Health & Fitness
Is MCPS Out of Money or Out of Ideas?
MCPS delivers a lot of good stuff and a lot of failure. Will throwing more money at the failure change the results or should we send our new administration to the drawing board?
Before this blog gets rolling and Patch readers discover how cynical I can be, I need to write about a very pleasant evening spent with the music program.
As every parent who has braved the elementary school orchestral version of Hot Cross Buns or Yankee Doodle, I have come to dread these nights. Of course I need to encourage the kids to learn and grow and it is obligatory to give the teachers an opportunity to show off the hard work they have done and thank them for putting up with our kids and squeezing out a passable performance. It's the right thing to do.
But the times (at my house) are changing! My oldest is now in 7th grade at Ridgeview so this is our second time through. Last year's program was an enjoyable improvement over the routine elementary school fare. Tonight, however, was moving. While the 6th graders are only remarkably improved over their elementary school performance levels, the advanced bands, chorus and orchestra were simply amazing. If you closed your eyes, you would have no idea you were listening to children.
I felt moved to share this on my blog about local government because here we have a case of the taxpayers getting their money's worth out of the system. Mr LoRusso (instrumentals) and Mrs. Kim (vocals) are passionate, talented teachers and we are lucky to have them AND a well funded, though threatened, music program.
My message to taxpayers: Don't accept the overly simple argument that arts or athletic programs will be cut in the face of overall budget pressure. Certainly, tough choices need to be made - not draconian cuts - and you need to have a voice in them. As it relates to basic instruction: it's not "either, or" questions that need to be evaluated but "how do we do the basics more effectively." You will be reading in the news today about how the school system is failing our students - MCPS is not all their press department would have you believe - but the basics (great teachers like LoRusso and Kim) are in place. What remains is for the union conspiracy that drives the politics of budget and administration to get out of the way.
Our administration is bloated, services like procurement and maintenance are inefficient and teacher salaries and benefits are too high. In a $2 billion budget there are plenty of ways to improve service and efficiency if the players all come to the table with an open mind. I hope our new superintendent can be creative and open to suggestions from watchdog groups like the Parents Coalition of Montgomery County. This group does fantastic work and is not beholden to the teachers union and does not drink the kool-aid served up by the current school administration. They will give you the straight story from the perspective of concerned parents and taxpayers.
Educate yourself and speak up.
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I hope I've upset you a little bit and motivated you a lot. Before moving on, please enjoy the clips below as a goodwill gesture from a cynic who really enjoyed a night out listening to music courtesy of Montgomery County Public Schools. (with apologies for the smart-phone version and shaky hands!)