Bd of Ed: Do we have your attention now?

Article online today on the Washington Post website, about MCPS and PGCPS:

Neither Montgomery nor Prince George's county made Adequate Yearly Progress.

Quoting from the article:

"Montgomery officials were calmer, given that they won't face sanctions unless they turn in a similar performance next year. The county fell short because its elementary, middle and high school special education students failed to meet benchmarks; three other categories of middle school students also failed to meet targets.

"Special education continues to be an area we monitor closely," said Brian Edwards, chief of staff for Montgomery Superintendent Jerry D. Weast. "We made progress on the special education front, but not enough to make AYP. We'll continue to focus on that, and devise the strategies we need to devise to get where we need to be." "

**********************

Memo to "Montgomery Officials:"

1. Instead of "monitoring" special education, how about working to improve what has been destroyed over the past several years: the LAD program, the secondary learning centers, the speech/language classes, etc?

2. Parents told you so.

3. Remember last week's article about Montgomery's graduation rate being the lowest it has been in ten years? Enough with the traveling to conferences all over the country touting how you claim you've closed the gap. Gap hasn't closed. Sure, MPCS has more kindergartners reading than it did before...but is that the measure of a successful school system? Even my son with a severe disability could read at kindergarten level in kindergarten. The proof of success is getting these kids to graduation. Stop tearing down the supports that special education students need to get to graduation!