Wheaton Cluster Operating Budget Testimony to the Board of Education

January 13, 1999

First we would like to familiarize you with the demographics of our cluster. A 53% FARMS rate, 15% ESOL population, 32% student mobility rate: these numbers contribute to the fact that we have the highest educational load in the county. These numbers are twice the county averages. What concerns us even more is that our teacher mobility rate exceeds our student mobility rate.

The numbers that appall us, however, are our CRT and MSPAP test scores. Test scores are the indicator of student success, program effectiveness, and proof that we are overcoming the challenges before us. Even though we have made small strides over the last few years, Wheaton High School still has the lowest Grade Point Averages in the County. Wheaton High School still has the lowest SAT scores in the county and the fewest number of students taking the test. Parkland Middle School has the lowest MSPAP scores in Montgomery County, and ranks in the bottom 25% of the state. Our Elementary schools are making small gains in their MSPAP scores, but 3 of the 5 have only increased an average of 1 percent. At this current rate of gain, we will certainly not reach the state goal of 70% by the year 2000. We'll be lucky to hit 40% by the year 2000. We can only hope that these test results concern you as much as they concern our community.

Is anyone asking why the Wheaton Cluster has these test scores besides our community? Not to be cynical, but we sometimes feel like we're alone out here. A large portion of our community is not vocal at this level, and, except at local PTA meetings, has not yet discovered the avenues to make themselves heard. As leaders in our community, we represent these voices. Are we the only ones that should be asking how to make it better for our children? We are asking you to be the defenders of the defenseless. Over the next few months, members of the Wheaton Cluster PTAs plan to meet with members of the Board of Education in search of answers to these questions in our endless search for the key to success for our children.

We endorse and applaud the continued support of Signature programs in our County High Schools. We consider Wheaton High School to be a prime candidate for a Signature program. We thank the Board for appointing our new principal, Dr. Frank Critton, who embraces the idea of developing a Signature program at Wheaton. With its 'groundbreaking and successful block scheduling, Wheaton High School is conducive to signature programs. Dr. Vance was present just this morning at the official kickoff of our partnership with NIH and their innovative science and health project. The need has never been greater for the benefits a signature program provides. We hope such a program will address the flight of our high achieving students to private schools and magnet programs.

We are prepared to introduce an SAT enhancement class s to improve our SAT scores and encourage more students to take the test. We hope the Board and OSA support us in this initiative.

The entire cluster considers there to be a crisis in our Middle school. In 1993, Parkland Middle School had a MSPAP composite score of 35%. After 5 years, we have a composite score of 31%. In reading alone, the gateway to education, Parkland scores are a whopping 13.6%. Perhaps MCPS can develop some type of Reading Initiative Program, similar to that in Elementary schools for our Middle School. A few years back, we saw that African American males were doing poorly on SAT scores. Dr. Vance and MCPS very wisely, developed an intervention team to work with the schools to address this issue. Consequently, three years after the fact, test scores have gone up, and a positive result came .from this intervention. How can we apply this logic to our situation at Parkland Middle School?

Parkland has a brand new Principal, Mr. Carlos Hamlin, who faces the task of learning how to be an effective Middle School principal in Montgomery County. That alone is a challenge in itself. Yet, he must feel like being at the helm of a ship in distress, not knowing how to keep these children from drowning. To maximize the effectiveness of our Principal, a Student Support Specialist at Parkland would allow the principal to concentrate on the task at hand, education. The interventions we ask for tonight, can act as the beacon of hope that can guide our students to the shore of success.

We have high hopes for the Reading Initiative that has been implemented in all of our Elementary schools, due to their high educational load. We endorse Dr. Vance's recommendation to accelerate the Reading Initiative to all schools next year, yet it poses a concern. Our concern is the fear of losing our already trained teachers to other schools during job fair season. We hope there will be incentives to retain our valuable trained teachers at our schools. We sometimes feel like the minor leagues losing our developed star players to big league teams north and west of our cluster.

Despite the endless effort of our elementary school administrators and teaching staff, we still show little or no gain in our test scores. In some cases our test scores have declined from previous years. The Wheaton Cluster cannot afford to have more of our children fall between the cracks. We look to MCPS and the Board of Education for intervention. Help us help ourselves.

The Wheaton Cluster supports Dr. Vance's budget and hopes the Board will vote to do the same. We feel that this is the year to support education. The will of the people to prioritize education has never been clearer. The election of three education candidates to the County Council leads the way to passing this important budget.

Let me review with you what our Wheaton Cluster schools have asked me highlight, with respect to this budget:

Wheaton High School:

• consideration for developing a Signature Program
• support for an SAT enhancement class

Parkland Middle School:

• A Reading Initiative Program to address our under- achieving readers.
• A Secondary School Student Support Specialist.
• On-site educational support and accountability assistance from MCPS.
• Enough text and core books so every student has one when he needs one.

Elementary Schools:

• All-day Kindergarten in at least one of our elementary schools.
• Global Access for Weller Road Elementary.
• Incentives to reduce teacher mobility.

The Wheaton Cluster supports the PTA Operating Budget Compact for FY2000. These priorities are basic to a successful education in Montgomery County, and should be considered untouchable. The priorities in this Compact must not be considered in the non-recommended cuts.

I know the picture we have painted of the Wheaton Cluster is one of gloom and doom. What we are a@king for is just to give our children the same chance to succeed as every other child in Montgomery County. The children in the Wheaton Cluster are great kids. The parents in our community have the same high hopes and expectations as each person in this room. Some people talk about the Clusters up-county and across-county as having more than the Wheaton Cluster. I think this goes back to an old saying my Grandfather used to tell me: ""The grass is not always greener on the other side of the hill; the grass is greener where you water it." Thank you for the opportunity to speak before you tonight.