Ask and you shall receive. An ad hoc group of parents at the Eastern Midde School Humanities Magnet, unhappy with the proposed schedule changes that will seriously impact the viability of the program, have posted this update to several listservs:
EMS parents unite to oppose schedule change
A group of over 60 families (and growing fast) have united to oppose EMS’s change from an 8 period to a 7 period schedule.
Representatives from this group attended last week’s Board of Education meeting. Five parents spoke for an unusually large portion (a full third) of the public comments portion. The BOE appeared surprised by the outcry and is looking into the matter.
To see the meeting, go to
http://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/boe/meetings/archive/last-meeting.shtm
For those who want to start watching when the EMS parents start (each is allowed only two minutes):
-Three of the five EMS parents start at the 20 min. mark;
- A fourth EMS parent speaks at the 34 min. mark; and
- A fifth EMS parent speaks at the 41 min. mark. There’s also a good followup question from the board after this speaker and a great answer.
This group also was featured last week in a story in the Gazette (“Parents protest middle school schedule change“) and press coverage is increasing.
Follow-up activities are being organized, including contacting BOE and County Council members personally. So please help with many hands to make light work. Let’s not give up the fight, and let’s keep in mind:
“The greatest obstacle to those who hope to reform American education is complacency.”
–Diane Ravitch (education historian, educational policy analyst, former United States Assistant Secretary of Education, research professor at New York University’s Steinhardt School of Education)
– EMS Schedule Decision Reversal Workgroup
The parents at Eastern would do well to talk to the Blair Math Science Computer Science Magnet parents. This week they published the first “newsletter” of the Blair High School Magnet Foundation. A must read: Founding a Foundation: How We Got Here. Here’s an excerpt:
In early 2008, rumors began to circulate among Magnet teachers, students, and parents that budget cuts from Montgomery County Public Schools would negatively affect the Magnet Program at Montgomery Blair High School. By March, the nature of the cuts became more clear, and the Magnet began to brace for the loss of teacher planning periods and the likely elimination of a few teaching positions.
Several groups began to organize to try to stop the budget cuts. Rosanne Hurwitz, a Magnet parent, began a Blair Magnet Budget Issues listserv. Her son started a Save the Magnets! website. Several students collaborated to start a Magnets United! blog. Louis Wasserman, another Magnet student, started a Protect the MBHS Magnet Program Facebook Group. Students testified before the County Council in April, and along with supporters of the Richard Montgomery IB Program and the Poolesville Magnet, they marched from the County Council to the Board of Education (see photos). With signs like “Save the Magnets” and “We can do the math,” students took their concerns to the streets in support of the program that they loved. Members of the community wrote letters to local newspapers, including alumni, students, and parents. One alumna had her letter published in the Washington Post. Students also organized a letter-writing campaign to the Board of Education and the County Council. While these efforts generated a lot of publicity for the Magnet’s budget woes, the County officials were not swayed. The budget cuts were sustained, and several Magnet teachers retired. They were not replaced, and every teacher remaining faced a heavier load for the 2008-09 school year.
Sobering stuff, but instructive. Sobering in that that that nationally recognized program (which everyone in MCPS is all too happy to brag about) was ultimately unsuccessful in winning needed support. Really sad. And instructive in terms of the level of activity needed to even get some attention Could the Eastern parents reach out to the Eastern magnet and Communication Arts Program alumni in similar fashion? (Hello Kevin Bacon!) Should they be building bridges to natural allies in the community? I think the answer is yes, and yes. It’s going to take some work, but it can be done.
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