Your experience with a 40% FARMS rate Middle School

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It makes me chuckle that both HoCo and FFX have had or are having these issues while at the same time, MCPS parents are threatening to move to one of those school districts because MCPS hired a consultant to look into how to look at boundary changes. So, where will these parents who are complaining about MCPS and the hiring of the consultants go now?

Exactly. It’s screws the Middle Class families who have nowhere else to go.

The rich move on to private. Unless Middle Class families can relocate even farther out (we’ve had several neighbors move to Frederick County), they are stuck.

Not sure why that makes you chuckle?

No, it doesn't. Enough with the panic.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Wow. You're a dumb aren't you.

Property values were never artificially inflated--the market determined the value of a property based on that properties characteristics at the time of sale.

And there doesn't have to be an immediate influx of sell side liquidity to change the market. They just have to change the characteristics of the property such that buyers don't want it as much anymore. Change the boundaries, and that's exactly what you'll get.

Does the school board have to maintain obsolete boundaries because those obsolete boundaries made you pay more for your property than another person might be willing to pay you if the school board updated the boundaries? Nope.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It makes me chuckle that both HoCo and FFX have had or are having these issues while at the same time, MCPS parents are threatening to move to one of those school districts because MCPS hired a consultant to look into how to look at boundary changes. So, where will these parents who are complaining about MCPS and the hiring of the consultants go now?

Exactly. It’s screws the Middle Class families who have nowhere else to go.

The rich move on to private. Unless Middle Class families can relocate even farther out (we’ve had several neighbors move to Frederick County), they are stuck.

Not sure why that makes you chuckle?

It makes me chuckle because all these folks in MCPS who were threatening to move to HoCo or FFX, claiming that MCPS is horrible for doing this, now can't get away from it. Some folks laud HoCo and FFX as the answer to MoCo's school issues. That's why it makes me chuckle.

I live in one of the most diverse clusters in MoCo, and I wouldn't move to Frederick for the schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I know this is a very unpopular thing to say but I wouldn’t want to lose 100-200k home value. We aren’t a super rich family that could easily afford to lose that equity.

There are plenty of middle class families in MoCo who have a lot of their net worth tied up in their home value. This is an expensive area.

People are dismissive of that concern, but it’s a reasonable one.

It's a reasonable concern for individual property owners to have.

It's not a reasonable factor for the Board of Education to take into account while making decisions about public school boundaries.

By rezoning, property values will indeed go down, which translates into this: People with means will go private or move. Once you lose the wealthy folks who are keeping Mo Co afloat, you lose the tax base that supposedly made the schools strong and attractive to those within and outside of the area.

A poorer population means schools don't have the resources to provide for those who are struggling.

So the BOE may get its wish, but it's a temporary solution b/c performance is what the state is looking at. And moving around children as though they're game pieces isn't a long-lasting solution.

Property values will only go down insofar as (1) they were artificially inflated by the current school boundaries and (2) people panic about the new boundaries and all put their properties on the market at once (which would be dumb).

And keeping children in overcrowded schools with outdated boundaries isn't a long-lasting solution, even if you did pay too much for your property.

You have no idea. I lived through the NEC & DCC process. Property values declined. This was step one of rezoning. By the way, property values were not inflated where we were. They reflected a healthy market in a community-supported school area.

. . . Until they created the consortium

Mo Co is a disaster.

Howard is stupid for following in Mo CO's footsteps.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It makes me chuckle that both HoCo and FFX have had or are having these issues while at the same time, MCPS parents are threatening to move to one of those school districts because MCPS hired a consultant to look into how to look at boundary changes. So, where will these parents who are complaining about MCPS and the hiring of the consultants go now?

Exactly. It’s screws the Middle Class families who have nowhere else to go.

The rich move on to private. Unless Middle Class families can relocate even farther out (we’ve had several neighbors move to Frederick County), they are stuck.

Not sure why that makes you chuckle?

It makes me chuckle because all these folks in MCPS who were threatening to move to HoCo or FFX, claiming that MCPS is horrible for doing this, now can't get away from it. Some folks laud HoCo and FFX as the answer to MoCo's school issues. That's why it makes me chuckle.

I live in one of the most diverse clusters in MoCo, and I wouldn't move to Frederick for the schools.

Teacher here
We moved to Frederick for the schools & couldn't be happier.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It makes me chuckle that both HoCo and FFX have had or are having these issues while at the same time, MCPS parents are threatening to move to one of those school districts because MCPS hired a consultant to look into how to look at boundary changes. So, where will these parents who are complaining about MCPS and the hiring of the consultants go now?

Exactly. It’s screws the Middle Class families who have nowhere else to go.

The rich move on to private. Unless Middle Class families can relocate even farther out (we’ve had several neighbors move to Frederick County), they are stuck.

Not sure why that makes you chuckle?

It makes me chuckle because all these folks in MCPS who were threatening to move to HoCo or FFX, claiming that MCPS is horrible for doing this, now can't get away from it. Some folks laud HoCo and FFX as the answer to MoCo's school issues. That's why it makes me chuckle.

I live in one of the most diverse clusters in MoCo, and I wouldn't move to Frederick for the schools.

Teacher here
We moved to Frederick for the schools & couldn't be happier.

That's great for you, but I wouldn't, and neither would many other MCPS parents.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I know this is a very unpopular thing to say but I wouldn’t want to lose 100-200k home value. We aren’t a super rich family that could easily afford to lose that equity.

There are plenty of middle class families in MoCo who have a lot of their net worth tied up in their home value. This is an expensive area.

People are dismissive of that concern, but it’s a reasonable one.

It's a reasonable concern for individual property owners to have.

It's not a reasonable factor for the Board of Education to take into account while making decisions about public school boundaries.

By rezoning, property values will indeed go down, which translates into this: People with means will go private or move. Once you lose the wealthy folks who are keeping Mo Co afloat, you lose the tax base that supposedly made the schools strong and attractive to those within and outside of the area.

A poorer population means schools don't have the resources to provide for those who are struggling.

So the BOE may get its wish, but it's a temporary solution b/c performance is what the state is looking at. And moving around children as though they're game pieces isn't a long-lasting solution.

Property values will only go down insofar as (1) they were artificially inflated by the current school boundaries and (2) people panic about the new boundaries and all put their properties on the market at once (which would be dumb).

And keeping children in overcrowded schools with outdated boundaries isn't a long-lasting solution, even if you did pay too much for your property.

You have no idea. I lived through the NEC & DCC process. Property values declined. This was step one of rezoning. By the way, property values were not inflated where we were. They reflected a healthy market in a community-supported school area.

. . . Until they created the consortium

Mo Co is a disaster.

Howard is stupid for following in Mo CO's footsteps.

What makes you think Howard is doing this to follow MoCo's footsteps? Maybe they are doing it because they feel it's the right thing to do?

I guess HoCo is a disaster, too, now.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My kids went to a high FARMS % school in Montgomery County and there were a ton of benefits, like smaller class sizes and additional resources, as a result. I also appreciated the diversity of the community and the different ways in which families chose to support the school.

How is high FARM % diverse? It sounds rather homogeneous, by definition. Maybe define “high.”

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It makes me chuckle that both HoCo and FFX have had or are having these issues while at the same time, MCPS parents are threatening to move to one of those school districts because MCPS hired a consultant to look into how to look at boundary changes. So, where will these parents who are complaining about MCPS and the hiring of the consultants go now?

Exactly. It’s screws the Middle Class families who have nowhere else to go.

The rich move on to private. Unless Middle Class families can relocate even farther out (we’ve had several neighbors move to Frederick County), they are stuck.

Not sure why that makes you chuckle?

It makes me chuckle because all these folks in MCPS who were threatening to move to HoCo or FFX, claiming that MCPS is horrible for doing this, now can't get away from it. Some folks laud HoCo and FFX as the answer to MoCo's school issues. That's why it makes me chuckle.

I live in one of the most diverse clusters in MoCo, and I wouldn't move to Frederick for the schools.

Teacher here
We moved to Frederick for the schools & couldn't be happier.

That's great for you, but I wouldn't, and neither would many other MCPS parents.

That's b/c you're not an insider. Do you have close friends who are teachers? My guess is no . . .

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It makes me chuckle that both HoCo and FFX have had or are having these issues while at the same time, MCPS parents are threatening to move to one of those school districts because MCPS hired a consultant to look into how to look at boundary changes. So, where will these parents who are complaining about MCPS and the hiring of the consultants go now?

Exactly. It’s screws the Middle Class families who have nowhere else to go.

The rich move on to private. Unless Middle Class families can relocate even farther out (we’ve had several neighbors move to Frederick County), they are stuck.

Not sure why that makes you chuckle?

It makes me chuckle because all these folks in MCPS who were threatening to move to HoCo or FFX, claiming that MCPS is horrible for doing this, now can't get away from it. Some folks laud HoCo and FFX as the answer to MoCo's school issues. That's why it makes me chuckle.

I live in one of the most diverse clusters in MoCo, and I wouldn't move to Frederick for the schools.

Teacher here
We moved to Frederick for the schools & couldn't be happier.

That's great for you, but I wouldn't, and neither would many other MCPS parents.

That's b/c you're not an insider. Do you have close friends who are teachers? My guess is no . . .

You mean to tell me you know every MCPS teacher and how they feel? My guess is no....

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I know this is a very unpopular thing to say but I wouldn’t want to lose 100-200k home value. We aren’t a super rich family that could easily afford to lose that equity.

There are plenty of middle class families in MoCo who have a lot of their net worth tied up in their home value. This is an expensive area.

People are dismissive of that concern, but it’s a reasonable one.

It's a reasonable concern for individual property owners to have.

It's not a reasonable factor for the Board of Education to take into account while making decisions about public school boundaries.

By rezoning, property values will indeed go down, which translates into this: People with means will go private or move. Once you lose the wealthy folks who are keeping Mo Co afloat, you lose the tax base that supposedly made the schools strong and attractive to those within and outside of the area.

A poorer population means schools don't have the resources to provide for those who are struggling.

So the BOE may get its wish, but it's a temporary solution b/c performance is what the state is looking at. And moving around children as though they're game pieces isn't a long-lasting solution.

Property values will only go down insofar as (1) they were artificially inflated by the current school boundaries and (2) people panic about the new boundaries and all put their properties on the market at once (which would be dumb).

And keeping children in overcrowded schools with outdated boundaries isn't a long-lasting solution, even if you did pay too much for your property.

You have no idea. I lived through the NEC & DCC process. Property values declined. This was step one of rezoning. By the way, property values were not inflated where we were. They reflected a healthy market in a community-supported school area.

. . . Until they created the consortium

Mo Co is a disaster.

Howard is stupid for following in Mo CO's footsteps.

What makes you think Howard is doing this to follow MoCo's footsteps? Maybe they are doing it because they feel it's the right thing to do?

I guess HoCo is a disaster, too, now.

It will be, yes.

Years ago, I student taught in a Clarksville school. People purchased land just to be able to send their children to those schools. If you think people zoned for River Hill - after paying high prices for a home - will be happy with another school, you're fooling yourself.

Those will means will move. That's ALWAYS been the case. So if you're OK with money leaving the county, then good for you.

I cannot believe how simple so many of you are! I know that sounds harsh, but this is Human Nature 101, folks!

lol

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

It will be, yes.

Years ago, I student taught in a Clarksville school. People purchased land just to be able to send their children to those schools. If you think people zoned for River Hill - after paying high prices for a home - will be happy with another school, you're fooling yourself.

Those will means will move. That's ALWAYS been the case. So if you're OK with money leaving the county, then good for you.

I cannot believe how simple so many of you are! I know that sounds harsh, but this is Human Nature 101, folks!

lol

So you're saying that people who own property in River Hill and send their kids to public schools will only be satisfied if those public schools have few or no poor kids in them? What a terrible thing to say those people.

[Anonymous]

I think the biggest issue is quality of teachers/principal. We are at a ms with a significant farms rate (not sure the exact number). When my kids have a great teacher, they are challenged. When the teacher is meh, they don't learn much. Both in a magnet program, and the same has been true for magnet (little farms) and non magnet (higher farms). Classes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think the biggest issue is quality of teachers/principal. We are at a ms with a significant farms rate (not sure the exact number). When my kids have a great teacher, they are challenged. When the teacher is meh, they don't learn much. Both in a magnet program, and the same has been true for magnet (little farms) and non magnet (higher farms). Classes.

Doesn't that go for all schools?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think the biggest issue is quality of teachers/principal. We are at a ms with a significant farms rate (not sure the exact number). When my kids have a great teacher, they are challenged. When the teacher is meh, they don't learn much. Both in a magnet program, and the same has been true for magnet (little farms) and non magnet (higher farms). Classes.

Doesn't that go for all schools?

Pp here. I would say yes. I don't see a real difference in learning potential at high farms schools if teachers are good.