Tuesday, April 17, 2012
Save Rock Creek Hills Park!: Board of Education Votes to Take Rock Creek Hills ...
Save Rock Creek Hills Park!: Board of Education Votes to Take Rock Creek Hills ...: Today the Montgomery County Board of Education voted unanimously to approve the Montgomery County Public Schools proposal to take the site ...
Wootton High School to "Pause" Curriculum
Thanks to an alert reader, we have the following information to add to the information on the rock concert that will take place on April 28, 2012 on the Wootton High School (grass) football field. (Know that the next Capital Budget request from Wootton HS will be for a million dollar artificial turf because the grass field can't withstand the activity from a rock concert with 3,000 teens.)
Another tidbit from the TunedIn site: (http://www.tunedinmaryland.org/#!press|c19rs) "Monday, April 16th through Wednesday, April 18th Wootton High School will temporarily pause all ongoing curriculums and spend three consecutive days teaching about issues relative to the 2012 Presidential and Congressional elections.
Monday, April 16, 2012
How did they do that? Correction
Someone pulled a fast one.
Wootton HS Student Government Association is not sponsoring the concert with Third Eye Blind and Timelines. See http://www.tunedinmaryland.org/#!ticketsandevents|c61v
Anyone can attend. Silly Wootton students think this concert is for them.
The Wootton Parking lot is wide open. First come, first serve.
Here is what the Tuned In website says about the event.
"TUNED IN is sponsored, in part, by BBYO and is open to all Jewish teens and the entire greater Washington area's Jewish community. BBYO invites all teens, Jewish and otherwise, associated with our coalition partners to join us. Alumni, families, friends and guests are invited to attend. Tickets are $25 each (and each total order has a $1 processing fee). All attendees associated with coalition partners are also welcome to join us and purchase tickets through this site."
With all the celebrity bigwigs - hosted by John King of CNN, and appearances by Councilman Phil Andrews, MD Attorney General Doug Gansler, Sen. Barbara Mikulski's Office, Romney for America Campaign and more - who wants to be left out?
We are anxiously waiting for the Four Eye Blind concert sponsored by PFOX.
Wootton HS Student Government Association is not sponsoring the concert with Third Eye Blind and Timelines. See http://www.tunedinmaryland.org/#!ticketsandevents|c61v
Anyone can attend. Silly Wootton students think this concert is for them.
The Wootton Parking lot is wide open. First come, first serve.
Here is what the Tuned In website says about the event.
"TUNED IN is sponsored, in part, by BBYO and is open to all Jewish teens and the entire greater Washington area's Jewish community. BBYO invites all teens, Jewish and otherwise, associated with our coalition partners to join us. Alumni, families, friends and guests are invited to attend. Tickets are $25 each (and each total order has a $1 processing fee). All attendees associated with coalition partners are also welcome to join us and purchase tickets through this site."
With all the celebrity bigwigs - hosted by John King of CNN, and appearances by Councilman Phil Andrews, MD Attorney General Doug Gansler, Sen. Barbara Mikulski's Office, Romney for America Campaign and more - who wants to be left out?
How did they do that?
Are you interested in a concert with Third Eye Blind and Timelines?
Sorry, only Wootton students or those connected to a Wootton student can attend this concert.
In an unprecedented partnership, for the second time, Wootton and B'Nai Brith Youth Organization are joining forces to bring this concert to your backyard.
Bring your picnic blankets and camp out on Frost Hill.
Wait, isn't BBYO a faith based organization?
You've got that one right. Here is what the organizers had to say at the first concert in 2008:
So - here are my questions.
1. How are the costs and profits divided between MCPS and BBYO?
2. Who holds the liability insurance for the event and is responsible for any damage to Wootton's athletic stadium?
3. Are the permits in order?
4. What about security?
5. Did Americans United for the Separation of Church and State sign off on the 2012 concert?
and most important
6. Will our own Josh Starr be in attendance with all the political hotshots planning to attend?
Students will be arriving at Wootton by shuttle bus that day, so there should be plenty of onsite parking for tailgaters.
Watch those speed cameras on Wootton Parkway and see you on April 28 at Frost Hill.
Inquiring minds want to know - how did they do that?
Wootton High School Online Store
buggy
Sorry, only Wootton students or those connected to a Wootton student can attend this concert.
In an unprecedented partnership, for the second time, Wootton and B'Nai Brith Youth Organization are joining forces to bring this concert to your backyard.
Bring your picnic blankets and camp out on Frost Hill.
Wait, isn't BBYO a faith based organization?
You've got that one right. Here is what the organizers had to say at the first concert in 2008:
The event apparently was unique in another respect as well, according to Ian Kandel, program director of BBYO's D.C. Council. He said it was probably the first partnership in U.S. history between a faith-based organization and a public high school. For that reason, organizers strove to avoid First Amendment problems, in part, by consulting with the organization Americans United for the Separation of Church and State.
Wootton was chosen because many of its student leaders are also active BBYO participants, according to Kandel, who said the concert reflected a major change in BBYO's outreach philosophy.
The 84-year-old organization . . . is expanding its horizons in an attempt to engage greater numbers of unaffiliated and marginally affiliated Jewish students.
One way of doing that, Kandel explained, is by melding students' core interests (such as social justice-related activities) with the pop-culture scene via the presentation of "exciting social events" in secular venues, such as Wootton.
Thursday's concert culminated a weeklong campaign at the high school aimed at raising students' political awareness and encouraging them to get involved in worthwhile causes in the nonprofit sector.
So - here are my questions.
1. How are the costs and profits divided between MCPS and BBYO?
2. Who holds the liability insurance for the event and is responsible for any damage to Wootton's athletic stadium?
3. Are the permits in order?
4. What about security?
5. Did Americans United for the Separation of Church and State sign off on the 2012 concert?
and most important
6. Will our own Josh Starr be in attendance with all the political hotshots planning to attend?
Students will be arriving at Wootton by shuttle bus that day, so there should be plenty of onsite parking for tailgaters.
Watch those speed cameras on Wootton Parkway and see you on April 28 at Frost Hill.
Inquiring minds want to know - how did they do that?
Wootton High School Online Store
buggy
Educating the Next Steve Jobs
From the Wall Street Journal:
How can schools teach students to be more innovative? Offer hands-on classes and don't penalize failure
By Tony Wagner
Most of our high schools and colleges are not preparing students to become innovators. To succeed in the 21st-century economy, students must learn to analyze and solve problems, collaborate, persevere, take calculated risks and learn from failure. To find out how to encourage these skills, I interviewed scores of innovators and their parents, teachers and employers. What I learned is that young Americans learn how to innovate most often despite their schooling—not because of it.
Though few young people will become brilliant innovators like Steve Jobs, most can be taught the skills needed to become more innovative in whatever they do. A handful of high schools, colleges and graduate schools are teaching young people these skills—places like High Tech High in San Diego, the New Tech high schools (a network of 86 schools in 16 states), Olin College in Massachusetts, the Institute of Design (d.school) at Stanford and the MIT Media Lab. The culture of learning in these programs is radically at odds with the culture of schooling in most classrooms.
To read the entire article go here.
How can schools teach students to be more innovative? Offer hands-on classes and don't penalize failure
By Tony Wagner
Most of our high schools and colleges are not preparing students to become innovators. To succeed in the 21st-century economy, students must learn to analyze and solve problems, collaborate, persevere, take calculated risks and learn from failure. To find out how to encourage these skills, I interviewed scores of innovators and their parents, teachers and employers. What I learned is that young Americans learn how to innovate most often despite their schooling—not because of it.
Though few young people will become brilliant innovators like Steve Jobs, most can be taught the skills needed to become more innovative in whatever they do. A handful of high schools, colleges and graduate schools are teaching young people these skills—places like High Tech High in San Diego, the New Tech high schools (a network of 86 schools in 16 states), Olin College in Massachusetts, the Institute of Design (d.school) at Stanford and the MIT Media Lab. The culture of learning in these programs is radically at odds with the culture of schooling in most classrooms.
To read the entire article go here.
Planning Commission Blunder Results in Project Approval
Twinbrook Safeway in Jeopardy
JBG's latest project for the redevelopment on 1800 Rockville Pike (the Safeway project) has been working through the City of Rockville Planning Commission process for approval.
On Wednesday, April 11, we learned that the City of Rockville Planning Commission inadvertently approved the development in toto on March 28 without knowing that they did, and effectively gave the developer eveything they asked for.
During discussion on the project, the Commission voted 3 approval, 2 denial, and 1 abstention to approve the project. The Commission then continued to take votes, ask for testimony, and issue instructions to city staff, concluding the discussion with a 5-1 vote to table the project while further information was gathered. No commissioners protested the 3-2-1 vote or questioned its validity. The City staff, including the Commission's City attorney, continued to participate in the discussion. The Commission was clearly concerned about the APFO impacts, including the traffic congestion and school overcrowding generated by this proposal, especially since JBG was requesting a parking waiver and was pressing its view that residents of its new apartment building could share parking and use Metro parking.
There are at least 5 developments we know that may be coming to the area around the Twinbrook Metro. The Mayor and Council is looking at a development requiring approximately 2000 parking spaces to be built under current City guidelines. That developer, at the strip mall that includes the Fuddruckers and the Pier One, also asked to be exempted from building some of the mandated parking and be allowed to build 3 extra floors (15 stories total). The Planning Commission did NOT approve that request, but because of its size, it went to the Mayor and Council. It appears at this point that the Mayor and Council will may well grant that parking waiver, as well as all of the developer's other requests.
In the context of all these projects going concurrently through City process, the Planning Commission (after the 3-2-1 vote) asked Staff to re-evaluate the school numbers not only for JBG's projects but for all the planned projects. We are unsure at this time if Staff is actually going to perform the evaluation since the request occured after the botched vote as part of the deliberations that the City attorney says cannot be part of the public record on the project.
The project that the Planning Commission inadvertantly approved on March 28 includes a Safeway that will directly face the Twinbrook Metro entrance on the Chapman Avenue side of the Metro. Numerous employees of Safeway have expressed concerns that the Twinbrook Safeway is in the process of being shut down.
We have told the Planning Commission that shutting our Twinbrook Safeway will be a hardship not only to some residents of the Twinbrook community but also deprives many people who come to the Safeway by bus from other neighborhoods along Veirs Mill of a convenient mainstream grocery. Going north, the next grocery store is Giant in Hungerford, going south you have to get to the shops at Randolph and Veirs Mill for food, and the next major grocery store is in Wheaton. Otherwise, traffic from Twinbrook to grocery stores such as Giant and Target on Rockville Pike must cross the Metro tracks on Twinbrook Parkway. JBG also plans to build another residential tower with a Walmart close to that intersection.
The TCA was pleased that the Planning Commission had tabled the 1800 Rockville Pike project on March 28, wisely seeking additional information and public comment on the project, and planning to continue discussion on April 11. Commissioners Trahan, Hadley, Hill, and Cook expressed concerns that were to be addressed on April 11.
Therefore, on April 11, the TCA was surprised when Planning Commission Chair David Hill opened the meeting with a discussion about a problem with votes taken at the March 28 meeting. The City attorney concurred with JBG's attorney that a 3-2-1 vote on March 28 had actually approved the project and that all the additional votes taken by the Commission were moot. The project could go forward even though the Planning Commission did not understand the consequences of their actions and none of the pertinent issues expressed by commissioners were addressed. Chairman Hill expressed reservations about the city attorney’s interpretation of the legalities surrounding the vote. (TCA will review the Planning Commission tape and check into the decision)
The TCA is dismayed that a major project appears to be have been inadvertantly approved without any major problems being addressed by the responsible body. The neighborhood will bear the brunt of this slip-up while the developer will get everything they wanted.
Unfortunately, this does not appear to be an isolated incident in Rockville concerning problems with procedures, policies, and effective governance. Recently, the City has faced several lawsuits about the APFO and complaints/concerns about employee relations, open meetings requirements, appointments to boards and commissions, etc.
The TCA will continue to stay on top of this situation and hopes the City will work to improve its knowledge of and adherence to rules and regulations to better serve our community.
Sincerely,
Christina Y. Ginsberg
President, Twinbrook Citizens Association
JBG's latest project for the redevelopment on 1800 Rockville Pike (the Safeway project) has been working through the City of Rockville Planning Commission process for approval.
On Wednesday, April 11, we learned that the City of Rockville Planning Commission inadvertently approved the development in toto on March 28 without knowing that they did, and effectively gave the developer eveything they asked for.
During discussion on the project, the Commission voted 3 approval, 2 denial, and 1 abstention to approve the project. The Commission then continued to take votes, ask for testimony, and issue instructions to city staff, concluding the discussion with a 5-1 vote to table the project while further information was gathered. No commissioners protested the 3-2-1 vote or questioned its validity. The City staff, including the Commission's City attorney, continued to participate in the discussion. The Commission was clearly concerned about the APFO impacts, including the traffic congestion and school overcrowding generated by this proposal, especially since JBG was requesting a parking waiver and was pressing its view that residents of its new apartment building could share parking and use Metro parking.
There are at least 5 developments we know that may be coming to the area around the Twinbrook Metro. The Mayor and Council is looking at a development requiring approximately 2000 parking spaces to be built under current City guidelines. That developer, at the strip mall that includes the Fuddruckers and the Pier One, also asked to be exempted from building some of the mandated parking and be allowed to build 3 extra floors (15 stories total). The Planning Commission did NOT approve that request, but because of its size, it went to the Mayor and Council. It appears at this point that the Mayor and Council will may well grant that parking waiver, as well as all of the developer's other requests.
In the context of all these projects going concurrently through City process, the Planning Commission (after the 3-2-1 vote) asked Staff to re-evaluate the school numbers not only for JBG's projects but for all the planned projects. We are unsure at this time if Staff is actually going to perform the evaluation since the request occured after the botched vote as part of the deliberations that the City attorney says cannot be part of the public record on the project.
The project that the Planning Commission inadvertantly approved on March 28 includes a Safeway that will directly face the Twinbrook Metro entrance on the Chapman Avenue side of the Metro. Numerous employees of Safeway have expressed concerns that the Twinbrook Safeway is in the process of being shut down.
We have told the Planning Commission that shutting our Twinbrook Safeway will be a hardship not only to some residents of the Twinbrook community but also deprives many people who come to the Safeway by bus from other neighborhoods along Veirs Mill of a convenient mainstream grocery. Going north, the next grocery store is Giant in Hungerford, going south you have to get to the shops at Randolph and Veirs Mill for food, and the next major grocery store is in Wheaton. Otherwise, traffic from Twinbrook to grocery stores such as Giant and Target on Rockville Pike must cross the Metro tracks on Twinbrook Parkway. JBG also plans to build another residential tower with a Walmart close to that intersection.
The TCA was pleased that the Planning Commission had tabled the 1800 Rockville Pike project on March 28, wisely seeking additional information and public comment on the project, and planning to continue discussion on April 11. Commissioners Trahan, Hadley, Hill, and Cook expressed concerns that were to be addressed on April 11.
Therefore, on April 11, the TCA was surprised when Planning Commission Chair David Hill opened the meeting with a discussion about a problem with votes taken at the March 28 meeting. The City attorney concurred with JBG's attorney that a 3-2-1 vote on March 28 had actually approved the project and that all the additional votes taken by the Commission were moot. The project could go forward even though the Planning Commission did not understand the consequences of their actions and none of the pertinent issues expressed by commissioners were addressed. Chairman Hill expressed reservations about the city attorney’s interpretation of the legalities surrounding the vote. (TCA will review the Planning Commission tape and check into the decision)
The TCA is dismayed that a major project appears to be have been inadvertantly approved without any major problems being addressed by the responsible body. The neighborhood will bear the brunt of this slip-up while the developer will get everything they wanted.
Unfortunately, this does not appear to be an isolated incident in Rockville concerning problems with procedures, policies, and effective governance. Recently, the City has faced several lawsuits about the APFO and complaints/concerns about employee relations, open meetings requirements, appointments to boards and commissions, etc.
The TCA will continue to stay on top of this situation and hopes the City will work to improve its knowledge of and adherence to rules and regulations to better serve our community.
Sincerely,
Christina Y. Ginsberg
President, Twinbrook Citizens Association
Taxpayer League Testimony at the Co Council Operating Budget Hearings
Testimony before the Montgomery County Council
On the Proposed FY 2013 Budget
April 11, 2012
Thank you for this opportunity to comment on the FY 2013 budget proposed by the County Executive. I am Joan Fidler, President of the Montgomery County Taxpayers League. Like Mark Anthony I come here not to bury the budget, but, in some area, to praise it.
In the budget, the County Executive has exercised restraint in many of his spending proposals for which he is to be commended. Mr. Leggett has proposed a fiscally prudent pay increase in the form of a one-time bonus for county government employees. And last year, he increased the employee share of healthcare premiums. But more needs to be done. The gold-plated health benefits of county employees and the platinum-plated benefits of our school employees continue to be the envy even of federal workers, who are often cited as the most pampered public employees in the nation. Just a side-by-side analysis will show you glaring disparities. As health care costs continue to increase we cannot continue our generosity in this area. Yes, we know that "cost shifting" is anathema to our unions. But what is our choice? Magnanimity to our county and school workers? Or provision of essential services to county residents who subsist at 100% of the Federal Poverty Standard?
On the subject of taxes: we are greatly disheartened that the proposed budget extends the energy tax. This tax was considered an "emergency" and was sold to us as "temporary." Extension of the tax will be a broken promise to taxpayers. And what does this do to our reputation as a business-friendly county? It definitely does not enhance the view. As for the increase in property taxes, this is tax creep personified. Property taxes creep up while the value of our properties stagnate. Taxes increases should be our last resort. The State is bludgeoning us already.
And now to the sword of Damocles - the budget of the public schools, which accounts for 50 percent of the county budget. The fatally flawed maintenance of effort law has now shown itself for what it truly is - a maintenance of emolument law. It will continue to increase the salaries and benefits of the adults in the system. The school system seems to think that it has a cost-plus contract with taxpayers, the kind that bakes in past inefficiencies and shirks off any notion of compensation containment. With 90 percent of the schools budget devoted to employee compensation, and with the State's iron curtain of protection drawn around it, the services offered to the rest of the residents of the county will suffer. You have just a finite number of dollars. But a solution lies before you. Why not move all school-related services to the school system? They cannot have it both ways. They have the funds; they can pay for the services.
Budgets are a matter of choices. The State has made a choice for the school system; you can make a choice for the rest of us.
Thank you.
Tonight: Latest trends or the reality for our children?
From Facebook, The Town Courier posts:
Join MCPS Superintendent of Schools Joshua P. Starr for a forum on the topic of special education at Seneca Valley High School tonight from 7 to 8:30 p.m. Attendees will learn about the latest trends and research, find out what’s happening in MCPS, and have an opportunity to share thoughts with the superintendent, guest panelists, and other participants. A brief panel presentation will be followed by small-group discussions.
------------
Attendees don't want to learn "latest trends." They know what is happening in MCPS. What the attendees want is to hear from the Superintendent about what he is going to DO about what is happening in MCPS. Parents are too busy to spend an evening listening to a panel discuss national policy. We need LOCAL ANSWERS to LOCAL QUESTIONS from OUR SUPERINTENDENT.
The Sentinel: MCPS did not participate in a statewide tornado drill
The Sentinel
...“As part of a homeland security grant a few years ago, public and private schools in Montgomery County received weather radios,” said Donna Bigler, assistant director of public information for Montgomery County. “I assume MCPS will participate in the NOAA drill tomorrow morning at 9:45, when the weather alert system will be tested.”
According to a spokesperson from Montgomery County Public Schools, MCPS did not participate in a statewide tornado drill, which was a highlighted part of the Severe Storms Awareness Week issued by Governor Martin O’Malley.
This comes after a record breaking high last year of 27 tornado touchdowns in the state. School systems around the state were encouraged by MEMA to hold tornado drills on Wednesday morning, test their tornado and/or sudden severe storm emergency plans and have students and staff react as if an actual tornado warning was issued...
Sunday, April 15, 2012
Testimony at County Council Public Hearings on the Operating Budget
Testimony from the Public Hearings on the Montgomery County Operating Budget, April 11th, 2012:
Thank you. I’m Paula Bienenfeld. Tonight I have three minutes so I want to make three points.
First, I want to express my deep gratitude and thanks to Senator Brian Frosh and his informed constituents. I thank Senator Frosh for voting against the draconian MOE legislation which every other member of our Montgomery County delegation voted for. I also thank Senator Frosh for coming out against the bill which would give the student member of the Board of Education the additional voting power over financial matters. As you know this legislation would mean that 13 and 14-year-old children in middle school would have more control over the county’s budget than you, our council members, would, given that the BOE controls more than half of our entire budget. While the bill failed in this session it is likely to come up again in the next session.
My second point regards the cronyism and secrecy – the back-room and unrecorded deals that are rampant in this county. No-bid contracts, in which millions of dollars are spent; this pattern has to end to get our fiscal house in order. The Montgomery County Civic Federation, of which I am the Education Committee Chair, is working on the Checkbook Online Project. We want to see Checkbook Online put in place in the county government and in the public school system. Checkbook Online is used nationwide including in the Miami-Dade County Public School system, the fourth largest school system in the country; and, closer to home, in Goochland County, Virginia. According to officials in Goochland County, implementing Checkbook Online cost the county next to nothing to put up online. As MCPS claims to be ‘data-driven,’ the same can be expected from them as well as from you, the County Council. I understand Checkbook Online actually saves government agencies money, as more eyeballs on the finances means more opportunities to identify waste and provide solutions. We ask that you put Checkbook Online on the county website within this fiscal year. As Justice Louis Brandeis wrote, “Sunlight is said to be the best of disinfectants.” The Civic Fed will be working on the Checkbook Online Project this year and we ask other civic organizations, and the Council, to join us in bringing the county’s secret books into the sunlight. We are all responsible for how we spend our taxpayer dollars.
Third, in looking to the future I ask that you put in place a professional economic development group and not rely on the well-known Montgomery County Crony System. Each year the Washington Business Journal publishes the list of regional economic development offices and the number of jobs they have created in the last fiscal year. This year again our Department of Economic Development fell short when compared with other areas. In Montgomery County, the Montgomery County Department of Economic Development created 556 jobs. By comparison, the Fairfax County Economic Development Authority, led by a professional in the field, created 8,765 jobs. The Prince George’s County’s Economic Development Corporation created 1,191 jobs. It is time to end the secret deals and the cronyism in this County.
Thank you.
Thank you. I’m Paula Bienenfeld. Tonight I have three minutes so I want to make three points.
First, I want to express my deep gratitude and thanks to Senator Brian Frosh and his informed constituents. I thank Senator Frosh for voting against the draconian MOE legislation which every other member of our Montgomery County delegation voted for. I also thank Senator Frosh for coming out against the bill which would give the student member of the Board of Education the additional voting power over financial matters. As you know this legislation would mean that 13 and 14-year-old children in middle school would have more control over the county’s budget than you, our council members, would, given that the BOE controls more than half of our entire budget. While the bill failed in this session it is likely to come up again in the next session.
My second point regards the cronyism and secrecy – the back-room and unrecorded deals that are rampant in this county. No-bid contracts, in which millions of dollars are spent; this pattern has to end to get our fiscal house in order. The Montgomery County Civic Federation, of which I am the Education Committee Chair, is working on the Checkbook Online Project. We want to see Checkbook Online put in place in the county government and in the public school system. Checkbook Online is used nationwide including in the Miami-Dade County Public School system, the fourth largest school system in the country; and, closer to home, in Goochland County, Virginia. According to officials in Goochland County, implementing Checkbook Online cost the county next to nothing to put up online. As MCPS claims to be ‘data-driven,’ the same can be expected from them as well as from you, the County Council. I understand Checkbook Online actually saves government agencies money, as more eyeballs on the finances means more opportunities to identify waste and provide solutions. We ask that you put Checkbook Online on the county website within this fiscal year. As Justice Louis Brandeis wrote, “Sunlight is said to be the best of disinfectants.” The Civic Fed will be working on the Checkbook Online Project this year and we ask other civic organizations, and the Council, to join us in bringing the county’s secret books into the sunlight. We are all responsible for how we spend our taxpayer dollars.
Third, in looking to the future I ask that you put in place a professional economic development group and not rely on the well-known Montgomery County Crony System. Each year the Washington Business Journal publishes the list of regional economic development offices and the number of jobs they have created in the last fiscal year. This year again our Department of Economic Development fell short when compared with other areas. In Montgomery County, the Montgomery County Department of Economic Development created 556 jobs. By comparison, the Fairfax County Economic Development Authority, led by a professional in the field, created 8,765 jobs. The Prince George’s County’s Economic Development Corporation created 1,191 jobs. It is time to end the secret deals and the cronyism in this County.
Thank you.
Friday, April 13, 2012
It's only 20 acres of public school land gone...
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| Doors being locked at County Executive's office |
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| Turned away at the entrance to County Executive's Office |
Petition to Leggett April 13 2011
Upcoming Meetings
from Frederick Stichnoth
4/16/12
1:00 PM
Board of Education - Special Populations Committee: topic - does (1) highly able kids in AP/IB [AP is the new GT] and (2) highly gifted centers. http://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/boe/meetings/SPEDdocs/2011-12/2012-0416/Agenda.pdf
4/16/12
7 PM
Seneca Valley HS. Superintendent Starr's Spring Forum on Special Education
4/18/12
1:30 PM
Board of Education Policy Committee topics Policies FAA--Long-Range Educational Facilities Planning and BLC--Special Ed disputes. http://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/boe/meetings/POLdocs/2012/2012-0418/Agenda.pdf
4/24/12
7 PM
Superintendent Starr's book club on Tony Wagner's The Global Achievement Gap; rsvp required. http://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/departments/superintendent/bookclub.aspx. (I read it and--in spite of myself--found it thought-provoking.)
5/8/12
11 AM
Board of Education topic Curriculum 2.0. http://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/boe/meetings/agenda/2011-12/2012-0508/050812.pdf
5/10/12
7 PM
Whitman HS. Superintendent Starr's Spring Forum on Social and Emotional Learning.
Thursday, April 12, 2012
Wednesday, April 11, 2012
Governor O'Malley signs Emergency MOE bill today
GOVERNOR’S PRESS RELEASE
Bills to be Signed by the Governor on April 10, 2012
SB 848
Senator King
EDUCATION – MAINTENANCE OF EFFORT
Authorizing a county governing body, for a specified purpose and
under specified circumstances, to set a property tax rate that is
higher than the rate authorized under the county’s charter or to
collect more property tax revenues than are authorized under the
county’s charter, notwithstanding any provision of the county charter
that places limits on the county’s property tax rate or revenues; etc.
EMERGENCY BILL – VARIOUS EFFECTIVE DATES
Bills to be Signed by the Governor on April 10, 2012
SB 848
Senator King
EDUCATION – MAINTENANCE OF EFFORT
Authorizing a county governing body, for a specified purpose and
under specified circumstances, to set a property tax rate that is
higher than the rate authorized under the county’s charter or to
collect more property tax revenues than are authorized under the
county’s charter, notwithstanding any provision of the county charter
that places limits on the county’s property tax rate or revenues; etc.
EMERGENCY BILL – VARIOUS EFFECTIVE DATES
Gaithersburg Aquatic Center closed for summer
...The school system is responsible for the maintenance, repair and replacement of the center’s structure and exterior walls and utilities, according to the agreement it signed with the city in 2003. If there is a structural failure to a portion of the building or critical system failure that causes prolonged closure of the center and major renovations the city and the county Board of Education will negotiate a funding split for repairs.Gazette: City, school officials undertake study of foundation’s cracked columns
Representatives of the school system did not respond to a request for comment Monday...
Planning Board Urges Consideration of Lynnbrook For New Middle School
Gazette Letter: Teachers garner spoils of “maintenance of effort”
It was a little disheartening, but not surprising, to see a half-page, full color ad in the Gazette of March 28, paid for by the teachers unions, saluting all [see comment below on this blog] our Montgomery County delegates as champions of public education.
It appears that our teachers unions define champions of education as those who support the maintenance of effort law. This law makes education so sacrosanct that the funding of every other county service can be jeopardized to fully fund education.
Taxpayers should not be fooled. “Maintenance of effort” is a misnomer. It is, in effect, a "maintenance of emolument" law...
letter continues here
Bill to allow just Montgomery Co. student member of BOE to vote on budget did not pass
...A bill did not pass in the General Assembly Monday night that would have allowed the student member of the county board to vote on collective bargaining, capital and operating budgets, and school closings, reopenings and boundaries.
Sen. Jamie B. Raskin (D-Dist. 20) of Silver Spring said he was disappointed the bill did not get passed this session.
“We came agonizingly close to passing it,” Raskin said, but noted that disagreement from within the delegation was the bill’s undoing.
Two senators and two delegates from Montgomery did not support the measure...
...Sen. Brian E. Frosh (D-Dist. 16) of Bethesda argued that it was undemocratic to allow a small constituency approximately 70,000 middle and high school students vote for the student member to vote a member on to the board and said he believed the issues before the board were too complicated and burdensome to put before a student...
“Eleven year olds, kids who are 12, 13, are going to be electing a 17-year-old, who is going to serve for one year, and then the next 17-year-old will take over,” Frosh said.
He also opposed the move because it will create an even number of board members, six, which could lead to deadlock on important issues.
Frosh’s opposition garnered support from other members of the chamber.
Sen. Delores G. Kelley (D-Dist. 10) of Randallstown said she felt the Senate would “rue the day” they voted to allow children to put the burden of school board decisions onto other children...
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