Do you feel that FCPS has your child’s best interests at heart?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:FCPS cares about meeting state and federal standards for what public education is supposed to provide. Kids are supposed to graduate having mastered the material that is captured in the SOL, and that is not necessarily hard to do. It is the level of education that kids need to be productive members of society if they don’t go to college.

That is very different than what many parents expect, although I would bet that there are more parents happy with what FCPS provides then who are unhappy with what is being provided.

FCPS will provide the services needed to meet the state and federal mandates for kids with special needs, so keeping kids on grade level where they can. Parents are going to need to look to outside services if they want kids to be more then on grade level because the schools don’t have the mandate or money to provide services to ush beyond that.

FCPS will provide advanced options in the form of AAP, DE, and AP/IB classes but they are not going to be able to meet the needs of super advanced kids in ES. Parents will have to supplement in areas that they think there are weaknesses or where kids are not challenged enough.

I have an 8th grader, he has had some great opportunities. We are happy with the education he is getting.

If your child is bullied at school, would you not report that issue to school because it is out of scope of academics? Do you just go straight to the police without getting input from admin?

If your child regularly bringing up the same issue about a teacher all year, do you ignore it because your child must be too sensitive and there can’t possibly be something going on? It isn’t academic so you don’t bring it up to the teacher or admin to figure out the problem?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I do not feel this way. I have many examples of teachers and admins not caring but also, I get it- they have a job and caring about kids is not part of it. Caring takes a lot of energy and time and the schools are too big to add that to their plate.

I think schools should care about things that impact kids in school and out but I don't think that is their job

Their job is to teach and many seem to not care about teaching the subject at all. That is hurting kids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:See subject. I’m not talking about individual teachers. I’m talking about whether the system is set up to care about students as humans as opposed to widgets.

Should FCPS only care about providing a teacher who teaches focuses solely on academics ignoring also other aspects (eg, behavior, personal issues) or should it care only about getting kids out the door in 12th grade regardless of grades?

Should it care about students welfare out side of school or their mental health?

If a parent sees a problem outside of school that may impact what happens inside of school, should they bother keeping school/FCPS informed?

If there are issues happening in school (eg, bullying) that may impact what happens at home, should FCPS/school inform the parents?

I'll be brief and to the point I can't wait till my kids are done with FCPS.

[Anonymous]

No.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:FCPS cares about meeting state and federal standards for what public education is supposed to provide. Kids are supposed to graduate having mastered the material that is captured in the SOL, and that is not necessarily hard to do. It is the level of education that kids need to be productive members of society if they don’t go to college.

That is very different than what many parents expect, although I would bet that there are more parents happy with what FCPS provides then who are unhappy with what is being provided.

FCPS will provide the services needed to meet the state and federal mandates for kids with special needs, so keeping kids on grade level where they can. Parents are going to need to look to outside services if they want kids to be more then on grade level because the schools don’t have the mandate or money to provide services to ush beyond that.

FCPS will provide advanced options in the form of AAP, DE, and AP/IB classes but they are not going to be able to meet the needs of super advanced kids in ES. Parents will have to supplement in areas that they think there are weaknesses or where kids are not challenged enough.

I have an 8th grader, he has had some great opportunities. We are happy with the education he is getting.

They have been sued multiple times for NOT meeting the needs of special education students.

[Anonymous]

No. Queen Reid only cares about her safety and providing Gatehouse jobs for those who bow and courtesy to her. The SB only cares about their pet items and political future.

Students are merely pawns in a dystopian performance staged by the “adults” in charge.

[Anonymous]

I guess I have never seen a system care. EVER. That goes for large companies, large government etc. Because if it cares all the time, efficiency and waste starts to creep into the conversation.

AI doesn’t care either because systems dont

Could this system be build to put more of individual children’s needs ahead of the system? probably.

BUT that also comes with issues because kids do have to learn to be part of a civilization and society. Part of that learning is that you don’t come first in a group most of the time and the needs of the majority of others can outweigh what is optimal for you.

I think Apps have trained us to think we should be in charge of everything. Schools can’t do that becuase they should and have to serve the needs of the majority over the individual.

Basically OP, no they don’t, but your question on some level denies the fundamental reason schooling exists: to make good citizens that contribute to the greater good while also excelling individually.

[Anonymous]

No. But understanding that lets you free yourself from worrying over much about some of their more bizarre, policies, rules, and decisions.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:No. But understanding that lets you free yourself from worrying over much about some of their more bizarre, policies, rules, and decisions.

+1

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I guess I have never seen a system care. EVER. That goes for large companies, large government etc. Because if it cares all the time, efficiency and waste starts to creep into the conversation.

AI doesn’t care either because systems dont

Could this system be build to put more of individual children’s needs ahead of the system? probably.

BUT that also comes with issues because kids do have to learn to be part of a civilization and society. Part of that learning is that you don’t come first in a group most of the time and the needs of the majority of others can outweigh what is optimal for you.

I think Apps have trained us to think we should be in charge of everything. Schools can’t do that becuase they should and have to serve the needs of the majority over the individual.

Basically OP, no they don’t, but your question on some level denies the fundamental reason schooling exists: to make good citizens that contribute to the greater good while also excelling individually.

I argue that the system is not making good citizens. They have been made widgets and taught to ignore problems right in front of them. Let me give you an example. A few years ago, my child made a new friend who had gotten into drugs. He didn’t know it at the time. One day at lunch, that friend OD’d in the middle of the cafeteria. Obviously, school doesn’t want bunches of kids standing over the kid, so they have them disperse. My kid who was clearly upset and concerned about his friend was told it was nothing but en as he witnessed his friend being taken away by EMT. The NEXT DAY the kid is at their sports practice.

Schools teach kids things that are not strictly academic. The above incident taught kids not to get involved, don’t believe what is happening before their eyes, bottle their emotions, etc. That is what the SYSTEM is doing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:See subject. I’m not talking about individual teachers. I’m talking about whether the system is set up to care about students as humans as opposed to widgets.

Should FCPS only care about providing a teacher who teaches focuses solely on academics ignoring also other aspects (eg, behavior, personal issues) or should it care only about getting kids out the door in 12th grade regardless of grades?

Should it care about students welfare out side of school or their mental health?

If a parent sees a problem outside of school that may impact what happens inside of school, should they bother keeping school/FCPS informed?

If there are issues happening in school (eg, bullying) that may impact what happens at home, should FCPS/school inform the parents?

Start parenting yourself you brought them into this world.

Kids have bullied since the beginning of time.

It is your job to teach your kid confidence and what to do if they are bullied.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:No. But understanding that lets you free yourself from worrying over much about some of their more bizarre, policies, rules, and decisions.

Exactly, prioritize other things.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:FCPS cares about meeting state and federal standards for what public education is supposed to provide. Kids are supposed to graduate having mastered the material that is captured in the SOL, and that is not necessarily hard to do. It is the level of education that kids need to be productive members of society if they don’t go to college.

That is very different than what many parents expect, although I would bet that there are more parents happy with what FCPS provides then who are unhappy with what is being provided.

FCPS will provide the services needed to meet the state and federal mandates for kids with special needs, so keeping kids on grade level where they can. Parents are going to need to look to outside services if they want kids to be more then on grade level because the schools don’t have the mandate or money to provide services to ush beyond that.

FCPS will provide advanced options in the form of AAP, DE, and AP/IB classes but they are not going to be able to meet the needs of super advanced kids in ES. Parents will have to supplement in areas that they think there are weaknesses or where kids are not challenged enough.

I have an 8th grader, he has had some great opportunities. We are happy with the education he is getting.

Exactly. This is such a loaded question and I have noticed that many parents who complain have unrealistic expectations of what they expect a teacher/administrator/school/system in public education to do for their child in a specific, isolated incident that only affects them. There are a number of these instances already mentioned on this thread.

But if you're talking about a systemic service issue, then you have to acknowledge that FCPS is made up of 180,000+ students who all have different backgrounds, abilities and needs. Their job is to serve them ALL. The system has to function broadly because it is a large system - the 9th largest school system in the country. So we have systemic policies in place that go beyond the classroom to provide services such as special needs assessment and services, school psychologists in every school, police resource officers in every school for safety, free and reduced lunch programs, ESOL programs, bilingual community liaisons at each school, health insurance options, summer school recovery and enrichment programs, adult education programs, professional development training for teachers, and the list goes on.

I would say that each of the above programs is not purely a "classroom/education" program, but directly supports the students, teachers and families and are all examples of the system "caring" about students and their success.

It's such an entitlement to complain that your child had an issue with a specific student, teacher or administrator and that you tried to be a squeaky wheel to get the issue resolved to your complete satisfaction and if it is resolved with anything less than your complete satisfaction that the entire system doesn't care about your kid. This forum is FILLED with these types of complainers who then paint the entire system with a brush of being inadequate and uncaring instead of acknowledging that the entire public school system can't be about pleasing one family, but instead attempting to service all equally and equitably.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:FCPS cares about meeting state and federal standards for what public education is supposed to provide. Kids are supposed to graduate having mastered the material that is captured in the SOL, and that is not necessarily hard to do. It is the level of education that kids need to be productive members of society if they don’t go to college.

That is very different than what many parents expect, although I would bet that there are more parents happy with what FCPS provides then who are unhappy with what is being provided.

FCPS will provide the services needed to meet the state and federal mandates for kids with special needs, so keeping kids on grade level where they can. Parents are going to need to look to outside services if they want kids to be more then on grade level because the schools don’t have the mandate or money to provide services to ush beyond that.

FCPS will provide advanced options in the form of AAP, DE, and AP/IB classes but they are not going to be able to meet the needs of super advanced kids in ES. Parents will have to supplement in areas that they think there are weaknesses or where kids are not challenged enough.

I have an 8th grader, he has had some great opportunities. We are happy with the education he is getting.

Exactly. This is such a loaded question and I have noticed that many parents who complain have unrealistic expectations of what they expect a teacher/administrator/school/system in public education to do for their child in a specific, isolated incident that only affects them. There are a number of these instances already mentioned on this thread.

But if you're talking about a systemic service issue, then you have to acknowledge that FCPS is made up of 180,000+ students who all have different backgrounds, abilities and needs. Their job is to serve them ALL. The system has to function broadly because it is a large system - the 9th largest school system in the country. So we have systemic policies in place that go beyond the classroom to provide services such as special needs assessment and services, school psychologists in every school, police resource officers in every school for safety, free and reduced lunch programs, ESOL programs, bilingual community liaisons at each school, health insurance options, summer school recovery and enrichment programs, adult education programs, professional development training for teachers, and the list goes on.

I would say that each of the above programs is not purely a "classroom/education" program, but directly supports the students, teachers and families and are all examples of the system "caring" about students and their success.

It's such an entitlement to complain that your child had an issue with a specific student, teacher or administrator and that you tried to be a squeaky wheel to get the issue resolved to your complete satisfaction and if it is resolved with anything less than your complete satisfaction that the entire system doesn't care about your kid. This forum is FILLED with these types of complainers who then paint the entire system with a brush of being inadequate and uncaring instead of acknowledging that the entire public school system can't be about pleasing one family, but instead attempting to service all equally and equitably.

So you don’t value education any more than those who see school as daycare care.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:FCPS cares about meeting state and federal standards for what public education is supposed to provide. Kids are supposed to graduate having mastered the material that is captured in the SOL, and that is not necessarily hard to do. It is the level of education that kids need to be productive members of society if they don’t go to college.

That is very different than what many parents expect, although I would bet that there are more parents happy with what FCPS provides then who are unhappy with what is being provided.

FCPS will provide the services needed to meet the state and federal mandates for kids with special needs, so keeping kids on grade level where they can. Parents are going to need to look to outside services if they want kids to be more then on grade level because the schools don’t have the mandate or money to provide services to ush beyond that.

FCPS will provide advanced options in the form of AAP, DE, and AP/IB classes but they are not going to be able to meet the needs of super advanced kids in ES. Parents will have to supplement in areas that they think there are weaknesses or where kids are not challenged enough.

I have an 8th grader, he has had some great opportunities. We are happy with the education he is getting.

Exactly. This is such a loaded question and I have noticed that many parents who complain have unrealistic expectations of what they expect a teacher/administrator/school/system in public education to do for their child in a specific, isolated incident that only affects them. There are a number of these instances already mentioned on this thread.

But if you're talking about a systemic service issue, then you have to acknowledge that FCPS is made up of 180,000+ students who all have different backgrounds, abilities and needs. Their job is to serve them ALL. The system has to function broadly because it is a large system - the 9th largest school system in the country. So we have systemic policies in place that go beyond the classroom to provide services such as special needs assessment and services, school psychologists in every school, police resource officers in every school for safety, free and reduced lunch programs, ESOL programs, bilingual community liaisons at each school, health insurance options, summer school recovery and enrichment programs, adult education programs, professional development training for teachers, and the list goes on.

I would say that each of the above programs is not purely a "classroom/education" program, but directly supports the students, teachers and families and are all examples of the system "caring" about students and their success.

It's such an entitlement to complain that your child had an issue with a specific student, teacher or administrator and that you tried to be a squeaky wheel to get the issue resolved to your complete satisfaction and if it is resolved with anything less than your complete satisfaction that the entire system doesn't care about your kid. This forum is FILLED with these types of complainers who then paint the entire system with a brush of being inadequate and uncaring instead of acknowledging that the entire public school system can't be about pleasing one family, but instead attempting to service all equally and equitably.

So you don’t value education any more than those who see school as daycare care.

That’s not what PP either said or implied. Grow up.