MCCPTA Meeting Jan 28: Legislative issues
The focus of the meeting was on the key education issues facing the Md. state assembly. The cochairs of MCCPTA legislative issues committee spoke about federal issues, such as the reauthorization of the Individuals with Disabilities Act and funding for the No Child Left Behind Act, passed last January.
Lori Rogovin, the legislative aide for the MCty Board of Education, spoke about what's likely to happen in Annapolis. She noted that a lot of time will be spent on how to increase revenue, given the huge state budget deficits. (Both the state and the county must have balanced budgets, unlike the federal government).
The Board of Education's "proactive agenda" emphasizes the need to spend money on school construction and to fully fund the Thornton education bill that passed last session. Montgomery County requested $18 million for construction, and so far has been granted $4 million.. The Thornton bill increased the amount of money Montgomery County will receive from the state over a period of 6 years. There is concern that this money will be phased in over 7-8 years, and that there will be additional cutbacks in the amount of aid counties receive. All decisions on the budget will be made within the next several months, so now is the time to contact your senators and representatives. To find out who your legislators are go to http://www.montgomerycountydelegation.com. There must be a signed budget by June 1.
The business part of the meeting focused on the MCCPTA operating budget compact. The proposed fiscal year 2004 operating budget that Dr. Weast submitted is about 6% ($94 million) more than FY03, and does not include any salary increases still to be negotiated (principals and support staff contracts are up for renewal). His budget would require an increase in local funding that is unlikely given the county budget deficit, and the county council spending affordability guidelines. To find out more, or to contact the board of education go to http://www.mcps.k12.md.us/boe. To contact the county council go to http://www.montgomerycountymd.gov.
The next MCCPTA meeting will include a discussion of the proposed new grading and reporting policy. The main changes for high school students are increasing the weight of the final exam from 25% to 30%, placing attendance in a separate attendance policy (current policy is loss of credit for 5 unexcused absences), and granting a quality point for a C in honors (used in calculating the weighted gpa.). Public responses to the revised policy should be in writing and sent by March 18th to the Superintendent of Schools, 850 Hungerford Dr., Rockville Md. For more details on the proposed policy go to the MCPS web site: http://www.mcps.k12.md.us. There will be also be public forums at Gaithersburg High on February 12th, and Blair on February 13th . Also, Post reporter Bridget Schulte would like to hear from parents on their experiences with the current system and their thoughts on the revised policy (Schulteb@washpost.com)
Ellen Gerecht
MCCPTA delegate