Friends of Joseph Lynn Kitchen Jr. ~ josephkitchen.com ~ info@josephkitchen.

com ~ (240) 342-6493

To:

Potential Campaign Supporters

From: Joseph Lynn Kitchen Jr. Paid for by the Friends of Joseph Lynn Kitchen, Dustin Kuzan Treasurer Date: Tuesday, February 14th Re: #PGCPSForward My Plan for the Board of Education

#PGCPSForward
When I began exploring the option of running for the Board of Education, I wanted to focus specifically on feasible goals that I would fight to accomplish as a Board Member. After much thought and many conversations with parents, community leaders and students - I have developed the following plan which I will use to guide my service on the Board. The goals laid out in this plan are specific, measurable, attainable, realistic and timely in short they are SMART. These goals also go to show that I did not decide to run for the Board of Education yesterday, but have taught about this for a long time. In that time, I have identified critical yet necessary changes and initiatives that, once enacted, will produce results for our community. Restoring Board Leadership & Independence The Board of Education is supposed to be a partner with the Superintendent, not a rubber stamp. As a member of the Board I will work every day to restore the leadership role and independence of the systems governing body. A strong board that provides leadership is what our community needs and here is how I plan to deliver on it; Bring back the committee structure that existed under the appointed Board of Education. As it currently stands, the BOE operates using a Committee of the Whole structure which allows proposals by the Superintendent and his administration to be brought before the entire Board with quick review and approval. While this may seem time-efficient, it lacks a serious degree of due process and scrutiny by Board Members. By reverting to the committee structure employed by the appointed Board of Education, proposals will be assigned to specific committees, subjected to public hearings, amended to reflect public opinion and then presented before the entire Board. This process, while sometimes lengthy, is similar to many legislative bodies that appropriate large budgets; 1

including the County Council, Maryland General Assembly and United States Congress. Remake the Office of Internal Audit into the Office of Budget and Management with a Director who reports directly to the Board of Education. At present, there is no independent auditor of the real numbers concerning spending in the school system whose job it is to advises the board on the budget. All of the numbers are created, analyzed, and reviewed by the Superintendants administration with the noted exception of the annual audits and internal audits conducted by the Office of Internal Audit. In fact, most of the financial reports are developed by one office in the system, the office of the Chief Financial Officer. The Board of Education cannot be fully engaged in the management of the school system if all of their information regarding the budget comes from the administration, a bias source. In my first year as a board member, I will fight to remake the Internal Audit Office into a more responsible Office of Budget and Management who is hired by the Board, reports to the Board, and serves at the pleasure of the Board. In addition to the Office of Internal Audits current duties, they would gain the responsibility of assisting members of the Board in navigating and evaluating budget proposals submitted by the administration, support members in drafting amendments to the proposal, and aid the Board in providing regular financial oversight of school system spending. More importantly this office should work with the board to develop their own community goals into real budgetary proposals. This action item is necessary as it provides checks and balances and increases the fiduciary responsibility of the Board. In comparison, the county council has a budget staff that supports them in responding to budget proposals from the executive. The legislature has its own budget staff that supports them in responding to the budget from the governor. It is imperative that the Board of Education have its own financial officer who understands their goals and priorities and can counter the budget of the superintendent.

Friends of Joseph Lynn Kitchen Jr. ~ josephkitchen.com ~ info@josephkitchen.com ~ (240) 342-6493

Paid for by the Friends of Joseph Lynn Kitchen, Dustin Kuzan Treasurer

Move the Office of Constituent Services under the Board of Education. In 2011, the Board of Education approved the creation of the Office of Constituent Services, whose mission is to provide technical assistance and conflict resolution to the community and staff in order to resolve constituent concerns in an equitable and timely manner, and to inform the Superintendent and the Board of Education of trends and issues for responsible systemic change. In short, the office ensures that the Superintendents administration takes responsibility for helping citizens receive the services that Prince Georges County Public Schools provide. The concern, however, is that the Board placed the office responsible for addressing concerns with administration UNDER the administration. When parents, students and members of the community appeal to a higher authority when dealing with a problem, they expect their elected representatives to be responsive and aid in rectifying the discrepancy. As a member of the Board, I will propose a policy change that supports transitioning the Office of Constituent Services from the Superintendent to the only body that actually has constituents the Board of Education.

Make Education Reform a True Community Effort with Community Input We have to face the fact that education reform will never happen if we do not make it an inclusive process where the entire community is involved. To that end, we cannot achieve complete reform until we truly make our community equal shareholders in the public investment that is public education. As a member of the Board I will work with my colleagues on the Board of Education and the administration to deliver on the following goals to improve our community engagement; Develop a Communitywide Strategic Plan for Public Education. It seems year after year, Superintendent after Superintendent, we drift back and forth between the directions of our school system. This has not worked for us in the past and is even less likely to work for us in the future. We need a strategic plan that speaks to what type of educational system we want, spells out specific steps we must take to get it, and outlines time frames for achieving those goals. As a member of the Board of Education I will work with my colleagues and the administration to develop a process to craft this strategic plan that will ensure we seek the widest level of input possible. Similar to the county master plan for land use, once the strategic plan is approved, I will work to make amending a strenuous process unless there is a drastic shift in the dynamics of the school system. We must move away from planning for our educational system in the short term and begin forecasting for the educational system we want in the next five years or ten years. As a member of the Board of Education, this is exactly the type of long range planning I will bring to the discussion. Create and appoint a Blue Ribbon Commission on Intra-governmental Consolidation Options. In a time where we are asking everyone to do more with less, we can no longer afford the expense of replication among different governing bodies. In my first year of service, I will introduce a policy to create a Blue Ribbon Commission tasked with working with the county government, Park and Planning and other bodies such as Metro to explore ways we can reduce government spending by cutting programs that are performed by other bodies. This commission will look at Out of School Time programs ran by Park and Planning facilities and their location to after school programs at area schools for the possibility of consolidation. The group will explore the potential of merging under-utilized county libraries with nearby high school libraries and sharing the cost between the county and the school system. The body will also investigate ways to collaborate with bodies like WMATA on reducing our transportation costs for students who live close enough to their school to take public transportation at likely a smaller cost, but far enough to require the system to provide transportation. Solicit real PTA and Local Community input in School Based Budgeting. The Board of Education will be moving to a new budgeting platform for the FY2013 budget, School Based Budgeting. I am a huge supporter of giving principals more autonomy over their individual school budgets. That said, this power should not be used as a method to avoid public opinion as is in place with the regular budgetary process. In my first year on the Board, I will work with my colleagues, and the administration to pass an amended board policy, that lays out specific steps principals must take to ensure they are involving their PTA and local community in the budgetary process for their school. 3

Friends of Joseph Lynn Kitchen Jr. ~ josephkitchen.com ~ info@josephkitchen.com ~ (240) 342-6493

Paid for by the Friends of Joseph Lynn Kitchen, Dustin Kuzan Treasurer

Friends of Joseph Lynn Kitchen Jr. ~ josephkitchen.com ~ info@josephkitchen.com ~ (240) 342-6493

Paid for by the Friends of Joseph Lynn Kitchen, Dustin Kuzan Treasurer

Create a cross government Commission on the Public Education in Prince Georges County. Everywhere I go in Prince Georges County people have the habit of comparing our system to Montgomery County. What we have to realize is that, if we want to be like Montgomery County, then we have to adopt some of their practices. One of those practices is working together, across government, to deliver quality education for our children. In my very first meeting on the Board of Education, I will introduce a resolution asking the General Assembly to create, through legislation, a Commission on Public Education in Prince Georges County. This body will have members representing the Board of Education, the County Council, the County Executive, and the state Legislature that must meet quarterly on how we move our schools forward. The meetings will be open and public, and their actions will center on the basics, where we are with education, where we need to go next, and what resources we need from everyone to get the job done.

If Student Success will be Our Top Priority, Our Budget and Policies Should Reflect That. Where students come first has long been the motto of the Prince Georges County Public Schools. Because living up to that motto has become too difficult to live up to, it has almost disappeared from the public spaces in the school system. While the motto may go away the - spirit cannot!. As a member of the Board of Education, I will fight to make sure that we not only put our children first, but the budget we pass and the policies we implement reflect that promise. Every non-teacher position will have to justify its existence in the budget every year. We have to face the fact that back to basics is just where we have to go. As a member of the Board of Education, I will require any nonteaching position submit an annual report detailing their description, citing accomplish and shortcomings, and providing justification for continuing the post. We have to stray from the notion that a budget shortfall has to mean cutting teachers. If we want to go to teacher merit pay, we ought to go to merit pay for all educators, administrators as well. Merit pay for teachers has become a catch phrase for everyone talking about school reform in, not only Prince Georges County, but this country in general. I support a merit pay system for educators in Prince Georges, but only one that is developed by working in concert with teachers, not one that is forced on them to meet any short term political goal. To that end, I will only support merit pay for educators in our schools if that policy is combined with merit pay for principals, regional directors, senior cabinet officials, and the Superintendent himself. If we want to be serious about holding people accountable for the success of our schools, we have to hold everyone accountable and that does not stop in the classroom. 4

Friends of Joseph Lynn Kitchen Jr. ~ josephkitchen.com ~ info@josephkitchen.com ~ (240) 342-6493

Paid for by the Friends of Joseph Lynn Kitchen, Dustin Kuzan Treasurer

In order to be more successful than we have ever been, we have to do things weve never done. We know the regular school day is just not working for our students and we have to change that. One of the best innovations of charter schools across this country (where they are working) is the extended school day and the extended school year. I will never support a plan to extend the day or year that we cannot afford long term. That includes providing pay for educators who will do the extra work. That said, we do know we have several schools in this system that are in urgent need of drastic change. In fact, this could be said for just about all of our middle schools. In my first year on the Board, I will work to identify schools in urgent need of intervention and text pilot the extended day and school year structure where we need it and can afford it. Doing this across the entire county just will not be affordable. If we are going to do this and do it right, we have to pay our teachers who will make it happen. That said, we owe it to ourselves, to our children, and to our community to identify the schools that need this the most and find the money to make it a reality. We cannot truly close the achievement gap and improve academic success without parents. We need to restore our parent liaison program. Study after study has shown that a student with an active and engaged parent in their education is far more likely to be successful in the classroom. While we cannot afford it today, I will work from day one on the board, to develop a long range, sustainable method to fully restore one of the most effective programs the school system ever created, Parent Liaisons.