What are the list of MCPS positions set to be laid off (assuming the budget cuts go through)?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The way I see it is that MCPS has wasted away so much money on frivolous and unnecessary things. MCPS is like a bratty child who tantrums for more candy (money) and the council has always given in. After all, it's easy for them, it's not their money. Just raise taxes.

Now you have a someone who needs to reign in this bratty and spoiled behemoth aka MCPS. I wish they would cut the spending instead of staff, but something has to give. This is a long time coming.

While I agree with you, it's not going to hit the people that deserve it. It will directly affect the people who have nothing to do with these decisions including students. We should be cutting CO positions, looking at every budget line item, and cutting CO salaries if we can't cut their positions. Taylor's salary should be cut as well. As he says, he sleeps fine at night because he thinks he's making good decisions. I think the rest of the county would beg to differ.

I hate to say it but it's not about who deserves it or not. I agree 100% that every budget line item needs to be audited and that bloated CO needs a cut.

So our students deserve to suffer because you want to stick it to the horrible people in charge of finances? You're part of the problem.

They are trying to make the money go toward the students and not the unnecessary things.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Immersion programs are ways for kids to get out of their assigned schools. It is also not true "immersion." For instance, kids taking upper level Chinese classes at Churchill are not in an "immersion" program. True immersion program is when Chinese is used to teach math, social studies, etc. But it is a way to get out of their assigned HS.

MCPS doesn't have any HS-level immersion programs. Those in the two elementary Chinese immersion programs get Math & Science in the target language, so less than those in the full-immersion French and Spanish programs (everything but specials), but they are still "immersed" in the language for those subjects.

Two-way immersion, where some days instruction is in Spanish and other days it is in English, also is "immersion," if also not as fully immersed. I've been befuddled by the repeated anti-immersion-program posts (often with inaccurate/outdated information) of the past couple of months, but I'm guessing, given the relatively small budgetary savings (if any) vs. viable alternatives in serving the needs of a large plurality in the county, that they largely are coming from those who unjustly have been forced into two-way, when they did not want that, by virtue of its being the only model of instruction at their home elementary instead of it having been designed more appropriately as an opt-in, as the other immersion programs are.

The kids I know in these programs, including ones at the schools, are struggling in both English and Spanish as neither is well done.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:MCPS needs to cut language immersion & programming like that.

Focus on the basics
Trade programs
College tracking
gifted programming
Special education
General populace & education

This would not save any money. Immersion teachers do not get paid more than a regular elementary teacher. And the students still need to be in school, so they would just be in an English speaking class instead. Absolutely no impact on the budget.

Yes it would save money. Immersion programs have a different extra sets of curriculums, extra staff hiring goes into finding dual language teachers, there are central office positions that have to support those schools. Most of the kids in the programs, struggle with the language, parents sign up because they don't want their kids to be in a highly concentrated Latino school.

Oh you again. Just go away- I'm sorry your kids didn't get in but don't assume your reason for applying to language immersion is the same as everyone else's. (FWIW, we deliberatebly bought a house in bounds for a dual immersion school, which gasp, has a decent percentage of Latino students, because learning a foreign language is important to our family. sorry if that's a weird concept for you!)

This is true. They should have it for Spanish speaker only kids and make Spanish a special for all other kids.

Maybe we should start evaluating the need for language instruction at all in public schools- how many students can actually converse in the language upon gradation? And what is the need when the rest of the world learns English already? That's a lot of money that could be spent elsewhere.

That’s shortsighted. We had over 100 students in my HS who earned their seat of biliteracy this year in over 6 different languages. That seal gives them an advantage in hiring as well as earning more money. Many of these students are native speakers of the language they took the exam in, but many were not and some didn’t start learning their second language until MS.

As a non-native speaker, given the bad level of instruction including no textbooks the exam is hard without tutoring.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Immersion programs are ways for kids to get out of their assigned schools. It is also not true "immersion." For instance, kids taking upper level Chinese classes at Churchill are not in an "immersion" program. True immersion program is when Chinese is used to teach math, social studies, etc. But it is a way to get out of their assigned HS.

MCPS doesn't have any HS-level immersion programs. Those in the two elementary Chinese immersion programs get Math & Science in the target language, so less than those in the full-immersion French and Spanish programs (everything but specials), but they are still "immersed" in the language for those subjects.

Two-way immersion, where some days instruction is in Spanish and other days it is in English, also is "immersion," if also not as fully immersed. I've been befuddled by the repeated anti-immersion-program posts (often with inaccurate/outdated information) of the past couple of months, but I'm guessing, given the relatively small budgetary savings (if any) vs. viable alternatives in serving the needs of a large plurality in the county, that they largely are coming from those who unjustly have been forced into two-way, when they did not want that, by virtue of its being the only model of instruction at their home elementary instead of it having been designed more appropriately as an opt-in, as the other immersion programs are.

The kids I know in these programs, including ones at the schools, are struggling in both English and Spanish as neither is well done.

DP
My kid is in TWI at Oakland Terrace. I have mixed feelings about the program. It is definitely challenging to implement, places an extra burden on the teachers, and makes it hard to fit everything into the school day, including supporting struggling students and students with special education needs. It is a relatively new program and the initial implementation had a lot of hiccups. That being said I have been blown away by how much my kid, currently in 1st grade, has learned. I was worried my kid would hate the Spanish but she seems to like it. I hope they keep it and continue to refine the implementation. We have so many Spanish speakers here. It makes sense to have kids learn in Spanish and English. Multilingual education is the norm in many countries.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:MCPS needs to cut language immersion & programming like that.

Focus on the basics
Trade programs
College tracking
gifted programming
Special education
General populace & education

This would not save any money. Immersion teachers do not get paid more than a regular elementary teacher. And the students still need to be in school, so they would just be in an English speaking class instead. Absolutely no impact on the budget.

Yes it would save money. Immersion programs have a different extra sets of curriculums, extra staff hiring goes into finding dual language teachers, there are central office positions that have to support those schools. Most of the kids in the programs, struggle with the language, parents sign up because they don't want their kids to be in a highly concentrated Latino school.

Oh you again. Just go away- I'm sorry your kids didn't get in but don't assume your reason for applying to language immersion is the same as everyone else's. (FWIW, we deliberatebly bought a house in bounds for a dual immersion school, which gasp, has a decent percentage of Latino students, because learning a foreign language is important to our family. sorry if that's a weird concept for you!)

This is true. They should have it for Spanish speaker only kids and make Spanish a special for all other kids.

Maybe we should start evaluating the need for language instruction at all in public schools- how many students can actually converse in the language upon gradation? And what is the need when the rest of the world learns English already? That's a lot of money that could be spent elsewhere.

That’s shortsighted. We had over 100 students in my HS who earned their seat of biliteracy this year in over 6 different languages. That seal gives them an advantage in hiring as well as earning more money. Many of these students are native speakers of the language they took the exam in, but many were not and some didn’t start learning their second language until MS.

Yes, but how many of these are from MCPS “immersion” programs?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Where do you see 220 MS teachers being cut, I don’t see that on the linked document. Can anyone verify this?

I also don’t see any MS teachers on the list.

It's on page 4. Why middle school is my question...we barely have enough staff as it is right now. If they are pre-cutting electives for 2027's math disaster, people need to start getting angry. We are just gutting education at this point. People making the decisions aren't the ones in classrooms. Cutting electives in middle school is the worst idea-we need more electives, not less. So many kids have stated that their favorite elective whether it be band, dance, music,tech, or theatre is the ONLY reason they go to school. I'm a counselor not a teacher, but from what I see/hear from students on a daily basis, this would absolutely negatively affect them. This is all for 15 additional minutes of math a day, which the state apparently thinks is super easy to implement without giving a second thought to how it would drastically alter scheduling for middle schools/hs and thus,cutting arts programs and electives for those 15 minutes of math that kids are probably already tuned out because their attention spans won't allow for it. Disgraceful.

Yes, I am pretty furious about this. The increased MS math minutes requirement is at the state level so folks need to fight it there (talk to the state Board of Ed members and your state legislators)-- but MCPS should be pushing back on it and they're not and that pisses me off. And they definitely shouldn't be cutting MS electives preemptively in 2026-2027, since there's a chance the state will reverse themselves before the middle school math minutes requirement is supposed to go into effect in 2027-2028.

Putting more time into math is good, BUT the issue isn't time, it's the curriculum and not identifying learning disabilities early and supporting them. Kids who cannot read will struggle in math.

Exactly so why are we potentially ruining a child's school experience for 15 extra minutes of math a day? Again, I don't think enough people know about this or are outraged by it. Probably because to an outsider (so MSDE should actually understand this, but they don't) 15 minutes sounds like it won't be that disruptive. It works for elementary school but it's a logistical nightmare for scheduling classes in MS/HS which will lead to programs being cut. It will also require hiring more math teachers when we have no money. This should really be what people are pressing the state and the county on right now.

So much time is wasted in school. 15 minutes is ok but how math is taught isn't working given the declining test scores.

Guess you missed the whole point about how entire programs could be eliminated to accommodate these additional 15 minutes. It's a BIG deal. They need to work on implementing more interventions, etc. but they do not need to do it in this way that is disruptive to everything else. MoCo has done nothing but try to keep the focus on math and reading in the last decade-for elementary students, science and social studies is often an afterthought "if we get to it, we get to it..." and the irony is, nothing is improving and everything is worse. That alone should be eye opening. Students need to be exposed to more than just reading and math. Theatre class is one way an elective can implement additional reading. Computer science electives have math components. Electives and other classes are beneficial. They give students a reason to go to school. They should not be withheld because people who havent been in classrooms in years think MORE automatically equals better. Quality, not quantity. Not a new concept, but here we are.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Where do you see 220 MS teachers being cut, I don’t see that on the linked document. Can anyone verify this?

I also don’t see any MS teachers on the list.

It's on page 4. Why middle school is my question...we barely have enough staff as it is right now. If they are pre-cutting electives for 2027's math disaster, people need to start getting angry. We are just gutting education at this point. People making the decisions aren't the ones in classrooms. Cutting electives in middle school is the worst idea-we need more electives, not less. So many kids have stated that their favorite elective whether it be band, dance, music,tech, or theatre is the ONLY reason they go to school. I'm a counselor not a teacher, but from what I see/hear from students on a daily basis, this would absolutely negatively affect them. This is all for 15 additional minutes of math a day, which the state apparently thinks is super easy to implement without giving a second thought to how it would drastically alter scheduling for middle schools/hs and thus,cutting arts programs and electives for those 15 minutes of math that kids are probably already tuned out because their attention spans won't allow for it. Disgraceful.

Yes, I am pretty furious about this. The increased MS math minutes requirement is at the state level so folks need to fight it there (talk to the state Board of Ed members and your state legislators)-- but MCPS should be pushing back on it and they're not and that pisses me off. And they definitely shouldn't be cutting MS electives preemptively in 2026-2027, since there's a chance the state will reverse themselves before the middle school math minutes requirement is supposed to go into effect in 2027-2028.

Putting more time into math is good, BUT the issue isn't time, it's the curriculum and not identifying learning disabilities early and supporting them. Kids who cannot read will struggle in math.

Exactly so why are we potentially ruining a child's school experience for 15 extra minutes of math a day? Again, I don't think enough people know about this or are outraged by it. Probably because to an outsider (so MSDE should actually understand this, but they don't) 15 minutes sounds like it won't be that disruptive. It works for elementary school but it's a logistical nightmare for scheduling classes in MS/HS which will lead to programs being cut. It will also require hiring more math teachers when we have no money. This should really be what people are pressing the state and the county on right now.

The logistics of 15 more minutes of math daily in secondary schools is concerning.... will it be one class has 15 minutes more added to it in the bell schedule? But then that would mean all math is being taught in that period at the same time. So what are the math teachers teaching the other periods?

Or will there be different bell schedules for different sections of math at different times of day. The halls will be confusing and hard to monitor (when they're already hard to monitor.

Or will several class periods just be extended by 15 minutes, which means students won't get 7 classes a day unless a few classes are also reduced in time.

How is this going to be decided? By school or overall as a county?

There's a lot of potential pot holes to this change

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Where do you see 220 MS teachers being cut, I don’t see that on the linked document. Can anyone verify this?

I also don’t see any MS teachers on the list.

It's on page 4. Why middle school is my question...we barely have enough staff as it is right now. If they are pre-cutting electives for 2027's math disaster, people need to start getting angry. We are just gutting education at this point. People making the decisions aren't the ones in classrooms. Cutting electives in middle school is the worst idea-we need more electives, not less. So many kids have stated that their favorite elective whether it be band, dance, music,tech, or theatre is the ONLY reason they go to school. I'm a counselor not a teacher, but from what I see/hear from students on a daily basis, this would absolutely negatively affect them. This is all for 15 additional minutes of math a day, which the state apparently thinks is super easy to implement without giving a second thought to how it would drastically alter scheduling for middle schools/hs and thus,cutting arts programs and electives for those 15 minutes of math that kids are probably already tuned out because their attention spans won't allow for it. Disgraceful.

Yes, I am pretty furious about this. The increased MS math minutes requirement is at the state level so folks need to fight it there (talk to the state Board of Ed members and your state legislators)-- but MCPS should be pushing back on it and they're not and that pisses me off. And they definitely shouldn't be cutting MS electives preemptively in 2026-2027, since there's a chance the state will reverse themselves before the middle school math minutes requirement is supposed to go into effect in 2027-2028.

Putting more time into math is good, BUT the issue isn't time, it's the curriculum and not identifying learning disabilities early and supporting them. Kids who cannot read will struggle in math.

Exactly so why are we potentially ruining a child's school experience for 15 extra minutes of math a day? Again, I don't think enough people know about this or are outraged by it. Probably because to an outsider (so MSDE should actually understand this, but they don't) 15 minutes sounds like it won't be that disruptive. It works for elementary school but it's a logistical nightmare for scheduling classes in MS/HS which will lead to programs being cut. It will also require hiring more math teachers when we have no money. This should really be what people are pressing the state and the county on right now.

The logistics of 15 more minutes of math daily in secondary schools is concerning.... will it be one class has 15 minutes more added to it in the bell schedule? But then that would mean all math is being taught in that period at the same time. So what are the math teachers teaching the other periods?

Or will there be different bell schedules for different sections of math at different times of day. The halls will be confusing and hard to monitor (when they're already hard to monitor.

Or will several class periods just be extended by 15 minutes, which means students won't get 7 classes a day unless a few classes are also reduced in time.

How is this going to be decided? By school or overall as a county?

There's a lot of potential pot holes to this change

No one has addressed it other than announcing it. It probably won't be addressed until way too late when CO finally catches up and realizes we have a problem.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Where do you see 220 MS teachers being cut, I don’t see that on the linked document. Can anyone verify this?

I also don’t see any MS teachers on the list.

It's on page 4. Why middle school is my question...we barely have enough staff as it is right now. If they are pre-cutting electives for 2027's math disaster, people need to start getting angry. We are just gutting education at this point. People making the decisions aren't the ones in classrooms. Cutting electives in middle school is the worst idea-we need more electives, not less. So many kids have stated that their favorite elective whether it be band, dance, music,tech, or theatre is the ONLY reason they go to school. I'm a counselor not a teacher, but from what I see/hear from students on a daily basis, this would absolutely negatively affect them. This is all for 15 additional minutes of math a day, which the state apparently thinks is super easy to implement without giving a second thought to how it would drastically alter scheduling for middle schools/hs and thus,cutting arts programs and electives for those 15 minutes of math that kids are probably already tuned out because their attention spans won't allow for it. Disgraceful.

Yes, I am pretty furious about this. The increased MS math minutes requirement is at the state level so folks need to fight it there (talk to the state Board of Ed members and your state legislators)-- but MCPS should be pushing back on it and they're not and that pisses me off. And they definitely shouldn't be cutting MS electives preemptively in 2026-2027, since there's a chance the state will reverse themselves before the middle school math minutes requirement is supposed to go into effect in 2027-2028.

Putting more time into math is good, BUT the issue isn't time, it's the curriculum and not identifying learning disabilities early and supporting them. Kids who cannot read will struggle in math.

Exactly so why are we potentially ruining a child's school experience for 15 extra minutes of math a day? Again, I don't think enough people know about this or are outraged by it. Probably because to an outsider (so MSDE should actually understand this, but they don't) 15 minutes sounds like it won't be that disruptive. It works for elementary school but it's a logistical nightmare for scheduling classes in MS/HS which will lead to programs being cut. It will also require hiring more math teachers when we have no money. This should really be what people are pressing the state and the county on right now.

The logistics of 15 more minutes of math daily in secondary schools is concerning.... will it be one class has 15 minutes more added to it in the bell schedule? But then that would mean all math is being taught in that period at the same time. So what are the math teachers teaching the other periods?

Or will there be different bell schedules for different sections of math at different times of day. The halls will be confusing and hard to monitor (when they're already hard to monitor.

Or will several class periods just be extended by 15 minutes, which means students won't get 7 classes a day unless a few classes are also reduced in time.

How is this going to be decided? By school or overall as a county?

There's a lot of potential pot holes to this change

No one has addressed it other than announcing it. It probably won't be addressed until way too late when CO finally catches up and realizes we have a problem.

MCPS and other districts aka counties should have already started fighting back. Unless the state changes it's mandate, it will mess everything up. If the state says, 15 additional minutes of max that can be used in different ways (use advisory for additional math only, count science instruction as math, etc.) it will ruin how ms/hs schedules. It's such a small problem that turns into a massive problem which is why they are probably getting away with it, because right now, it doesn't seem like a big change.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Immersion programs are ways for kids to get out of their assigned schools. It is also not true "immersion." For instance, kids taking upper level Chinese classes at Churchill are not in an "immersion" program. True immersion program is when Chinese is used to teach math, social studies, etc. But it is a way to get out of their assigned HS.

MCPS doesn't have any HS-level immersion programs. Those in the two elementary Chinese immersion programs get Math & Science in the target language, so less than those in the full-immersion French and Spanish programs (everything but specials), but they are still "immersed" in the language for those subjects.

Two-way immersion, where some days instruction is in Spanish and other days it is in English, also is "immersion," if also not as fully immersed. I've been befuddled by the repeated anti-immersion-program posts (often with inaccurate/outdated information) of the past couple of months, but I'm guessing, given the relatively small budgetary savings (if any) vs. viable alternatives in serving the needs of a large plurality in the county, that they largely are coming from those who unjustly have been forced into two-way, when they did not want that, by virtue of its being the only model of instruction at their home elementary instead of it having been designed more appropriately as an opt-in, as the other immersion programs are.

The kids I know in these programs, including ones at the schools, are struggling in both English and Spanish as neither is well done.

DP
My kid is in TWI at Oakland Terrace. I have mixed feelings about the program. It is definitely challenging to implement, places an extra burden on the teachers, and makes it hard to fit everything into the school day, including supporting struggling students and students with special education needs. It is a relatively new program and the initial implementation had a lot of hiccups. That being said I have been blown away by how much my kid, currently in 1st grade, has learned. I was worried my kid would hate the Spanish but she seems to like it. I hope they keep it and continue to refine the implementation. We have so many Spanish speakers here. It makes sense to have kids learn in Spanish and English. Multilingual education is the norm in many countries.

OTES was never good about supporting special ed and struggling kids. It would make more sense to have the no english spanish speakers taught in Spanish and have intensive English classes for them vs. doing it for all.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Where do you see 220 MS teachers being cut, I don’t see that on the linked document. Can anyone verify this?

I also don’t see any MS teachers on the list.

It's on page 4. Why middle school is my question...we barely have enough staff as it is right now. If they are pre-cutting electives for 2027's math disaster, people need to start getting angry. We are just gutting education at this point. People making the decisions aren't the ones in classrooms. Cutting electives in middle school is the worst idea-we need more electives, not less. So many kids have stated that their favorite elective whether it be band, dance, music,tech, or theatre is the ONLY reason they go to school. I'm a counselor not a teacher, but from what I see/hear from students on a daily basis, this would absolutely negatively affect them. This is all for 15 additional minutes of math a day, which the state apparently thinks is super easy to implement without giving a second thought to how it would drastically alter scheduling for middle schools/hs and thus,cutting arts programs and electives for those 15 minutes of math that kids are probably already tuned out because their attention spans won't allow for it. Disgraceful.

Yes, I am pretty furious about this. The increased MS math minutes requirement is at the state level so folks need to fight it there (talk to the state Board of Ed members and your state legislators)-- but MCPS should be pushing back on it and they're not and that pisses me off. And they definitely shouldn't be cutting MS electives preemptively in 2026-2027, since there's a chance the state will reverse themselves before the middle school math minutes requirement is supposed to go into effect in 2027-2028.

Putting more time into math is good, BUT the issue isn't time, it's the curriculum and not identifying learning disabilities early and supporting them. Kids who cannot read will struggle in math.

Exactly so why are we potentially ruining a child's school experience for 15 extra minutes of math a day? Again, I don't think enough people know about this or are outraged by it. Probably because to an outsider (so MSDE should actually understand this, but they don't) 15 minutes sounds like it won't be that disruptive. It works for elementary school but it's a logistical nightmare for scheduling classes in MS/HS which will lead to programs being cut. It will also require hiring more math teachers when we have no money. This should really be what people are pressing the state and the county on right now.

So much time is wasted in school. 15 minutes is ok but how math is taught isn't working given the declining test scores.

Guess you missed the whole point about how entire programs could be eliminated to accommodate these additional 15 minutes. It's a BIG deal. They need to work on implementing more interventions, etc. but they do not need to do it in this way that is disruptive to everything else. MoCo has done nothing but try to keep the focus on math and reading in the last decade-for elementary students, science and social studies is often an afterthought "if we get to it, we get to it..." and the irony is, nothing is improving and everything is worse. That alone should be eye opening. Students need to be exposed to more than just reading and math. Theatre class is one way an elective can implement additional reading. Computer science electives have math components. Electives and other classes are beneficial. They give students a reason to go to school. They should not be withheld because people who havent been in classrooms in years think MORE automatically equals better. Quality, not quantity. Not a new concept, but here we are.

They are eliminating programs for other reasons, not this.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Where do you see 220 MS teachers being cut, I don’t see that on the linked document. Can anyone verify this?

I also don’t see any MS teachers on the list.

It's on page 4. Why middle school is my question...we barely have enough staff as it is right now. If they are pre-cutting electives for 2027's math disaster, people need to start getting angry. We are just gutting education at this point. People making the decisions aren't the ones in classrooms. Cutting electives in middle school is the worst idea-we need more electives, not less. So many kids have stated that their favorite elective whether it be band, dance, music,tech, or theatre is the ONLY reason they go to school. I'm a counselor not a teacher, but from what I see/hear from students on a daily basis, this would absolutely negatively affect them. This is all for 15 additional minutes of math a day, which the state apparently thinks is super easy to implement without giving a second thought to how it would drastically alter scheduling for middle schools/hs and thus,cutting arts programs and electives for those 15 minutes of math that kids are probably already tuned out because their attention spans won't allow for it. Disgraceful.

Yes, I am pretty furious about this. The increased MS math minutes requirement is at the state level so folks need to fight it there (talk to the state Board of Ed members and your state legislators)-- but MCPS should be pushing back on it and they're not and that pisses me off. And they definitely shouldn't be cutting MS electives preemptively in 2026-2027, since there's a chance the state will reverse themselves before the middle school math minutes requirement is supposed to go into effect in 2027-2028.

Putting more time into math is good, BUT the issue isn't time, it's the curriculum and not identifying learning disabilities early and supporting them. Kids who cannot read will struggle in math.

Exactly so why are we potentially ruining a child's school experience for 15 extra minutes of math a day? Again, I don't think enough people know about this or are outraged by it. Probably because to an outsider (so MSDE should actually understand this, but they don't) 15 minutes sounds like it won't be that disruptive. It works for elementary school but it's a logistical nightmare for scheduling classes in MS/HS which will lead to programs being cut. It will also require hiring more math teachers when we have no money. This should really be what people are pressing the state and the county on right now.

So much time is wasted in school. 15 minutes is ok but how math is taught isn't working given the declining test scores.

Guess you missed the whole point about how entire programs could be eliminated to accommodate these additional 15 minutes. It's a BIG deal. They need to work on implementing more interventions, etc. but they do not need to do it in this way that is disruptive to everything else. MoCo has done nothing but try to keep the focus on math and reading in the last decade-for elementary students, science and social studies is often an afterthought "if we get to it, we get to it..." and the irony is, nothing is improving and everything is worse. That alone should be eye opening. Students need to be exposed to more than just reading and math. Theatre class is one way an elective can implement additional reading. Computer science electives have math components. Electives and other classes are beneficial. They give students a reason to go to school. They should not be withheld because people who havent been in classrooms in years think MORE automatically equals better. Quality, not quantity. Not a new concept, but here we are.

They are eliminating programs for other reasons, not this.

Not true at all. I've been in many panicked math CS meetings with my school, the cluster, and CO. Please don't post if you don't know what you're talking about.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Where do you see 220 MS teachers being cut, I don’t see that on the linked document. Can anyone verify this?

I also don’t see any MS teachers on the list.

It's on page 4. Why middle school is my question...we barely have enough staff as it is right now. If they are pre-cutting electives for 2027's math disaster, people need to start getting angry. We are just gutting education at this point. People making the decisions aren't the ones in classrooms. Cutting electives in middle school is the worst idea-we need more electives, not less. So many kids have stated that their favorite elective whether it be band, dance, music,tech, or theatre is the ONLY reason they go to school. I'm a counselor not a teacher, but from what I see/hear from students on a daily basis, this would absolutely negatively affect them. This is all for 15 additional minutes of math a day, which the state apparently thinks is super easy to implement without giving a second thought to how it would drastically alter scheduling for middle schools/hs and thus,cutting arts programs and electives for those 15 minutes of math that kids are probably already tuned out because their attention spans won't allow for it. Disgraceful.

Yes, I am pretty furious about this. The increased MS math minutes requirement is at the state level so folks need to fight it there (talk to the state Board of Ed members and your state legislators)-- but MCPS should be pushing back on it and they're not and that pisses me off. And they definitely shouldn't be cutting MS electives preemptively in 2026-2027, since there's a chance the state will reverse themselves before the middle school math minutes requirement is supposed to go into effect in 2027-2028.

Putting more time into math is good, BUT the issue isn't time, it's the curriculum and not identifying learning disabilities early and supporting them. Kids who cannot read will struggle in math.

Exactly so why are we potentially ruining a child's school experience for 15 extra minutes of math a day? Again, I don't think enough people know about this or are outraged by it. Probably because to an outsider (so MSDE should actually understand this, but they don't) 15 minutes sounds like it won't be that disruptive. It works for elementary school but it's a logistical nightmare for scheduling classes in MS/HS which will lead to programs being cut. It will also require hiring more math teachers when we have no money. This should really be what people are pressing the state and the county on right now.

The logistics of 15 more minutes of math daily in secondary schools is concerning.... will it be one class has 15 minutes more added to it in the bell schedule? But then that would mean all math is being taught in that period at the same time. So what are the math teachers teaching the other periods?

Or will there be different bell schedules for different sections of math at different times of day. The halls will be confusing and hard to monitor (when they're already hard to monitor.

Or will several class periods just be extended by 15 minutes, which means students won't get 7 classes a day unless a few classes are also reduced in time.

How is this going to be decided? By school or overall as a county?

There's a lot of potential pot holes to this change

Nope, they can't just add one class with 15 minutes added. They will either go down to 6 60-minute periods a day, or do double-period math. Either one only leaves 1 elective period (or none for kids who get intervention, resource, EML, etc services during that time.)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The way I see it is that MCPS has wasted away so much money on frivolous and unnecessary things. MCPS is like a bratty child who tantrums for more candy (money) and the council has always given in. After all, it's easy for them, it's not their money. Just raise taxes.

Now you have a someone who needs to reign in this bratty and spoiled behemoth aka MCPS. I wish they would cut the spending instead of staff, but something has to give. This is a long time coming.

While I agree with you, it's not going to hit the people that deserve it. It will directly affect the people who have nothing to do with these decisions including students. We should be cutting CO positions, looking at every budget line item, and cutting CO salaries if we can't cut their positions. Taylor's salary should be cut as well. As he says, he sleeps fine at night because he thinks he's making good decisions. I think the rest of the county would beg to differ.

I hate to say it but it's not about who deserves it or not. I agree 100% that every budget line item needs to be audited and that bloated CO needs a cut.

So our students deserve to suffer because you want to stick it to the horrible people in charge of finances? You're part of the problem.

They are trying to make the money go toward the students and not the unnecessary things.

Supporting funding cuts doesn't do that, though, it just results in hurting kids (and staff.) The only way to do that is by demanding that the Board of Ed hold MCPS accountable.

[Anonymous]

Gotta hand it to Taylor, he plays hardball politics in putting specific cuts squarely on the county councils' backs for them to take the blame.

At a certain point, they are going to be sick of him, as are so many in the community already.