$69,713 spent on hiring Superintendent

Remember the press release from MCPS that said the Board of Education had hired a search firm to find the next superintendent for a cost of $35,000 plus expenses?


Well those "plus expenses" are rolling in.  Total for FY11 in payments to the search firm of Hazard, Young, Attea and Associates is $69,713. 


That's $34,713 that was spent on "plus expenses" for this search. And those expenses were for...?


Thanks to the Funding and Accountability Database for that little ray of sunshine for taxpayers. 
But that doesn't tell us if that is the final total for this outside consultant. Are there more bills to be paid on this tab? 

For Who? For WHO?

Grammar takes a break in Montgomery County, Letter to the Editor, Washington Post, Wednesday, August 31, 2011

Regarding the Aug. 28 Metro article “A page out of Disney’s book: Montgomery County schools apply company’s training methods to motivate employees”:

“ ‘A high-quality education is a fundamental right for who?’ asked a high-energy facilitator. ‘Every child,’ came the muffled response. ‘For WHO?’ the call came again. ‘Every child,’ the group said, a little louder. ‘That’s right,’ the facilitator said. ‘Every child.’ ”

Sigh. I guess a high-quality education in grammar isn’t a fundamental right for every facilitator.

M.S.D., Kensington

Middle School Fees

High school students and their families in Montgomery County Maryland aren't the only ones subject to educational extortion.  Middle schoolers and their families are also asked to pay for what should be a free public education.  Here is a list of fees charged.

http://www.scribd.com/fullscreen/63616532?access_key=key-2c0xztqmklbtaoa66u6l

Some fun facts about middle school fees.

1.  Not all schools charge fees.  Consider your child lucky if he or she attends Argyle, Clemente, Forest Oak, Frost, Key, Lee, Poole, Ridgeview, Sligo, or Tilden.  Your child is among the few who are truly getting a free public education.

2.  Even though course offerings are supposed to be consistent across the county, some schools charge fees for the same classes offered for free at other schools.

3. If your student is enrolled in a "high school course" in middle school, your student may be charged a fee - even if the course is a graduation requirement.  See Banneker, Montgomery Village, Pyle, Shady Grove and White Oak, offering Introduction to Engineering Design.

4.  Red/Green zone distinctions don't seem to apply.

5.  Are the lists accurate?   Readers will need to report back whether they were charged additional fees not on the list.

So - what is a parent to do, other than try to transfer their student into one of the free schools?

As with the high school fees, ask for a waiver.  Students are not supposed to be denied educational opportunities based on whether a fee is paid.

And, if you do choose to pay a fee, consider it a donation.

But most importantly, let Dr. Starr know if you are assessed a fee to attend a middle school class.  He has stated in interviews this week that MCPS only charges for high school courses. 

I guess Dr. Starr has a lot of learning to do.   Maybe he should stay home for a few days and catch up on his reading.

MCPS, Wireless Generation, and our Tax Dollars

Readers of this blog know that the MCPS Board of Education has been paying Wireless Generation for years to the tune of at least $500,000 of our tax dollars. Here is more news on the corporation, from The New York Times. Note also the involvements of Stacey Childress, of the Harvard Business School.

Mr. Barclay, where are our taxpayer dollars and what was our involvement in Wireless Generation? Is it still continuing? And, what has been the involvement of the 'Harvard Public Education Leadership Project' in this deal? Answers, please.

Subsidiary of News Corp. Loses Deal With State
By SHARON OTTERMAN
Published: August 29, 2011

The New York State comptroller’s office has rejected a $27 million contract with a News Corporation subsidiary to build a data system for tracking student performance, as fallout widens against the international media conglomerate due to a phone hacking scandal in Britain.

Thomas P. DiNapoli, the state comptroller, had given the green light to state education officials in May to pursue a no-bid contract with Wireless Generation, an education technology company based in Brooklyn in which News Corporation had acquired a 90 percent stake last November for more than $360 million.

Last week, however, Mr. DiNapoli decided that the revelations surrounding News Corporation had made final approval of the contract untenable. In a rejection letter, first reported on Saturday by The Daily News, he told state education officials that they should instead put the project out to bid to a variety of companies.

“We believe the record remains incomplete with respect to the vendor responsibility issues involving the parent company of Wireless Generation,” the letter said.

and:

New York will still work with Wireless Generation indirectly, as part of a consortium of states building a shared data framework known as the Shared Learning Collaborative. Financed by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the $44 million project, awarded to Wireless Generation in June, is being directed by Stacey Childress, a former board member at Wireless Generation. She stepped down and sold her stock in the firm before taking the position at the Gates Foundation, a Wireless Generation spokeswoman said.

and:
“It is especially troubling that Wireless Generation will be tasked with creating a centralized database for personal student information,” the New York State United Teachers wrote in a letter, “even as its parent company, News Corporation, stands accused of engaging in illegal news gathering tactics, including the hacking of private voice mail accounts.”

For more go to The New York Times, here.

Starr: Week 2, Trip 1

What does a superintendent do the second week of a new gig? Why travel out of town, of course! 


Here's video of Superintendent Joshua Starr, at his very first Board of Education meeting for MCPS, announcing that the next week he will be traveling to Boston with the Board of Education President Christopher Barclay, unnamed "senior staff" and unnamed union leaders. 


How many attended and at what cost to taxpayers? 


Well we know that attendance at the Harvard Public Education Leadership Program event is pricey (tuition $4,600). But we don't know about food, lodging and transportation. 


Remember that Superintendent Starr sits on the board of one of these Harvard education projects. 


With this video the Parents' Coalition kicks off the Starr's Treks page to track the Superintendent's travels out of town. 

Patch Video: Joshua Starr on Special Education and Charter Schools

In the second part of our video series, the superintendent discusses special education and his views on charter schools.

• By Damian Garde

Patch Video: Joshua Starr on His Educational Philosophy

In part one of our video series, the superintendent discusses his views on advanced placement and student achievement.

DC Examiner: MontCo residents to take legal action against county over soccer fields

A Potomac community is taking the first step toward suing over Montgomery County's plans to turn an organic farm into soccer fields.

Residents of River Falls have joined with the county's Citizens Association and other activists to file official notice on Tuesday "to preserve a claim for monetary damages," according to a flier circulated by the coalition. The notice is a formal way to alert a party that a lawsuit could hit them if the matter isn't resolved.

Read more at the Washington Examiner: http://washingtonexaminer.com/local/education/2011/08/montco-residents-take-legal-action-against-county-over-soccer-fields#ixzz1WTaiwTTP

WAMU: Q&A With New Montgomery County Schools Superintendent Joshua Starr

Q&A With New Montgomery County Schools Superintendent Joshua Starr

WTOP: Starr thinks illegal fees collected end up in MCPS budget

Thanks to WTOP for getting the new Superintendent Joshua Starr to comment on fees charged to students.
It's clear from the interview that Superintendent Starr thinks that the illegal curricular fees collected by local schools end up in the MCPS budget. Is Superintendent Starr getting some bad information from the "transition team" or the "community committee"?

FYI for new superintendent: illegal fees don't end up in the MCPS Operating budget. 
You won't find them accounted for on any page in the budget.

That's how you can tell they are illegal!

If they were legal fees they would be accounted for in the annual budget process, and the fees would have been voted on by the Board of Education.

WTOP: 7 Montgomery Co. schools to close on 1st day of class

From the WTOP audio interview:

WTOP:  A lot of school systems have had to start charging kids if they want to play sports and extra-curricular activities. Where are you on that?  

Superintendent Joshua Starr:  We have some fees for some specialized classes at the high schools, you know. But we certainly make accomodations for families. And you know, I am not of the mindset that we will want to increase fees in any way, shape, or form. It is something we'll certainly take a look at in our budget process. We know that it's not ideal but it is necessary right now. We have no plans to increase it at this time.

8/30/11 UPDATE: Parents' Coalition releases list of MCPS Middle School Curricular Fees

Hearing on Board of Education Redistricting Plan

The following hearing has been added to the Montgomery County Delegation 2011 fall calendar and has been posted to the Delegation website calendar page:

Thursday, September 15, 2011:

Joint House & Senate Hearing on Proposed Montgomery County Board of Education Redistricting Plan

4:00 p.m. - 3rd Floor Hearing Room, Stella Werner Council Office Bldg., 100 Maryland Ave., Rockville, MD 20850

Please see below for details and a link to the Board's resolution, which includes the options and maps.

Click here to sign up to testify (after clicking this link, choose "Bill Hearing" to sign up)

Board of Education Redistricting

In Montgomery County, a Board of Education district means a geographic area in which an elected member of the Board must live. In Montgomery County there are five resident-district members and two at-large members of the Board; however, all Board members are elected by the county as a whole. 

According to Maryland state law, the five Montgomery County Board of Education residency districts must be redrawn after each decennial (10 year) census to make sure that the districts  are “substantially equal in population”. The 2010 Census revealed that over the last decade, the population of Montgomery County increased 11.3 percent and that the boundaries of the five Board of Education districts needed to be redrawn.  The Maryland General Assembly, at the request of the Montgomery County Delegation, must enact legislation during the upcoming 2011 special session to redraw the districts so that they can be in place for the April 2012 primary and November 2012 general elections.  

On August 24, 2011 the Board unanimously voted to approve a RESOLUTION to recommend a redistricting plan to the Montgomery County Delegation that both establishes districts substantially equal in population and allows for anticipated growth.   

The Board of Education has forwarded its recommendation to the Montgomery County Delegation. The Delegation will develop a local bill and has scheduled this hearing.

Welcome Back!

The Parents' Coalition welcomes all new and returning students, teachers, staff, parents, guardians and well wishers in general to a new school year. Have a wonderful year.

Fresno Superintendent: “There’s no reason for me to keep stockpiling money.’’

Schools chief forgoes $800k in pay - The Boston Globe

WUSA9: First Day Of School Uncertainty In Montgomery County

Where's the new Superintendent? Here's WUSA9's story on the inability of MCPS to know which schools had power and which didn't.

WUSA9:  First Day Of School Uncertainty In Montgomery County

The closed schools list shrinks and grows

Superintendent Joshua Starr removes schools from the closed list, and adds others. As WUSA was reporting last night, Superintendent Starr didn't have a handle on which schools had power and which didn't. Here's the clue, if the lights are on - the school has power. 

All schools with power will open on time

From MCPS, for updates go here.

EMERGENCY MESSAGE: 8/28/2011 at 8:57 PM --

Hurricane Irene Recovery Update

Montgomery County Public Schools continues to recover from the effects of Hurricane Irene. All schools with power will open on time on Monday, August 29. As of 8 p.m., 23 schools remain without power. MCPS will monitor the power situation at these schools overnight and make a final decision by 6 a.m. about the opening of these schools. Each school community without power will receive an automated telephone call updating them about the power restoration efforts.

The schools without power include:
Benjamin Banneker Middle School
Briggs Chaney Middle School
Broad Acres Elementary School
Burtonsville Elementary School
Emory Grove Center
Fairland Holding Center
Fairland Elementary School
Flower Hill Elementary School
Forest Knolls Elementary School
Galway Elementary School
Glen Haven Elementary School
Greencastle Elementary School
Highland View Elementary School
Francis Scott Key Middle School
Col. Brooke Lee Middle School
Neelsville Middle School
Paint Branch High School
Piney Branch Elementary School
Sargent R. Shriver Elementary School
Takoma Park Elementary School
Takoma Park Middle School
Westland Middle School
Woodlin Elementary School

When You Wish Upon A Starr

Washington Post, Sunday August 28, 2011

In their ongoing quest to eliminate academic achievement gaps, Montgomery County educators are seeking help from the Magic Kingdom.

It is not enough, they realized, to spend more on poor children or to promote college-level classes for all if school employees are not fully committed to the cause.

So Maryland’s largest school system sent a delegation to Disney’s complex in Orlando a few years ago for a lesson in motivating employees from a company that specializes in making dreams come true.

To read the complete article, CLICK HERE.

Montgomery schools reopen under new leadership | Lisa Gartner | Education | Washington Examiner

Montgomery schools reopen under new leadership | Lisa Gartner | Education | Washington Examiner

How to Fix Our Math Education

From The New York Times.

How to Fix Our Math Education
By SOL GARFUNKEL and DAVID MUMFORD
Published: August 24, 2011

THERE is widespread alarm in the United States about the state of our math education. The anxiety can be traced to the poor performance of American students on various international tests, and it is now embodied in George W. Bush’s No Child Left Behind law, which requires public school students to pass standardized math tests by the year 2014 and punishes their schools or their teachers if they do not.

All this worry, however, is based on the assumption that there is a single established body of mathematical skills that everyone needs to know to be prepared for 21st-century careers. This assumption is wrong. The truth is that different sets of math skills are useful for different careers, and our math education should be changed to reflect this fact.

Today, American high schools offer a sequence of algebra, geometry, more algebra, pre-calculus and calculus (or a “reform” version in which these topics are interwoven). This has been codified by the Common Core State Standards, recently adopted by more than 40 states. This highly abstract curriculum is simply not the best way to prepare a vast majority of high school students for life.

and:

Imagine replacing the sequence of algebra, geometry and calculus with a sequence of finance, data and basic engineering. In the finance course, students would learn the exponential function, use formulas in spreadsheets and study the budgets of people, companies and governments. In the data course, students would gather their own data sets and learn how, in fields as diverse as sports and medicine, larger samples give better estimates of averages. In the basic engineering course, students would learn the workings of engines, sound waves, TV signals and computers. Science and math were originally discovered together, and they are best learned together now.

To read more go here.

Back to School Fair

UPDATE: 8/26/11 EMERGENCY MESSAGE: 8/26/2011 at 6:14 PM --
Due to emergency weather conditions related to Hurricane Irene, the Montgomery County Public Schools Fourth Annual Back-to-School Fair scheduled for tomorrow, Saturday, August 27, is cancelled.

Backpacks and school supplies for needy families will be distributed while supplies last on Monday, August 29 from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. in the auditorium at the Carver Educational Services Center, 850 Hungerford Drive, in Rockville
****************************


Montgomery County, MD, issued a press release about the potential upcoming weather emergency:

Hurricane Irene May Impact Region in Coming Days; Residents Urged to Prepare for Hurricanes and Other Emergencies

Currently at category 3 status, Hurricane Irene may impact the region in the days ahead, and officials remind residents that they should prepare for the possibility of high winds, power outages and flooding. The hurricane season traditionally runs through November.

**********

Meanwhile, MCPS is busy getting ready for the Back To School Fair, scheduled for this Saturday from 12 - 3. Thursday, multiple tents were set up in the parking lot at 850 Hungerford to get ready for the event.

Incredulous that MCPS would go forward with the fair while everyone in the county is being urged to prepare for a Hurricane, we drove over to see the tents. At 6:30 pm, on Thursday night, two MCPS employees were dutifully in the parking lot. When they saw me taking pictures, one woman rushed over to us as we were leaving the parking lot, to tell me: "Don't worry, it's all donated!"

I asked her if she knew there was a hurricane on the way. She said yes, not to worry, that MCPS was coordinating with the police.

Last I heard, not even the Montgomery County Police Department could stop a hurricane! I hope folks use their common sense and get those tents down if it looks like the winds will be picking up on Saturday afternoon.

The National Weather Service has placed Montgomery County, MD, under a tropical storm watch, and says that: TROPICAL STORM WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT...

... PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS... PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

STAY INFORMED AND LISTEN FOR POSSIBLE CHANGES TO THE FORECAST. PREPARATIONS FOR THIS STORM SHOULD BE MADE AS SOON AS POSSIBLE.

... PROBABILITY OF TROPICAL STORM/HURRICANE CONDITIONS... THE CHANCE FOR TROPICAL STORM CONDITIONS AT THIS TIME IS AROUND 40 PERCENT. THIS REPRESENTS A GENERAL UPWARD TREND SINCE THE LAST FORECAST. IF TROPICAL STORM CONDITIONS WERE TO OCCUR... THE MOST LIKELY PERIOD OF ONSET IS SATURDAY AFTER MIDNIGHT.

... WINDS... AS HURRICANE IRENE PASSES NEARBY... THE THREAT FOR SUSTAINED HIGH WINDS SHOULD NOT INCREASE. HOWEVER... THERE IS STILL SOME POSSIBILITY FOR TROPICAL STORM FORCE WINDS. SINCE THERE IS STILL UNCERTAINTY... CLOSELY MONITOR THE FORECAST FOR ANY SIGNIFICANT CHANGES.

A GENERAL CONCERN SHOULD BE FOR THE POSSIBILITY OF AT LEAST MINOR TO LOCALLY MODERATE DAMAGE SOMEWHERE WITHIN THE AREA.

... INLAND FLOODING... FLASH FLOODING IS POSSIBLE FROM LATE SATURDAY AFTERNOON THROUGH EARLY SUNDAY