Two Montgomery school board seats will have primaries as new candidates join race

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:https://bethesdamagazine.com/bethesda-beat/schools/two-montgomery-school-board-seats-will-have-primaries-as-new-candidates-join-race/?fbclid=IwAR1q4IcKwXMD4ggMud0CIepTWT7uTJrNsH5yyZGQhBimY1Rr_5DWIJyLZhE

Ummm worst news ever. Please, someone else run. We don’t want these two deciding mcps policy for the next couple of years. Dawn is tone deaf. And Dawn don’t try and get this post removed like you usually do. As a candidate, you are now subject to public scrutiny. So heckling people at BOE meetings, wearing a MESH mask to BOE meetings (well before the mandate was lifted) in order to antagonize the BOE and those who were masked and picking on the SMOB are all things you will have to answer for.

Do you know who is on the Apple ballot yet?

For BOE, so far MCEA has endorsed only Julie Yang in the District 3 race.

She sounds great! Definitely has my vote.

She is Apple ballot endorsed, which will get a major side eye from me.

Apple ballot:
- Endorsed by teachers? Check.
- Not an incumbent? Check.

Good enough for me - Julie Yang it is!!!!

This is why the apple ballot is so powerful. The problem is that the apple ballot is not about support from teachers, it’s about support from the union. The priority is not education, but political influence and leverage for collective bargaining.

Here’s a Post article explaining that candidates are supposed to make contributions to the union in exchange for the endorsement. I’m pretty sure those contributions are not passed along to the individual teachers, much less applied to improving the educational experience in the classroom.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/montgomery-countys-perverse-politics/2014/02/01/98f099f2-8921-11e3-833c-33098f9e5267_story.html

Here’s an article talking about the negative impact that too much emphasis on union priorities can have. It’s great that teachers get higher salaries and better benefits, but at some point that means not hiring as many teachers, which means bigger class sizes and less support.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/montgomery-countys-wrong-education-priorities/2012/05/24/gJQA0wOBoU_story.html

Currently, the union holds the power, because when it comes time to vote, most people want to support the teachers and will vote the apple ballot rather than doing the hard work to see what the actual issues are and where the candidates stand on those issues. So, the voters support the union (thinking they’re supporting teachers). The union supports the candidates that it feels will support them in contract negotiations (and of course contributing to the union is a way of demonstrating their good will). The school board, once elected, makes sure the administration negotiates favorable terms with the union, and doesn’t interfere too much with the actual running of things, because after all, they’re doing such a great job - just ask them. The administration gives the union what they want and keeps doing whatever it wants to otherwise. Standardized test scores may be low. They may have to cancel finals because too many students are failing the finals they’ve written for courses they’ve written. Colleges are recognizing that MCPS grades are inflated. Private tutoring is a booming industry. Even a curriculum audit shows what many parents have been saying all along, that their in-house curriculum is fundamentally deficient. Then the MCPS PR department (which I think is probably the only part of MCPS that functions effectively) tells everyone that MCPS is “one of the best school systems in the nation”. Voters feel vindicated that they were right to cast that apple ballot. It’s all very cozy, and everybody’s happy, except maybe little Larlo/Larla who won’t have the skills they need to succeed academically and to be fully prepared to meet their needs, let alone follow their dreams.

According to the state of Maryland, our percent proficiency for E/M/H students is:
Math - 52% / 42.5% / 56.2%
English Language Arts - 53% / 54.8% / 67.3%

https://reportcard.msde.maryland.gov/Graphs/#/ReportCards/ReportCardSchool/1/E/1/15/XXXX/2019

Think how hard it is to learn Algebra, if you’re one of the 48% who isn’t proficient in the fundamentals taught in elementary, or about absorbing complex texts in history, science, and of course literature, if you’re one of the 47% who isn’t proficient in English Language Arts. How many of these kids are functionally illiterate? These numbers include those whose parents teach them at home or take them to regular tutoring sessions.

Thanks - this was actually quite helpful. In past years, I remember seeing the apple ballots handed out at polling places, but I didn't fully understand how those endorsements were decided.

I have also been concerned about math/language proficiency, based on what I see with my own children, so I appreciate seeing the county wide numbers. I vaguely remember a news article about saturday school (virginia maybe?) to help with learning loss. But I haven't heard much about a similar approach or tutoring services for mcps students. Has anyone else? We are currently looking for local tutoring options or recommendations.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:https://bethesdamagazine.com/bethesda-beat/schools/two-montgomery-school-board-seats-will-have-primaries-as-new-candidates-join-race/?fbclid=IwAR1q4IcKwXMD4ggMud0CIepTWT7uTJrNsH5yyZGQhBimY1Rr_5DWIJyLZhE

Ummm worst news ever. Please, someone else run. We don’t want these two deciding mcps policy for the next couple of years. Dawn is tone deaf. And Dawn don’t try and get this post removed like you usually do. As a candidate, you are now subject to public scrutiny. So heckling people at BOE meetings, wearing a MESH mask to BOE meetings (well before the mandate was lifted) in order to antagonize the BOE and those who were masked and picking on the SMOB are all things you will have to answer for.

Do you know who is on the Apple ballot yet?

For BOE, so far MCEA has endorsed only Julie Yang in the District 3 race.

She sounds great! Definitely has my vote.

She is Apple ballot endorsed, which will get a major side eye from me.

Apple ballot:
- Endorsed by teachers? Check.
- Not an incumbent? Check.

Good enough for me - Julie Yang it is!!!!

This is why the apple ballot is so powerful. The problem is that the apple ballot is not about support from teachers, it’s about support from the union. The priority is not education, but political influence and leverage for collective bargaining.

Here’s a Post article explaining that candidates are supposed to make contributions to the union in exchange for the endorsement. I’m pretty sure those contributions are not passed along to the individual teachers, much less applied to improving the educational experience in the classroom.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/montgomery-countys-perverse-politics/2014/02/01/98f099f2-8921-11e3-833c-33098f9e5267_story.html

Here’s an article talking about the negative impact that too much emphasis on union priorities can have. It’s great that teachers get higher salaries and better benefits, but at some point that means not hiring as many teachers, which means bigger class sizes and less support.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/montgomery-countys-wrong-education-priorities/2012/05/24/gJQA0wOBoU_story.html

Currently, the union holds the power, because when it comes time to vote, most people want to support the teachers and will vote the apple ballot rather than doing the hard work to see what the actual issues are and where the candidates stand on those issues. So, the voters support the union (thinking they’re supporting teachers). The union supports the candidates that it feels will support them in contract negotiations (and of course contributing to the union is a way of demonstrating their good will). The school board, once elected, makes sure the administration negotiates favorable terms with the union, and doesn’t interfere too much with the actual running of things, because after all, they’re doing such a great job - just ask them. The administration gives the union what they want and keeps doing whatever it wants to otherwise. Standardized test scores may be low. They may have to cancel finals because too many students are failing the finals they’ve written for courses they’ve written. Colleges are recognizing that MCPS grades are inflated. Private tutoring is a booming industry. Even a curriculum audit shows what many parents have been saying all along, that their in-house curriculum is fundamentally deficient. Then the MCPS PR department (which I think is probably the only part of MCPS that functions effectively) tells everyone that MCPS is “one of the best school systems in the nation”. Voters feel vindicated that they were right to cast that apple ballot. It’s all very cozy, and everybody’s happy, except maybe little Larlo/Larla who won’t have the skills they need to succeed academically and to be fully prepared to meet their needs, let alone follow their dreams.

According to the state of Maryland, our percent proficiency for E/M/H students is:
Math - 52% / 42.5% / 56.2%
English Language Arts - 53% / 54.8% / 67.3%

https://reportcard.msde.maryland.gov/Graphs/#/ReportCards/ReportCardSchool/1/E/1/15/XXXX/2019

Think how hard it is to learn Algebra, if you’re one of the 48% who isn’t proficient in the fundamentals taught in elementary, or about absorbing complex texts in history, science, and of course literature, if you’re one of the 47% who isn’t proficient in English Language Arts. How many of these kids are functionally illiterate? These numbers include those whose parents teach them at home or take them to regular tutoring sessions.

Thanks - this was actually quite helpful. In past years, I remember seeing the apple ballots handed out at polling places, but I didn't fully understand how those endorsements were decided.

I have also been concerned about math/language proficiency, based on what I see with my own children, so I appreciate seeing the county wide numbers. I vaguely remember a news article about saturday school (virginia maybe?) to help with learning loss. But I haven't heard much about a similar approach or tutoring services for mcps students. Has anyone else? We are currently looking for local tutoring options or recommendations.

Here’s a link about the MCPS Saturday school. My kids never went, so I don’t know anything about it.

https://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/mainstory/story/596315/Saturday-School/

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:https://bethesdamagazine.com/bethesda-beat/schools/two-montgomery-school-board-seats-will-have-primaries-as-new-candidates-join-race/?fbclid=IwAR1q4IcKwXMD4ggMud0CIepTWT7uTJrNsH5yyZGQhBimY1Rr_5DWIJyLZhE

Ummm worst news ever. Please, someone else run. We don’t want these two deciding mcps policy for the next couple of years. Dawn is tone deaf. And Dawn don’t try and get this post removed like you usually do. As a candidate, you are now subject to public scrutiny. So heckling people at BOE meetings, wearing a MESH mask to BOE meetings (well before the mandate was lifted) in order to antagonize the BOE and those who were masked and picking on the SMOB are all things you will have to answer for.

Do you know who is on the Apple ballot yet?

For BOE, so far MCEA has endorsed only Julie Yang in the District 3 race.

She sounds great! Definitely has my vote.

She is Apple ballot endorsed, which will get a major side eye from me.

Apple ballot:
- Endorsed by teachers? Check.
- Not an incumbent? Check.

Good enough for me - Julie Yang it is!!!!

This is why the apple ballot is so powerful. The problem is that the apple ballot is not about support from teachers, it’s about support from the union. The priority is not education, but political influence and leverage for collective bargaining.

Here’s a Post article explaining that candidates are supposed to make contributions to the union in exchange for the endorsement. I’m pretty sure those contributions are not passed along to the individual teachers, much less applied to improving the educational experience in the classroom.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/montgomery-countys-perverse-politics/2014/02/01/98f099f2-8921-11e3-833c-33098f9e5267_story.html

Here’s an article talking about the negative impact that too much emphasis on union priorities can have. It’s great that teachers get higher salaries and better benefits, but at some point that means not hiring as many teachers, which means bigger class sizes and less support.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/montgomery-countys-wrong-education-priorities/2012/05/24/gJQA0wOBoU_story.html

Currently, the union holds the power, because when it comes time to vote, most people want to support the teachers and will vote the apple ballot rather than doing the hard work to see what the actual issues are and where the candidates stand on those issues. So, the voters support the union (thinking they’re supporting teachers). The union supports the candidates that it feels will support them in contract negotiations (and of course contributing to the union is a way of demonstrating their good will). The school board, once elected, makes sure the administration negotiates favorable terms with the union, and doesn’t interfere too much with the actual running of things, because after all, they’re doing such a great job - just ask them. The administration gives the union what they want and keeps doing whatever it wants to otherwise. Standardized test scores may be low. They may have to cancel finals because too many students are failing the finals they’ve written for courses they’ve written. Colleges are recognizing that MCPS grades are inflated. Private tutoring is a booming industry. Even a curriculum audit shows what many parents have been saying all along, that their in-house curriculum is fundamentally deficient. Then the MCPS PR department (which I think is probably the only part of MCPS that functions effectively) tells everyone that MCPS is “one of the best school systems in the nation”. Voters feel vindicated that they were right to cast that apple ballot. It’s all very cozy, and everybody’s happy, except maybe little Larlo/Larla who won’t have the skills they need to succeed academically and to be fully prepared to meet their needs, let alone follow their dreams.

According to the state of Maryland, our percent proficiency for E/M/H students is:
Math - 52% / 42.5% / 56.2%
English Language Arts - 53% / 54.8% / 67.3%

https://reportcard.msde.maryland.gov/Graphs/#/ReportCards/ReportCardSchool/1/E/1/15/XXXX/2019

Think how hard it is to learn Algebra, if you’re one of the 48% who isn’t proficient in the fundamentals taught in elementary, or about absorbing complex texts in history, science, and of course literature, if you’re one of the 47% who isn’t proficient in English Language Arts. How many of these kids are functionally illiterate? These numbers include those whose parents teach them at home or take them to regular tutoring sessions.

Thanks - this was actually quite helpful. In past years, I remember seeing the apple ballots handed out at polling places, but I didn't fully understand how those endorsements were decided.

I have also been concerned about math/language proficiency, based on what I see with my own children, so I appreciate seeing the county wide numbers. I vaguely remember a news article about saturday school (virginia maybe?) to help with learning loss. But I haven't heard much about a similar approach or tutoring services for mcps students. Has anyone else? We are currently looking for local tutoring options or recommendations.

Here’s a link about the MCPS Saturday school. My kids never went, so I don’t know anything about it.

https://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/mainstory/story/596315/Saturday-School/

They are also offering tutoring at some schools and virtually.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I just wasted time searching for this trevor noah episode on youtube. No mockery of her testimony. It is just a few seconds of her speaking, and it follows clips of kids talking about how they want to be back at school. Trevor goes on to talk about prioritizing teachers for vaccines so schools can reopen. Teachers were prioritized in montgomery co - right?

We can (and should) argue pros/cons of people running for the school board, but discussion of this random tv episode seems like an irrelevant distraction. Unless the goal was to make fun of students and families who wanted to go back to school?

There was never a discussion about the television episode. It was mentioned along with a list of other things Dawn has done to embarrass herself. I am SICK of Dawn speaking on behalf of minorities. She does not represent me or my community, but she speaks on our behalf, she takes up spots at board meetings where our voices should be heard, and she never says anything different. Her endless testimonies are more of the same endless drivel. I have unfortunately met her many times. She is a typical Karen who thinks being rude= being "feisty" and "shaking things up." She is just someone who wants to appear as a challenger of status quo without actually doing anything about it other than holding up a few signs full of platitudes, pretending to care about minorities, and yelling vaguely into the abyss. She is not a challenger, she is an angry White woman doing things that a basic angry White woman does who thinks they are enacting change. She doesn't represent the majority of MoCo parents. Most of us don't have the time to be as vocal as she does. We have jobs. We don't spend endless hours tweeting,calling news stations,writing a million OpEds (that are only used to further careers and get their names out there; they aren't actually meant for the students),complaining to whoever will listen and call it advocacy.

Agree but you sound equally racist. She doesn’t represent anyone but herself.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:https://bethesdamagazine.com/bethesda-beat/schools/two-montgomery-school-board-seats-will-have-primaries-as-new-candidates-join-race/?fbclid=IwAR1q4IcKwXMD4ggMud0CIepTWT7uTJrNsH5yyZGQhBimY1Rr_5DWIJyLZhE

Ummm worst news ever. Please, someone else run. We don’t want these two deciding mcps policy for the next couple of years. Dawn is tone deaf. And Dawn don’t try and get this post removed like you usually do. As a candidate, you are now subject to public scrutiny. So heckling people at BOE meetings, wearing a MESH mask to BOE meetings (well before the mandate was lifted) in order to antagonize the BOE and those who were masked and picking on the SMOB are all things you will have to answer for.

Do you know who is on the Apple ballot yet?

For BOE, so far MCEA has endorsed only Julie Yang in the District 3 race.

She sounds great! Definitely has my vote.

She is Apple ballot endorsed, which will get a major side eye from me.

Apple ballot:
- Endorsed by teachers? Check.
- Not an incumbent? Check.

Good enough for me - Julie Yang it is!!!!

This is why the apple ballot is so powerful. The problem is that the apple ballot is not about support from teachers, it’s about support from the union. The priority is not education, but political influence and leverage for collective bargaining.

Here’s a Post article explaining that candidates are supposed to make contributions to the union in exchange for the endorsement. I’m pretty sure those contributions are not passed along to the individual teachers, much less applied to improving the educational experience in the classroom.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/montgomery-countys-perverse-politics/2014/02/01/98f099f2-8921-11e3-833c-33098f9e5267_story.html

Here’s an article talking about the negative impact that too much emphasis on union priorities can have. It’s great that teachers get higher salaries and better benefits, but at some point that means not hiring as many teachers, which means bigger class sizes and less support.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/montgomery-countys-wrong-education-priorities/2012/05/24/gJQA0wOBoU_story.html

Currently, the union holds the power, because when it comes time to vote, most people want to support the teachers and will vote the apple ballot rather than doing the hard work to see what the actual issues are and where the candidates stand on those issues. So, the voters support the union (thinking they’re supporting teachers). The union supports the candidates that it feels will support them in contract negotiations (and of course contributing to the union is a way of demonstrating their good will). The school board, once elected, makes sure the administration negotiates favorable terms with the union, and doesn’t interfere too much with the actual running of things, because after all, they’re doing such a great job - just ask them. The administration gives the union what they want and keeps doing whatever it wants to otherwise. Standardized test scores may be low. They may have to cancel finals because too many students are failing the finals they’ve written for courses they’ve written. Colleges are recognizing that MCPS grades are inflated. Private tutoring is a booming industry. Even a curriculum audit shows what many parents have been saying all along, that their in-house curriculum is fundamentally deficient. Then the MCPS PR department (which I think is probably the only part of MCPS that functions effectively) tells everyone that MCPS is “one of the best school systems in the nation”. Voters feel vindicated that they were right to cast that apple ballot. It’s all very cozy, and everybody’s happy, except maybe little Larlo/Larla who won’t have the skills they need to succeed academically and to be fully prepared to meet their needs, let alone follow their dreams.

According to the state of Maryland, our percent proficiency for E/M/H students is:
Math - 52% / 42.5% / 56.2%
English Language Arts - 53% / 54.8% / 67.3%

https://reportcard.msde.maryland.gov/Graphs/#/ReportCards/ReportCardSchool/1/E/1/15/XXXX/2019

Think how hard it is to learn Algebra, if you’re one of the 48% who isn’t proficient in the fundamentals taught in elementary, or about absorbing complex texts in history, science, and of course literature, if you’re one of the 47% who isn’t proficient in English Language Arts. How many of these kids are functionally illiterate? These numbers include those whose parents teach them at home or take them to regular tutoring sessions.

My kid has not taken those tests so not sure how accurate they are.

[Anonymous]

To the extent that the Apple Ballot does not pick incumbents, I recommend that all parents vote Apple Ballot.

My guess is that the board members and Central Office who like the way things are now are trolling this board, trying to split votes so they hold onto their seats.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:To the extent that the Apple Ballot does not pick incumbents, I recommend that all parents vote Apple Ballot.

My guess is that the board members and Central Office who like the way things are now are trolling this board, trying to split votes so they hold onto their seats.

I’m one of the critics of the apple ballot and I’m certainly not a board member or from the central office. If they’re not supporting the incumbents, I’m actually surprised because in my experience, there’s generally a mutual back-scratching cycle between the three groups. I am certainly not supporting the incumbents, as I’ve been wanting to change out the board for years. Honestly, I stopped paying attention to the apple ballot endorsements years ago.

My point that I elaborated above, is that the apple ballot represents the union and their interests don’t necessarily coincide with the kind of positive educational measures people envision when they want to support the teachers. If the candidates endorsed this year favor my issues, I would be shocked, but once I recovered I would happily vote for them. My issues:
1. Strong, content-based curriculum (preferably with textbooks), produced by subject matter experts, that has already been effectively implemented elsewhere (I’m hopeful we’ve made progress since the curriculum audit, but with COVID, I really have no idea of the rollout status or the effectiveness of the new curriculum)
2. COVID precautions - I support a conservative approach, prioritizing safety. I had assumed this would include vaccine mandates, but I think there was recently some data questioning vaccines for young children, so I really don’t know what’s best, but I hope we would follow recommendations from the AAP, AMA, CDC, etc. I would even support another shutdown if cases spiked (which I’m really, REALLY, hoping we’re past).
3. A better grading system - I would like every assignment graded and not just marked for completeness. I would like to do away with the minimum base score of 50. I would like to reinstate final exams for high school courses. While I’m at it, I’d like to give the teachers the discretion to let a child do extra work for extra credit.
4. Grouping - I’d like to see flexible ability grouping (NOT tracking). I agree that we should never limit a child’s opportunities, but heterogeneous grouping, by definition means that all kids get less instructional time at their ability level. Flexible grouping as described in this Washington Post article can be very effective.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/story/2007/11/03/ST2007110301386.html

I don’t expect everyone to agree with me on all of these issues, or even any of them. I would however like them to determine what issues are important to them, and then research the candidates’ respective stances on those issues, and not just put blind faith in the apple ballot.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:To the extent that the Apple Ballot does not pick incumbents, I recommend that all parents vote Apple Ballot.

My guess is that the board members and Central Office who like the way things are now are trolling this board, trying to split votes so they hold onto their seats.

I’m one of the critics of the apple ballot and I’m certainly not a board member or from the central office. If they’re not supporting the incumbents, I’m actually surprised because in my experience, there’s generally a mutual back-scratching cycle between the three groups. I am certainly not supporting the incumbents, as I’ve been wanting to change out the board for years. Honestly, I stopped paying attention to the apple ballot endorsements years ago.

My point that I elaborated above, is that the apple ballot represents the union and their interests don’t necessarily coincide with the kind of positive educational measures people envision when they want to support the teachers. If the candidates endorsed this year favor my issues, I would be shocked, but once I recovered I would happily vote for them. My issues:
1. Strong, content-based curriculum (preferably with textbooks), produced by subject matter experts, that has already been effectively implemented elsewhere (I’m hopeful we’ve made progress since the curriculum audit, but with COVID, I really have no idea of the rollout status or the effectiveness of the new curriculum)
2. COVID precautions - I support a conservative approach, prioritizing safety. I had assumed this would include vaccine mandates, but I think there was recently some data questioning vaccines for young children, so I really don’t know what’s best, but I hope we would follow recommendations from the AAP, AMA, CDC, etc. I would even support another shutdown if cases spiked (which I’m really, REALLY, hoping we’re past).
3. A better grading system - I would like every assignment graded and not just marked for completeness. I would like to do away with the minimum base score of 50. I would like to reinstate final exams for high school courses. While I’m at it, I’d like to give the teachers the discretion to let a child do extra work for extra credit.
4. Grouping - I’d like to see flexible ability grouping (NOT tracking). I agree that we should never limit a child’s opportunities, but heterogeneous grouping, by definition means that all kids get less instructional time at their ability level. Flexible grouping as described in this Washington Post article can be very effective.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/story/2007/11/03/ST2007110301386.html

I don’t expect everyone to agree with me on all of these issues, or even any of them. I would however like them to determine what issues are important to them, and then research the candidates’ respective stances on those issues, and not just put blind faith in the apple ballot.

I agree with everything you said. Is there a candidate who is advocating on these exact issues? I’d vote for him/her/them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:To the extent that the Apple Ballot does not pick incumbents, I recommend that all parents vote Apple Ballot.

My guess is that the board members and Central Office who like the way things are now are trolling this board, trying to split votes so they hold onto their seats.

Don’t you have papers to grade? You already have a union- you shouldn’t control the Board, too.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:https://bethesdamagazine.com/bethesda-beat/schools/two-montgomery-school-board-seats-will-have-primaries-as-new-candidates-join-race/?fbclid=IwAR1q4IcKwXMD4ggMud0CIepTWT7uTJrNsH5yyZGQhBimY1Rr_5DWIJyLZhE

Ummm worst news ever. Please, someone else run. We don’t want these two deciding mcps policy for the next couple of years. Dawn is tone deaf. And Dawn don’t try and get this post removed like you usually do. As a candidate, you are now subject to public scrutiny. So heckling people at BOE meetings, wearing a MESH mask to BOE meetings (well before the mandate was lifted) in order to antagonize the BOE and those who were masked and picking on the SMOB are all things you will have to answer for.

Do you know who is on the Apple ballot yet?

For BOE, so far MCEA has endorsed only Julie Yang in the District 3 race.

She sounds great! Definitely has my vote.

She is Apple ballot endorsed, which will get a major side eye from me.

Apple ballot:
- Endorsed by teachers? Check.
- Not an incumbent? Check.

Good enough for me - Julie Yang it is!!!!

This is why the apple ballot is so powerful. The problem is that the apple ballot is not about support from teachers, it’s about support from the union. The priority is not education, but political influence and leverage for collective bargaining.

Here’s a Post article explaining that candidates are supposed to make contributions to the union in exchange for the endorsement. I’m pretty sure those contributions are not passed along to the individual teachers, much less applied to improving the educational experience in the classroom.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/montgomery-countys-perverse-politics/2014/02/01/98f099f2-8921-11e3-833c-33098f9e5267_story.html

Here’s an article talking about the negative impact that too much emphasis on union priorities can have. It’s great that teachers get higher salaries and better benefits, but at some point that means not hiring as many teachers, which means bigger class sizes and less support.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/montgomery-countys-wrong-education-priorities/2012/05/24/gJQA0wOBoU_story.html

Currently, the union holds the power, because when it comes time to vote, most people want to support the teachers and will vote the apple ballot rather than doing the hard work to see what the actual issues are and where the candidates stand on those issues. So, the voters support the union (thinking they’re supporting teachers). The union supports the candidates that it feels will support them in contract negotiations (and of course contributing to the union is a way of demonstrating their good will). The school board, once elected, makes sure the administration negotiates favorable terms with the union, and doesn’t interfere too much with the actual running of things, because after all, they’re doing such a great job - just ask them. The administration gives the union what they want and keeps doing whatever it wants to otherwise. Standardized test scores may be low. They may have to cancel finals because too many students are failing the finals they’ve written for courses they’ve written. Colleges are recognizing that MCPS grades are inflated. Private tutoring is a booming industry. Even a curriculum audit shows what many parents have been saying all along, that their in-house curriculum is fundamentally deficient. Then the MCPS PR department (which I think is probably the only part of MCPS that functions effectively) tells everyone that MCPS is “one of the best school systems in the nation”. Voters feel vindicated that they were right to cast that apple ballot. It’s all very cozy, and everybody’s happy, except maybe little Larlo/Larla who won’t have the skills they need to succeed academically and to be fully prepared to meet their needs, let alone follow their dreams.

According to the state of Maryland, our percent proficiency for E/M/H students is:
Math - 52% / 42.5% / 56.2%
English Language Arts - 53% / 54.8% / 67.3%

https://reportcard.msde.maryland.gov/Graphs/#/ReportCards/ReportCardSchool/1/E/1/15/XXXX/2019

Think how hard it is to learn Algebra, if you’re one of the 48% who isn’t proficient in the fundamentals taught in elementary, or about absorbing complex texts in history, science, and of course literature, if you’re one of the 47% who isn’t proficient in English Language Arts. How many of these kids are functionally illiterate? These numbers include those whose parents teach them at home or take them to regular tutoring sessions.

My kid has not taken those tests so not sure how accurate they are.

Yes, because the grade that your child gets will so amazing it will manage to bring up a whole cohort

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:https://bethesdamagazine.com/bethesda-beat/schools/two-montgomery-school-board-seats-will-have-primaries-as-new-candidates-join-race/?fbclid=IwAR1q4IcKwXMD4ggMud0CIepTWT7uTJrNsH5yyZGQhBimY1Rr_5DWIJyLZhE

Ummm worst news ever. Please, someone else run. We don’t want these two deciding mcps policy for the next couple of years. Dawn is tone deaf. And Dawn don’t try and get this post removed like you usually do. As a candidate, you are now subject to public scrutiny. So heckling people at BOE meetings, wearing a MESH mask to BOE meetings (well before the mandate was lifted) in order to antagonize the BOE and those who were masked and picking on the SMOB are all things you will have to answer for.

Do you know who is on the Apple ballot yet?

For BOE, so far MCEA has endorsed only Julie Yang in the District 3 race.

She sounds great! Definitely has my vote.

She is Apple ballot endorsed, which will get a major side eye from me.

Apple ballot:
- Endorsed by teachers? Check.
- Not an incumbent? Check.

Good enough for me - Julie Yang it is!!!!

This is why the apple ballot is so powerful. The problem is that the apple ballot is not about support from teachers, it’s about support from the union. The priority is not education, but political influence and leverage for collective bargaining.

Here’s a Post article explaining that candidates are supposed to make contributions to the union in exchange for the endorsement. I’m pretty sure those contributions are not passed along to the individual teachers, much less applied to improving the educational experience in the classroom.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/montgomery-countys-perverse-politics/2014/02/01/98f099f2-8921-11e3-833c-33098f9e5267_story.html

Here’s an article talking about the negative impact that too much emphasis on union priorities can have. It’s great that teachers get higher salaries and better benefits, but at some point that means not hiring as many teachers, which means bigger class sizes and less support.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/montgomery-countys-wrong-education-priorities/2012/05/24/gJQA0wOBoU_story.html

Currently, the union holds the power, because when it comes time to vote, most people want to support the teachers and will vote the apple ballot rather than doing the hard work to see what the actual issues are and where the candidates stand on those issues. So, the voters support the union (thinking they’re supporting teachers). The union supports the candidates that it feels will support them in contract negotiations (and of course contributing to the union is a way of demonstrating their good will). The school board, once elected, makes sure the administration negotiates favorable terms with the union, and doesn’t interfere too much with the actual running of things, because after all, they’re doing such a great job - just ask them. The administration gives the union what they want and keeps doing whatever it wants to otherwise. Standardized test scores may be low. They may have to cancel finals because too many students are failing the finals they’ve written for courses they’ve written. Colleges are recognizing that MCPS grades are inflated. Private tutoring is a booming industry. Even a curriculum audit shows what many parents have been saying all along, that their in-house curriculum is fundamentally deficient. Then the MCPS PR department (which I think is probably the only part of MCPS that functions effectively) tells everyone that MCPS is “one of the best school systems in the nation”. Voters feel vindicated that they were right to cast that apple ballot. It’s all very cozy, and everybody’s happy, except maybe little Larlo/Larla who won’t have the skills they need to succeed academically and to be fully prepared to meet their needs, let alone follow their dreams.

According to the state of Maryland, our percent proficiency for E/M/H students is:
Math - 52% / 42.5% / 56.2%
English Language Arts - 53% / 54.8% / 67.3%

https://reportcard.msde.maryland.gov/Graphs/#/ReportCards/ReportCardSchool/1/E/1/15/XXXX/2019

Think how hard it is to learn Algebra, if you’re one of the 48% who isn’t proficient in the fundamentals taught in elementary, or about absorbing complex texts in history, science, and of course literature, if you’re one of the 47% who isn’t proficient in English Language Arts. How many of these kids are functionally illiterate? These numbers include those whose parents teach them at home or take them to regular tutoring sessions.

My kid has not taken those tests so not sure how accurate they are.

Yes, because the grade that your child gets will so amazing it will manage to bring up a whole cohort

How many kids tested? That is the point.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:https://bethesdamagazine.com/bethesda-beat/schools/two-montgomery-school-board-seats-will-have-primaries-as-new-candidates-join-race/?fbclid=IwAR1q4IcKwXMD4ggMud0CIepTWT7uTJrNsH5yyZGQhBimY1Rr_5DWIJyLZhE

Ummm worst news ever. Please, someone else run. We don’t want these two deciding mcps policy for the next couple of years. Dawn is tone deaf. And Dawn don’t try and get this post removed like you usually do. As a candidate, you are now subject to public scrutiny. So heckling people at BOE meetings, wearing a MESH mask to BOE meetings (well before the mandate was lifted) in order to antagonize the BOE and those who were masked and picking on the SMOB are all things you will have to answer for.

Do you know who is on the Apple ballot yet?

For BOE, so far MCEA has endorsed only Julie Yang in the District 3 race.

She sounds great! Definitely has my vote.

She is Apple ballot endorsed, which will get a major side eye from me.

Apple ballot:
- Endorsed by teachers? Check.
- Not an incumbent? Check.

Good enough for me - Julie Yang it is!!!!

This is why the apple ballot is so powerful. The problem is that the apple ballot is not about support from teachers, it’s about support from the union. The priority is not education, but political influence and leverage for collective bargaining.

Here’s a Post article explaining that candidates are supposed to make contributions to the union in exchange for the endorsement. I’m pretty sure those contributions are not passed along to the individual teachers, much less applied to improving the educational experience in the classroom.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/montgomery-countys-perverse-politics/2014/02/01/98f099f2-8921-11e3-833c-33098f9e5267_story.html

Here’s an article talking about the negative impact that too much emphasis on union priorities can have. It’s great that teachers get higher salaries and better benefits, but at some point that means not hiring as many teachers, which means bigger class sizes and less support.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/montgomery-countys-wrong-education-priorities/2012/05/24/gJQA0wOBoU_story.html

Currently, the union holds the power, because when it comes time to vote, most people want to support the teachers and will vote the apple ballot rather than doing the hard work to see what the actual issues are and where the candidates stand on those issues. So, the voters support the union (thinking they’re supporting teachers). The union supports the candidates that it feels will support them in contract negotiations (and of course contributing to the union is a way of demonstrating their good will). The school board, once elected, makes sure the administration negotiates favorable terms with the union, and doesn’t interfere too much with the actual running of things, because after all, they’re doing such a great job - just ask them. The administration gives the union what they want and keeps doing whatever it wants to otherwise. Standardized test scores may be low. They may have to cancel finals because too many students are failing the finals they’ve written for courses they’ve written. Colleges are recognizing that MCPS grades are inflated. Private tutoring is a booming industry. Even a curriculum audit shows what many parents have been saying all along, that their in-house curriculum is fundamentally deficient. Then the MCPS PR department (which I think is probably the only part of MCPS that functions effectively) tells everyone that MCPS is “one of the best school systems in the nation”. Voters feel vindicated that they were right to cast that apple ballot. It’s all very cozy, and everybody’s happy, except maybe little Larlo/Larla who won’t have the skills they need to succeed academically and to be fully prepared to meet their needs, let alone follow their dreams.

According to the state of Maryland, our percent proficiency for E/M/H students is:
Math - 52% / 42.5% / 56.2%
English Language Arts - 53% / 54.8% / 67.3%

https://reportcard.msde.maryland.gov/Graphs/#/ReportCards/ReportCardSchool/1/E/1/15/XXXX/2019

Think how hard it is to learn Algebra, if you’re one of the 48% who isn’t proficient in the fundamentals taught in elementary, or about absorbing complex texts in history, science, and of course literature, if you’re one of the 47% who isn’t proficient in English Language Arts. How many of these kids are functionally illiterate? These numbers include those whose parents teach them at home or take them to regular tutoring sessions.

Thanks - this was actually quite helpful. In past years, I remember seeing the apple ballots handed out at polling places, but I didn't fully understand how those endorsements were decided.

I have also been concerned about math/language proficiency, based on what I see with my own children, so I appreciate seeing the county wide numbers. I vaguely remember a news article about saturday school (virginia maybe?) to help with learning loss. But I haven't heard much about a similar approach or tutoring services for mcps students. Has anyone else? We are currently looking for local tutoring options or recommendations.

Here’s a link about the MCPS Saturday school. My kids never went, so I don’t know anything about it.

https://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/mainstory/story/596315/Saturday-School/

Yes, that was it! Unfortunately it's still virtual only (from what I can tell via registration page) but I'll keep checking back. Thank you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:https://bethesdamagazine.com/bethesda-beat/schools/two-montgomery-school-board-seats-will-have-primaries-as-new-candidates-join-race/?fbclid=IwAR1q4IcKwXMD4ggMud0CIepTWT7uTJrNsH5yyZGQhBimY1Rr_5DWIJyLZhE

Ummm worst news ever. Please, someone else run. We don’t want these two deciding mcps policy for the next couple of years. Dawn is tone deaf. And Dawn don’t try and get this post removed like you usually do. As a candidate, you are now subject to public scrutiny. So heckling people at BOE meetings, wearing a MESH mask to BOE meetings (well before the mandate was lifted) in order to antagonize the BOE and those who were masked and picking on the SMOB are all things you will have to answer for.

Do you know who is on the Apple ballot yet?

For BOE, so far MCEA has endorsed only Julie Yang in the District 3 race.

She sounds great! Definitely has my vote.

She is Apple ballot endorsed, which will get a major side eye from me.

Apple ballot:
- Endorsed by teachers? Check.
- Not an incumbent? Check.

Good enough for me - Julie Yang it is!!!!

This is why the apple ballot is so powerful. The problem is that the apple ballot is not about support from teachers, it’s about support from the union. The priority is not education, but political influence and leverage for collective bargaining.

Here’s a Post article explaining that candidates are supposed to make contributions to the union in exchange for the endorsement. I’m pretty sure those contributions are not passed along to the individual teachers, much less applied to improving the educational experience in the classroom.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/montgomery-countys-perverse-politics/2014/02/01/98f099f2-8921-11e3-833c-33098f9e5267_story.html

Here’s an article talking about the negative impact that too much emphasis on union priorities can have. It’s great that teachers get higher salaries and better benefits, but at some point that means not hiring as many teachers, which means bigger class sizes and less support.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/montgomery-countys-wrong-education-priorities/2012/05/24/gJQA0wOBoU_story.html

Currently, the union holds the power, because when it comes time to vote, most people want to support the teachers and will vote the apple ballot rather than doing the hard work to see what the actual issues are and where the candidates stand on those issues. So, the voters support the union (thinking they’re supporting teachers). The union supports the candidates that it feels will support them in contract negotiations (and of course contributing to the union is a way of demonstrating their good will). The school board, once elected, makes sure the administration negotiates favorable terms with the union, and doesn’t interfere too much with the actual running of things, because after all, they’re doing such a great job - just ask them. The administration gives the union what they want and keeps doing whatever it wants to otherwise. Standardized test scores may be low. They may have to cancel finals because too many students are failing the finals they’ve written for courses they’ve written. Colleges are recognizing that MCPS grades are inflated. Private tutoring is a booming industry. Even a curriculum audit shows what many parents have been saying all along, that their in-house curriculum is fundamentally deficient. Then the MCPS PR department (which I think is probably the only part of MCPS that functions effectively) tells everyone that MCPS is “one of the best school systems in the nation”. Voters feel vindicated that they were right to cast that apple ballot. It’s all very cozy, and everybody’s happy, except maybe little Larlo/Larla who won’t have the skills they need to succeed academically and to be fully prepared to meet their needs, let alone follow their dreams.

According to the state of Maryland, our percent proficiency for E/M/H students is:
Math - 52% / 42.5% / 56.2%
English Language Arts - 53% / 54.8% / 67.3%

https://reportcard.msde.maryland.gov/Graphs/#/ReportCards/ReportCardSchool/1/E/1/15/XXXX/2019

Think how hard it is to learn Algebra, if you’re one of the 48% who isn’t proficient in the fundamentals taught in elementary, or about absorbing complex texts in history, science, and of course literature, if you’re one of the 47% who isn’t proficient in English Language Arts. How many of these kids are functionally illiterate? These numbers include those whose parents teach them at home or take them to regular tutoring sessions.

Thanks - this was actually quite helpful. In past years, I remember seeing the apple ballots handed out at polling places, but I didn't fully understand how those endorsements were decided.

I have also been concerned about math/language proficiency, based on what I see with my own children, so I appreciate seeing the county wide numbers. I vaguely remember a news article about saturday school (virginia maybe?) to help with learning loss. But I haven't heard much about a similar approach or tutoring services for mcps students. Has anyone else? We are currently looking for local tutoring options or recommendations.

Here’s a link about the MCPS Saturday school. My kids never went, so I don’t know anything about it.

https://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/mainstory/story/596315/Saturday-School/

They are also offering tutoring at some schools and virtually.

Check the ESSER funding. Millions of covid money was dedicated in that budget? Not sure what tutoring there really is available though? Anyone know?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:https://bethesdamagazine.com/bethesda-beat/schools/two-montgomery-school-board-seats-will-have-primaries-as-new-candidates-join-race/?fbclid=IwAR1q4IcKwXMD4ggMud0CIepTWT7uTJrNsH5yyZGQhBimY1Rr_5DWIJyLZhE

Ummm worst news ever. Please, someone else run. We don’t want these two deciding mcps policy for the next couple of years. Dawn is tone deaf. And Dawn don’t try and get this post removed like you usually do. As a candidate, you are now subject to public scrutiny. So heckling people at BOE meetings, wearing a MESH mask to BOE meetings (well before the mandate was lifted) in order to antagonize the BOE and those who were masked and picking on the SMOB are all things you will have to answer for.

Do you know who is on the Apple ballot yet?

For BOE, so far MCEA has endorsed only Julie Yang in the District 3 race.

She sounds great! Definitely has my vote.

She is Apple ballot endorsed, which will get a major side eye from me.

Apple ballot:
- Endorsed by teachers? Check.
- Not an incumbent? Check.

Good enough for me - Julie Yang it is!!!!

This is why the apple ballot is so powerful. The problem is that the apple ballot is not about support from teachers, it’s about support from the union. The priority is not education, but political influence and leverage for collective bargaining.

Here’s a Post article explaining that candidates are supposed to make contributions to the union in exchange for the endorsement. I’m pretty sure those contributions are not passed along to the individual teachers, much less applied to improving the educational experience in the classroom.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/montgomery-countys-perverse-politics/2014/02/01/98f099f2-8921-11e3-833c-33098f9e5267_story.html

Here’s an article talking about the negative impact that too much emphasis on union priorities can have. It’s great that teachers get higher salaries and better benefits, but at some point that means not hiring as many teachers, which means bigger class sizes and less support.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/montgomery-countys-wrong-education-priorities/2012/05/24/gJQA0wOBoU_story.html

Currently, the union holds the power, because when it comes time to vote, most people want to support the teachers and will vote the apple ballot rather than doing the hard work to see what the actual issues are and where the candidates stand on those issues. So, the voters support the union (thinking they’re supporting teachers). The union supports the candidates that it feels will support them in contract negotiations (and of course contributing to the union is a way of demonstrating their good will). The school board, once elected, makes sure the administration negotiates favorable terms with the union, and doesn’t interfere too much with the actual running of things, because after all, they’re doing such a great job - just ask them. The administration gives the union what they want and keeps doing whatever it wants to otherwise. Standardized test scores may be low. They may have to cancel finals because too many students are failing the finals they’ve written for courses they’ve written. Colleges are recognizing that MCPS grades are inflated. Private tutoring is a booming industry. Even a curriculum audit shows what many parents have been saying all along, that their in-house curriculum is fundamentally deficient. Then the MCPS PR department (which I think is probably the only part of MCPS that functions effectively) tells everyone that MCPS is “one of the best school systems in the nation”. Voters feel vindicated that they were right to cast that apple ballot. It’s all very cozy, and everybody’s happy, except maybe little Larlo/Larla who won’t have the skills they need to succeed academically and to be fully prepared to meet their needs, let alone follow their dreams.

According to the state of Maryland, our percent proficiency for E/M/H students is:
Math - 52% / 42.5% / 56.2%
English Language Arts - 53% / 54.8% / 67.3%

https://reportcard.msde.maryland.gov/Graphs/#/ReportCards/ReportCardSchool/1/E/1/15/XXXX/2019

Think how hard it is to learn Algebra, if you’re one of the 48% who isn’t proficient in the fundamentals taught in elementary, or about absorbing complex texts in history, science, and of course literature, if you’re one of the 47% who isn’t proficient in English Language Arts. How many of these kids are functionally illiterate? These numbers include those whose parents teach them at home or take them to regular tutoring sessions.

Thanks - this was actually quite helpful. In past years, I remember seeing the apple ballots handed out at polling places, but I didn't fully understand how those endorsements were decided.

I have also been concerned about math/language proficiency, based on what I see with my own children, so I appreciate seeing the county wide numbers. I vaguely remember a news article about saturday school (virginia maybe?) to help with learning loss. But I haven't heard much about a similar approach or tutoring services for mcps students. Has anyone else? We are currently looking for local tutoring options or recommendations.

Here’s a link about the MCPS Saturday school. My kids never went, so I don’t know anything about it.

https://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/mainstory/story/596315/Saturday-School/

They are also offering tutoring at some schools and virtually.

Check the ESSER funding. Millions of covid money was dedicated in that budget? Not sure what tutoring there really is available though? Anyone know?

Tutoring info is here:

https://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/curriculum/tutoring.aspx

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:https://bethesdamagazine.com/bethesda-beat/schools/two-montgomery-school-board-seats-will-have-primaries-as-new-candidates-join-race/?fbclid=IwAR1q4IcKwXMD4ggMud0CIepTWT7uTJrNsH5yyZGQhBimY1Rr_5DWIJyLZhE

Ummm worst news ever. Please, someone else run. We don’t want these two deciding mcps policy for the next couple of years. Dawn is tone deaf. And Dawn don’t try and get this post removed like you usually do. As a candidate, you are now subject to public scrutiny. So heckling people at BOE meetings, wearing a MESH mask to BOE meetings (well before the mandate was lifted) in order to antagonize the BOE and those who were masked and picking on the SMOB are all things you will have to answer for.

Do you know who is on the Apple ballot yet?

For BOE, so far MCEA has endorsed only Julie Yang in the District 3 race.

She sounds great! Definitely has my vote.

She is Apple ballot endorsed, which will get a major side eye from me.

Apple ballot:
- Endorsed by teachers? Check.
- Not an incumbent? Check.

Good enough for me - Julie Yang it is!!!!

This is why the apple ballot is so powerful. The problem is that the apple ballot is not about support from teachers, it’s about support from the union. The priority is not education, but political influence and leverage for collective bargaining.

Here’s a Post article explaining that candidates are supposed to make contributions to the union in exchange for the endorsement. I’m pretty sure those contributions are not passed along to the individual teachers, much less applied to improving the educational experience in the classroom.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/montgomery-countys-perverse-politics/2014/02/01/98f099f2-8921-11e3-833c-33098f9e5267_story.html

Here’s an article talking about the negative impact that too much emphasis on union priorities can have. It’s great that teachers get higher salaries and better benefits, but at some point that means not hiring as many teachers, which means bigger class sizes and less support.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/montgomery-countys-wrong-education-priorities/2012/05/24/gJQA0wOBoU_story.html

Currently, the union holds the power, because when it comes time to vote, most people want to support the teachers and will vote the apple ballot rather than doing the hard work to see what the actual issues are and where the candidates stand on those issues. So, the voters support the union (thinking they’re supporting teachers). The union supports the candidates that it feels will support them in contract negotiations (and of course contributing to the union is a way of demonstrating their good will). The school board, once elected, makes sure the administration negotiates favorable terms with the union, and doesn’t interfere too much with the actual running of things, because after all, they’re doing such a great job - just ask them. The administration gives the union what they want and keeps doing whatever it wants to otherwise. Standardized test scores may be low. They may have to cancel finals because too many students are failing the finals they’ve written for courses they’ve written. Colleges are recognizing that MCPS grades are inflated. Private tutoring is a booming industry. Even a curriculum audit shows what many parents have been saying all along, that their in-house curriculum is fundamentally deficient. Then the MCPS PR department (which I think is probably the only part of MCPS that functions effectively) tells everyone that MCPS is “one of the best school systems in the nation”. Voters feel vindicated that they were right to cast that apple ballot. It’s all very cozy, and everybody’s happy, except maybe little Larlo/Larla who won’t have the skills they need to succeed academically and to be fully prepared to meet their needs, let alone follow their dreams.

According to the state of Maryland, our percent proficiency for E/M/H students is:
Math - 52% / 42.5% / 56.2%
English Language Arts - 53% / 54.8% / 67.3%

https://reportcard.msde.maryland.gov/Graphs/#/ReportCards/ReportCardSchool/1/E/1/15/XXXX/2019

Think how hard it is to learn Algebra, if you’re one of the 48% who isn’t proficient in the fundamentals taught in elementary, or about absorbing complex texts in history, science, and of course literature, if you’re one of the 47% who isn’t proficient in English Language Arts. How many of these kids are functionally illiterate? These numbers include those whose parents teach them at home or take them to regular tutoring sessions.

Thanks - this was actually quite helpful. In past years, I remember seeing the apple ballots handed out at polling places, but I didn't fully understand how those endorsements were decided.

I have also been concerned about math/language proficiency, based on what I see with my own children, so I appreciate seeing the county wide numbers. I vaguely remember a news article about saturday school (virginia maybe?) to help with learning loss. But I haven't heard much about a similar approach or tutoring services for mcps students. Has anyone else? We are currently looking for local tutoring options or recommendations.

Here’s a link about the MCPS Saturday school. My kids never went, so I don’t know anything about it.

https://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/mainstory/story/596315/Saturday-School/

That isn’t a mcps program. It is private. They don’t answer to the board and don’t provide any data on outcomes. It is just a program to provide part-time work to teachers. They pick up an easy check and don’t have to show any results.