Today's Wash Post op ed about MCPS

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You kids go to the tops schools in the country taught by the top teachers in the country. What would you do if you look at the lists that all of you look at and you don't see any Montgomery County Schools on it?

Look at the law firms your absentee husbands work for, what if they said we decided we want to be a 2nd or 3rd tier law firm so we are letting go of all the good lawyers and paying less for mediocre lawyers?

Quality gets quality. Now go ahead and bitch about the teacher your kid has and then go put them in PG County schools and see them thrive.

And I am not a teacher

Ur right ur not a teacher because if u were u would realize that according to the md state report card the highest performing white and Asian students are in AAPS And Howard County not Moco. trust me my kids school pyramid in Bowie is better than the one my friend resides in over in silver spring and I paid 300j less for 2,000 more square feet. The problem with Moco is the silly arrogance, that will be ur downfall

[Anonymous]

A PP that pointed out that this is debate on how MCPS prioritizes its budget is spot on. I disagree though with the rest of the premise that teachers are entitled year after year to the compensation increases they expect. The attitude that we didn't get everything we expected one year so now we owed a catch up is a big part of the problem. I'm sure that MCPS employees who live in the MCPS bubble are shocked if they ever don't receive what they want in terms of compensation. However, all other county employees have experienced a far deeper decline in compensation increases and more extensive pay freezes. MCPS employees also have the expectation that if their benefits contribution increases then the system is obligated to increase their salary to off set the benefit increase.

This is attitude is out of touch with reality. The county revenues are declining. MCPS is also no longer performing at top levels. Cutting instruction to students which is what is happening here to appease an employee entitlement is a big mistake on many levels.

The arrogance and entitlement of MCPS in terms of compensation puts MCPS at constant odds with the rest of the county. Why are teachers more important than firemen? Or most annoying, why does a general administrative staff job that is identical at organizations across the county receive much bigger raises just because they are associated with the sacred cow of MCPS?

MCPS has enjoyed the power of the teacher's union and the power of the parents who vote and speak up for education. As MCPS throws education down the drain, the general support is gone. I've watched over the past five years as support for the schools has declined. People no longer see this as a stellar school system.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote: I disagree though with the rest of the premise that teachers are entitled year after year to the compensation increases they expect.

Nobody has said this.

[Anonymous]

An MCPS teacher friend I spoke with recently feels guilty that she is getting a 5% - 6% raise when other teachers are being fired. Not all teachers are all about the money.

Another thing she told me, though, was that when discussing the topic with her co-workers, they don't see the 2% COLA as a raise. They actually insist it isn't a raise and questioned my friend's motives for even bringing it up.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:An MCPS teacher friend I spoke with recently feels guilty that she is getting a 5% - 6% raise when other teachers are being fired. Not all teachers are all about the money.

Another thing she told me, though, was that when discussing the topic with her co-workers, they don't see the 2% COLA as a raise. They actually insist it isn't a raise and questioned my friend's motives for even bringing it up.

Not all lawyers are about the money.
Not all doctors are about the money.
Not all lobbyists are about the money.
Not all investment bankers are about the money.

etc.

[Anonymous]

I love being in a focus school, and frankly I have a hard time sympathizing with the complaints of people who moved from my cluster to a richer one "for the schools" who now have a lot more kids in their class.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:An MCPS teacher friend I spoke with recently feels guilty that she is getting a 5% - 6% raise when other teachers are being fired. Not all teachers are all about the money.

Another thing she told me, though, was that when discussing the topic with her co-workers, they don't see the 2% COLA as a raise. They actually insist it isn't a raise and questioned my friend's motives for even bringing it up.

Tell your friend not to worry. No teachers were fired. While many positions were cut there are far more retirements and people leaving than positions cut.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I love being in a focus school, and frankly I have a hard time sympathizing with the complaints of people who moved from my cluster to a richer one "for the schools" who now have a lot more kids in their class.

Uh, okay. So no one should sympathize with you when your focus school does something you disagree with? We should just tell you to make more money and move.
What a bizarre post.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Other employees are not on step but they are still getting raises. IF MCPS leadership lowered the new operating budget increase approved for salary increases by only 1% no direct instructional staff - or other staff- would need to be cut. Its unbelievable that class sizes are getting larger again to support an employee raise.

If this were a sinking ship, MCPS staff would be throwing young children into the ocean scrambling to get their own fat butts into the life boats.

Well put.