White flight from MCPS

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m an elementary teacher. I am so thankful that my kids are in high school so they are almost out of the disaster known as MCPS. If they were in elementary I would have to find a way to send them to private. No children should have to attend some of these chaotic and unsafe schools. A student in the school I work at hit 18 (yes 18) students in one day in his class last week. Additionally he stuck several kids heads into trash cans. And this is not a one off. (Btw, don’t worry because I’m sure the half day in school suspension will really change things). How are kids supposed to learn when they are scared all the time?

I really wish that I could get out, but I’m too vested and will remain until I can retire. I don’t think it’s as much white flight as higher SES flight. If you have the means, you’re desperate to get out. As the whites traditionally have more means, you’re seeing a greater exodus. Just wish I could follow them…

This isnt an MCPS problem. It's happening all over the country right now. It's 100% a parenting problem. Parents do not raise their kids anymore. They rely on screens and schools to do it for them.

Parents rely on screens? Lol, have you spent anytime in a classroom lately? They spend half the day on a screen. If the problem is screens (and I’m not necessarily saying you’re wrong) the usage needs to be reduced at school too.

The biggest factors IMO is that schools are no longer allowed to discipline kids, and kids that used to be pulled out of mainstream classes are not anymore. The problem is just more visible to you now. Millennial parents aren’t necessarily any worse than boomer parents were.

What is this narrative that kids are on screens all day at school? I've worked in 5 different MCPS schools. I walk around on my preps and I don't see kids on screens. It is a rare occasion if I do. My classes don't use screens either. The only time is if they have free time, which with 43 minute classes, is a rarity. I know it might happen at SOME places, but again, I've been at 5 schools and the story has been consistently the same at all.

Go to any DCC high school. Those kids are on phones all day all the time.

You've been to every single DCC high school and walked in every single classroom? Wow!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m an elementary teacher. I am so thankful that my kids are in high school so they are almost out of the disaster known as MCPS. If they were in elementary I would have to find a way to send them to private. No children should have to attend some of these chaotic and unsafe schools. A student in the school I work at hit 18 (yes 18) students in one day in his class last week. Additionally he stuck several kids heads into trash cans. And this is not a one off. (Btw, don’t worry because I’m sure the half day in school suspension will really change things). How are kids supposed to learn when they are scared all the time?

I really wish that I could get out, but I’m too vested and will remain until I can retire. I don’t think it’s as much white flight as higher SES flight. If you have the means, you’re desperate to get out. As the whites traditionally have more means, you’re seeing a greater exodus. Just wish I could follow them…

This isnt an MCPS problem. It's happening all over the country right now. It's 100% a parenting problem. Parents do not raise their kids anymore. They rely on screens and schools to do it for them.

Parents rely on screens? Lol, have you spent anytime in a classroom lately? They spend half the day on a screen. If the problem is screens (and I’m not necessarily saying you’re wrong) the usage needs to be reduced at school too.

The biggest factors IMO is that schools are no longer allowed to discipline kids, and kids that used to be pulled out of mainstream classes are not anymore. The problem is just more visible to you now. Millennial parents aren’t necessarily any worse than boomer parents were.

What is this narrative that kids are on screens all day at school? I've worked in 5 different MCPS schools. I walk around on my preps and I don't see kids on screens. It is a rare occasion if I do. My classes don't use screens either. The only time is if they have free time, which with 43 minute classes, is a rarity. I know it might happen at SOME places, but again, I've been at 5 schools and the story has been consistently the same at all.

Go to any DCC high school. Those kids are on phones all day all the time.

You've been to every single DCC high school and walked in every single classroom? Wow!

Obviously that's wrong or just made up. They're confiscated at our DCC school too.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I feel like I'm missing something. We're an Asian family at a W school. Both elementary school kids are 95%+ on MAPs (barely any supplementation other than Khan Academy). Both are straight A (P) students receiving enrichment and advanced coursework.

We haven't experienced horrible teachers or administration. Some bad behavior with kids, yes. We recently learned of a few families around us who are looking to move their kids to private, which got me wondering.

What are we missing with regards to how horrible MCPS is? What is better in private?

95%+ elementary MAP is because they have high IQ, healthy home, supplementing with Khan(!) etc. Your kids would get that score anywhere. Your kids don't need elementary school, just day care.

PP again. My kids don't need day care (maybe yours do?). They love school and learning. MAPs don't measure science, social studies, writing, art, music, PE. There's a lot more to school than Reading and Math.

Thats the problem. MCPS doesnt care about anything BUT math and reading. Used to work in an elementary school in MCPS and the emphasis was ONLY on math and reading. Everything else fell to the side. It's a disaster. I quit because I can't support this any more.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think it's not white parents but rather well-off parents. It just so happens most well-off people in this county are white or Asian, so those will be the groups that flee to private.

We're zoned for a W school, and by third grade a number of our DC's classmates left for private and so did we. Our school was great, but it was clear from watching BOE meetings that there are big issues at the top and in central office. We are lucky to be able to easily afford $50k+ for private, so why not?

I guess we were lucky that our kids were actually smart and landed in HGC and magnets all the way through MCPS. I feel their education was vastly better than that offered by any DC private.

Based on what? It's also kind of meaningless because most students are not in HGC and magnet programs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Virtually every person I know from Mexico and South America are amazing, highly educated, wonderful people. They are cultured, family people, and tremendously value education. So there can't be a problem just because of an increase in "hispanic" people.

Is this sharp rise in the MCPS hispanic population actually due to illegal immigration of poor and/or violent people from central america? If so this is definitely a broader society problem and blame can be placed on on federal government for it's open border polices.

If you read between the lines of the BOE meeting, it seems we’re getting an influx of the latter and not the former.

ICYMI: an 18 year old Latina was murdered by 3 other latinos (teens) this may and the killers were recently arrested. They cut off her head with a machete and dumped the body in a wooded area near a park in Olney.

It barely made the news.

^^^This is in our local schools. It’s a gang problem with rampant violence. It’s why many of them allegedly left Central America.

A person was beheaded in a local school? How did I miss that?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I feel like I'm missing something. We're an Asian family at a W school. Both elementary school kids are 95%+ on MAPs (barely any supplementation other than Khan Academy). Both are straight A (P) students receiving enrichment and advanced coursework.

We haven't experienced horrible teachers or administration. Some bad behavior with kids, yes. We recently learned of a few families around us who are looking to move their kids to private, which got me wondering.

What are we missing with regards to how horrible MCPS is? What is better in private?

95%+ elementary MAP is because they have high IQ, healthy home, supplementing with Khan(!) etc. Your kids would get that score anywhere. Your kids don't need elementary school, just day care.

PP again. My kids don't need day care (maybe yours do?). They love school and learning. MAPs don't measure science, social studies, writing, art, music, PE. There's a lot more to school than Reading and Math.

Thats the problem. MCPS doesnt care about anything BUT math and reading. Used to work in an elementary school in MCPS and the emphasis was ONLY on math and reading. Everything else fell to the side. It's a disaster. I quit because I can't support this any more.

And yet the kids were still behind in reading and math!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m an elementary teacher. I am so thankful that my kids are in high school so they are almost out of the disaster known as MCPS. If they were in elementary I would have to find a way to send them to private. No children should have to attend some of these chaotic and unsafe schools. A student in the school I work at hit 18 (yes 18) students in one day in his class last week. Additionally he stuck several kids heads into trash cans. And this is not a one off. (Btw, don’t worry because I’m sure the half day in school suspension will really change things). How are kids supposed to learn when they are scared all the time?

I really wish that I could get out, but I’m too vested and will remain until I can retire. I don’t think it’s as much white flight as higher SES flight. If you have the means, you’re desperate to get out. As the whites traditionally have more means, you’re seeing a greater exodus. Just wish I could follow them…

This isnt an MCPS problem. It's happening all over the country right now. It's 100% a parenting problem. Parents do not raise their kids anymore. They rely on screens and schools to do it for them.

Parents rely on screens? Lol, have you spent anytime in a classroom lately? They spend half the day on a screen. If the problem is screens (and I’m not necessarily saying you’re wrong) the usage needs to be reduced at school too.

The biggest factors IMO is that schools are no longer allowed to discipline kids, and kids that used to be pulled out of mainstream classes are not anymore. The problem is just more visible to you now. Millennial parents aren’t necessarily any worse than boomer parents were.

What is this narrative that kids are on screens all day at school? I've worked in 5 different MCPS schools. I walk around on my preps and I don't see kids on screens. It is a rare occasion if I do. My classes don't use screens either. The only time is if they have free time, which with 43 minute classes, is a rarity. I know it might happen at SOME places, but again, I've been at 5 schools and the story has been consistently the same at all.

Go to any DCC high school. Those kids are on phones all day all the time.

You've been to every single DCC high school and walked in every single classroom? Wow!

Obviously that's wrong or just made up. They're confiscated at our DCC school too.

Which school confiscates phones? I'm asking this seriously- our middle school does not enforce cell phone rules at all and I want different for HS. It's such a distraction even when your kids are following the rules.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think it's not white parents but rather well-off parents. It just so happens most well-off people in this county are white or Asian, so those will be the groups that flee to private.

We're zoned for a W school, and by third grade a number of our DC's classmates left for private and so did we. Our school was great, but it was clear from watching BOE meetings that there are big issues at the top and in central office. We are lucky to be able to easily afford $50k+ for private, so why not?

As a minority, I would not flee to wealthy private unless that wealthy private is very diverse. Those kinds of privates are rare in this area.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don’t blame them one bit. My family fled Central America in the early 80s looking for a better life, fleeing the civil war, gangs.and guerilla.

My parents instilled in me a strong value for education, we are a hard-working, law abiding and no nonsense family.

The problems, and frankly the people, who I’m seeing in our county now are the exact people and the exact circumstances that my family fled from. I’m sure this is an unpopular opinion and definitely not politically correct to say but I don’t care because my family lived and fled this in central America and now reliving it again here in Montgomery county.

+1.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Integrated Schools is growing a grassroots movement of, by and for parents who are intentionally, joyfully and humbly enrolling our children in integrating schools.

https://integratedschools.org/

My hippie parents did this in the 1980s. All it did was make the educational journey 10x harder (due to poor schooling) How about first focusing on making a great school - then folks will happily send their kids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Go read the thread on chronic absenteeism and note the links to older reports as well as more recent ones.

In short: the shifting demographics underscore the obvious fact that many Latinos aren’t interested in receiving an education and instead use school as an opportunity to recruit gang members and fuel criminal activity. Why is mcps cracking down this year? Because they need a legit mechanism to get these kids out of the system.

Note: we are talking about unaccompanied youth who came here on their own or first Gen youth living with their family/a family.

Mcps realizes they are pouring resources into a problem that can’t be fixed, so they are finally trying to move the problematic students along.

Too little, too late.

We have entire swaths of the county and certain schools with rather serious issues.

And the machete murder of the 18 year old girl wasn’t unrelated to our community or schools. There is a very real gang and trafficking issue in our area. These people live here and sometimes attend school. They certainly prey upon students.

Ask a black mcps admin how they feel about the resources invested in Latinos. Short answer: what about the black students?

This is now what the White progressives in this county want to hear but it is ALL true.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Virtually every person I know from Mexico and South America are amazing, highly educated, wonderful people. They are cultured, family people, and tremendously value education. So there can't be a problem just because of an increase in "hispanic" people.

Is this sharp rise in the MCPS hispanic population actually due to illegal immigration of poor and/or violent people from central america? If so this is definitely a broader society problem and blame can be placed on on federal government for it's open border polices.

If you read between the lines of the BOE meeting, it seems we’re getting an influx of the latter and not the former.

That's not an MCPS issue, it's a US issue. Yes, there are more undocumented immigrants, mostly fleeing violence being perpetuated by drug cartels. A real discussion of that is going to need to include the fact that the GOP has blocked comprehensive immigration reform for years, creating no path to citizenship. It will also need to deal with the ways in which US policies have destabilized Central and South America, and the degree to which the drug trade is fueled by US demand.

This is a complicated problem that requires a complicated domestic and foreign policy approach, but we've not had enough adults in Congress in years to deal with it.

And for the most part, when we try to point this issue, we are shut down.

This is a HUGE issue that affects Montgomery County families and kids on a daily basis.

And lots of these immigrants are not ‘fleeing drug cartels’. They are simply coming here for economic opportunities. Money, plain and simple.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Virtually every person I know from Mexico and South America are amazing, highly educated, wonderful people. They are cultured, family people, and tremendously value education. So there can't be a problem just because of an increase in "hispanic" people.

Is this sharp rise in the MCPS hispanic population actually due to illegal immigration of poor and/or violent people from central america? If so this is definitely a broader society problem and blame can be placed on on federal government for it's open border polices.

If you read between the lines of the BOE meeting, it seems we’re getting an influx of the latter and not the former.

That's not an MCPS issue, it's a US issue. Yes, there are more undocumented immigrants, mostly fleeing violence being perpetuated by drug cartels. A real discussion of that is going to need to include the fact that the GOP has blocked comprehensive immigration reform for years, creating no path to citizenship. It will also need to deal with the ways in which US policies have destabilized Central and South America, and the degree to which the drug trade is fueled by US demand.

This is a complicated problem that requires a complicated domestic and foreign policy approach, but we've not had enough adults in Congress in years to deal with it.

And for the most part, when we try to point this issue, we are shut down.

This is a HUGE issue that affects Montgomery County families and kids on a daily basis.

And lots of these immigrants are not ‘fleeing drug cartels’. They are simply coming here for economic opportunities. Money, plain and simple.

So did all four of my grandparents. For economic opportunities. Because there weren't economic opportunities, in their countries of origin, due to violent cartels.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don’t blame them one bit. My family fled Central America in the early 80s looking for a better life, fleeing the civil war, gangs.and guerilla.

My parents instilled in me a strong value for education, we are a hard-working, law abiding and no nonsense family.

The problems, and frankly the people, who I’m seeing in our county now are the exact people and the exact circumstances that my family fled from. I’m sure this is an unpopular opinion and definitely not politically correct to say but I don’t care because my family lived and fled this in central America and now reliving it again here in Montgomery county.

Yes, but the people who want to "build a wall" don't want you here, either. Remember Trump's, "They are all rapists and murderers.. some are good, I guess."

How should MCPS or MoCo determine who is acceptable? More than likely, the people who are complaining about this situation would look at your family and not want you here, either. These folks aren't exactly discerning.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m an elementary teacher. I am so thankful that my kids are in high school so they are almost out of the disaster known as MCPS. If they were in elementary I would have to find a way to send them to private. No children should have to attend some of these chaotic and unsafe schools. A student in the school I work at hit 18 (yes 18) students in one day in his class last week. Additionally he stuck several kids heads into trash cans. And this is not a one off. (Btw, don’t worry because I’m sure the half day in school suspension will really change things). How are kids supposed to learn when they are scared all the time?

I really wish that I could get out, but I’m too vested and will remain until I can retire. I don’t think it’s as much white flight as higher SES flight. If you have the means, you’re desperate to get out. As the whites traditionally have more means, you’re seeing a greater exodus. Just wish I could follow them…

This isnt an MCPS problem. It's happening all over the country right now. It's 100% a parenting problem. Parents do not raise their kids anymore. They rely on screens and schools to do it for them.

Parents rely on screens? Lol, have you spent anytime in a classroom lately? They spend half the day on a screen. If the problem is screens (and I’m not necessarily saying you’re wrong) the usage needs to be reduced at school too.

The biggest factors IMO is that schools are no longer allowed to discipline kids, and kids that used to be pulled out of mainstream classes are not anymore. The problem is just more visible to you now. Millennial parents aren’t necessarily any worse than boomer parents were.

What is this narrative that kids are on screens all day at school? I've worked in 5 different MCPS schools. I walk around on my preps and I don't see kids on screens. It is a rare occasion if I do. My classes don't use screens either. The only time is if they have free time, which with 43 minute classes, is a rarity. I know it might happen at SOME places, but again, I've been at 5 schools and the story has been consistently the same at all.

Go to any DCC high school. Those kids are on phones all day all the time.

DCC HS teacher here. This is absolutely true. Kids are glued to their phones all day long. It is a huge struggle every single day to get students to focus in class. My AP students are good about putting their phones away but kids in regular classes are completely impossible.
I am mad at MCPS that they won’t take a tough stance on phones.