Protest Hogan's diversion of public funds from public schools into private schools

[Anonymous]

This is a good primer for those who want to understand how vouchers and "school choice" harm the most vulnerable kids.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/answer-sheet/wp/2017/03/07/teacher-what-school-choice-looks-like-from-my-classroom/

"And when a school can’t make do, can’t meet the intense socio-emotional, behavioral and academic needs of its impoverished, desperately needy student body? Can it just go out of business? The same students will still need teachers, a principal, a school building, social services, academic support and money to pay for this process. In the meantime, another year passes and the gaps widen."

[Anonymous]

Hey OP, Hogan DID increase the budget funds last year. He just didn't increase it as much as expensive MCPS wanted so they cry and cry. Then threaten to increase ratios to get nimwits like you to start sending complaints. They know if they cut from the top for more $, no one would care.

Have you seen the bloated budget plan? Do you see the overhead? Did you see the mismanaged of funds? Do you truly believe the FIRST thing to cut in the plan was teachers? Come on now.

I think you need to send your complaints to the county BOE. Ask why the BOE encourages that the county continues to be a sanctuary city when the funding isn't even there for legal kids. Ask why they continue to offer programs to a small select group of kids by lottery that cost millions to run every year. Ask why they spent 10 million changing bell times by 20min. Ask why they continue the PEP program even though schools are falling apart. Ask why PTA's are allowed to use for-profit fundraisers for "school needs" and not notify parents where their money they donated is really going. Ask about costs of chrome books, promethium boards, and other computers. Ask why your 9% property tax fee increase isn't enough?

You know, all the things the state looks at from EACH county before deciding where to allocate funds.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Hey OP, Hogan DID increase the budget funds last year. He just didn't increase it as much as expensive MCPS wanted so they cry and cry. Then threaten to increase ratios to get nimwits like you to start sending complaints. They know if they cut from the top for more $, no one would care.

Have you seen the bloated budget plan? Do you see the overhead? Did you see the mismanaged of funds? Do you truly believe the FIRST thing to cut in the plan was teachers? Come on now.

I think you need to send your complaints to the county BOE. Ask why the BOE encourages that the county continues to be a sanctuary city when the funding isn't even there for legal kids. Ask why they continue to offer programs to a small select group of kids by lottery that cost millions to run every year. Ask why they spent 10 million changing bell times by 20min. Ask why they continue the PEP program even though schools are falling apart. Ask why PTA's are allowed to use for-profit fundraisers for "school needs" and not notify parents where their money they donated is really going. Ask about costs of chrome books, promethium boards, and other computers. Ask why your 9% property tax fee increase isn't enough?

You know, all the things the state looks at from EACH county before deciding where to allocate funds.

PP ... do you understand that the BOE has zero... zero say in who gets educated or who can live in this country? Their primary goal is to make sure kids.. all kids who live in the county... get an education. If you *really* are concerned about illegal immigration, I would advise that you call Trump and tell him to go after the businesses (like his) that hire illegal immigrants, because that's why they come here.. there are businesses who are willing to hire them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Hey OP, Hogan DID increase the budget funds last year. He just didn't increase it as much as expensive MCPS wanted so they cry and cry. Then threaten to increase ratios to get nimwits like you to start sending complaints. They know if they cut from the top for more $, no one would care.

Have you seen the bloated budget plan? Do you see the overhead? Did you see the mismanaged of funds? Do you truly believe the FIRST thing to cut in the plan was teachers? Come on now.

I think you need to send your complaints to the county BOE. Ask why the BOE encourages that the county continues to be a sanctuary city when the funding isn't even there for legal kids. Ask why they continue to offer programs to a small select group of kids by lottery that cost millions to run every year. Ask why they spent 10 million changing bell times by 20min. Ask why they continue the PEP program even though schools are falling apart. Ask why PTA's are allowed to use for-profit fundraisers for "school needs" and not notify parents where their money they donated is really going. Ask about costs of chrome books, promethium boards, and other computers. Ask why your 9% property tax fee increase isn't enough?

You know, all the things the state looks at from EACH county before deciding where to allocate funds.

You keep saying that. When enrollment goes up, but funding doesn't go up, that actually is a budget cut.

Also, federal law requires public schools to educate all students, regarding of citizenship/immigration status. Do you want MCPS to break the law?

(They're Promethean boards. Like Prometheus. Uranium, polonium, and radium are elements, but there is no such thing as promethium.)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Hey OP, Hogan DID increase the budget funds last year. He just didn't increase it as much as expensive MCPS wanted so they cry and cry. Then threaten to increase ratios to get nimwits like you to start sending complaints. They know if they cut from the top for more $, no one would care.

Have you seen the bloated budget plan? Do you see the overhead? Did you see the mismanaged of funds? Do you truly believe the FIRST thing to cut in the plan was teachers? Come on now.

I think you need to send your complaints to the county BOE. Ask why the BOE encourages that the county continues to be a sanctuary city when the funding isn't even there for legal kids. Ask why they continue to offer programs to a small select group of kids by lottery that cost millions to run every year. Ask why they spent 10 million changing bell times by 20min. Ask why they continue the PEP program even though schools are falling apart. Ask why PTA's are allowed to use for-profit fundraisers for "school needs" and not notify parents where their money they donated is really going. Ask about costs of chrome books, promethium boards, and other computers. Ask why your 9% property tax fee increase isn't enough?

You know, all the things the state looks at from EACH county before deciding where to allocate funds.

OP,

I do SO agree with you on wasting money!!! But the truth of the matter is that there is no easy quick-slash solution for that. It's unfair to the children to not address their needs, and even more unfair to give that money to people who don't need it as much. What we should do, and unfortunately it's a much harder job, is to create a non-partisan taskforce to delve into public school management and identify bad habits and areas of waste. Like in the Federal Government, it's little bits here and there, that add up to a lot.

What voters always fall for is the politician who will promise them quick fixes. There is never a quick fix.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Hey OP, Hogan DID increase the budget funds last year. He just didn't increase it as much as expensive MCPS wanted so they cry and cry. Then threaten to increase ratios to get nimwits like you to start sending complaints. They know if they cut from the top for more $, no one would care.

Have you seen the bloated budget plan? Do you see the overhead? Did you see the mismanaged of funds? Do you truly believe the FIRST thing to cut in the plan was teachers? Come on now.

I think you need to send your complaints to the county BOE. Ask why the BOE encourages that the county continues to be a sanctuary city when the funding isn't even there for legal kids. Ask why they continue to offer programs to a small select group of kids by lottery that cost millions to run every year. Ask why they spent 10 million changing bell times by 20min. Ask why they continue the PEP program even though schools are falling apart. Ask why PTA's are allowed to use for-profit fundraisers for "school needs" and not notify parents where their money they donated is really going. Ask about costs of chrome books, promethium boards, and other computers. Ask why your 9% property tax fee increase isn't enough?

You know, all the things the state looks at from EACH county before deciding where to allocate funds.

+1

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

OP,

I do SO agree with you on wasting money!!! But the truth of the matter is that there is no easy quick-slash solution for that. It's unfair to the children to not address their needs, and even more unfair to give that money to people who don't need it as much. What we should do, and unfortunately it's a much harder job, is to create a non-partisan taskforce to delve into public school management and identify bad habits and areas of waste. Like in the Federal Government, it's little bits here and there, that add up to a lot.

What voters always fall for is the politician who will promise them quick fixes. There is never a quick fix.

Like vouchers. Which undermine the public education system AND mis-serve the children who use them. A lose-lose.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:In December 2016, the Baltimore Sun reported that 3,000 students received BOOST scholarships totaling $5,000,000 (or $1,666.67 per student average). See http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/politics/bs-md-hogan-boost-funding-20161213-story.html

Maryland PTA President Elizabeth Ysla Leight stated that "78%" of these 3,000 students were already attending private school, so 22% were not previously attending private school.

Let's say that the 3,000 students were evenly distributed between K-12 (13 total grades) and that every K student would have gone to private school anyway. That's 270 K students we can exclude.

Additionally, the 78% of 3,000 = 2,340.

Therefore, 390 (3,000 - 2,340 - 270) children who would have been in Maryland public schools instead went to private school at a cost of $1,666.67 each to the state, instead of $12,000 - $15,000/year each for public.

Let's assume the state-wide average public school cost is $13,500 per student.

390 x $13,500 = $5,265,000.

In other words, providing BOOST scholarships totaling $5,000,000 saved $5,265,000 in public school spending, and therefore effectively SAVED taxpayers $265,000.

In other words, all the complaining over BOOST is a farce.

It's not a good thing that 78% of those receiving Maryland taxpayer subsidies for private school were those whose parents already chosen to and had the resources to fund a private school education, even before the subsidies. What a waste of $. 5mn$ in taxpayer funding could have paid for a lot of teachers to reduce class sizes in my county.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:In December 2016, the Baltimore Sun reported that 3,000 students received BOOST scholarships totaling $5,000,000 (or $1,666.67 per student average). See http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/politics/bs-md-hogan-boost-funding-20161213-story.html

Maryland PTA President Elizabeth Ysla Leight stated that "78%" of these 3,000 students were already attending private school, so 22% were not previously attending private school.

Let's say that the 3,000 students were evenly distributed between K-12 (13 total grades) and that every K student would have gone to private school anyway. That's 270 K students we can exclude.

Additionally, the 78% of 3,000 = 2,340.

Therefore, 390 (3,000 - 2,340 - 270) children who would have been in Maryland public schools instead went to private school at a cost of $1,666.67 each to the state, instead of $12,000 - $15,000/year each for public.

Let's assume the state-wide average public school cost is $13,500 per student.

390 x $13,500 = $5,265,000.

In other words, providing BOOST scholarships totaling $5,000,000 saved $5,265,000 in public school spending, and therefore effectively SAVED taxpayers $265,000.

In other words, all the complaining over BOOST is a farce.

It's not a good thing that 78% of those receiving Maryland taxpayer subsidies for private school were those whose parents already chosen to and had the resources to fund a private school education, even before the subsidies. What a waste of $. 5mn$ in taxpayer funding could have paid for a lot of teachers to reduce class sizes in my county.

+1 There are NO taxpayer savings here. If PP is saying that 78% of students receiving these subsidies were already in private school, why pay 5mn$ to subsidize them?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Hey OP, Hogan DID increase the budget funds last year. He just didn't increase it as much as expensive MCPS wanted so they cry and cry. Then threaten to increase ratios to get nimwits like you to start sending complaints. They know if they cut from the top for more $, no one would care.

Have you seen the bloated budget plan? Do you see the overhead? Did you see the mismanaged of funds? Do you truly believe the FIRST thing to cut in the plan was teachers? Come on now.

I think you need to send your complaints to the county BOE. Ask why the BOE encourages that the county continues to be a sanctuary city when the funding isn't even there for legal kids. Ask why they continue to offer programs to a small select group of kids by lottery that cost millions to run every year. Ask why they spent 10 million changing bell times by 20min. Ask why they continue the PEP program even though schools are falling apart. Ask why PTA's are allowed to use for-profit fundraisers for "school needs" and not notify parents where their money they donated is really going. Ask about costs of chrome books, promethium boards, and other computers. Ask why your 9% property tax fee increase isn't enough?

You know, all the things the state looks at from EACH county before deciding where to allocate funds.

This! Agree completely.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This poster sounds like a broken record with the "try something different " mantra.

How about we close all schools. Then there will be no achievement gap because there will be no testing. That is different.

But people with critical thinking skills can reason out that just because something is different doesn't make it better.

People with critical thinking skills can also realize that we have been doing it this way for a long time and public schools are not providing what poor kids need. We can also recognize that we have been throwing money at the public education system in this county but are still not seeing a closing of the achievement gap.

Here is your argument: Public schools can't solve all of society's problems; therefore, we should defund the public school system.

No. My argument is that the public school system is currently not effective for poor kids. And it is silly to keep throwing money at a system that has been proven to be ineffective.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Hey OP, Hogan DID increase the budget funds last year. He just didn't increase it as much as expensive MCPS wanted so they cry and cry. Then threaten to increase ratios to get nimwits like you to start sending complaints. They know if they cut from the top for more $, no one would care.

Have you seen the bloated budget plan? Do you see the overhead? Did you see the mismanaged of funds? Do you truly believe the FIRST thing to cut in the plan was teachers? Come on now.

I think you need to send your complaints to the county BOE. Ask why the BOE encourages that the county continues to be a sanctuary city when the funding isn't even there for legal kids. Ask why they continue to offer programs to a small select group of kids by lottery that cost millions to run every year. Ask why they spent 10 million changing bell times by 20min. Ask why they continue the PEP program even though schools are falling apart. Ask why PTA's are allowed to use for-profit fundraisers for "school needs" and not notify parents where their money they donated is really going. Ask about costs of chrome books, promethium boards, and other computers. Ask why your 9% property tax fee increase isn't enough?

You know, all the things the state looks at from EACH county before deciding where to allocate funds.

Speaking of questions:

Which parts, specifically, are "bloated"? By how much? How do you know?

What's the overhead? What are you including in the overhead? What do you think the overhead should be? Why?

Which funds are mismanaged? How do you know?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Hey OP, Hogan DID increase the budget funds last year. He just didn't increase it as much as expensive MCPS wanted so they cry and cry. Then threaten to increase ratios to get nimwits like you to start sending complaints. They know if they cut from the top for more $, no one would care.

Have you seen the bloated budget plan? Do you see the overhead? Did you see the mismanaged of funds? Do you truly believe the FIRST thing to cut in the plan was teachers? Come on now.

I think you need to send your complaints to the county BOE. Ask why the BOE encourages that the county continues to be a sanctuary city when the funding isn't even there for legal kids. Ask why they continue to offer programs to a small select group of kids by lottery that cost millions to run every year. Ask why they spent 10 million changing bell times by 20min. Ask why they continue the PEP program even though schools are falling apart. Ask why PTA's are allowed to use for-profit fundraisers for "school needs" and not notify parents where their money they donated is really going. Ask about costs of chrome books, promethium boards, and other computers. Ask why your 9% property tax fee increase isn't enough?

You know, all the things the state looks at from EACH county before deciding where to allocate funds.

You keep saying that. When enrollment goes up, but funding doesn't go up, that actually is a budget cut.

Also, federal law requires public schools to educate all students, regarding of citizenship/immigration status. Do you want MCPS to break the law?

(They're Promethean boards. Like Prometheus. Uranium, polonium, and radium are elements, but there is no such thing as promethium.)

1. That was my first post so not sure what you mean by I keep saying that??

2. Enrollment goes up because of county building, which never ends. This is not the state's fault. The county increased property taxes 9% and with all the new properties they continue to build, the surplus should be going to the schools. Have you asked why they have not? You do realize the state's portion of the county education funding is half what the county puts in each year. Why isn't the county asking the COUNTY to increase their funding? Enrollment also goes up because Montgomery county is a welcoming sanctuary county. Frederick, Carroll, Anne Arundel, Baltimore, Cecil, etc... aren't sanctuary counties. Why should the state pay for the county's decision? Once again, this falls under the county's funding.

Funding Sources

Montgomery County: 67%
State education aid: 23.2%
Federal govt. grants: 5.7%
Enterprise funds: 2.6%
Fees, other sources: 1.2 %
Special revenue fund: 0.1%


3. I don't care how the stupid boards are spelled. My bad. All I know is they suck the life out of every class I have volunteered in because the teachers rely to heavily on them but always have issues with them.



Also, instead of blaming Hogan how about you ask O'Malley where the casino money is going? Remember he promised that Education Trust Fund? He blew it. It's ridiculous how dumb he was. http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/bs-md-casino-education-20170121-story.html

Also, money doesn't grow on trees. Hogan has a massive deficit to deal with. MCPS wants money? They need to look within the county and stop asking the state. http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/politics/bs-md-evaporating-revenue-20170124-story.html

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Hey OP, Hogan DID increase the budget funds last year. He just didn't increase it as much as expensive MCPS wanted so they cry and cry. Then threaten to increase ratios to get nimwits like you to start sending complaints. They know if they cut from the top for more $, no one would care.

Have you seen the bloated budget plan? Do you see the overhead? Did you see the mismanaged of funds? Do you truly believe the FIRST thing to cut in the plan was teachers? Come on now.

I think you need to send your complaints to the county BOE. Ask why the BOE encourages that the county continues to be a sanctuary city when the funding isn't even there for legal kids. Ask why they continue to offer programs to a small select group of kids by lottery that cost millions to run every year. Ask why they spent 10 million changing bell times by 20min. Ask why they continue the PEP program even though schools are falling apart. Ask why PTA's are allowed to use for-profit fundraisers for "school needs" and not notify parents where their money they donated is really going. Ask about costs of chrome books, promethium boards, and other computers. Ask why your 9% property tax fee increase isn't enough?

You know, all the things the state looks at from EACH county before deciding where to allocate funds.

You keep saying that. When enrollment goes up, but funding doesn't go up, that actually is a budget cut.

Also, federal law requires public schools to educate all students, regarding of citizenship/immigration status. Do you want MCPS to break the law?

(They're Promethean boards. Like Prometheus. Uranium, polonium, and radium are elements, but there is no such thing as promethium.)

+1 Sanctuary status is about law enforcement refusing to do ICE's job for them, for free. The matter of whether undocumented kids, or US citizen kids with undocumented parents, deserve a public education is already settled law. MCPS and every other school system in the country, need to educate the kids they've got, regardless of status.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This poster sounds like a broken record with the "try something different " mantra.

How about we close all schools. Then there will be no achievement gap because there will be no testing. That is different.

But people with critical thinking skills can reason out that just because something is different doesn't make it better.

People with critical thinking skills can also realize that we have been doing it this way for a long time and public schools are not providing what poor kids need. We can also recognize that we have been throwing money at the public education system in this county but are still not seeing a closing of the achievement gap.

Here is your argument: Public schools can't solve all of society's problems; therefore, we should defund the public school system.

No. My argument is that the public school system is currently not effective for poor kids. And it is silly to keep throwing money at a system that has been proven to be ineffective.

I'm the PP you're responding to, and I had it right the first time. It's like saying, insulin doesn't cure Type I diabetes, so it's silly to keep spending money on insulin.