According to the Maryland Office of Planning, in 2002-03 they made a Projection that Wicomico's Student Population to be 15,065 for FY 2008 - 2009 - (see above data sheet).
However, just last week they indicated that the student population for Wicomico to be 13,854 as of September 20, 2008. In other words we now have 1,211 students less than they had originally projected.
http://marylandpublicschools.org/MSDE/stateboard/decisions_moewr.htm
http://marylandpublicschools.org/MSDE/stateboard/decisions_moewr.htm
Bottom line - the inaccuracies in data that is currently being disseminated by the BOE leads one to believe that the entire system to be fraught with errors. That being said, how in the world can one expect our elected officials to make intelligent decisions when the facts and figures are being bent to appease special interest.
Maybe the time has now come for our society to take up the debate as to instituting a voucher system that would allow the parents to choose the school of their choice. It may be private and/or public but the choice should exist in light of the current debacle.
12 comments:
Who is responsible for these piss poor graphics and statistics? Maybe the BOE should invest money into hiring properly educated staff and consultants to do their research!
According to this chart, they are projecting a ~1800 student increase in 3 years?! OVER 10% INCREASE!!
IMO we need to fire the folks at the BOE who creating this stuff because students can't learn much from people less intelligent than themselves!
If you think about it, 2002-2003 was right about when the housing boom began. I was lucky enough to purchase my home in mid 2004 while things were still very much on the up-swing. I'm betting that a lot of the projections were made based on the rate at which new families were moving into the area to be closer to the beach and to get away from the city-life--houses were going up all over the place and new people moving in at a pretty steady rate. Of course as of sometime in 2007, the bubble burst and now homes are sitting on the market for 6-months or more and people are very wary of moving to a new area since its especially difficult to find new jobs, etc. I'll bet this has played a major factor in how far off the projections were.
FYI:
This morning Montgomery County -- which applied for a $80 Million waiver from maintenance of effort and was denied -- adopted a budget that fully funds that amount.
Beezer:
Your criticism of the BOE is nonsense.
The State gets info on future development from the County Planning Office -- that's what those projections are based upon -- and the Planning Office data did not pan out because the housing market went sour and also because the projections here were "pie in the sky"
That's not the fault of the Board of Ed -- local or state.
The really significant data appeard on the post earlier today -- scroll down to read it or go to:
http://sbynews.blogspot.com/2009/05/very-disturbing-data-on-wicomico.html
BTW - The plain fact is that the schools in Wicomico County are underfunded in its budget. Fortunately, there has been increased state funding during the past 10 years, but that is now changing, and the state's "maintenance of effort" rule requires a certain amount of local funding to get a substantial part of the available state funds.
We would be able to provide the "matching" funds in the County budget that are required to get the state funds if there were no (or a different) tax revenue cap.
As it is, the areas of the budget that have grown at about 2 times the rate as the school portion of the County's budget must take the hit in order to fund "maintenance of effort." That's exactly what is happening in Worcester and most other counties this year.
Montgomery County had a much better argument than Wicomico for the waiver to get state funding -- they provide in the County budget about 70% of the funding for the schools there, whereas in Wicomico it's less than 30%. But they were denied a waiver too.
It's time for Wicomico County to do what is needed to properly fund its schools with more money.
Beazer:
I have been watching you post for sometime now and if you ever decide to run for any office please let me know.
You are a plethora of information and it amazes me how informed you are and you seem to have a good handle on the local affairs. What a tremendous asset.
I can tell you why the BOE bolstered their number student number count.
Remember - at that time - all of the rucus about having to build two new schools - Bennett Middle and Bennett High - they said they needed the additional room to justify the student increases.
You want to know what I call it.
Deception. It is a Ponzi scheme that was orchestrated by the BOE.
Good investigative work.
It's time the BOE learns to live with what they have, and quit asking for more. No one pays 70% of my medical premiums. Long live the revenue cap!
Before our County embarks on anymore school construction projects the issue should be put to a Public Referendum - like Delaware.
There is just to much mischief associated with our BOE system. Special interest has ruined the educational system here in Wicomico. It's in the same shape if not worse than California.
9:58
It seems that you proved that you are the one who lacks intelligence. As others have said, these projections came out in 2002-2003, when houses were going up everywhere. Plus the BOE aren't the ones making the projections. Face it, teachers are much smarter than you and you can't stand it. It is a shame that someone has to be responsible for teaching your offspring. And we wonder why schools aren't as successful here compared to other counties.
Response to 2:52
If we were such a smart County then we wouldn't be in the pickle that we are experiencing now would we.
I couldn't help but to notice that Wicomico's No.1 industry is Education. Take-a-look youself at the MACO stats. One would think with all of the education we would have some kind of industry other than Education.
But no, you take all of the fruits of ordinary labor and suppress any other rivalry industry.
Shame on you. Your organization deceives, lies, suppresses, stifles, and then tries to pass laws to exempt your own people while penalizing other classes of citizens.
I think this County needs an Enema.
No matter how much money you pump into education it will still be a sham because of all the corruption at all levels in the educational chain.
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