MCPS teachers please tell me..

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Things I see on a daily basis teaching high school:

- 100+ students lined up out the door every morning and after open lunch, waiting for late passes that mean absolutely nothing because no one tracks them and there are no consequences for tardiness.

- Dozens and dozens of students just roaming the halls, sitting in stairwells, or coming and going from local eating establishments while classes are going on, with no consequences.

- Groups of students vaping or smoking pot in the bathrooms and only being told by security to return to class when they are found.

- Students basically gaming the grading system, doing the bare minimum to get by. Because students earn 50% now, even for assignments they don't complete, they know they only need to do a couple of assignments per quarter to pass the course. Even the high fliers know that earning a 79.5% one quarter and an 89.5% another quarter results in an A on the high school transcript under our policy. Semester exams are a thing of the past, so students are not held accountable for retaining what they've learned, with the exception of AP courses. Cheating is rampant because, often we are told that we must give students another chance to complete the assignment rather than assigning a zero. This grading policy also results in almost everyone being "eligible" so losing the ability to play a sport or do another activity of interest is no longer a motivator.

I could go on and on....

You might be asking yourself, why aren't teachers penalizing students for being late, or talking back, or spending most of a class period in the bathrooms? The reason is because there is absolutely nothing we can do. If we assign lunch detention and kids don't show up, there is no follow through or support from administration. If we stop them in the halls while they are roaming during class, we just get eyerolls or worse. Kids who get in "real trouble" are sent to restorative justice circles instead of being suspended as they would have been years ago.

I encourage other teachers to add on to this list. I work in high school, so I know very little about the specifics of what's happening at the elementary level.

I wish I knew which high school you are referring to because it sounds exactly like the high school where I teach.

Sound like where I work too, but we don't have open lunch or a walkable neighborhood to get food. I think for the kids who are in classes and motivated, there's a lot of good going on, and a variety of opportunities. We do have some wonderful teachers who really care about the kids. But it's hard when the kids are walking the halls and vaping in the bathroom etc and nothing is being done about it.

[Anonymous]

The focus in MCPS is on kids with IEPs and this that are EML (even more attention for those dually coded). It’s a crapshoot from school to school what kind of leadership you’ll get because McPs is a “system of schools” and not a school system.

Our child’s elementary teacher was suspended for a week earlier this year for hitting and shaking a kid in front of the entire class. No communication from admin about the incident or follow up counseling for kids that witnessed it. Just a bunch of random subs while their classmate got transferred to another class. After winter break, the teacher told kids to stop wearing clothing with pockets because the class was full of thieves.

The principal presents to parents as if the teacher did nothing wrong but I pray he chewed the teacher out behind closed doors. She has over 30 years in McPS so I doubt there are any kind of formal
Observations. At this point, MCPs is desperate and will take any warm
Body to work in a classroom.

Also, it seems so ridiculous to me that elementary kids don’t get social studies and science regularly. Our school will do one subject weekly for a month and then switch to the other. This is where private schools have a huge leg up. They are actually teaching all subjects AND incorporating true SEL and EF in their curriculums.

MCPs was a si king ship, but it’s recently been lit on fire by all of the bad PR. Anyone that can gets out and gets their kids out

[Anonymous]

Special Ed teacher (one that hasn't left yet), and while I understand the teacher shortage, especially the special ed teacher shortage, is a nationwide problem, MCPS isn't doing anything to improve the situation. In fact it's getting worse, so much worse

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:All school districts have issues. MCPS issues get blown out of portion because the district is so large and the type of parents that live here.

So much has changed in eduction and in the district makeup in the last 20-30 years. MCPS use to be known as private school for free and folks still want it to be that.

Good teaching and learning happens here on a daily basis and families that want a good education get one.

Scarcity of some programming and lack of rigor/fidelity across schools to the programming MCPS suggests as being generally available means that not everyone gets similar educational opportunities versus their ability/need. That said, there are certain communities where demographics favor better action on this front. As always, some are more equal than others...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The focus in MCPS is on kids with IEPs and this that are EML (even more attention for those dually coded). It’s a crapshoot from school to school what kind of leadership you’ll get because McPs is a “system of schools” and not a school system.

Our child’s elementary teacher was suspended for a week earlier this year for hitting and shaking a kid in front of the entire class. No communication from admin about the incident or follow up counseling for kids that witnessed it. Just a bunch of random subs while their classmate got transferred to another class. After winter break, the teacher told kids to stop wearing clothing with pockets because the class was full of thieves.

The principal presents to parents as if the teacher did nothing wrong but I pray he chewed the teacher out behind closed doors. She has over 30 years in McPS so I doubt there are any kind of formal
Observations. At this point, MCPs is desperate and will take any warm
Body to work in a classroom.

Also, it seems so ridiculous to me that elementary kids don’t get social studies and science regularly. Our school will do one subject weekly for a month and then switch to the other. This is where private schools have a huge leg up. They are actually teaching all subjects AND incorporating true SEL and EF in their curriculums.

MCPs was a si king ship, but it’s recently been lit on fire by all of the bad PR. Anyone that can gets out and gets their kids out

I strongly disagree with this statement. MCPS does the absolute minimum for kids with IEPs. Sure kids with disruptive behavior suck attention away, but most kids with IEPs are not disruptive and parents are forced to spend money on outside resources and fight tooth and nail for what is provided at school.

[Anonymous]

15 year teacher here and yes, it’s gotten that bad. Terrible reading curriculum at the elementary level, kids that should be in specialized programs are forced to be in homeschool model for 8+ months until they have disrupted enough classrooms and other parents threaten to sue, and admin is not allowed to suspend kids. Budget freeze means we can no longer buy any supplies or resources…. The list goes on.

[Anonymous]

Also a high school teacher. I agree with the other comments. That said, high achieving kids are still doing fine in strong parent support and lots of APs. The non college bound kids are basically in daycare with few consequences.

What has worried me most now is the overall lack of sustained reading skills and the tech addiction issues.

[Anonymous]

Need strong motivational leaders to reach students who have potential but may lack support from home for various reasons. They too can be high achieving if guidance is provided.

[Anonymous]

Essentially the consensus is that like most schools districts in America, MCPS has its share of problems. Unless you are going to run to a small wealthy township, you will encounter them. That said, kids are still getting a good education and great opportunities. MCPS is still head and shoulders above many many school districts in the nation.

[Anonymous]

Yes things are bad, but things are bad everywhere for teachers and the education system.

The bigger problems with MCPS that are specific to the county relate to the issues that have been seen in the news for the last several months. Teachers have powered through and continued to do their best despite having no support from central office when it comes to being able to work in safe environments. The focus has always remained on students and teachers are doing the absolute best they can.

Just ask the 25+ employees who left Farquhar Middle School at the end of last school year. They had gone years working for Beidleman who led with fear and intimidation. These teachers did the best they could given the situations and eventually had to leave to work in a safer place.

[Anonymous]

Although someone mentioned the high number of current principal vacancies, no one has mentioned the shortages among teachers, support staff, and substitute teachers. There are teaching and paraeducator positions at my school that were never filled for this school year and are still being covered by longterm substitutes because there are no viable candidates applying for them. What will the system do if this situation gets worse and classes and bus routes cannot actually be covered in the future?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Recently moved to this county and considering local public school for our youngest child. Are the MCPS issues I hear about truly being "overblown" as I read on a post on here? Or is it truly that MCPS is declining and teachers are struggling to keep up? I have read that teachers get little lesson planning time, are micro-managed, supplies are scarce (for ex copying paper at schools), lack of support to kids with behavioral issues which impacts other students' learning? Anything that you would like to share, please do so!

Yes, there are a few vocal malcontents. Today's MCPS education is far better than even 20 years ago if you want to learn, but over the last 30 years the demographics of this country and county have changed which impacts standardized test averages. Not all students are focused on academics, but fortunately, students have choices.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Essentially the consensus is that like most schools districts in America, MCPS has its share of problems. Unless you are going to run to a small wealthy township, you will encounter them. That said, kids are still getting a good education and great opportunities. MCPS is still head and shoulders above many many school districts in the nation.

Truth!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Things I see on a daily basis teaching high school:

- 100+ students lined up out the door every morning and after open lunch, waiting for late passes that mean absolutely nothing because no one tracks them and there are no consequences for tardiness.

- Dozens and dozens of students just roaming the halls, sitting in stairwells, or coming and going from local eating establishments while classes are going on, with no consequences.

- Groups of students vaping or smoking pot in the bathrooms and only being told by security to return to class when they are found.

- Students basically gaming the grading system, doing the bare minimum to get by. Because students earn 50% now, even for assignments they don't complete, they know they only need to do a couple of assignments per quarter to pass the course. Even the high fliers know that earning a 79.5% one quarter and an 89.5% another quarter results in an A on the high school transcript under our policy. Semester exams are a thing of the past, so students are not held accountable for retaining what they've learned, with the exception of AP courses. Cheating is rampant because, often we are told that we must give students another chance to complete the assignment rather than assigning a zero. This grading policy also results in almost everyone being "eligible" so losing the ability to play a sport or do another activity of interest is no longer a motivator.

I could go on and on....

You might be asking yourself, why aren't teachers penalizing students for being late, or talking back, or spending most of a class period in the bathrooms? The reason is because there is absolutely nothing we can do. If we assign lunch detention and kids don't show up, there is no follow through or support from administration. If we stop them in the halls while they are roaming during class, we just get eyerolls or worse. Kids who get in "real trouble" are sent to restorative justice circles instead of being suspended as they would have been years ago.

I encourage other teachers to add on to this list. I work in high school, so I know very little about the specifics of what's happening at the elementary level.

All this sounds exactly like my high school in the 1980s.

It also sounds nothing like my son’s MCPS high school experience right now.