Julie Yang, who represents District 3 (the Whitman, BCC, Churchill, Richard Montgomery, and Walter Johnson catchment areas) on the Montgomery County Board of Education, provided an informative update and answered questions relating to public education and schools in our community at the March CJCA meeting.
Born in Wuhan, China, Ms. Yang found herself on a predestined educational path to a career in the city’s meat factory. That trajectory was changed by an elementary school teacher who, refusing to accept that her students could not do better, gave up her own time before and after school to give them the extra coaching and support they needed. While many of the young second-grade students did not appreciate the extra work at the time, Ms. Yang now credits that teacher with helping her and nine other students climb out of their educational tier by the end of the school year.
She went on to become an educator herself–moving to the U.S. for graduate school and then serving more than 20 years as a classroom teacher, school instructional data analyst, and college and career counselor.
Ms. Yang provided the following updates on these issues affecting education in Montgomery County:
- Reading – The elementary school curriculum is being changed to focus more on the science of reading and phonics and is decidedly moving away from whole language techniques.
- Final Exams and Assessments – Ms. Yang suggests that the overall assessment process for students needs to be balanced and multi-faceted. This could include tests and/or other assessment mechanisms. Some students entering college have had issues with final exams having, not had final exams in high school. This is a key subject this spring before the Board of Education.
- Cell Phones – Pyle Middle School is part of a pilot program on cell phone usage in schools and its impact on students’ behavior and academic performance. The overall intent is to limit cell phone usage during school hours.
- Hate and Bias – There is a code of conduct that determines how kids are to behave and – if there are violations – how to address them. One focus is to ensure code of conduct and disciplinary actions are handled consistently. Hate and bias events are monitored carefully and undergo a quarterly review.
- Vaping – Montgomery County was awarded a settlement from Juul and will install vape detectors in bathrooms with the proceeds. Vape shops must be a mile or further from every school in Montgomery County.
- New Programs – The county has implemented a number of new programs including photography and automotive diagnosis & repair.
- Enrollment in MCPS is flat overall but experiencing an increase in the number of students who speak English as a second language, and students who have special education needs. The lack of MCPS enrollment growth is consistent with the relatively flat growth in overall population.
- Teachers – A new blueprint for teacher salary has been implemented across Maryland, and Montgomery County is ahead of its implementation schedule. This fact is ensuring Montgomery County schools are close to 100% staffed.
- Funding – Montgomery County Public Schools receive 28% of their budget from the state, 3% from the federal government with the balance from the county itself. Near-term focus is on special education given the increase in special education needs across the county. The second focus is on security. Lastly, there is some underfunding on the teacher pension programs; the county expects to address this as well .
- Funding from the federal government – Ms.Yang made the point that the federal funding from the Department of Education primarily supports special education and schools serving low income families. Regarding the potential impact of the Department of Education closure, Ms. Yang explained that the local Boards of Education have always set the policies relating to the local schools. Additionally, through non-Department of Education grants, the federal government supports equipment purchases for technical training such as automotive mechanics, and these grants are at risk.
- Student member of the Board of Education – There is one student member on the Montgomery County Board of Education who serves a one-year period and who is elected via a multi-step process. This student has full voting authority with the exception of personnel issues. Montgomery County was one of the first counties in the country to implement such a program.
By Scott Lewis and Kelly Banuls