In our previous blog post we noted that Senator Craig Zucker and Delegate Anne Kaiser are sponsoring a Bond Bill that will give $200,000 to the Damascus High School Athletic Boosters for the purchase of a plastic grass football field. Note Zucker and Kaiser are not giving the funds to the Board of Education, they are giving the cash directly to parents. Anyone wonder why that is?
In addition to the $200,000 from the State of Maryland, the Damascus High School Athletic Boosters Club are also receiving, or have received, $500,000 from the Montgomery County Board of Education.
Clearly the MCPS Budget is flush with cash if the Board of Education has an extra $500,000 to spend on plastic grass.
Meanwhile, if your child is in a school with high radon readings, mold issues, HVAC issues, bathroom renovation needs, or your child is in a classroom trailer remember that plastic grass for football fields is the #1 priority of the Board of Education. Your child's school needs will just have to wait.
But isn't this what parents want? Our state delegates and state senators know that the educational priorities in Montgomery County are:
ReplyDelete(1)Athletics, since MCPS has miserably failed in academics and athletics might get some students into college
(2)Montgomery College, since so many MCPS students need remedial reading, writing and math before they can go to a four year college
(3)Six figure salaries for school system administrators who mainly push paper around all day, if they show up to work at all
(4)Technology toys! Every student will succeed if they have a computer and a good view of a Promethean Board
(5)Larger classes so that students are familiar with the lecture format of teaching at some colleges
(6)Buses. Lots of them. Supersized schools ensure that more kids spend more time on the bus as they travel from afar. There's nothing like a long bus ride to get students excited about school each day. When they graduate (if they graduate), they might not be prepared to do anything useful but they will know how to handle a long commute on "busway rapid transit".
Zucker and Kaiser -- two amazing advocates for the needs of MCPS students.
Very incisive and objective analysis.
DeleteQ: What's the difference between a $275,000 superintendent and a $900,000 plastic grass field?
ReplyDeleteA: The plastic grass field doesn't need to take 28 days of paid vacation every year.
And doesn't simultaneously have health insurance paid in full from TWO public school systems.
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