Montgomery County Meltdown

A school district in Montgomery County, Maryland, that is rated highly by the National School Boards Association (NSBA)  has failed to make the grade with the public which it serves. “It goes without saying that Montgomery’s results have put the district on the map—87 percent of third-graders test at proficient or advanced levels in reading and math, nearly 80 percent of high school students take at least one honors, Advanced Placement or International Baccalaureate course, and 77 percent of seniors enroll in college,” Naomi Dillon wrote in the June 2011 issue of American School Board Journal.

The American School Board Journal is published by the NSBA. “By 2010, 75 percent of kindergartners were reading at advanced levels, a key indicator of college readiness,” Dillon wrote. “That figure has increased 20 percentage points for every subgroup since 2006, a feat possible thanks to the revision of the kindergarten curriculum, an expansion to all-day kindergarten that began in the most disadvantaged schools, which received additional support and resources, and reduced class sizes.”

Dillon goes on to note that “Between 2000 and 2010, the number of AP exams taken by the district’s students more than tripled, and the number of AP exams for which students earned a score of 3 or higher—another predictor of college readiness—also more than tripled.”

Dillon gives ample space to the superintendent who presided over all of the above—Jerry Weast—without ever mentioning his resignation or the events surrounding it. “Residents have witnessed a near doubling of the schools’ budget over Weast’s tenure, to about $2.2 billion today, from just over $1 billion when he came on in 1999,” Leah Fabel reported in The Washington Examiner on August 25, 2010. “The money has gone largely to salaries for a growing teacher force and an expanded central office, as Weast directed a greater share of resources to lower-performing schools.”

“Achievement has not kept pace.” More recently, Lisa Gartner reported in The Washington Examiner on May 19, 2011 that “At Montgomery College, 75 percent of students are graduates of Montgomery County Public Schools.”

“ The nationally acclaimed school system sent one-fourth of its 2010 spring graduates to Montgomery College, where 60 percent of students require remedial courses. Students fresh out of high school come in at closer to 70 percent, spokesman Marcus Rosano said.” Rosano is a spokesman for Montgomery College.

AIA, in turn has devoted ample space to Montgomery County’s travails.

Malcolm A. Kline is the Executive Director of Accuracy in Academia.

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