Washington Post Article

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Great article. Precisely what we need in these times is another public platform for random loudmouth Bethesda parents and the Westland MS PTA president to continue griping and whining about how MCPS is not adequately catering to their child. A brief respite from hearing them griping and whining about boundary changes and the traumatic possibility of having more of "those" kids in their school. Slap in a sentence about "equity" to appear balanced, ignore all other issues, and call it a day. The article reads like a DCUM thread, right down to anonymously slamming MCEA, but with slightly better formatting.

Screw you. Do you actually think any of the kids at any of the schools are actually learning? It is great that mcps is feeding the kids who need it and giving out chromebooks and hotspots. But they should be doing that so that kids can learn at home. All kids. And right now, as evidenced by what is going on with my 3 kids (1 in MS, 2 in HS), there is not much of that happening and mcps does not seem to care.

MCPS does need to figure this out before the Fall. They get a pass for the final marking period, but if it's not much improved, we are out of here. Working from home, people can now work from anywhere, amd we intend to do just that. We originally moved to MC for the schools. We can leave because of them too.

We moved to MOCO for schools too. Then left for private. It gets worse as you go along.

My experience was that MCPS got better and better in the higher grades, but your kids have to be in the most advanced classes at their schools to get the best teachers.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Great article. Precisely what we need in these times is another public platform for random loudmouth Bethesda parents and the Westland MS PTA president to continue griping and whining about how MCPS is not adequately catering to their child. A brief respite from hearing them griping and whining about boundary changes and the traumatic possibility of having more of "those" kids in their school. Slap in a sentence about "equity" to appear balanced, ignore all other issues, and call it a day. The article reads like a DCUM thread, right down to anonymously slamming MCEA, but with slightly better formatting.

Screw you. Do you actually think any of the kids at any of the schools are actually learning? It is great that mcps is feeding the kids who need it and giving out chromebooks and hotspots. But they should be doing that so that kids can learn at home. All kids. And right now, as evidenced by what is going on with my 3 kids (1 in MS, 2 in HS), there is not much of that happening and mcps does not seem to care.

MCPS does need to figure this out before the Fall. They get a pass for the final marking period, but if it's not much improved, we are out of here. Working from home, people can now work from anywhere, amd we intend to do just that. We originally moved to MC for the schools. We can leave because of them too.

We moved to MOCO for schools too. Then left for private. It gets worse as you go along.

My experience was that MCPS got better and better in the higher grades, but your kids have to be in the most advanced classes at their schools to get the best teachers.

Got in at k were out by 8. The MS experience was what did it and we did not want to continue into the higher grades. I’m glad your kids are doing well.

[Anonymous]

We moved here for the schools too and are doing private school. Honestly, though, it doesn’t seem like anywhere else in this area is much better.

We might consider going back for high school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have a couple friends who have plans to move their kids out of MCPS for this coming year if they stay with the current model. Moving in with relatives in other school districts that plan to be open in the fall.

Well, they will have to move far away to have that kind of a "guarantee."

In Maryland, Montgomery, PG, and Baltimore are hit the worst, in terms of per-capita case rates. Then there's second-tier adjacent counties like Frederick and Anne Arundel. After that, all the remaining counties in MD are doing pretty well (OK, one breakout in the chicken processing plants on Delaware border, but that's isolated).

Virginia is similar -- NoVA hit the hardest, then all the rest of VA is pretty good. Plenty of places where it's a lot more likely they'll be open for school this fall.

Don’t get why you say the chicken processing plant outbreak is isolated, but the outsized fatality impact from nursing homes in MoCo isn’t?

Also, you need to educate yourself on the death rate a bit. Kent has a higher per capita death rate than MoCo. Add to that the fact that 72% of MoCo’s confirmed deaths are among nursing home residents (not community spread, unlike the processing plant outbreaks) and MoCo really hasn’t been hit as hard as Elrich and Gayles would like you to think.

I don't get why you see that chicken plants are community spread but nursing homes aren't.

Just going by what Hogan’s team is doing. But what do they know? I should listen to you instead.

[Anonymous]

My experience was that MCPS got better and better in the higher grades, but your kids have to be in the most advanced classes at their schools to get the best teachers.

For BCC Cluster: in MS and the first two years of HS there are a *limited* number of truly advanced classes. In MS, only math (and for the first time this year in 6th, Advanced Global Humanities); in HS gradually builds up - 9th=Math plus 1 AP (NSL); 10th=Math, Honors Chem (real Honor & not just a "moniker"), 1 AP (APUSH). Finally in 11th there is a full array of truly advanced classes (IB and AP). We did not understand until DC was in HS that "Honors English" was just a moniker - Honors English in 9th and 10th is comprised of a mix of on-level and honors students (aka, it's really just an on-level class).

[Anonymous]

If you're interested in an independent school, call now. I work in one and we're getting a ton of interest. We unexpectedly have a few spots, too -- though not many -- because it's working both way. Some families are out of work or furloughed and returning to public for economic reasons.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Great article. Precisely what we need in these times is another public platform for random loudmouth Bethesda parents and the Westland MS PTA president to continue griping and whining about how MCPS is not adequately catering to their child. A brief respite from hearing them griping and whining about boundary changes and the traumatic possibility of having more of "those" kids in their school. Slap in a sentence about "equity" to appear balanced, ignore all other issues, and call it a day. The article reads like a DCUM thread, right down to anonymously slamming MCEA, but with slightly better formatting.

Screw you. Do you actually think any of the kids at any of the schools are actually learning? It is great that mcps is feeding the kids who need it and giving out chromebooks and hotspots. But they should be doing that so that kids can learn at home. All kids. And right now, as evidenced by what is going on with my 3 kids (1 in MS, 2 in HS), there is not much of that happening and mcps does not seem to care.

MCPS does need to figure this out before the Fall. They get a pass for the final marking period, but if it's not much improved, we are out of here. Working from home, people can now work from anywhere, amd we intend to do just that. We originally moved to MC for the schools. We can leave because of them too.

We moved to MOCO for schools too. Then left for private. It gets worse as you go along.

My experience was that MCPS got better and better in the higher grades, but your kids have to be in the most advanced classes at their schools to get the best teachers.

+1

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have a couple friends who have plans to move their kids out of MCPS for this coming year if they stay with the current model. Moving in with relatives in other school districts that plan to be open in the fall.

Well, they will have to move far away to have that kind of a "guarantee."

In Maryland, Montgomery, PG, and Baltimore are hit the worst, in terms of per-capita case rates. Then there's second-tier adjacent counties like Frederick and Anne Arundel. After that, all the remaining counties in MD are doing pretty well (OK, one breakout in the chicken processing plants on Delaware border, but that's isolated).

Virginia is similar -- NoVA hit the hardest, then all the rest of VA is pretty good. Plenty of places where it's a lot more likely they'll be open for school this fall.

Don’t get why you say the chicken processing plant outbreak is isolated, but the outsized fatality impact from nursing homes in MoCo isn’t?

Also, you need to educate yourself on the death rate a bit. Kent has a higher per capita death rate than MoCo. Add to that the fact that 72% of MoCo’s confirmed deaths are among nursing home residents (not community spread, unlike the processing plant outbreaks) and MoCo really hasn’t been hit as hard as Elrich and Gayles would like you to think.

All of Western MD (Garrett, Allegany, Washington counties) has a much lower rate compared to MoCo and PG. Heck, Garrett County has so few cases (6 total) that they put out a press release when they have one:
https://garretthealth.org/garrett-county-notified-of-6th-positive-covid-19-case/

Those parts of MD are already in stage 1 of opening -- kids can go to the playground, you can buy clothes, get a haircut. All with restrictions in place, but it's still allowed.

I can easily see the possibility that schools in those parts of MD open up like normal in the Fall. I can also easily see the possibility that MCPS does not -- the rates are just too high in certain parts of MoCo (Silver Spring, Wheaton) to do it, and I don't see them opening just part of MCPS for in-class, like Damascus and Germantown, while not opening other parts that are harder hit. It's too difficult logistically and there would also be equity questions.

[Anonymous]

I have to agree with alot of what OP says. It may be better for older kids who are able to do independent learning, but for my 2nd grade boy its a joke. I am still working - not at home but in office. He's not getting anything these last 2 months- the math is done in 1 minute because its 1 easy question and the reading is the most substantial work that hes doing- most of the day is spent with screens which I cant control too much not being in house. Im supplementing him with additional worksheets that I find on my own but its not common core... just old fashion work. He's learning about a 10th of what he would be learning. Luckily he was already ahead but definitely not progressing. He doesn't watch those videos for 30 sec before he clicks off.

There's no way we can keep this nonlearning environment up in the fall or the majority of these younger kids will be a year behind with no way to catch up.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Great article. Precisely what we need in these times is another public platform for random loudmouth Bethesda parents and the Westland MS PTA president to continue griping and whining about how MCPS is not adequately catering to their child. A brief respite from hearing them griping and whining about boundary changes and the traumatic possibility of having more of "those" kids in their school. Slap in a sentence about "equity" to appear balanced, ignore all other issues, and call it a day. The article reads like a DCUM thread, right down to anonymously slamming MCEA, but with slightly better formatting.

Screw you. Do you actually think any of the kids at any of the schools are actually learning? It is great that mcps is feeding the kids who need it and giving out chromebooks and hotspots. But they should be doing that so that kids can learn at home. All kids. And right now, as evidenced by what is going on with my 3 kids (1 in MS, 2 in HS), there is not much of that happening and mcps does not seem to care.

MCPS does need to figure this out before the Fall. They get a pass for the final marking period, but if it's not much improved, we are out of here. Working from home, people can now work from anywhere, amd we intend to do just that. We originally moved to MC for the schools. We can leave because of them too.

We moved to MOCO for schools too. Then left for private. It gets worse as you go along.

Glad to see you go.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have a couple friends who have plans to move their kids out of MCPS for this coming year if they stay with the current model. Moving in with relatives in other school districts that plan to be open in the fall.

Well, they will have to move far away to have that kind of a "guarantee."

In Maryland, Montgomery, PG, and Baltimore are hit the worst, in terms of per-capita case rates. Then there's second-tier adjacent counties like Frederick and Anne Arundel. After that, all the remaining counties in MD are doing pretty well (OK, one breakout in the chicken processing plants on Delaware border, but that's isolated).

Virginia is similar -- NoVA hit the hardest, then all the rest of VA is pretty good. Plenty of places where it's a lot more likely they'll be open for school this fall.

Don’t get why you say the chicken processing plant outbreak is isolated, but the outsized fatality impact from nursing homes in MoCo isn’t?

Also, you need to educate yourself on the death rate a bit. Kent has a higher per capita death rate than MoCo. Add to that the fact that 72% of MoCo’s confirmed deaths are among nursing home residents (not community spread, unlike the processing plant outbreaks) and MoCo really hasn’t been hit as hard as Elrich and Gayles would like you to think.

All of Western MD (Garrett, Allegany, Washington counties) has a much lower rate compared to MoCo and PG. Heck, Garrett County has so few cases (6 total) that they put out a press release when they have one:
https://garretthealth.org/garrett-county-notified-of-6th-positive-covid-19-case/

Those parts of MD are already in stage 1 of opening -- kids can go to the playground, you can buy clothes, get a haircut. All with restrictions in place, but it's still allowed.

I can easily see the possibility that schools in those parts of MD open up like normal in the Fall. I can also easily see the possibility that MCPS does not -- the rates are just too high in certain parts of MoCo (Silver Spring, Wheaton) to do it, and I don't see them opening just part of MCPS for in-class, like Damascus and Germantown, while not opening other parts that are harder hit. It's too difficult logistically and there would also be equity questions.

And there aren’t equity questions around other districts opening up and MCPS not?

Come on.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have a couple friends who have plans to move their kids out of MCPS for this coming year if they stay with the current model. Moving in with relatives in other school districts that plan to be open in the fall.

Well, they will have to move far away to have that kind of a "guarantee."

In Maryland, Montgomery, PG, and Baltimore are hit the worst, in terms of per-capita case rates. Then there's second-tier adjacent counties like Frederick and Anne Arundel. After that, all the remaining counties in MD are doing pretty well (OK, one breakout in the chicken processing plants on Delaware border, but that's isolated).

Virginia is similar -- NoVA hit the hardest, then all the rest of VA is pretty good. Plenty of places where it's a lot more likely they'll be open for school this fall.

Don’t get why you say the chicken processing plant outbreak is isolated, but the outsized fatality impact from nursing homes in MoCo isn’t?

Also, you need to educate yourself on the death rate a bit. Kent has a higher per capita death rate than MoCo. Add to that the fact that 72% of MoCo’s confirmed deaths are among nursing home residents (not community spread, unlike the processing plant outbreaks) and MoCo really hasn’t been hit as hard as Elrich and Gayles would like you to think.

All of Western MD (Garrett, Allegany, Washington counties) has a much lower rate compared to MoCo and PG. Heck, Garrett County has so few cases (6 total) that they put out a press release when they have one:
https://garretthealth.org/garrett-county-notified-of-6th-positive-covid-19-case/

Those parts of MD are already in stage 1 of opening -- kids can go to the playground, you can buy clothes, get a haircut. All with restrictions in place, but it's still allowed.

I can easily see the possibility that schools in those parts of MD open up like normal in the Fall. I can also easily see the possibility that MCPS does not -- the rates are just too high in certain parts of MoCo (Silver Spring, Wheaton) to do it, and I don't see them opening just part of MCPS for in-class, like Damascus and Germantown, while not opening other parts that are harder hit. It's too difficult logistically and there would also be equity questions.

And there aren’t equity questions around other districts opening up and MCPS not?

Come on.

The decision is made at the county-level. MCPS is just really big, so even if things are fine in one area, it may not be fine in another ... just like when they close for a snow day because it's snowing in Damascus while there's nothing in Silver Spring.

The western MD counties aren't seeing pockets of outbreaks, and they are smaller to begin with, so it's more likely they can make a decision to open, compared to MCPS.

[Anonymous]

Do you think here will be any energy behind the idea of breaking up the big districts like MCPS? Friends in other states (CT, NY, MA) where the school districts are town-based have been pretty happy with the distance learning. I think it’s just easier in districts that aren’t trying to roll it out for so many students at one time. MD seems to be failing under the weight of its gigantic systems.

[Anonymous]

I talked last night with DD in high school. She has been doing well. But she is firm that it’s only because they are going off of months in the classroom together. She is afraid of starting this way in the fall with new teachers and subjects.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Do you think here will be any energy behind the idea of breaking up the big districts like MCPS? Friends in other states (CT, NY, MA) where the school districts are town-based have been pretty happy with the distance learning. I think it’s just easier in districts that aren’t trying to roll it out for so many students at one time. MD seems to be failing under the weight of its gigantic systems.

Local government in Maryland is at the county level. So no.

Also, probably your friends in the town-based systems aren't in the ones where most people are poor.