ADVOCACY AGENDA 2005-06

Dear MCCPTA Delegate:

  As we begin the 2005-06 school year, the MCCPTA Officers are eager to work with you to set our advocacy agenda for the year.  As many of you are aware, MCCPTA developed a list of Advocacy Priorities last year to guide and inform our work. This list is attached for your review. These priorities grew from issues of common concern among local PTAs which were then brought to the Delegates Assembly for consideration and ranking.

This past summer, the MCCPTA Officers again visited each of the local areas and held open "strategic planning" meetings for the purpose of hearing first hand from parents about their most pressing advocacy priorities. Based upon these visits, new and additional advocacy concerns emerged.

For this reason, we are bringing back the entire list with new issues noted in italics as a “draft” for your review. Over the next two months, we are asking you to review this list carefully and to discuss it with your local PTA Executive Board and school community.  At both the September and October Delegate Assemblies you will be asked to participate in a weighted voting process to help identify your PTA's priorities. You will receive a set of colored dots (different colors for elementary, middle and high school). You will place the dots next to the issues you wish to prioritize. In a weighted voting system you are free to assign all your dots to a single issue to emphasize its importance to your community or you can distribute your dots (votes) across multiple concerns.  There will also be an opportunity for you to write on any other issues which you feel were omitted and need to be considered. Following the September Delegate Assembly we will update the list (re-ranking without eliminating any issues) and then present it for your final consideration at the October Delegate Assembly.

We recognize that the list is long and contains many more issues than we can effectively address in the upcoming months. For this reason, we want as one body to reach some consensus upon a smaller set of issues where we feel MCCPTA can have the most significant and lasting impact.  Rather than simply react to issues as they arise during the school year, we are asking you to help us discern a limited set of advocacy priorities on which MCCPTA will be proactive. Once you help us identify the top priorities we will then align all MCCPTA organizational actions and efforts to accomplish them. As delegates, you shape MCCPTA's organizational priorities and identify the mandate for our advocacy.

    If you have any questions about the list or wish to speak to us before the Delegate Assembly, please feel free to contact any of the MCCPTA officers.

DRAFT Priority Issues for MCCPTA Advocacy 2005-06

ACADEMIC CONCERNS – Elementary School:

· Poorly executed curriculum roll out with inadequate resources and materials to support learning

· Inadequate range of placement alternatives to meet the needs of special education students including curtailing of the home school model

· Inadequate attention and response to the data confirming a tremendous gap in achievement between African American and Hispanic students and white students within special education despite the fact that each of these students, regardless of race, has an individualized education plan

· Overcrowded classes with inadequate aide and/or resource support

· Too much time devoted to teaching to the “test” for standardized testing

· Lack of a well rounded curriculum: Emphasis on reading, writing, arithmetic to the exclusion of a rich science, social studies, arts and other curriculum

· Need for Math Specialists (like Reading Specialists) in all elementary schools to provide early intervention for students especially with increased demands of new math curriculum

· Poorly planned curriculum implementation—lack of adequate resources for teachers and inadequate communication with parents during roll out of new curriculum

· Need to develop more appropriate class size guidelines that are absolute caps on class size

· Inadequate attention to vertical articulation planning – more attention needed to ensure that students receive necessary foundational instruction in elementary to be academically ready for later curriculum options (example: preparing students for Math A in Middle School)

· Need to make academic intervention/support such as summer learning opportunities available to all students based on need and not limit resource allocation to Title I schools

· Need to increase number of PE periods per week

· Need to promote a movement towards increasing physical education at the elementary school level to ensure full implementation of the new MCPS Physical Education Curriculum.

· Inconsistent expectations of students – need for uniformly high expectations that all students will succeed and will have their needs met including Special Education, ESOL, Gifted/Talented

· Unfocused curriculum: jumping from topic to topic with little connection

· Inadequate time for lunch: re-align lunch periods to accommodate increased demands of larger population

· Inadequate attention to problem of bullying in character education curriculum

· Academic challenges posed by split articulation in schools does not receive adequate planning and attention

ACADEMIC CONCERNS – Middle School:

• Teachers who lack the necessary qualifications are being asked to teach high school courses in middle school

· Need for specific action/intervention plan for students not meeting standard under new grading policy

· Inconsistent expectations of students – need for uniformly high expectations that all students will succeed and will have their needs met including Special Education, ESOL, Gifted/Talented

· Grading and reporting – continued confusion about its application, including the role of homework and participation

· Inadequate academic rigor in middle school curriculum—attention to emotional and developmental needs though appropriate cannot be to the exclusion of rigorous academic standards

· Frequent curriculum changes

· Lack of current curriculum textbooks (often due to frequent curriculum changes)

· Lack of opportunity to take the arts (art, drama) in MS if student takes band/foreign language)

· Inadequate attention to vertical articulation planning – more attention needed to ensure that students receive necessary foundational instruction in elementary and middle school to be academically ready for later curriculum options

· Inadequate after school options and lack of transportation and other resources to support after school participation

· Overly large classes

· Academic challenges posed by split articulation in schools does not receive adequate planning and attention

ACADEMIC CONCERNS – High School:

• Failure to address overly high rates of academic ineligibility and the need for more extracurricular opportunities for all students

• Failure to offer rigorous courses to all high school students irrespective of their local community
• Need to allow for meaningful parent participation in discussion/design of alternative high school program options

· Overly large classes: teacher: student ratios are too high

· Grading and reporting – continued confusion about its application, including the role of homework and participation

· Inconsistent expectations of students – need for uniformly high expectations that all students will succeed and will have their needs met including Special Education, ESOL, Gifted/Talented (9)

· Inadequate attention/resources devoted to the large number of students not meeting basic academic standards (below a 2.0 GPA) who then become academically ineligible

· Frequent curriculum changes

· Increase attention and resources to students who fail at the 9^th grade level to anticipate and avoid risk of later drop out

· Inconsistency in course offerings across county

· Lack of current curriculum textbooks (often due to frequent curriculum changes)

FACILITIES CONCERNS:

• MCPS is not keeping up with the PLAR schedule – undue delays in replacing heating and .cooling systems; replacing roofs; eliminating mold
• MCPS is not planning adequately for development -- MCPS fails to account for realistic student influx resulting in overcrowding
• Need to address the policy protections lost in the revision of Policy FAA (long range planning)

· Over reliance on portables rather than permanent construction/portables becoming permanent

· Lack of hygiene and inadequate functioning of outdated bathroom facilities

· Unhealthy internal building conditions including poor air quality

· Inadequate and/or Unsafe playground equipment – poorly maintained/ insufficient to meet children’s needs

· Lack of safety in portables due to site placement and security problems created by lack of connection with main school facility

· Old and outdated buildings in general

· Boundary issues extend Poolesville HS boundaries to 355

· Schools as well as classes are too large

· No surplusing our school land

STAFFING AND SUPPORT SERVICE CONCERNS:

• High rates of teacher turn over and inadequate attention to teacher retention and stability

• Lack of clarity in the role of the Community Superintendent and need for better communication/access between local community and the Community Superintendent

· Overuse of substitute teachers in the classroom during academic year teacher training

· Need for Assistant Principals in every school to address growing administrative burdens

· Inadequate guidance counselors/PPW staff to address myriad social/emotional/developmental needs at the elementary, middle and high school level

· Overly large schools – tendency toward larger and larger school capacity may hurt educational program

· High turnover rate in principals at all levels – negative impact on school improvement

· Need for greater diversity in MCSP staff --inadequate number of Spanish speaking teachers/staff in MCPS

· Need for improved teacher retention efforts

· Lack of appropriate process for a school community to address problem of an underperforming/inadequate principal

· Failure to provide adequate staff and resources to attend to physical and emotional health needs of children

· Decreasing availability of wrap around services (comprehensive social services to support health and welfare of child and family such as Linkages to Learning) in middle school and high school as compared to the elementary level though need has not lessened

· Need for additional resources and training geared toward better integration of special education students into the mainstream

ACCOUNTABILITY CONCERNS:

· Lack of consistency in funding and implementation of special programs across the county – need to revise MCPS formulas for resource allocation

· MCPS does not provide adequate data on the learning impact of specially funded programs such as Reading Initiative, International Baccalaureate –needed so community can assess effectiveness of special programs/initiatives

· No clearly articulated intervention plan to support students who are underperforming or in need of remediation as identified by new grading policy

· Need for improved oversight by community superintendents

· IEP process is overly cumbersome and intimidating and needs to be reformed

PARENT INVOLVEMENT/COMMUNICATION CONCERNS:

• Need to replace parent community outreach coordinator positions cut from schools—these positions are a vital link to immigrant and minority families and critical to improving parent involvement
• Lack of clear, understandable communications to parents—for example materials on grading and reporting are too complicated to be readily understood

· Inadequate resources devoted by MCPS to improve communication with non-English speaking parents – need more/better translation services

· Lack of uniformity and consistent MCPS support for communicating with parents—individual schools bear costs of photocopying; inconsistent access to internet information channels; variation in newsletter communication with parents

· Lack of meaningful involvement by parents in School Improvement Plan process requires systemic correction

· Barriers erected by Interagency Coordinating Board (ICB) interfere with school community use of school facilities

· Need for Parent Outreach Coordinators at all schools especially in light of too few guidance counselors– should not be limited to Title I schools

· MCPS needs to improve outreach to communities undergoing boundary studies

· Need to develop more support mechanisms within MCCPTA to assist local schools struggling to establish effective PTAs

SAFETY/HEALTH CONCERNS:

• Inadequate attention and resources to address bullying and gang violence
• Inadequate attention to children’s nutritional needs in school meal programs/offerings

• Inadequate attention paid to the danger posed by new traffic patterns in road construction near schools
• Inadequate attention paid to protecting pedestrian safety at student drop off and pick up
• Lack of teen driver education classes/resources to promote greater safety

· Inadequate attention paid to safety hazard posed by traffic patterns as well as overcrowded and unsupervised buses

· School building safety including unique challenges raised by portables that are outside main building require more attention/

· Inadequate attention and resources devoted to addressing discipline problems especially at the middle school level including the problem of bullying and risk to student safety

• Insufficient attention to and remediation of lead in drinking

· Need to develop policies and a resource plan to address growing problem related to gangs in school

· Overcrowding in school buildings poses safety risks to students