Union reps keep budget discussions from membership

Notes from a meeting of MCEA (Montgomery County Education Association) and SLMP (School Library Media Program): 

"Administrators have been advocating for flexibility in making many decisions for their buildings, including staffing decisions.  In this case, the decision to give elementary principals the flexibility to make cuts that included media specialist positions came approximately two weeks before that decision became public
knowledge.  Nothing was finalized at that time. Until decisions are final, they must remain confidential to minimize rumors and misinformation that can arise.
Therefore, MCEA representatives could not inform media specialists in advance."

Thus, Media Specialists had no opportunity to advocate for their positions before a final decision was made. That's how the MCPS Secret Budget Table works. Those select few at the table keep all budget discussions confidential to prevent any public discussions of decisions being made. 


Who's at the MCPS Secret Budget Table? Union reps, MCCPTA and MCPS staff is all we know. When does the group meet? No clue. Public minutes of meetings? None. Public input into budget discussions? Zero.


Final Notes April 7th MCEA SLMP

Weast Found Cash to Hire Safari Buddy?

A May 11, 2011 Gazette article states that Adrian Talley will be taking over the MCPS Office of Shared Accountability from Acting Associate Superintendent Donald Kress.

Donald Kress?

Is this the same Donald Kress that retired from MCPS in 2007?

The same Donald Kress that was on the October 2008 African safari with Superintendent Weast?

Where did the money come from to pay for ANOTHER outside Consultant? How much has this outside Consultant been paid? 

Media Specialists (librarians) and school counselor hours are being sliced.  Do they know there is extra cash floating around MCPS? 

We look forward to the MCPS Fact Check that details how this retired MCPS employee ended up back on the payroll this year and how much he was being paid. (Maybe he just volunteered?)

Ervin: "We all know the MCPS budget is full of money"

Gazette:  Montgomery council president tells school system to ‘put up or shut up' over police program
Board of Education member suggests splitting cost of officers with county
By Andrew Ujifusa | Staff Writer

Ervin (D-Dist. 5) of Silver Spring and Elrich (D-At large) of Takoma Park stressed that the school system's budget for 2012 was full of employee benefits and other non-classroom costs that could be reduced to make room for the SROs. Ervin said it was time for school officials to "put up or shut up."
"We all know the MCPS budget is full of money," Ervin said.

WTOP: Ervin: Schools budget unfair to other Montgomery workers

LISTEN TO THE WTOP INTERVIEW of COUNTY COUNCIL PRESIDENT VALERIE ERVIN HERE AT MINUTE 25:00 OF AUDIO

...Ervin also talked about what she said is an imbalance in the county budget, skewed toward public schools. Other public departments' budgets are being slashed, she said, leading to cuts in libraries, public safety and parks and recreation.
However, the school system, which employs two thirds of county employees, has a steadily increasing budget, Ervin said...

From the interview:

Council President Valerie Ervin,

"I think what's happening in Montgomery County is that the real truth about the budget out the mouths of Jerry Weast and the school board is actually wrong.   

The proposed budget for Montgomery County Public Schools has not been cut.  As a matter of fact, what's happening here is that Jerry Weast is really causing a lot of hysteria among parents in the County system that there are going to be these draconian cuts made. And the fact of the matter is that the budget that Ike Leggett has proposed to the County Council is 3.5% over what it was last year."  

Md. employee uses govt. credit card for $71,000-worth of personal items, audit says | Brian Hughes | Maryland | Washington Examiner

A Maryland state employee racked up more than $71,000 in "questionable" payments on a taxpayer-funded credit card, using the state card to have computer games, clothing and other items delivered to a home address, according to a newly released audit report.

Read more at the Washington Examiner: http://washingtonexaminer.com/local/maryland/2011/04/md-employee-uses-govt-credit-card-71000-worth-personal-items-audit-says#ixzz1JK4TKcrb

-----

Good thing there are no credit cards floating around MCPS...oh wait...there are 1,400! Anyone have a clue the last time the $5 million+ in purchases made with those 1,400 credit cards was audited?

Dinner's on us!

Fat in the MCPS Budget

There must be some fat in the MCPS budget.  Why else would the Board of Education be spending $100,997 on a diet company in this "tight" budget year?


There is no evidence of the Board of Education approving of this expenditure in Board of Education minutes.  Hard to know what MCPS is getting for this $100,000+. But since the Navarro Board began spending money like water, Board approvals on major procurements have been disappearing like muffin tops at Zumba classes.


Maybe this expenditure is to help cut the "fat" in the MCPS budget? Anyone know?

Board of Ed Finds $358,890 for Winchester Homes, Inc.

Tight budget? 
Apparently not.


Instead of planting trees on existing public school land the Board of Education is paying a private company (Winchester Homes, Inc.) $358,890 this fiscal year to preserve trees on their land. See memos here and here and here and another $138,528 in 2008 here.  


This is just one more consequence of the overbuilding of public school sites: less trees around schools.

But the Board of Education has lots of land that isn't being used for schools right now. Take a look at the inventory.  And what about the unused Woodwards Road elementary school site (shown in image) that Superintendent Jerry Weast has used for "planting" lots of cell towers? Couldn't the Board  "plant" trees on that site or one of their many other sites instead of paying a private developer for trees? 


Where did the Board of Education "find" $358,890 while at the same time Media Specialists (Librarians) are being cut?
If there is surplus funding in the capital budget it can always be moved to the operating budget, as has been done in the past! 

$46,912 for Membership Dues for Board of Education

In FY 2010 the Board of Education paid $46,912 to be a member of the Maryland Association of Boards of Education (MABE). What does our local Board of Education get for that expenditure? For one thing, they get lobbying in Annapolis during the legislative session.


And what does MABE lobby for in Annapolis on behalf of the Board of Education that you elected? Take a look at the lobbying that your tax dollars are funding this year: 

110214_MABE green sheet

6 in Denver this week! There's always cash for travel!

Anyone want to add up how much it is costing to send 6 to Denver this week? The group included the Superintendent, union officials and the Board of Education President. 


And these are only the presenters. How many other MCPS attendees were there? There always has to be someone to handle coats and briefcases... 


Add in the fact that we lose the time and attention of these employees and this elected official here in Montgomery County.  This is the same Board of Education President who didn't have time for Public Comment at the February 8, 2011, Board of Education meeting.


What was the total cost of this excursion? A webinar couldn't have accomplished the same exchange of ideas and information without flying 6 people to Denver for a hotel stay of unknown length and cost? 

Labor-Management Collaboration Conference 

How can we transform the relationship between labor and management into a strong partnership for improving student learning? On February 15-16, school board presidents, superintendents, and union officials from 150 school districts came to Denver to develop answers.

Presenters, Panelists and District Attendees included: 

Christopher Barclay

President, Montgomery County Board of Education
A member of the school board since 2006, Chris currently serves as president and a member of the fiscal management and the policy committees. Last year, he was appointed by the governor to the Maryland Council for Educator Effectiveness. Chris has served in a number of volunteer leadership roles with the Montgomery County Council of PTAs.

Merle Cuttitta

President, SEIU Local 500, Montgomery County, Md.
Merle began working with Montgomery County Public Schools in 1972 as a paraeducator before leaving after five years to pursue a career in the private sector with a concentration on service industries. She returned to MCPS in 1991 and has served as the local union's president since 2001. She has been a member of SEIU's Executive Board since 2004.

Christopher Lloyd

Vice President, Montgomery County Education Association
Christopher is a National Board Certified teacher at Baker Middle School. In his leadership role with the teachers association, he works on program areas of school climate, on-boarding, and professional growth systems.

Rebecca Newman

President, Montgomery County Association of Administrators and Principals
Rebecca has been president of MCAAP for the past eight years. During that time, she has represented members in contract negotiations, in collaboration with Montgomery County Public Schools, and in building a partnership with both executive staff and other unions in the district. Prior to this position, she has served as a school principal.

Doug Prouty

President, Montgomery County Education Association
Before becoming president of NEA's local union in Montgomery County, Doug served as vice president, coordinator for the Teacher Professional Growth System for Montgomery County Public Schools, and was the English resource teacher at Walter Johnson High School in Bethesda, Md.

Jerry D. Weast, Ed.D.

Superintendent, Montgomery County Public Schools
Since 1999, Jerry has been superintendent of the 16th-largest district in the nation. Under his leadership, the district earned the U.S. Senate/Maryland Productivity Award in 2005 and the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award in 2010, and was a 2010 finalist for the Broad Prize in Urban Education.

Cut budget from the top first

The Frederick News-Post Online - Frederick County Maryland Daily Newspaper

Furloughs, salary cuts and even layoffs should be at the top of the board's list. Only after those options are exhausted and every efficiency and penny squeezed from school system administration should board members go elsewhere.

Benefit Costs Choking MCPS

Fixed Charges-Benefits

Data compiled by Bob Astrove

MCPS Enrollment and Operating Budget over 9 years

In 2001, the MCPS enrollment was 136,832.  The FY 2001 Operating Budget was $1,216,096,599.

In 2010, the MCPS enrollment was 144,064. The FY 2010 Operating Budget was $2,078,967,001.

Here's what the changes in the enrollment and Operating Budget look like over the last 9 years when plotted on on a graph.

There are lots of ways these changes could be plotted, this is just one version. If you would like to make up your own version, submit it to us and we will post it.

How many administrators get a car allowance?

Someone on the Board of Education asked the question, "How many MCPS employees receive car allowances?"


And here is the answer from the MCPS Budget website. 

There are 22 MCPS employees currently receiving a car allowance. The amount budgeted for car allowances in FY 2012 is $171,600. The amount budgeted in FY 2012 for both local travel and mileage reimbursement is $1,944,306. The mileage reimbursement rate effective January 2011 as issued by the Internal Revenue Service is $.51 per mile.

22 MCPS employees get car allowances? Who are those 22 employees? $171,600 divided by 22 averages out to $7,800 per employee! That's a pretty nice perk. 


Teachers, you all getting car allowances? 

13 CENTRAL OFFICE POSITIONS SLICED*

*Other cuts by Superintendent Jerry Weast in his list of threatened cuts released on January 28, 2011, include cuts to classrooms, counselors, activity buses, special education, lunch aides, instrumental music, outdoor education, and after-school athletics.


SAVED in this draft amended budget plan are MCPS credit cards, conferences, travel, no bid procurements, and car allowances for administrators.

Jerry Weast's Plan B

Weast's "Plan B" Protects Administration, Credit Cards, Consultants and No Bid Contracts

Montgomery superintendent's ‘Plan B' includes elimination of nearly 200 teacher positions, class size hike

Weast says $48 million in program, personnel cuts likely without increase in county funding of schools' budget

by Andrew Ujifusa | Staff Writer

Teacher positions would be cut and class sizes would increase by one student per class next year if the county does not give the school system an additional $82 million requested by the superintendent, according to early Montgomery County Public Schools projections.

Superintendent of Schools Jerry D. Weast said Friday that without any of the additional money that the school system would receive under a state education funding law, some $48 million in personnel and program cuts would be likely, with the elimination of 650 positions from the $2.16 billion fiscal 2012 budget that Weast proposed Dec. 15.

Cutting 193 classroom teaching positions would account for $12.6 million of the $48 million in savings in his proposed budget. Other possible cuts include 117 positions that deal with academic intervention and staff development...

continues here.

MCPS executives dine in style with a Washington Post reporter

Records obtained by the Parents' Coalition reveal that MCPS Chief of Staff Brian Edwards, MCPS Public Information Director Dana Tofig, and Washington Post education reporter Michael Birnbaum enjoyed a meal together at Il Pizzico Ristorante on October 15, just days before the final Broad Prize announcement.

We don't know exactly whose meals were covered by the $46.46 tab, but we do know that Edwards used an MCPS-issued American Express card to pay the bill -- at taxpayer expense, of course.

Why are MCPS executives meeting over lunch (or dinner) with a Washington Post reporter?  Did MCPS pay for Birnbaum's meal?  Which other news reporters are MCPS taking out to lunch?

Update: Washington Post reporter Michael Birnbaum contacted us this afternoon and stated that he paid for the bulk of the meal (which included his own meal), and that he invariably pays his own bill for business meals.  Therefore, only Tofig's and Edwards' meals were paid with school system funds.

How to start a school year in style

Superintendent Jerry Weast, Security Director Bob Hellmuth, and Chief of Staff Brian Edwards kicked off the 2010-2011 school year with a taxpayer-funded $72 meal at Il Pizzico Ristorante in Rockville.

How did you celebrate the first day of school?

The MCPS Purchasing Card User's Guide explicitly states that purchasing cards are not to be used for meals. See page 3, Exclusions. Certain card members have, however, "been given authorization to use the purchasing card for travel and restaurants," according to the Purchasing Card User's Guide. These select card members have been "given additional instructions under separate cover."

The Parents' Coalition is in the process of determining who has been granted authority to use the purchasing card for travel and restaurants and who granted this special level of authorization.

Administrators Continue to Travel, Divert Funds from Classrooms

In this week's Gazette is an article about a MCPS program for students that might lose its funding. The amount of funds this program receives is $50,000.  That's a pretty small sum in a budget that is over $2 billion. 


But when MCPS administrators spend days traveling around the country to hawk education vendors' products and services, the travel expenses and time away from their desks add up.  Suddenly, there's $50,000 in travel expenses and time away from their desks and one less program for students.  
How do students benefit from administrator travel on behalf of vendors? 


In previous posts the Parents' Coalition has documented how MCPS' Superintendent, Board members, and administrators continue to travel, even during this budget "crisis." It appears that the Superintendent, the Board of Education and MCPS administrators don't really see the budget issues as that dire. So why the talk of cutting programs for students when MCPS' Superintendent, Board and administrators are still on the road? 




Today's travel:  February 22-24, 2011 - Houston, Texas

Michael Perich, Consultant for Continuous Improvement for Montgomery County Public Schools (MD) will present on their Journey to become 2010 Baldrige award winners.

Sometimes Mr. Perich is listed as Director of Systemwide Continuous Improvement for MCPS, sometimes as Consultant. How much is he paid from MCPS? Who is paying for him to travel to Houston to present on behalf of MCPS at this convention?  APQC is a membership organization, a club if you will. How much does MCPS pay to be part of this club? 


Thousands of dollars in membership dues, and thousands of dollars in administrator travel add up to diverting education funding away from students and classrooms. 

Cut of the Week: $30,000 Consultant + $107,144 Part-Time Director

In light of the budget crisis that exists in Montgomery County, beginning today the Parents' Coalition blog will be submitting suggestions for ways to cut the MCPS budget without impacting classrooms. Here's our first suggestion. 

1.  In December 2010, MCPS produced a list of vendors that received over $25,000 in FY10 as required by a new law passed in Annapolis. Included on that list of vendors was a consultant that is paid $30,000 a year to work in the Study Circles program. The Parents' Coalition asks:  “Can’t we find highly qualified volunteers to conduct Study Circles?”

Of course, we can. Savings: $30,000. Impact to classrooms: $0.   

2.  In addition, the Director of the Study Circles program is paid a salary of $107,144 to run this program.  It appears that the Director is only a part-time position as this same person is also listed as working for a national organization as a Senior Associate.  How and when was this position created? Did other people apply for this position? 

Can this position be eliminated and filled by a community volunteer or another full-time staff member? Yes. (In fact a number of the Study Circles staff are AmeriCorps participants.  One of the Parent Community Coordinators in the office is paid a salary of $81,807.84. Is there really a need for more than one paid staff member for this program?)

Savings: $107,144. Impact to classrooms: $0. 

Total suggested cuts to the MCPS budget this week that would not impact classrooms: $137,144.

Please send your ideas for ways to trim the MCPS budget without impacting classrooms to: contact at parentscoalitionmc.com

Weast eliminates job title, keeps administrator and salary

Remember in June 2010 when Superintendent Jerry Weast bemoaned the elimination of the Chief Academic Officer position in his list of budget cuts? Here's what his June 8, 2010 memo to the Board said:

The chief academic officer (CAO) position and $221,081 is eliminated for FY 2011. The position is a key leadership position that coordinates the work of the offices of Curriculum and Instruction, Organizational Development, Special Education and Student Services, and School Performance. The CAO fosters a work environment that is student focused and results-oriented. The CAO ensures that these four offices work collaboratively to implement strategic initiatives designed to eliminate the achievement gap and improve academic achievement for all students. Eliminating this position will impede communication and clear articulation of system priorities, integration and alignment of the work of the four offices, and cross-functional and collaborative work processes that promote effective teamwork.

So what happened to the person that had held the CAO position?

Nothing.

The person is still there, in the same office but now with a new title "Special Advisor in the Office of the Deputy Superintendent of Schools" and receiving a salary of $182,260. Benefits for this position are unknown.

There is no evidence that the position "Special Advisor in the Office of the Deputy Superintentendent of Schools" existed prior to this year. How was a position cut from the Deputy Superintendent's office if the person is still there with a new title? Looks like the CAO title was deleted and a new position was created in the same office.

How does the renaming of a position constitute a budget cut?