Root cause of issues at MOCO schools?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I can't believe you are really saying the root cause of problems in MoCo schools are engaged parents at the W schools. Come on. Although there have been issues, the stats at those schools are well above average and are in no way showing that there is a problem with kids learning. If your goal is to help schools with lower stats by moving the W kids around that is not a problem with the W schools but the home schools.

+1000 the W schools succeed where others are failing because parents supplement their child's education to make up for the real MCPS problems - an untested curriculum, administrators who are absent more than they are present, the drugs in our schools, and school staff who abuse and sexually harass children.

How would supplementation make up for absent administrators, drugs in schools, and abusive school staff?

[Anonymous]

And calling out W School parents as the problem is a sweeping generalization, and, its offensive. You label tens of thousands of parents completely inappropriately.

It's the devisive people who are part of the problem, and if you are name calling, labeling and making generalizations about an entire group of people, that's you.

We will never fix the many problems with MCPS (curriculum, more resources for Title 1 and Focus School students and their families who need it, overcrowding in many of our schools, better teachers for foreign language and STEM, better handling of emotionally disturbed kids in gen ed, better handling of discipline issues, stop the dismantling of the special ed program, etc, etc, etc) unless we do it working together.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I can't believe you are really saying the root cause of problems in MoCo schools are engaged parents at the W schools. Come on. Although there have been issues, the stats at those schools are well above average and are in no way showing that there is a problem with kids learning. If your goal is to help schools with lower stats by moving the W kids around that is not a problem with the W schools but the home schools.

+1000 the W schools succeed where others are failing because parents supplement their child's education to make up for the real MCPS problems - an untested curriculum, administrators who are absent more than they are present, the drugs in our schools, and school staff who abuse and sexually harass children.

How would supplementation make up for absent administrators, drugs in schools, and abusive school staff?

Supplementation can take many forms. Some ideas to answer questions:

1) tutors to fill in gaps in the curriculum and poor instruction in the classroom

2) club sports instead of school sports for safe sport environment versus coaches who sexually harass and abuse students

3) private educational testing to identify and document a child's learning disability

4) a good educational lawyer to defend a child's rights to accommodations and special education services

5) lawyers are also great when MCPS ignores the IEP or 504 processes

6) sponsor community events to bring awareness of substance abuse issues

7) sponsor and volunteer for student events such as PTA After Prom activity so students have a clean and sober alternative.

8) Vocal and active PTA chairs that donate their time for the entire school community to meet with Central Office staff when school administrators are not present or do not address issues

[Anonymous]

Sometimes the problem is created by MCPS.

The rezoning of the new RM ES#5 was such an example. MCPS threw in two options for the rezoning that were non-starters to begin with, but it forced the parents in the effected areas to rally against those options. A lot of speaking time for the community was taken up by these parent, when that time could've been used for the community to actually debate and discuss the viable options. It was a waste of time for everyone to have to address these non-starter options that should never have been put on the table to begin with.

That was all on MCPS, and I was hugely disappointed with how they handled the whole thing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:How Entitled Parents Hurt Schools

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/24/opinion/rich-parents-hurt-schools-economic-segregation.html?action=click&pgtype=Homepage&clickSource=story-heading&module=opinion-c-col-left-region®ion=opinion-c-col-left-region&WT.nav=opinion-c-col-left-region

is someone trying to compare a $2B, 220 school big @$$ sanctuary city county-run public school district like MCPS to a small, affluent city-run district with high standards.

yeah, just vote some more krap tomorrow to egg on the death spiral.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:How Entitled Parents Hurt Schools

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/24/opinion/rich-parents-hurt-schools-economic-segregation.html?action=click&pgtype=Homepage&clickSource=story-heading&module=opinion-c-col-left-region®ion=opinion-c-col-left-region&WT.nav=opinion-c-col-left-region

Oh goodie, an OPINION PIECE from the Hechinger group (We cover inequality and innovation in education with in-depth journalism that uses research, data and stories from classrooms and campuses to show the public how education can be improved and why it matters.)

http://hechingerreport.org/opinion-when-wealthy-parents-hold-sway-in-public-schools/

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I can't believe you are really saying the root cause of problems in MoCo schools are engaged parents at the W schools. Come on. Although there have been issues, the stats at those schools are well above average and are in no way showing that there is a problem with kids learning. If your goal is to help schools with lower stats by moving the W kids around that is not a problem with the W schools but the home schools.

+1000 the W schools succeed where others are failing because parents supplement their child's education to make up for the real MCPS problems - an untested curriculum, administrators who are absent more than they are present, the drugs in our schools, and school staff who abuse and sexually harass children.

How would supplementation make up for absent administrators, drugs in schools, and abusive school staff?

Supplementation can take many forms. Some ideas to answer questions:

1) tutors to fill in gaps in the curriculum and poor instruction in the classroom

2) club sports instead of school sports for safe sport environment versus coaches who sexually harass and abuse students

3) private educational testing to identify and document a child's learning disability

4) a good educational lawyer to defend a child's rights to accommodations and special education services

5) lawyers are also great when MCPS ignores the IEP or 504 processes

6) sponsor community events to bring awareness of substance abuse issues

7) sponsor and volunteer for student events such as PTA After Prom activity so students have a clean and sober alternative.

8) Vocal and active PTA chairs that donate their time for the entire school community to meet with Central Office staff when school administrators are not present or do not address issues

So when people talk about supplementing on the Md Public Schools forum, what they're talking about is hiring lawyers, organizing community events, and putting their children in club sports? I had no idea.

[Anonymous]

Are you saying at schools where those 8 things happen they shouldn't? I don't see that ever happening - whatever parents can do to support their children, they will.

Or that it's unfair that some parents can afford to do those things and some can't? Life is unfair - some kids can take mission trips to pad their college applications and will graduate debt free from whatever name brand college, many won't.

And how do you propose fixing/changing your perceived list of inequities without putting kids on extended bus rides and making our congested roads even more congested?

[Anonymous]

I am sacrificing (longer hours, longer commute, same pay) by placing my kids in another system.

But after years in this system - the last three surrounded by the "W" mentality, which does indeed exist - I'm only too happy to make the sacrifice.

The system is falling apart, and extra band aids aren't the solution.

funny how we are quick to find some remedial program to add to a kid's schedule and to a system's budget instead of 1) making class sizes smaller 2) leveling classes until a child is ready to move up 3) respecting a teacher's professional judgment and 4) ensuring that safety measures are a top priority

no thanks to some "higher" salary when I can't trust that my own "community" school will do right by my children

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I can't believe you are really saying the root cause of problems in MoCo schools are engaged parents at the W schools. Come on. Although there have been issues, the stats at those schools are well above average and are in no way showing that there is a problem with kids learning. If your goal is to help schools with lower stats by moving the W kids around that is not a problem with the W schools but the home schools.

+1000 the W schools succeed where others are failing because parents supplement their child's education to make up for the real MCPS problems - an untested curriculum, administrators who are absent more than they are present, the drugs in our schools, and school staff who abuse and sexually harass children.

How would supplementation make up for absent administrators, drugs in schools, and abusive school staff?

Supplementation can take many forms. Some ideas to answer questions:

1) tutors to fill in gaps in the curriculum and poor instruction in the classroom

2) club sports instead of school sports for safe sport environment versus coaches who sexually harass and abuse students

3) private educational testing to identify and document a child's learning disability

4) a good educational lawyer to defend a child's rights to accommodations and special education services

5) lawyers are also great when MCPS ignores the IEP or 504 processes

6) sponsor community events to bring awareness of substance abuse issues

7) sponsor and volunteer for student events such as PTA After Prom activity so students have a clean and sober alternative.

8) Vocal and active PTA chairs that donate their time for the entire school community to meet with Central Office staff when school administrators are not present or do not address issues

So when people talk about supplementing on the Md Public Schools forum, what they're talking about is hiring lawyers, organizing community events, and putting their children in club sports? I had no idea.

And who does this in MCPS... W school parents.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I can't believe you are really saying the root cause of problems in MoCo schools are engaged parents at the W schools. Come on. Although there have been issues, the stats at those schools are well above average and are in no way showing that there is a problem with kids learning. If your goal is to help schools with lower stats by moving the W kids around that is not a problem with the W schools but the home schools.

+1000 the W schools succeed where others are failing because parents supplement their child's education to make up for the real MCPS problems - an untested curriculum, administrators who are absent more than they are present, the drugs in our schools, and school staff who abuse and sexually harass children.

How would supplementation make up for absent administrators, drugs in schools, and abusive school staff?

Supplementation can take many forms. Some ideas to answer questions:

1) tutors to fill in gaps in the curriculum and poor instruction in the classroom

2) club sports instead of school sports for safe sport environment versus coaches who sexually harass and abuse students

3) private educational testing to identify and document a child's learning disability

4) a good educational lawyer to defend a child's rights to accommodations and special education services

5) lawyers are also great when MCPS ignores the IEP or 504 processes

6) sponsor community events to bring awareness of substance abuse issues

7) sponsor and volunteer for student events such as PTA After Prom activity so students have a clean and sober alternative.

8) Vocal and active PTA chairs that donate their time for the entire school community to meet with Central Office staff when school administrators are not present or do not address issues

So when people talk about supplementing on the Md Public Schools forum, what they're talking about is hiring lawyers, organizing community events, and putting their children in club sports? I had no idea.

And who does this in MCPS... W school parents.

I doubt any of these activities are unique to W schools..and what percentage of kids have a lawyer involved in their 504 plan?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

And who does this in MCPS... W school parents.

I doubt any of these activities are unique to W schools..and what percentage of kids have a lawyer involved in their 504 plan?

Probably hiring a lawyer is something that people with more money do more often than people with less money.

And sometimes people with less money can't hire a lawyer even though they need one, and other times people with more money do hire a lawyer even though it's absurd.

Regardless, I don't think it's what people usually mean, when they talk about "supplementing". They're talking about Singapore Math at home, not lawyers.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am sacrificing (longer hours, longer commute, same pay) by placing my kids in another system.

But after years in this system - the last three surrounded by the "W" mentality, which does indeed exist - I'm only too happy to make the sacrifice.

The system is falling apart, and extra band aids aren't the solution.

funny how we are quick to find some remedial program to add to a kid's schedule and to a system's budget instead of 1) making class sizes smaller 2) leveling classes until a child is ready to move up 3) respecting a teacher's professional judgment and 4) ensuring that safety measures are a top priority

no thanks to some "higher" salary when I can't trust that my own "community" school will do right by my children

YES!!

[Anonymous]

Interesting article, but what a stupid suggestion to make that the MCPS school system's problems are because of involved parents. The article is specific to a rezoning issue. Those happen here, but the schools are plagued with many other issues day in and day out that have nothing to do with parents, involved or otherwise.

See, e.g., Curriculum 2.0, the debacle around the new curriculum suggestion, prioritizing Chromebooks and Promethean boards over textbooks, an overemphasis on testing/teaching to the test, the decision to get rid of final exams in high school -- none of these demonstrable problems that have adversely affected the quality of the education our kids are getting at all levels originated with over-involved parents.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I can't believe you are really saying the root cause of problems in MoCo schools are engaged parents at the W schools. Come on. Although there have been issues, the stats at those schools are well above average and are in no way showing that there is a problem with kids learning. If your goal is to help schools with lower stats by moving the W kids around that is not a problem with the W schools but the home schools.

+1000 the W schools succeed where others are failing because parents supplement their child's education to make up for the real MCPS problems - an untested curriculum, administrators who are absent more than they are present, the drugs in our schools, and school staff who abuse and sexually harass children.

How would supplementation make up for absent administrators, drugs in schools, and abusive school staff?

Supplementation can take many forms. Some ideas to answer questions:

1) tutors to fill in gaps in the curriculum and poor instruction in the classroom

2) club sports instead of school sports for safe sport environment versus coaches who sexually harass and abuse students

3) private educational testing to identify and document a child's learning disability

4) a good educational lawyer to defend a child's rights to accommodations and special education services

5) lawyers are also great when MCPS ignores the IEP or 504 processes

6) sponsor community events to bring awareness of substance abuse issues

7) sponsor and volunteer for student events such as PTA After Prom activity so students have a clean and sober alternative.

8) Vocal and active PTA chairs that donate their time for the entire school community to meet with Central Office staff when school administrators are not present or do not address issues

So when people talk about supplementing on the Md Public Schools forum, what they're talking about is hiring lawyers, organizing community events, and putting their children in club sports? I had no idea.

Club sports got my son into a SLAC, not MCPS, and certainly not his test scores.