Why do friends keep saying MoCo and FFX schools are better than DCPS?

[Anonymous]

Untrue about special needs. MCPS is a wonderful system, but you have to know how to work it. Pay for the neuropsych yourself and request the IEP meeting at school with the list of services and accommodations listed on the report. MCPS has a wide range of accommodations they can provide and if you show yourself to be a rational actor, the IEP team will be too. I know, my kid with ADHD/ASD had an IEP from K to 11th grade in MCPS, and my other kid just became eligible for a medical 504 in 8th grade.

The reality, people, is that at the primary level, any public or private will do. But at the secondary level, FCPS and MCPS pull out ahead. No, those forums NEVER, EVER have anyone wanting to flee to DCPS! I've been on DCUM 10+ years and have never seen that

As someone mentioned, please also consider the valuable benefit of being in-state for college. College tuition is insane and colleges are getting incredibly selective. You want that in-state option even if your kid is top of their class and targets the Ivies.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:MCPS is a dumpster fire for special ed. After the pandemic it became full on 5 alarmer. There is really only on public school district in the greater metro region - and it certainly isn’t MCPS.

It has amazing sped services just that half the county signs up as requiring it makes it problematic.

[Anonymous]

Dcps has a lot of variation across schools. Hyde and Hendley are totally different in their populations and test scores. At least at the elementary level, I think the dcps schools in richer neighborhoods are comparable to good suburban schools. The difference is that there's more turnover and chaos from dcps central office. At middle and especially high school, the difference in what is offered (sports, arts, courses, college counseling) becomes more pronounced. There are also just fewer DCPS high schools with lower-need student bodies akin to many suburban schools. Probably only SWW and then basis and latin for charters. JR and MacArthur have a group of rich kids, but also a lot of at-risk kids. Some MCPS schools are like that, but even at those (think Montgomery Blair or Richard Montgomery) there are special programs for the more talented/focused kids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:MCPS is a dumpster fire for special ed. After the pandemic it became full on 5 alarmer. There is really only on public school district in the greater metro region - and it certainly isn’t MCPS.

It has amazing sped services just that half the county signs up as requiring it makes it problematic.

If you build it they will come. One of the dumbest things a jurisdiction can do is pour resources into having "excellence" in special education. All that does is bring in exactly the families you DON'T want, families whose kids drain the school budget and empty taxpayers' pockets.

DC, PG, Frederick, and Fairfax all border Montgomery County. Let THEM provide special education. Don't make yours so good that their special education families come into YOUR jurisdiction.

And for the notion that EVERYONE is seeking special education accommodations. Most of them are just seeking extra time on exams. WHAT DOES IT MATTER IF THEY GET EXTRA TIME? Do you really want to tell someone important that their kid can't have a 504 that qualifies them for extra time on the SAT? Don't be silly.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:MCPS is a dumpster fire for special ed. After the pandemic it became full on 5 alarmer. There is really only on public school district in the greater metro region - and it certainly isn’t MCPS.

It has amazing sped services just that half the county signs up as requiring it makes it problematic.

If you build it they will come. One of the dumbest things a jurisdiction can do is pour resources into having "excellence" in special education. All that does is bring in exactly the families you DON'T want, families whose kids drain the school budget and empty taxpayers' pockets.

DC, PG, Frederick, and Fairfax all border Montgomery County. Let THEM provide special education. Don't make yours so good that their special education families come into YOUR jurisdiction.

And for the notion that EVERYONE is seeking special education accommodations. Most of them are just seeking extra time on exams. WHAT DOES IT MATTER IF THEY GET EXTRA TIME? Do you really want to tell someone important that their kid can't have a 504 that qualifies them for extra time on the SAT? Don't be silly.

…wtf…

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:MCPS is a dumpster fire for special ed. After the pandemic it became full on 5 alarmer. There is really only on public school district in the greater metro region - and it certainly isn’t MCPS.

It has amazing sped services just that half the county signs up as requiring it makes it problematic.

If you build it they will come. One of the dumbest things a jurisdiction can do is pour resources into having "excellence" in special education. All that does is bring in exactly the families you DON'T want, families whose kids drain the school budget and empty taxpayers' pockets.

DC, PG, Frederick, and Fairfax all border Montgomery County. Let THEM provide special education. Don't make yours so good that their special education families come into YOUR jurisdiction.

And for the notion that EVERYONE is seeking special education accommodations. Most of them are just seeking extra time on exams. WHAT DOES IT MATTER IF THEY GET EXTRA TIME? Do you really want to tell someone important that their kid can't have a 504 that qualifies them for extra time on the SAT? Don't be silly.

So the country shouldn't spend its resources to educate its citizens? And try to make ti more attractive to families to come and live here and provide their income tax dollars into the county school budget? Lets not be better at something?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I resisted this way of thinking for a while, but if you look at the data, UMC do as well in DCPS as they do anywhere. So it’s a bit of a myth. It all has to do with preferences. If you believe that a more homogeneously “high acheiving” school is what you want, that’s not DCPS mostly. If you like the suburbs, big outdoor spaces, also not DCPS. But for many of us, DCPS fits because we like the city, don’t want to live in the suburbs, and have found year by year that our kids are doing well.

Are you zoned for JR or did you lottery into a charter?

DCPS parent here and this is really the question. Of course an urban city school district doesn't have the same consistency in schools as a suburban school district. If you put Anacostia High School and it's student body in MCPS, the proficiency rates wouldn't magically sky rocket by virtue of being in MCPS instead of DCPS because it would still be a school full of extreme poverty, at-risk students. Which is why middle and upper class parents in every urban school district in the country don't put their high SES children in any high school, they stick to the "good" schools with demographics that match their own. In DC that's JR, MacArthur, selective high schools, and charters. Some DC schools should be better than they are (ahem, Capitol Hill), but they're not and it shouldn't come as a surprise to any families that live in those boundaries.

When we were deciding whether to stay in DC or move to the suburbs, we found that our suburban choices were either high SES "pressure cooker" suburban schools or schools with more SES diversity that were pretty comparable to the "good" DC schools. Yes, suburban schools may have more G&T and magnet options, but our kids aren't TJ material and we've seen enough kids lose the G&T lotteries in MCPS or return to their home schools after realizing the G&T programs aren't a good fit for them. We would not put our kids in "pressure cooker" schools for socio-emotional reasons, and just didn't see enough of a difference between the rest of the suburban schools to make it worth moving.

I think it's a completely valid choice to choose suburban schools to avoid the DC school lottery. Particularly if you can't afford a $1m home and value a neighborhood school. It's also valid to get to middle school and not want to deal with a lottery and/or cross town commute every day. And yes, it's true that special ed in DCPS is abysmal and many, many families are forced to move out of the city to get their children the services they need. But if you have lottery luck, can afford to buy in the "good" school zones, or are willing to push the decision until middle school, there are plenty of schools in DC that are equal to (or even better than) plenty of schools in MCPS and FCPS.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I resisted this way of thinking for a while, but if you look at the data, UMC do as well in DCPS as they do anywhere. So it’s a bit of a myth. It all has to do with preferences. If you believe that a more homogeneously “high acheiving” school is what you want, that’s not DCPS mostly. If you like the suburbs, big outdoor spaces, also not DCPS. But for many of us, DCPS fits because we like the city, don’t want to live in the suburbs, and have found year by year that our kids are doing well.

Are you zoned for JR or did you lottery into a charter?

DCPS parent here and this is really the question. Of course an urban city school district doesn't have the same consistency in schools as a suburban school district. If you put Anacostia High School and it's student body in MCPS, the proficiency rates wouldn't magically sky rocket by virtue of being in MCPS instead of DCPS because it would still be a school full of extreme poverty, at-risk students. Which is why middle and upper class parents in every urban school district in the country don't put their high SES children in any high school, they stick to the "good" schools with demographics that match their own. In DC that's JR, MacArthur, selective high schools, and charters. Some DC schools should be better than they are (ahem, Capitol Hill), but they're not and it shouldn't come as a surprise to any families that live in those boundaries.

When we were deciding whether to stay in DC or move to the suburbs, we found that our suburban choices were either high SES "pressure cooker" suburban schools or schools with more SES diversity that were pretty comparable to the "good" DC schools. Yes, suburban schools may have more G&T and magnet options, but our kids aren't TJ material and we've seen enough kids lose the G&T lotteries in MCPS or return to their home schools after realizing the G&T programs aren't a good fit for them. We would not put our kids in "pressure cooker" schools for socio-emotional reasons, and just didn't see enough of a difference between the rest of the suburban schools to make it worth moving.

I think it's a completely valid choice to choose suburban schools to avoid the DC school lottery. Particularly if you can't afford a $1m home and value a neighborhood school. It's also valid to get to middle school and not want to deal with a lottery and/or cross town commute every day. And yes, it's true that special ed in DCPS is abysmal and many, many families are forced to move out of the city to get their children the services they need. But if you have lottery luck, can afford to buy in the "good" school zones, or are willing to push the decision until middle school, there are plenty of schools in DC that are equal to (or even better than) plenty of schools in MCPS and FCPS.

that last paragraph....yeah if you are willing to deal with crap, don't have a child with sped needs, are rich, bank on winning a lottery, and are willing to do an hour+ commute for school each way per day, then some DCPS schools are comparable to MCPS or FCPS schools.

this is all supportive that MCPS and FCPS schools are better than DCPS.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:MCPS is a dumpster fire for special ed. After the pandemic it became full on 5 alarmer. There is really only on public school district in the greater metro region - and it certainly isn’t MCPS.

It has amazing sped services just that half the county signs up as requiring it makes it problematic.

If you build it they will come. One of the dumbest things a jurisdiction can do is pour resources into having "excellence" in special education. All that does is bring in exactly the families you DON'T want, families whose kids drain the school budget and empty taxpayers' pockets.

DC, PG, Frederick, and Fairfax all border Montgomery County. Let THEM provide special education. Don't make yours so good that their special education families come into YOUR jurisdiction.

And for the notion that EVERYONE is seeking special education accommodations. Most of them are just seeking extra time on exams. WHAT DOES IT MATTER IF THEY GET EXTRA TIME? Do you really want to tell someone important that their kid can't have a 504 that qualifies them for extra time on the SAT? Don't be silly.

This is effed up but so true. No county wants the sped kids. I work in a neighboring county. Our school tries their best to push them elsewhere. We are a lottery school. It is not want we want for our community. Will anyone outright say this? Of course not but let’s not be stupid here. Test scores go down. Resources are pulled from the average above kids. Warm bodies are needed to work with these kids that again, gets pulled elsewhere. Teaching with a high sped count in your classroom is nearly impossible. You are so focused on accommodations and modifications that you can barely teach anymore.

[Anonymous]

As far as university admissions, which school system does better:

MoCo, FFX, or DCPS ?