Montgomery County Education Observation

Throughout this essay I will be discussing what I experienced with my time observing my aunt. I have been observing Julie Tolbert, my aunt, for a few weeks and have gained so much information that will help me tremendously. When the eighth grade students visited I was able to get a glimpse at what students in the upper levels of school were like and was able to make a definite decision on whether or not I would stay with early childhood or move to middle grades. After discussing what I learned from my different field experiences, I will discuss the different theories and models that I observed and compare and contrast what could have been differently. I will bring up the theories that I think were used that Julie did not even

I filed an application with Chesapeake Public School systems, so that I could become a part of an organization that values teamwork, dedication, and academic success. Chesapeake Public Schools exhibits a positive, collaborative, and cooperative learning environment not only for the students but for their employees as well. Being committed to the academic development and success with the help and support of students, parents, teachers, and other staff members is a plus to any working environment. These are great attributes for any organization to possess, which is why I chose to become a part of the Chesapeake Public School.

Since last spring, Philadelphia school district leaders have been sounding the alarm about this year’s fiscal budget. Even after months of discussions and headlines, schools have opened with fewer resources than last year. On March 28th the School Reform Commission approved a lump sum budget which showed a need for an additional $220 million in revenue in order to provide schools with same resources as the “wholly insufficient” 2013-14 school year (McCorry). There will be many inadequate funding impacts on the quality of the education. Classroom resources would be stripped to untenable levels. The district would reduce as much as $2.2 million funding to the districts’ multiple pathways to graduation program which affects estimated 300 students. Another $1.5 million could be reduced from the elimination of preparation and professional development time for teachers at the district’s high needs promise academies. The district’s building maintenance budget could have reduction in amount of $9.6 million. Schools will be cleaned less frequently as a result. Building maintenance will also be curtailed as a result. District’s school police budget could also have reduction in amount of $2.4 million. School police officer vacancies will be unfilled, leaving an additional 27 elementary schools to share an officer.

Continued funding of CTE classes in community college and adding money to the CSUs to increase openings. They do not want the emergency maintenance funding to come from Prop 39, but from

There is strong evidence that points to a link between the way schools are currently funded and the disparity in student performance between the urban and suburban environments. The District of Columbia, which has 189 public schools, 5,000 teachers, and a Pre-K-12 enrollment of 79,000 students, spends $6,773 per pupil not including Special Education or English to Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL). In comparison, Montgomery County has 190 public schools, 10,700 teachers, and a Pre-K-12 enrollment of 136,653 students. Montgomery County spends approximately $8,688 per pupil. It should also be pointed out that the District of Columbia Public Schools (DCPS) expenditures amounted to $807 million last year in comparison to Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS), which expects to spend an enormous $1.3 billion during Fiscal Year 2002. Without equal funding, the two systems already begin with an unequal playing field.

I am one that likes to have my space and I cannot focus if I can hear the people around me breathing. The meeting was effective on terms of covering what the school board needed to cover. The meeting benefitted those recognized, the Belles, and the HISD Education Foundation. The HISD Education Foundation benefitted from receiving a donation at the meeting. Having these meetings includes the public on what is happening in the district, which ultimately benefits the schools. The public brings more ideas, resources, and money to the schools.

I hope this letter reaches you in good spirts. As stated in my previous letter that I anticipated you had time to read I expressed many concerns about Betsy DeVos. As you may know Betsy DeVos was elected as the Education Secretary. This matter is very concerning to not only students but the Education Department as a whole. I am also extremely troubled by the direction of which the county may be headed towards. I can only expect the best for students in this county being that DeVos is an advocate for charter and private schooling. My goal is for this letter to influence you take the time and look into the education and the direction of the county.

Matthew Countryman, in this chapter, showed how the Black Power movement in Philadelphia was successfully able to challenge the Board of Education and bring about some changes in community schools. He also discussed how the violence that occurred in the late 1960s was not just a result of black radical activism but also the result of white support for institutional racism. Countryman provided pictorial and, most likely, scholarly evidence to back up his claim. The pictorial evidence he provided was a picture of high school students on their way to the Board of Education during the mass student protest that took place on the 17th of November 1967. He cited a lot of his sources and although I was unable to peruse his bibliography, I think, based on the level of detail in the chapter, that he must have had scholarly sources like newspapers reports (on page 232, he mentioned the Greater Philadelphia Magazine) and historical documents.

I chose to attend the School Board meeting because I was interested to see how the release of Davidson County employee information affected their lives. My mother is a teacher, and I was curious if other employees shared her concerns

1. The Charlotte-Mecklenburg school system, which includes the city of Charlotte, North Carolina, had more than 84,000 students in 107 schools in the 1968-1969 school year. Approximately 29% (24,000) of the pupils were Negro, about 14,000 of whom attended 21 schools that were at least 99% Negro.

On September 6th, I attended the Cleveland County school board meeting. I grew up in a nontraditional schooling environment; therefore, attending a school board meeting was a new experience for me. On the agenda, the board covered subjects such as nominating in new board members, honoring new teachers in the county schools, getting approval for a new basketball court, and asking for approval for a high school trip to Germany in the summer of 2017.

Staff from both schools (MAST and David Lawrence) provided the information requested by parents. According to my observations I would say that the majority of the parents and students were excited to learn about the opportunities the school offers since most of the questions were directed to what are the steps parents and students need to follow today in order to meet the academic achievements that MAST requires. David Lawrence extended additional information to parents about online resources that provide the students with extra practice on the core areas in addition to what the students already receive in their school. Parents were also encourage to meet with their child’s teacher in order to find out by first hand their child’s specific areas of

Harford County is a fast growing jurisdiction between 1990 to 2010 the county’s population grew from 182,132 to 244,826. Some of the reasons the county has seen such a great population growth is due to job opportunities. Employment in the county has steadily continued to grow making Harford county have a very low unemployment rates better than other counties in the state of Maryland. (HCHD, 2012).

Decatur County School System’s enrollment is 5,253. We have eight schools and five separate administrative buildings. Our student demographics are: Black 50%, White 37%, Hispanic 10%, Multi-Racial 3%. Decatur County is rural farming community with limited industry.

Every school district has board meetings throughout the school year. Unfortunately, many parents, community members, & school personnel do not attend such important meetings because they don’t realize or understand the importance of such board meetings or how informative they can be. According to Kankakee School District (2017), the Kankakee School District Board of Education is composed of seven elected members, who were elected by the citizens of Kankakee to serve a four-year term that do not receive no salary for they services, are committed to ensuring a quality of educational excellence that will enhance the opportunities and challenges facing today’s student and additional responsibilities that board members include are selection of the District superintendent, developing general polices according to wishes of the community and requirements of law, hiring school personnel based upon recommendation of the Superintendent and the Assistant Superintendent of Personnel, adopts salary schedules, approves funds to finance school operations, must adopt and review the annual operating budget for the District, and setting the property tax levy to produce adequate funds to meet the District’s financial needs ranks among the responsibilities of the Board of Education (Retrieved from https://www.ksd111.org/domain/68). For this paper, the Kankakee School District board meeting will be used, information learned from board meeting, use of