by Genevieve Demos Kelley
The Maryland State Department of Education has announced the appointment of two new members to the Maryland State Board of Education. Governor Hogan has selected Chester E. Finn, Jr., Ed.D. of Montgomery County and Andy Smarick of Queen Anne’s County to replace Charlene M. Dukes and Donna Hill Staton, whose terms ended last year.
Chester Finn is Chairman of the K-12 Education Task Force of Stanford University’s Hoover Institute. According to the Hoover Institute’s website, the Education Task Force promotes “systematic reform options such as vouchers, charter schools, and testing.” Click here to find analyses that Finn wrote for the Hoover Institute, generally avowing the importance of “results-based accountability” and testing. Finn is also President Emeritus of the Thomas B. Fordham Institute, a think tank with ties to the Gates Foundation that supports education reforms such as the Common Core State Standards, school choice, and accountability testing.
In January, Finn wrote an article for the New York Daily News praising Governor Cuomo’s education-reform agenda, calling it “awesome” and “union-unfriendly.” Cuomo’s agenda included “revamped (and tougher) teacher evaluations, more charters, a state-level version of the Dream Act,” but the item that Finn singles out for special attention is a tax-credit scholarship program for families to send their children to private schools. Praising the governor’s proposed voucher program, Finn writes that “school-choice advocates — and those who care more about the education of children than the interests of adults — should celebrate and applaud.”
by Amy Alford
Prince Georges’ County Public Schools has a policy on Wellness, Nutrition, and Physical Activity (Administrative Procedure 0116) that specifically prohibits the use of food, physical activity, recess, or physical education as a reward or punishment.
The policy also states that lunch must last at least 30 minutes, and principals must ensure that students have at least 20 minutes to eat. Additionally, it calls for principals to provide a cafeteria environment that is “pleasant and conducive to appropriate food consumption and socialization.”
It may surprise some parents that the policy requires that “all elementary children will have multiple opportunities daily for physical activity lasting 15 minutes or more, in addition to a daily recess period, preferably before lunch.” Earlier in the document, physical activity is defined as, “Any bodily movement produced by skeletal muscles those [sic] results in an expenditure of energy.”
by Amy Alford
Over the last dozen years, the PGCPS Board of Education has been structured in several different ways. Each time, the change occurred as the result of an act of the Maryland General Assembly.
The governance of PGCPS is unusual compared to school districts across the country. Nationwide, 90% of school districts are termed “Independent School Districts” which means that the elected school board has taxing authority. In Prince George’s County (and in Maryland in general), the school board depends on the county government to partially fund its budget (other money comes from the state and federal government). ([12])
In 2003, the elected board of education was replaced by a board appointed by the county executive (Wayne Curry at the time), and the governor. At the same time, the superintendent position was renamed the CEO, forcing Iris Metts, the superintendent at the time, to reapply for her job. ([1], [2]) She was rehired, but did not seek a new contract in 2003. The dissolution of the school board was in part caused by an attempt by the board to fire Metts. After Metts left, the appointed board hired Andre Hornsby, who resigned in 2005 during a federal investigation that ended with his conviction. ([3]). Howard Burnett served as acting CEO until John Deasy was hired in 2006.
From the Washington Post, reporter John Hicks, published May 14, 2015. For the complete story, go here.
Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan announced Thursday that he will withhold $68 million in funding for high-cost school systems this year, thwarting the wishes of Democratic legislators and top officials in Montgomery and Prince George’s counties.
The General Assembly passed a measure in April requiring the state to fully fund a program that sends extra money to the state’s costliest school systems.
Continue reading at the Washington Post.
Click here to read County Executive Rushern Baker’s statement in response to Governor Hogan’s decision to withhold the funds.
by Genevieve Demos Kelley
County Council Member Mel Franklin (Democrat, District 9, Council Chair) has invited residents to take a one-question, online poll regarding the proposed 15.6% property tax increase to fund Prince George’s County Public Schools. As of 8:11 am this morning, 549 out of 630 respondants answered that they opposed the proposed property tax increase. Only 5.3% of 630 respondants stated that they support the property tax increase outright, with 7.4% indicating that they would be willing to consider a smaller increase
While these numbers are certainly suggestive, we should be cautious about interpreting the survey results as representative of the views of county residents. Opponents of the tax increase have promoted the poll through social media and email. Hence the group of 630 respondants is far from being a random sample of voters; it is a self-selected group that may not accurately represent the opinions of voters in Prince Goerge’s County.
From the Washington Post editorial board, published May 6, 2015.
For the complete editorial piece, go here.
EVER SINCE he announced his audacious turnaround plan for Prince George’s County’s public schools — with 125,000 students, one of the nation’s 25 biggest systems — County Executive Rushern L. Baker III (D), until now one of Maryland’s most popular local officials, has become a political punching bag.
Yet none of his critics — neither the unhinged ones, who suggest Mr. Baker has ulterior motives, nor the calmer ones, who worry that taxpayers cannot afford sharply higher property taxes to raise teacher salaries and standards — has proposed an alternative to put the county’s struggling schools on a level playing field with the regional competition. Nor has anyone disagreed that doing so is essential to the county’s children and its future.
by Genevieve Demos Kelley
Some elementary school students in Prince George’s County have as little as 15 minutes of recess per day. PGCPS policy states that recess for students in kindergarten through fifth grade should be “no less than 15 minutes per day and for no more than 30 minutes per day.” (Middle school and high school students do not have recess.)
In a 2013 policy statement, the American Academy of Pediatrics has written about the “crucial role” of recess as an “essential, planned respite from rigorous cognitive tasks.”
The AAP does not recommend a specific number of minutes for daily recess. However, its recess policy statement notes that across the nation, “the length specified for recess ranges widely, from 20 to 60 minutes per day,” suggesting that a 15 minute recess is outside the norm.
Recess Policies of Nearby Districts
How does PGCPS’s recess policy for elementary schools compare with policies in nearby districts?
Mold in my son’s classroom has been an ongoing concern this school year. On March 26th, another parent suggested that it might be worth testifying before the board of education about the issue.
I learned there was a board of education meeting scheduled that night at Suitland High School. I looked up how to testify before the board of education and found out that you only needed to call 2.5 hours in advance. Even disorganized me could manage that! I called a friend to ask if she’d accompany me, and then called to register. The woman who answered took down my name, contact information, and the topic I wanted to speak about.
From the Washington Post, by reporter Lynh Bui, published May 6, 2015.
For the complete story, go here.
A Prince George’s County elementary school teacher was arrested Tuesday after police allege he kissed a 9-year-old student.
Erwin Magnaye, 39, of Laurel, was charged with sex abuse of a minor, second-degree assault and other sex offenses, police said.
The mother of a William Paca Elementary School student told authorities in February that her son said Magnaye “kissed him in a classroom and had also inappropriately touched him several times beginning in September of 2014,” police said in a statement.
Prince George's County Advocates for Better Schools 