This County Still Needs an Escalante Public Charter School

Last month, Jaime Escalante died.  You can find an outstanding Los Angeles Times obituary here: http://www.latimes.com/news/obituaries/la-me-jaime-escalante31-2010mar31,0,7083760.story.

Back in 1999, when a handful of county teachers, parents, and other concerned citizens came together to present the Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) with its first charter school application, we named ourselves after Jaime Escalante.  I was the co-president of the group through two different charter applications.  And if MCPS has been wise enough, as well as brave enough to vote to open the county’s first charter, we also would have named the school after Escalante.  Why Escalante?  Because we believed that he truly challenged poor brown students not just to aim high academically but to also accomplish real academic feats that no one imagined possible.

By the way, we did get Escalante permission to name the school after him.  I’m somewhat surprised that a public school still has not been named after him.  (If I’m wrong about this, blog readers should definitely post a comment.)

In a nutshell, the Escalante charter school wanted to take poor black and brown students and turn them each into International Baccalaureate (IB) scholars.  Each scholar would be required to sit for all the required IB exams that would lead to the IB diploma.  If things had gone well—if MCPS had opened the Escalante Public Charter Schools—it currently would be graduating annually about 60 IB diploma holders/scholars.

Now, I’m aware that MCPS has significantly increased its numbers of poor students taking IB courses, as well as College Board Advanced Placement (AP) courses.  That is a good thing.  But I would wager that the numbers of poor black and brown poor students earning the IB diploma is extremely small—as in we would be lucky to fill one average high school class with their numbers.  Just guessing here but that number might hover around 30 students.  Of course, since MCPS refuses to share these kinds of data with the public, who really knows how many poor black and brown students earn an IB diploma on an annual basis.

A couple of weeks ago, Jay Mathews of The Washington Post asked me if I thought MCPS would open a charter school anytime soon.  I said no.  By the way, Mathews wrote a 1988 book (Escalante: The Best Teacher in America) about Jaime Escalante, and during the Escalante charter school applications, he wrote several Post pieces that praised our application.

Even though I cannot see a charter opening in the county anytime soon, I did share a general charter school observation with Mathews.  I’ll repeat the observation in this blog.

I can honestly see charter schools filling a creative void for MCPS—of course this would require MCPS and others to think outside of the box.  So, for example, make charters part of the county's Smart Growth Initiatives.  If I ran the world, I wouldmake the White Flint and Gaithersburg Science Complex developers build small dedicated spaces so that charters could operate small comprehensive school.  What is small?—facilities housing between 400-500 students.  The White Flint charter could be associated with Strathmore—make it a performing arts charter.  The Gaithersburg charter could be some kind of science school.

But I told Mathews that no one is thinking like this.  Instead, what we will get to spring up around these new massive complexes are the traditional old-fashion brick and mortar MCPS buildings.

And I can even think of other charter school ideas for the Gaithersburg complex.  I could envision a comprehensive K-12 school on the complex that was just for employees' children.  Think about how great that would be.  Think about the time families would save.  And if we are truly interested in "Smart" anything, think about how f__king smart that would be.  Isn’t that a no-brainer?

Yet, unfortunately, there are no county leaders thinking about schools like this.  We only think and focus on what we have and maintaining only that model.  And this doesn't mean I'm against the normal squared brick school house.  I'm not.  I'm simply saying that there is a role for charters in shaping the county's future of what schooling might be.  And those new models actually fit other thoughts and plans we say we have for the future of Smart Growth.

Joseph Hawkins

Public Opinion and Gaithersburg West

I don't usually cross post from other blogs, but this poll from Maryland Politics Watch hits home - really, honestly, truly, impacting the neighborhood where I live and the quality of life in Gaithersburg and Rockville.

Read the companion piece from Donna Baron, and then cast your vote.

Does the plan make sense?  You decide.

Science City

Flyer Massive Development and Town Hall Development on the Belward Farm likely will impact the quality of life in North Potomac and Rockville.

MEETING POSTPONED

due to blizzard

Attend the Town Hall meeting on February 8, 2010, and find out more.

MCPS Math and the Monocacy Madness

Our friends in the Gifted and Talented Association have agonized about Montgomery County School Superintendent Dr. Weast and math for years, stating that MCPS math is shallow on teaching arithmetic concepts needed to prepare our children to take their place in society.

Here is another demonstration of Dr. Weast's failure in math.

Dr. Weast announced he plans to close Monocacy Elementary School at the end of this school year because of declining enrollment.  

Wait - don't we have over 400 portables next to schools across the county?   Three portables are currently sited at Monocacy.  Are we hearing that the school population is rising?

So why close Monocacy now?  According to Dr. Weast, this will save $1 million dollars.  How?  He doesn't say.  Won't the kids still need to be in a classroom somewhere in the county?  Won't the teachers and staff  be placed elsewhere and paid?  And school buses?  What about that new roof?  Don't forget, we still need to keep a vacant building heated, so the pipes don't freeze.

Sorry, but the capacity is needed elsewhere - down the road in Clarksburg, where Dr. Weast plans on building two new elementary schools.  And yes, MCPS can always add on to Poolesville, with more portables in the short term and an addition at an estimated cost of $14 million - oops, that's not in the current plan.

Are Dr. Weast's projections all that accurate?  You need to look no further than Matsunaga ES, an overcapacity school that was supposed to be relieved by the opening of Little Bennett.  Matsunaga still has portables - so what happened there?

And Wootton High School with its mega additions a few years back is still over capacity.  Wootton manages by running College Institute classes in cooperation with Montgomery College and sending a signficant portion of its kids out on internships, so they get the staffing allocations without having the kids in the building.   Don't forget the monster development called Science City coming to the Wootton cluster with no new schools on the table.

I would be remiss to not mention the White Flint buildup.  Again, more building without more school capacity.

Dr. Weast doesn't get the math or the big picture.  Saving $1 million dollars in operating budget costs by closing Monocacy and then spending $14 million in capital costs for an addition to Poolesville ES does not make sense.  Given the Balkanization of our county by individual clusters, the budget makes even less sense - robbing from Poolesville cluster to satisfy new MoCo residents in Clarskburg doesn't make sense,  especially when the rest of the county has unmet needs too.

Closing any school in MoCo doesn't make sense, especially when we can't accomodate the students we currently have without the extensive use of portable learning cottages.  Dr. Weast's proposal is more than foolish  - it is almost unconscionable to continue to look at the cluster model as individual units without even considering the movement of programs or boundaries.

To repeat the mantra from the elementary school teachers across the county, its time to reteach and relearn the budget math.

Please sir, may I have some more?

This item from Robert Frost Middle School reminded me of Dickens character, Oliver Twist, with the students asking:

Please sir, I'd like some more. I am hungry for science education, and I just can't get what I need to succeed here.

MoCo's Promethean Procurement has kept many a Parents Coalition blogger busy writing about the proliferation of these funky techno-toys in schools throughout the county. Honestly, by now we thought that these boards were all over MoCo schools.

Imagine my surprise when I found the following on Frost's PTSA webpage.

Frost Donation



I know that math teachers and social studies teachers have Promethean boards at Frost - so why were the science teachers left out? Can't the teachers share?

More important - I wonder what the folks who are promoting "Science City" on the Belward Property will think when they find out labs in MCPS middle schools aren't state of the art. Shush, don't let them know that the high school labs at Wootton and Churchill are lacking in basics too - maybe they will rethink their plan for locating to a county that doesn't support K-12 science education.

The NIMBY Tale of Vanishing Valerie and No Show Nancy

Does the Montgomery County Council want to listen to its constituents?

At last night's town hall meeting concerning the Gaithersburg West Master Plan and "Science City," seven of county council members listened to constituent concerns. The audience included the mayor and several council members from the City of Gaithersburg, Saqib Ali, and staffers from Senator Cardin's and Congressman Van Hollen's staffs. Ben Kramer, also of the Annapolis delegation, was in attendance, but he wasn't acknowledged in the introductions or greetings. Was that just an oversight or intentional snub resulting from his unsuccessful run for the open seat from Burtonsville?

Who wasn't there? Valerie Ervin (Silver Spring and chair of the Council's Ed Committee) and Nancy Navarro (Burtonsville). Nancy called in sick. I've heard that at several other meetings lately, and hope her health issues resolve before she needs to file for reelection. Valerie - she was expected to show up, but just decided, I'll let her speak for herself. Valerie missed an opportunity to meet the taxpayers that fund her salary and see firsthand what happens on the "other" side of the county. I wonder whether these two are interested in collaborative efforts and consensus building or only interested in those who cast the votes in local elections when they are running.

But from my observation of the Gaithersburg Master Plan issue, I note the conspicuous absence of any mention of setting aside additional land for schools. Doesn't that happen when a new master plan is adopted? Doesn't it also make sense when deciding the fate of one of the largest undeveloped parcels of land that schools would at least be acknowledged? No one from Montgomery County Public Schools was in attendance, either.

Too bad, I was tempted to ask that question last night, but given the no show from the education committee, I decided that the question should wait - after all, its obviously not on the agenda - yet.

MoCo Council Wants to Listen

Or so they say.

Join the fun tomorrow night, October 7, 2009 when the Montgomery County Council holds a town hall meeting concerning the Gaithersburg West Master Plan.

Will our schools and roads be able to handle the new development on the Belward Property?

Find out more.

http://www.montgomerycountymd.gov/Apps/Council/PressRelease/PR_details.asp?PrID=5903


Montgomery County Council to Host Gaithersburg West/N. Potomac/ Darnestown Area Town Hall Meeting On Wednesday, Oct. 7

* Release ID: 09-131
* Release Date: 9/29/2009
* Contact: Neil H. Greenberger 240-777-7939 or Jean Arthur240-777-7934
* From: Council Office

Montgomery County Council to Host Gaithersburg West/N. Potomac/ Darnestown Area Town Hall Meeting On Wednesday, Oct. 7

Residents Invited to Express Their Views on Issues, Ask
Questions of Councilmembers at Universities at Shady Grove

ROCKVILLE, Md., September 29, 2009—The Montgomery County Council will continue its efforts to find out what issues most concern residents when it hosts a Town Hall Meeting for the Gaithersburg West/North Potomac/Darnestown area on Wednesday, Oct. 7. The meeting at the Universities at Shady Grove in Rockville will start at 8 p.m. A pre-meeting reception will begin at 7:30 p.m.

This will be the second Town Hall Meeting hosted by the Council in 2009. The Council is composed of President Phil Andrews, Vice President Roger Berliner and Councilmembers Marc Elrich, Valerie Ervin, Nancy Floreen, Mike Knapp, George Leventhal, Nancy Navarro and Duchy Trachtenberg. In 2008, the Council held Town Hall Meetings in downtown Silver Spring, Clarksburg, Bethesda and Burtonsville. Most meetings have attracted more than 200 residents.

The Universities at Shady Grove are located at 9630 Gudelsky Drive in Rockville. The Town Hall Meeting will be in Building No. 2.

The meeting will allow residents to let the Councilmembers know how they feel about specific issues and will allow them to ask questions of the Councilmembers in an organized, but informal, setting.

Topics expected to be of interest include the proposed Gaithersburg West Master Plan, the proposed Corridor Cities Transitway, schools, public safety, traffic, growth, the County budget, deer control and affordable housing and taxes.

“In many ways, our County is facing one of its most difficult periods in a very long time. We are all in this together and we want residents to tell us about their most important concerns as we approach making important decisions about growth in this area,” said Council President Andrews. “This Council has made a priority of having better direct communication with residents, and Town Hall Meetings have proven to be an excellent way to do just that. For the citizens, these meetings provide a forum where they can see their elected officials in a different format than a televised meeting or through a news release.”

The meeting will be taped for later broadcast on County Cable Montgomery (CCM—cable Channel 6 on Comcast and RCN, Channel 30 on Verizon). Susan Kenedy, a producer for the county station, will moderate the meeting.

For more information about the Town Hall Meeting or about the broadcast times, call 240-777-7931.

ScienceCity - More Research Needed

From our friends at Scale-it-Back concerning upcoming events relating to the Science City development at Belward Farm.

Scale It Back