Below is MCEA President Doug Prouty's testimony that was presented to the Montgomery County Legislative Delegation during their recent hearing on proposed Local Bills; concerning a proposal to change how the Montgomery County Board of Education is elected.
Good evening, members of the delegation. Thank you for this opportunity to testify tonight.
The Montgomery County Education Association is opposed to Local Bill MC 7-13 – the proposal to restructure the Montgomery County Board of Education. We believe that enacting this bill would be harmful to the Board, to MCPS and most importantly, to the students of MCPS.
To begin, we are uncertain as to the reason for this bill being introduced. There has been no public outcry over the number of members of the Board or about the way in which we elect the Board. The functioning of the Board has not been called into question. While any elected body will make decisions which are not universally popular, as you well know, there has been no widespread discontent with the way in which the Board oversees the school system. Quite the opposite - MCPS has become one of the most highly regarded school systems in the country under the watch of this Board and its predecessors.
We are most concerned about the proposal to change the way in which the members of the Board of Education are elected. The proposed change would promote parochialism and undermine the Board’s shared collective interest in meeting the needs of all students.
The current system for electing members of the Board of Education provides a balance that ensures that all regions of the county are represented on the Board, while ensuring that all Board members look out for the interests of all students, and not just the students in their part of the county.
Currently, five of the seven publicly elected Board of Education members must come from the five distinct geographic districts; ensuring that all regions of the county are represented on the Board. However because all Board candidates, including those five, need to run countywide for election, the system is designed to discourage the kind of provincialism that would arise if each district Board member was only accountable to the voters in their district.
One does not need to look far to see school systems with district-elected school board members who get mired in the politics of fighting for resources for the schools in their own neighborhoods.
Under the smartly designed current system for elected school board members in Montgomery County, that tendency is kept in check by the need for Board of Education candidates to run for office countywide, and to be accountable to parents, taxpayers and voters countywide.
This is especially important in a county that is increasingly diverse in both socio-economic and racial terms. Think back to the early 00’s, when the Board of Education decided to differentiate resources to the ‘red zone’ schools based on the needs of those schools. Had Board members been elected by district, it may have been much more difficult to gain approval of this strategy; which has been vital in helping to improve the achievement of minority and poor students.
Imagine as well the formulation of the capital budget when a majority of the Board would be concerned only about the interests of their portion of the system, rather than weighing equally the needs of the entire county. This change would, inevitably, make the decision making processes of the Board more cumbersome and make consensus more difficult to achieve. Our students in MCPS would find that addressing the needs of all schools and all students may no longer be the first priority of the body charged with overseeing their education.
The change in the number of members of the Board also seems to be unnecessary. It would add administrative expenses to the system at a time when cuts continue in school level spending on classroom resources. It is a solution in search of a problem. There are elections to the Board of Education every two years. There is frequent turnover and there are frequent vacant seats. Some candidates win, some lose. There is always another election. There is no need to increase the size of the Board; and certainly not just because some candidates lose elections.
If one’s priority is improving the quality of education for all our students, there is no compelling reason to change the current governance structure of the Montgomery County Public Schools.
While there is much work still to be done to close the achievement gap, Montgomery County Public Schools continues to be one of the most highly rated, and highly respected, public school systems in the nation. Just last week, MCPS won accolades for its high level of AP course participation, its students’ average AP test scores, and the growing number of minority students taking, and succeeding, on AP tests. The answers to continuing to improve our schools lay in our classrooms, not in changing the size or make-up of the governing board.
In short, we can find no reasonable rationale for this bill, and many unintended adverse consequences were it adopted. We urge you to oppose the passage of Local Bill 7-13.
Contact your state elected officials by clicking here to urge them to oppose the passage of Local Bill 7-13.
The Montgomery County Education Association is opposed to Local Bill MC 7-13 – the proposal to restructure the Montgomery County Board of Education. We believe that enacting this bill would be harmful to the Board, to MCPS and most importantly, to the students of MCPS.
To begin, we are uncertain as to the reason for this bill being introduced. There has been no public outcry over the number of members of the Board or about the way in which we elect the Board. The functioning of the Board has not been called into question. While any elected body will make decisions which are not universally popular, as you well know, there has been no widespread discontent with the way in which the Board oversees the school system. Quite the opposite - MCPS has become one of the most highly regarded school systems in the country under the watch of this Board and its predecessors.
We are most concerned about the proposal to change the way in which the members of the Board of Education are elected. The proposed change would promote parochialism and undermine the Board’s shared collective interest in meeting the needs of all students.
The current system for electing members of the Board of Education provides a balance that ensures that all regions of the county are represented on the Board, while ensuring that all Board members look out for the interests of all students, and not just the students in their part of the county.
Currently, five of the seven publicly elected Board of Education members must come from the five distinct geographic districts; ensuring that all regions of the county are represented on the Board. However because all Board candidates, including those five, need to run countywide for election, the system is designed to discourage the kind of provincialism that would arise if each district Board member was only accountable to the voters in their district.
One does not need to look far to see school systems with district-elected school board members who get mired in the politics of fighting for resources for the schools in their own neighborhoods.
Under the smartly designed current system for elected school board members in Montgomery County, that tendency is kept in check by the need for Board of Education candidates to run for office countywide, and to be accountable to parents, taxpayers and voters countywide.
This is especially important in a county that is increasingly diverse in both socio-economic and racial terms. Think back to the early 00’s, when the Board of Education decided to differentiate resources to the ‘red zone’ schools based on the needs of those schools. Had Board members been elected by district, it may have been much more difficult to gain approval of this strategy; which has been vital in helping to improve the achievement of minority and poor students.
Imagine as well the formulation of the capital budget when a majority of the Board would be concerned only about the interests of their portion of the system, rather than weighing equally the needs of the entire county. This change would, inevitably, make the decision making processes of the Board more cumbersome and make consensus more difficult to achieve. Our students in MCPS would find that addressing the needs of all schools and all students may no longer be the first priority of the body charged with overseeing their education.
The change in the number of members of the Board also seems to be unnecessary. It would add administrative expenses to the system at a time when cuts continue in school level spending on classroom resources. It is a solution in search of a problem. There are elections to the Board of Education every two years. There is frequent turnover and there are frequent vacant seats. Some candidates win, some lose. There is always another election. There is no need to increase the size of the Board; and certainly not just because some candidates lose elections.
If one’s priority is improving the quality of education for all our students, there is no compelling reason to change the current governance structure of the Montgomery County Public Schools.
While there is much work still to be done to close the achievement gap, Montgomery County Public Schools continues to be one of the most highly rated, and highly respected, public school systems in the nation. Just last week, MCPS won accolades for its high level of AP course participation, its students’ average AP test scores, and the growing number of minority students taking, and succeeding, on AP tests. The answers to continuing to improve our schools lay in our classrooms, not in changing the size or make-up of the governing board.
In short, we can find no reasonable rationale for this bill, and many unintended adverse consequences were it adopted. We urge you to oppose the passage of Local Bill 7-13.
Contact your state elected officials by clicking here to urge them to oppose the passage of Local Bill 7-13.
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