Montgomery County Taxpayers League Summit June 10th

Ed Amatetti, Montgomery County Taxpayers League (MCTL)

 

I ask for your Valued Participation at MCTL’s Planning Summit
Monday, June 10th, 2019, beginning at 6:45pm
Rockville Library (Town Center), 21 Maryland Ave, Rockville, MD 20850. 

 

PLEASE RSVP so we have a count. We hope to fill the room for the Summit.

 

Thank you for your friendship and support for my recent campaign for Montgomery Cty. Council. At our November celebration following a well-fought campaign, we were unreserved and clear in our commitment to work together through other means to bring about a better Montgomery County.I have since kept your enthusiastic sentiments in my thoughts, and now hope I can look forward to joining forces with you so we can follow through on our goals.

I’ve been involved with the Montgomery County Taxpayers League for quite some time, and I realize that MCTL is in a unique position to serve as a conduit for achieving our shared goals. I want you to realize this as well. For years, MCTL has proven to be informed, muscular advocates with great successes under our belt – and we want to do more! Accordingly, we are looking to greatly expand our reach and activities by increasing the number of people smart, sensible, civics-minded people – like you – who work with us.  

With all this in mind, I am reaching out to you.  I hope you can participate in the June 10th MCTL Summit.  PLEASE RSVP.History is clear that the best way for citizens to assert themselves is in a unified, non-partisan, and deliberate fashion. We can strongly influence our county’s policies if we marshal ourselves.

SO LET’S DO THIS!  We can have an “ear to the ground,” and even a “seat at the table,” as each year’s county budget is developed -- play an integral role in making our schools world class, crushing the achievement gap, and multiplying magnet programs -- help create a flourishing private sector that creates jobs as fast as our neighbors --- take steps to make our county more affordable -- find workable solutions to our transportation problems and environmental goals.

A Little About the Montgomery County Taxpayers League.

MCTL has been around for a long time (since 1975) advocating on behalf of county taxpayers and residents for accountable, effective, and efficient government. MCTL has built a reputation for integrity, fairness, competency, and hard research & analysis. We have good, smart people on both sides of the aisle, and have worthwhile achievements under our belts through cogent analyses, frequent testimony, bringing cases to regulators, getting legislation passed in Annapolis, and other activities. MCTL seems to have struck a happy balance between having a working relationship with county/elected officials, while remaining 100% independent and a real “thorn in their sides” when necessary. We also have productive associations with civics groups and wish to expand upon this.Please try to attend the June 10th MCTL Planning Summit, or ask someone else to attend in your stead. Once again, thank you so much for your friendship and for making my recent campaign so rewarding.

With Kindest Regards

Ed

MCPS Shows Significant Increase in Reported Hate Incidents Since 2014

ICYMI: @mcps data shows significant increase in reported #hate incidents since 2014. @PCMC1 @MontgomeryCoMD data here:  https://t.co/8EPyO46d6j @fox5dc

— Melanie Alnwick (@fox5melanie) April 30, 2019

Who Gets Special Education Services? It Depends on Where You Live, GAO Report Finds

About 13 percent of the nation's public school students—close to 7 million children and youth ages 3 to 21—receive special education services through the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act.

But that overall percentage masks dramatic variability at the state level, according to a new report from the Government Accountability Office, a congressional watchdog agency.

The identification rates for students ages 6-21 ranged from 6.4 percent in Hawaii to 15.1 percent in Puerto Rico in fall 2016, the report said. (The highest identification rate in a state that year was Maine, at 12.3 percent.) For children ages 3 to 5, the identification rate in fall 2016 ranged from 3.9 percent in Texas to 14.6 percent in Wyoming.

The process of identifying public school students for special education eligibility is called "child find," and is mandatory under the IDEA. But states have some flexibility to decide what "counts" as a disability.

The GAO started to dig into the question of special education identification in the wake of news articles in 2016 showing that Texas suppressed the number of students identified with disabilities. The federal office of special education programs is currently monitoring Texas as it takes corrective action. 

But states are permitted to have their own criteria under the law. As an example, the GAO report called out the special education category called "developmental disability," which can be used for children from birth to age 9. Maryland states that a child must have at least a 25 percent delay in one or more areas to be eligible for early-intervention services. Examples of developmental areas are social skills, fine or gross motor skills, or language skills. In Arizona, a child needs to demonstrate a 50 percent delay in one or more developmental areas in order to receive early intervention...

http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/speced/2019/04/special_education_identification_varies_by_state.html?fbclid=IwAR25qsigS9WPYkQpCasCR9XX1YIsCVdUK7A13OY4kRrnC_ZvATHATzsjTts

Montgomery County Taxpayers League Meeting June 12, 7-9 PM

Damascus athletic director placed on leave as investigation into hazing rape continues

DAMASCUS, Md. (ABC7) — The athletic director at Damascus High School has been placed on administrative leave, as part of an ongoing investigation into a Halloween 2018 hazing incident that led to criminal rape charges against five junior varsity football players...

https://wjla.com/news/local/damascus-athletic-director-placed-on-leave-following-principals-resignation

@ABC7Kevin BREAKING: Damascus High School Principal Casey Crouse announces resignation from her post.

BREAKING: Damascus High School Principal Casey Crouse announces resignation from her post.

“This decision has been extremely difficult for me and one that I did not take lightly,” Crouse wrote, citing the Oct. 31, broomstick sexual assaults as the primary factor.

Full letter👇🏻 pic.twitter.com/cQ2tKchEin

— Kevin Lewis (@ABC7Kevin) May 7, 2019

This is a new security checkpoint at Einstein HS in Kensington, MD. The school added it because a lot of the students were ordering food delivery every day at lunch. UberEats, DoorDash, etc. @MCPS discourages food delivery to closed campuses for safety reasons @nbcwashington

This is a new security checkpoint at Einstein HS in Kensington, MD. The school added it because a lot of the students were ordering food delivery every day at lunch. UberEats, DoorDash, etc. @MCPS discourages food delivery to closed campuses for safety reasons @nbcwashington pic.twitter.com/mDO9MucT5z

— Drew Wilder (@DrewWilderTV) April 30, 2019

Playing in poison? 7 On Your Side discovers dangerous lead levels at a local playground

A local elementary school playground saturated with lead. 7 On Your Side uncovers why lead levels are dangerously high, what's being done to fix the problem, and whether other area school children are playing in poison. Monday at 6 p.m. on ABC7 News.

https://wjla.com/features/7-on-your-side/dangerous-lead-levels-dc-playground

Campaign for Commercial-Free Childhood Screen Free Week April 29 - May 5 2019

https://www.screenfree.org/

Mystery Instagram account comically documents cockroach sightings at Damascus High School

DAMASCUS, Md. (ABC7) — Most people use Instagram to showcase life's luxuries with the assistance of flattering filters and catchy hashtags... sunsets, European vacations, sandy beaches and fine dining dinners.

However, students and staff members at Damascus High School are finding comic relief in an anonymous Instagram account making light of the fact that cockroaches keep crawling into classrooms, hallways and bathrooms.

The account — aptly named "cockroaches of dhs" — first launched in November 2017. Since then it has shared 63 posts of the ugly, disease carrying critters, and has a following of nearly 350 people...

...Despite 63 posts over the last 18 months, Montgomery County Public Schools claims there is nothing special or unique about the cockroach sightings within the walls of Damascus.

"There is no significant issue with cockroaches at Damascus High School," MCPS spokesman Derek Turner said in an email to ABC7 Friday. "As with all older buildings, pests do appear from time to time, but they are quickly addressed."

Turner did not share what tools and tactics MCPS has used to combat the persistent insects. He also did not comment on rules dictating the consumption of food and drink on school property...

https://wjla.com/news/local/instagram-cockroaches-damascus-high-school

Stop giving your kid your smartphone. World Health Organization releases first-ever screen time guidelines

The World Health Organization has issued its first-ever guidance for how much screen time children under 5 should get: not very much, and none at all for those under 1.

The U.N. health agency said Wednesday that kids under 5 should not spend more than one hour watching screens every day — and that less is better...

https://www.chicagotribune.com/lifestyles/health/ct-hlth-baby-kid-screen-time-recommendations-20190424-story.html

Montgomery County bans new housing developments due to school overcrowding

https://www.wusa9.com/article/news/local/maryland/montgomery-county-bans-new-housing-developments-due-to-school-overcrowding/65-bea4b904-5131-4b17-8ed0-f0845461a06b?fbclid=IwAR3_GBlf0BqnoQGCtVJYgBvdlIbKD09ZC6p8HqTJl0ih8twfNDzOOAZDS9c

U.S. officials probe alleged discrimination against Asian American students in MCPS @MCPS @mocoboe

April 21 at 5:04 PM

Federal officials are investigating allegations of discrimination against Asian American students in a suburban school system in Maryland where parents have complained that race was unlawfully used as a factor in magnet program admissions.

The Education Department’s Office for Civil Rights notified families it had taken up the case in March, months after a spate of complaints was filed against Montgomery County school officials.

Parent leaders involved in the action allege that the school system — the state’s largest — discriminated against Asian American students while seeking greater racial balance in two sought-after middle school magnet programs.

They say the number of Asian American students invited into the programs fell 23 percent from 2016 to 2017, amid a wave of attention to diversity issues, and then dropped by 20 percent the next year after a new screening and selection process took effect.

Federal officials received 10 complaints raising similar concerns, which have been incorporated into one case, federal officials said in letters to parents...

https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/us-officials-probe-alleged-discrimination-against-asian-american-students-in-md/2019/04/21/67ecc77a-46a6-11e9-8aab-95b8d80a1e4f_story.html?utm_term=.a3cde1c63717

Learning must be our priority as educators and we need to take a hard look at our practices of removing barriers to ensure we aren’t making the common mistake of enabling students rather than supporting them. Wrap around services are critical but not when they wrap so tight that they squeeze out the educational part of the equation.

We Can’t Let Our Love For Our Students Morph Into Low Academic Expectations

By Jessica Waters

I remember the day like it was yesterday. The year was 2013 and I was in the oval office with President Obama to receive an award for excellence in teaching. I was there as the 2013 RI Teacher of the Year to represent the teachers in my state and to honor the hard work they do every day. I loved teaching. I loved my students and I was unwavering in my belief in their potential to achieve and do great things...


https://goodschoolhunting.org/2017/07/cant-let-love-students-morph-low-academic-expectations.html

'Signing Day' recognizes high school seniors starting jobs, not college

The familiar high school rituals take place every spring. Athletes sign letters of intent to play for college programs as their coaches beam with pride, the photographs splashed across social media. Other high school seniors wave college acceptance letters as their names are announced at school assemblies.

But one school system in Virginia wanted to celebrate a different life-changing moment for the seniors who were starting careers right after graduation. In Henrico County, public school administrators held a ceremony in late March called "Career and Technical Letter-of-Intent Signing Day."

"This is a celebration of students who are entering the workforce or post-secondary training with a plan," said Mac Beaton, director of Henrico Schools’ Department of Career and Technical Education, in a Facebook post. "They’ve chosen to maximize their high school opportunities for career training and industry certifications, with an eye on becoming successful and financially secure much earlier in life."..

https://www.mnn.com/money/green-workplace/stories/signing-day-recognizes-high-school-seniors-starting-jobs-not-college?fbclid=IwAR3pGr4dg38F3id7nShBY-qrHyx-OaitmzVo7NpTGiR5_SR8a13Cx2N4FNg

The Students Suing for a Constitutional Right to Education

A new federal complaint with a unique argument accuses the state of Rhode Island of failing to provide students with the skills they need to participate effectively in a democracy.

Nearly all of the world’s 180-plus countries include the term education in their constitution. Most guarantee every child the right to free education, and many make participation in some form of schooling mandatory; some even provideuniversal access to affordable college. For the remaining handful, the UN’s decades-old treaty on children’s rights, which stipulates various educational protections, serves as a backup, and has been ratified by pretty much every sovereign nation on the planet. Except for one.

That one country is the United States of America, a nation that prizes the idea that anyone should be able to build a better life through education and hard work. Activists have occasionally sought to address this constitutional omission through congressional legislation, grassroots campaigns, and federal litigation, but they’ve never succeeded. Of the few cases that have made it to the U.S. Supreme Court, not a single one has managed to secure a majority ruling in favor of an argument that there is an implied right to an education in the Constitution. Against this backdrop, federal litigation over educational rights has all but disappeared in the past half century. Meanwhile, the nation’s public schools continue to vary significantly in funding, quality, and academic and social outcomes...

https://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2018/11/lawsuit-constitutional-right-education/576901/

Clean house at Damascus High School

By Letters to the Editor

April 3

Regarding the March 31 front-page article “A locker room assault case roils a high school”:

The football program at Damascus High School should be suspended for four years. The principal should be fired immediately; her delay in calling police was probably an attempt to play the last game of the season. The varsity and junior varsity coaches and athletic director should be fired as well. None of these people is fit to work in a high school. Denying knowledge of this is proof of not doing their job...

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/clean-house-at-damascus-high-school/2019/04/03/c2af016e-54b6-11e9-aa83-504f086bf5d6_story.html?utm_term=.f0b038662a15

The largest public high school in the state of Maryland is currently taking shape at an estimated cost of more than $150 million. The four-story building will cover approximately 440,000 sq. ft. and will serve as the new Seneca Valley High School in Germantown, Montgomery County.

The school is expected to be ready for the start of the 2020/2021 school year and will have the capacity for more than 3,000 students. Ground was broken in September 2017 and completion is set for August 2020. The following year, the current facility will be demolished and the grounds will be completed.

Construction of the new building is taking place on the school's old athletic fields. Upon completion of the new building, the new athletic fields will be built where the current building stands today...

...The capacity of the school will increase from 1,374 students to 2,423 students with a core capacity for 2,400 students. The increased capacity to Seneca Valley High School provides the opportunity to address projected overutilization of nearby Clarksburg and Northwest high schools through student reassignments in the future...

...Onsite staging areas will be included for 30 buses, 439 parking spaces, and onsite student drop-off queuing for 30 cars...

https://www.constructionequipmentguide.com/marylands-150m-seneca-valley-hs-is-taking-shape/44390

UPDATED: Montgomery College Enrollment Continues Dropping as MCPS Enrollment Increases

UPDATED as of 2023 Montgomery College Enrollment - See Below

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

 

MCPS Schools at a Glance

As Montgomery County Public Schools enrollment has been increasing, Montgomery College's enrollment has been dropping.

Montgomery College is currently asking for a budget increase from what has been proposed by the County Executive.   But missing from any discussion of Montgomery College's budget request is data on the College's downward enrollment trend.

MHEC Data Books

When asked about Montgomery College's current Fall 2018 enrollment, Montgomery County Councilmember and Education Chair Craig Rice responded that Montgomery College has 54,335 credit and non-credit students.

The enrollment data from the 2019 Maryland Higher Education Commission (MHEC) data book shows Montgomery College's Fall 2017 enrollment as 22,875.  If that enrollment held to the Fall of 2018, that would mean that 31,460 Montgomery College students were enrolled in non-credit classes.

That puts the majority of Montgomery College students as taking non-credit courses.

The "college" component of Montgomery College has been in a decline and has not picked
up additional students, even as MCPS enrollment has steadily climbed.
What's going on at Montgomery College and will our elected officials discuss the downward trend in our community college's enrollment? 


Montgomery College Enrollment with links to MHEC Data Books on enrollment and other data on Maryland colleges.

Fall 2009     26,147

Fall 2010     26,015

Fall 2011     26,996

Fall 2012     27,453

Fall 2013     26,155

Fall 2014     25,517

Fall 2015     25,320

Fall 2016     23,916

Fall 2017     22,875

Fall 2018     21,720 (Page 14 of Council packet)

Fall 2019     21,260

Fall 2020     20,037

Fall 2022     17,137

Recent Montgomery County Council discussion of Montgomery College's Capital Budget request.

https://www.montgomerycountymd.gov/council/Resources/Files/agenda/cm/2019/20190321/20190321_EC1.pdf

Reflections on a Four-Year Sentence from former MD State Board of Education President

What I learned serving as a state school board member

By Chester E. Finn, Jr. 03/26/2019

A surprising array of events are arranged in four-year cycles: leap years, the Olympics, presidential elections, and many “terms of office,” including those on the Maryland State Board of Education, where I just concluded my tour of duty.

There’s much that I won’t miss, including the obese briefing books we were sent every month, the depressing old Baltimore building in which we met, the decrepit garage next door where we parked, and the congested interstates that strained to get me there and home. I won’t miss tussling with lobbyists, politicians, and bureaucrats who don’t want anything to change (except, please, send more money!). I surely won’t say that my four-year sentence flew by. I will, however, miss board colleagues who, with almost no exceptions, struggle to do right by the state’s children, especially the neediest among them and who, for zero compensation, have committed—and, in my absence will continue to commit—many, many hours to earnest, albeit exceptionally difficult, efforts to give those kids the education they deserve.

Most states have such a board, and in many—as in Maryland—its members are appointed by the governor, often—as in Maryland—with confirmation by some branch of the legislature...

First, as a state-board member, you’re now part of a high-stakes political process, so understand that, if you and your colleagues set out to change anything of consequence, you’ll have enemies and you’ll need allies. Don’t suppose that you’re actually in charge, no matter what constitutions, statute books, and regulations may say...

Second, be wary of the bureaucracy that nominally works for you. State education departments are as set in their ways and as attuned to traditional stakeholders and their interests as are schools and districts. The first response to any reform suggestion is sure to be some combination of “here’s why that would be really hard to do” and “let’s consult the stakeholders and get their reactions and ideas.” The state superintendent is somewhere in between, formally (in Maryland and many states) accountable to the board that hired him/her but also enmeshed in the state’s longstanding assumptions, obligations, bureaucratic procedures (and capacities), and intertwined educator-career paths...

Third, do your utmost to control the agenda and contain the interruptions. Every organization with a board is capable of drowning that board in so much paperwork, so many information items, and such a long list of trivial issues for review as to prevent board members from even getting enough airtime to present their ideas and raise other matters. What’s more, any veteran executive (and every state superintendent comes from that tribe!) knows that control comes from managing the agenda, paper flow, and lines of communication. At our agency, save for a handful of carefully vetted exceptions, staffers and board members were barred from communicating directly. Everything had to channel through the front office...

Fourth, be aware that sunlight sometimes burns. Many states have “government in the sunshine” or “open-meeting” laws. Maryland’s is pretty rigid: save for obvious “executive session” matters such as personnel and quasi-judicial issues, pretty much every policy body and its sub-units must not only hold all meetings in public but must also give public notice of when and where it will meet. There’s an elaborate enforcement mechanism and a bunch of enforcement-minded attorneys...

Fifth and finally, despite all of the foregoing, don’t give up. It’s not totally hopeless. Moments of opportunity arise. Stars have been known to align. Gains, however incremental, can be made. Once in a while, the step backward is only a half-step, and then you can inch forward again.

Constrained as we were by legislators, we still managed to create a wholly new school-accountability system that was—and is—better than anything that preceded it. (Schools now get “star” ratings, for example. Gifted kids qualify as a “subgroup” whose progress must be disclosed. There’s more.) Our efforts to overhaul high-school-graduation requirements and teacher-certification practices, though resisted by stakeholders’ addiction to the status quo, coincided with the work of an influential statewide education-reform commission and produced a unified array of worthwhile, if imperfect, recommendations for change. And on those occasions when the state superintendent’s own priorities turned out to align with the board’s—well, even the bureaucracy could end up helping more than hindering!...

https://www.educationnext.org/reflections-four-year-sentence-what-i-learned-serving-state-school-board-member/