TPMS is killing the arts, the magnet program, and the autism program

[Anonymous]

MCPS did a lot of money-business behind the scenes with the Magnet Program around 2018-2019 but the lawsuits got little to no focus because of covid, so this is the inevitable result. Specifically TPMS stopped being special in 2019 when the Lottery kicked in. If no one cared in 2018-2019 when this was all happening, I don't know why anyone cares now?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:MCPS did a lot of money-business behind the scenes with the Magnet Program around 2018-2019 but the lawsuits got little to no focus because of covid, so this is the inevitable result. Specifically TPMS stopped being special in 2019 when the Lottery kicked in. If no one cared in 2018-2019 when this was all happening, I don't know why anyone cares now?

There was no lottery in 2019. The first year that kids were selected by partial lottery was 2021-2022. This is not relevant to the current discussion.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:County residents could choose to pay higher taxes to better fund MCPS so that additional teachers could be hired.

I remember the English dept had composition assistants when I taught HS. They helped students write papers and I think they also could grade. Ours was a media center aide half of the day so she was especially helpful to students doing research. When her CA position was cut, the English teachers had to do it all themselves. I’m not an English teacher so I’m not self-advocating here.

Or administrative / central office positions could be reduced, which would help pay for more teachers.

There are two upcoming operating budget hearings, on January 16 and 27. Good chance to advocate for changes.

There are no teachers to hire. We still have vacancies. This argument is so tiring, people forget that money to hire teachers is based on student enrollment. Magnet schools don't deserve more teachers ratio-wise than other schools just because parents feel entitled to a special program.

They don’t need more teachers ratio wise than other schools to make this work. Other schools do it. There are at least 4 with eight periods and teachers teaching only 5 of them. They have average class sizes of around 26 students according to MCPS data.

If TPMS families want to stick with an 8-period day, this is what they shoudl push for. Teachers would still teach 5 periods. Class sizes will go up relative to now, but that's going to happen regardless becuase teachers are going from 6 periods to 5.

+1

This is the solution.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:MCPS did a lot of money-business behind the scenes with the Magnet Program around 2018-2019 but the lawsuits got little to no focus because of covid, so this is the inevitable result. Specifically TPMS stopped being special in 2019 when the Lottery kicked in. If no one cared in 2018-2019 when this was all happening, I don't know why anyone cares now?

Fresh crop of strivers convinced by DCUM and the Republican Party that public schools are only focused on DEI. They don’t actually want their kids to put in the effort to be successful in rigorous courses, they just want to say their kid is in a magnet. If their kid doesn’t get in, they need the DEI boogeyman as an excuse.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:MCPS did a lot of money-business behind the scenes with the Magnet Program around 2018-2019 but the lawsuits got little to no focus because of covid, so this is the inevitable result. Specifically TPMS stopped being special in 2019 when the Lottery kicked in. If no one cared in 2018-2019 when this was all happening, I don't know why anyone cares now?

Fresh crop of strivers convinced by DCUM and the Republican Party that public schools are only focused on DEI. They don’t actually want their kids to put in the effort to be successful in rigorous courses, they just want to say their kid is in a magnet. If their kid doesn’t get in, they need the DEI boogeyman as an excuse.

Public schools (at least the progressive ones) are pushing DEI and much worse.

[Anonymous]

I initially did not like the TPMS decision, but when I found out that the TPMS teachers were teaching more than their contractually required load without any commensurate pay boost, I really feel -- like who are we (parents) or anyone really to ask (mostly) women to work without pay? Don't we do that enough to women in their personal and professional lives? How is it even a conversation to try to keep the current structure without compensation?

Yes, there can be a discussion centered around how to break out the blocks and teaching in a way that meets the teacher contract and how to provide afterschool activities that fill in the blanks and what structure helps the most kids learn the most, but asking teachers to continue doing extra work without pay is a complete non-starter.

I say this as a parent who had one kid go to Eastern magnet, which has the 1 elective, daily classes structure, and 1 kid who went to TPMS magnet with the block and 2 elective structure. I know very well what the TPMS kids will miss and what other kids have.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I initially did not like the TPMS decision, but when I found out that the TPMS teachers were teaching more than their contractually required load without any commensurate pay boost, I really feel -- like who are we (parents) or anyone really to ask (mostly) women to work without pay? Don't we do that enough to women in their personal and professional lives? How is it even a conversation to try to keep the current structure without compensation?

Yes, there can be a discussion centered around how to break out the blocks and teaching in a way that meets the teacher contract and how to provide afterschool activities that fill in the blanks and what structure helps the most kids learn the most, but asking teachers to continue doing extra work without pay is a complete non-starter.

I say this as a parent who had one kid go to Eastern magnet, which has the 1 elective, daily classes structure, and 1 kid who went to TPMS magnet with the block and 2 elective structure. I know very well what the TPMS kids will miss and what other kids have.

+10000

[Anonymous]

They should not be paying for rich kids whose parents would never live in the neighborhood there.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I initially did not like the TPMS decision, but when I found out that the TPMS teachers were teaching more than their contractually required load without any commensurate pay boost, I really feel -- like who are we (parents) or anyone really to ask (mostly) women to work without pay? Don't we do that enough to women in their personal and professional lives? How is it even a conversation to try to keep the current structure without compensation?

Yes, there can be a discussion centered around how to break out the blocks and teaching in a way that meets the teacher contract and how to provide afterschool activities that fill in the blanks and what structure helps the most kids learn the most, but asking teachers to continue doing extra work without pay is a complete non-starter.

I say this as a parent who had one kid go to Eastern magnet, which has the 1 elective, daily classes structure, and 1 kid who went to TPMS magnet with the block and 2 elective structure. I know very well what the TPMS kids will miss and what other kids have.

Teachers dropping one class to remain in compliance is 1 thing however, their agenda stretched way past that. They also wanted to get rid of the block schedule (when most students and parents prefer it) and manipulated the situation with bogus surveys and hidden results to ensure “the data” supports their desires. And while they were doing this behind the scenes, they were recruiting students and families with the 2 elective block system and pushing students in to taking foreign languages (when every other middle school discourages their 6th graders from doing so.) I’m sorry, but when the administration and staff chose to approach the situation with deceit and dishonesty in an effort to be manipulative of the school community, they lost any support on my end.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:They should not be paying for rich kids whose parents would never live in the neighborhood there.

Actually, there are lots of people who want to live there because of the school ranking. Little do they know that the school ranks so highly because of the magnet program which the administration is hell bent on destroying. MCPS should move the magnet to another school who actually wants them or remove the principal. What an epic fail.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I initially did not like the TPMS decision, but when I found out that the TPMS teachers were teaching more than their contractually required load without any commensurate pay boost, I really feel -- like who are we (parents) or anyone really to ask (mostly) women to work without pay? Don't we do that enough to women in their personal and professional lives? How is it even a conversation to try to keep the current structure without compensation?

Yes, there can be a discussion centered around how to break out the blocks and teaching in a way that meets the teacher contract and how to provide afterschool activities that fill in the blanks and what structure helps the most kids learn the most, but asking teachers to continue doing extra work without pay is a complete non-starter.

I say this as a parent who had one kid go to Eastern magnet, which has the 1 elective, daily classes structure, and 1 kid who went to TPMS magnet with the block and 2 elective structure. I know very well what the TPMS kids will miss and what other kids have.

Teachers dropping one class to remain in compliance is 1 thing however, their agenda stretched way past that. They also wanted to get rid of the block schedule (when most students and parents prefer it) and manipulated the situation with bogus surveys and hidden results to ensure “the data” supports their desires. And while they were doing this behind the scenes, they were recruiting students and families with the 2 elective block system and pushing students in to taking foreign languages (when every other middle school discourages their 6th graders from doing so.) I’m sorry, but when the administration and staff chose to approach the situation with deceit and dishonesty in an effort to be manipulative of the school community, they lost any support on my end.

Not true. SSIMS more or less requires it.

[Anonymous]

Magnet parents think they run that school. Maybe they do in terms of the PTA. Any time MCPS engages parents, it is lip service. Not sure why it took TPMS magnet parents so long to learn this.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I initially did not like the TPMS decision, but when I found out that the TPMS teachers were teaching more than their contractually required load without any commensurate pay boost, I really feel -- like who are we (parents) or anyone really to ask (mostly) women to work without pay? Don't we do that enough to women in their personal and professional lives? How is it even a conversation to try to keep the current structure without compensation?

Yes, there can be a discussion centered around how to break out the blocks and teaching in a way that meets the teacher contract and how to provide afterschool activities that fill in the blanks and what structure helps the most kids learn the most, but asking teachers to continue doing extra work without pay is a complete non-starter.

I say this as a parent who had one kid go to Eastern magnet, which has the 1 elective, daily classes structure, and 1 kid who went to TPMS magnet with the block and 2 elective structure. I know very well what the TPMS kids will miss and what other kids have.

Teachers dropping one class to remain in compliance is 1 thing however, their agenda stretched way past that. They also wanted to get rid of the block schedule (when most students and parents prefer it) and manipulated the situation with bogus surveys and hidden results to ensure “the data” supports their desires. And while they were doing this behind the scenes, they were recruiting students and families with the 2 elective block system and pushing students in to taking foreign languages (when every other middle school discourages their 6th graders from doing so.) I’m sorry, but when the administration and staff chose to approach the situation with deceit and dishonesty in an effort to be manipulative of the school community, they lost any support on my end.

Not true. SSIMS more or less requires it.

+1

Most middle schools do now. This was the case 10 years ago, but most start foreign language in 6th grade. It's been that way for a while.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is great. The less opportunity MCPS offers students, the easier it is for them to get that most rigorous schedule checkbox on college apps and more kids get into harvard

I don't see how a school selection process that involves a randomized lottery moves the needle. IMO we don't need these magnet programs. Thoroughly underwhelmed here. Why were there so few slots in the first place for these magnet programs?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I initially did not like the TPMS decision, but when I found out that the TPMS teachers were teaching more than their contractually required load without any commensurate pay boost, I really feel -- like who are we (parents) or anyone really to ask (mostly) women to work without pay? Don't we do that enough to women in their personal and professional lives? How is it even a conversation to try to keep the current structure without compensation?

Yes, there can be a discussion centered around how to break out the blocks and teaching in a way that meets the teacher contract and how to provide afterschool activities that fill in the blanks and what structure helps the most kids learn the most, but asking teachers to continue doing extra work without pay is a complete non-starter.

I say this as a parent who had one kid go to Eastern magnet, which has the 1 elective, daily classes structure, and 1 kid who went to TPMS magnet with the block and 2 elective structure. I know very well what the TPMS kids will miss and what other kids have.

Teachers dropping one class to remain in compliance is 1 thing however, their agenda stretched way past that. They also wanted to get rid of the block schedule (when most students and parents prefer it) and manipulated the situation with bogus surveys and hidden results to ensure “the data” supports their desires. And while they were doing this behind the scenes, they were recruiting students and families with the 2 elective block system and pushing students in to taking foreign languages (when every other middle school discourages their 6th graders from doing so.) I’m sorry, but when the administration and staff chose to approach the situation with deceit and dishonesty in an effort to be manipulative of the school community, they lost any support on my end.

Not true. SSIMS more or less requires it.

Silver Creek requires it too, unless a student is in a reading class.