ANSWER:

The Office of Human Resources and Development (OHRD) has been re-evaluating all higher education partnerships, particularly the pre-employment partnerships, and conducting cost-based analyses to determine the return on investment. As a result of these analyses, several of our Memos of Understanding between MCPS and the universities have been renegotiated. A significant portion of the budget reduction is the result of a line item review of university program costs. Some of these costs have been reduced through the renegotiation of the contracts. A smaller amount of the reduction is attributed to a decrease in candidate enrollment. Current higher education partnership programs, as well as new partnerships being considered, continue to focus on critical shortage areas, such as special education, and increasing the diversity of our teacher candidate pool. The decrease in candidate enrollment will not negatively impact these focus areas and aligns with our current staffing needs. OHRD continues to hire staff using the applicant tracking system that allows us to recruit globally, and current hiring practices will not be affected by this reduction.