My name is Soma Datta and my husband’s name is Subhasis Datta. We reside in the Wootton High School cluster area and for over twelve years, we have worked on various MCPS boards, advisory committees and served on the PTA Executive Boards of our children’s schools. In addition, we have served as MCCPTA Delegates for a decade, cluster coordinators and on the School Improvement Teams at two MCPS schools. Currently, Mr. Datta serves on an advisory board to the Family and Community Partnerships program and I serve on numerous G/T and magnet school advisory groups and curriculum committees. In addition, we coordinate various PTA programs that benefit our students. We have two children both of whom are currently or have previously attended The Center for the Highly Gifted and MCPS Magnet Programs. We have been recognized for our contributions at various MCPS ceremonies and have been appointed to county-wide advisory boards by the County Executive.
In the event that the Superintendent’s proposed operating budget is not fully approved, among the targeted cuts is the elimination of the transportation budget for magnet programs which are referred to as
“Transportation for optional regular education programs outside normal school attendance zones,including magnet, IB, immersion, high school consortia and other special programs” [page 18-section H].
As you are aware, the magnet and IB programs are located outside the “normal school attendance zones”. Those attended by our children are at the farthest distance across the county possible and require over an hour’s journey each way on the congested Beltway. Students are selected to enroll in these magnet programs based upon demonstrating exceptional grasp of specialized subject areas in a county-wide entrance examination for which parents pay a fee ($50.00).
Approximately, only one tenth of those taking the test demonstrate that they need this highly specialized instruction that is well beyond their chronological grade level and much more rigorous and deeper than the regular ‘one-size fits all’ MCPS curriculum at the local schools. Magnet students from any of a large number of local school clusters are mandated by MCPS to attend the magnet programs from across the county.
The estimated cost savings from eliminating this very necessary transportation is only $4.9 million out of a total of $2,226,134,843. Although this budget savings is relatively miniscule in the overall picture, it would deal an immediate death-blow to the student talent, composition and attendance of these highly able and gifted students at these programs. Similar cuts are proposed to magnet teaching staff and support staff that would ultimately lead to the elimination of the magnet programs altogether.
We dispute that these magnet and signature programs are “optional”. In recent testimony at the BOE budget hearings, we were reminded that Montgomery County Public Schools has promised in its policy IOA to educate every child in the way that meets their educational needs. The needs of exceptionally and highly “gifted and talented” students needing different kinds of accommodations (classes with other high ability peers, appropriately rigorous and challenging curriculum that allows them to actualize their exceptionally advanced abilities and interests on their level to keep them engaged and motivated, teachers trained to nurture highly gifted and able minds with challenging curricula) must be an MCPS high priority, not an option!
The Montgomery Blair Math, Science and Computer Science HS Magnet and the Richard Montgomery HS International Baccalaureate Diploma Program are the jewels in the Crown of MCPS. They are world-class magnet programs that attract the highest caliber of student and secure the place of MCPS among the nation’s most attractive school districts. One indicator among many are the high numbers of National Merit scholarship semifinalists that raise MCPS to a comparable standing with the best schools in Virginia and other high performing school districts. Other indicators of success are the finalists in the Intel Science and Tech.Competition, AP exam pass rates etc. etc.
Speaking personally, our children were bored and overlooked at their local schools. They underwent a noticeable transformation and flourished at The Center For the Highly Gifted, Eastern and Takoma Park Middle Schools. Not only did the advanced teaching and subjects allow them to demonstrate and hone their exceptional academic abilities and creativity but they gained leadership skills, critical thinking skills and high self-esteem that comes with the nurturing environment of peers and teachers that are all working toward the same goals. For our children and us, the sacrifice of waking two and a half hours earlier in the dark to board a bus at 6:20 AM in order to attend a magnet program and returning up to three hours later than the neighborhood children in order to take part in specialized after school programs has been demonstrably worth it.
The specialized magnet programs are the reason we chose to reside in Montgomery County and pay those onerous taxes! Elimination of the buses that allow access to these few and threatened programs would leave us with little motivation to remain in a school district whose only political mission is to close the achievement gap but not provide for the needs of the highly talented and gifted student.
When many comparative studies show consistently that the United States stacks up very poorly compared to other developed and developing countries on Science, Mathematics, Technology talent, History, Geography, Language ability and understanding of global context; the last thing MCPS should be sacrificing are the meager provisions it makes to transport these highly gifted and able students to very limited programs available to meet their educational and developmental needs. These proposed transportation cuts would be tantamount to cutting off MCPS’ nose to spite it’s face!
Instead, we propose that the BOE consider cuts to the bureaucracy and MCPS central office budget lines that have no direct benefit to student instruction or gains.
Specifically, MCPS should consider cutting the following:
1. Letters and communications to individuals and families by snail mail when families can opt in to the email system. Recently we have received three mailings notifying us of publications that are available on the MCPS website. This is a huge waste of money and trees.
2. More restrictive leave policy for teachers and MCPS employees that require substitutes routinely. As a substitute teacher with MCPS myself, many times I am asked to sit around and do nothing but babysit students because it is hard to pick up where a seasoned teacher has left off.
3. Superintendent’s travel and conference costs that do not benefit MCPS directly such as the recent trip to Ireland and previous trips to Singapore to ‘learn’ about a math system that was never implemented in MCPS schools.
4. Duplication of costs such as printed materials from Office of Communications and Family Outreach for Department of Management, Budget and Planning.
5. Miscellaneous large-scale purchases of dubious value such as unnecessary Promethean Boards in every classroom.
Many thanks for your careful consideration of our concerns. We thank you for the dedication you bring to our school system and the many hours of work that you devote to our students’ welfare. Godspeed in making the right decisions for our students in this budget process.
Yours sincerely,
Subhasis and Soma Datta
Concerning Mrs. Datta's #2 recommendation to the BOE for ways to save money instead of cutting the "mandatory" educational opportunities afforded by the Monrgomery Blair Magnet and the IB Diploma Program offered at Richard Montgomery (no mention of the other 7 MCPS schools that offer the IB Diploma Program, I have to ask the following questions: What does it say about the complexity of teaching if Mrs. Datta, obviously a highly education person, cannot pick up where the teacher left off and provide the same quality and level of instruction? If this is indeed the case, then in her opinion, teachers should only be given permission to take leave under what conditions? She offers no suggestions. To take this even further, why not require that teachers be forbid to marry, have children and own a home? That way they can spend all of their time working and living at the schools so that children will never have to experience any lost instructional time.
ReplyDeleteWhile I agree that cutting transportation for the magnet programs is a bad idea, and I truly doubt it will happen as it is political suicide in Montgmoery County (also cutting transportation for the high school consortia was never supposed to be a possible cut according to MCPS), suggesting that teachers should have a more restrictive leave policy in order to save money is ridiculous.
@ Mister G.
ReplyDeleteUnclear what your comment is saying, but it sounds as if you imagine a substitute teacher being able to walk into a class with no notice (assigned in AM) and no prep and just start teaching any subject? Maybe you are not familiar with how substitutes are assigned in MCPS?
You also seem to ignore that teachers, for the most part, do not work year round. They do have breaks when they are not in the classroom and can schedule other activities. The question becomes, how much time shoud a teacher be out of the classroom, for whatever reason - personal or professional, and students should have a substitute?
I have to agree that restricting a teacher's leave is a bit excessive. I don't think any of us want an employer that restricts our leave that we have earned from years of work. I think the key here is to ensure that a teacher has provided appropriate plans for the substitute to continue teaching in their absence and that substitutes are not just babysitters. I know from my family members who teach in the county that calling the sub system can be a crap shoot - there are good and bad subs - however there are a cadre of reliable and great subs that are available in your building that are the first choice of the teachers.
ReplyDeleteOne thing that everyone seems to forget is that teachers do not get paid over the summer. It is a 10 month job, so any required or mandatory training or professional development needs to take place during the school year when the teacher is being paid. Janis, you are correct, summer time is the teacher's time, the county cannot require anything of the teacher during the summer months as many teachers have second jobs during that time.
Teachers like all of us have emergencies, have long term illnesses, have family illness/situations/deaths, etc. that require them to be out. To restrict their leave is a punitive manuever that will only restrict us from attracting highly qualified people to the profession. As all of us are looking for employers that allow us more flexibility so we can work from home when our children are sick, take off a few hours early when they have a game or go in late when we have to take them to the orthodontist, to think it is okay to restrict someone else's leave is appalling.
Two questions - Should a teacher be able to take a week's vacation when school is in session?
ReplyDeleteCan students take a week's vacation when school is in session?
Yeah, students can, and do, take week long vacations when school is in session.
ReplyDelete@Jey718: Here in Montgomery County students do not have leave. They are required to be in the classroom every day unless they have an excused absence. A week vacation is not an excused absense unless the principal makes an exception. If a student is absent from the classroom without an approved, documented excuse then the student suffers "loss of credit" and can lose enough to fail the class.
ReplyDeleteWith regard to substitute teachers, how much training do they get before they walk into a classroom? 2 days?
If a sub is not deemed up to par, they can simply be removed from the sub list.
http://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/departments/policy/pdf/gefra.pdf
Hard to imagine that subs are to be expected to provide the same level of teaching as a highly qualified MCPS teacher.
The focus of Ms. Datta's letter to the Superintendent was to advocate for magnet programs. Her point was that they should not be on the list of things to be cut as "optional".
What suggestions do teachers have for retaining these programs if the MCPS budget increase is not received? Where would teachers make "cuts"? Or do teachers even think these programs are worth retaining?
It should be noted that the teachers union, MCEA is part of the secret budget meetings that compile the budget that is submitted to the Board of Education by Superintendent Weast. What suggestions has MCEA made for trimming the MCPS budget increase in light of the fiscal reality of this year?
What are the current leave benefits? How many days of sick leave are accrued each year? Is there such a thing as "personal" leave? Is this different from "annual" leave? Do teachers have to use "leave" to attend inservice trainings? If a teacher took all their "leave" plus all the required professional development, how many days would that teacher be out of the classroom over the course of a year?
ReplyDelete@ Janis: Students frequently miss chunks of school from a day to a week or more for family vacations. While Principals can and sometimes do allow these absences to be excused, parents/guardians are known to LIE and write notes for their children claiming they were sick. How do I know this? I'm a teacher and hear students talk about this quite often.
ReplyDelete@ Lyda...MCPS 10 month employees i.e. teachers receive 10 sick days and 3 personal days per year. We do not receive anything called annual leave. When I compare this to my friends in the non-teaching world, our leave appears to be right in line with other professions i.e. 1 sick day per month worked and 3 - 4 personal leave days per year. MCPS teachers actually receive FEWER sick days than our peers in some neighboring jurisdictions. Teachers in Fairfax and Anne Arundel receive 11 sick days per year and teachers in Prince William County receive 12.
Each school used to receive chunks of professional development substitute time (I think high schools used to receive the equivilent of about 1 day per staff member but I don't recall the exact number of days received) but that was all cut in the fall of 2008 and has not been restored. All professional development I have personally been required to take since the fall of 2008 has occurred during my duty day during my IRA period, therefore not requiring a sub. High school teachers teach 5 out of 7 periods each day. One of the periods off is for planning, the other is IRA (Instructional Related Activity) which is controlled by the school for meetings, staff development, etc.
@ Anonymous - Thanks for confirming that students don't get vacation time during school. It is only with the specific permission of the principal that a student can be absent from class for an unexcused reason. By law, students have to attend school.
ReplyDelete@Janis: Thanks for missing the part where I wrote that parents/guardians are known to lie and write notes for their children claiming they were sick when in fact they were on vacation.
ReplyDelete@Anonymous not able to use real name may be a teacher but who knows...
ReplyDeleteAnd you point is what? Oh, you are a MCPS teacher who accuses students of lying? That's just character assasination.
So would you advocate for teachers to lie too when they want days off?
The reality is that students do not get any vacation time when school is in session, teachers do.
Students have to be in class no matter whether there is a highly qualified teacher in the classroom or a sub with zero training.
Ms. Datta's point was that if the budget is tight the use of subs should be limited.
If you don't like that suggestion then what is MCEA's suggestion for how to trim the MCPS budget, if needed?
Instead of attacking parents and students and name calling, what are the concrete suggestions?
Apparently Janis has lost her ability to read. Where in my previous posts did I accuse students of lying. I clearly typed "parents/guardians are known to lie."
ReplyDeleteExpalin how "the reality is that students do not get any vacation time when school is in session, teachers do." I what way do teachers get "vacation time?" Are you referring to teachers taking their three personal days to take care of personal business? Or are you referring to cases where teachers take more time off than their allotted personal leave in which case they dip into sick leave or take leave without pay, but like students must first receive permission from their principal?
I am not an MCEA rep, and yes I am in favor of cutting transportation to magnet and signature programs if need be.
What is your background (as in college degree)? And have you ever worked outside of the home?
ReplyDeleteAnd more importantly, will you post this and answer honestly?
Not that it matters but I have 2 post-graduate degrees and have worked outside the home my entire working life which is over two decades. That is an honest answer.
ReplyDeleteI am curious as to why you wanted me to post this information.
Some parents seem to be of the opinion that everyone should bear the brunt of the budget crunch but them. This is pretty classic thinking...everybody else's salary/benefits/leave/etc is expendable accept mine! The reality of the situation is that everybody is going to feel the budget crisis. Teachers have voluntarily given up pay increases for the past two years because they understand that the money just isn't there. As these cuts don't seem to have been enough, other things are going to have to be cut. I have always found it interesting that parents seem to feel that teachers should absorb budgetary shortfalls in the lean times. If you don't want the programs that your children benefit from to be affected, vote for tax increases to go towards education next time you are in a voting both.
ReplyDeleteTo our readers. It is our sincere hope that the above comment is not from a MCPS teacher, but as the comment is anonymous we have no way of knowing.
ReplyDeleteWe are quite certain that a real MCPS teacher would know that parents have lost their jobs, been laid off, been downsized, lost their homes and seen investments disappear in the recent financial crisis in our county and country.
A MCPS teacher would also know that taxes are paid by all Montgomery County citizens, not just public school parents. A MCPS teacher would know that Montgomery County taxpayers have seen their taxes increase and citizens on fixed incomes, like the elderly, can't afford any more increases.
It is our sincere hope that real MCPS teachers will step forward and engage in a meaningful discussion of the very real budget crisis that faces our county, state and nation.
We are waiting.