Walter Johnson High School Charging Students $71 to Attend Free Public School Graduation. FYI: There are no fees to attend MCPS graduations.

The Maryland legislature and the Montgomery County Board of Education have not authorized the charging of any fees for attendance at MCPS graduations.  There are no legal senior dues or fees to attend Montgomery County Public Schools.  That fact becomes clear when a comparison of high schools shows that some MCPS high schools don't have any senior dues or graduation fees. 

As the Parents' Coalition has shown over the years, Kennedy High School students are charged the highest "senior dues." 

If any Montgomery County Board of Education members would like to explain why Kennedy High School students have been targeted for these illegal fees, we would be happy to post their explanation.

wj-senior-letter---class-of-2023.pdf (montgomeryschoolsmd.org)

2010: Every MD School Board Prohibited from Charging Bus Fees, But @mocoboe Does It Anyway

MCPS schools charge students to ride MCPS school buses, even though back in 2010 the Maryland Attorney General's office advised that every school board in the State of Maryland was prohibited from charging fees for bus transportation.

The 2017 fee you see in the image to the left was charged by an elementary school to transport students on MCPS buses.  MCPS has confirmed that this was a transportation fee.

Berthiaume was right! Every MD School Board Prohibited from Charging Bus Fees: Parents' Coalition of Montgomery County, Maryland

...prohibit every school board from charging fees for bus transportation...

MCPS Bans Students from Graduation Ceremonies All the Time

If you owe MCPS or your local principal cash, whether the fee charged was legal or illegal, you do not get to attend graduation.  (For example, senior dues are an illegal fee. They are not authorized by the legislature or the Board of Education, but that does not stop principals from banning students from graduation if they do not pay up.)

No cash = no cap and gown = no ceremony 

BOE Hiding Revenue from Council and State (No wonder BOE wants to get rid of State Audits!)

MCPS FY17 Operating Budget

The Parents' Coalition has confirmed that the Montgomery County Board of Education is hiding revenue from the County Council and from the State legislature.

The revenue that is not being reported in the Montgomery County Public Schools Operating Budget is the millions (?) of dollars collected from students, parents and guardians for class fees.

We know that the Board of Education allows local schools to collect class fees because we have obtained a list of the fees every year since 2008.  The fees are not a secret.

When we asked where the fees are accounted for in the MCPS Operating Budget, we learned that the fees do not show up in the public budget documents.

Lots of other student fees do show up in the budget.  For example, summer school fees, student activity fees, and lunch purchases.  Yet, when a student pays $40 to take a class at Thomas Edison High School of Technology, that $40 never shows up in the MCPS Operating Budget.  Some would say those payments are being "made under the table."

How much is the Board of Education collecting in class fees?  How is the money that is collected spent?   

Some of the 2016 class fees being charged at Edison HS

This isn't the first time that the Parents' Coalition has discovered unreported revenue being hidden by the Board of Education.  In 2009, we uncovered over $21 million in unreported funding from the federal government.  

What else is the Board of Education hiding?  

Now you can understand why the Board of Education voted to support legislation to get rid of the mandated state audits of MCPS.   

WTOP: Ex-employee charged with stealing from elementary school

ELKRIDGE, Md. (AP) — Howard County police have charged a former elementary school employee with stealing nearly $9,000 from the school.
Fifty-year-old Twyla Blackmon-Green of Elkridge was charged Monday in a criminal summons with 16 counts of theft, the department said Tuesday in a news release.
Officers say the Howard County Public School System notified the department about discrepancies in account ledgers. Authorities say Blackmon-Green, an officer worker at Ducketts Lane Elementary School in Elkridge, had access to the school’s accounts and cash.
Investigators say Blackmon-Green stole money that had been collected for field trips, book sales and in fundraisers.

 http://wtop.com/howard-county/2016/01/ex-employee-charged-with-stealing-from-elementary-school/

MCPS - Still Ripping Off Students, Now with the Chromebook Excuse

Once again we remind Montgomery County Public Schools and the Board of Education that the Maryland Constitution guarantees ALL children a FREE PUBLIC EDUCATION.

Let's make this really simple:  If the CURRICULUM requires headphones, they are to be SUPPLIED for FREE by the public school system.

For College Gardens Elementary School students that means you do not have to pay $3 for headphones and you do not need to bring them from home.  If you need them for your classes, MCPS will be supplying them to you as part of their $2.4 BILLION dollar operating budget.  That's what those billions of dollars are for, that is Maryland law. 

In this specific example below, not only is College Gardens ES charging students for something that should be supplied for free, but College Gardens is overcharging students ($3.00) what MCPS is paying for these headphones ($2.75).  That's a rip off on top of a rip off with no accounting for where the extra funds are going. 

For readers that wonder why we track the expense accounts of administrators, here's why!   

How many headphones did Board of Education members "party" away last year? 2,398

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

January 28, 2015

Dear Parents/Guardians,

College Gardens has received chrome books for all students in grades 3 and 5. These are in addition to the 90 chrome books purchased by the PTA. With the use of the chrome books, students will need headphones. Students may bring their own from home or purchase KOSS headphones from the school for $3.00.

The chrome books are used in the classrooms to enhance creativity and collaboration in the classroom. All students will have access to a Google Apps for Education account. These accounts are secure to the learning environment and staff members are able to access their accounts. The staff and student accounts enable document sharing, collaborative work, and assessment opportunities in this cloud-based platform. For MCPS, participating students and staff are assigned an “@mcpsmd.net” G-mail like account. With this e-mail account students only have access to w-mail with people inside the MCPS system. Student progress and engagement will be monitored via a learning management system integrated into the platform that allows teachers to send information to students, offer real-time feedback, and monitor progress on activities.

As an added precaution to safeguard students, MCPS has enabled a feature of Google Search called “Safe Search” within our Google Apps domain. With “Safe Search” enabled, sexually explicit video and images are filtered from Google Search result pages, along with results that might link to explicit content when logged into their account. In essence, students’ internet searches are safer and more secure than if they were not using their accounts to conduct the same searches.

If you have questions or want additional information on the MCPS initiative to bring chrome books into the schools, please contact the Office of the Chief Technology Officer at 301-279-3581, or if you have questions regarding the use of chrome books at College Gardens you may contact me at 301-279-8470.

Sincerely,

Stacey Rogovoy

Principal

SR:cb

Edison High School Still Charging Students for Free Public Education

The Maryland Constitution guarantees all public school children a free public education.  That means that anything related to curriculum must be available to all for free.

But, we live in Montgomery County and in our county, our elected officials don't believe in the Maryland Constitution and don't believe in free public education for all.

Our Board of Education is so bold that they actually put right on the Edison High School application (page 4) that any children that apply for an Edison program will be charged to attend the school.

Yes, if your child dares to apply for classes at Edison High School in Silver Spring, the Board of Education will deny your child a free public education.  

From the Edison High School application packet:

   Edison High School Updated 2015-16 Application by Parents' Coalition of Montgomery County, Maryland

Whitman Principal Wants $24,050 Cash for Slush Fund

From Whitman High School today we learn that Whitman Principal Alan Goodwin wants $24,050 to put in his school slush fund.  

What is the money for? We have no idea.  Mr. Goodwin is using graduation to extort these funds from students.  In MCPS graduation is a free event.  Graduation is funded by the Board of Education as part of the MCPS Operating Budget.  But, if parents and guardians want to throw an extra $50 bucks at Alan Goodwin, then be our guest.
 
Just know that there is no $50 "fee" for graduation and that punishing students for not paying this illegal fee is bullying and extortion.

The Board of Education and MCPS are teaching students a very important lesson about how public institutions can use their power to bully citizens and extort funds. We can expect this type of behavior to continue in Montgomery County for generations to come as our public school system trains each generation how to bully and extort from children.

From Whitman High School - January 13, 2015:

PLEASE SHARE THE MORNING ANNOUNCEMENTS WITH YOUR STUDENT(S)

Gardiner
A reminder to all seniors - It's time to get your senior dues in.  Dues are $50.00 and both cash/checks are acceptable with checks made out to WWHS.
This covers the cost of caps/gowns, tickets and programs.  It is now considered an obligation if dues have not been paid, which means that students cannot apply for parking second semester.  In addition, prom tickets/picnic tickets will not be able to be purchased until dues have been paid.  Please bring your payment to Mrs. Gardiner in the main office.

Posted by Donna Gardiner

Level Playing Field = Free Public Education for ALL MCPS Students

Maryland public school students are entitled to a free public education.
But, MCPS students don't get a free public education.  The Board of Education allows MCPS schools to set whatever class fees they want and charge whatever students they want.

Why aren't MCPS students given a level playing field to access a high school diploma?
These students ask the same question of their institution.
 Listen for the "first class airfare" reference as to how the institution spends education dollars. The same thing goes on in MCPS. Why do citizens put up with the waste of education dollars?

Delegate Eric Luedtke Charging Students $80 to Attend Public School

Maryland Delegate Eric Luedtke is also a MCPS teacher.

We are pretty sure that Delegate Luedtke is familiar with the Maryland Constitution's guarantee of a free public education, yet here we see him charging students $80 to attend Outdoor Education at his school. He's a social studies teacher after all, so shouldn't he be familiar with the Maryland Constitution?

Outdoor Education is a program that is part of the MCPS curriculum, but in order to charge students for this class program MCPS administrators deny that the program is part of the curriculum.  MCPS administrators say that if your child does not attend the Outdoor Education program they will receive the same instruction sitting in a classroom while all their classmates go on an overnight.

The Board of Education approves of this charade and has set the fee for students to attend Outdoor Education at $76.  Yet, even $76 isn't enough for Delegate Luedtke.  He's charging his students $80 to attend Outdoor Education!

Public Comment to State Board of Ed: Illegal Fees, Charter School, Restrictions on Teachers, Cell Towers on Playgrounds

The following public comment was given today to the 

Maryland State Board of Education.

Maryland State Board of Education

August 27, 2013

Public School Students Should Be First Priority

 of State Board of Education

1. Montgomery County Public School students are still paying fees to attend public school classes. This is the third time I have come before you on these illegal fees. In 2010, the State Board of Education did a survey of Maryland public schools to determine if other Counties were charging students to attend public school classes. What did you do with your survey results? You know this illegal practice continues, yet you remain silent.

2. Seven students were admitted to Montgomery County Public Schools one and only public charter school without being part of the public lottery process. You were given this information as part of your evaluation of the Charter. Have you contacted the seven families from the wait list that were denied admission to this school to alert them of their right to appeal the denial of admission? Have you done anything to protect the right of these seven public school students to a fair and open public lottery process?

3. How many teachers in public schools in Maryland are in classrooms with restrictions on their ability to touch or interact with their students? Please do a county by county survey and make the results public. Parents need to know if they are required to send their child to a public school if the classroom teacher is restricted from tying a shoelace, touching a child to show how to hold a pencil, or picking a child up who has fallen down. Parents have the right to know if their child's teacher is restricted from taking these basic actions. Do we need regulations? Legislation?

What needs to be done to make sure that no teachers are in classrooms with children with these unconscionable restrictions on their movements. If a teacher has such restrictions, then promote them to administration and get them out of the public school classrooms! NOW!

Clearly, the State Board knew there was a serious problem when you signed off on your September 2012 Opinion 12-34, Picca v. Montgomery County Board of Education, but did you take any action? Here's what you said in that 2012 Opinion:

September 25, 2012, Opinion from the Maryland State Board of Education in the Picca v. Montgomery County Board of Education matter :

"...Recent child sex abuse cases have shone a bright light in that dark corner.  We think that this case can shine a light on the abusive conduct, albeit infrequent, of school staff toward children.  We ask local boards to review and put in place a policy addressing teacher and staff conduct with students, and make it a part of the message in staff training and meetings.  We ask local boards to inquire about the safeguards that are in place to assure that the type of persistent conduct that occurred in this case does not occur in their schools..."

Did MCPS take any action after that Opinion was released?

It appears that neither the State Board of Education, nor Montgomery County Public Schools took any action after the September 2012 Opinion because it took HOMELAND SECURITY to remove this teacher from a MCPS classroom in February of 2013.

According to court documents, school leaders placed restrictions on Joynes in November 2011, after two complaints. Joynes was told not to touch children, be alone with them, sit in the cafeteria during lunch or stay on the playground during recess. His classroom door was to remain open, and he was to use staff restrooms, not those for students, documents say.

The Washington Post, August 21, 2013 – Article attached.

4. We need a Statewide ban on cell towers at elementary schools. Parents and guardians need to focus on their children's education and should not have to spend these important educational years battling private interests who want to turn playgrounds into Hazardous Materials compounds. It's time to protect playgrounds for public school students!

Thank you for the opportunity to give public comment.

Janis Zink Sartucci

Parents' Coalition of Montgomery County, Maryland

State BOE: "Maryland has a free public education responsibility."

Attention MCPS Parents, Guardians and Students:

In Maryland, public school is free! Your child is not to be charged a fee to attend a class where credit is earned!

In 2010, the Maryland State Board of Education was concerned when they were told by a member of the Parents' Coalition that students in Montgomery County were being charged fees to attend public school classes.  As a result, the State Board of Education did a survey of all Maryland public school systems to determine if curricular fees were being charged.  The letter that the State Board of Education President sent to each public school system is shown below.  In the letter the State Board of Education President reminded each Superintendent that "Maryland has a free public education responsibility."

If your local MCPS school tries to charge your child a fee to attend a public school class, show them this letter from the State Board of Education President and remind them that Maryland law entitles your child to a free public education.

  Fee Survey Letter by Parents' Coalition of Montgomery County, Maryland

School Fees and Union Busting

I admit - I am no longer enamoured of Joel Klein, NYC Chancellor of Schools.

Last fall, while we were fighting to enforce our rights to a free public education in Maryland, through our battle to eliminate school fees for textbooks and gym towels, NYC schools were faced with a similar dilemma.

However, like everything else in the Big Apple, its on a much larger scale, as indicated in this article from the New York Post. From the article:

The powerhouse parent groups boldly solicit donations - some accept credit cards and PayPal online - to bypass Department of Education rules, a Post investigation found. The PTAs advertise on Craigslist or at colleges and put $12-an-hour assistant teachers on their own payrolls - violating DOE policies and skirting union pay and benefit scales.

In the article, some parents admit that paying upwards of $500 as a fee to send their kids to these schools is a bargain compared to private schools - especially in NYC. Read further and you will see that under Mr. Klein's tenure - where smaller schools are often co-housed in the same building, one school may raise significant funding, while the other occupants? Too bad, how sad.

What is really striking about this piece is that the practice bypasses the unions and the hiring system in the school system. Advertising on Craigslist for a teachers aide? I am a product of the NYC public school system and grew up with a parent who toiled away at a NYC Title I school and still proudly carries her UFT card.

Am I disappointed.

First, with the Unions for putting up with this practice without a fight.

Second, for lawyer turned school system administrator Klein, who so conveniently forgets that it is his obligation to oversee the largest school district with a free public education.

And, most of all, with the residents of NY - who tolerate this practice.

Equity and a free public education are obviously far from reality in New York City.

This makes our PTSAs with their budgets in the $40,000 range look very modest.