Public Schools’ Audit Set

(Click on the image for the AFRO article)

by: Melanie R. Duncan, Apr 27, 2016
“The purpose is identifying areas where our schools are making progress and areas where there are opportunities for improvement,” Council Chairman Derrick L. Davis (District 6) told attendees during the town hall. “A world class, 21st century school system is a priority for all of us.”
. . . Prince George’s County public schools have a budget of $1.7 billion.
. . . “Your typical audit asks the question, ‘Are you spending the money well in the way you said you were going to spend?’” [Board of Education Chair, Segun] Eubanks said. “We’re asking, ‘Did it make a difference? Did it move the needle in student learning? Did it make us more efficient? Did it respond to the needs of our students and our families in the way we intended?’ Those are much more important questions.”

Why America's Schools Have A Money Problem (NPR)

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"In Maryland, . . . the average district spends $12,679 per student, similar to the nationwide average [$11,841]."
The map in the article says Prince George's County Public Schools spends $12,282 per student.
Also see "the Top 100 High Schools in the Nation" and "Maryland tops all other states with the highest percentage of nationally ranked public high schools." by USNews. The highest ranked PGCPS high school is in Greenbelt, ranked at 27th in Maryland.

Residents say transportation is D.C. region’s biggest challenge (WTOP)

(Click on the image for the report)

By Nick Iannelli, April 18, 2016: Residents in the D.C. metro area believe transportation is the greatest challenge facing the region, according to a comprehensive poll released Monday.
In the Greater Washington Transportation Survey, commissioned by the Suburban Maryland Transportation Alliance and the Northern Virginia Transportation Alliance, 33 percent of residents named transportation as the region’s greatest challenge.
The next highest-scoring answer was jobs and the economy, at just 10 percent, followed by crime and terrorism, which each received 5 percent. [Nick's report is here]

Find Out What's Going on in Our County Government

Resources recommended by Council Member Franklin at the Prince George's County Community Leadership Council (CLC):

• **County Council**Find out about the upcoming meetings of the County Council and Council Agendas here: https://princegeorgescountymd.legistar.com/Calendar.aspx
  Find out what legislation has been proposed and adopted by the County Council here: https://princegeorgescountymd.legistar.com/Legislation.aspx 
• **Planning Board**Find out about the upcoming meetings and agendas of the MNCPPC Planning Board here: http://www.pgplanning.org/Planning_Board/Agendas.htm
  Sign-up to automatically receive Planning Board agendas here: http://www.pgplanning.org/Planning_Board/Agenda_Subscribe.htm
  How to become a person of record in a development project: http://www.pgplanning.org/Resources/Person_of_Record.htm
  How to register your organization and receive automatic notices of development in your area: http://www.pgplanning.org/Assets/Planning/Planning+Resource/Online+Forms/Register+Your+Association+Form.pdf
  The County’s Zoning Rewrite: http://zoningpgc.pgplanning.com/
  General Planning Board Resources: http://www.pgplanning.org/Resources/
  Planning Board Mapping and Web resources: http://www.pgplanning.org/Resources/Tools_On-line.htm

Make Sure Your Smoke Alarm Works!

You might remember a fire back in January when “2-year-old twins, a boy and a girl, and their grandparents were pulled from the home with critical injuries and later died.” A fire official told us they canvased the neighborhood after the fire and found that 35% of the homes did not have a working smoke alarm. That family might not have lost 4 members if there had been a smoke alarm in their home.

Nearly half (47%) of Maryland fatal fires in 2012 occurred in homes with either no alarm or no working alarm.Please make sure your smoke detectors work so we don’t lose you to a fire.

2 Signs You Need New Smoke Detectors—ASAP (Ackerman Security)

1. Sign 1: They’re 10+ years old
   Smoke detectors typically live about 10 years, says Consumer Reports. At that point, the sensor becomes less sensitive to smoke, leaving your family vulnerable to a fire.
2. Sign 2: They use ionization technology
   Ionization smoke detectors—the most common type—have a long history of being less than stellar at doing their jobs.

Prince George's Co. strip club plans to stay open (WUSA9)

Prince George's Co. strip club plans to stay open (WUSA9.com)

By Matt Yurus, April 08, 2016

A Prince George’s County strip club plans to stay open after officials ordered a dozen strip clubs to shut down over their locations and new, stricter zoning rules.

Mustangs [Hyattsville] says it's a legit business that's not going anywhere. And Friday night, they're dancers are still baring it all on stage.

Galaxy, an adult entertainer at Mustang, dances to help provide for her kids and save up for a home. Some of her other colleagues do it to pay their way through school. She disagrees with the County's decision.

The County isn't telling these women they can't continue their work, but they are unable to do it in zoning areas that are becoming more gentrified. 

Prince George's County's Department of Permitting found that 11 other clubs like Mustangs were violating zoning laws established back in 2010 and 2011, which was after the clubs opened for business.

Business that only offer adult entertainment have to close. These include Fuego, Upscale Ballroom and Club Ecstasy.

A spokesperson for Prince George's Department of Permitting Services says it expects some of the club's to appeal the county's decision to put an end to adult entertainment in more residential areas. In the meantime, these clubs will be fined if they don't obey.

Nextdoor is the private social network for your neighborhood

(Click on the above image for the website)

Nextdoor is the best way to stay in the know about what’s going on in your neighborhood—whether it’s finding a last-minute babysitter, learning about an upcoming block party, or hearing about a rash of car break-ins. There are so many ways our neighbors can help us, we just need an easier way to connect with them.

Government Data Easier to View and Understand

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Website Seeks to Make Government Data Easier to View and Understand (The New York Times)
By Steve Lohr, April 4, 2016
For years, the federal government, states and some cities have enthusiastically made vast troves of data open to the public. Acres of paper records on demographics, public health, traffic patterns, energy consumption, family incomes and many other topics have been digitized and posted on the web.
This abundance of data can be a gold mine for discovery and insights, but finding the nuggets can be arduous, requiring special skills.
A project coming out of the M.I.T. Media Lab on Monday seeks to ease that challenge and to make the value of government data available to a wider audience. The project, called Data USA, bills itself as “the most comprehensive visualization of U.S. public data.” It is free, and its software code is open source, meaning that developers can build custom applications by adding other data.

Char Your Steaks - Not Your Home!

(Click on the image for more information)