Schools using Student Funds to pay for Teacher Planning Time

Last we heard, parents and PTAs could not pay for classroom teachers at local schools.

Yet, the Report released by the teacher's union shows that MCPS elementary schools are currently using student funds to pay for substitute teachers so that classroom teachers can have additional planning time during the school day.

Where do student funds come from? They are payments by parents, guardians and students to the local school for tickets to plays, athletic events, yearbooks etc... The funds are put into the local schools Independent Activity Fund (IAF) account.

The use of student funds for substitute teachers was listed as a "creative strategy" in the Report.

Teachers' Union Wants Longer Elem. School Day for Pearson/MCPS Curriculum 2.0 Planning Time

When Superintendent Joshua Starr announced his recommendation for moving high school start times he also slipped in a proposal to lengthen the MCPS elementary school day.

On the October 31st Kojo Nnamdi radio program on WAMU, Superintendent Starr admitted that the elementary school proposal is not tied to the high school start time proposal. So why is Superintendent Starr lumping these two proposals into one recommendation?

Answer:  The teachers' union wants more planning time for elementary school teachers because of the demands of the Pearson/MCPS Curriculum 2.0 implementation.  The high school start time issue provides a popular "carrot" with which to slip in the union's expensive demand. 

Bet you didn't know that a group of MCPS administrators and teachers' union representatives have been working on the elementary school planning time issue for a year?
Meetings of the JOINT WORKGROUP ON ELEMENTARY PLANNING were held in 2012 on November 8, November 28, December 18, and in 2013, on January 9, January 31, February 28, May 15, and May 30.

The Joint Workgroup was to make recommendations to the MCEA and MCPS Bargaining Teams for discussion and inclusion in contract negotiations.  The Workgroup report was completed June 1, 2013, but was not made public until September 23, 2013, just a week before Superintendent Starr's press conference on high school start times.

The goal of the Workgroup was to develop and prioritize options for increasing planning time within the student day.  Here's the Report.

  Report of the Joint Workgroup on Elementary Planning.pdf by Parents' Coalition of Montgomery County, Maryland