Achievement, Testing, Input Top Student Leader's Agenda

Ben Moskowitz, 17, of Kensington is serving this school year as the 30th student member of the Montgomery County Board of Education. Moskowitz, a senior at Walter Johnson High School, was elected in the spring by public school students.

As a board member, he has the authority to vote on all matters except those concerning finances and negative personnel actions. Moskowitz writes about the issues he thinks should be priorities this year.

Every Thursday, Fox TV asks America, "Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?" Judging from the show's questions, however, it's clear that host Jeff Foxworthy hasn't met many Montgomery County fifth-graders.

I'm a proud Montgomery County student. In the 12 years that I've attended school here, our system has shown many successes under the leadership of our Board of Education and our superintendents: ever-increasing student achievement, an effective and comprehensive instructional program, and improved community involvement.

We've been named the fifth-best in the nation "for the buck" by Forbes magazine, and all our high schools consistently rank in the top 3 percent nationwide, according to Newsweek.

However, we face many challenges, as well. At a time nationwide when our schools are more segregated than ever and when much of our funding is in jeopardy, we must stand resolute in our commitment to serve every child, close the minority achievement gap and provide our students the best education possible.

The time has come for a thorough discussion of race in our schools.

At my first Board of Education meeting, in July, I was startled to learn that certain demographics are overrepresented in our special education population. Many more African American and Hispanic students are identified for special education than their white and Asian peers.

Furthermore, there remains a large disparity in who is suspended and expelled and who is eligible to participate in sports and other extracurricular activities. We must do more to ensure that our system of discipline is fair and that all students are treated equally. Although we are making strides to close the minority achievement gap, we must do more to ensure that all populations are succeeding.

The issue of testing needs to be examined carefully. Testing in our schools continues to be a problem.

Take, for instance, a student who takes a 10th-grade Advanced Placement class in national, state and local government. He must first sit for his three-hour AP exam in May, followed by the High School Assessment (HSA) exam, and then the final exam in June. As a result, the end of the year brings a loss of instructional time and puts an added, stressful burden on some students.

I believe that students who take the initiative to sign up for AP courses and participate in the College Board's examinations in May should be exempted from taking those courses' final exams in June.

This year's juniors will be the first to be required to pass the HSA exam in order to graduate. The state needs to take a serious look at how we will handle this challenge next year, especially for students in special education and those new to speaking English. We need to ensure that minority students and those affected by poverty have the resources they need to perform as well as their peers.

As for accountability, I look forward to watching continuing implementation of the board's policy on grading and reporting. The engagement of underrepresented communities and involvement from all stakeholder groups must be a focus in the coming year.

Input from the community is absolutely essential to the success of Montgomery County public schools. I will be fighting to ensure that students' voices are heard in areas where they typically haven't been present. I want to encourage more students to come before the board and testify, particularly to provide feedback on the budget.

The state's "doomsday budget" does not bode well for counties and local school systems, so Montgomery schools' budget next year could be especially tight. In times of fiscal uncertainty, it is even more important to make sure we're paying attention to the real customers of the school system: the students, especially those impacted by poverty.

Through our public forums, I hope we can bring new groups into the fold and to the table. I also encourage students to sign up for QuickNotes, at http://www.mcpsquicknotes.org, to receive updates from the Board of Education. I'm hopeful that we can use the Internet to reach out to students and solicit their feedback. The more people we involve, the better off we are.

Only by working as partners can we achieve our common goals. Students, parents, teachers, support staff and administrators must come together to have discussions and devise solutions to the most pressing issues facing Montgomery schools today.