FY21 Washington Area Boards of Education Guide (WABE) - Compare 11 Local Public School Systems

Good reference for information about MCPS funding, staffing and enrollment.  Search the tag WABE on the Parents' Coalition blog for past WABE Guides.

FY21 Washington Area Boards of Education Guide 

Fy21 Wabe Guide by Parents' Coalition of Montgomery County, Maryland on Scribd

FY19 Washington Area Boards of Education Guide - Compare 11 Local Public School Systems

Good reference for information about MCPS funding, staffing and enrollment.  Search the tag WABE on the Parents' Coalition blog for past WABE Guides.

FY19 Washington Area Boards of Education Guide - Compare 11 Local Public School Systems: Parents' Coalition of Montgomery County, Maryland

Fy19 Washington Area Boards... by Parents' Coalition of Montg... on Scribd

FY19 Washington Area Boards of Education Guide - Compare 11 Local Public School Systems

Fy19 Washington Area Boards... by Parents' Coalition of Montg... on Scribd

MCPS 8th out of 10 Area Counties in Percent of ESOL Students

Below is the 2015 Washington Area Boards of Education (WABE) Guide.  The WABE Guide compares data from 10 public school systems around Washington, D.C.  The WABE Guide compares enrollment, class sizes, staffing, revenue, salary and benefits information from each of the 10 counties.

It usually compares data from all 10 counties, except there was the year that MCPS refused to participate.

   2015 by Parents' Coalition of Montgomery County, Maryland

Why does Fairfax Co. Serve 44,409 Special Education Students and MCPS Only 19,859?

Below is the 2014 Washington Area Boards of Education (WABE) Guide.  The WABE Guide compares data from 10 public school systems around Washington, D.C.  The WABE Guide compares enrollment, class sizes, staffing, revenue, salary and benefits information from each of the 10 counties.

It usually compares data from all 10 counties, except there was the year that MCPS refused to participate. 

   2014 by Parents' Coalition of Montgomery County, Maryland

In 2013, MCPS had 1,697 Non-School Based Positions, Fairfax has 1,648

We are behind on making the annual WABE Guide's available. Let's catch up by starting with the 2013 WABE Guide.

Below is the 2013 Washington Area Boards of Education (WABE) Guide.  The WABE Guide compares data from 10 public school systems around Washington, D.C.  The WABE Guide compares enrollment, class sizes, staffing, revenue, salary and benefits information from each of the 10 counties.

It usually compares data from all 10 counties, except there was the year that MCPS refused to participate.

   2013 by Parents' Coalition of Montgomery County, Maryland

Foose moves to Balt. Co and $214,000 salary

The Baltimore Sun is reporting that the salary for Baltimore County Public Schools' new deputy superintendent Renee Foose is $214,000. Foose left her position as associate superintendent of the Office of Shared Accountability in MCPS where her salary was $162,623, to move to the Baltimore County position. 

..."In these days of fiscal constraints, there are ways to be creative and spend dollars wisely," Boser said. In general, he said, when school systems make cuts in education, "we tend not to do it in particularly thoughtful ways."
Baltimore County principals have been ordered to cut 196 teaching positions by telling select teachers that they will be "excessed." ...
...The school system released Foose's salary Wednesday night, a month after The Baltimore Sun first requested it. Salaries for government employees in Maryland are public information under state law, and school officials in Baltimore City, Anne Arundel County and other area municipalities typically disclose them immediately over the phone. When asked for Foose's salary the week of Feb. 28, a spokeswoman for the Baltimore County school system said the agency has implemented a policy requiring formal, written requests under the Maryland Public Information Act before salary information is released...

MCPS: Highest Average Teacher Salary in State as of 2010

This chart and more information in the Analysis of Professional Salaries - Maryland Public Schools - June 2010 report from the Maryland State Department of Education.

Fact Check: Non-existent MCPS documents show up in Fairfax schools files

For many years, MCPS data had been included in the Washington Area Boards of Education Guide (WABE Guide).  Unfortunately, the 2011 WABE Guide did not include MCPS data, and we wanted to know why.

To find out why the WABE did not include MCPS data, we went to the expert, the MCPS Public Information Office, headed by Public Information Director Dana Tofig. Here is what Mr. Tofig told us when we requested correspondence between FCPS and MCPS that discusses the MCPS decision to not participate in the WABE Guide.

MPIA PIO denies existence of documents

Publication of the WABE Guide is coordinated by Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS).  Here are the documents that FCPS provided when we asked for the correspondence that Mr. Tofig said did not exist. 

FCPS / MCPS WABE FOIA October 2010

Don't Compare Us! MCPS Stops Releasing Budget Data

For over 10 years MCPS has participated in the Washington Area Boards of Education Guide (WABE). 


The Guide has been used to compare MCPS to other local counties in the D.C. area by this blog, by the County Council's Office of Legislative Oversight and others.


But no more! Data driven? Hardly. MCPS has now stopped participating in this local exchange of information. No more data for you Washington, D.C. public! 


An Arlington County watchdog group - ACTA (Arlington County Taxpayers Association) broke this story on their blog. They even called MCPS and asked why MCPS data was missing from the annual publication. 


Here's the background on the WABE Guide from Fairfax County Public Schools:

The Washington Area Boards of Education (WABE), previously known as the Metropolitan Area Boards of Education, was first established in 1971 as a means for area school divisions to share information, study common problems, and enhance cooperation among educational organizations.  Each year, the group surveys its members to publish the annual WABE Guide. This guide enables local school systems to learn about each other by reporting comparable information in a standardized format.  In addition, the WABE Guide is meant to be used by citizens as a source for consistent, reliable educational data.  

And here is the FY11 WABE Guide minus the MCPS data!