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Monday, February 11, 2013

Who Knew That Our Kennedy Cluster Project Was 'Similar' to the Harlem Children's Zone?


by Joseph Hawkins
Recently, I learned from Montgomery County Councilman George Leventhal that on Tuesday (February 12, 2013) he will host a meeting to discuss “unfinished business” impacting the lives of African Americans in Montgomery County. Here are details for those interested in attending the meeting:
6:00 pmStella B. Werner Council Office Building  6th Floor Conference Room   100 Maryland Avenue Rockville, MD  RSVP Walton Harris  240-777-7945  Walton.Harris@montgomerycountymd.gov.
“Unfinished Business” is the title of a draft report, which I assume was
authored by Leventhal. Click here to read it.
The report is full of interesting facts about African Americans living in Montgomery County. But the report also touches on a few surprises. For example, I did not realize that the county’s first public charter school, the Community Montessori Charter School, is a “trial” school to determine if such schools are able to eliminate academic achievement gaps. I wonder how they plan to achieve a goal that no one else in the county has achieved. Click here to learn more about Montgomery County Public Schools' first charter school.
But the other surprise that caught my attention is this notion that the Kennedy Cluster Project is “similar” to the Harlem Children’s Zone. Really!
If you’re sitting at your computer reading this blog stop and google "Harlem Children’s Zone (HCZ)." 
One link that should come up is this one. If you scroll through to page 23 you will notice that HCZ has a boatload of money—nearly $250 million in total support and revenue as of June 30, 2011.
Now, google the "Kennedy Cluster Project budget."
If you scroll to page 9 you will see $126,720 allocated to the project. 
I’m sure there are other bucks allocated to the project. But I doubt one can find more than $500,000. Regardless, it does not take a budget genius to quickly figure out that someone is seriously out-to-lunch if they believe the Kennedy Cluster and HCZ efforts are “similar.” 

3 comments:

  1. The first MCPS Charter School can't even figure out how to hold a legal lottery! They are decades away from even noticing the achievement gap!

    http://parentscoalitionmc.blogspot.com/2012/10/exclusive-memo-charter-school-lottery.html

    ReplyDelete
  2. Must be his UMD graduate school work?

    ReplyDelete
  3. COmparing anything or any project in MCPS to the Harlem Children's Zone is laughable. The HCZ is so well funded and addresses such a multitude of barriers to academic progress for African Americans that MCPS doesn't come close to addressing. HCZ is a comprehensive program that focuses on all academic and social needs of their students and their families.

    ReplyDelete

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