Young Mailing

8/14/2019 Young Mailing

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The Sky is Falling

(FREDERICK, MD) -- A vocal minority is critical ofthe efforts of the majority of Frederick County

Commissioners (Paul Smith, Kirby Delauter, BillyShreve and Blaine R. Young) and their efforts to

rein-in government spending, especially when itcomes to spending for Frederick County Public

Schools.

To hear them tell it, the sky is falling, said Blaine R.

Young, President of the Frederick County Board ofCounty Commissioners.

According to Mr. Young, his most vocal critics are

crying wolf.

The facts don't match their rhetoric, he said. Mycritics say that because we have asked the Board ofEducation to tighten their belts that schools are

crumbling, children aren't learning and Frederick

County can't get or retain quality teachers. It's justnot true, Mr. Young said.

Mr. Young points to information right on the

webpage for Frederick County Public Schools as

proof that the school system is healthy, children are

excelling and that in fact Frederick County has some

of the best tcachers in the state of Maryland.

Maintenance of Effort

Based on a formula mandated by Maryland state law,every County must fund their school system at a

certain level. Any money given beyond that level is at

the discretion of the local government. The majorityof the Board of County Commissioners and I have

simply said that during the tough economic times ofthe last few years that we will not allocate more

money above Maintenance of Effort (MOE) for the

school system, Mr. Young said, adding, it reallycomes down to basic math. We can't hand out money

that isn't there. Continued on page A-2

Fi rst-C lass Ach ievernent

As someone who graduated from Frederick County PublicSchools and currently has two children in the school system, the

continued success of our school system is extremely important tome.

And as you can see, Frederick County Public Schools have muchto be proud of:

FCPS achieveme,nt exceeqls MarylaLodsverages with-- -

scores that consistently surpass state and national

averages on measures such as the College Board SAI.

FCPS ranks first in statewide 2012 School Progress

Index accountability data. In 2013 SAT results, the FCPSaverage combined mean score was 1538. This is 55

points higher than Maryland's combined average of 1483

and 40 points higher than the nation's average of 1498.

FCPS ranks in the top tier among Maryland's publicschools for Return on Investment, according to the

Center for American Progress 201 I report. FCPS tied for4th statewide for educational productivity, with the

lowest per-pupil spending of the top four.

New Market Elementary earned a2010 National BlueRibbon School Award. Eight others in our school systempreviously earned this recognition.

Yellow Springs Elementary Principal Kathy Prichard isthe Maryland PTA's statewide 2012 Educator of the Yearl

Urbana High teacher Michelle Shearer was America's201I National Teacher of the Year.

--- .-a5outf07o of FCPS high ichool s-eniors inal-icate a desireto attend college, technical schools or join the military tofurther their education.

. 997o of more than I O00 employers surveyed in 2012

said FCPS students were well prepared for the workexpected ofthem at their place ofbusiness.

. FCPS is the proud winner of the Maryland Center forCharacter Education's School System of the Year Awardtwice: 2009 and 2013.

The above information was taken directly from FrederickCounty Public Schools website.

To yiew the complete list go to: www.fcps.org/domain/9

Updated facts 9 -21 -20 13



Continuedfrom page A-l

Over $530 million annually

The Board of Education's fiscal year 2014 operating budget totals $532,691 ,886. Al1 we've done is

say to the Board of Education is that it's time to ro11 up your sleevel and.prioritize and make some

tough decisions during tough economic times, Mr. Young said. In fact, in the last few years that thisUoa:rO has only provided f,-rtrOitrg at the required MOE level, Frederick schools have continued to rank

trationally. Anh at the same time we've had a National Teacher of the Year and a Maryland Educator

of the ye-ar. Once agarn,the facts are much different than the misinformation and falsehoods being

told by our critics, said Mr. Young.

Boondoggle costs taxpayers over $L6 million

(FREDERICK, MD) -- Some PeoPle

ftfer to itas the Taj Mahal, others

call it a palace. Whatever name

people use, one thing many agree on

is that the Board of Educations' new

central office never should have been

built.

The majority of the previous Board

of County Commissioners and Board

of Education thought it would be a

good idea to spend over $16 million

to build themselves a fancy new

building in downtown Frederick,

said Mr. Young.

,'This was a vanity project for a small group of people who pushed this project down the throat of

Frederick County taxpayers. Ask anyone who supported this project to explain how this helps children

in the classroom or the teachers in the classroom, Mr. Young said.

Mr. young believes that spending over $16 million on this building is a slap in the face of every child

and teacher in Frederick CountY.

,.This boondoggle is the single biggest reason that the majority of the Board of County Commissioners

and I came into office with the goal of forcing the Board of Education to rethink their priorities.

Clearly, the people involved with this project did not have the best interests of the students of Frederick

County in mind, said Mr. Young.

Mr. young added, The fact that these people had no problem spending $16 million for fancy offices

for themselves, made it clear to me that they could also work just as hard to live within their means.



Reoccurring costs vs.

One-time contributions

(FREDERICK, MD) -- As required by state law, if you lncrease

the school budget one dollar or $ 1 million this year, that

increase becomes a permanent increase for all future school

budgets. Once you go up, you can't come down.

This Board of County Commissioners has been as aggressive

and maybe more so than any other recent board to find ways to

provide the school system with one-time contributions in order

to provide the teachers in the classrooms and the students withthe resources they need to excel, said Mr. Young.

One-time contributions provide the school system with a shot

in the arm but those contributions don't lock county taxpayers

into state-mandated permanent budget increases.

We have moved up several school construction and renovation projects, while at the same time giving

the school system one-time contributions for computer and technology upgrades and to address a

variety of other systemic needs, Mr. Young said.

School Construction & Systemic Projects(As approved by the 2010-2014 Board of County Commissioners)

. Increased FY2014 systemic funding for various projects by $3.1 million

. Approved sustaining $5 million annually in systemic funding starting in FY2015

'- . $S$nmiOn*tbtlhe-new Fr deficK High Sehool-

. $2.6 million for the buildout of Urbana Middle School

. Sped up the modernization and addition of North Frederick Elementary by a year ($30

million committed to the project)

. Moved up the addition to Oakdale Elementary School by a year ($12 million committed to

the project)

For FY2017-20192. $147 million committed to the construction of five new elementary schools across the county



Special Message from Blaine R. Young

I've been called every name in the book over the course of the

last three years because of the efforts I've underlaken to improve

the fiscal situation of Frederick County government. According to

my critics, looking out for the taxpayers of our county is bad. I'mnot sure where along the way it became a bad thing to ask county

government to trim the fat and live within our means.

I want to specifically address critics who say that I am anti-teachers.

Nothing could be further from the truth. I know firsthand the

difficult and challenging job teachers face everyday in the classroom.

My mother was a teacher and principal for Frederick County Public

Schools for 41 years. My father taught in the school system for six years and I was a substitute teacher for fou

years. I currently have two children in Frederick schools, so I have a very personal interest in ensuring the futur

success of our school system.

Asking the Board of Education to live with its means is strictly about getting our financial house in order. For fa

too long the Board of Education has operated under the assumption that each and every year they would get mor

money from the county government.

For the first time, this board of County Commissioners has simply challenged the BOE to roll up their sleeves an

actually get their hands dirty and learn how to make tough budgetary decisions instead of continuing to have th

mentality that they will have more and more money to spend each and every year.

Again, where were the critics when previous Commissioners and BOE members decided to spend over $16

million for fancy new administrative offices that in no way benefit children or teachers in the classroom?

As Paul Harvey used to say, Now you know the rest of the story, because our critics and the local media

certainly won't tell you facts or the whole story.

tr)onation Reply Form

My:,Friend, Please use the enclosed return envelope tc send back a one-time donation of:

-$1sOther $

Since the local media refuses to report the fact of what a majority of County Commissioners and I are doing to

got Frederick's fiscal house in order,I've decided to bring the facts directly to you. And as you can imagine, itnot cheap to get this information Lo every registered Republican voter in Frederick. So please send your one-

time donation in the enclosed envelope. Thank you.

Please make your donation payable to:

Blaine Young for Maryland 102 West l4th Street . Frederick, MD 21701Authorized & Paid for by Blaine Young for Maryland, Carol Young. Treasurer

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Young Mailing