Superintendent Jerry Weast has applied for a Magnet School Assistance Grant to convert Edison High School and Wheaton High School into a "High Tech High" for Montgomery County.
Superintendent Weast wants to pattern this new school after the High Tech High in San Diego, California. You can hear him talk to the County Council about his plan at the County Council and Board of Education "lunch" on September 21, 2010. Click here for exclusive video of the meeting.
When the MCPS High Tech High is open, however, there will be one BIG difference from the High Tech High in San Diego!
San Diego High Tech High students attend for FREE. It is a FREE PUBLIC SCHOOL.
There are NO COURSE FEES, NO SUPPLY FEES, AND NO FEES FOR SAFETY EQUIPMENT for students to attend High Tech High in San Diego like there are at Edison High School in Montgomery County. Click here (go to pages 5-6) to see the list of fees that greet MCPS families when they apply to send their child to Edison High School.
MCPS families may get a High Tech High in Montgomery County, but what is unknown is what it will cost to send your child there. Free public schools, a right under the Maryland Constitution, don't exist in Montgomery County, Maryland.
So MCPS, what's it going to cost parents and guardians to send a child to the new MCPS High Tech High?
Ms. Sartucci,
ReplyDeleteI work at Edison and while the fees you posted here are old and no longer accurate, I AGREE with you and I am sure most of our staff does as well. I don't understand how schools are funded, but I agree that MCPS should provide Edison with the funds needed to provide the necessary supplies to all of our students. They can pay for students to take PSAT tests, SAT tests, AP tests, etc. but not to give a student their Cosmetology kit, chef's uniform, hard hat, etc. ?? That doesn't seem right.
Thank you! You are correct that is the wrong link. The link has now been corrected to go to the list of course fees for 2010-11.
ReplyDeleteAlso note, MCPS POLICY JNA says that SAFETY equipment for all courses shall be provided.
But apparently the Board of Education does not consider a hard hat safety equipment?
http://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/departments/policy/pdf/jna.pdf
It appears that besides not being in compliance with State law, the Board of Education can't even comply with their own policy.
Also -- please note: The High Tech High in San Diego is a CHARTER school -- something Weast OMITTED in his remarks to the Council at the luncheon. It also only has 490 students and most of what happens at that school (small learning communities, project-based, real world instruction), as described on its website, ALREADY happens at Edison!
ReplyDeleteHey, I have a great idea. Why doesn't MCPS pay for everything for everybody! Duh...because then we'll be in the same financial boat as California.
ReplyDelete@Duh,
ReplyDeleteActually the illegal course fees being charged in MCPS schools have nothing to do with the school systems budget or with the county budget. The fees are collected by the local school and go into a slush fund for the local principal.
The fees (sometimes paid in cash/no receipts are given) do not pay for teacher salaries or building renovations.
Dozens of audits of local MCPS schools and financial statements have shown many instances where the fees were used for non-classroom uses.
Loans to staff from student funds? A conference for administrators? Godiva chocolates for staff? Clothing for staff? None of those expenditures are for students in a classroom.
Why teach children that authority figures can extort money from them? What purpose does that serve?
The Maryland Constitution guarantees students - all students - a free public education. All Maryland students have that right, even those students in Montgomery County. It isn't just students in other Maryland counties that have that right, it's all students.
I hate to be a spoilsport, but I think the developers of High Tech High actually used Edison as one of its models.
ReplyDelete