Education Secretary Arne Duncan stepping down after 7 years in Obama admin

MORE: AP sources: Education Secretary Arne Duncan stepping down after 7 years in Obama admin: http://t.co/wckeJigoGp

— The Associated Press (@AP) October 2, 2015

Let's Read! Let's Move!

Once again Parents’ Coalition was honored to be invited to the Department of Education’s annual summer event, Let’s Read! Let’s Move! which took place this past week, on July 10^th.  U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan hosted special guests White House Chef Samuel Kass, Olympian Figure Skater Michelle Kwan, and Congressman John Kline (R-MN), Chair of the House Committee on Education and the Workforce.   Secretary Duncan, Chef Kass, and Congressman Kline all took turns reading Picky Peggy, by Jennifer Dussling.  Ms. Kwan read, Can I Play Too? written by Mo Willems. Afterwards it was question time.  To Chef Kass: Does the President like candy?  Answer: ‘That is a tough question.  The President does not eat a lot of candy.  But it’s ok to eat some candy if you eat a lot of fruit.’

World champion figure skater Michelle Kwan talked about how she began ice skating.  She said she started when she was five years old. She would practice five hours a day. She said, ‘to make your dreams come true—it takes a lot of hard work.’

Special Guest Kathy Powers, an advocate for children’s nutrition, was also on hand, showing how to read a recipe and how to make fruit salsa.

After reading and talking about the books, we all went to play games like relay races, and basketball, and ran the obstacle course.  Thanks again to the folks at Target, who provided books and extras so that all the kids could choose a book to take home, and receive a backpack with snacks and treats.  A special shout-out to Target, which is focused on early learning and reading.

A good time was had by all.  Thanks as always to Michelle Draughn and Juliette Rizzo for working so hard to organize this event and get the message across to our children: Let’s Read! And Let’s Move!

Arnie Duncan: We Must Provide Equal Opportunity in Sports to Students with Disabilities

From U.S. Secretary of Education Duncan, Jan 25, 2013.  To read and post comments, go here.  ED's Guidance is here.

Playing sports at any level—club, intramural, or interscholastic—can be a key part of the school experience and have an immense and lasting impact on a student’s life. Among its many benefits, participation in extracurricular athletic activities promotes socialization, the development of leadership skills, focus, and, of course, physical fitness. It’s no secret that sports helped to shape my life. From a very early age, playing basketball taught me valuable lessons about grit, discipline, and teamwork that are still with me to this day.

Students with disabilities are no different – like their peers without disabilities, these students benefit from participating in sports. But unfortunately, we know that students with disabilities are all too often denied the chance to participate and with it, the respect that comes with inclusion. This is simply wrong. While it’s the coach’s job to pick the best team, students with disabilities must be judged based on their individual abilities, and not excluded because of generalizations, assumptions, prejudices, or stereotypes.  Knowledgeable adults create the possibilities of participation among children and youth both with and without disabilities.

Today, ED’s Office for Civil Rights has released guidance that clarifies existing legal obligations of schools to provide students with disabilities an equal opportunity to participate alongside their peers in after-school athletics and clubs. We make clear that schools may not exclude students who have an intellectual, developmental, physical, or any other disability from trying out and playing on a team, if they are otherwise qualified. This guidance builds on a resource document the Department issued in 2011 that provides important information on improving opportunities for children and youth with disabilities to access PE and athletics.

Federal civil rights laws require schools to provide equal opportunities, not give anyone an unfair head start. So schools don’t have to change the essential rules of the game, and they don’t have to do anything that would provide a student with a disability an unfair competitive advantage. But they do need to make reasonable modifications (such as using a laser instead of a starter pistol to start a race so a deaf runner can compete) to ensure that students with disabilities get the very same opportunity to play as everyone else. The guidance issued today will help schools meet this obligation and will allow increasing numbers of kids with disabilities the chance to benefit from playing sports.

Arne Duncan is U.S. Secretary of Education

Let's Read! Let's Move!

Parents’ Coalition was honored to be invited to the Department of Education’s annual summer event, Let’s Read! Let’s Move! which took place this past week, on July 11^th.  The event started off with games, with the kids all playing 'Simon Says,' and 'Hot Potato,'  Then we all settled down and listened to a few good books.  US Secretary of Education Arne Duncan (left in photo) hosted special guests Samuel Kass (center in photo), WH Chef, and the Obamas’ trainer, Cornell McClellan (right in photo).  Chef Kass read, ‘The Very Hungry Caterpillar,’ and Mr. McClellan read ‘Froggy Learns to Swim’ to the children.  Mr. McClellan stressed how important it is that everyone know how to swim.  Afterwards the kids all had lots of questions.  To Chef Kass: what is your favorite meal? His answer: spaghettis and tacos.  What is his favorite food? Vegetables! Lots and lots of vegetables. And some fish.  Both Sec Duncan and Mr. McClellan echoed that. Vegetables! was the word of the day.  Chef Kass emphasized that it takes a long time to learn a skill and involves lots of failures.  You just need to keep working at it.  What does he like to cook? 'Green beans, corn, fish, foods that are in season.'   Other questions were, what exercises does Mr. McClellan do with the Obamas? His answer, ‘lots of different kinds of exercises.  Jump rope, jumping jacks, and boxing.’  He said, 'it's important to just move.  Almost any activity you do' is exercise.  Also, sports is another way of getting exercise, and the Obamas play all different kids of sports, like basketball, soccer, and swimming.  And, how much exercise should we do? Answer: at least 30 minutes every day.  So, go for it!

After reading and talking about the books, we all went outside to play games like relay races, and basketball.  Thanks to Target, all the kids chose a book to take home, and received a backpack with snacks and treats.  A special shout-out to Target, which is focused on early childhood learning and reading.

What fun! Thanks so much to Michelle Draughn and Juliette Rizzo for working so hard to organize this event and getting the message across to our children: Let’s Read! And Let’s Move!

No free public education at lawless Sherwood High School

Get ready to open your wallet when school begins if you're a Sherwood High School student (or parent). Illegal curricular fees are "required financial obligations to SHS", according to an announcement on the Sherwood web site.

For those who don't remember -- or who weren't here a couple of years ago -- the Attorney General of Maryland has repeatedly stated that curricular fees are illegal under the Maryland constitution.





Sherwood HS Class Dues Fees Doc

More information about illegal curricular fees can be found here.

Meet-up with Arne!

Parents' Coalition was honored to be invited to the first Let's Read! Let's Move! event of the summer at the U.S. Department of Education, held on July 6th. Our guests included members of the Cheetahs Hockey Team and their parents. We all listened to Ed Sec Arne Duncan and surprise guests U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder and basketball great Kareem Abdul-Jabbar read from some of their favorite books. AG Holder read from Dr. Seuss' 'Oh, the Places You'll Go!' and Mr. Abdul-Jabbar read from 'Goal!' by Mina Javaherbin. Another surprise guest was Teresa Scanlan, Miss America! What a thrill! Thanks so much to Michelle Draughn and Dept. of Ed staff and YMCA volunteers who organized this terrific event. The kids had a blast, first playing games like Brainquest, then listening to the readings and asking questions, and finally time out for play and games. We can't thank the Dept of Ed staff and volunteers enough for this wonderful opportunity. The warmth and enthusiasm for the children on the part of the staff and volunteers was a great thing to experience and the kids are still beaming. At the end of the event the kids all received snacks and a book of their choice autographed by Miss America! To me the most impressive part of the program was watching Miss America with the kids, running around, jumping and playing -- all in 4-inch heels! You go girl. For more on the event, read the DOJ blog here, and for a parent's-eye view, go here. And, the Dept of Ed blog is here.

Reteach and Relearn - for HS Administrators - FERPA Primer Refresher

Reteach, relearn, and reinforce is not just for students.  Sometimes principals need to be retaught basic laws that they (should) know from all that administrator training taxpayer sponsor for MCPS staff members.  We all have different learning styles.

Nelson McLeod at Richard Montgomery HS must need a lot of reteaching and reinforcing.  He still insists on breaking federal student privacy laws by posting student's personal identifiable information - in this case who owes money to the school - by ID numbers, so its time for the annual reminder concerning the obligations wall. 

Here are two pictures sent to me this evening:

Redacted list of Student ID numbers as seen on bulletin board at Richard Montgomery High School 6/14/11

Once again, to reinforce the original concept that apparently was not learned, here is my short primer on FERPA and the Obligation Wall.

Given that this is a widespread and recurring problem in MCPS - maybe Dr. McLeod's actions can be considered within the "egregious" category.  We'll ask the federal Department of Education to withhold funding for Richard Montgomery.

I wonder if Dr. Starr noticed the violation when he was at Richard Montgomery tonight.  If we are really lucky, Dr. Starr should be able to address this stiuation immediately - perhaps he can give Dr. McLeod a personal lesson over coffee.

For those of you who would like to know more about educational privacy rights, here is the short version of FERPA.



The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) is the federal privacy act equivalent for educational records. All schools that receive federal funding are subject to FERPA. FERPA is a personal right - that is, the cause of action may only be brought by the individual whose rights have been violated. For example, only a student or parent of a student named on the "obligations wall" (at Richard Montgomery, Blake, or Whitman) or public HSA remedial list (Blair) is entitled to file a complaint with the US Department of Education. If my child's rights aren't violated, sorry, no right to complain.


Remedies are mostly corrective - the objectives are get the school or school system to fix their policies and procedures. However, the regulations do permit the Department of Education to withhold funding for egregious cases - see 34 CFR 99.61 et seq.

As a lawyer involved in freedom of information and privacy act issues, most people I know outside of MCPS who deal with records subject to the privacy act or educational research and testing work very diligently to comply with the various requirements of the applicable privacy laws and regulations. MCPS is rather cavalier in its interpretations - but then again, that seems consistent with MCPS believing that most laws and policies are meant for others. I know I've spoken with my kids schools about having volunteers helping out with mailing interims, but didn't get very far, since the school claimed the volunteers were working just like school staff. How fascinating. I've only had one instance that I know about where my child's name was on the "obligations wall," and at that point I was more concerned about whether she could purchase a homecoming ticket than I was about filing a FERPA complaint.

So - given that this is a recurring problem in MCPS - maybe this posting has risen to the level of an "egregious" case and ask the federal Department of Education to withhold funding for Richard Montgomery.



More on FERPA is on the Department of Education's website:http://www.ed.gov/policy/gen/guid/fpco/ferpa/index.html
See the original post at:  Short Primer on FERPA and "Obligations Wall"

But did they pay their bus fee?

U.S. schools chief, O’Malley to tour Blair high | Washington Examiner

A federal secretary, a governor and an organization president walk into a school. No punch line here — Montgomery Blair High School will receive a visit Thursday morning from U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan, Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley, and National Education Association President Dennis Van Roekel.

The three will join Superintendent Jerry Weast at the Silver Spring magnet school to meet with staff and tour classrooms in honor of American Education Week.

Read more at the Washington Examiner: http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/local/blogs/capital-land/us-schools-chief-omalley-to-tour-blair-high-108716374.html#ixzz15egXkZnn