Teachers are already heading back to classrooms across the county to prepare for the first day of school
And parents - don't forget those checkbooks.
On this blog, we've posted many time about how school is supposed to be free in Maryland.
But what happens when public funding doesn't cover everything?
Westbrook ES has the answer. Since 1999, the Friends of Westbrook School Foundation, a 501(c)(3) entity, raises funds for school improvement that are not funded by MCPS or otherwise fall within the PTA guidelines. From the website:
Past projects include a security system upgrade, technology equipment like computer lab, Promethean Boards and ELMO projectors, full suite of playground equipment, and overall grounds and drainage enhancement.These folks seems to have so much fun. Look at what they planned just in the last few months of school last year (names of hosts are deleted):
| Yoga for Parents [-] | 4 | $25.00 | ||
Come join us on Sunday, March 29th from 2:50-4:30 pm at Simon Says Yoga located at 4611 Sangamore Road, Bethesda, MD 20816. This is the first of two events to help you get into the "ZEN ZONE" before Spring Break. Co-sponsors . . . will be leading us in an hour of yoga at nearby Simon Says Yoga, followed by refreshing and healthful tea and light snacks. A big thank you to Simon Says Yoga for donating use of their studio: http://simonsaysyoga.com.
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| Manicures and Mojitos [-] | 3 | $30.00 | ||
Join us on Tuesday, March 31st from 5:30-8:00 pm at AquaNails located in the Shops at Sumner Place at 4701 Sangamore Road, Bethesda, MD 20816. This always-popular event could not come at a better time. Get your nails done while also enjoying some delicious mojitos and snacks with friends before Spring Break.
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| ZENGO Spinning Party [-] | 4 | $40.00 | ||
Join us on Saturday, April 18th at 2:00 PM at ZENGO Cycle located at 4866 Cordell Ave, Bethesda, MD 20814. This energy-fueled and inspirational event is always a blast. We will cycle hard for an hour and then enjoy some healthy snacks. If you have never tried spinning before, what better way to try than in a room filled with supportive friends? There is no shame and no judgment in the spinning studio! It is just like dancing until dawn in some awesome college bar. You will get hot and sweaty and listen to great tunes with your friends. Except you will feel so much better in the morning! Ticket price includes shoe rental. . Big thanks to ZENGO Cycle in Bethesda for donating use of their studio. Check out their class schedule at: http://www.zengocycle.com.
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| Kids Movie Night [-] | SOLD OUT | $20.00 | ||
It will be the kids turn on Friday, April 24th from 6:00-8:00 pm in the Westbrook All-Purpose Room. Kids are invited to hit the "Red Carpet" and enjoy a screening of BIG HERO 6 (popcorn included). Moviegoers will get some hands-on inventing time in our mini "Pop-up" maker space before and after the movie. Sponsored by the Friends of Westbrook Board and
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| PIG PONG [-] | SOLD OUT | $75.00 | ||
Don't miss Pig Pong on Saturday, May 16th at 6:00 pm at . . . We are back…Pig Pong 2.0 but with more hosts and inviting more of you: 75 people at $75 person to celebrate Westbrook’s 75th year. We will once again serve up a delicious 80lb pig smoked on site all day long, in addition to smoked chicken, smoked brisket, grilled veggies, baked beans, homemade coleslaw and watermelon. Drinks menu includes kegs, wine, prosecco, tequila and whiskey and water. Along with live music from Timi Ryalls from Charlottesville and Harry Faulkner from D. C., there will be a Ping-Pong tournament. With 24 competitors last year, ending in an intense championship duel between our two finalists, we can only hope our defending champion will be back to defend his title. We will have a 4th table this year for warm-ups between matches! More prizes, more tables, more pong...what's not to love! .
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| Dads Pub Crawl [-] | 7 | $60.00 | ||
The tradition continues on Friday, May 29th. Detailed coordinates for the Dads Pub Crawl will be emailed to ticket holders ahead of the event. This is the event that started it all! The last weekend in May, we will be taking to the streets! On Friday night, Dads are invited to sample refreshing and delicious beer and snacks at three different stops throughout the neighborhood.
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| Moms Unwined [-] | 25 | $60.00 | ||
It will be time of mom to unwind and "unwhine" at Moms Unwined on Saturday, 5/30. Detailed coordinates will be emailed to ticket holders ahead of the event. These are the events that started it all! The last weekend in May, we will be taking to the streets! On Saturday night, it will be Mom’s turn to “unwine” at three different spots for wine, hors d’oeuvres and desserts.
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| Westbrook's Sweetheart Dance [-] | 18 | $20.00 | ||
The lovely tradition continues on Sunday, June 7th from 4:00-5:30 pm. Girls and their favorite sweethearts, whether they are dads, granddads, uncles or friends, are invited to a lovely Sunday afternoon dance. Delicious punch and desserts will be served. Please remember to purchase a ticket for each attendee.
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Smoked pig, mojitos, and Moms and Dads taking to the streets!
We can't wait to see what FOWS come up with this year!
The organizers of these events were allowed by the Board of Education to continue because they argued that this type of fundraising can be easily done in any school in Montgomery County. So the plan was that they would share the know-how with the less wealthy schools. Has that been done? Has anyone heard of any dads pub crawls in Wheaton?
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure why this is much different than, say, a PTA/PTSA holding a silent auction for these type things... what am I missing?
ReplyDelete"A" silent auction? Did you count how many activities were on this list for just one season?
DeleteWhat you are missing is that some MCPS schools do not even have a PTA!
DeleteWhat is going on here is a widening of the GAP. Remember the GAP that MCPS is supposed to be trying to close? Well, the Westbrook community is going to make sure that the GAP stays in place and widens as much as possible. The same Apple Ballot elected officials that cry and whine about the Gap are very, very happy to support the above activities that allow one school to become a "private public" MCPS school.
Our small moderate income elementary school gets, among other things, gift cards donated from stores like grocery chains (Safeway, Giant), Wal-mart and Target for our silent auctions. A $50 gift card will auction for go for less than face value like $30 to $40. If someone is going to spend money at that store anyway, this is a great way to get a discount - a win for the auction winner since they get a discount and a win for the school since they get them money. Even lower income schools can do this sort of thing since, again, people are going to shop at these stores anyway. It takes work to get the donations though. Also, services can be auctioned; for example, a community member can bid on present wrapping services provided by the community (students/parents), or raking services and the like. So they can be customized to the audience, not every fund raiser has to be hoity toity.
DeleteRoger DeLacy - You are missing the point. It's the bottom line that's important here. Do you understand how much money is being raised by these schools? They aren't interested in small donations. They are interested in major Capital and educational improvements that will distinguish their building, classrooms, and programs from the moderate income schools. Think clothing for staff, dinners, retreats, gift cards, cash loans, educational equipment (computers for all - forget sharing) etc...
DeleteSilent Auctions that I've attended have lots and lots of things to bid on - many more (in number of items to bid on) that is what is listed here.
ReplyDeleteAnd who's fault is it that a schools' parent community doesn't care enough to show up at meetings at one school and shows up in droves at another?? The school system can't hold the hands of absent parents even IF they don't speak the language or they work 18 jobs - it is still the parents' jobs to make and effort to become active participants in their children's school and education if they want to make a difference. Any PTA/parent organization can do this, can't they? Good for Westbrook for going hog wild in support of their school - we should all be happy that such an effort is being made and would you have them put their efforts toward benefiting other schools? Their effort is their own. Who is John Galt?!
Right. So in your fantasy world the schools that do not even have PTAs have the kind of disposable income that the Westbrook parents have. How is it in OZ this week? And where do you have your "Let them eat cake" poster hung?
DeleteChiming in here... Your argument seems to be (and PLEASE tell me it is wrong): "Because some parents can't afford an overpriced pig roast and a $20 Daddy/Daughter dance but don't make the effort to attend a PTA meeting which only costs time, Westbrook should not hold such fund raisers to enhance their children's school. Basically, if one can't/won't have it, no one can have it." Is that, in a nutshell, what you're saying?
ReplyDeleteWho are you asking?
DeleteAnd please define what "it" is that you think is being obtained from these events. The "it" is extremely important to this discussion.
Thanks.
I'm asking you, Janis - Anonymous didn't say anything of the sort. It seriously sounds like you are saying that because one school doesn't have a PTA that another school shouldn't have have an overactive parent community working and spending for their school. It seems as if you are advocating that Westbrook NOT do this (or not be ALLOWED to do it). The "it" is obvious, isn't it...? "It" is an active school community. What exactly do you want Westbrook (or the BoE) to do - do you want them to not provide extras for their school or do you want them to share their booty with other schools?
ReplyDeleteAh, you are assuming you know what the "it" actually is. Big mistake.
DeleteWhat if the "it" includes educational resources that the BOE is NOT providing to ALL schools? You good with that?
What if the "it" includes fancy floors, doors and construction perks that make the school "special" and unique in MCPS? You good with that? Neighborhoods should be allowed to turn their local MCPS building into a showplace? So much so that when students from other schools come to the school for events it is very obvious to them that this school is "special" and that theirs is a dump?
Oh, and by the way, do you see any cell towers on the playgrounds of Bethesda schools? No? No, why is that? Is it because these communities had the money and political connections to stop what parents ALL OVER Montgomery County do not want on playgrounds? But, because they were able to "buy" what they wanted, those schools remain free of cell towers while the Red Zone (low income) neighborhoods are dotted with them.
Please explain why you support the permanent divide that is being created in Montgomery County between rich and poor neighborhoods. Let's go back to the cell tower example. Zero cell towers on Bethesda playgrounds, while Wheaton High School now has a cell tower attached to an outside wall of the building and next to the student outside patio.
Who said anything about my support of keeping the divide? My statements have been about letting parents do what they can to earn money for their schools and letting them keep it - that's it. If there was a deeper issue, it was not presented in the original post. None of the things you indicate (fancy floors, showplace materials) are on the list of what Westbrook says they provided. Now it seems your issue is not with the fund raising activities of these active parents to buy playground equipment and Promethian boards but with the BoE/MCPS for acknowledging that some Animals are more equal than others. TBH, the Westbrook parents are doing what any parent should do - the real problem I see here is the BoE/MCPS allowing the "haves" to get more and the "have-nots" to get shafted...which is an entirely different subject and has nothing to do with a holding a pub crawl to raise money.
DeleteUm how exactly do you think the money gets raised if not through pub crawls? That's how the divide is created, right there.
DeleteTime for you to catch up:
...A $247,000 request for an outdoor classroom, expanded stage and other improvements at Westbrook Elementary School also set off alarms for the Board of Education in December...
http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/montgomery-examines-fairness-of-private-funding-for-school-projects/2013/08/11/50ffee5c-f61b-11e2-aa2e-4088616498b4_story.html
More on what Westbrook (as an example) raises:
Deletehttp://parentscoalitionmc.blogspot.com/2013/09/5-families-are-at-10000-level-lets.html
The amount raised by the Westbrook Foundation for an addition was $100,000 more than the $247,000 quoted here due to a significant increase in construction costs.
DeleteQuite a bit of extra information was provided beyond the original post, which, on its face and without knowing the story behind the headline, didn't seem so bad - a bunch of parents hosting fundraisers...great! But given the additional information you provided: whoa!
DeleteSo what is the answer? What is this august group proposing? Is it right to prohibit them from enhancing their school *with their own money*? Is is right to distribute their contributions among all schools?
That's up to the voters. Right now the teachers' union Apple Ballot rules the County and the Apple Ballot LOVES this type of activity. They love when the rich schools glam up their buildings and staff with perks. It's all good for the Apple Ballot.
DeleteVoters put the Apple Ballot candidates into office over and over again.
All we do is just report the facts. We have been doing this for years and if you read (follow the tags to search for more posts) you will see what else goes on.
And, stay tuned, we have another story of how the rich neighborhoods even get their teachers to be paid more than in other parts of the county. Those documents coming next week.
The same fundraising circus is now being launched by the same PTA at Westland MS in Bethesda. The PTA leadership has made an announcement that after a meeting with the principal a decision was made to purchase chromebooks using PTA funds to ensure equity across all three grades at Westland. Each family is expected to donate money although no formal feedback was ever sought from the parents before embarking on this spending spree.
ReplyDeleteThe argument presented by the PTA is that testing and teaching of the new curriculum is designed to be carried out with the help of chromebooks. If this is indeed the case, how are those other schools going to deliver Curriculum 2.0? Does this have the potential to further widen academic disparity, or the so called achievement gap, between poor and wealthy schools?
The PTA at Westland Middle School is planning to purchase about 300 Chromebooks which I think is a bit excessive. I have a problem with the fact that they expect parents to pay for it.
DeleteI am not aware of similar plans in other middle schools. I can see why the PTA may want to buy one or two carts. But ten carts of Chromebooks?!!! What a nice donation to MCPS!
Who has this much time to put together all of this propaganda? Why don't you go volunteer at your child's school?
ReplyDeleteVolunteer? What kind of perks does that generate?
DeleteSome parents don't have time to go to PTA meetings or volunteer. In the real world many parents both work, and on top of that each of them may hold two jobs. Even in this so called elite county. But that will change soon as the county is overloaded with parents dependent on government or quasi government or associated with government jobs and money is running out faster then anyone cares to address. A pub crawl, whatever that is just won't cut it anymore. A doubling of property taxes over the next five years, which has happened in many neighboring states over the last decade or so is soon to arrive. Hope this is not true but soberly look at the facts. In short, there will be less money for everyone with much more expense. Think about it.
ReplyDeleteIt is true. Property taxes are likely going up ~30%. County Executive Leggett set up his appointed 'Transit Task Force' (TTF), consisting mostly of real estate developers, attorneys, and their supporters, to figure out how to do this, via an 'Independent Transit Authority' -- which would consist of people he appoints. They will have the ability to raise taxes above the County Charter and there will be no oversight from residents or voters. The TTF has been meeting weekly. didn't know about that? not paying attention? Maybe you will when your property taxes go up.
DeleteI don't think it is appropriate for schools
ReplyDeleteTo have fundraising activities that are "booze it up" events.
I would be interested to know if they paid a royalty fee to show Big Hero on 4/24?
ReplyDelete