Testimony at the Board of Education

Thursday, October 15, 2009

It was a dark and stormy night. No really, it was. Traffic was miserable, but the cause was important-- making sure the Montgomery County Board of Education knew how important our teachers are to us.

Rock Creek Forest ES is a complicated but exciting place to be and one of the most important parts of our community are the teachers.So when the BOE put forward the opportunity to testify on where they should place their priorities in "difficult economic times," we knew we would be there.

The teaching staff at RCF is terrific and we don't want to lose anyone. Moreover, with full classes in our Spanish Immersion lower grades and with an additional class in the English Academy first grade as well as one giant class in the EA 5th grade, we are full up. We need every teacher we have and a few more to boot. Not to mention the overcrowding -- did you know that we are at about 130% of capacity?

I have attached my testimony as a separate post, but I wanted to share one other thing. One of the most fascinating things about being a PTA leader is getting to see some of the exciting programs happening around the county -- it's more than a little humbling. Testimony was offered from a program called Identity which offers assistance to recent immigrants with little education and few English language skills. We also heard from UDL -- Universal Design for Living -- which advocates for the most serverly challenged kids to have adaptive technology in their education. Students testified on behalf of the Wellness Center at Northwood HS about the many service offered to keep them healthy and self reliant. It is more than a little humbling, but makes me proud of the many ways our communities strive to find solutions to our problems