Wednesday, May 21, 2014

Should parents be spending their time raising their children or raising cash for principals?

...Cathy Stocker — vice president of the Friends of Westbrook School Foundation and PTA president at Chevy Chase Elementary School — said she helped raise about $247,000 for improvements to the all-purpose room and courtyard at Westbrook Elementary School in Bethesda...
http://www.gazette.net/article/20140512/NEWS/140519976/1144/montgomery-school-community-members-thinking-of-new-system-for&template=gazette

5 comments:

  1. You serious? You've gotten so vindictive and paranoid toward MCPS that now you're chiding parents for raising money for their kids' schools?

    Take a step back and think about it.

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    1. P.S. Learn how a public school system works. If a school NEEDS something the principal should be advocating to MCPS and the Board of Education for the request. If the principal can't handle advocating, he/she has an entire union to do that advocacy for them. There is a whole process in place for getting schools what they need. There is no need for the principal to whine to parents for cash in a FULLY FUNDED budget!

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    2. Take a step back and do some research. We have. Why don't you find out how principals actually used money raised for their schools.
      It's a legitimate question. Should parents be focused on raising their kids or raising cash for the local principal when we have a FULLY FUNDED MCPS budget! Think about it! What do the principals need the cash for when the budget is fully funded?

      Oh, and by the way, one story about how MCPS administrators and Board of Education members use "education" dollars is running this evening on WJLA.

      http://parentscoalitionmc.blogspot.com/2014/05/wjla-tonight-watchdog-school-board-may.html

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  2. The amount raised by the Friends of the Westbrook Foundation for the outdoor classroom and all –purpose room was $339,000. To say it was “about $247,000” is not very accurate.

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  3. At the last BOE Policy Management Committee meeting Board President Phil Kauffman responded to the idea of knowledge transfer by pointing out that some of the school communities may simply not have the resources available to raise the necessary funds. He added that they may not even have a PTA to take charge of fundraising efforts.

    He makes a good point. Most of the $339,000 raised by the Friends of the Westbrook School Foundation for “various improvements”, as vaguely referred to by MCPS, came from generous personal contributions from parents and grandparents, big ticket items auctioned at a gala, donated vacation home rents, tickets to neighborhood parties sponsored by individual families, etc.

    Phil Kauffman also thought that the idea put forward by some at well-funded schools to teach other less affluent communities about fundraising appeared patronizing.
    Danuta Wilson

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