Montgomery County turning the page

New Crisis, The, Jan/Feb 2001

Just as there are two sides to every story, there are two ways of looking at Montgomery County, Md., where 850,000 residents are wedged between Baltimore and Washington, D.C.

There is the Montgomery County where the average annual household income is $90,000, where one in six residents holds a good government job, where the public schools are dean and test scores are high. Then there is the Montgomery County where one in four students qualifies for free lunch programs, where poverty is suffered disproportionately between races, where African-American and Hispanic students continue to test lower than their white and Asian counterparts. Two sides to the story. Two very different worlds to bridge.

Lucky for Montgomery County that it has an NAACP branch hard at work trying to close those gaps. Established in 1937, the branch is currently led by its dynamo, fourterm president, Linda Plummer. Plummer works with a staff of vibrant volunteers across 18 working committees to rally 4,000 members as well as the larger county to NAACP causes.

Some 300 of those branch members are young people, and a commitment to youth underscores many of the Montgomery County Branch's activities. "We're really trying to pull in youth," Plummer acknowledged. The branch participates in ACT-SO competitions and holds its own annual youth summits. The theme of this year's daylong dialogues and workshops, to be held March 24, is "Making the Connection Reflections of Youth."

That emphasis on youth development is evident in the branch's strong efforts to bring minority concerns to the forefront in the Montgomery County Public School System. The branch established a parents' council to collaborate with public school officials and civic groups to promote afterschool tutoring, to combat excessive placement of African-American students in special education programs, and to help parents respond to their children's learning potential.

It's not only parents who have recognized the value of the parents' council. Last year the Montgomery County Board of Education awarded the council its Award for Distinguished Service to Public Education. One of the council's most successful undertakings has been its push to diversify the teaching force in Montgomery County. The county hired 150 new teachers this year, 60 percent of whom were African American or members of another minority group.

The Montgomery County NAACP has sought minority representation in other county operations. "We have diversified Montgomery County boards and commissions by recommending minorities to positions," Plummer said. That drive for civic diversity and attention to minority issues culminated last year in the awarding of a consent decree for the Montgomery County Police Department from the United States Department of Justice, with restitution worth $1.7 million,

The consent decree provides for the restructuring of the department, with an eye toward many of the issues raised in recent racial profiling cases. Included are provisions to revise ticketing procedures, install computers equipped to track racial statistics for police activity, and staff highlevel management positions with minority personnel.

For all its work with county government, the Montgomery County NAACP stays connected to its members. It publishes a newsletter, The Monitor, which won a 1997 national publication award. The branch also publishes an annual Diversity Business Directory, and last year the Parents' Council distributed "Aim High!," a guide for parents and students.

The Montgomery County Branch has been recognized widely for its action. It is ranked in the top-tenth percentile of NAACP branches with effective programs and has received regional honors for outstanding programs. Plummer herself has received a regional distinguished services award. At the 2000 national convention, Plummer was inducted into Club 100, which is reserved for branch leaders who have attracted at least 100 new members or $1 million. At that convention she was also nominated to represent Region VII on the national board of the NAACP

In 2001, the branch remains, as ever, at work building a Montgomery County where both sides of the story meet on the same page.