MCPS in London?

Please click HERE to see the agenda for a conference held in London, England, in October, 2008:

The name of the conference is the Interactive Technology in Education Symposium. One of the sponsors is Promethean.

Please note, on page 2, that Sherwin Collette, Chief Technology Officer, Montgomery County Schools, US, is listed as the presenter for "Best Practices District Wide Implementation" for Concurrent sessions # 1 and # 2, on Monday, October 6th, 2008.

According to the agenda, the location of the conference is the "stylish Milennium Gloucester Hotel in the heart of Kensington, one of the most prestigious areas of London."

I have a few questions for the Board of Education, since Dr. Weast said on the radio today that MCPS is all about transparency:

1. Did Mr. Collette actually make this trip to London, England, as a representative of MCPS?

2. If so, who paid for the airfare, lodging, meals, ground transportation, etc?

Government - Quick Refresher on Appropriations

I've said before that Montgomery County School System appears to no longer teach government in the schools. This was reinforced after reports of this morning's Ed Committee Meeting for the County Council.

For those of you in need of a refresher, here is a definition of public appropriations law that I like from Answers.com:

The grant of money by a legislature for some specific purpose. The authority to grant appropriations, popularly known as the power of the purse, gives legislatures a powerful check over executive branches and judicial branches, for no public money can be spent without legislative approval. Congress, for example, can approve or reject the annual budget requests of the executive branch for its agencies and programs, thereby influencing both domestic and foreign policy. (See also checks and
balances and pork-barrel legislation.)

Thank goodness government was still part of the curriculum when Phil Andrews attended school in MCPS. I look forward to a follow-up when we find out exactly how those lovely 3,300 fancy whiteboards wound up in classrooms across the county, and whether anyone other than Dr. Weast and those invited to "the table" had a say on whether these tech toys were more beneficial than, let say, special education programs, science labs, textbooks, or teachers.

"Intentions" & "Parsing", but no Appropriation

WTOP's Kate Ryan reports on today's Montgomery County Council Education Committee meeting to discuss the appearance of 3,300 Promethean Boards in MCPS classrooms in August of 2008. Hear the two reports: Superintendent Weast on "parsing words" and Board of Education President Brandman on Board's "intention".

Both of WTOP Kate Ryan's news reports are also available on the Parents' Coalition website under the section on 3,300 Promethean Boards in MCPS classrooms.

Read the County Council Education Committee's staff report. Councilmembers Valerie Ervin, Michael Knapp and Phil Andrews sit on the Education Committee.

No Down Payment, Rent to Own, and Install it This SUMMER!

The Maryland Office of Legislative Audits, in their financial review of MCPS, alerted members of the public to the issue of "long term leases".

Click here to review the OLA Audit Report, and go to audit page 62, where you will see that the OLA stated as follows:

Capital Lease and Cash Management Policies Need To Be Established

"MCPS had not adopted a policy to govern its use of long-term lease obligations to finance operations. Long-term liability levels and their related annual costs are important obligations that must be managed within available resources. An effective policy should provide guidelines to ensure MCPS manages its long term liabilities accordingly. By law, MCPS is not authorized to issue bonds or similar debt instruments to finance capital or operational needs. However, MCPS used a capital leases to purchase equipment such as buses and computer hardware. According to MCPS audited financial statements, capital lease payments through 2012 had a present value of $45.9 million at June 30, 2007, with $19.5 million due within one year."

Why is this important, you ask?

Of course, it has to do with Promethean Boards.

The County Council Education Committee called MCPS on the carpet this morning for Montgomery County Public Schools' failure to bring before the council the massive expansion of the Promethean Board initiative, which MCPS has tied to its receipt of future e-Rate rebates.

Phil Andrews, County Council President, said that MCPS had made a "serious mistake, in my view." He went on to state that MCPS should not be committing future taxpayer funds beyond what the Council had appropriated and agreed to.

Mike Knapp, also on the ED Committee, agreed that the "magnitude of the purchase never came up."

Larry Bowers, the Chief Operating Officer of MCPS, reiterated MCPS's view that MCPS didn't need appropriation authority to spend e-Rate rebates, and that it was the same type of arragement as with the buses.

Phil Andrews disagreed, and stated that by its action, MCPS had tied the hands of both bodies, MCPS and the County Council. The boards are installed and they have to be paid for now with a committment of future public funds. They will focus in the future on other long term committments, he said, and that he was sure their intentions were good, but the law (on appropriations) is clear. Crystal Clear, he emphasized. In the meantime, the council is still waiting for that data that County Council staff requested regarding the amount of all e-Rate funding received and how it has been spent.

Why is our school system being run like the cheesy "Rent to Own" appliance store? What ever happened to "wait until you can afford it" before buying it?

Examiner: Instead of "GT" for Gifted & Talented how about "M" for mediocrity?

The Examiner's Barbara Hollingsworth writes about MCPS' public relations expert Brian Edwards and MCPS' Director of AEI Marty Creel's efforts to keep one parent off the AEI Advisory Board.

It's official - cuts to Eastern MS Magnet in 2009

Here is a link to the PTSA Presidents letter in the Eastern Eagle Post. See page 2.

Did the Board of Education take a vote to change the program substantially? I didn't see any motions or discussions at the "table."

Are cuts to the other magnet programs also in the works? Can we expect more surprises from Mr. Creel and Mr. Morrison?

Blair magnet students are planning on an eight period day next year. The school system has an amazingly complex system where the magnet students at Eastern MS, Takoma Park MS, and Blair HS share bus transportation. So - aside from the educational impact, what are the transportation plans?

Parents this week are signing up their students for the high school magnet programs, and will be making similar decisions for their middle school children.

Inquiring parents need to know what is really in store for their families.

$3,632,148.04

On January 7, 2009, Superintendent Weast provided Answers to Board of Education questions about the procurement of Promethean Boards by MCPS. Question #8 and the answer are shown belowQuestion 8

Publish at Scribd or explore others: Wills and Trusts Business & Legal career interview

The total in E-Rate rebates received for the years shown on the chart supplied by Superintendent Weast is $7,498,124.

According to the Universal Services Administrative Company that administers the federal E-Rate telecommunications rebate program, Montgomery County School District, 850 Hungerford Drive, Rockville, MD, has received the following amounts for the years FY 2004 - 2008:

2004 $1,731,744.92
2005 $1,497,545.12
2006 $1,760,241.90
2007 $3,459,021.34
2008 $2,681,718.76

For a total of $11,130,272.04

There appears to be a difference of $3,632,148.04 between what Superintendent Weast is reporting and what is shown on the Universal Services Administrative Company website.

As an example, here is the Universal Services Administrative Company report on Montgomery County School District for FY 2006:
2006E-Rate

Publish at Scribd or explore others:

Hopefully, the Universal Services Administrative Company information can be reconciled with the information provided by Superintendent Weast at tomorrow's County Council Education Committee meeting.

Government Courses - Another Missing Component in MCPS Education

What has happened to the teaching of US government to our high school children? Do they know that federal laws apply in MCPS schools? Are our children learning from the adults in the school building to follow rules and standards of conduct?

Apparently not if your child attends a school where they post or disclose personally identifiable information that is readily apparent for all to view.

I've seen this first hand at Blair. Every few weeks, our trusted Blair volunteer coordinator puts out a plea for volunteers to help stuff envelopes containing student interim grades for mailing to parents. When I have questioned this practice, I've been told that the letters are folded in such a way that the volunteers do not see the individual score reports, and that even if they view the letters, the parents are acting in accordance with school policies that let them perform these tasks. Pretty feeble justification, in my opinion, especially when the policy requires training of the volunteers, documentation of the hours, and requires that the the principal is responsible for:

Supervising the scheduling of the volunteer, determining the
role of the volunteer, and assuring that the volunteer has no access to
confidential student or personnel information.

Then, a few weeks ago, at Blair, I noticed the public posting of students who were scheduled to sit for the January administration of HSAs. Names, room numbers, and tests to be taken - names of those students who didn't pass the tests when they were administered the previous May. My student's name is not among the ones posted, so I don't have standing to complain. This time Blair administration won't get an e-mail from me - but I hope that some of the parents of kids named on the list will say something.

Is this an isolated practice? No. Just yesterday, I heard of another high school in Bethesda that will be posting names in the school hallways of students who owe financial obligations. I thought that practice was eliminated - after all, didn't Magruder and Richard Montgomery HS also do that a few years ago and were told to stop?

From the Department of Education website:

The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) (20 U.S.C. § 1232g;
34 CFR Part 99) is a Federal law that protects the privacy of student education records. The law applies to all schools that receive funds under an applicable program of the U.S. Department of Education.

. . .

Generally, schools must have written permission from the parent or eligible student in order to release any information from a student's education record. (34 CFR § 99.31)

What can you do as a parent or student? Call your principal, show him/her the law, assume this is a mistake, but ask to get the information off the wall.

Should they refuse and you want to pursue this further? Contact the Department of Education Compliance office at the information on their website.

For additional information or technical assistance, you may call (202) 260-3887 (voice).

Individuals who use TDD may call the Federal Information Relay Service at 1-800-877-8339.

Or you [use] the following address:
Family Policy Compliance Office
U.S. Department of Education
400 Maryland Avenue, SW
Washington, D.C. 20202-5920

What MCPS said THEN vs. what they say NOW

CLICK HERE to see a question and answers sheet about the phase-out of the secondary learning centers that made the following promises:

"During the summer of 2007, 3 days of mandatory training will be provided to general and special education teachers who will be working with grade 6 students coming from learning centers. (page 2)

Did parents of the transitioned students have a right to expect that "mandatory" meant "mandatory?" Apparently not! See page 17 of the OLA report on the LC phase-out, where it is reported:

"An item on the survey of classroom professionals asked teachers if they had attended the mandatory summer training. Sixty one of the 132 Grade 6 teachers who responded to the survey indicated that they did not attend the mandatory summer training...." (page 17, OSA report)

And what happens when classroom professionals either don't go to the "mandatory training" or the training is not productive?

Almost half of all the survey respondents rate themselves as only "somewhat prepared" to meet the needs of these students. See Table F-5, on page 93 of the OSA report:

"How prepared are you to:"

Implement assistive technology in your classroom: Somewhat prepared: 56%
Implement co-teaching strategies: somewhat prepared: 45%
Provide differentiated instruction: somewhat prepared: 47%
Understand characteristics of disabilities: somewhat prepared: 47%
Implement behavioral strategies: somewhat prepared: 47%

Did parents and students have the right to expect that the receiving classroom professionals would be "fully prepared" to implement assistive technology, and provide differentiated instruction? Advocates urged the Board of Education to delay the plan, saying that three days of training were not enough. Apparently, the advocates were correct.

Differentiated Instruction Doesn't Happen, MCPS Reports

When Superintendent Jerry Weast, and Board of Education members Nancy Navarro and Shirley Brandman moved full steam ahead with their plan to phase out and close the Secondary Learning Centers, parents of affected students were given lots of promises about how regular classroom teachers would be trained to provide "differentiated instruction" in order to meet the needs of students whose reading abilities could be two or more years below grade level.

Promises, Promises.

The Montgomery County Public Schools Office of Shared Accountability has now released their report on the evaluation of the phase out of the secondary learning centers. Page 14 of their report contains this electrifying statement:

"With the inclusion of the transition students, it was expected that teachers would need to provide more differentiated instruction (e.g., different activities, formats, or outcomes). Only 27% of the grade 6 classes and 27% of the grades 7-11 classes displayed any differentiated activities at any time during the lesson. Only 8% of the grade 6 classes and none of the grade 7-11 classes included differentiated activities throughout the lesson."

Even worse, knowing that the students in their classrooms did not have grade-level reading abilities, less than one third of classroom professionals responding to the OSA survey reported that their students had access to materials re-written at an appropriate reading level (page 15).

According to the OSA, "very little differentiation was observed in classrooms." (page 32)

And what was the outcome of the Weast-Navarro-Brandman plan?

Maryland School Assessment scores (MSA scores) tanked for these students. According to the report,

"Achievement of the transitioned students on standardized tests was weaker than that of students with similar disabilities. Their mean scores were lower than comparison students on the MAP-R reading test and on the MSA tests in Mathematics and reading. Also, a higher percentage of transitioned than comparison students scored at the basic level on each MSA test. (page 33).

It is time to end the experimentation with our students and make available a full continuum of special education options once more.

Lyda Astrove

Serious Problems with Phase Out of Secondary Learning Centers

The long awaited Montgomery County Public Schools report on the phase out of the Special Education - Secondary Learning Centers has finally been released and presents a picture far from that of a glowing success.

MCPS made the decision to close the Secondary Learning Centers two years ago, despite loud community protest. The decision was made without community input or involvement, using a process later found by the State Board of Education to have violated MCPS policy. This report is the first to look at how well the phase out of the Learning Centers has progressed.

Among the group of students transitioned from the Learning Centers to their home schools in 2007/2008, despite all the focus and extra attention showered upon this group, fewer than 1 in 5 achieved proficiency on the statewide assessment (MSA). By contrast, among the group of disabled students MCPS selected as comparable more than ½ achieved proficiency and 1 in 14 scored as advanced on the same assessment. In other, words the transitioned Learning Center students performed much worse than expected.

Given these test scores we should not be surprised to read from the accompanying survey of teachers that almost half of 6th grade teachers failed to attend the MANDATORY summer training designed to support this program closure. The report included no information as to how this failure of management and oversight has been addressed.

Further, direct classroom observations by assessors reveal differentiated instructional activities were found in only 1 out of 4 of the observed Grade 6 classrooms. The report also noted widespread failure to take advantage of technology, including the Kurzweil Readers.

The MCPS report noted multiple times that co-teaching was not properly implemented. In addition, 7 out of 10 Guidance Counselors and 1 in 3 Principals indicated they received little or no support for the inclusion of the transitioned Students.

In the one apparent bright spot parents were quite pleased with the Case Management services provided by the Central Office. However a very low response rate was noted in the report, as well as staff resorting to telephone calls in order to pump up this response rate. Such practices may seriously bias survey results.

Of particular interest in assessing the quality of Case Management only 36% of teachers indicated the Case Manager attended the IEP meeting, while 95% of parents responded that the Case Manager was at the IEP meeting. This can only mean that parents must have been confused or misinformed as to who was providing this central office case management. In stark contrast to the parents positive impression, the survey of staff shows sizeable dissatisfaction with the central office Case Management and support.

But don’t just take my read of this report. Check it out for yourself;

http://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/departments/sharedaccountability/reports/2009/LC%20Transition%20Final%20Report%20Feb%2009%2009.pdf

Bob Astrove

Panasonic Foundation

We learn from the Washington Post article that Superintendent Jerry Weast went on a trip to Colorado Springs, to the Panasonic Foundation conference.

Click Here to see the list of the travels that Jerry Weast reported to the Washington Post.

Why did Jerry Weast's trip to the Panasonic Foundation conference only cost $4 ?

Who paid for the Airfare, hotel, and meals?

The Sopranos Meets the PTA

The "More" Child blog reports on the activities of the Montgomery County Council of PTAs (MCCPTA) this week in an article entitled: The Sopranos Meets the PTA.

Two Questions

To: Members of the Montgomery County Council and staff:

In preparation for Monday's Montgomery County Council Education Committee (8:30 AM) meeting I am submitting the following questions. I hope that someone, either on the Council or Council staff, will be able to ascertain answers to these questions.

1. Why does the Council packet for the 8:30 AM February 23rd Education Committee meeting, submitted by staff contain a different version of the November 26th letter and attachments from Superintendent Weast to Councilmember Ervin, than were originally received by the Council and stamped in as #039369? Attachment B as shown in the Council packet is not the same Attachment B (June 9, 2008 memorandum from Superintendent Weast to Board of Education) as was originally received by the Council. When was the switch made and why?

2. Where is procurement information/documentation for the 700 Promethean Boards that are unaccounted for? A lease for 2,600 Promethean Boards has been made accessible to the public because of a Maryland Public Information Act request that I filed. However, there are also approximately 700 Promethean Boards that are unaccounted for in Board of Education minutes, as MCPS has revealed there are about 3,300 Promethean Boards in place in MCPS. 700 Promethean Boards would represent a procurement of approximately $3,500,000.

Thank you for your assistance in answering these questions.

Janis Sartucci

Centro Familia: Show Me The Money

The Washington Post reports HERE on the Inspector General's findings about Centro Familia, the $900,000 in taxpayer grant money, and the Montgomery County Department of Health and Human Services.

Board member walks out to avoid Open Meetings Violation

Board member Jennifer Abell walked out of a Charles County Board of Education meeting on February 6th rather than risk being found in violation of the Maryland Open Meetings Act.

On January 30, 2009, the Maryland Open Meetings Compliance Board found the Montgomery County Public School Board of Education to be in violation of the Act. As of yet, no MCPS Board of Education member has spoken publicly about this violation and the MCPS Board of Education has not discussed this issue in Open session.

In sharp contrast to the demeanor of members of the MCPS Board of Education, Charles County Board member Jennifer Abell publishes a blog that details her activities to her constituents, including her refusal to participate in a meeting that should have been open to the public.

WPost: Superintendents Out of Town

The Washington Post is reporting on D.C. Area School Chief's Perk that Refreshes: Travel. The Parents' Coalition website chronicles the travels of MCPS Administrators on the Weast Watch page of its website.

What the article doesn't go into is what the Superintendents were missing when they were out of town. For example, Superintendent Weast has missed Board meetings and events such as graduations and the Superintendent's Performing Arts Award Ceremony when students would actually have had contact with their school system's chief. Last year Superintendent Weast traveled out of town to receive a "Tech-Savvy" Award sponsored in part by Promethean. Later in the year thousands of Promethean Boards arrived in MCPS classrooms.

As a follow up to this article, how about an article on how much time Superintendent's spend in schools with actual students? How many Superintendents have ridden a school bus with students, eaten lunch on the floor in a high school (no room in cafeterias), used a student restroom, attended a P.E. class on a field, or gone back stage for a performance? How many public school students have ever laid eyes on their school superintendent?

Examiner: Mont. Co. can't account for $900,000

The Examiner is reporting that Montgomery County can't account for $900,000 to child care center.

2/19/09

Montgomery County's Department of Health and Human Services can't account for more than $900,000 it paid to a child-care center for Latino immigrants founded by a local school board member, according to the county's inspector general.

Read the full report from the Inspector General here.

WPost: Board Told to Open Up About Closed Sessions

As first reported here, the Montgomery County Board of Education has been found to be in violation of the Maryland Open Meetings Act. At the time of the violation the President of the MCPS Board of Education was Nancy Navarro. No elected Board of Education members are quoted in the February 19th Washington Post article on this violation.

At the meeting that was the subject of the Complaint, the Board of Education went behind closed doors, without proper disclosure of the topic, to discuss the illegal curricular fees that are being charged MCPS students. The topic of that meeting was disclosed after the fact by President Navarro in a prepared statement later that day.

Note that to date, the Board of Education has not put the issue of illegal Curricular Fees as an agenda item at an Open Meeting. Yet, the Superintendent has gone forward with "new" curricular fee rules to be implemented for the 2009-10 school year, without any public discussion by the elected Board of Education.

What was the Board discussing at the September 9th meeting? When did the Board decide to remain silent on this issue of major importance to public school families? When did the Board delegate this issue to the Superintendent?

The Board's silence on the issue of Curricular Fees means that MCPS parents will continue to be charged to attend public school classes in MCPS for years to come. The Maryland State Constitution, the opinion of the Maryland Attorney General and the opinion of the Maryland State Board of Education are to be ignored in Montgomery County.

Our elected Board of Education will not stand up for a child's right to a free public education in Maryland and they will not take up this issue in public.

Congratulations and a note of caution to this year's recipients of the Tech Savvy Superintendent award

Congratulations to this year's winners of the Tech Savvy Superintendent's awards.

What an honor - but as yourself, how much of the Tech Savvy Superintendent award is really an honor and how much of this is a marketing opportunity for sponsor/vendors?

For those lucky ten school systems with honorees who will receive this award on Friday, February 20, you may want to reconsider.

Just last year, Dr. Weast, Montgomery County Maryland's Superintendent of Schools, was named as one of the 2008 Tech Savvy Superintendents. Not only did Montgomery County taxpayers send him to receive this award, but the schools wound up purchasing over 3,300 fancy whiteboards from Promethean, the sponsor of last year's awards. The Montgomery County Council is holding a hearing February 23, at 9:30 am to figure out who picked up the tab for these wonderful tech toys. Curious taxpayers want to know, especially since the four unions serving the school system gave up their negotiated pay increases to make up for public funding shortfalls as a result of the downturn in the economy.

Think carefully before your school system and taxpayers find themselves in the same situation - or at least hide the checkbook before your superintendent gets on the plane for San Francisco.


***********************************************

Here is the invitation to become a sponsor of the recently announced Tech Savvy Sup awards.

From the invitation to become one of the three sponsors:

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