Tell me it's not so bad...

[Anonymous]

I think MOCO doesn't allow the PTA supplement the cost of classroom aides. I think it is NUTS not to allow parents to do this -- everyone benefits: the kids, the teachers, the school community. Don't know what the process would be, but it would be great if parents pushed for a change from MOCO on this. At a time of huge budget cuts, it seems crazy not to allow parents to help in this way. I would donate for this in a heartbeat!

[Anonymous]

While it seems cool on the surface, who pays for the aide's health insurance? What happens if the aide is hurt during the work day?

way too many liability issues

How can you keep raising money in order to ensure the aide has a position for the following year? What if you can't raise enough? So long, Lucy!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm sure it will be fine, but will be a big change - mostly because of class size etc. SIL has her kids in a Bethesda ES -- class size is a big issue. It makes her nuts that MOCO doesn't allow classroom aides. At our NW DC elementary, the PTA raises money to pay the salaries of classroom aides (they assist the teachers and monitor lunch/recess). SIL sees this and is sooo jealous. Once you move your kids, you should fight for classroom aides. They make a huge difference.

What a great idea! PTA organizing a fundraiser to pay for part time aides to help at dire times during school day. Do you know about how much this costs the PTA per year? Are aides in every classroom, or just the lower grades? Would love to hear more if you're back on!

[Anonymous]

Getting back to the OP's concerns, I also agree that the public schools are fine. We spent some time in the public schools, though have gone back and forth between public and private. Montgomery county's reputation is not for nothing. In Bethesda, your kids will be around some very talented kids, some of the plum teachers in the county, etc. You will be surprised by how systematized the whole thing is (rubrics up the wazoo, transparency on grades, etc.), and some of it is a pleasant surprise compared to some of the stuff at privates. Parents are less a factor in the sense that, while the schools are welcoming, the county (on behalf of taxpayers and citizens) is the boss, not private purchasers.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think MOCO doesn't allow the PTA supplement the cost of classroom aides. I think it is NUTS not to allow parents to do this -- everyone benefits: the kids, the teachers, the school community. Don't know what the process would be, but it would be great if parents pushed for a change from MOCO on this. At a time of huge budget cuts, it seems crazy not to allow parents to help in this way. I would donate for this in a heartbeat!

It's all about equality because then the rich schools would have aides and the poor ones wouldn't. There is lots of fear in MCPS about letting the rich schools spend money on their schools. You can support athletics but not academics.

[Anonymous]

Op, please keep a positive attitude throughout. Your kids will sense it if you don't. It will be great and think of all that cash. MANY people are doing the same thing. Not only are you not letting your kids down, you are giving them a more real-world experience that can't be bought.

[Anonymous]

OP here again: Can someone enlighten me about the budget for next year? I keep hearing things about the budget and don't understand any of it. Does it really effect much of anything directly, or is it more of a behind the scenes kind of thing? This is all new for me...Thanks!

[Anonymous]

Next year's budget crisis is definitely NOT going to be behind the scenes. A real problem ahead...final cuts won't be until June when the County Council is able to say exactly how much $ MCPS will have for the budget. It is complicated, I don't understand much of it, but I know enough to know that next year is going to be a low point for MCPS in terms of budget.

[Anonymous]

Another family that considered private and applied for K but decided it was too much and found our local school to be a pleasant surprise-- we have been very happy (of course some of that is that we don't feel financially cramped so we go to plays, ballet, martial arts, family trips without worrying about it). At our school the parents do a lot of lunch/recess duty and that has its pluses too.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:While it seems cool on the surface, who pays for the aide's health insurance? What happens if the aide is hurt during the work day?

way too many liability issues

How can you keep raising money in order to ensure the aide has a position for the following year? What if you can't raise enough? So long, Lucy!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm sure it will be fine, but will be a big change - mostly because of class size etc. SIL has her kids in a Bethesda ES -- class size is a big issue. It makes her nuts that MOCO doesn't allow classroom aides. At our NW DC elementary, the PTA raises money to pay the salaries of classroom aides (they assist the teachers and monitor lunch/recess). SIL sees this and is sooo jealous. Once you move your kids, you should fight for classroom aides. They make a huge difference.

What a great idea! PTA organizing a fundraiser to pay for part time aides to help at dire times during school day. Do you know about how much this costs the PTA per year? Are aides in every classroom, or just the lower grades? Would love to hear more if you're back on!

If DC can do this, why not MOCO? Obviously, DC PTA's have figured out the details.

[Anonymous]

I belive MCPS used to allow much more..but it was so unfair to lower income schools that now there are very specific rules..

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think MOCO doesn't allow the PTA supplement the cost of classroom aides. I think it is NUTS not to allow parents to do this -- everyone benefits: the kids, the teachers, the school community. Don't know what the process would be, but it would be great if parents pushed for a change from MOCO on this. At a time of huge budget cuts, it seems crazy not to allow parents to help in this way. I would donate for this in a heartbeat!

I couldn't disagree more. MCPS is a public school system, and is county-based in order to allocate resources equitably across the county. If local schools can supplement in this way, it creates huge inequities based entirely on the local school's SES.

If this is what you want, then create your own school, or go private. But in a large public school system this is just inappropriate.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think MOCO doesn't allow the PTA supplement the cost of classroom aides. I think it is NUTS not to allow parents to do this -- everyone benefits: the kids, the teachers, the school community. Don't know what the process would be, but it would be great if parents pushed for a change from MOCO on this. At a time of huge budget cuts, it seems crazy not to allow parents to help in this way. I would donate for this in a heartbeat!

It's all about equality because then the rich schools would have aides and the poor ones wouldn't. There is lots of fear in MCPS about letting the rich schools spend money on their schools. You can support athletics but not academics.

First, there are no "rich schools." There are only rich parent communities in given schools. The system is a county-based system, and resources are supposed to be distributed county-wide in fair ways. We all pay property taxes to the county and we are all entitled to benefit from the same school system.

RE the fear, well, it seems that it is well-founded - take a look at some of the comments on threads about eastern MoCo schools. There is very much an "us/them" mentality among MCPS parents of different SES. This would be exacerbated by the kind of proposal you make. It's bad enough that Carderock ES has a "foundation" to upgrade its bathrooms; if more of this sort of thing were allowed, the inequities would be over the top.

If you want this sort of autonomy, then create a school, find a private, or - and I wouldn't be opposed to this - forget the whole county-based system and go to a town-based system, where you have lots of local control and say. Otherwise, this is what it is.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here again: Can someone enlighten me about the budget for next year? I keep hearing things about the budget and don't understand any of it. Does it really effect much of anything directly, or is it more of a behind the scenes kind of thing? This is all new for me...Thanks!

I think the direct effect is larger class sizes. At our high school that means going to classes of 34 max next year (was 33 this year, was 32 a couple of years ago). English classes are still smaller - not sure if they are still at 28 max.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think MOCO doesn't allow the PTA supplement the cost of classroom aides. I think it is NUTS not to allow parents to do this -- everyone benefits: the kids, the teachers, the school community. Don't know what the process would be, but it would be great if parents pushed for a change from MOCO on this. At a time of huge budget cuts, it seems crazy not to allow parents to help in this way. I would donate for this in a heartbeat!

I couldn't disagree more. MCPS is a public school system, and is county-based in order to allocate resources equitably across the county. If local schools can supplement in this way, it creates huge inequities based entirely on the local school's SES.

If this is what you want, then create your own school, or go private. But in a large public school system this is just inappropriate.

All due respect, your argument is ridiculous. First, let's be real. Parents in some schools volunteer more than in others...according to your argument, this is a terrible "huge inequity" and shouldn't be allowed. After all this is public school...go private if you want to volunteer, right?! Please, parents routinely use their greatest resource -- their own time -- in order to benefit their child's school...paying for classroom aides is simply an extension of this. Your argument against paying for aides seems to be that it is unfair simply because every school can't do it. Well, that argument is reductive...it suggests that we should all descend to the lowest common denominator. In that case, please let me know what the lowest property tax paid by some family somewhere in MOCO and please, I'll just pay that amount in the twisted name of "fairness."
After all, the quality of a school has a direct impact on property value (and, in turn, the property tax collected)...therefore, if parents want to bolster their school (and their property value) they should be allowed to do so. To argue otherwise is to "dumb down" the entire county in the name of false "fairness."

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think MOCO doesn't allow the PTA supplement the cost of classroom aides. I think it is NUTS not to allow parents to do this -- everyone benefits: the kids, the teachers, the school community. Don't know what the process would be, but it would be great if parents pushed for a change from MOCO on this. At a time of huge budget cuts, it seems crazy not to allow parents to help in this way. I would donate for this in a heartbeat!

It's all about equality because then the rich schools would have aides and the poor ones wouldn't. There is lots of fear in MCPS about letting the rich schools spend money on their schools. You can support athletics but not academics.

First, there are no "rich schools." There are only rich parent communities in given schools. The system is a county-based system, and resources are supposed to be distributed county-wide in fair ways. We all pay property taxes to the county and we are all entitled to benefit from the same school system.

RE the fear, well, it seems that it is well-founded - take a look at some of the comments on threads about eastern MoCo schools. There is very much an "us/them" mentality among MCPS parents of different SES. This would be exacerbated by the kind of proposal you make. It's bad enough that Carderock ES has a "foundation" to upgrade its bathrooms; if more of this sort of thing were allowed, the inequities would be over the top.



I think you are missing the point. You pay property taxes and are "entitled to benefit from the same school system" in terms of the basics of what a school is required to provide. What we're talking about here is not taking a portion of your taxes to benefit another school...but allowing parents at all schools to decide what they value and what they will pay extra for. This would not take anything away from a school who's parents choose not to/or cannot pay for extras.

At some point, parents need to be empowered (or empower themselves) to demand the best for their kids. Every day, we hear the President talk about the "crisis in education" and we here that we need to "out-educate" the rest of the world. Why then would we not accept the financial help of willing parents? Out of some twisted sense of fairness? Who does that help -- no one. Parents should be allowed to use whatever tools are available (time, money, etc) in order to help these schools. In this time of huge budget cuts and larger classes, it is unthinkable for MOCO to turn willing parents away and tell them that their resources are unwelcome.


If you want this sort of autonomy, then create a school, find a private, or - and I wouldn't be opposed to this - forget the whole county-based system and go to a town-based system, where you have lots of local control and say. Otherwise, this is what it is.