WSJ - To Increase Equity, School Districts Eliminate Honors Classes

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Article from WSJ today. Too bad for the schools doing this, it's much better to have all honors so all can have inflated grades.


https://www.wsj.com/articles/to-increase-equity-school-districts-eliminate-honors-classes-d5985dee

American education is getting systematically dismantled. If you care, fight.

At least that's what Fox News and its associated properties would have us believe.

I'm also skeptical because the quality of education available to my children at MCPS is vastly better than the education available at MCPS 30 years ago when I graduated from a W. Sure, the county's demographics are different today. Still, there are amazing opportunities for anyone interested.

+1000

What opportunities does my kid have if she wants to be prepared for IB English in 11th and is a strong writer? There is only one English course offered in 9th and 10th at her school unless you are an ELL student. Why can't there be more options like there are for math?

What gets me is that your daughter will be prepared for IB English because you will ensure is. The kid with a FT working single mom will not be prepared because her only option is “honors for all.” But if she had been placed in reals honors classes in MS she could have been prepared. I honestly cannot wrap my head around what these “progressives” theories are for how disadvantaged kids can achieve academic excellence. They are making it harder.

100% this. Teacher here. MCPS is driving all the HS teachers crazy with their soft bigotry of low expectations.
We are not helping low income kids get prepared for the real world by reducing rigor, 50% grades for no work turned in, no attendance policies, honors for all, no discipline, etc. Most teachers are beyond frustrated but we have no voice in MCPS

Isn't the MCEA supposed to be your voice?

MCPS pretty much ignores MCEA

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Article from WSJ today. Too bad for the schools doing this, it's much better to have all honors so all can have inflated grades.


https://www.wsj.com/articles/to-increase-equity-school-districts-eliminate-honors-classes-d5985dee

American education is getting systematically dismantled. If you care, fight.

At least that's what Fox News and its associated properties would have us believe.

I'm also skeptical because the quality of education available to my children at MCPS is vastly better than the education available at MCPS 30 years ago when I graduated from a W. Sure, the county's demographics are different today. Still, there are amazing opportunities for anyone interested.

+1000

What opportunities does my kid have if she wants to be prepared for IB English in 11th and is a strong writer? There is only one English course offered in 9th and 10th at her school unless you are an ELL student. Why can't there be more options like there are for math?

What gets me is that your daughter will be prepared for IB English because you will ensure is. The kid with a FT working single mom will not be prepared because her only option is “honors for all.” But if she had been placed in reals honors classes in MS she could have been prepared. I honestly cannot wrap my head around what these “progressives” theories are for how disadvantaged kids can achieve academic excellence. They are making it harder.

100% this. Teacher here. MCPS is driving all the HS teachers crazy with their soft bigotry of low expectations.
We are not helping low income kids get prepared for the real world by reducing rigor, 50% grades for no work turned in, no attendance policies, honors for all, no discipline, etc. Most teachers are beyond frustrated but we have no voice in MCPS

Isn't the MCEA supposed to be your voice?

MCPS pretty much ignores MCEA

Except when they don't

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why is this on MCPS forum? The right wingers are trying hard to create chaos and destroy public schools.

No way. It's the crazy left wing that has destroyed public education in this county in the name of #Equity. That and Covid where our local leaders threw kids under the bus and kept schools closed for way longer than necessary.

totally. i have voted democratic but making our schools unusable is pushing me in a different direction. If they are going to do this, at least let me have my tax $ back so i can enroll in private.

Not a chance. Democrats are staunchly against school choice. They would prefer to waste enormous amounts of taxpayer money, unencumbered by accountability.

+1. Have left Dems because of their fealty to teachers. Public schools should be replaced with vouchers for families. End the monopoly on mediocrity.

Pro Tip: When pretending to be a “Democrat who’s seen the light” on anonymous message board, avoid easy tells like “Dems.”

Try harder.

I'm not the PP but I've been active on this thread trying to bring fact-based discussion by linking the class registration for local high schools, demonstrating that this phenomenon is actually happening in MPCS. I'm also a registered Democrat who has voted straight ticket in every election since Clinton's second term. I've worked on Democratic campaigns, and on multiple progressive ballot initiatives (mostly around LGBTQ+ issues).

One of the worst traits of some of my fellow progressives is a circular firing squad refusal to even engage with the idea that some progressive ideas might not be working. In this specific case, Honors for All is not working. It's harming teachers and students by forcing wildly heterogenous classrooms right at the age when they should be moving toward differentiated instruction.

Getting rid of gatekeeping for Honors and AP class is good. Let's keep that. Anyone who wants to take Honors and AP can. But bring back on-level coursework, so that kids from all backgrounds can choose the class that is right for them and their own goals.

I'm not saying I'm going to vote (R) over this. I'm as committed to progressive ideas as I ever was, but I will pull my own personal kids out of public school if MCPS doesn't stop lurching from idea to idea without any discussion, transparency, or engagement with parents and educators. This is going to be one of those times where my political ideals (high quality public education is the foundation of a stable democracy) is coming into conflict with my personal goals of making sure my kids leave high school well-prepared for whatever comes next. That might make me a hypocrite, but I'm old enough to know that sometimes that happens in politics.

The bolded is spot on. Honors and AP classes don’t need fate keeping nor do they need to be watered down. Students need the additional support to attain the skills needed to succeed in advance classes and the confidence to choose the advance classes that work for and interest them. Teachers can provide tutoring. Schools can provide study halls, recitation classes, intro type classes etc.

I'm not all that critical of MCPS. In fact, 95% of the time I feel these complaints are unwarranted, but yes this is spot on. Give people choice and stop assuming everyone has the same goals and values.

Hear, hear! I don't understand why this is so controversial to MCPS?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Article from WSJ today. Too bad for the schools doing this, it's much better to have all honors so all can have inflated grades.


https://www.wsj.com/articles/to-increase-equity-school-districts-eliminate-honors-classes-d5985dee

American education is getting systematically dismantled. If you care, fight.

At least that's what Fox News and its associated properties would have us believe.

I'm also skeptical because the quality of education available to my children at MCPS is vastly better than the education available at MCPS 30 years ago when I graduated from a W. Sure, the county's demographics are different today. Still, there are amazing opportunities for anyone interested.

+1000

What opportunities does my kid have if she wants to be prepared for IB English in 11th and is a strong writer? There is only one English course offered in 9th and 10th at her school unless you are an ELL student. Why can't there be more options like there are for math?

What gets me is that your daughter will be prepared for IB English because you will ensure is. The kid with a FT working single mom will not be prepared because her only option is “honors for all.” But if she had been placed in reals honors classes in MS she could have been prepared. I honestly cannot wrap my head around what these “progressives” theories are for how disadvantaged kids can achieve academic excellence. They are making it harder.

100% this. Teacher here. MCPS is driving all the HS teachers crazy with their soft bigotry of low expectations.
We are not helping low income kids get prepared for the real world by reducing rigor, 50% grades for no work turned in, no attendance policies, honors for all, no discipline, etc. Most teachers are beyond frustrated but we have no voice in MCPS

I think this highlights one of the reasons why genuine progressives are so frustrated right now. Not only does MCPS seem to be going far beyond any evidece-based interventions, but they are doing so in a way that ignores the opinions of all of the relevant stakeholders - parents, students, teachers, and administrators.

If this were a functioning system, Central Office would introduce changes and then give opportunity for public comment. They would consult with administrators, and teachers, and parents. Then the School Board would ask hard questions, and there would be some discussion of the anticipated and unanticipated impact of these pretty significant changes.

Instead, we get no public discussion, no School Board oversight, and changes are are foisted on administrators and teachers by Central Office folks just looking for their next job. So they get to tell their next employer that they widened access to Honors classes and closed the racial achievement gap.

It's all a scam, and fundamentally undemocratic because there is no transparency and no oversight.

The better question is WHY is there no public discussion??? There are PTAs and other groups that parents and community can get involved with. There are organizations that represent teachers, principals, counselors. There is opportunity at BOE meetings for public testimony)either in person or by video/letter. There are district representatives who can be emailed. There is opportunity to provide public feedback on policy. There are County council meetings. I find there are lots of complaints here, but little active civic engagement

I bet if MCEA started hearing from 90% percent of its members(not just reps) on issues that really matter to teachers, those would be communicated loudly. I bet if parents started showing up to PTA meetings and actually doing the advocacy work at all schools, that would be heard loudly.

In this case, the problem is that no one knew these changes were afoot until they were already consolidated. There was no announcement, no discussion. Just a bunch of high school registration forms that suddenly included fewer choices than there had been before.

That's the problem - unless you had a rising 9th grader and were paying very close attention to the courses offered, you would have absolutely no idea that schools had been instructed to get rid of on-level classes and replace them with Honors For All.

You had individual adminstrators and teachers pushing back, but they don't have the ability to push back in public because their literal jobs depend on not publicizing the district's various failures.

This is fundamentally undemocratic because there is no opportunity for public discussion, and the people best situated to opine on the consequences of these decisions are employed by the folks making the decisions. It's a real problem.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Article from WSJ today. Too bad for the schools doing this, it's much better to have all honors so all can have inflated grades.


https://www.wsj.com/articles/to-increase-equity-school-districts-eliminate-honors-classes-d5985dee

American education is getting systematically dismantled. If you care, fight.

At least that's what Fox News and its associated properties would have us believe.

I'm also skeptical because the quality of education available to my children at MCPS is vastly better than the education available at MCPS 30 years ago when I graduated from a W. Sure, the county's demographics are different today. Still, there are amazing opportunities for anyone interested.

+1000

What opportunities does my kid have if she wants to be prepared for IB English in 11th and is a strong writer? There is only one English course offered in 9th and 10th at her school unless you are an ELL student. Why can't there be more options like there are for math?

What gets me is that your daughter will be prepared for IB English because you will ensure is. The kid with a FT working single mom will not be prepared because her only option is “honors for all.” But if she had been placed in reals honors classes in MS she could have been prepared. I honestly cannot wrap my head around what these “progressives” theories are for how disadvantaged kids can achieve academic excellence. They are making it harder.

100% this. Teacher here. MCPS is driving all the HS teachers crazy with their soft bigotry of low expectations.
We are not helping low income kids get prepared for the real world by reducing rigor, 50% grades for no work turned in, no attendance policies, honors for all, no discipline, etc. Most teachers are beyond frustrated but we have no voice in MCPS

I think this highlights one of the reasons why genuine progressives are so frustrated right now. Not only does MCPS seem to be going far beyond any evidece-based interventions, but they are doing so in a way that ignores the opinions of all of the relevant stakeholders - parents, students, teachers, and administrators.

If this were a functioning system, Central Office would introduce changes and then give opportunity for public comment. They would consult with administrators, and teachers, and parents. Then the School Board would ask hard questions, and there would be some discussion of the anticipated and unanticipated impact of these pretty significant changes.

Instead, we get no public discussion, no School Board oversight, and changes are are foisted on administrators and teachers by Central Office folks just looking for their next job. So they get to tell their next employer that they widened access to Honors classes and closed the racial achievement gap.

It's all a scam, and fundamentally undemocratic because there is no transparency and no oversight.

The better question is WHY is there no public discussion??? There are PTAs and other groups that parents and community can get involved with. There are organizations that represent teachers, principals, counselors. There is opportunity at BOE meetings for public testimony)either in person or by video/letter. There are district representatives who can be emailed. There is opportunity to provide public feedback on policy. There are County council meetings. I find there are lots of complaints here, but little active civic engagement

I bet if MCEA started hearing from 90% percent of its members(not just reps) on issues that really matter to teachers, those would be communicated loudly. I bet if parents started showing up to PTA meetings and actually doing the advocacy work at all schools, that would be heard loudly.

In this case, the problem is that no one knew these changes were afoot until they were already consolidated. There was no announcement, no discussion. Just a bunch of high school registration forms that suddenly included fewer choices than there had been before.

That's the problem - unless you had a rising 9th grader and were paying very close attention to the courses offered, you would have absolutely no idea that schools had been instructed to get rid of on-level classes and replace them with Honors For All.

You had individual adminstrators and teachers pushing back, but they don't have the ability to push back in public because their literal jobs depend on not publicizing the district's various failures.

This is fundamentally undemocratic because there is no opportunity for public discussion, and the people best situated to opine on the consequences of these decisions are employed by the folks making the decisions. It's a real problem.

Have to agree. I'm not even critical of MCPS and don't feel the district is failing. However, this is just a bad decision and how they've handled it is even worse. It's the kind of thing someone needs to get fired for because it shows a complete lack of judgement.

[Anonymous]

I don't know that it was isolated or secret. At Kennedy, the Honors for All movement was spearheaded by Michael Williams, the social studies lead, and he was widely applauded and recognized for it. He was even named MCPS Teacher of the year for it.

I'm not sure if the current iteration of Honors for All matches Williams' intent, but it was definitely an approach that was endorsed by the previous superintendent.

This article details from 2019 some of the issues and the context: https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/honors-classes-for-all-leave-some-parents-asking-is-it-really-honors/2019/08/03/f3adef36-a1a6-11e9-b8c8-75dae2607e60_story.html

Michael V. Williams, a social studies teacher and department head at John F. Kennedy High School, pushed to eliminate regular classes in U.S. history, U.S. government and modern world history at his school, enrolling more students in honors.

Before, the regular and honors courses had been virtually the same in many ways, he said.

“It was so unjust to me that a kid could take the same exact class with the same curriculum and same [county-created] tests and not receive the same credit,” he said.

Williams said too many black and Hispanic students were steered to regular courses in county schools over the years while white and Asian students were assigned to honors versions. The disparity stood out while he taught at Walter Johnson High School in Bethesda, where he co-founded the Minority Scholars Program, partly to foster greater access to more rigorous courses.

“We were essentially tracking students, and it was affecting black and brown students disproportionately,” he said. “We were seeing segregation, for lack of a better word.”

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don't know that it was isolated or secret. At Kennedy, the Honors for All movement was spearheaded by Michael Williams, the social studies lead, and he was widely applauded and recognized for it. He was even named MCPS Teacher of the year for it.

I'm not sure if the current iteration of Honors for All matches Williams' intent, but it was definitely an approach that was endorsed by the previous superintendent.

This article details from 2019 some of the issues and the context: https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/honors-classes-for-all-leave-some-parents-asking-is-it-really-honors/2019/08/03/f3adef36-a1a6-11e9-b8c8-75dae2607e60_story.html

Michael V. Williams, a social studies teacher and department head at John F. Kennedy High School, pushed to eliminate regular classes in U.S. history, U.S. government and modern world history at his school, enrolling more students in honors.

Before, the regular and honors courses had been virtually the same in many ways, he said.

“It was so unjust to me that a kid could take the same exact class with the same curriculum and same [county-created] tests and not receive the same credit,” he said.

Williams said too many black and Hispanic students were steered to regular courses in county schools over the years while white and Asian students were assigned to honors versions. The disparity stood out while he taught at Walter Johnson High School in Bethesda, where he co-founded the Minority Scholars Program, partly to foster greater access to more rigorous courses.

“We were essentially tracking students, and it was affecting black and brown students disproportionately,” he said. “We were seeing segregation, for lack of a better word.”

It sounds like he picked the worst possible way to solve this dilemma. I suppose the honors and regular classes were identical (at Kenney), but it might be worth exploring increasing the rigor of those honors classes instead of dumbing everything down to the least common denominator. I believe these classes should be open to all students but it really should be a choice whether to take the harder class. They shouldn't harm high-achieving students in an effort to make low-achievers feel better.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't know that it was isolated or secret. At Kennedy, the Honors for All movement was spearheaded by Michael Williams, the social studies lead, and he was widely applauded and recognized for it. He was even named MCPS Teacher of the year for it.

I'm not sure if the current iteration of Honors for All matches Williams' intent, but it was definitely an approach that was endorsed by the previous superintendent.

This article details from 2019 some of the issues and the context: https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/honors-classes-for-all-leave-some-parents-asking-is-it-really-honors/2019/08/03/f3adef36-a1a6-11e9-b8c8-75dae2607e60_story.html

Michael V. Williams, a social studies teacher and department head at John F. Kennedy High School, pushed to eliminate regular classes in U.S. history, U.S. government and modern world history at his school, enrolling more students in honors.

Before, the regular and honors courses had been virtually the same in many ways, he said.

“It was so unjust to me that a kid could take the same exact class with the same curriculum and same [county-created] tests and not receive the same credit,” he said.

Williams said too many black and Hispanic students were steered to regular courses in county schools over the years while white and Asian students were assigned to honors versions. The disparity stood out while he taught at Walter Johnson High School in Bethesda, where he co-founded the Minority Scholars Program, partly to foster greater access to more rigorous courses.

“We were essentially tracking students, and it was affecting black and brown students disproportionately,” he said. “We were seeing segregation, for lack of a better word.”

It sounds like he picked the worst possible way to solve this dilemma. I suppose the honors and regular classes were identical (at Kenney), but it might be worth exploring increasing the rigor of those honors classes instead of dumbing everything down to the least common denominator. I believe these classes should be open to all students but it really should be a choice whether to take the harder class. They shouldn't harm high-achieving students in an effort to make low-achievers feel better.

The fact that the county is dumb enough to go along with this obviously flawed scheme does not bode well. It seems like there's a huge disconnect here. These equity schemes will never work out.

[Anonymous]

If those in charge our rewarded for lowering the achievement gap, there is no incentive to bring back regular classes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If those in charge our rewarded for lowering the achievement gap, there is no incentive to bring back regular classes.

Lowering standards doesn't really help.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't know that it was isolated or secret. At Kennedy, the Honors for All movement was spearheaded by Michael Williams, the social studies lead, and he was widely applauded and recognized for it. He was even named MCPS Teacher of the year for it.

I'm not sure if the current iteration of Honors for All matches Williams' intent, but it was definitely an approach that was endorsed by the previous superintendent.

This article details from 2019 some of the issues and the context: https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/honors-classes-for-all-leave-some-parents-asking-is-it-really-honors/2019/08/03/f3adef36-a1a6-11e9-b8c8-75dae2607e60_story.html

Michael V. Williams, a social studies teacher and department head at John F. Kennedy High School, pushed to eliminate regular classes in U.S. history, U.S. government and modern world history at his school, enrolling more students in honors.

Before, the regular and honors courses had been virtually the same in many ways, he said.

“It was so unjust to me that a kid could take the same exact class with the same curriculum and same [county-created] tests and not receive the same credit,” he said.

Williams said too many black and Hispanic students were steered to regular courses in county schools over the years while white and Asian students were assigned to honors versions. The disparity stood out while he taught at Walter Johnson High School in Bethesda, where he co-founded the Minority Scholars Program, partly to foster greater access to more rigorous courses.

“We were essentially tracking students, and it was affecting black and brown students disproportionately,” he said. “We were seeing segregation, for lack of a better word.”

It sounds like he picked the worst possible way to solve this dilemma. I suppose the honors and regular classes were identical (at Kenney), but it might be worth exploring increasing the rigor of those honors classes instead of dumbing everything down to the least common denominator. I believe these classes should be open to all students but it really should be a choice whether to take the harder class. They shouldn't harm high-achieving students in an effort to make low-achievers feel better.

Agreed. I agree with letting anyone sign up for the classes if they want to, but the rigor and difficultly should be what it is. And if a student gets a D or worse in two consecutive marking periods, then they should be dropped down to on-level.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don't know that it was isolated or secret. At Kennedy, the Honors for All movement was spearheaded by Michael Williams, the social studies lead, and he was widely applauded and recognized for it. He was even named MCPS Teacher of the year for it.

I'm not sure if the current iteration of Honors for All matches Williams' intent, but it was definitely an approach that was endorsed by the previous superintendent.

This article details from 2019 some of the issues and the context: https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/honors-classes-for-all-leave-some-parents-asking-is-it-really-honors/2019/08/03/f3adef36-a1a6-11e9-b8c8-75dae2607e60_story.html

Michael V. Williams, a social studies teacher and department head at John F. Kennedy High School, pushed to eliminate regular classes in U.S. history, U.S. government and modern world history at his school, enrolling more students in honors.

Before, the regular and honors courses had been virtually the same in many ways, he said.

“It was so unjust to me that a kid could take the same exact class with the same curriculum and same [county-created] tests and not receive the same credit,” he said.

Williams said too many black and Hispanic students were steered to regular courses in county schools over the years while white and Asian students were assigned to honors versions. The disparity stood out while he taught at Walter Johnson High School in Bethesda, where he co-founded the Minority Scholars Program, partly to foster greater access to more rigorous courses.

“We were essentially tracking students, and it was affecting black and brown students disproportionately,” he said. “We were seeing segregation, for lack of a better word.”

All the educators who pretend to care about this should circle back to elementary school. Go to Kindergarten, first grade, second grade, third grade classrooms. Make sure Black children are reading, go to their homes, make sure they are reading piles of library books, and moms and dads are reading to them. Make sure their diets are healthy, and they are exercising. Make sure they go to museums and cultural outings, and learn about the world out of their community.

One reason high schoolers do so well in academic classes is because of the education they receive in their early years. Both in the classroom, and outside of it. UMC families typically are read too often, exposed to larger vocabulary, taken to tutors if needed, taken to museums, travel and so on. For poor children, whose families cannot do these things, the classroom then is even more critical. And too many kids get a crappy early education. How about starting there.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't know that it was isolated or secret. At Kennedy, the Honors for All movement was spearheaded by Michael Williams, the social studies lead, and he was widely applauded and recognized for it. He was even named MCPS Teacher of the year for it.

I'm not sure if the current iteration of Honors for All matches Williams' intent, but it was definitely an approach that was endorsed by the previous superintendent.

This article details from 2019 some of the issues and the context: https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/honors-classes-for-all-leave-some-parents-asking-is-it-really-honors/2019/08/03/f3adef36-a1a6-11e9-b8c8-75dae2607e60_story.html

Michael V. Williams, a social studies teacher and department head at John F. Kennedy High School, pushed to eliminate regular classes in U.S. history, U.S. government and modern world history at his school, enrolling more students in honors.

Before, the regular and honors courses had been virtually the same in many ways, he said.

“It was so unjust to me that a kid could take the same exact class with the same curriculum and same [county-created] tests and not receive the same credit,” he said.

Williams said too many black and Hispanic students were steered to regular courses in county schools over the years while white and Asian students were assigned to honors versions. The disparity stood out while he taught at Walter Johnson High School in Bethesda, where he co-founded the Minority Scholars Program, partly to foster greater access to more rigorous courses.

“We were essentially tracking students, and it was affecting black and brown students disproportionately,” he said. “We were seeing segregation, for lack of a better word.”

All the educators who pretend to care about this should circle back to elementary school. Go to Kindergarten, first grade, second grade, third grade classrooms. Make sure Black children are reading, go to their homes, make sure they are reading piles of library books, and moms and dads are reading to them. Make sure their diets are healthy, and they are exercising. Make sure they go to museums and cultural outings, and learn about the world out of their community.

One reason high schoolers do so well in academic classes is because of the education they receive in their early years. Both in the classroom, and outside of it. UMC families typically are read too often, exposed to larger vocabulary, taken to tutors if needed, taken to museums, travel and so on. For poor children, whose families cannot do these things, the classroom then is even more critical. And too many kids get a crappy early education. How about starting there.

Another reason they do well has to do with family life and parental expectations. This isn't something the county can legislate.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why is this on MCPS forum? The right wingers are trying hard to create chaos and destroy public schools.

No way. It's the crazy left wing that has destroyed public education in this county in the name of #Equity. That and Covid where our local leaders threw kids under the bus and kept schools closed for way longer than necessary.

totally. i have voted democratic but making our schools unusable is pushing me in a different direction. If they are going to do this, at least let me have my tax $ back so i can enroll in private.

Not a chance. Democrats are staunchly against school choice. They would prefer to waste enormous amounts of taxpayer money, unencumbered by accountability.

+1. Have left Dems because of their fealty to teachers. Public schools should be replaced with vouchers for families. End the monopoly on mediocrity.

Pro Tip: When pretending to be a “Democrat who’s seen the light” on anonymous message board, avoid easy tells like “Dems.”

Try harder.

DP. I’m sorry, you’re living in a fantasy world. Covid school closures and mask policies made MANY formerly unquestioning Democracts question a LOT. I personally will never vote Republican at the national level, but my belief in Democrats has been almost fully eroded. This means that I won’t donate, won’t canvas, may vote R in local elections (depending on candidate). Covid essentially turned me from a Democrat to an Independent. This is especially true on K-12 education. Covid school closures opened my eyes to the fact that the inmates are running the asylum and do really stupid sh*t. Getting rid of accelerated classes in the name of “equity” is exactly one of those things that I can now see as just unmitigatedly wrong and bad.

+1 Ditto with this PP.

Despite the many posts indicating this new allegiance voter records show it's had almost no impact. This suggests mostly just more turfers trying to sway public opinion by fearmongering.

You can believe that all you want.

Yes, the facts make this abundantly clear. No belief required.

[Anonymous]

Magnet schools and immersion programs should also be banned