Incoming County Executive Talks Education

Teachers, parents, and the surrounding community had the opportunity to discuss the current state of Prince George's County public schools with newly elected officials and school board members, led by incoming County Executive Rushern Baker, Tuesday night.

The event casually dubbed a 'listening session', addressed concerns, comments and questions in an hour-long discussion on school problems and potential solutions, followed by a 30 minute open forum on any topic.  It was also encouraged for the general public to provide solutions to issues that the school system is facing. The session was held at Lake Arbor Elementary School in Mitchellville on Tuesday evening.

The meeting began with a reminder to vote in the gubernatorial general election on Nov. 2, followed by the introduction of the elected officials and school board members on the panel, which in addition to Baker included State Senator of PG County's 24th District, Joanne Benson.

Questions from the discussion included concerns from Wendy Johnson who represented the Age of Awareness organization dedicated to after school programs for middle school students preparing for college and career awareness. Johnson's questions to the panel centered on the fear of losing funding for her program and a course of action to study for the testing that gauges AYP, the state's individual progress exam which tests reading/language arts and math ability.

Students still continue to struggle to meet the standards of this test and Prince George's County scored dead last in the state of Maryland. "Our funding has run out. What kind of funding is going to be available for small non-profits that offer after school education programs?" pleaded Johnson.

Other concerns came from the Town of Berwyn Heights, MD by City Councilwoman Patricia Dennison, who represented the education advisory and the Parent Teachers Association (PTA).

Dennison focused on the increase in class size and teachers teaching to the test at Berwyn Heights Elementary School. "In two fifth grade classes, one with 34 children, and one with 33. That's 67 children in two classes. We need more teachers," implored Dennison.

Other suggestions included more after school programs, extended days for students, and the return of the parent liaison program.

A different perspective came from Jerome Dancis, an Associate Professor Emeritus in Math at the University of Maryland. Dancis' concerns emerge from students entering college that are not properly prepared in math. Before the dialogue began, Dancis passed out an analysis based on data by Maryland Higher Education Commission's (MHEC) Student Outcome and Achievement Report (SOAR). This data outlined the number of minorities going to college from PG County high schools and of those, who show evidence of college math readiness. "Students need to be more prepared, Its not the teacher's fault, its not the student's fault, its administration's fault," said Dancis.

Baker then closed the discussion by praising the work of parents and teacher, thus far but continued that there is more work to do.