Is it time for private school vouchers in Montgomery County?
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Anonymous
The MCAP scores are for the state. Idiot |
Anonymous
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The thing is, if Corey DeAngelis was even a marginally intelligent man he might be able to come up with a coherent argument for school vouchers. Sadly, Cato's scraping the bottom because what he does is propose pablum like this.
It's probably because he went to government schools. |
Anonymous
Ugh, MCPS is the largest school district in Maryland… while it may not speak directly to MCPS - their data are certainly all over this disaster. |
Anonymous
You seem like a nice person who actually considered my argument. Thank you. Let’s explore the narrative so far. All I am saying is we have a failing system that put its staff ahead of its customers. The customers right now are behind and suffered real consequences for substandard product for past two years. I know I can’t convince you or anyone who is making bank on MCPS as an employee or a consultant but schools can offer a great education on far less than 16,000 a year with clear child focused plan. Catholic schools do it every day. I just think a lot of innovation is being ignored by a failed monopoly. Also, your size is making you a target for the very multinational corporations you rage against in other contexts (Pearson). Vouchers actually improve the product for all children because that’s how humans work - on fear and greed. Right now MCPS needs a kick in the teeth and vouchers would do it better then giving them another billion to hire more PR firms at 500000. (Other thread) — Love, Kenny |
Anonymous
DP: True, It’s definitely possible to offer a great education on far less than 16,000 a year. It helps to have a clear, child focused plan. It also helps to have financial support from other sources (Are the buildings and maintenance and extracurriculars really coming out of that 16,000?), people who will work for incredibly low pay, an involved parent body that will provide additional volunteer hours and fund raising, and, above all, the ability to pick and choose the kids they take and keep. Many of the less expensive Catholic schools aren’t really dealing with the needs of kids with more than very mild learning issues, or behavioral issues, or even inordinately gifted kids. I don’t say this as a criticism — but to point out that their populations are often very different, their missions are often very different, and there resources are often very different compared to most public school populations. I’m willing to entertain your argument, but I don’t see that you’ve really made one yet. HOW do you see vouchers actually “improve the product for all children”? I think that they don’t. So, what’s your case — beyond rewarding fear and greed and selfishness, and perhaps wanting to blow up something just because you, like Bannon, want to see the dust and hear the boom? Underlying this, too, is that from teachers to parent volunteers, the Catholic schools that I’m most familiar with rely on underpaid labor and unpaid labor — primarily from women. There’s quite a lot that your “far less than 16,000” is overlooking and undervaluing in ways that hardly make it a sustainable secular model. |
Anonymous
Has DCPS improved it's product with lots of competition from charters? Or is it just limping along |
Anonymous
Yep. This. It’s why colleges got so much more expensive when it became easier to get loans from the government. |
Anonymous
Students with disabilities are a very diverse population of students with various special needs. Very few students would need services that would be the equivalent to a 100% pull out from a general education environment. Also, some private school students still qualify for MCPS special education services. I was frustrated with the treatment and lack of support for one child that I transferred him out of MCPS to a non-parochial private school that had about 12 students per class and a disability support counselor. My child thrived because the teachers had time to give him the attention he needed. Much of what would have been considered special education services to learn organizational, time management, and study skills was woven into the universal design of their curriculum. My son’s school also offered a supervised study hall period in the library so the disability support counselor would have periodic checks which help with the transition to the school. The school took the educational data for my child, the MCPS plan, had one meeting with my child and myself, and fully implemented our agreed to plan. A truly positive and rewarding experience. I would say, before we chose the private we selected, we looked at other schools. Not all privates had the ability to meet my son’s needs and schools like Lab and McLean were not the least restrictive environment for my child. Privates are not one size fits all institutions, however when there’s a good fit, the environment is an appropriate remedy when MCPS doesn’t have the resources to implement a child’s IEP. |
Anonymous
| No, it is not. |
Anonymous
And how much are you paying in tuition for 12 person classes? |
Anonymous
We received a scholarship. It was similar to applying for college financial aid - showed tax returns, met application deadlines, reapplying each year. With the scholarship, the amount is $25,000. We are not wealthy but I took on a new job, we pulled $10,000 out of my child’s 529 plan per year, and we accepted money from grandparents to cover remaining tuition and book fees. |
Anonymous
Even if they don’t need pull out support, they still require something more than the status quo. Whether that is additional time on test, smaller classes, or different curriculum, all of which comes at a cost. Lets take smaller classes for instance. Many kids, special ed or neuro typical could benefit from smaller classes. But that requires more space, more teachers, etc etc. So yes a smaller private can offer this, but its not necessarily less expensive or less resource intensive. |
Anonymous
Much of Special Education would benefit all students. That’s why a universal design of implementing a plan for a disabled child is a best practice in education. Any general education teacher will say class size is key as far as how well they can meet the needs of all students. As is, MCPS is at a low point in meeting the needs of students with disabilities. Complaints and law suits are on the rise and MCPS is wasting funds for noncompliance. How do they dig themselves out of the mess left over from ignoring students with disabilities for the past two years? A voucher system would provide a mechanism to allow students who MCPS doesn’t meet their needs to go elsewhere. This could be aimed at disabled students who have needs for more attention and support, but it could also be exceptional students who need more enrichment but didn’t get chosen in the magnet school lottery process. If enrollment declines in MCPS schools, it would lower the staffing and infrastructure needs of the entire school system. Less size, less bureaucracy, and focus for what MCPS does best - the middle 50% of students. |
Anonymous
| Yes but they should be used to get the kids whose riffraff parents haven’t raised them right OUT of public schools. Then maybe MCPS will become a nice place to learn and work. |
Anonymous
Not unless private schools were regulated more in MD. For example, in MD the minimum number of school days required for private schools is 168 versus the 180 for public schools. Any day a single grade is on campus counts as a school day. Do orientation, graduations, and “student led conferences” count as school days. The consequences for private school teachers not reporting sexual abuse are also a joke in MD. DC and VA have jail time and a fine. In MD, a teacher just loses their state teaching certification. Unfortunately, most private school teachers are not certified by any state, nor do they have the credentials to even try! The pandemic has also shown how private schools can do whatever they want in MD. |