Morning Notes
Montgomery Students Are Failing Math Exams At High Rates, How Much Does It Matter? — Montgomery County Public Schools released data on its students’ high failure rates on math final exams, what some say is a result of students studying only to get the final exam grade they need to pass the course. In January, countywide stats show each non-honors math course except for Pre-Cal (48 percent) saw more than 50 percent of students get an E on the final exam. In January, 86 percent of Bridge to Algebra 2 students countywide failed the exam. [Washington Post]
Union Boycott, Protest Doesn’t Stop Money From Coming Into Local Democratic Party — A boycott and protest of the Montgomery County Democratic Central Committee Spring Ball meant some big names stayed away from the event, but it hasn’t hurt the party’s fundraising efforts. The group’s chairman said donations from people who did not attend the Ball have put the party over its $50,000 fundraising goal. [The Gazette]
Citizens Advisory Board To Talk Budget, Housing and Tenant Rights — The Western Montgomery County Citizens Advisory Board will meet tonight for its monthly meeting. Councilmember Roger Berliner (D-Bethesda) will give an update on the recently agreed upon FY14 budget. The Board will see a presentation on the county’s Housing Policy and discuss tenants’ rights. The meeting is open to the public and will run from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. at the Bethesda-Chevy Chase Regional Services Center (4805 Edgemoor Lane). [Bethesda-Chevy Chase Regional Services Center]
Share Your Bethesda, Chevy Chase, North Bethesda and White Flint Photos With Us — Contribute to the BethesdaNow.com Flickr pool to see your photo lead off our Morning Notes or to show us what’s going on in your community. [Flickr]
Flickr photo by daveandraina
Riemer, Young Dems Ask: Can Young People Afford To Live In MoCo?
The answer is maybe.
But many of the 20 and 30 somethings who attended a Montgomery County Young Democrats forum on the question Tuesday night in Silver Spring said millenials choose D.C. and Arlington over Montgomery because of better nightlife, walkability, transit access and access to jobs.
The discussion covered a range of issues tied to attracting more young people to Montgomery, including finding space to grow a family and, of course, Montgomery’s relative lack of nightlife activity, a topic that’s been in the news recently.
Councilmember Hans Riemer (D-At large) is working with County Executive Isiah Leggett (D) on a night time economy initiative. He led the discussion.
“When we look at young people that we educate in this county, we spend, the average is $180,000. That’s what it costs us to educate a person all the way through our public schools, which is a testament to our commitment to education. But when our young people graduate from Montgomery County Public Schools, do they stay in Montgomery County or do they go to college and move to some other part of the country or some other part of the region,” Riemer asked. “The unfortunate news is that they are not staying in Montgomery County. They are moving to other parts of our region. They are moving to other parts of the county. We have to do a better job, absolutely in my opinion, at least capturing our share of young people who want to move to the Washington region.”
Bethesda Named Among Best 2013 Housing Markets
A real estate website says Bethesda will have the third healthiest housing market in the U.S. in 2013, thanks in part to one of the highest job growth rates in the country.
NBC News released results from real estate analysts at Trulia.com that rank Bethesda among big cities such as Houston, San Francisco and San Antonio for “2013′s Top 10 Healthiest Housing Markets.”
Trulia took data from the Bethesda-Rockville-Frederick, MD area as defined by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. A 2.8 percent job growth rate in the first 10 months of 2012 was one of the nation’s highest and low vacancy and foreclosure rates helped rank Bethesda at No. 3:
The 2.8 percent job growth in the first 10 months of 2012 was one of the highest rates in the United States. Area home prices have been pushed upwards by limited supply: the Bethesda-Rockville-Frederick area had one of the nation’s lowest vacancy rates, at 1.2 percent in November, as well as one of its lowest foreclosure inventories, at just 2.7 homes per 1,000 units during October. Through November, the asking price per square foot for homes in the area was lower than only 14 other metro areas. Over the last year, asking prices have risen just 5.5 percent and median price per square foot was $169.15, slightly higher than Washington, D.C.
Houston came in first and San Francisco was second. San Antonio, Austin, Texas, Seattle, Omaha, Neb., Peabody, Mass., Fort Worth, Texas and Louisville, Ky., followed.
Flickr photo by Bethesda Bungalows; h/t @livability
