's Academic Priorities.  This folks is the meat of the school system. This discussion will guide what stays in the budget and what gets cut for the next year.

In the past, these discussions at Board retreats have paved the way for major changes in how MCPS is run and how the public participates in Board meetings.  See past "draft minutes" obtained exclusively by the Parents' Coalition for clues to past discussions.

The just released Agenda gives the off-site location and time for this very important Board "retreat".  As with all open Board meetings, this meeting is open to the public.  Stop by and watch your Board in action!

Board Retreat 121509

Why Fair and Square Is Best

The Baltimore Sun reported on December 11 that a 15-year old homeschooled student in Howard County was arrested and charged with "making arson threats, telephone misuse, harassment, second-degree assault, making a false statement about a destructive device and disturbing school operations." According to a Howard County Schools spokesperson, the young man was enrolled at Oakland Mills High School earlier this year. A female, as yet to be identified, was also involved in the phone calls that were placed to the Board of Education and the student's former high school using spoofing software.

Members from my homeschooling community in the Baltimore area, normally quick to post links to homeschoolers' success stories, have remained conspicuously silent on this current event, which is not the kind of attention homeschoolers care about. Put that in the same category as Jerry Weast's defeat on the issue of attempting to close Monocacy ES. Or Jerry Weast's anguish at not having one MCPS school make the list of the 100 best high schools in the nation. Or the embarrassment at all the "toilet" stories that have leaked in the press. I could go on, but you get my drift.

So why do I bring up the arrest of a homeschooled student? Because I believe that fair and square is best. For about a year now, I have been asking, and asking, and asking that MCPS provide the kind of supervision that is described in the pertinent COMAR regulations. Not regulations that they invent. Not regulations that Nancy Grasmick creatively derives from the intent she contemplates [see Patricia's comment] and which has the funny effect of contradicting their stated purpose. Just regulations as they are written, plain and simple -- the purpose of which is to ensure that homeschooled students actually receive an education when their parents assume the legal responsibility for teaching them. End of story.

Using the DEBUG system [page 4] that school officials have perfected over years and years of practice, MCPS and MSDE officials respond to my letters. They just ignore the questions and arguments I raise in them, choosing instead to pursue their intimidation campaign.

Homeschoolers who opt for supervision from MSDE-approved umbrella groups do so for a variety of reasons. One frequently mentioned is the desire to have nothing to do with their public school system and thus avoid portfolio reviews with school personnel. Were MCPS and MSDE to treat homeschoolers in a reasonable and respectful manner, in accordance with the law and the core values described here, they would actually know more about the homeschooling community. Homeschoolers would benefit as well because they would stop being perceived as strange figures lurking in an underground culture. Then, when a homeschooled student makes the headline not because he has won the Spelling Bee, but because he is charged with despicable acts, all parties would agree that this incident is a freak occurrence, in no way representative of the homeschooling community. Fair and square is best.

Cut to adolescent treatment facility

Gazette, Letter to Editor:  Can't afford to lose adolescent facility

Eliminating adolescent psychiatric beds at the [John L. Gildner Regional Institute for Children and Adolescents] is a cost to society well over the $800,000 in projected savings during fiscal year 2010. JLG-RICA combines a model Department of Health and Mental Hygiene facility and a first class Montgomery County school. In addition the RICA Association, a 501(c)3, provides the patients with funding to learn independent living skills, scholarships for graduates and reinforcements to help with behavior modification. The children served by JLG-RICA have already failed out of numerous, less-intense programs. JLG-RICA is the last hope for helping these kids become productive members of society. Gov. Martin O'Malley, Treasurer Nancy Kopp and Comptroller Peter Franchot — do not sacrifice our children.

Ann Miller, Damascus

Weast Takes Toilets from Tots

If you have been around Montgomery County Public Schools for decades you would have noticed that the standard MCPS kindergarten classroom has changed under Superintendent Jerry Weast. 

Prior to Weast's arrival in MCPS, the specifications for kindergarten classrooms included a bathroom and water fountain within the room.  Educational specifications from 1993 for a MCPS kindgergarten classroom are shown to the left.

Makes sense doesn't it? A classroom with a bathroom and water fountain keeps the kindergarteners under the watchful eye of the teacher at all times.  Not only was there to be a bathroom in the classroom, but the fixtures were to be child sized with everything accessible to a small child.  

But that was the way things were before Jerry "blur the lines" Weast arrived. 

Now kindergarteners are no longer given learning environments that meet their needs, in fact, it is now fine to place them in a school built for middle school students with adult sized bathrooms down the hall. 

Well, it's fine with Superintendent Weast, but for parents, kindergarteners are still small children just starting out in public school. They still need guidance, and supervision, along with lower water fountains, lower toilets, lower sinks, lower soap dispensers and lower paper towel holders.  And don't forget the bathroom doors "easily accessible from the outside". There was a reason for that educational specification!

Just Up the Pike: Kindergarteners to go to Middle School in back room deal

At a November 11, 2009, Board of Education meeting two Oakland Terrace parents presented public comment about the state of the overcrowding at their school. Superintendent Jerry Weast responded that he would work on an arrangement for them. 

Board of Education President Shirley Brandman introduced a resolution on November 19th with regard to Oakland Terrace Elementary School, but as Board member Laura Berthiaume began to discuss and ask questions about the details of what was being contemplated, she was cut off by Board President Brandman. 

The blog Just Up the Pike reports on what the Oakland Terrace ES community is now learning about what was obviously planned last month.

Friday, December 11, 2009

kindergartners at overcrowded elementary could be sent to middle school

Call it an early promotion: kindergarteners at the notoriously-overcrowded Oakland Terrace Elementary School in Wheaton will soon be bused to empty classrooms at Sligo Middle School due to a lack of space. Both on and off the blog, I've heard from concerned parents who say Montgomery County Public Schools' latest proposal could put their kids at risk...

Blair students and parents may sweat over graduation venue

At Blair High School in Silver Spring, parents and staff are still working to finalize the location for the Class of 2010 graduation ceremony.   In a recent Blair PTSA newsletter, Blair PTSA co-president Pete Lafen questions the equity of allocating the same amount of money to each school for graduation even though class sizes vary greatly amongst schools.

Mr. Lafen writes:

It was pointed out that while MCPS pays for very little on a per-school basis, graduation is funded that way on the assumption that DAR works for all schools. Blair parents disagree. But by allocating $5,000 to each school for graduation, Poolesville gets $27 per graduating senior, and we get a little over $8.

At this point, it appears that Blair might use Cole Field House at the University of Maryland College Park campus for their graduation.  Cole Field House has no air-conditioning and in the heat and humidity of early June will almost certainly not be as comfortable as DAR Constitution Hall, where most MCPS high schools hold their commencement ceremonies.  Blair will need to raise $15,000 to fill the gap between what MCPS allocates for graduation and the cost of renting Cole Field House.

Graduation ceremonies last year for several of the largest MCPS schools, including Blair, were held at Comcast Center, but with no school willing to share the rental cost this year, Comcast Center is not within budget for this year's graduation.

MCPS spokesman says US News & World Report ranking method unreliable after schools drop from top 100

Two years ago
November 30, 2007 MCPS Press Release:

Three Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) high schools have been awarded gold medal status—placing them among the top 50 high schools in the nation—in a new U.S. News & World Report ranking of America’s best high schools.

Thomas S. Wootton High School was named 34th in the nation, Walt Whitman High School was ranked 40th , and Winston Churchill High School was ranked 42nd. They were the only three schools in Maryland to receive gold medal rankings.

“We are very proud of the students and staff at these three outstanding high schools,” said Superintendent Jerry D. Weast. “They are providing a learning environment that encourages all students to be successful and are examples of the high standards that are held by all of our high schools."

One year ago
December 5, 2008 MCPS News Release:

Three Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) high schools have been awarded gold medal status—placing them among the top 100 high schools in the nation—in a new U.S. News & World Report ranking of America’s best high schools. Walt Whitman High School was ranked 44th in the nation, Thomas S. Wootton High School was ranked 54th, and Winston Churchill High School was ranked 57th. They were the only three schools in Maryland to receive gold medal rankings.

[...]

"We have high expectations for our students and our schools, and are so proud of the way their success comes repeatedly when measured against national standards,” said Superintendent Jerry D. Weast. “Great principals, great teachers and staff, and high standards combine to help us align our efforts with one primary outcome in mind—getting our kids ready for college."

Today
No MCPS press release, but the Examiner reports:

... Montgomery County schools vanished from the pack, according to rankings published Thursday by U.S. News & World Report.

Rockville's Wootton High School, Bethesda's Walt Whitman and Potomac's Winston Churchill fell out of the top 100 schools in the nation, after ranking as high as 34th in 2007-08. Fairfax's Langley High School in McLean ranked 47th, making it the only other Virginia school to place in the top tier. No Maryland schools made the top 100.

[...]

Montgomery officials expressed some surprise about the results, said spokesman Dana Tofig. He expressed wariness over U.S. News' method that relies upon state test scores, "which have proven to be pretty unreliable measures," he said.

Fairfax, doing more with less? Comparing MCPS to regional school systems.

The Washington Area Boards of Education has released their annual guide comparing the public school systems in the Washington, D.C. region. 

In this guide you can find out that:

• In FY09 MCPS had 139,276 students and Fairfax County Public Schools had 169,538 students (Page 14).
• In MCPS there are 23,421 students listed for Special Education Membership compared to 43,680 for Fairfax County Public Schools (Page 20).
• In MCPS the Cost per Pupil for FY 09 was $15,252 and for Fairfax it was $13,340 (Page 30).
• Montgomery County is the only county of the 9 shown where Cost per Pupil rose from FY09 to FY10 (Page 31).
• For FY10 Fairfax has 19 positions on its Leadership team, MCPS has 21(Pages 33-34).
• For FY 10 Fairfax has 160 positions for Management, MCPS has 289.7 (Pages 33-34).
• For FY 10 Fairfax has 135.5 Educational Specialists, MCPS has 196 (Pages 33-34).

Just comparing MCPS to Fairfax it appears that with more students, a higher percentage of ESOL students, and a larger Special Education population, Fairfax County Public Schools has less administration, higher SATs and smaller class sizes.

Take a look at the report for yourself, there is a lot more data to compare. 

Washington Area Boards of Education - FY 2010 WABE Guide

US News: Virginia High School Is Best in the Nation

U.S. News ranks America's Best High Schools for third consecutive year


By Kenneth Terrell
Posted December 9, 2009

Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology in Alexandria, Va., the top school in U.S. News & World Report's America's Best High Schools rankings, is designed to challenge students. A course load of offerings that include DNA science, neurology, and quantum physics would seem to be more than enough to meet that goal. But students and the faculty felt those classes weren't enough, so they decided to tackle another big question: What are the social responsibilities of educated people? Over the course of the school year, students are exploring social responsibility through projects of their own design, ranging from getting school supplies for students with cerebral palsy in Shanghai to persuading their classmates to use handkerchiefs to reduce paper waste. The One Question project demonstrates the way "TJ," as it's referred to by students and teachers, encourages the wide-ranging interests of its students...

MCPS staff lobbying in Carroll County?

A blog post from Carroll County, Maryland details the lobbying of two MCPS employees to Carroll County students as those students seek voting rights for their Student Board of Education member. 

Note that Ms. Crawford has been described by the Carroll County news as a MCPS employee who "supervises" the MCPS Student Member of the Board.  Is it appropriate for a MCPS Board of Education member to be supervised by a MCPS employee? 

...Fourth, Karen Crawford, Montgomery County Department of Education's Coordinator of Student Affairs, was present at the SGA meeting and gave a lecture to the student body. She talked enthusiastically to the students about what Montgomery County is doing with their SGA; they have the vote and they also have student representation on every committee in the Dept of Ed, according to Ms Crawford. She gave the students advice on how to proceed on pushing the voting issue: letter writing (they did), show up en mass to the Board of Ed (they did), lobby their parents (they are). She was lobbying them. Ms Crawford also attended this week's Board of Ed meeting and advocated for their vote, as did another advisor from Montgomery County. Why are adults from outside of this county, with less than conservative outlooks, coaching our students and then expecting them to be viewed as having "informed student opinion"? This is influence, plain and simple, and an adult agenda...

Dr. Weast's FY 2011 Budget Proposal Ends MCPS's Reign as a World Class School System

December may bring thoughts of holidays and snow, but here in Montgomery County Maryland, it's time again for the annual budget attack on the "special programs" in the public schools.

In the Superintendent's newly released FY 2011 Operating Budget Proposal, Dr. Weast once again sends his spear to the heart of the special programs. Dr. Weast's FY 2011 Operating Budget puts the Blair Blazers back on the cutting block, cuts the ignition for RM's Rockets, and clips the wings off the Poolesville Falcons.

Yes, the school system's special programs are in jeopardy again.

Included in Dr. Weast's recommended cuts are the following:

• 20 percent cut in teacing positions for in the immersion, IB, signature and other special program teachers
• Elimination of transportation outside "normal" attendance zones for all special programs, including magnet, immersion, IB, high school consortia
• Elimination of additional staffing to middle school consortia special course offerings at Loiderman, Argyle, and Parkland 
• Elimination of extracurricular activities including athletics through a reduction in staff stipends.
  

What's left?  Not much, and certainly not a "world class" school system.  

Read about the budget on the school system's website and plan to participate. 

Budget Calendar

Dec. 23, 2009	Sign-up begins for BOE Operating Budget hearings
Jan. 13, 2010 7 p.m.	BOE Operating Budget hearing
Jan. 20, 2010 7 p.m.	BOE Operating Budget hearing
Jan. 27 & 28 2010 6 p.m.	BOE Operating Budget work sessions
Feb. 9, 2010	BOE Operating Budget action/adoption
March 1, 2010	Presentation to the Montgomery County Executive and County Council
April 2010	County Council budget hearings (exact dates to be determined)
May 20, 2010	County Council approves Operating Budget
June 8, 2010	Final BOE action on the FY 2011 Operating Budget

Get ready for liftoff.  

 

 

Weast Budget Drama: Year 10 - No Change

Here is today's Washington Post headline: Budget Scenario Bleak for Montgomery Schools, Weast List of Potential Cuts, Class sizes, teachers among targets.

As could have been predicted, Superintendent Jerry Weast once again threatens to cut classroom teachers from the MCPS Operating Budget without addressing any of the serious spending issues that have taken place under his leadership.

For example, did Superintendent Weast suggest cutting up the 1,400 MCPS credit cards that are now floating around MCPS? The Parents' Coalition has already documented that these cards are used for non-classroom and non-supply uses. Yes, everyone likes to eat out, but that doesn't mean the Montgomery County taxpayers need to be paying for MCPS staff to eat out as part of the school systems budget.

The Parents' Coalition has only sampled a very small number of these credit cards and documented their use. What we have learned is that in a number of cases the use of these cards wasn't even documented until we ASKED for the documentation. Clearly, the oversight of these cards is very lax. Total cost to taxpayers? Unknown.

For today's second example, let's take a look at the $107,000 (as of 2006)  MCPS staff position whose job is to "supervise" the Student Member of the Board of Education among other student government related tasks. That position is not a classroom position, not an instructional position, not maintenance, and not transportation related.

The red line on the MCPS organization chart to the left shows how the Student Member of the Board of Education is "supervised" by a MCPS staffer.


Exactly, WHY do student leaders need a "supervisor" and why is a Board of Education member reporting to a MCPS staff person? Conflict of interest? 

Yet, this position remains in the "bare bones" (to quote Board President Pat O'Neill in today's Post article) MCPS budget. And oh, yes, the position comes with a MCPS credit card.

Stay tuned for more Parents' Coalition cost savings solutions for the MCPS budget that spare classrooms.

MCPS Teacher: "The disparity between the two facilities is shocking"

In a letter published in today's Gazette, MCPS teacher Robin Hudspeth writes about the disparity between Wheaton High School and Bethesda - Chevy Chase High School.

From her published letter:

... I am an art teacher at Wheaton High School. I also happen to teach at Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School. The disparity between the two facilities is shocking. It's hard to believe that both schools are funded by the same taxpayers. Am I wrong? Don't all Montgomery County high schools share resources equally? Don't the Wheaton students deserve a learning environment as safe, modern, and aesthetically pleasing as the B-CC students enjoy? Both schools have talented, hard-working, and emotionally invested teachers, counselors, support staff, and administrators. However, I see firsthand how school pride positively impacts my B-CC students' motivation to learn and achieve. I see the shame in my Wheaton students' eyes as they describe theirs as a "poor" school.

Will This Board Retreat Comply with Law?

The MCPS Board of Education Calendar shows that a Board Retreat has been scheduled for December 15th at 9:00 AM.  No information is given as to the agenda or location for this retreat. 

On October 27, 2009, the Open Meetings Compliance Board cited the MCPS Board of Education for violating the Open Meetings Act with regard to Board retreats held over a 3 year period under Board Presidents Nancy Navarro and Shirley Brandman.  The decision is below.  This is the second time this year that the Board has been cited for an Open Meetings Act violation.

Will the December 15th retreat comply with the Open Meetings Act, or will the Board of Education continue their past practice of not producing minutes of retreats, and taking up public business outside the public view? 

Open Meeting 10272009

O'Neill new Pres, Barclay new VP of Board

At today's MCPS Board of Education Patricia O'Neill was unanimously elected President, and Christopher Barclay was unanimously elected vice-president.

DIY SmartBoard: A Smart Idea!

No Promethean board in your classroom? No money? No problem!

Lisa Olsson, a resourceful AP Biology teacher at the Bay Ridge Prep School in Brooklyn NYC, suggests an inexpensive alternative to the very costly Promethean boards that Jerry Weast has illegally forced upon us. Here's what she has to say (posted with her permission):

"I came across this lecture on the TED site and I thought some of you might be interested.

Johnny Lee has come up with a way to use a Wii-mote (the controller for Nintendo Wii) to make any projector into a smartboard. My school doesn't have the money for SmartBoards so I built this one. It cost me $42.60 to buy all the parts to built the LED marker and about 35 minutes of set-up and it works perfectly!"

Of course, the 16th largest district in the nation could make bulk purchases in a way that is surely not available to one school going at it alone. I bet you we can beat Lisa's price!

Central Office, are you listening?

In the classrooms, kids are waiting!

A beautiful sight, with so many smiles,

Learning in a classroom.... Wonderful!

Gone away are the fat years

Here to stay are the lean years
The budget is tight
Gotta face that plight...
Learning in a classroom... Wonderful!

In the classroom we can build a SmartBoard
Then pretend it's a Promethean!
Some say: But will it work?
Kids say, Sure, man!
And we can do the job...
...Can the school board?"

This is Money online magazine: Promethean founder eyes float bonanza

Promethean is going public, according to an article in thisismoney online magazine in London.

From the article:

The British businessman behind one of the world's biggest makers of classroom whiteboards is set to be elevated into the ranks of the super-rich.

Tony Cann, an entrepreneur in his early 70s, is in line for a windfall of more than £200m [$328 million] when Blackburn-based Promethean is floated on the stock exchange next year.

MCPS has installed thousands of Promethean Boards in secondary schools throughout Montgomery County, as well as in some of the elementary schools.

The Answer Sheet VALERIE STRAUSS

The Answer Sheet VALERIE STRAUSS


Blogging at washingtonpost.com/answersheet
 
Posts from The Answer Sheet this week:

In the category of "It makes you wonder," the student newspaper at Montgomery Blair High School reports that bathrooms on the second and third floors are being locked during lunch. Why? The school has a security guard shortage and couldn't figure out a better way to deal with it...