County Executive concerned about financial condition of Promethean

Leggett recommends delaying additional purchases until concerns about vendor are addressed

A memo obtained by the Parents' Coalition reveals that County Executive Leggett is urging the County Council to consider the financial condition of Promethean World before funding additional purchases of their products. Promethean World is the predominate supplier of interactive whiteboards to MCPS.

Leggett wrote that he supports expanding technological resources to all MCPS classrooms, but questioned whether Promethean World can survive in light of their rapidly declining financial condition.

"While Promethean World reported adequate fund balances to cover their shorter term losses, they alerted their investors to the long-range nature of their financial problems," wrote Leggett.

Leggett also stated in the memo that he is concerned about the proprietary nature of Promethean products.

"The Promethean Board technology is proprietary and alternative means of providing the whiteboard service to classrooms if the company were to go out of business would require investment in alternative hardware and software," wrote Leggett. "I am concerned that MCPS' investment of taxpayer dollars into these whiteboards may not be viable or sustainable in the long term due to the company's significant and, by the company's own assessment, long-term, financial difficulties."

The memo gave no deadline for making the determination of whether or not to proceed with purchase of Promethean products or to switch to products from a more stable company.

 Memo from County Executive Leggett expressing concerns about Promethean's financial condition

Jerry Weast's Cell Tower Leases

When did the Board of Education vote to place all of these cell phone towers (and antennas) on public school playgrounds?


They didn't.


Here are just some of the Leases that Jerry Weast signed in the name of the Board of Education while superintendent.


Where does the money from these leases go? Anyone seen an accounting? Imagine how these funds ($700,000 +/-) could help after school athletic programs that have now been cut.


When are these funds taken to the County Council for appropriation? Oh, they aren't. Just another revenue stream with no oversight. 


And...have the taxes on these cell tower compounds been paid yet?


June 24, 2005 ~ Wheaton High School ~ Omnipoint Communications CAP Operations, LLC

June 24, 2005 ~ Einstein High School ~ Omnipoint Communications CAP Operations, LLC

May 26, 2006 ~ Magruder High School ~ T-Mobile Northeast, LLC 

June 6, 2008 ~ Springbrook High School ~ T-Mobile Northeast LLC

November 11, 2008 ~ Watkins Mill High School ~ T-Mobile Northeast LLC

June 19, 2009 ~ Wheaton High School ~ Cricket Communications, Inc. 

July 26, 2010 ~ Springbrook High School ~ Clear Wireless LLC

August 12, 2010 ~ Wheaton High School ~ Clear Wireless LLC

August 31, 2010 ~ Einstein High School ~ T-Mobile Northeast LLC

September 22, 2010 ~ Wheaton High School ~ T-Mobile Northeast LLC

Funding found for 80 portable toilets and two school security officers

Following an inquiry by County Council President Nancy Floreen into property taxes that had been unpaid for several years, sufficient funding to cover the cost of 80 portable toilets and two school security officers has been located.

Deerwood International Ltd, a foreign corporation registered in the British Virgin Islands that owns valuable real estate in Potomac, had developed a practice of not paying their real estate property taxes. By law, unpaid property taxes are supposed to be collected each year through a tax lien sale process. But for unknown reasons, Deerwood had escaped the tax lien sale process, and had accrued $162,605.88 of unpaid taxes and interest dating back to 2006 and 2007.  An additional $67,169.90 in 2009 taxes and interest also remained unpaid as of the 2009 tax lien sale date.

In total, Deerwood owed the county $225,681.19 in taxes, interest and fees as of June 2010.

As a result of the tax lien sale a few weeks ago, Montgomery County government finally collected the unpaid taxes.  A third-party paid the taxes, and now Deerwood must reimburse the third-party for the amount of the taxes, plus interest, or Deerwood will lose ownership of their property. 

Deerwood International is not the only company that didn't pay their property taxes for several years and that wasn't pursued by the county for nonpayment (until now).  Millions of dollars of delinquent taxes from several years back for many other properties are also finally being collected this year.

As for whether the "found" money will go toward portable toilets, school security officers, or some other expense, that's up to the County Council.

Seven Days of Opportunity to See The Cartel: Education + Politics = $

Our previous mention of The Cartel elicited comment from the filmmaker Bob Bowden (see comments for that blog post)

In case you didn't get a chance to catch it last time, starting tomorrow, April 30 (Friday) The Cartel has a 7 day run at E Street Cinema, 555 11th Street NW, Washington, DC 20004 (entrance on E Street between 10th and 11th Street). By map the cinema looks to be about 3 blocks from Metro Center.

Select from April 30 (Fri) to May 6 (Thurs) to find times (usually 4 shows/day) on the Advanced ticket sales page.

Here's a clip from The Cartel. After the short intro, listen to the answers on school system spending from the average man/woman on the street. Sound familiar?

The more you pay, the better you feel...

The Cartel: Education + Politics = $

The Cartel will be showing FREE at the Washington DC Indie Film Festival tomorrow Sunday, March 7 at 12 noon (Navy Memorial Museum/Heritage House).

Even though the website indicates 'buy tickets', the tickets are free. The filmmaker Bob Bowdon will be in attendance at this showing.

If you miss the free show, you can catch it locally again Friday, April 30 until the following Thursday at the E Street Cinema in DC.

Other major city national screenings in April can be found here

DVD release will be after the screenings are complete, most likely May 2010.

Here's the trailer:



Before you go out and protest to "fully fund the budget", watch this film and ask where MCPS spent your $2.0 BILLION.

UPDATE 3/26/10: The Cartel Wins Two 2010 Washington DC Independent Film Festival Awards:

*** Visionary Award
*** Audience Award, Best Documentary

Anyone for a Free Public Education? or to quote Time Magazine, "Can a PTA Bake Sale Save a Teacher's Job?"

Here is a link to a Time Magazine article and follow-up to my earlier post on the efforts of NY City schools to tamp down the private fundraising by parents.

My favorite paragraphs?

Yet even Korach will admit that the one major issue with relying on parents to help pay for school essentials is that it exacerbates inequities that already exist between well-off school districts and those with lesser means. "We're not naive," he says. "You couldn't do what we do in other communities."

Randi Weingarten, longtime head of the New York City teachers union and now president of the American Federation of Teachers, has long seen schools beg parents for additional help, handing out lists of classroom supplies that need to be purchased. To ramp that up would only "punctuate the haves and have-nots," says Weingarten. "It leaves the nagging feeling of, What does that mean for kids whose parents aren't able to fundraise like that?"

Can a PTA Bake Sale Save a Teacher's Job?

Time for a Change in Fiscal Authority?

Given the State BOE's decision this week on the Montgomery County request for a waiver of Maintence of Effort, perhaps it is an ideal time to start discussion on changes to the fiscal control structure of schools in Maryland.

The State BOE has effectively eliminated the County Council's legal standing as the School Systems "Fiscal Authority". The Local BOE has also engaged in legal challenges to this relationship through its actions over the past several years, laying its stake in the ground as a "State Agency" as opposed to a "local" one, then using this status to dodge scrutiny of our Inspector General.

Okay,
Maybe it's time we abandon this worthless system of Government checks and balances. Separate MCPS from County Government. Give the BOE fiscal authority and property tax rate setting authority. This is the case in much of the Country, just not in Maryland.

While it sounds out of character for me to be proposing this. I'm willing to admit I might have been wrong.

Maybe giving the BOE taxing authority is just what we need to impose fiscal responsibility on our Board of Education. Bond referendums and millage rate setting are things school boards all over America have to do.

Why do we let Pat O'Neill escape from having to ask the community for funding, while she calls community members who care about our schools a "Pain in the Ass"?

Bob Astrove