Our wishes for a happy Thanksgiving to all our friends and members.
(Photo from The New Yorker)
Thursday, November 28, 2024
Wednesday, November 27, 2024
In lawsuit, HET MCPS, LLC (electric school bus vendor) says Mont. Co. Inspector General "issued misleading and inaccurate findings."
The company that is leasing electric school buses to the Montgomery County Board of Education has filed a lawsuit against one of the other bidders on the MCPS electric school bus procurement.
Contained in this new lawsuit is an extensive list of things the electric school bus vendor, HET MCPS, LLC, says were misleading and inaccurate in the Montgomery County Inspector General's July 25, 2024, Investigation of MCPS' Management of the Electric Bus Contract Memorandum of Investigation. (Pages 10 - 16)
The lawsuit also discusses the funds allegedly owed to the Board of Education from HET MCPS, LLC. (Page 18)
The complaint filed in the United States District Court for the District of Maryland is below.
HET MCPS, LLC and HEF-P Bal... by Parents' Coalition of Montg...
Tuesday, November 26, 2024
Group demands update from Montgomery Co. Schools on literacy initiative
MONTGOMERY COUNTY, Md. (7News) — An advocacy group known as the Black and Brown Coalition for Educational Equity and Excellence is pushing Montgomery County Public Schools to do more to improve reading scores for minority students.
7News checked Evidence of Learning literacy scores from the 2023-2024 school year and found 85% of white students were proficient in literacy in Montgomery County, while only 62% of Black and 54% of Hispanic students were proficient...
Monday, November 25, 2024
7News presses MCPS about electric bus negotiations and $1.5 million owed to system
Now, we're asking the school district how the process of recovering the $1.5 million is going...
7News presses MCPS about electric bus negotiations and $1.5 million owed to system
Thursday, November 21, 2024
Schoolhouse Limbo: How Low Will Educators Go to 'Better' Grades?
Maryland’s new education chief, Carey Wright, an old-school champion of rigorous standards, is pushing back against efforts in other states to boost test scores by essentially lowering their expectations of students.
States, including Oklahoma and Wisconsin, are making it easier for students to demonstrate on annual assessments that they are proficient in math and English after a decade of declining test scores nationwide. By redesigning the assessments and lowering the so-called “cut scores” that separate achievement levels such as basic, proficient, and advanced, several states have recently posted dramatic increases in proficiency, a key indicator of school quality.
Wright warns that lowering the bar on proficiency can create the public impression that schools are improving and students are learning more when, in fact, that’s not the case.
“You can make yourself look better to the public by lowering your cut scores,” Wright, the Maryland state superintendent of schools, told RealClearInvestigations in an interview. “But then you are not really measuring proficiency. My position is no, no, no. Parents and teachers need to know if their children are proficient or not.”..
Wednesday, November 20, 2024
Are Maryland Families Unaware Of Dangerous Criminals In Public Schools?
https://eastongazette.com/2024/10/22/are-maryland-families-unaware-of-dangerous-criminals-in-public-schools/
Maryland man accused of sexually assaulting three young teens
...Portillo would meet the 14-year-old at parks in Damascus and go for walks, according to a charging document. The victim told police he would pick her up from school to hang out frequently...
Maryland man accused of sexually assaulting three young teens – NBC4 Washington
Rockville: Seventeen-Year-Old with Warrant, Arrested with Handgun and Drugs
Gaithersburg, MD- A 17-year-old who had an active warrant for failing to appear at court, was arrested on Friday, November 8, 2024, after he was found in Rockville with a handgun and 250 suspected fentanyl pills.
On Friday, November 8, 2024, at approximately 1:30 p.m., officers from the Montgomery County Department of Police -4th District Special Assignment Team observed the teen, who had a warrant for his arrest, in the 5500 block of Besley Court of Rockville. When officers approached the teen, he took off running and attempted to pull a loaded Glock 17 from his waistband. He was quickly apprehended and taken into custody.
During a search, in addition to the loaded firearm, the 17-year-old was determined to be in possession of 250 blue “M30” suspected fentanyl pills and an undisclosed amount of cash.
He was transported to the Montgomery County Central Processing Unit (CPU) and charged with possession of a firearm and drugs with the intent to distribute. He is currently still being held at CPU...
Tuesday, November 19, 2024
Montgomery parents of color call for more info on students’ reading skills
Montgomery County advocacy groups and afterschool service providers say they have noticed a troubling trend: Students of color were not reading on grade level, but their parents had no idea because a report card indicated the child was passing in the subject...
Speech therapist shortage in Montgomery County schools affects students in need
A Bethesda mom says her kindergartener has gone weeks without receiving the speech services the school is required to provide him
...Online job listings for Montgomery County Public Schools show Ashburton Elementary is one of eight schools looking for an SLP who can start immediately...
https://www.nbcwashington.com/news/local/speech-therapist-shortage-in-montgomery-county-schools-affects-students-in-need/3769633/
Monday, November 18, 2024
Maryland teacher indicted on federal drug charges
"Why aren't we drug testing the people who have these little lives in their hands?" Davis said. "That’s a stunner, and we are taking action on that. That is a concrete action coming out of this town hall."
Davis noted that school district officials, including the chief of schools and the chief of safety and security, as well as Councilmember Kristin Mink, attended a town hall last month where the issue of drug testing school employees was raised.
Montgomery County Public Schools confirmed Magid’s employment but declined to comment further, citing the ongoing investigation...
Maryland teacher indicted on federal drug charges | FOX 5 DC
@mcps 1st Grade Teacher Faces Prison in Connection with Fentanyl Overdose Death
MCM previously reported that Sarah Katherine Magid, 34, of Burtonsville, was indicted in connection with the March 23 death of a Washington, D.C. man from fentanyl toxicity.
According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Magid is charged with distributing fentanyl that resulted in serious bodily injury and death of a victim. Magid appeared in U.S. District Court in Greenbelt Thursday...
...Law enforcement officials received a complaint in July that Magid, who was a MCPS teacher, left her classroom to sell drugs to people not connected with the school. The officials found text messages on Magid’s phone “indicating that she dealt drugs during work hours,” according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office...
‘Our current path is not sustainable’: Montgomery Co. schools superintendent, council look at challenges to school funding
“What is clear in my examination of the budget, and as illustrated in the data that you have before you today, is that our current path is not sustainable,” Taylor said at a county council work session on Tuesday.
Taylor and Board of Education President Karla Silvestre were among the school officials at the work session on the school system’s “cost drivers” — expenses that fuel the budget.
Craig Howard, the county council’s new executive director, explained that over a period of 10 years, FYs 2015-25, the operating budget grew by 3.9% on average each year.
In June, the county council approved a $3.3 billion operating budget for FY 2025.
Noting that nearly 90% of the operating budget is spent on staffing, Taylor said, “The system must engage in a thorough reevaluation of resource allocation.”..
Friday, November 15, 2024
Montgomery County Taxpayers League hosts MCPS Superintendent Taylor, Nov. 19, 7pm on Zoom
The Montgomery County Taxpayers League is hosting MCPS Superintendent Taylor, all are welcome to zoom in. Registration link below.
DATE: Tuesday, Nov 19th
TIME: 7pm
Fordham Institute: Many [@mcps @mocoboe] expenditures are expensive giveaways to the unions, giveaways that are completely unrelated to serving students or improving outcomes.
A reform agenda for Montgomery County: Investing in effective teachers in the system’s high-poverty schools
...It’s true that school districts need to be careful not to steal resources from central support staff that add value to student learning. Curriculum and instruction staff in particular can be essential to making sure teachers have the professional support they need to be effective.Still, it sure seems like there are a lot of highly-paid administrators in MCPS’s central office that may not actually be necessary, many of them former principals. Encouraging some of these folks to retire would be a good start and could save a few million dollars a year.
The real money, though, is in employee benefits—a whopping 23 percent of MCPS’s total budget , an astounding $765 million every year. Now let me be clear: Teachers, administrators, and other staff deserve fair and competitive health insurance, retirement, and other benefits. But what MCPS provides—to existing employees, but especially to retirees—goes far, far beyond that. Many expenditures are expensive giveaways to the unions, giveaways that are completely unrelated to serving students or improving outcomes.
What do I have in mind?
- The district’s supplemental pension program, which costs employees just .5 percent of their salaries but into which MCPS plows almost $80 million per year, for a generous pension on top of what the state provides.
- The district’s retiree healthcare insurance benefit, which costs MCPS over $30 million annually, even though retirees could gain coverage via other jobs, Obamacare, and/or Medicare.
- Its policy of paying 25-35 percent of the value of employees’ unused sick leave when they retire, which costs more than $8 million per year.
(These figures come from the district, given to me after I filed a Freedom of Information Act request. You can see the MCPS documents here and here.)
Add them up and these questionable uses of taxpayer funds sum to around $120 million every year...
Hayfield loses final appeal; Fairfax Co. powerhouse football team banned from postseason for two years
The league said it believes Hayfield violated the league’s Proselytizing Rule, which states, “No member school or group of individuals representing the school shall subject a student from another school to undue influence by encouraging him/her to transfer from one school to another for League activities.”
In addition, the letter stated the “VHSL staff also finds that the Hayfield administration did not adhere to the Guiding Principle of VHSL policy.”..
Thursday, November 14, 2024
Too little recess, too many movies: NYC parents fume as screen time replaces outdoor play
Teachers told her son’s kindergarten class at P.S. 139 they were “too loud,” and they didn’t want to disrupt the testing conditions for the students in grades 3-5, Miranda said. Instead of playing outside, her son watched part of the Disney movie, “Wish.”
“They want kids to be docile and quiet. It’s a lack of creativity and a lack of prioritization of kids’ physical well-being,” Miranda said.
Now, they’ve traded their six-block walk to the Ditmas Park school for a six-stop subway ride to P.S. 456, the Elizabeth Jennings School for Bold Explorers, a progressive school that opened this year in Downtown Brooklyn. The kids there go outside everyday.
A growing number of New York City parents are frustrated by how frequently their kids spend recess indoors, often watching movies. Schools are not required to list or report their recess policies, much to the dismay of many parents, who want more information on how much outdoor time or play their children get during the school day. Many are concerned that it’s an equity issue: Kids who get less outdoor recess tend to be those in poor urban areas, studies have shown...
NYC parents angry over too little recess, too much screen time at schools - Chalkbeat
Wednesday, November 13, 2024
New @mocoboe Members will be "Trained" how to act.
The next group of Apple Ballot candidates elected to the Montgomery County Board of Education will attend "training" through the private club for BOE members.
Club membership for the Board of Education is funded with MCPS Operating Budget funds. It costs the Board of Education about $100,000 a year to be a member of this private club.
The Maryland Association of Boards of Education (MABE) operates outside of the Open Meetings Act and Public Information Act.
It's a secret club to keep the public away from public officials.
https://www.mabe.org/training/new-board-member-orientation/
What other Montgomery County elected officials are "trained" in how to hold their elected positions?
Tuesday, November 12, 2024
Student-made App Offers Students Way To Voice Concerns
Closed bathrooms are no strange sight to Sherwood students, but rounding the corner at the start of the 2024-25 year, a team of student software developers is making an app to counteract issues like these, enabling students to report school-wide issues across MCPS. Ripple is an app for students to report problems in their individual schools.
The hope for Ripple is to give students a voice and hold MCPS accountable for providing the best schools it can. “I think it could help bridge the communication gap between students and admin, and help improve student experiences by providing data on the small issues that students have,” said new SMOB Praneel Suvarna.
Once opened on either chromebooks or phones, Ripple gives students a map of the county and a list of reports they can make. These reports are customized for each school to better reflect issues that may be specific to each school. The possible reports can include anything from locked bathrooms, missing menstrual products, nonfunctional water fountains, broken infrastructure, and anything else staff members see as an issue.
If a student hypothetically spots a locked bathroom, they may select their MCPS school, click on the “Closed Bathrooms” issue, and then type in the room number nearest to the problem and voilá. Their anonymous report is submitted and may be seen by teachers, staff, and even the principal. The map is also updated to show the issue in that particular school...
Student-made App Offers Students Way To Voice Concerns | The Warrior Online
Monday, November 11, 2024
Saturday, November 9, 2024
WSJ: How ChatGPT Brought Down an Online Education Giant [Chegg]
Chegg’s stock is down 99%, and students looking for homework help are defecting to ChatGPT
Most companies are starting to figure out how artificial intelligence will change the way they do business. Chegg is trying to avoid becoming its first major victim.
The online education company was for many years the go-to source for students who wanted help with their homework, or a potential tool for plagiarism. The shift to virtual learning during the pandemic sent subscriptions and its stock price to record highs.
Then came ChatGPT. Suddenly students had a free alternative to the answers Chegg spent years developing with thousands of contractors in India. Instead of “Chegging” the solution, they began canceling their subscriptions and plugging questions into chatbots.
Full story at:
Friday, November 8, 2024
MCPS projecting $5 million deficit this fiscal year
“The commitments that I made coming in as your new superintendent was to offer a level of transparency to our financial operations and to make sure that the public was aware of the good, bad and the indifferent,” Taylor said during the board meeting at MCPS headquarters in Rockville. “And this is one of those times where things are not going well.”
The school district has been facing significant budget constraints after receiving roughly $30 million less than the county school board requested after the County Council allotted S3.3 billion in spending for fiscal year 2025, which began July 1...
https://moco360.media/2024/11/07/mcps-projecting-5-million-deficit/
Thursday, November 7, 2024
Biden-Harris Administration to End Online Junk Fees for Low-Income Families Paying for School Meals
WASHINGTON, Nov. 1, 2024 – Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack today announced that students eligible for free and reduced price school meals must not be charged junk fees along with the cost of a meal served through the School Breakfast Program and National School Lunch Program. This policy, effective school year 2027-2028, will lower costs for families with income under 185% of federal poverty guidelines – equal to $57,720 for a family of four – by ensuring they are not burdened by processing fees when purchasing school meals for their children. Today’s action is a first step. USDA will examine fees charged to families with a goal of eliminating online junk fees for all families regardless of income level to further remove barriers to access healthy meals.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food and Nutrition Service issued a memo today to schools across the country about this policy. The school year 2027-2028 implementation date gives schools ample time to modify current systems or establish new contracts; however, USDA is encouraging schools to implement this requirement as soon as possible. The memo also reiterated USDA’s longstanding policy that schools must offer all families a free and accessible method for making deposits to school meal accounts – and that schools must ensure families know about this option.
“USDA and schools across America share the common goal of nourishing schoolchildren and giving them the fuel they need to learn, grown and thrive,” said Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack. “While today’s action to eliminate extra fees for lower income households is a major step in the right direction, the most equitable path forward is to offer every child access to healthy school meals at no cost. We will continue to work with Congress to move toward that goal so all kids have the nutrition they need to reach their full potential.”
“Today’s announcement reflects the President and Vice President’s broader efforts to lower food costs and eliminate junk fees,” said National Economic Advisor Lael Brainard. “The Department of Agriculture’s action applies to the 1 million children who receive reduced priced meals and lays the foundation to eliminate these junk fees for all 30 million children that receive healthy meals at school every day.”
Last year, the Administration committed to bring down costs for Americans by cracking down on junk fees, which are hidden fees that increase costs for customers and bring financial stress on low-income families. And this year, USDA promised to bring relief to families of children who eat school meals, in response to a report from the Consumer Protection Financial Bureau which found that online school meal payments are raising costs for them.
K-12 schools serve nutritious meals to about 30 million children every school day. While this policy applies to all students eligible for free or reduced lunch, it will most directly benefit the more than 1 million students who received reduced price school meals. By law, students who are eligible for reduced price meals cannot be charged more than $0.30 for breakfast and $0.40 for lunch. But some families end up paying more than that, by way of processing fees they’re charged when depositing money into their student’s school meals account using an online method. The policy announced today will ensure fairness for all students receiving meals at a reduced price, even when paying online. Schools may choose to use their own funds to cover the processing fees associated with online payment systems.
The memo also includes best practices schools can use to inform families of the payment methods available that do not add fees.
Healthy School Meals for All
Advancing a pathway to free healthy school meals for all is a priority set forth in the Biden-Harris Administration’s White House National Strategy on Hunger, Nutrition and Health.
Eight states have taken permanent actions to provide healthy school meals at no cost to all their students: California, Colorado, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Mexico and Vermont.
Meanwhile, in other states, many schools in high-need areas provide free meals to all their students through the Community Eligibility Provision, commonly known as CEP. Last year, USDA gave an estimated 3,000 more school districts the option to serve breakfast and lunch to all students at no cost by expanding the availability of CEP.
Support for Healthy Kids
USDA is committed to helping kids lead healthy lives. The Department has taken several actions to bolster programs that provide critical nutrition to infants and children. Specific to the school meal programs, USDA has provided a total of nearly $13.2 billion in extra financial support for schools across the country since 2021.
USDA touches the lives of all Americans each day in so many positive ways. Under the Biden-Harris Administration, USDA is transforming America’s food system with a greater focus on more resilient local and regional food production, fairer markets for all producers, ensuring access to safe, healthy and nutritious food in all communities, building new markets and streams of income for farmers and producers using climate-smart food and forestry practices, making historic investments in infrastructure and clean energy capabilities in rural America, and committing to equity across the Department by removing systemic barriers and building a workforce more representative of America. To learn more, visit www.usda.gov.
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Wednesday, November 6, 2024
School Board Candidates Backed by Teachers’ Union Sweep in Unofficial Results
All Apple Ballot candidates appeared headed for victory, according to unofficial returns from the Montgomery County Board of Elections. They are Natalie Zimmerman, Laura Stewart and Rita Montoya...
Monday, November 4, 2024
Maryland Center for School Safety publishes updated guidelines for active shooter drills
Kim Buckheit, director of strategic initiatives at the Maryland Center for School Safety, explained that simulated sounds of gunfire or explosions, banging on classroom doors and having individuals posing as assailants or victims are banned under the guidelines for drills carried out during the school day: “All of those types of simulations are not allowed in Maryland.”
That decision comes as a result of legislation that highlighted concerns over the potential for generating trauma on the students and staff exposed to those training strategies...
Maryland Center for School Safety publishes updated guidelines for active shooter drills - WTOP News
Friday, November 1, 2024
Former First Grade Teacher Indicted on Felony Drug Charges
Magid, 34, of Burtonsville, was arrested in August following the March 23 death of a Washington, D.C. man from fentanyl toxicity. She is not charged in the man’s death.
She is charged with distribution of a controlled dangerous substance, which is a felony, as well as five other drug charges. A scheduling hearing is set for Oct. 18.
Magid was taken into custody without incident following a search of her home by Montgomery County Police and special agents from the U.S. Drug Enforcement (DEA).
According to a previous police report, Montgomery County police detectives and U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration specialists learned that the victim was in Montgomery County “in the days leading up to their death” and that a person identified as Sarah had been in contact with him.
Magid remains on leave from the school district, according to a spokesperson. She is listed in the staff director as unassigned in human resources and development...
Former First Grade Teacher Indicted on Felony Drug Charges - Montgomery Community Media
Natali Fani-González on WAMU: "We need more transparency from MCPS."
WAMU link Go to minute 46 of the broadcast for Councilmember Natali Fani-Gonzalez's response
to a question about the announcement that MCPS was owed $1.5 million dollars from Highland Electric Fleets
and/or HET MCPS, LLC their electric school bus vendor.
Latest revelation over electric bus contract at Montgomery Co. schools provides a jolt at hearing
A July Montgomery County Inspector General’s report found that the school district failed to assess $372,000 in performance fees it could have assessed to its vendor, Highland Electric Fleets, for failures to live up to terms of its contract. Issues cited included the late delivery of buses and periods when buses were inoperable due to charging or other issues.
On Monday, Dana Edwards, chief of district operations for Montgomery County Public Schools, told the members of the county council audit committee that MCPS had “invoiced the contractor” to the tune of $1.5 million.
Montgomery County Inspector General Megan Limarzi didn’t hide her surprise: “I’m only hearing today that the number that has been invoiced is $1.5 million,” and she said an “enormous concern” for her office would be to learn more about the details of the terms. Making sure that the contract is enforced mattered, explained Limarzi, “because the vendor is supposed to make sure MCPS has the buses they need to get the children to school.”..
New Maryland education policy aims to address literacy scores, could hold back third-grade students
This policy comes after Maryland went from ranking No. 4 to No. 41 in the country regarding fourth-grade literacy scores in the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) reading assessment.
“It’s important, it’s extremely important that we help build a society where we help our students become quality [students] and ready to perform in the 21st century.”..
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