MNPS official failed to disclose consulting fees from vendor group #ERDI #PerformanceMatters #Amplify #Gallup #Panasonic @mcps @mocoboe

...ERDI is an industry trade group that pays school officials to sit down with technology companies, giving them feedback on products they hope to sell to those officials.

The group's affiliated companies include eight with whom Dr. Joseph's team has signed contracts -- for more than $17 million.

Back in June, school board member Amy Frogge publicly questioned the administration's ties to ERDI -- and the potential conflicts of interest when district officials take money from the group.

"ERDI's sole purpose is to act as a middleman between school districts and ed vendors," Frogge told her fellow board members...

Breaking: State Releases MCPS Audit Day Before Final Council Vote on Budget. No Bid Contracts Flagged!

Here's just a sample from the 6 year Maryland State Office of Legislative Audits report on Montgomery County Public Schools.   The 6 year audit is being released a week after the Montgomery Council already voted to raise Montgomery County citizens' taxes to support the alleged need of Montgomery County Public Schools for more money. 
 
Remember the Gallup Poll?

MCPS awarded a three-year $900,000 contract with payments totaling
$300,000 in fiscal year 2014 to survey employees without using a
competitive procurement process or preparing a sole-source justification
even though this service (conducting
surveys) is available from multiple firms.

   Maryland State Audit of Montgomery County Public Schools by Parents' Coalition of Montgomery County, Maryland

Starr Exits, Hope Falls #gallup #nobid

http://apps.washingtonpost.com/g/documents/local/montgomery-county-public-schools-elementary-and-middle-school-milestones/1650/

Starr Inked No Bid/No BOE Vote $900,000 Contract with Gallup as Superintendent, Gets Job with Gallup Affiliate

The former superintendent of Montgomery County Public Schools is set to become the next CEO of an international association of educators.
PDK International, based in Arlington, announced Tuesday that Joshua Starr will replace William Bushaw, who served as the organization’s CEO for the past 11 years....

...PDK also publishes Kappan, a magazine for educators, and an annual poll in partnership with Gallup about American public opinion on public schools...

 http://www.bethesdamagazine.com/Bethesda-Beat/2015/Former-MCPS-Superintendent-Starr-Lands-New-Job/

When a Superintendent Signs a Contract without Board Approval

Judge’s decision pending regarding Calvert school board, executive team contracts

...“Who do you believe the contract was between? You and [Superintendent] Mr. Smith? Or you and the county board?” Chandlee asked Welsh.
“I believe Dr. Smith was actually operating for the Board of Education in terms of implementing the contract,” Welsh answered Chandlee.
“… I just don’t see in Calvert County where that authority would come from. That’s why I’m asking this question. Is it superintendent Smith’s contract with you?” Chandlee again asked Welsh.
“If it’s not him as an individual, it’s him as superintendent, and any superintendent that would have been in that position would have continued,” Welsh answered, adding that Smith’s affidavit submitted on the record said he met with the county board every year since 2009 when the contracts were put in place and discussed the contracts with board members...

BCC Tattler: Google Chromebooks Doing More Harm than Damage

By Daniel Crystal
“Ok, everyone! Could you all please grab a chromebook?”
I hate hearing this when I walk into my AP World History class. It honestly ruins my day and I don’t think I’m alone.
This year B-CC decided to give into the pressures of the technology age and purchase chromebooks for the history department. These chromebooks are now being utilized in classes to complete assignments for formative grades. At $199, the cheap chromebooks provide even cheaper performance.
My problem is that the chromebooks are terrible pieces of technology. They are slow, glitchy, and they do strange things all the time. The chromebooks make it very difficult to complete an assignment in class. I can’t even type the word ‘the’ without the cursor shifting randomly and typing ‘teh’. It is so frustrating that no one can type a sentence, because the cursor always shifts out of nowhere.
On top of this, I have had a recent issue with a keyboard showing up on the screen as I am typing. None of the teachers seem to be trained technicians, so my issues with the chromebooks never get addressed, leaving me struggling to finish assignments in the class period that display quality work...

 http://tattlerextra.org/2015/02/google-chromebooks-doing-more-harm-than-damage/

Tonight: BCC Parents Meeting to Discuss MCPS & Pearson Product Privacy Concerns

Privacy

Informal meeting on Chromebook and Student Privacy

Thursday, February 19, 2015 at 7:00 pm in the Conference room of Jane E. Lawton Community Recreation Center,

4301 Willow Lane, Chevy Chase, MD 20815. 

We are following up on the Chromebook concerns about our students’ personal information, and also responding to those who emailed us back with similar concerns. 

 

While waiting for a response from CCES or MCPS, we ran into another, potentially more serious privacy issue: the newly implemented self-registration system for students and patents to sign up for classes online - see the attached file. 

 

As of Jan. 2015, class selection at Westland Middle School, B-CC High School and throughout MCPS is to be done online by students and parents via a website branded as myMCPS, which is in fact a Pearson’s Student Information System (SIS) PowerSchool. The new registration process was the topic of the recent Westland info sessions at CCES.   We are given till February 14 to register our children for classes for 2015/16 academic year: https://scheduler.mcpsmd.org/public/home.html

 

By registering the students, unbeknownst to us, we parents, consent to Pearson’s Privacy Policy. Pearson collects and data-mines students’ and parents’ personal information including names, home addresses, social security numbers, phone numbers and student grades, health and disciplinary records. To see these capabilities, visit the Pearson’s Features page and scroll down to Family management, Health Screening, Immunization Screening: http://www.pearsonschoolsystems.com/products/powerschool/features/

 

Pearson and Google are companies that refused to sign the voluntary pledge not to collect and sell students’ data proposed by President Obama. Pearson is the company that pioneered the “stealth assessment”- the technology of continuous, secret monitoring and evaluation of student achievement and behavior.

 

Other school districts that use these providers (Google, Pearson) have been a lot more forthcoming about their practices and have informed the parents proactively:

http://www.smusd.us/apps/pages/index.jsp?uREC_ID=29914&type=d&pREC_ID=590648

"...one of the most dynamic and visionary school leaders in Maryland, Joshua Starr..." #nobid #gallup

This article has now been reprinted in a New Hampshire newspaper.

...Compare this view with one of the most dynamic and visionary school leaders in Maryland, Joshua Starr, who is attempting to be a model disrupter by sponsoring the Gallup organization’s survey of students’ dreams. The thinking is that if educators can know and understand young people’s dreams for their futures, then the curriculum and instruction provided through schooling can be designed to support their manifestation.

Now that is 21st-century thinking...

http://www.concordmonitor.com/home/13705302-95/my-turn-19th-century-education-model-not-what-21st-century-students-need

Sponsoring? Is that what we call no bid surprise contracts these days?

New Council Report Reveals Complaints about MCPS Procurement Process

On July 29, 2014, the Montgomery County Council released a report from their Office of Legislative Oversight entitled Procurement and Small, Minority, Female, Disabled and Locally-Owned Businesses.  The Council requested this project in order to examine the County’s procurement process, particularly for small and minority, female, disabled, or locally-owned businesses. Appendix F of this report contains comments from businesses. A number of the businesses commented on the MCPS procurement process even though this report is limited to Montgomery County procurement. 

The comments about MCPS are interesting coming on the heels of the MSI Soccer litigation against the Board of Education concerning the procurement process for selecting artificial turf field partners. 

Over the last 8 years the Parents' Coalition has documented a number of these same issues cited by these businesses.  

Will the Montgomery County Council pay any attention to the comments in this report?

• I have two complaints. Montgomery County based businesses should get priority. Perhaps a 5% advantage. The printing supply bid for MCPS schools should be put out every year and not be rolled over for three years.

• Montgomery County Schools, college and other agencies that procure institutional style educational furniture, primarily purchase everything from ONLY 1 or 2 vendors. Many local county vendors never get an opportunity to participate. Procurement policy discourages competition. Purchases are almost exclusively made through the state's BRCPC contract or agencies develop their own contracts. Once a contract has been established, it can be renewed for years. The opportunity to bring new vendors or products in is almost impossible. Once a vendor has been awarded a contract, an agency can "standardize" on that product and purchase only it for what ever price the "authorized dealer' selects. Montgomery County should bring back the bid process. It should be the function of procurement to seek out local qualified vendors. Procurement should provide equal access to contracts by not limiting the scope of the specification to favor 1 or 2 vendors. There is no reason to limit the period of time to a small window to place items on a contract. Procurement should go back to using bids and seek out local vendors. There should be either a limit or some oversight to the amount of procurement that can be given to the same vendor.

• A new bid was created for school pictures and the county didn't have good information for the basis of the process.

• I am a local MBE/DBE office furniture dealership, living in Montgomery County as well as owning a business located in Montgomery County. My children attended Mont Cty Public Schools. Yet, as both a business and residential taxpayer the majority of the furniture business is awarded to a vendor outside the County. It has been virtually impossible getting assistance that is meaningful.

• I never see any bids for commercial printing. I know the public schools send a tremendous amount to Virginia, but neglects to keep it in Maryland. I went to Montgomery county schools. A bit surprised Maryland businesses are not valued

  OLOReport2014-11ProcurementandSmallMinorityFemaleDisabledandLocallyOwnedBusinesses by Parents' Coalition of Montgomery County, Maryland

... one of the most dynamic and visionary school leaders in Maryland, Joshua Starr...

...Compare this view with one of the most dynamic and visionary school leaders in Maryland, Joshua Starr, who is attempting to be a model disrupter by sponsoring the Gallup organization to survey students’ dreams. The thinking is that if educators can know and understand young people’s dreams for their futures, the curriculum and instruction provided through schooling can be designed to support their manifestation. Now that is 21st century thinking!...

 http://www.centredaily.com/2014/05/13/4176028/henry-g-brzycki-why-standardized.html?sp=/99/145/

Read more here: http://www.centredaily.com/2014/05/13/4176028/henry-g-brzycki-why-standardized.html?sp=/99/145/#storylink=cpy

Have you had a lunch meeting with Joshua Starr? Here are some of the people he met with in 2013. #lunchbunch

This is the second in our series of credit card bills for Superintendent Joshua Starr.  The document below covers the time period from January through April of 2013 and shows when Superintendent Starr charged a meal, parking, air fare, train travel, gasoline, or hotels on his MCPS American Express card.

Here is the list of people and groups that Superintendent Starr met with during this time period as recorded in his American Express credit card receipts.

Gazette Editorial Board
LaVerne Kimball
Dr. Edelstein
Dr. Pollard
Dist Mgmt Council
Wireless Generation
Larry Leverett
George Perry
Gallup, Inc.
Leadership Montgomery
Dan Brown
Rebecca Thessin
Laura Steinberg
Christopher Barclay
Myra Smith
Dr. Lillian Lowery
Chuck Short
Elaine ____
Larry Leverett (again)
Diane Ravitch
Larry Leverett (again)
A. Zuckerman
Kim Statham
Dr. Christopher Garran

  2013 Starr January through April by Parents' Coalition of Montgomery County, Maryland

Starr gets Schooled at Council. Leventhal: "I hope we have a plan besides just hope."

May 5, 2014
Montgomery County Council Agenda Item #5

This Council Agenda item put forth a proposal from the County Executive for the FY 2015 budget to set up a new program called the Childrens' Trust with $100,000 in County funding.
The goal of these funds would be to help close the achievement gap.
MCPS' contribution to this trust for the FY 2015 budget would be $ 0.

After a long and intense discussion on this Agenda item, here is the final statement from Councilmember George Leventhal and the response from Superintendent Joshua Starr.

Must see TV.

BOE's Gap Closing Plan

That's it.

The Board of Education's Strategic Planning Committee is meeting today.

Here's their plan for their Strategic Planning Framework Monitoring System.  (See image to left.) The plan includes monitoring high school hope, engagement and well being via Gallup no bid surveys.

 After the committee reviews this chart they will probably go to lunch.

Starr's Hired Gun

This week's Gazette includes a letter to the editor from the MCPS Public Information and Web Services Director.  The letter criticizes a Gazette Editorial about Superintendent Joshua Starr's "Hope" agenda.  Joshua Starr brought the "Hope" agenda to MCPS as part of a no bid $900,000 multi-year contract with Gallup, Inc.  

The letter to the editor from the MCPS Public Information and Web Services Director dispenses the following statement as "public information":  

...the Gazette’s recent editorial on the superintendent’s speech at Interfaith Works [“The urgency of action,” April 9] didn’t meet that basic standard of journalism...

Does the  job description of the Montgomery County Public Schools' Public Information Director include defending the personal agendas of superintendents?  No, it actually doesn't. The position is to provide public information and web services to the public on behalf of the Board of Education and the school system. The position does not include spinning the personal agendas of superintendents.

Starr: Hope will help close achievement gap #edubabble #Gallup #nobidcontract

Superintendent Joshua P. Starr said Wednesday that “hope is how we are going to close the achievement gap” in Montgomery County Public Schools.
“Persistent achievement gaps call out to us with urgency and we must respond with urgency, the urgency of hope,” he said...

http://www.gazette.net/article/20140328/NEWS/140329198/1070/montgomery-8217-s-school-superintendent-hope-will-help-close&template=gazette

Breaking News: IG Confirms MCPS Can Spend Without Documentation, Without Bids, Without Competition

How to spend $20 MILLION+ of taxpayer dollars:

Step 1:  Take a trip to London and a trip to Florida and a trip to Texas and speak in Washington, D.C. for 1 vendor

Step 2:  Pick that vendor's product as the "technology standard" (no documentation required)

Step 3:  Write check to vendor for $20 MILLION+

Step 4:  Do not take any competitive bids, do not compare products, do not shop.

According to the Montgomery County Inspector General (IG) the above MCPS procedure for procurement is in compliance with Maryland law.

The IG does say:

..."However, we did notify MCPS that lack of documentation supporting a standard may be subject to challenges by stakeholders and competing vendors, and could even present appearances of improper financial relationships."...

  Mcps Promethean Acq Final Report 30 Nov 2013 by Parents' Coalition of Montgomery County, Maryland

Are Schools discussing the Gallup Survey Data?

Have local schools been discussing the 64% of MCPS Teachers that are Not Engaged or are Actively Disengaged?  Here was the January 2013, Press Release from Gallup that explained what was to happen with the Survey data. 

Gallup Survey Data Release Begins
In the fall of 2012, 76% of MCPS employees – and 86% of school-based employees – took the Gallup Employee Engagement Survey. On January 22nd, Gallup began briefings on school based data with principals and central office managers. The survey, which Gallup has used with more than 20 million people since it was first developed in 1999. MCPS is also utilizing the data back from the recent Gallup Student Poll.
Gallup’s data shows a strong correlation between staff engagement and student achievement.
Gallup provides local school data on employee satisfaction and engagement. The Survey – with its’ unusual “Q12” questions (“Do you have a best friend at work?”) – has been used in more than 5,000 work groups in the last three years in education services organizations. The data from 2012 is meant to provide baseline data in MCPS. Several additional questions were asked in the survey to provide continuity with key aspects of the previous MCPS Employee Survey of the School Environment.
In the first stage briefings of principals and managers, the expectations for follow were spelled out: 1) share, 2) discuss, 3) select and 4) plan.
Gallup staff are scheduling conference calls to discuss follow-up with each school’s “Triad” – the principal, the Elected Faculty Rep (EFR) and the Elected Supporting Services Rep (ESR). These are expected to be completed by the end of February.
Every single employee should be able to see the results for their school/worksite and discuss them. Employees will have access to the results for their school, their cluster, countywide data for their school level (ES, MS, HS) along with the overall countywide results. Leadership teams and school staffs are expected to discuss the results, to select one of the engagement items to work on that is most important to the team, and to incorporate action planning into review and revision of local school improvement plans this coming summer.
Gallup is providing principals, EFRs and ESRs with a useful resource guide for school leadership teams to help guide team discussions and development of best practice action steps (“Engaged Schools: Employee Engagement Action Guide”).MCEA’s newly organized staff School Improvement Team is available for assistance, as is the staff from the MCPS Office of School Support and Improvement.
Gallup will conduct the survey again in 2013 and 2014 to assess progress made.  MCPS’s use of the Gallup survey is indicative of the increased focus – and value – the system is placing on both employee and student engagement as linchpins for improving student and learning.

64% of MCPS Teachers Not Engaged or Actively Disengaged

Remember when Superintendent Joshua Starr arrived he immediately signed up MCPS for a Gallup poll of employees.  He cancelled the administration of the 2nd grade Terra Nova testing to help pay for this $900,000 Gallup poll.

Gallup didn't have to bid on this project, Starr just handed them the cash.

What is in the Gallup poll that cost $900,000?  19 questions. That's all.

Here are the 19 questions the Gallup poll asks staff, and the Gallup summary provided to the Board of Education.

--------------------------------------
On a 5 point scale, where 5 means extremely satisfied and 1 means extremely dissatisfied, how satisfied with your organization as a place to work?

From 2012 Gallup Report on MCPS
(Results for individual
questions were not reported to BOE)

On a 5 point scale, where 5 means strongly agree and 1 means strongly disagree, please rate your level of agreement with the following items:

• I know what is expected of me at work.
• I have the materials and equipment I need to do my work right.
• At work, I have the opportunity to do what I do best every day.
• In the last seven days, I have received recognition or praise for doing good work.
• My supervisor, or someone at work, seems to care about me as a person.
• There is someone at work who encourages my development.
• At work, my opinions seem to count.
• The mission or purpose of my organization makes me feel my job is important.
• My associates or fellow employees are committed to doing quality work.
• I have a best friend at work.
• In the last six months, someone at work has talked to me about my progress.
• This last year, I have had opportunities at work to learn and grow.

And, the MCPS specific questions:

• I would recommend my school or worksite to friends and family as a good place to work. 
• My supervisor involves me in decisions affecting my work.
• My supervisor fosters a collaborative work environment.
• My supervisor is an active supporter of the changes that affect our workgroup.
• There is open communication throughout all levels of MCPS.
• Leaders in MCPS help me see how changes made today will affect my organizations future.

Here are the 2012 Gallup survey results for the MCPS specific questions.

From 2012 Gallup Report on MCPS

Starr's One Thing: Mold remediation? No pedophiles in classrooms? Justice for Rock Terrace students? Safe bus transportation?

Nope.

Starr's one thing is "hope".

If you could make one change in your school system this year — no matter how expensive or dramatic — what would it be?

-----

Remember, Superintendent Joshua Starr just got a pay raise a few months ago. Taxpayers are paying him the big bucks for these thoughts!

Starr at Gallup Convention, "I don't need a Strategic Plan"

As you  may recall, one of the first things that Superintendent Joshua Starr did when he arrived in Montgomery County was to bring in a no bid contract for Gallup.  The Gallup annual contract with MCPS is now up to $900,000 per year.

And, oh look. Here is Superintendent Joshua Starr at a Gallup convention.  You can listen to your Superintendent's presentation in the video below.  Is this what we are paying a Superintendent to do, stump for no bid vendors?

And don't forget the Joshua Starr - Gallup - Jerry Weast connection!

July 18 - 19, 2013:  Gallup Education Conference, Omaha, Nebraska