March 22, 2008
Budget cuts prompt changes for Magnet program
The Magnet program will lose an unspecified number of positions and some teacher planning periods next year due to MCPS budget cuts, according to Magnet Coordinator Dennis Heidler. The changes have led to an outcry among several Magnet parents and teachers. Parents have been communicating their dissent on a Magnet list serve, and several teachers have expressed their intention to leave the program.
According to Heidler, the Magnet faces budget cuts that will result in elimination of planning periods for teachers of junior and senior classes. The planning periods are essential to the interdisciplinary elements of the ninth and tenth grade curricula, and teachers of those classes will still have them next year. While regular teachers generally teach five classes and have one planning period, many magnet teachers teach only four classes and have two planning periods.
Heidler, Principal Darryl Williams and several community school officials will be present at an April 2 meeting in the Blair auditorium for parents regarding the budget cuts. On March 20, Heidler released a memorandum encouraging parents to attend the meeting and promising to answer any questions about the possible changes.
On Sunday, March 15, a Magnet parent sent an email to the Magnet parent list serve saying she had heard of the changes and possible resignations from an undisclosed Magnet teacher. Rosanne Hurwitz, another parent, has created a separate online forum devoted to the issue.
Several teachers have expressed their discomfort with the possible modifications. Math teacher Eric Walstein believes that the changes go against the founding philosophy of the Magnet. "It's changing the Magnet to do something it was never designed to do," he said.
Heidler stressed that the Magnet curriculum and its effect on the students will not be altered. However, the order in which the courses are taught will have to change due to position cuts. According to Heidler, this adjustment will not alter the level of education. "That doesn't change what the students are going to walk away with," he said.
Some teachers will be reassigned to other teaching positions, Heidler said, but specifics will not be released until the specific date the teacher's contract allows it. He stressed that teachers who have at this point indicated they will leave are doing so on their own accord. Only one Magnet elective, Advanced Applications of Software, will be eliminated, mostly due to low enrollment. Biochemistry and Advanced Geometry were not offered for course registration this year.
More non-Magnet Blair teachers will teach Magnet classes next year, but no Magnet teachers will have to teach regular courses, Heidler said.
The budget cuts are a result of stress on the MCPS budget – 80 percent of which is funded by taxes from the struggling real estate market. The fiscal year 2009 budget, which the MCPS Board of Education has already approved, will not be finalized until the County Council votes on it on May 1.
According to Heidler, the Magnet faces budget cuts that will result in elimination of planning periods for teachers of junior and senior classes. The planning periods are essential to the interdisciplinary elements of the ninth and tenth grade curricula, and teachers of those classes will still have them next year. While regular teachers generally teach five classes and have one planning period, many magnet teachers teach only four classes and have two planning periods.
Heidler, Principal Darryl Williams and several community school officials will be present at an April 2 meeting in the Blair auditorium for parents regarding the budget cuts. On March 20, Heidler released a memorandum encouraging parents to attend the meeting and promising to answer any questions about the possible changes.
On Sunday, March 15, a Magnet parent sent an email to the Magnet parent list serve saying she had heard of the changes and possible resignations from an undisclosed Magnet teacher. Rosanne Hurwitz, another parent, has created a separate online forum devoted to the issue.
Several teachers have expressed their discomfort with the possible modifications. Math teacher Eric Walstein believes that the changes go against the founding philosophy of the Magnet. "It's changing the Magnet to do something it was never designed to do," he said.
Heidler stressed that the Magnet curriculum and its effect on the students will not be altered. However, the order in which the courses are taught will have to change due to position cuts. According to Heidler, this adjustment will not alter the level of education. "That doesn't change what the students are going to walk away with," he said.
Some teachers will be reassigned to other teaching positions, Heidler said, but specifics will not be released until the specific date the teacher's contract allows it. He stressed that teachers who have at this point indicated they will leave are doing so on their own accord. Only one Magnet elective, Advanced Applications of Software, will be eliminated, mostly due to low enrollment. Biochemistry and Advanced Geometry were not offered for course registration this year.
More non-Magnet Blair teachers will teach Magnet classes next year, but no Magnet teachers will have to teach regular courses, Heidler said.
The budget cuts are a result of stress on the MCPS budget – 80 percent of which is funded by taxes from the struggling real estate market. The fiscal year 2009 budget, which the MCPS Board of Education has already approved, will not be finalized until the County Council votes on it on May 1.
Discuss this Article
well said zomg, non magnet teachers teaching magnet sudents is tragic--how could you ever be expected to learn from someone in such a lowly caste?
That shouldn't happen in ANY course, least of all the ones that make the Magnet as effective as it is.
I think most magnet students would not mind if non-magnet teachers teach them as long as the courses stay the same quality. You should not ignore the magnet students that take English, Social Studies, etc. with non-magnet teachers. The problem is that many non-magnet teachers are not as qualified as magnet teachers so it is not for certain that they would teach the courses at the same quality.
For some reason, you believe the magnet is made up of elitists. You choose the bits of the news story that fuel your prejudice and you add your own spin to it to make it seem as if you are wronged and as if you are part of a lower caste. This is called self-pity. You are angry that you are subject to such discrimination. The funny thing is that this discrimination only exists in your mind; there is no actual discrimination against you. Sarcasm may be clever to use, but sarcasm mixed with your own made-up fantasies is not very effective but quite offensive.
"In four class periods, they may be teaching three different classes. These teachers have to basically write their own curricula for those classes, and so the extra planning period is important for them, too." -- Well said. However, there are two additional points that must be raised:
(1) Biochem, advanced geometry, and origins of math (which wasn't mentioned in the article) were cut because they were on a pilot-only basis. This essentially means that the magnet can't create any new electives -- ever. So as far as the county is concerned, all the classes are already fully developed and teachers don't need to plan them anymore.
(2) The teachers' union contract actually says that teachers can only teach three different classes per semester. So theoretically, a teacher could teach five periods *if* those five consist of only three different classes. Some teachers already teach more -- Dr. Miller has six periods, but they are three identical double periods, so it's like only preparing for one class and only grading the papers for three.
"I think most magnet students would not mind if non-magnet teachers teach them as long as the courses stay the same quality." -- That is exactly the problem. Mr. Prange already teaches Analytical Chemistry, a magnet class, but students still take it because he's a good teacher. Remember that Mr. Schafer, Mr. Kaluta, and Mrs. Ragan all came from the non-magnet and they are great teachers. What we have to ensure is that the non-magnet teachers who teach magnet classes are as well-qualified as the other magnet teachers.
"Nooooo....advanced apps :(" -- Unlike the other three classes that were cut, advanced apps will be back the following year if enough students sign up for it.
I have to wonder, why create a second Magnet--while restricting the applicant pools for both--and then fail to fund them?
Also NO ONE IS LEAVING!!! Mr. Bundy is leaving under his own accords after 200 years of teaching. NO ONE IS LEAVING!!!
If you don't stop lying, misquoting people, and representing the special programs solely, why don't we create a paper for ourselves and representing our own interests.
2. Ms. Ragan was one of the original Magnet teachers. She taught computer and Math.
3. "An informed magnet student: Only three teachers are leaving." Who are you? How many teachers are searching for different teaching position or retirement? How many are on transfered list?
4. Who will sponsor clubs? Lab? Wallops island? etc. Think about that.
Bottom line is, once word gets out about how MCPS screwed the Magnet, consider its fame out the window
I agree with you wholeheartedly. I think this county over-hypes itself, which is disappointing, to say the least. We may be "well-funded"(that may be ending soon) but that does not make us great. We have to be well-funded because the cost of living and operating in Montgomery County is extremely high. I repeat: funding does not equal quality education. It is certainly a factor, but without things like the magnet, we’re nothing but expensive.
I also despise this county’s so-called "excellent education" because that illusion has brought so many families into our area, contributing heavily to the absurd amount of overcrowding. This in turn reduces the quality of the education for those already here. We, the students, are lost in the maelstrom.
ouch, spoken like a true GT kid.
from what I hear about the magnet from friends, it sounds like a great program. and I'm sorry that some teachers are losing their jobs, and others are losing a planning period. maybe I'm missing something, but this doesn't seem like a tragedy to me. where do magnets (and us cappies, I'm not gonna lie) get this crazy feeling of entitlement? you're still going to get an excellent education, far beyond what most students have access to. and hey, remember there is more to blair than CAP and magnet. they are not the only programs of worth. I love my CAP, but without it and the magnet, blair is still a good school.
maybe I'd feel different if it was my class being cut, but geez. some people make a budget cut sound like sacrilege. it's okay, you are smart, you'll be fine. the magnet is good, and it will still be good.
"Another Alumnus" is right. There have been articles written about the magnet in the New York Times and U.S. News and World Report because of its tremendous academic success and recognition. These proposed cuts will almost certainly decrease the quality of education available in the magnet, and in so doing, will have a devastating impact on the program, the school and the county as a whole.
The truth of the matter is this: our education system is designed for the masses. It's designed to educate the masses and to contain the masses. School has two very important functions outside of educating: social conditioning and day-to-day occupation for the students. In that respect it can sometimes become closer to a daycare than a place of learning.
To get back to the original point, the education that is available here is very good. Needless to say however, few students get the full value of it. CAP and Magnet are special programs designed to let particular students get as much as they can out of their education. When you undercut these programs, you lose that versatility to teach at a higher level. And, regrettably, our county isn't known for anything other than the magnet outside the state.
The budget cut isn't the issue here. It's the diminishing of what once was a great program for students who went above the masses in their education.
You have to understand that anything tailored to the general public is going to be, by its very nature, flawed for those above or below the average. The magnet, CAP, and GT level classed are designed for those above the average, and then you have programs also designed for those below. Observe, however, how the grades in the levels of classes work in a counter-intuitive way. The "easier" the class gets, the worse the grades get. This demonstrates a lack of effort as well as not comprehending subject material. And upon closer observation, this can also be attributed to the general apathy found in the lower level classes.
To add one more thing, politicians are not going to legislate for education reform for this simple reason: It takes approximately half a decade for the results of any reform to be reaped. Most politician's terms do not last that long. Why work for something that will not help you politically, even if it is attributed to your name? You're already finished, so you get no benefit from it, unless you have children in school. And that is of course assuming they're not already getting a private education, which I won't even begin to address here.
Walstein, Donaldson, Stein and Pham are most likely considering it.
OK, let's brainstorm for a sec, who else is left?! Hmmm.. Piper, Ragan, Dvorsky, Colins, Templin, Kaluta and "Heidler." So students'll still have Computer Science and R&E. Great.
A 20 year legacy is crumpling and not enough people are trying to fight it.
The Magnet is what makes MCPS look good, because it REALLY DOES produce excellent students that have solid foundations for even the best universities in the world. It's not just a honors program and a bunch of 3.9 perfectionists; people really know their sh** (in and out of the classroom, on tests and in internships and competitions in all the sciences, math, and computer science)!! And if SCO wasn't so harsh on profanity, I'd have a lot more to say about Jerry Weast. Public education needs rigorous courses and programs for high-achieving students; we'd be holding back their future success and achievements otherwise. Yes, call me an elitist, and you'd be absolutely right, but that doesn't change the fact that the world will always need brilliant engineers, doctors, and researchers to make new, critical discoveries and inventions for our future.
AnotherStudent: yes I realize Heidler doesn't teach. That's why I put quotes around his name---it was to make fun of his more or less useless presence in the Magnet. Steinkraus would never have gone with this whole budget cut the way Heidler does. (Anyhow, Heidler used to teach computer science. He only became coordinator at the beginning of the second semester of my sophomore year)