Montgomery County Public Schools, Maryland
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Contents |
[edit] Website evaluation
- Main article: Evaluation of Maryland school district websites
[edit] The good
- Current and past budgets, including revenue information, are available.[2]
- Meeting schedule, minutes, and agendas are available.[3]
- Board of Education contact information is available.[3]
- Administrative officials are listed with contact information under respective departments.[4]
- Academic performance information is posted. [5]
- Vendor procurement and contract information is available, but actual contracts are not posted.[6]
- Current teacher contracts are available.[7]
- The internal audit process is posted, but the actual audits are not. [8]
- Public records information is included in the MCPS Policies & Regulations Handbook.[9]
[edit] The bad
- Information regarding background checks is not available.
- Contracts and audits are not available.
[edit] Parents Coalition of Montgomery County
The Coalition seeks to attain greater greater transparency and accountability and meaningful community input about the school district. The Coalition discovered misuse of the schools funding by submitting a public records request for the audits. The audits, which dated back to 2007, revealed:[10]
- One school system's account was overdrawn by $122,000.
- One school spent more than $14,000 on its gym without getting a bid.
- One school spent more than $16,000 for work on its athletic field without getting a bid.
- One principal was reimbursed $11,000 for expenses racked up on his own credit card. Documentation for the spending was 'missing' or 'inadequate'.
The Coalition also has investigated classroom fees, which the Attorney General has declared illegal, but are routinely used in the school district.[11][12] One school attempted to charge a $5 locker fee, but after intervention by a Maryland state delegate, over 400 students each received a $5 refund.[13]
Vendor contracts
The group has also written several stories detailing the district's unwillingness to share vendor contract information for curriculum publishing and with Wireless Generation.[14][15]
[edit] Board of education
The Montgomery County Board of Education provides leadership and oversight for the Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) by setting goals, establishing policies, and committing resources to benefit our diverse student population.[16]
Below is a list of current board of education members:[17]
| Member | District | Term |
|---|---|---|
| Patricia O'Neill, President | District 3 | 2010 |
| Christopher S. Barclay, Vice-President | District 4 | 2012 |
| Shirley Brandman | At-Large | 2010 |
| Laura Berthiaume | District 2 | 2012 |
| Judith Docca | District 1 | 2010 |
| Michael A. Durso | District 5 | 2010 |
| Phil Kauffman | At-Large | 2012 |
| Alex Xie | Student Member | 2011 |
| Jerry D. Weast, Ed.D., Superintendent of Schools |
[edit] Teacher contracts
[edit] School budget
The Montgomery Board of Education approved $2.2 Billion FY 2010 budget . The total represents an increase overall of approximately $133 million (6.4 percent) over the current FY 2009 Operating Budget of $2.07 billion. The tax-supported portion of the budget ($2.02 billion) is up 4.3 percent over that of the current year. Nearly all of the increased funding in the FY 2010 budget comes from the money allocated for debt service payments and from the $49.3 million in federal stimulus dollars MCPS will receive via the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA). If the $79.5 million for bond payments was not included in the budget, the total tax-supported increase would only be $2.8 million, or 0.1 percent. Local taxpayers will be contributing $63 million less than in last year’s budget, due to the increased state and federal aid.[18]
[edit] Academic performance
Maryland measures academic progress each year by administering the Maryland School Assessment, the Alternate Maryland School Assessment (for students with disabilities), and the Maryland High School Assessments.[19]
[edit] HSA performance
The chart below details the percentage passing the following subjects:[20]
| Grade | Overall | Algebra | Biology | English | Government |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grade 12 | 99.9% | 92% | 92.3% | 89% | 96.2% |
| Grade 11 | 92.9% | 88.7% | 89.8% | 86% | 94.1% |
| Grade 10 | 93% | 87.9% | 90.4% | 82.9% | 91.8% |
[edit] MSA performance
The chart below details the percentage passing the following subjects:[21]
| Grade | Math | Reading | Science |
|---|---|---|---|
| Grade 8 | 74.4% | 87.4% | 74.1% |
| Grade 7 | 79.8% | 88.8% | - |
| Grade 6 | 85.5% | 88.3% | - |
| Grade 5 | 85.5% | 93% | 70.9% |
| Grade 4 | 91.1% | 90.6% | - |
| Grade 3 | 87.2% | 88.9% | - |
[edit] Unions
The Montgomery County Education Association (MCEA) is one of the largest local affiliates of the National Education Association, MCEA is a leader in efforts to build a new kind of teachers union that responds to the needs of today's educators. MCEA represents are more than 12,000 classroom teachers, guidance counselors, speech pathologists, media specialists, and other non-supervisory certified educators in the Montgomery County (Maryland) Public Schools system.[22]
[edit] School choice
All schools associated with Montgomery County Board of Education are "non-charter schools."[23]
[edit] Lobbying
- Main article: Maryland taxpayer-funded lobbying
Montgomery County Public Schools does not contract directly with lobbyists.[24] It belongs to the Maryland Association of Boards of Education and to the Public School Superintendents Association of Maryland, both taxpayer-funded lobbying associations.[24] The annual dues for those two organizations for 2009 are:
- Maryland Association of Boards of Education: $38,457
- Public School Superintendents Association of Maryland: $8,500
The school district has one staff member that handles legislative and intergovernmental affairs, who does not directly lobby.[24]
[edit] Most recent
The school district has spent $46,957 on dues to taxpayer-funded lobbying associations in 2009.
[edit] External links
- Montgomery County Public Schools Official Website
- Maryland State Department of Education
- Montgomery County Education Association
[edit] References
- ↑ MCPS About
- ↑ 'Montgomery County Public Schools', Budget, July 13, 2010
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 'Montgomery County Public Schools', Board of Education, July 13, 2010
- ↑ 'Montgomery County Public Schools', Staff Directory, July 13, 2010
- ↑ 'Montgomery County Public Schools', Testing, July 13, 2010
- ↑ 'Montgomery County Public Schools', Procurement, July 14, 2010
- ↑ 'Montgomery County Public Schools', Agreement Between Montgomery County Education Association and Board of Education of Montgomery County, July 1, 2010
- ↑ 'Montgomery County Public Schools', Internal Audit, July 13, 2010
- ↑ 'Montgomery County Public Schools', MCPS Policies & Regulations Handbook, July 13, 2010
- ↑ WTOP, Parents on school fees: Show us the money, September 18, 2009
- ↑ Parents Coalition of Montgomery County Schools, Superintendent Weast determines that charging curricular fee was a "mistake" following inquiry by Maryland state delegate, March 7, 2009
- ↑ Parents Coalition of Montgomery County Schools, Illegal Fees or Enhancements?, July 28, 2010
- ↑ Gazette, Ali's behind-the-scene work brings refund for students, May 13, 2010
- ↑ Parents Coalition of Montgomery County Schools, Weast's Tuesday Surprise! MCPS SOLD to Vendor!, June 7, 2010
- ↑ Parents Coalition of Montgomery County Schools, Details of deal between Wireless Generation and MCPS finally revealed, November 9, 2009
- ↑ BOE about
- ↑ boe members
- ↑ June 6, 2009 Press release
- ↑ MD State Testing
- ↑ Maryland Report Card, Montgomery County
- ↑ Maryland Report Card, Montgomery County
- ↑ MCEA About
- ↑ charter schools in MCPS
- ↑ 24.0 24.1 24.2 Montgomery County Public Schools FOIA response, November 18, 2009
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