***TODAY: Montgomery County Senators Blocking Legislation for Children with Disabilities @CherylKagan @BrianJFeldman

We need your help to push HB294 County Boards of Education - Due Process Proceedings for Children With Disabilities - Burden of Proof and HB1237 Special Education - Judicial Actions - Attorney's Fees and Related Costs over the finish line in Annapolis TODAY! 

These bills will help level the playing field for parents or guardians in due process proceedings. HB294 shifts the burden of proof to the local education authority (LEA) to prove that they are delivering an appropriate education to students. This is important because LEAs have many more resources than the family in a hearing, causing a "David and Goliath" situation. HB1237 would cover attorney fees AND expert witness fees if a family wins their case. Again, the school system has access to experts, but a family must be able to pay for witness fees. This creates inequities. Unless these bills pass, families with means will continue to have a better chance at obtaining a free and appropriate education. Both bills passed the House of Delegates without opposition and passed 135-0! Both have stalled in the Education, Energy, and the Environment committee.

 https://www.votervoice.net/mobile/FSPTA/Campaigns/103595/Respond?vvsn=BP8EAgyLBCrSZAIB2vb7BAA

AP: Maryland moves toward curbing abusive teachers’ job movement

ANNAPOLIS, Md. (AP) — After high-profile sexual misconduct cases in schools, Maryland took a step Thursday toward joining a growing number of states enacting legislation to prevent teachers with records of misconduct from moving school-to-school.

The Maryland House of Delegates voted 140-0 to ban nondisclosure agreements involving sexual abuse for school employees who have direct contact with children. The measure, which now goes to the state’s Senate, also would require prospective school employers to conduct a thorough review of applicants’ employment history.

“Child sex abuse is a horrible thing to acknowledge. It’s so much easier to turn a blind eye to it. That’s been failing our children for generations, and so we’re not going to turn a blind eye to it,” bill sponsor Del. C.T. Wilson, a survivor of child sexual abuse who has spoken of his experience while advocating for laws to protect children, said in a recent interview. “I’m going to do my best to make it as public as I can. If we air out our dirty laundry, we can clean it tomorrow.”..

https://apnews.com/55dc6d7f916d4ad6ae989567aafeb1b1?fbclid=IwAR2APpiYLeW16NiiLcT6vaUC6qpPpJ2kecP1g22hODgKgPjdCv-mF_rgQFI

Today in Annapolis. What happened to $6.4 Million of Bus Camera Fine Money? @mcps @mocoboe

Maryland General Assembly on Wednesday February 6th, 2019 at 1 pm

in the Senate Education, Health and Environmental Affairs Committee. 

Senate Bill 92, The Accountability in Education Act of 2019

February 6, 2019

Statement in SUPPORT from Parents' Coalition of Montgomery County, MD

The Parents' Coalition of Montgomery County, Maryland is speaking in support of Senate Bill 92 today because time and time again we see public education used as a profit center for companies that do not add any value or dollars to public school classrooms.

Today, we bring to you the example of the no RFP, no bid, no public discussion contract that has been established between Montgomery County Public Schools and a company called Force Multiplier. This deal was executed with out any public procurement process and now the public is left asking, “Where does all the money go?”

The contract allegedly requires Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) to pay $18 million for cameras to be installed and operated on MCPS school buses. MCPS is to turn 100% of the fine revenue over to the bus camera company until the $18 million number is reached.

NO revenue is received by either MCPS or the Police Department until the $18 million is paid off. Yet, both organizations must employ staff to handle these transactions.

The original contract for bus cameras was with a company called Force Multiplier, but they shut down when their CEO was arrested by the FBI in a massive bus camera scandal that rocked the city of Dallas, Texas. The company reformed as BusPatrol and the MCPS Superintendent simply inserted the name of BusPatrol for Force Multiplier and continued the contract without a public discussion or Board of Education vote.

Bus camera citations for passing a stopped school bus cost drivers $250 each.

The Montgomery County Police state that 34,436 citations have been issued as of FY18. That number of citations would yield approximately $7,976,550 million in revenue. 

However, when the citation fine revenue is tracked through MCPS for the same time period in FY18 only $1,553,230 is found.

That leaves $6.4 million in fine revenue unaccounted for. Where is the missing fine revenue?

To understand how many people and organizations handle fine revenue, please see the attached [below] flow chart.

This is exactly the type of public school procurement issue that is ripe for investigation by an Inspector General. Please support this legislation.

Part 2:  Councilmember Craig Rice Thinks New Bus Camera Co. is Not Connected to CEO who Plead Guilty to Bribery and Conspiracy

Montg. County Delegation moves secretly to shut down Maryland Public Information Act

Just in time for Sunshine Week our Montgomery County Delegation to Annapolis is secretly fast-tracking a bill that will shut down our MD Public Information Act (MPIA). The Senate version of the bill is sponsored by Sen. Cheryl Kagan. Please contact your delegates and senators and tell them to OPPOSE HB677 and SB477.

I wanted to draw your attention to a bill that is on a fast track and making its way through the Maryland General Assembly.

House Bill 677 purports to protect privacy by limiting the release of distribution lists containing email addresses, physical addresses and phone numbers. It is filed as an EMERGENCY BILL that would take effect immediately upon passage and signature by the Governor (3/5 supermajority vote required).

However the bill overreaches and would shut down many legitimate MPIA request that are truly in the public interest.

The bill is sponsored in the House by Del. Joseline Pena Melnyk. The companion Senate bill SB477 is sponsored by Sen. Cheryl Kagan. The bill is a priority of the Maryland Municipal League.

 

The Senate bill has already passed in the Senate but the House committee has not yet voted. With 40 days remaining in the Maryland legislative session, there is time to get this right.

Contact your Delegates and Senator and tell them to oppose HB677 and SB477 . Make the same ask of your County and municipal officials.

Screens and Kids: Through the Looking Glass The MD General Assembly...

Screens and Kids: Through the Looking Glass The MD General Assembly...:

Through the Looking Glass The MD General Assembly and Classroom Screen Safety: 
A study of disturbing nonsense

For student health advocates across the state and across the country, watching the developments surrounding the nation's first classroom digital device safety legislation during the recent Maryland General Assembly was a surreal, Alice in Wonderland kind of experience.

Just the idea that parents would have to take their case to the state legislature, to protect their children from serious harm caused by their teachers and schools is a bizarre concept. Aren't teachers supposed to be caring, nurturing people who protect children? And yet, their silence is deafening, even after learning of the myopia, retinal damage, sleeplessness, muscle pain, eye strain, anxiety, depression and addiction associated with daily use of digital devices in school.

Perhaps they are silenced by a craven shadow government, the Maryland State Department of Education, that consumes the lion's share of any budget, and then arrogantly dismisses the people who pay their salaries, while utterly disregarding the medical needs of the growing children, whom they are paid to serve.

A culture of fear 

Bloated and self-satisfied, state and local school boards and the crony political groups who shape them dole out mandates without a single thought to the health of our kids, and then intimidate any staff member or teacher who doesn't get onboard, according to what teachers say privately. 

http://www.screensandkids.us/2017/04/through-looking-glass-md-general.html?spref=bl

Exclusive: Kagan, Zucker and MCEA employee Pinsky vote No to Guidelines for Digital Devices in Classrooms #progressive #AppleBallot

The Parents' Coalition has obtained a copy of the voting record for the Maryland Senate Education, Health and Environmental Affairs Committee vote on Senate Bill 1089, the bill to provide guidelines for the use of digital devices in public school classrooms. 

From the voting record we learn that two Montgomery County Senators voted against moving this bill forward.  

We also see that on the same committee with Montgomery County Senators Cheryl Kagan and Craig Zucker is Senator Paul Pinsky.  While Pinsky technically represents citizens in Prince George's County, he is also a long time employee of our Montgomery County teachers union.  

Does Kagan and Zucker voting against this bill along with Pinsky signal that our local teachers' union (MCEA - Apple Ballot) has secretly put the kibosh on this bill, thus killing it for all public school children in the state of Maryland?

If anyone can get Senator Cheryl Kagan or Senator Craig Zucker to explain their NO vote on this bill, please let us know their explanation.

As a reminder, the national organization Campaign for Commercial-Free Childhood supported this bill. 

http://parentscoalitionmc.blogspot.com/2017/02/campaign-for-commercial-free-childhood.html

Senate Committee Votes NO to Protecting Students from Eye Damage

Ever wonder how much screentime your kids have at school? Chromebooks and ipads, Promethean boards, videos.... We can monitor screentime at home, but we have no idea what goes on in class. 

Today's instruction requires computers. "Computer literacy" is baked into Curriculum 2.0. Substitute teachers reportedly let kids play "computer games" for an entire period. Indoor recess = videos. Homework requires computers. 

Just Google "retinal damage," "digital addiction," and "wifi radiation" for why this is a problem.

What can you do? Maryland is on the verge of creating legislation that gives schools common sense guidelines for device time. Please pick up the phone today and call our Montgomery County legislators.

"What do I say?" "I'm a Montgomery County parent and I want to voice my support for HB866 and SB1089." Honestly, that's all. 

Phone calls are best, but here are email addresses:

Senator Zucker

410-841-3625

Senator Kagan
410-841-3134

Delegate Kaiser
410-841-3036

Delegate Luedtke
410-841-3110

craig.zucker@senate.state.md.us
Cheryl.Kagan@senate.state.md.us
anne.kaiser@house.state.md.us
eric.luedtke@house.state.md.us

The Carver Coalition Demands Answers on the Bus Depot and Gets

A big turnout at their meeting tonight. A lot of emotion.   A lot of politicals.

But did they get anything else?

Maybe, maybe not.

Kumar Barve spoke on behalf of the District's State Representatives.  The four reps, Delegate Barve, with Del. Gilchrist and Del. Platt, and presumably Senator Kagan, are writing the County Council to let them know that they are opposed to the plan to relocate the MCPS bus depot partially to Carver.  Barve, Glichrist, and Kagan were in attendance tonight.I say presumable to Kagan because she sent a letter to many homes last weekend saying that the matter was no longer "urgent,"  She then posted on her website (how many read her website?) that she made a mistake and was misinformed.  Lets hope that the District 17 reps don't make another mistake.  But do they have any say in the matter?

The County Council was also represented - by Councilmembers Sid Katz, Marc Elrich, and George Leventhal, who stated that they are opposed to the Carver site as a bus parking lot.  According to Leventhal, the numbers don't add up, and he doesn't see any urgency to relocate the buses.

Rockville Mayor Bridget Newton also stated that the City of Rockville is opposed to locating the bus depot at Carver.  She was accompanied by Councilmembers Julie Carr and Mark Pierzchala.  Mayor Newton also asked that the deciding powers NOT pit Rockville neighbors against each other.  Good for Mayor Newton.  Rockville residents successfully fought off relocating the site on Avery Road, and are now told that the remaining buses that don't fit on the Carver site will be relocated to the Lincoln Park neighborhood - on the other side of the Red Line Railroad tracks.

And then the Board of Education spoke up - Phil Kaufman, accompanied by Rebecca Smondrowski and Jill Orman-Fouse, also are apparently in opposition to the relocation of the bus depot to Carver.  But what will they do with 100 buses if the County Council orders them off the property - maybe not on January 1, but some other future date when they don't have a plan?

So - who gets the deciding vote?  Why hasn't anyone offered a resolution to stop this circus?  How will these elected officials really vote - we know the County Council unanimously voted a few days ago to give MCPS money for preliminary studies.  We also know that despite all the mandatory referrals and other procedural nice things said in public, when push comes to shove, MCPS ignores the City of Rockville (as folks from Wootton and RM Clusters well know). Why study if this is dead in the water?  Why vote for the funding if you think this is a bad idea?

Bigger question.  How did we get here?  Remember, a developer wants the current bus depot site, so MCPS has to relocate 450 buses to another location.  Why are we still giving public land to developers?  We know here in MoCo our kids are educated in "learning cottages" - and now our buses need to find a new home too, because some developer has decided that housing is the way to go.

The Saga of the Bus Parking Lot at Carver Educational Center continues

The folks fighting the partial relocation of the Shady Grove School Bus Lot to Carver Educational Center are meeting with MCPS this Wednesday, May 11, 2016, at College Gardens Elementary School.

Find out the real scoop on what is happening from those who are most impacted.  Who knows, maybe your neighborhood is next.