KPCC: ACLU lawsuit: Public school fees are unconstitutional

KPCC: Southern California Public Radio report. Listen to audio at this link: ACLU lawsuit: Public school fees are unconstitutional

The California constitution guarantees that public schools will provide a free education to students. The American Civil Liberties Union alleges in a lawsuit filed today that dozens of school districts violate this promise by creating a system of “Pay to Learn” schools.

A high school student and his mother told the ACLU in a videotaped interview about how his teacher belittled him when he purchased cheaper school supplies than those she’d assigned.

Mother: She didn’t like it because it wasn’t exactly the same even though he had all the dividers and such. I forgot about that, that she actually docked your grade. And then he had a few assignments he missed when he couldn’t purchase a compass last year.

The ACLU says the student - who attends a school in an affluent Orange County neighborhood - was afraid to give his name because he feared school employees would retaliate against him....

...The ACLU responds that budget cuts are no excuse for these fees. It has sued the State of California and the governor, lawyers say, to compel lawmakers to make sure the economy doesn’t make public education more unequal than it already is.

2010 High School Ranking by National Merit Semifinalists

There are many ways that high schools can be ranked. One suggestion for ranking high schools is to rank them by the number of National Merit Semifinalists. Last year we showed you what that list would look like for MCPS high schools.

Here is how MCPS high schools rank based on this year's 2010-2011 National Merit Semifinalist results. 

1. Montgomery Blair: 40
2. Richard Montgomery: 30
3. Walt Whitman: 24
4. Wootton: 15
5. Winston Churchill: 13
6. Poolesville: 9
7. Bethesda-Chevy Chase: 8
8. Walter Johnson: 7
9. Springbrook: 3

10. Clarksburg: 2
10. Quince Orchard: 2

Tied for 11th
Blake: 1
Rockville: 1
Seneca Valley: 1
Einstein: 1
Watkins Mill: 1

Tied for 12th:
Northwest: 0
Damascus: 0
Gaithersburg: 0
Kennedy: 0
Magruder: 0
Northwood: 0
Paint Branch: 0
Sherwood: 0
Wheaton: 0

Gazette: Audit of Montgomery County schools activity funds reveals inconsistencies

Failure to follow accounting guidelines for events highlighted in internal report
School News | Andrew Ujifusa

The school system's procedures for spending and keeping tabs on the money in activity funds were not always followed during the previous fiscal year, an audit of the funds at Montgomery County Public Schools revealed....

...In fiscal 2010, the schools collected just over $32 million for their activity funds and spent just under $31.7 million. Unused revenues from the funds are collected in an interest-bearing Centralized Investment Fund or are stored in individual school accounts if the school chooses to, said Board of Education member Phil Kauffman (At large) of Olney.

Walt Whitman High in Bethesda collected $1.47 million for its activity fund in fiscal 2010, the largest amount of any public school in the county. But in a report from Roger W. Pisha, internal auditor supervisor for the school system, a variety of problems were described in the audit of 82 schools, including 41 secondary schools....

...The greatest disparity between expenses and receipts was at Montgomery Blair High school, which listed $1.02 million in disbursements and only $828,000 in receipts. Kauffman said his understanding was that Blair took out a loan from the Centralized Investment Fund before fiscal 2010 and is now paying it back.

During a Monday meeting of the Board of Education's Fiscal Management Committee, Kauffman, one of its members, stressed that the problems identified in the report are not new.

"How do we get to the point where we're fixing these things?" he asked.

Officials stressed the importance of business managers continuously educating school staff about accounting procedures for activity funds. Pisha's report's recommendations also include hiring two additional internal auditors "when financial conditions become more favorable." The school system's Internal Audit Unit has not added a full-time position since 1990.

School board officials also discussed making the audit reports more broadly available.

"Folks always are asking for and wanting this info," said school board Vice President Christopher S. Barclay (Dist. 4) of Takoma Park, the committee's chairman.

***** 

Read the School Audits compiled and made public by the Parents' Coalition of Montgomery County at our website or click the links below:

BCC HS May 2009	Kennedy HS Dec 2009	Seneca Valley HS Dec 2009 Seneca Valley HS Jan 2009
BCC HS March 2008	Kennedy HS Aug 2008	Seneca Valley HS May 2008
Blair HS April 2009	Magruder HS June 2009
Blair HS Sept 2007	Magruder HS Jan 2008	Sherwood HS April 2010 Sherwood HS Dec 2008
Blair HS March 2007	Magruder HS Oct 2006	Sherwood HS July 2007
	Magruder HS Sept 2005
Blake HS April 2009	Magruder HS May 2004	Springbrook HS Oct 2008
Blake HS Nov 2007	Northwest HS Aug 2009
	Northwest HS May 2008	Watkins Mill HS June 2009
Churchill HS July 2009		Watkins Mill HS Jan 2008
Churchill HS April 2008
Churchill HS March 2007	Northwood HS May 2009	Walter Johnson HS Nov 2009
Clarksburg HS Oct 2009	Northwood HS Sept 2007	Walter Johnson HS Sept 2008
Clarksburg HS June 2008	Paint Branch HS June 2009
	Paint Branch HS March 2008	Wheaton HS June 2009
		Wheaton HS Nov 2007
Damascus HS Jan 2009	Poolesville HS Oct 2008
	Poolesville HS Nov 2007
Edison HS Sept 2009		Whitman HS April 2009
Edison HS Nov 2007	Quince Orchard HS May 2009	Whitman HS April 2007
	Quince Orchard HS Jan 2008
	Richard Mont HS Nov 2009
Einstein HS April 2009	Richard Mont HS July 2008
Einstein HS Sept 2007	Richard Mont HS March 2007
		Wootton HS Nov 2007
Gaithersburg HS Sept 2009	Rockville HS June 2009	Wootton HS June 2009
Gaithersburg HS June 2008	Rockville HS Dec 2007

Hoover MS Sept 2008	Julius West MS Nov 2008	Montgomery Village MS Oct 2007
Cabin John MS June 2009	White Oak MS Nov 2008	Pyle MS Sept 2008
	Westland MS June 2009	Wood MS Oct 2009
Daly ES Jan 2008	Flower Hill ES Feb 2006	Glenhaven ES May 2007 Westbrook ES March 2009 Westbrook ES Oct 2005

.

For the 1st time in 11 years...Jerry Weast's Contract

In other public school jurisdictions the Superintendent's contract is a public document that is brought before the Board of Education and available to the public when approved by the Board. But not here in Montgomery County, that is, until today. We filed a Maryland Public Information Act request for Superintendent Weast's contract and it finally arrived.


After 11 years, Superintendent Jerry Weast's contract is finally public.


For the first time ever in Montgomery County, we present Superintendent Jerry Weast's contract and its amendments:

Superintendent Jerry Weast's Contract

SAT scores jump in MCPS; outside analyst calls for investigation

Lisa Gartner reports in today's DC Examiner that the sudden jump in SAT scores in MCPS might be because some students were steered away from taking the SAT in the most recent reporting period.

From the article:

SAT scores jump in Montgomery, D.C.
By: Lisa Gartner
Examiner Staff Writer
September 13, 2010

'Mind-boggling' scores for Md. county close in on rival Fairfax

SAT scores soared in the District of Columbia and Montgomery County last year, while Fairfax County students' scores -- the highest in the area — flatlined.

"We expect all of our students to challenge themselves with rigorous classes regardless of their race, ethnicity, or socioeconomic status," Deputy Superintendent Frieda K. Lacey said. "They are showing us that they can meet and well exceed those expectations."

[...]

Still, participation dropped in Montgomery, particularly among blacks and Hispanics, with 10 percent fewer students in both groups taking the test.

Educational analysts say that drop could have propped up the results and that Montgomery school officials are "not telling the truth."

"When you reduce your test-taking population, scores will go up because only the cream of the crop are taking it," said Robert Schaeffer, public education director of the National Center for Fair and Open Testing in Cambridge, Mass. "But that might not be a better thing -- that may mean fewer students are thinking about college."

Schaeffer said a 38-point spike in one year is "mind-boggling" and "merits an investigation."

"It may be that low-scoring students were dissuaded from taking the test," he said. The percentage of county students taking the SAT dropped from 78.0 percent in 2009 to 71.4 percent.

Tofig attributed the participation drop to more students taking the ACT instead. But compared with last year, just 4.7 percent more African-American students and 3.2 more Hispanic students took only the ACT -- explaining less than half of the drop.

Quick snapshot of the budget

Source: Montgomery County Government FY11 Budget Highlights,
http://www.montgomerycountymd.gov/content/omb/FY11/appr/psp_pdf/psp_highlights.pdf

A New Broom Sweeps Clean: Board of Education elections

by Frederick Stichnoth
September 12, 2010 


Board of Education members and senior MCPS administrators met in semi-private work session August 26, 2010 to consider criteria for setting Board meeting agendas. I have never seen such passionate engagement by and among the members, striving to work better together as a Board, in tacit tension with the administration. This drama seems connected with Phil Kauffman's meet and greet on behalf of the four members running for reelection (Brandman, Docca, Durso, O'Neill), Laura Berthiaume's endorsement of Mike Durso, and the election sign advocating this slate of four incumbent Board members. 


The Examiner's Leah Fabel reported July 18, 2010, the Board's near unity against bringing Superintendent Weast back. Board member Laura Berthiaume's July 25, 2010 Washington Post op-ed piece likewise opposed renewal of his contract. 


These articles voice the Board's complaint with Dr. Weast: imperial attitude, uncompromising, behind closed doors, politically charged, bullying tactics, lack of openness about major decisions, cozy relationship with union leadership. According to one anonymous County official, "He's diabolical. He thinks he's Machiavelli." Ms. Berthiaume also expressed wariness of "a fierce, resolute wall of angry staff." 


The complaint derives from a power disparity. Ms. Berthiaume states: "What the critics miss is who really controls the school system: the superintendent and the entrenched, unaccountable bureaucracy, who make almost all the real decisions."  What about the Board? "In fact, the board does not have even the power to insist on turning out fully literate graduates when the bureaucracy has these other rabbits to chase. From the administration's view, a teacher revolt would be a particular problem in a bureaucracy that prizes control.  In the balance of power between the board of education and the bureaucracy, the superintendent and his staff hold all the cards. They outwit, outlast and outplay."


Dr. Weast is substantially responsible for the well-being, present and future, of our children. He directs a large, unionized workforce, and operates in a highly-regulated environment and a challengingly diverse community. He is an integral player in the State and County government, and County business, power milieu. If he were not Machiavelli -- a masterful operator -- he could not do the job. Does the Board expect that he will attempt the job with one arm unilaterally tied behind his back? 

Ms. Berthiaume perceives a separate, threatening, power center in the bureaucracy. It does no good to protest that this bureaucracy "prizes control" that is the nature of bureaucracy itself. 


Then what of the Board? Maryland law allocates substantial power to the "Board" on paper. All the Board must supply is leadership, to seize and to execute. Admission that the Superintendent and bureaucracy "outwit, outlast, outplay" is a confession of leadership default. 


For example, on June 23, 2010 Board President O'Neil and Vice President Barclay assured that the 48 hours granted by the Superintendent was more than enough time, prior to Board approval, to review the Pearson online integrated curriculum contract: a laughable statement that subordinates the Board to Dr. Weast's demeaning dispensation. Mike Durso and Laura Berthiaume voted against the Pearson contract because of the truncated review allotment; Ms. Berthiaume praises Durso's vote as "remarkable." To call such votes "remarkable" is to reveal the rarity of Board good judgment and independent action. 


Earlier, on May 12, 2009, Ms. O'Neill referred to parents who sought greater involvement with school improvement planning as "pain-in the-asses." Mr. Barclay said that school improvement team members had to be "team players," who "know how to agree to disagree." This recommends that community stakeholders display to the Board the same untoward deference as is shown by the Board to Dr. Weast and the bureaucracy; and inflicts on the community the same imperial disdain as is imposed by the Superintendent on the Board.  "Kiss up, kick down"(as was said of John Bolton). 


The passion over intra-Board agenda setting, the banding together as a slate: it is the dream fantasy of the subservient oppressed. 


Now Board members, those up for reelection and those not, would salvage their besieged circle to select a new Superintendent. Their dream Superintendent will be collegial, and Board members will flourish in regained power and self-respect. 

We no more need a milquetoast Superintendent than we need a Board that would sacrifice our interests for its second chance. This Board has proven its dysfunction and embraced it. As the biggest loser of the Weast regime, its members are at the end of their line. 

It is time for us to sweep the slate clean and renew our search for political leaders who will exercise judgment and power to represent the community interest.

League of Women Voters: Board of Education Candidates Forum

LWV_FOL_BOE_Forum

NYT: Public Schools Face Lawsuit over Fees

Yesterday's New York Times had a great article on a situation in California eerily similar to that of our own Montgomery County, Maryland.  In California, however, the ACLU is suing 35 school districts in California that " list on their Web sites the fees their schools charge for courses including art, home economics, and music, for Advanced Placement tests and for materials including gym uniforms."  According to Mark Rosenbaum, the ACLU's legal director in Southern California, "We found that the charging of fees for required academic courses is rampant."  The lawsuit names Governor Arnold Schwartzenegger as a defendent "arguing that it was his responsibility to crack down on school districts imposing illegal feels."

"The idea of educating every child at public expense ranks with political democracy as one of the United States’ great original social contributions,” said Mark Rosenbaum, Chief Counsel of ACLU/SC. “Each of these ideas rests on a hallowed belief that every child is capable of reaching his or her fullest potential only when we encourage and honor accomplishment based on merit and hard work and disavow class distinctions.”

Read the entire filing here:

555793 ACLU Full Complaint

Takoma-Silver Spring Voice: Board of Education Candidate Questionnaires

Takoma-Silver Spring Voice: Click this link to read all of the Takoma-Silver Spring Voice's Board of Education Candidate Questionnaires:   Voice Primary 2010

Educating Montgomery voters on teacher endorsements

The Washington Post - Letter to the Editor: Educating Montgomery voters on teacher endorsements

...An MCEA endorsement raises serious concerns about any candidate for the Board of Education. Board members oversee education in Montgomery County and bargain with the MCEA regarding teacher employment. Candidates who curry favor with the MCEA before an election cannot be expected to deal at arm's length with the MCEA after the election. Such candidates (particularly incumbents) have signaled a preference for satisfying the demands of the union rather than the interests of the public...

Six new IAF Audit Reports now available

The Independent Activity Fund (IAF) internal audit reports that were obtained earlier today for six MCPS high schools are now posted online. See the earlier posting at this link to access the audit reports.

Detailed information about the purpose of the Independent Activity Funds, the source of money in the funds, and how the money is (supposed to be) disbursed is described in the Manual of Policies and Procedures for Administering Independent Activity Funds. [UPDATE: Rather than have the Manual followed, the Superintendent removed the Manual from the MCPS website.]

Superintendent Jerry Weast's Contract - Not supplied w/in 30 days

This is a follow up to a previous Parents' Coalition blog post. 

A Maryland Public Information Act request has been made for Superintendent Jerry Weast's contract. Here's the update:

In a telephone call from the MCPS Public Information Office I was informed that Superintendent Jerry Weast's contract will not be supplied in compliance with the Maryland Public Information Act time frame. 

There has been no written response from MCPS to the MPIA request. 

After 11 years, why is our public school Superintendent's contract not available for public inspection?

Here's the text of the Maryland Public Information Act:

Response to Request.

A. If the custodian decides to grant a request for inspection, the custodian shall produce the public record for inspection:

(1) Immediately; or

(2) Within a reasonable time period, not to exceed 30 days after the date of the request, if that period is needed to retrieve the public record and conduct any necessary review.

B. (1) If the custodian decides to deny a request for inspection:

(a) The custodian shall do so within 30 days after the request; and

(b) Immediately notify the applicant of the denial.

(2) If a request is denied, the custodian shall provide the applicant, at the time of the denial or within 10 working days, a written statement that gives:

(a) The reasons for the denial;

(b) The legal authority for the denial; and

(c) Notice of the remedies available for review of the denial.

C. If a requested public record is not in the custody or control of the person to whom application is made, that person shall, within 10 working days after receipt of the request, notify the applicant:

(1) That the person does not have custody or control of the requested public record; and

(2) If the person knows:

(a) The name of the custodian of the public record; and

(b) The location or possible location of the public record.

D. With the consent of the applicant, any time limit imposed by §§A through C of this regulation may be extended for an additional period of up to 30 days.

Newly obtained audits reveal continued misuse of student funds

Internal school audit reports obtained today reveal continued disregard for procurement and spending rules at six MCPS high schools.

The audit reports, which cover the Independent Activity Funds at the schools, reveal that principals used student-owned funds to purchase items such as gift cards, restaurant meals, and Godiva chocolates. According to the auditors, many expenditures were not documented, and several large purchases were made without required approval.

Among the findings:

At Walt Whitman High School (Principal: Dr. Alan Goodwin), the auditors reported that "large sums payable to MCPS have been payable for longer than a year" and "the amount the school owed to MCPS and to other vendors was understated [in financial reports] by $19,309."

At Springbrook High School (Principal during reporting period: Mr. Michael Durso), student funds in the amount of $35,778 were used to purchase a basketball scoreboard without obtaining required approval from the Board of Education. The auditors note that purchases over $25,000 require approval from the Board of Education. In addition, a personal loan to an employee was made from the IAF, a practice that the auditors point out is prohibited.

At Einstein High School (Principal: Mr. James Fernandez), the auditors discovered that student funds were used by the principal "for purchase of numerous gift cards, restaurant meals, and other items without documentation as to names of recipients, or the reason for purchase so that it could be determined if the expense benefited student or staff." The auditor also questions "a reimbursement to a staff member for Godiva chocolates purchased with money donated for needy students."

At Blair High School (Principal: Mr. Darryl Williams), the auditors reported that purchase cards (MCPS-issued American Express credit cards) were used on occasion by someone other than the cardmember. In addition, a random sample of a few of the cash disbursement items revealed that documentation was missing or not adequate for 12 purchases. The auditors noted, however, that "progress has been made to improve conditions" compared to their report from April 2009.

At Blake High School (Principal: Mrs. Carole Goodman), auditors determined that at least two MCPS employees steered large purchases to organizations with whom they have direct affiliation, a clear violation of MCPS policy. Auditors also reported that an MCPS purchase card holder "did not prepare purchasing card logs or provide documentation supporting purchases for five consecutive months beginning in June 2009." The auditors added "While the card issued to this individual has been cancelled, we do not have assurance that charges amounting to $2,109.86 benefited the school, rather than the individual cardmember."

At Damascus High School (Principal: Mr. Robert Domergue), the auditors reported that the school spent $1000 more than allowed on refreshments for staff meetings. (MCPS allows a limited amount of student funds to be used for staff meeting refreshments and staff appreciation.)

The complete audit reports can be accessed at the links below.

Springbrook High School

Einstein High School

Damascus High School

Blake High School

Blair High School

Whitman High School

Schott reports 22% Gap - Black/Male - White/Male MCPS Graduation Rate for 2007-08

Schott Foundation for Public Education






YES WE CAN: The Schott 50 State Report on Public Education and Black Males 2010

Fostering the talents of individual students

Big Ideas in Education: More on Harvard's Ed.L.D. Program:

...In many ways, Weast's tenure (he announced his pending retirement last week) is a unique story of the triumph of political will over the status quo: Weast moved successfully to divide the high-performing, low-poverty and low-performing, high-poverty sections of his district into two zones, green and red, and funnel attention and resources from the former to the latter. Weast has identified seven keys to college readiness as his benchmarks for success in the district: they include on-time advancement to college-ready math and reading, and high performance on AP, IB, SAT and ACT exams. It is Weast's particularly political style of leadership, however, that has garnered his staunchest criticism, from parents and policymakers who argue he perpetuates inequalities in the district by low-balling accountability measures.


I spoke to one of these critics, district parent and gifted and talented education advocate Frederick Stichnoth, at length. In our conversation, Stichnoch argued the key to racial equity isn't simply ensuring all races achieve the same elementary benchmarks but to foster the talents of individual students, particularly minority students who can serve their communities best by achieving their full potential. By focusing narrowly on the seven keys, Stichnoth says, Weast has hidden broader differences in programming between green and red zone schools that prevent poorer and more diverse schools from serving individual student needs. More generally, Stichnoth views the division of the district into zones as itself hypocritical and counterproductive. By partnering with Harvard, and the rest of what he calls the "national education elite," Weast has avoided the district's particular problems by adopting the "cultural competence, courageous conversations and college-readiness buzzwords."


Stichnoth is not alone in his criticism of Weast's technique. Washington Post education writer Jay Matthews offered a measured criticisms of Weast's strategy as described in Leading for Equity as focusing too little on quality teachers (a criticism Education Sector analyst Elena Silva thought unjustified). The Post's Daniel de Vise also outlined critiques of the proxies Weast and the book use to measure growth, noting a declining minority graduation rate during Weast's tenure. Though from arguably different angles, both critiques argue Weast gave too little focus to district particularities and spent too much time shoring up political support for his agenda, a strategy which PELP and Harvard make no bones about emphasizing...

Pending Legal Action on School Fees in California

The ACLU is suing numerous California school districts over fees charged to students in public schools.

Maryland's Constitution guarantees a free public education for its students - so when your children come home requesting a mandatory fee, you don't have to pay it - unless you want to make a donation to the school

From the article:

Public schools across the nation, many facing budget shortfalls, have been charging students fees to use textbooks or to take required tests or courses.
Now a civil liberties group is suing California over those proliferating fees, arguing that the state has failed to protect the right to a free public education. Experts said it was the first case of its kind, and could tempt parents in other states to file similar suits.

Blue Ribbon: Seven Maryland schools get Blue Ribbon status - baltimoresun.com

Blue Ribbon: Seven Maryland schools get Blue Ribbon status - baltimoresun.com

Seven Maryland schools were designated Thursday as national Blue Ribbon Schools of Excellence, an award given to those with consistently high performance or a high percentage of economically disadvantaged students that have shown significant improvement.

Five of the schools are public, including Eastern Technical High in Baltimore County and Ellicott Mills Middle in Howard County, and two are Catholic.

"This is one of the nation's most significant awards presented to public schools," state schools Superintendent Nancy S. Grasmick said in a statement.

The three other schools in the state are Northern Middle in Calvert County, New Market Elementary in Frederick County and Northwestern Elementary in Wicomico County. The Catholic schools are St. Louis in Clarksville and St. John the Baptist in Silver Spring...

More on the Education Week Graduation Ranking

The Baltimore Sun - Inside Ed:  Graduation Rate and Maryland Schools

...Ed Week does its best using the only data available for school systems across the nation, but it cannot actually track students. Rather, the graduation rate is an estimate based on the numbers of students who are in each grade that year in the district. So the rate does not take into account the students who graduate in five years nor does it try to compensate for what is known as the ninth-grade bulge. Many ninth-graders in the city don't pass all their classes and spend an extra half-year classified as a ninth-grader although they technically have nearly enough credits to be a 10th-grader.

In other words, the ninth grade looks larger than it really is and the number who eventually graduate is smaller than it should be.

So the Education Week researchers acknowledge that there may be a 14-point discrepancy in the true graduation rate and what they report...

Fact Check: MCPS 11th in Graduation Rate in Maryland - But don't compare!

MCPS has asked the Parents' Coalition to correct a previous post. We are more than happy to do so! MCPS wants to make clear that the MCPS ranking in the State of Maryland is 11th out of 24 school districts. 

MCPS' Public Information Office also says it is "neither valid nor fair to compare MCPS" to other Maryland counties.  


We leave that decision up to our readers.


MCPS' Public Information Office doesn't mention that other Maryland counties ARE on the Education Week ranking. For example, according to the State of Maryland, Anne Arundel County has a graduation rate of 90.6 and is ranked at 7th in Maryland.  


However, on the Education Week ranking Anne Arundel County is shown as having a graduation rate of 75.2 and is ranked 7th after MCPS.  Here is more on the Education Week ranking from The Baltimore Sun.

*****

On June 9, 2010, the MCPS Public Information Office put out a press release that had the following title:  

MCPS is Number One in High School Graduation Rate 

What did that title really mean? 

The MCPS headline was based on an Education Week report that ranked the 50 largest public school systems in the country based on 2007 numbers.  The press release for the Education Week report started out like this:

Progress on Graduation Rate Stalls

1.3 Million Students Fail to Earn Diplomas

Report Identifies Epicenters of the Dropout Crisis;

Examines Data-Driven Strategies to Boost Graduation

WASHINGTON, June 10, 2010—A new national report from Education Week and the Editorial Projects in Education (EPE) Research Center finds that the nation’s graduation rate has dropped for the second consecutive year, following a decade of mostly solid improvements. Although the latest decrease is considerably smaller than that found the previous year, the report shows that, on a national scale, 11,000 fewer students will earn diplomas. These new findings raise cause for concern, as those who fail to finish high school will face far greater hardships than their graduating peers, particularly during a period of economic instability...

Meanwhile here in Maryland - MCPS' graduation rate was 11th out of 24 public school systems in 2009 based on information released by the Maryland State Department of Education.  


MCPS Graduation Rate 2009