Where are all you families of high performing students planning on moving to?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:I'm worried about Moco losing its high income tax payers while simultaneously disgusted by the people who consider the rest of the county riffraff

So I'm conflicted

That simply shows that you are smart and not swayed by empty slogans from the left or the right. It is easy to simply say F- the rich or blame everything on immigrants or other "poors," but neither presents a realistic view of the world. You seem to recognize that if the county wants to have a robust social safety net, which largely benefits the poor which includes but is not limited to many immigrants, than you need to have a robust tax base. If the rich were to actually leave, it would be the poor that are hurt most.

Therefore, the county needs to find a balance and enact policies that take into account the interests of both groups.

DP

I agree with this, and this is why I'm concerned. My kids attend a Focus school, so I understand the challenges. And, have been to BOE meetings to advocate for our school, so I feel that I have gotten a sense of the BOE members.

I truly think the BOE and MCPS does not do enough to take into account the interest of middle class, and upper middle class families. They seem to demonstrate that in their policies and in the rhetoric.

I am an immigrant, who comes from a country with a weak public school system. I have seen first-hand what happens when a public school system is dessimated, and middle class families do not believe it will work for their kids. It's not a good situation. Strong public schools depend on buy-in from middle class and upper middle class families. When those families leave, there are fewer advocates for the students. Often times, the lower income families don't have the time/money/knowledge to advocate for their kids.

MCPS faces some immense challenges and is too large to be run efficiently. And, I don't see Jack Smith or the BOE as capable strong leaders who can solve the myriad of problems facing the school district.

This is why the suggestion that there have to be massive boundary changes that spread a declining pool of UMC white and Asian kids throughout the county will accelerate departures out of the county or to private schools. People are naive and think MCPS could never end up like PGCPS. It is already happening. That trend will only stop when there are clear signals that the integrity of neighborhood schools will be respected.

What does that mean? Why should the boundary lines drawn by decades-ago BOE members be "respected"? Were they carved in stone, never to be questioned? Things change.

Things do change. Sometimes for the better and sometimes for the worst. 10 years from now the future BOE could very well be questioning why our current BoE drew up boundary lines that doomed all of MCPS.

[Anonymous]

Few posters will actually move to Frederick because they will not like Larla’s low income white classmates either. Our neighbors came back after just three years and suddenly love ESS for their rising K son.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Almost certainly won’t move. I went to lousy public schools and turned out fine. Motivated high-achieving students will do fine anywhere. Plus it’s good to go to diverse schools—helps you learn how to deal with people of different backgrounds and with different approaches to life.

If we moved anyplace, it would be DC, just for shorter commutes as we both work downtown.

+1 (not lousy public school although by standards of this board probably "The WORST") I agree that diversity in schools is a good thing. And I think that the angst about MoCo schools is overblown. The schools are fine. Kids who have the wherewithall to do well, will do well in MoCo schools. My kids have that, so I am not spending $$ or time (commuting) to change their circumstances. Plus, they'd kill me because they LOVE their schools and their friends.

[Anonymous]

We’re simply looking for a district full of non-dysfunctional families who value high quality education and can provide a good peer cohort for our children. We don’t care what color or class.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Moving to Howard. Better demographics and better schools.

They rezone regularly. Did you know that?

And they are the most segregated schools in the state of Maryland. So, when PP says “better demographics,” what they really mean is, white.

No kidding. Demographics and "fear" about changing educational patterns and closing the gap - it's all code for don't take my god-given, societal built-in white supremacy away from my children.

[And I am white]

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We’re simply looking for a district full of non-dysfunctional families who value high quality education and can provide a good peer cohort for our children. We don’t care what color or class.

Dysfunctional families are everywhere.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We’re simply looking for a district full of non-dysfunctional families who value high quality education and can provide a good peer cohort for our children. We don’t care what color or class.

Huh, interesting. MOCO has tons of non-dysfunctional families who value high quality education and a good peer cohort. Tons. Families of all backgrounds value this. Which school does your kid go to that doesn't provide that cohort?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We’re simply looking for a district full of non-dysfunctional families who value high quality education and can provide a good peer cohort for our children. We don’t care what color or class.

Huh, interesting. MOCO has tons of non-dysfunctional families who value high quality education and a good peer cohort. Tons. Families of all backgrounds value this. Which school does your kid go to that doesn't provide that cohort?

Apparently not enough or MCPS wouldn't be setting the stage for massive boundary changes.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:We’re heading to Frederick. Seems like the easiest move.

I'm old enough to remember when Frederick was referred to as "Fredneck". You pearl clutchers who are afraid of the poors ought to be careful what you wish for.

Yeah, can’t imagine that Frederick is going to be better than different boundaries in MoCo. Plus given the MD tax situation with no SALT deduction it makes more sense to go to VA. We are considering it for that reason.

I'm assuming that people live in Bethesda/Potomac in part due to to commute and the nice homes. The equivalent areas in Virginia are places like Arlington and McLean. Those areas are seeing multiple bids, in part due to Amazon coming. So people who want to move to those areas are going to pay a lot more for the same house, or they will have to move further out which increases their commute time. The SALT deduction limit would hit you in VA too if you buy a really expensive home. Now, if you work in NoVa, then it makes sense to move there.

I'm sure some people will say that it's worth it for their kids' education, but I'm not buying it. I don't think most people would do it. It's all talk, kind of like how some people said they would move to Canada if Trump was elected. I get it. I was one of those who wanted to move after Trump was elected, but reality is far different from "I wish...".

So, I'm not worried that there will be a mass exodus of wealthy people moving to NoVa or HoCo. I can see some staying put and going private, which goes back to how that benefits the public school kids.

There is no comparison between moving to VA or Canada. One requires a move 10-20 minutes away, where you can keep your same job and probably comparable commute. The other involves entirely uprooting your life, dealing with visa issues, possibly dealing with new national licensing requirements, finding a new job, etc. Almost no one will actually move to Canada -- plenty of people will move to VA if the disparity becomes too large. (You could have far higher national taxes without having many people leave; you don't have that luxury on the state level.)

As people moving to Bethesda for the commute/homes, that's true. But you can get the same in VA. The fact that VA homes now are more expensive is proving the point. Many people who are able to afford more expensive houses are choosing VA. Even if that means some current MD residents will choose not to move, it will overtime lead to homes in MD being less valuable, which reduces property taxes. And less expensive homes are purchased by people with lower incomes, meaning income tax rates will be reduced as well.

There are way too many people with high incomes and not enough housing stock in McLean and Arlington to worry about ALL those rich people from Bethesda and Potomac from moving to NoVa. There won't be enough movement to see housing prices fall that far down. I'm not worried.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We’re simply looking for a district full of non-dysfunctional families who value high quality education and can provide a good peer cohort for our children. We don’t care what color or class.

No such place exists. There’s plenty of dysfunctional families even in highly affluent township public schools in PA, NJ, NY, etc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We’re heading to Frederick. Seems like the easiest move.

I'm old enough to remember when Frederick was referred to as "Fredneck". You pearl clutchers who are afraid of the poors ought to be careful what you wish for.

Yeah, can’t imagine that Frederick is going to be better than different boundaries in MoCo. Plus given the MD tax situation with no SALT deduction it makes more sense to go to VA. We are considering it for that reason.

I'm assuming that people live in Bethesda/Potomac in part due to to commute and the nice homes. The equivalent areas in Virginia are places like Arlington and McLean. Those areas are seeing multiple bids, in part due to Amazon coming. So people who want to move to those areas are going to pay a lot more for the same house, or they will have to move further out which increases their commute time. The SALT deduction limit would hit you in VA too if you buy a really expensive home. Now, if you work in NoVa, then it makes sense to move there.

I'm sure some people will say that it's worth it for their kids' education, but I'm not buying it. I don't think most people would do it. It's all talk, kind of like how some people said they would move to Canada if Trump was elected. I get it. I was one of those who wanted to move after Trump was elected, but reality is far different from "I wish...".

So, I'm not worried that there will be a mass exodus of wealthy people moving to NoVa or HoCo. I can see some staying put and going private, which goes back to how that benefits the public school kids.

There is no comparison between moving to VA or Canada. One requires a move 10-20 minutes away, where you can keep your same job and probably comparable commute. The other involves entirely uprooting your life, dealing with visa issues, possibly dealing with new national licensing requirements, finding a new job, etc. Almost no one will actually move to Canada -- plenty of people will move to VA if the disparity becomes too large. (You could have far higher national taxes without having many people leave; you don't have that luxury on the state level.)

As people moving to Bethesda for the commute/homes, that's true. But you can get the same in VA. The fact that VA homes now are more expensive is proving the point. Many people who are able to afford more expensive houses are choosing VA. Even if that means some current MD residents will choose not to move, it will overtime lead to homes in MD being less valuable, which reduces property taxes. And less expensive homes are purchased by people with lower incomes, meaning income tax rates will be reduced as well.

eh.. I've moved a few times with kids. One move was within the same city. It's not easy, and it certainly is not great for older kids.

VA homes are more expensive because there are more jobs out there than MoCo, and with Amazon, the housing stock will go down and be more expensive. It's not the schools that's driving the home prices in NoVa.

[Anonymous]

My husband's good friend lives in Howard County and sent his kid to public school there for 1 year before switching to private school. They found it terrible.

Yes it's one situation, but just saying -- Howard County isn't this panacea many on here seem to think it is.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Almost certainly won’t move. I went to lousy public schools and turned out fine. Motivated high-achieving students will do fine anywhere. Plus it’s good to go to diverse schools—helps you learn how to deal with people of different backgrounds and with different approaches to life.

If we moved anyplace, it would be DC, just for shorter commutes as we both work downtown.

I too grew up in lousy public schools and had lousy parents on top of that. And we’ve decided that we’ll most certainly move anywhere where the BOE does not dictate and force us via redrawing boundary lines the quality of school our children will be educated in. That is a privilege I choose to hang on to. So it will be private for us but so disappointed in MCPS.

So you will home school? Or move to a rural area/tiny town with 1 ES and 1 secondary school?

In every public school system, boundaries can be redrawn.

Did you read it?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We’re simply looking for a district full of non-dysfunctional families who value high quality education and can provide a good peer cohort for our children. We don’t care what color or class.

Huh, interesting. MOCO has tons of non-dysfunctional families who value high quality education and a good peer cohort. Tons. Families of all backgrounds value this. Which school does your kid go to that doesn't provide that cohort?

Apparently not enough or MCPS wouldn't be setting the stage for massive boundary changes.

Oh good. Then presumably IF they do boundary changes county wide, then every school should end up with a sizable peer cohort of high achieving students. Look I'm against busing kids far from their homes but we do need to relook at neighboring boundaries. No reason for neighboring schools to have such sharp differences in demographics.

[Anonymous]

I’d read about 1960s-1970s white flight in my history classes, and naively assumed we had moved beyond that sort of thing. To those of you who say you are not white, I would be careful about allying yourselves with the whites planning to escape the county. You may be what they are running from.