S/O - Why are the vendors charging enormous amounts to MCPS?

[Anonymous]

Like the online IEP system that cost MCPS over a million dollars to develop, more thousands and thousands of dollars to implement, and train staff in its use....all the while the state of MD had an online IEP they “encouraged” locals to use for free.
Tons of mistakes made changing the IEPs over, new equipment purchased, on and on... and MCPS abandoned their system and is using the one from MSDE now. Money wasted.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They have already been exposed. Many, many times. People keep voting to keep them into office. People attack the group who exposed them. People are getting exactly what they want.

Who has been exposed? Where? Evidence please? Elections are coming up and we can vote them out of office. I’m new to McPS but was disgusted by my experience with the Kindergarten Jumpstart experience. It didn’t work on two different computers, the IT specialist didn’t respond on how to fix and then offered to lend me a Chrome Book to use. What a waste. Instead of designing their own customized stuff that doesn’t work, they could just use stuff that already exists in the market.

Ugh! The Kindergarten Jumpstart was an EMORMOUS waste of resources.

We tried it also because DS started K this year. They should have purchased some K workbooks and given them out to kids at orientation. Instead of wasting money on tech initiatives that didn’t even work.

MCPS can't even get the internet and Outlook to run reliably this year, but there's always a "reason" (um, excuse). If you expect us to use technology, make sure it actually works. It's incredibly frustrating to spend time planning lessons and making sure the lessons occur in a sequence that makes sense, but then arrive at school and have the internet down for half the day. Or have it take 10 minutes to send one email because Outlook keeps freezing. My child started K this year, but I didn't even bother with K Jumpstart once I found out it was technology based. I just assumed it wouldn't work and nobody would actually have to take responsibility for it. Just like how the required summer training modules wouldn't work and also wouldn't record scores so many people had to do them all again which was a complete waste of time. It is an outrage that the people in those offices still have jobs.

-teacher

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We buy supplies and give them directly to the teacher/classroom. FWIW

Who is "We"? Are you a parent using your own funds? Are you school administrators who buy in bulk and distribute to teachers? Are you Russian Bots? Are you PTA? Are you a room parent?

I’m the PP

I’m a parent at a FOCUS school. We (meaning DH and I) have donated tons of supplies to the classrooms over the years.

Our Media Specialist set up a Wish Lost on Amazon so parents could buy books to stock the library.

Thank you for buying books for the media center. While media specialist do get a budget to buy books there is usually a budget freeze by December so they are not able to purchase books that come out from January to May.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We buy supplies and give them directly to the teacher/classroom. FWIW

Who is "We"? Are you a parent using your own funds? Are you school administrators who buy in bulk and distribute to teachers? Are you Russian Bots? Are you PTA? Are you a room parent?

I’m the PP

I’m a parent at a FOCUS school. We (meaning DH and I) have donated tons of supplies to the classrooms over the years.

Our Media Specialist set up a Wish Lost on Amazon so parents could buy books to stock the library.

Thank you for buying books for the media center. While media specialist do get a budget to buy books there is usually a budget freeze by December so they are not able to purchase books that come out from January to May.

We buy a lot of supplies too but it doesn't nearly cover what is needed daily. There is no excuse given the waste that goes on that teachers are not given the supplies they need. We have no issue helping the teacher but at our school the PTA only does pet projects and I have yet to hear of them doing something like giving the teachers even a few hundred each for extra supplies and decor. I refuse to donate to the PTA because of it. We buy books for the classroom library, not media center.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We buy supplies and give them directly to the teacher/classroom. FWIW

Who is "We"? Are you a parent using your own funds? Are you school administrators who buy in bulk and distribute to teachers? Are you Russian Bots? Are you PTA? Are you a room parent?

I’m the PP

I’m a parent at a FOCUS school. We (meaning DH and I) have donated tons of supplies to the classrooms over the years.

Our Media Specialist set up a Wish Lost on Amazon so parents could buy books to stock the library.

Thank you for buying books for the media center. While media specialist do get a budget to buy books there is usually a budget freeze by December so they are not able to purchase books that come out from January to May.

We buy a lot of supplies too but it doesn't nearly cover what is needed daily. There is no excuse given the waste that goes on that teachers are not given the supplies they need. We have no issue helping the teacher but at our school the PTA only does pet projects and I have yet to hear of them doing something like giving the teachers even a few hundred each for extra supplies and decor. I refuse to donate to the PTA because of it. We buy books for the classroom library, not media center.

Well, maybe you should get active on your PTA and try to change their "pet projects." My school's PTA has a priority of giving each teacher 200$/year for supplies.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Like the online IEP system that cost MCPS over a million dollars to develop, more thousands and thousands of dollars to implement, and train staff in its use....all the while the state of MD had an online IEP they “encouraged” locals to use for free.
Tons of mistakes made changing the IEPs over, new equipment purchased, on and on... and MCPS abandoned their system and is using the one from MSDE now. Money wasted.

All the special ed people I know (myself included) hate MOIEP and wish we could go back to O/SS. Free is not better.

[Anonymous]

No worries they’ll just raise taxes again...

Next year is going to hurt when we lose the property tax deduction. Then the entire country will be hurting when the exodus begins. And all that’s left is the undocumented Population. Hope we can nurse our savings until the kids are in college...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Thank you for buying books for the media center. While media specialist do get a budget to buy books there is usually a budget freeze by December so they are not able to purchase books that come out from January to May.

We buy a lot of supplies too but it doesn't nearly cover what is needed daily. There is no excuse given the waste that goes on that teachers are not given the supplies they need. We have no issue helping the teacher but at our school the PTA only does pet projects and I have yet to hear of them doing something like giving the teachers even a few hundred each for extra supplies and decor. I refuse to donate to the PTA because of it. We buy books for the classroom library, not media center.

Well, maybe you should get active on your PTA and try to change their "pet projects." My school's PTA has a priority of giving each teacher 200$/year for supplies.

NP here. We are a huge school with 1200+ students. We have very limited parent involvement with the PTA and so our budget is only around 6K. There is no way we can give teachers $200 each (I know W schools do that - that's great), but the setting up of a wish list in Amazon.com is a great idea.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We buy supplies and give them directly to the teacher/classroom. FWIW

Who is "We"? Are you a parent using your own funds? Are you school administrators who buy in bulk and distribute to teachers? Are you Russian Bots? Are you PTA? Are you a room parent?

I’m the PP

I’m a parent at a FOCUS school. We (meaning DH and I) have donated tons of supplies to the classrooms over the years.

Our Media Specialist set up a Wish Lost on Amazon so parents could buy books to stock the library.

Thank you for buying books for the media center. While media specialist do get a budget to buy books there is usually a budget freeze by December so they are not able to purchase books that come out from January to May.

We buy a lot of supplies too but it doesn't nearly cover what is needed daily. There is no excuse given the waste that goes on that teachers are not given the supplies they need. We have no issue helping the teacher but at our school the PTA only does pet projects and I have yet to hear of them doing something like giving the teachers even a few hundred each for extra supplies and decor. I refuse to donate to the PTA because of it. We buy books for the classroom library, not media center.

Well, maybe you should get active on your PTA and try to change their "pet projects." My school's PTA has a priority of giving each teacher 200$/year for supplies.

DP

We also donate to the classroom teacher directly. Our PTA is terrible. I have been involved for the past three years and have stopped contributing. It is a group of several White women who just want to run things the way they want.

But I’m also happy to donate to the Media Center! Our Media Specialist processed the books and puts them out immediately for the kids to use.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Thank you for buying books for the media center. While media specialist do get a budget to buy books there is usually a budget freeze by December so they are not able to purchase books that come out from January to May.

We buy a lot of supplies too but it doesn't nearly cover what is needed daily. There is no excuse given the waste that goes on that teachers are not given the supplies they need. We have no issue helping the teacher but at our school the PTA only does pet projects and I have yet to hear of them doing something like giving the teachers even a few hundred each for extra supplies and decor. I refuse to donate to the PTA because of it. We buy books for the classroom library, not media center.

Well, maybe you should get active on your PTA and try to change their "pet projects." My school's PTA has a priority of giving each teacher 200$/year for supplies.

NP here. We are a huge school with 1200+ students. We have very limited parent involvement with the PTA and so our budget is only around 6K. There is no way we can give teachers $200 each (I know W schools do that - that's great), but the setting up of a wish list in Amazon.com is a great idea.

Amazon is fine, but we actually found that the books came out cheaper through Barnes and Noble! Strangely.

We set up a book sale through Barnes and No Or this year (instead of Scholastic) and it worked well. Parents could easily order books online with the Book Sale code and use the Barnes and Noble online coupon codes. Much less of a hassle than Scholastic and we made more money with less effort. Also got more books donated to the Media Center.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We buy supplies and give them directly to the teacher/classroom. FWIW

Who is "We"? Are you a parent using your own funds? Are you school administrators who buy in bulk and distribute to teachers? Are you Russian Bots? Are you PTA? Are you a room parent?

I’m the PP

I’m a parent at a FOCUS school. We (meaning DH and I) have donated tons of supplies to the classrooms over the years.

Our Media Specialist set up a Wish Lost on Amazon so parents could buy books to stock the library.

Thank you for buying books for the media center. While media specialist do get a budget to buy books there is usually a budget freeze by December so they are not able to purchase books that come out from January to May.

We buy a lot of supplies too but it doesn't nearly cover what is needed daily. There is no excuse given the waste that goes on that teachers are not given the supplies they need. We have no issue helping the teacher but at our school the PTA only does pet projects and I have yet to hear of them doing something like giving the teachers even a few hundred each for extra supplies and decor. I refuse to donate to the PTA because of it. We buy books for the classroom library, not media center.

Well, maybe you should get active on your PTA and try to change their "pet projects." My school's PTA has a priority of giving each teacher 200$/year for supplies.

DP

We also donate to the classroom teacher directly. Our PTA is terrible. I have been involved for the past three years and have stopped contributing. It is a group of several White women who just want to run things the way they want.

But I’m also happy to donate to the Media Center! Our Media Specialist processed the books and puts them out immediately for the kids to use.

We try not to be racist here.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Thank you for buying books for the media center. While media specialist do get a budget to buy books there is usually a budget freeze by December so they are not able to purchase books that come out from January to May.

We buy a lot of supplies too but it doesn't nearly cover what is needed daily. There is no excuse given the waste that goes on that teachers are not given the supplies they need. We have no issue helping the teacher but at our school the PTA only does pet projects and I have yet to hear of them doing something like giving the teachers even a few hundred each for extra supplies and decor. I refuse to donate to the PTA because of it. We buy books for the classroom library, not media center.

Well, maybe you should get active on your PTA and try to change their "pet projects." My school's PTA has a priority of giving each teacher 200$/year for supplies.

NP here. We are a huge school with 1200+ students. We have very limited parent involvement with the PTA and so our budget is only around 6K. There is no way we can give teachers $200 each (I know W schools do that - that's great), but the setting up of a wish list in Amazon.com is a great idea.

Amazon is fine, but we actually found that the books came out cheaper through Barnes and Noble! Strangely.

We set up a book sale through Barnes and No Or this year (instead of Scholastic) and it worked well. Parents could easily order books online with the Book Sale code and use the Barnes and Noble online coupon codes. Much less of a hassle than Scholastic and we made more money with less effort. Also got more books donated to the Media Center.

Barnes and Noble bookfair will not work for us for a number of reasons - we are not close to a barnes and noble, most of our kids are from poor families and like to not buy books but instead they like to buy stationary for $1 and we will not be able to reach a majority of our parents because they do not have email addresses or access to the internet. However, I am glad that this is a viable option for other affluent schools. Good for them!

I think Amazon.com wishlist for classroom supplies is a great idea. The thing is that MCPS should not force the teachers to use the $200 on their vendors. If they give the money to the teachers for classroom supplies, the teachers can spend it the way they want to. Maybe they will even economize and will not need to buy a stapler every year. I do not worry about teachers pocketing the amount, because usually they are the ones who are paying out of pocket.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Like the online IEP system that cost MCPS over a million dollars to develop, more thousands and thousands of dollars to implement, and train staff in its use....all the while the state of MD had an online IEP they “encouraged” locals to use for free.
Tons of mistakes made changing the IEPs over, new equipment purchased, on and on... and MCPS abandoned their system and is using the one from MSDE now. Money wasted.

counselors are furious about the whole mess--so much wasted time transferring 504 plans

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We buy supplies and give them directly to the teacher/classroom. FWIW

Who is "We"? Are you a parent using your own funds? Are you school administrators who buy in bulk and distribute to teachers? Are you Russian Bots? Are you PTA? Are you a room parent?

I’m the PP

I’m a parent at a FOCUS school. We (meaning DH and I) have donated tons of supplies to the classrooms over the years.

Our Media Specialist set up a Wish Lost on Amazon so parents could buy books to stock the library.

Thank you for buying books for the media center. While media specialist do get a budget to buy books there is usually a budget freeze by December so they are not able to purchase books that come out from January to May.

We buy a lot of supplies too but it doesn't nearly cover what is needed daily. There is no excuse given the waste that goes on that teachers are not given the supplies they need. We have no issue helping the teacher but at our school the PTA only does pet projects and I have yet to hear of them doing something like giving the teachers even a few hundred each for extra supplies and decor. I refuse to donate to the PTA because of it. We buy books for the classroom library, not media center.

I'm on the PTA at a Focus School, probably not the same one as you, but I'd be careful about assuming that you know everything the PTA does. I can't tell you how many times (middle class white) parents have assumed our PTA doesn't do this or that, or that the school itself hasn't thought of this or that. It's like...a certain type of parent thinks that, if they haven't heard about it, it definitely isn't happening. But those are never the parents who actually get involved enough to find out.