May 5, 2014
Montgomery County Council Agenda Item #5
This Council Agenda item put forth a proposal from the County Executive for the FY 2015 budget to set up a new program called the Childrens' Trust with $100,000 in County funding.
The goal of these funds would be to help close the achievement gap.
MCPS' contribution to this trust for the FY 2015 budget would be $ 0.
After a long and intense discussion on this Agenda item, here is the final statement from Councilmember George Leventhal and the response from Superintendent Joshua Starr.
Must see TV.
Leventhal is trying to pass the buck. Starr is right: addressing the achievement gap requires efforts from outside the school system. What the school system can do is limited: it cannot eliminate poverty, it cannot educate parents, and it cannot put back together broken homes. The idea that MCPS has ignored the achievement gap under Starr is laughable. It has in fact put too much attention on the achievement gap, where the real attention should be on providing appropriate challenges to every child, using evidence-based educational techniques. Gap closing can be done by raising performance at the bottom or limiting it at the top. Let us not tempt MCPS to take the tragic step of limiting achievement at the top. It is time to stop talking about gaps and start talking about underperformers.
ReplyDeleteThere is more video. Branson, Elrich and Navarro all have statements. This hearing was over an hour long on this one $100,000 line item.
Delete