I had the opportunity to read through the Teachers for
Tomorrow (T4T) program audit report.
For those unfamiliar with the program, a useful summary can
be found in the Overview section of the Meeting Agenda Item page (page 1). A link to the full report can be found here:
Under the program, HCPSS “partners with McDaniel College to help
low-income students from Howard County pursue degrees in fields of their choice
with minors in education.” Sounds
promising so far, right? Alas, it was poorly-thought
out, as no “feasible and sustainable funding model” has (to date) been
developed. The report details the efforts
made to do so (teaser: how many times
will one read about Bill Gates and Ed Norton in the same HCPSS memorandum?).
So now, HCPSS finds itself in a position of “implementing
the audit recommendation to dissolve the T4T Corporation,” the entity created
to carry out the programming. This
dissolution, of course, will cost taxpayer dollars.
The report does not name names, but this blog does. Who created this entity? That would be former Superintendent Renee
Foose. So, we are still…quite literally…paying for her mistakes.
What about oversight?
Who was minding the store in July 2015 when the former Superintendent announced
the launch of the T4T program? That
would be former Chair of the Howard County Board of Education, Janet Siddiqui. Yes,
the same Dr. Siddiqui who is now asking County Council District 4 voters for
their support in the upcoming Democratic Primary Election.
This audit report is yet another reminder that Dr. Siddiqui,
while holding public office, exercised poor judgment. With powers of discernment that are
demonstrably lacking, she cannot be trusted to fulfill the duties of the
position. She doesn’t deserve election
to the County Council.
Stay tuned, as more will follow.
The only thing I can say that was good about this program is that the students had to minor in education if they were to teach in the HCPSS. This program is similar to Teach for America that takes college graduates and gives them 5 weeks of education training before throwing them into a classroom to teach for 2 years. The only part that was planned out was the "minor" in education and everything else was a disaster.
ReplyDeleteThe one thing I wanted to note is that the intent of the program was, in my opinion, laudable. The problem was the execution along with the lack of accountability. If we want to support the students, which we should (and are at least morally obligated to do so) then the structure needs to be in place...and the funding mechanism clearly wasn't there.
DeleteThat is true of everything in HCPSS. I'm done.....we are paying for private HS for child #2. I am done with really bad curriculum, over testing, AP classes for all. You are correct that the intent of the program was good and those students deserve to finish out this program as it was presented to them.
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