Update on FY 2016 Budget
Thank you to all who voiced support for the PGCPS SY 2016 – 2020 Strategic Plan, announced in March 2015 by Schools CEO, and the County Executive’s proposal to fund it. The County Council decided not the fund the budget put forth by the County Executive. See below links for more information.
PGCPS Strategic Plan SY 2016 - 2020 http://www1.pgcps.org/promise/ County Council Adopts FY 2016 County Budget http://www.princegeorgescountymd.gov/sites/CountyCouncil/News/Pages/Budget-Adoption.aspx PGCPS CEO’s Statement on County Council’s Budget Action http://www1.pgcps.org/communications/press.aspx?id=210511 |
Prince George’s County Council approves 4 % tax increase – School system to get 26% of $133 million additional funding request – Gazzette.Net
http://www.gazette.net/article/20150529/NEWS/150529081/1122/Prince-George&&template=gazette Pr. George’s Council approves budget that would raise property taxes http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/md-politics/this-vote-could-determine-whether-prince-georgians-pay-more-in-taxes/2015/05/28/26e4f312-04c7-11e5-a428-c984eb077d4e_story.html |
Suggestions for Public CommentsRemember to follow the guidelines to register to speak before the Board of Education, County Executive or County Council.
As you craft your speech, begin with a brief introduction of yourself and why you are a supporter of Spanish Immersion programs. Connect with the audience by adding a personal component to your speech; for example, address one or more of the following:
As you begin to draft the closing statement, it is important to include the call to action for Prince George's County Public Schools, e.g., to create, expand or improve a Spanish Immersion program beginning in the next school yea |
Why Spanish?1) Ample research shows many benefits of language learning: supports academic achievement, provides cognitive benefits to students, and affects attitudes and beliefs about other languages and cultures.
http://www.actfl.org/advocacy/discover-languages/what-the-research-shows 2) Some studies show that if children start learning a language between birth and the onset of pre-adolescence, and continue with a long sequence of language instruction through college, they are more likely to develop native-like pronunciation and high levels of fluency than in the past with later start programs. http://www.cal.org/resources/pubs/whyhowwhen_brochure.pdf 3) The Spanish-speaking population in Prince George's County, Maryland, the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area, and other parts of the country has increased dramatically in recent years and this has broad implications (e.g., college and career readiness, delivery of public services, community relations, economic competitiveness.) http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2011/02/09/AR2011020906235.html http://ww2.gazette.net/stories/02092011/montnew181156_32546.php 4) Spanish is the second most widely spoken language in the world, with 406 million speakers in 31 countries. http://www.ethnologue.com/statistics/size 5) Spanish leads the growth of immersion programs in the U.S. at 54%, followed by French at 22%, Mandarin at 13 %, and other languages. http://www.cal.org/ 6) Other school districts in the region have robust language immersion programs that include Spanish Immersion (e.g., Montgomery, Fairfax, Alexandria City, Washington, D.C., Baltimore.) 7) Spanish is one of the top languages to spread your ideas far and wide, according to a new method for mapping how information flows around the globe (Science Magazine, December 15, 2014) http://news.sciencemag.org/social-sciences/2014/12/want-influence-world-map-reveals-best-languages-speak |