Big proposed class size increases for Title 1 and focus schools next year

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is BS. The guidelines very clearly indicate K-2 class size increases for high FARMS schools, especially for 2nd grade. Not loving the implied gaslighting from Bethesda Today. The proposed guidelines are public. This isn't just somebody's "concern" - this is what Taylor wrote in his budget.

https://bethesdamagazine.com/2026/01/19/mcps-parents-staff-raise-concerns/
"The budget also proposes introducing a tiered approach based on poverty data to determine class sizes and school staffing guidelines. Some parents say they are concerned the new approach would increase the class sizes for Title I and higher poverty schools."

"When board members asked about the proposed changes to class sizes, Taylor said the staffing guidelines would be addressed at the board’s Jan. 29 work session with the school board and that the changes would reflect decreases in class sizes."

I miss Caitlyn Peetz. We could really use some actual journalism focused on MCPS. What they're doing now is just basically reprinting what MCPS (and others) say.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is BS. The guidelines very clearly indicate K-2 class size increases for high FARMS schools, especially for 2nd grade. Not loving the implied gaslighting from Bethesda Today. The proposed guidelines are public. This isn't just somebody's "concern" - this is what Taylor wrote in his budget.

https://bethesdamagazine.com/2026/01/19/mcps-parents-staff-raise-concerns/
"The budget also proposes introducing a tiered approach based on poverty data to determine class sizes and school staffing guidelines. Some parents say they are concerned the new approach would increase the class sizes for Title I and higher poverty schools."

"When board members asked about the proposed changes to class sizes, Taylor said the staffing guidelines would be addressed at the board’s Jan. 29 work session with the school board and that the changes would reflect decreases in class sizes."

I miss Caitlyn Peetz. We could really use some actual journalism focused on MCPS. What they're doing now is just basically reprinting what MCPS (and others) say.

+1 exactly

I see it over and over where it just feels like they are a mouthpiece for MCPS. They don't seem to be asking tough questions or doing any real investigation.

[Anonymous]

So is the plan to make class sizes for each grade the same across all schools? Asking because the right hand column for FY28 on the table OP pointed to just has one class size and no FARMS tiers.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:So is the plan to make class sizes for each grade the same across all schools? Asking because the right hand column for FY28 on the table OP pointed to just has one class size and no FARMS tiers.

My guess is that that's the number for the "base tier" (richest schools) in FY28-- their classes would shrink another kid smaller in K, 1, 2, and 3. (If it applies to all schools it would be an increase for many of them and defeat the purposes of the new tiers. I think they just wrote it that way for simplicity.)

It may also mean that all the other schools also get a decrease of one kid in K-3 in FY28 but that's less clear.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So is the plan to make class sizes for each grade the same across all schools? Asking because the right hand column for FY28 on the table OP pointed to just has one class size and no FARMS tiers.

My guess is that that's the number for the "base tier" (richest schools) in FY28-- their classes would shrink another kid smaller in K, 1, 2, and 3. (If it applies to all schools it would be an increase for many of them and defeat the purposes of the new tiers. I think they just wrote it that way for simplicity.)

It may also mean that all the other schools also get a decrease of one kid in K-3 in FY28 but that's less clear.

If your first guess is true that is crazy to me. MCPS gets over a hundred million dollars from the state based on the number of FARMS kids. That funding is not supposed to just supplant local funding. For decades class size reductions have been the main way they have spend (some of) of the state funding for FARMS kids. It has never been clear how they spend all of it and it seemed apparent they were using a significant amount of it to pad the general budget. Now the class size reductions for FARMS schools will be even less. So where is the FARMS money going???

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So is the plan to make class sizes for each grade the same across all schools? Asking because the right hand column for FY28 on the table OP pointed to just has one class size and no FARMS tiers.

My guess is that that's the number for the "base tier" (richest schools) in FY28-- their classes would shrink another kid smaller in K, 1, 2, and 3. (If it applies to all schools it would be an increase for many of them and defeat the purposes of the new tiers. I think they just wrote it that way for simplicity.)

It may also mean that all the other schools also get a decrease of one kid in K-3 in FY28 but that's less clear.

If your first guess is true that is crazy to me. MCPS gets over a hundred million dollars from the state based on the number of FARMS kids. That funding is not supposed to just supplant local funding. For decades class size reductions have been the main way they have spend (some of) of the state funding for FARMS kids. It has never been clear how they spend all of it and it seemed apparent they were using a significant amount of it to pad the general budget. Now the class size reductions for FARMS schools will be even less. So where is the FARMS money going???

[Musses hair] Lessee, here...

$100M, huh? Maybe 50 ES's with some qualifying FARMS status? So $2M/school, if all spent there.

Six grades/school (K-5), so $333k for each grade.

Maybe 2 normally full classes/grade, on average? Make that 3, adding one per grade, with fully burdened differential personnel (additional teacher salary + benefits) & facility (additional classroom, marginal school operations, etc.) costs of, say, $150k? So $183k left.

3 paras across the 3 classrooms at around $60k total cost each? Residual $3k * 6 grades * 50 schools = about $1M to central to support program administration?

Just guesses, here (e.g., no idea if additional paras would be in play along with the reduced class size), with plenty of wiggle room on either side. Happy to entertain an alternate back-of-the-envelope. I don't doubt there is some waste, but it's easy to throw around a big number like $100M as a headline target without first figuring the nuts and bolts of that which we might really be discussing. Goodness knows that happens all the time with parallel complaints at a national level.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So is the plan to make class sizes for each grade the same across all schools? Asking because the right hand column for FY28 on the table OP pointed to just has one class size and no FARMS tiers.

My guess is that that's the number for the "base tier" (richest schools) in FY28-- their classes would shrink another kid smaller in K, 1, 2, and 3. (If it applies to all schools it would be an increase for many of them and defeat the purposes of the new tiers. I think they just wrote it that way for simplicity.)

It may also mean that all the other schools also get a decrease of one kid in K-3 in FY28 but that's less clear.

If your first guess is true that is crazy to me. MCPS gets over a hundred million dollars from the state based on the number of FARMS kids. That funding is not supposed to just supplant local funding. For decades class size reductions have been the main way they have spend (some of) of the state funding for FARMS kids. It has never been clear how they spend all of it and it seemed apparent they were using a significant amount of it to pad the general budget. Now the class size reductions for FARMS schools will be even less. So where is the FARMS money going???

[Musses hair] Lessee, here...

$100M, huh? Maybe 50 ES's with some qualifying FARMS status? So $2M/school, if all spent there.

Six grades/school (K-5), so $333k for each grade.

Maybe 2 normally full classes/grade, on average? Make that 3, adding one per grade, with fully burdened differential personnel (additional teacher salary + benefits) & facility (additional classroom, marginal school operations, etc.) costs of, say, $150k? So $183k left.

3 paras across the 3 classrooms at around $60k total cost each? Residual $3k * 6 grades * 50 schools = about $1M to central to support program administration?

Just guesses, here (e.g., no idea if additional paras would be in play along with the reduced class size), with plenty of wiggle room on either side. Happy to entertain an alternate back-of-the-envelope. I don't doubt there is some waste, but it's easy to throw around a big number like $100M as a headline target without first figuring the nuts and bolts of that which we might really be discussing. Goodness knows that happens all the time with parallel complaints at a national level.

Sorry, when I wrote the post above I hadn't had a chance to look at Taylor's proposed budget. The compensatory education grant is $206 million.

I honestly didn't follow everything you said, but I will trust past analyses by people who had their work vetted and trust that they are not spending all that money on class size reductions for Title 1 and focus schools now and are certainly going to spend less of it next year.
https://www.montgomerycountymd.gov/OLO/Resources/Files/2019%20Reports/OLOReport2019-14.pdf

Yes this report is several years old, unless you can point to any new spending on FARMS schools since then I dgaf

[Anonymous]

Money grab by rich communities of money meant for poor kids

[Anonymous]

The ELO Summer school program is also being reduced from 5 days a week to 4 days a week.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The ELO Summer school program is also being reduced from 5 days a week to 4 days a week.

I love it when Taylor says we have to spend a lot of resources to construct 90+ new programs across 26 high schools because of equity, but high poverty schools and programs are getting cut. What a guy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The ELO Summer school program is also being reduced from 5 days a week to 4 days a week.

I love it when Taylor says we have to spend a lot of resources to construct 90+ new programs across 26 high schools because of equity, but high poverty schools and programs are getting cut. What a guy.

Let’s talk about the programs he has cut or is cutting for the kids who need it the most. MVA, autism program, sped., early education….and the high needs high schools lose as without the consortium you are stuck at your home school and have no opportunity to lottery to another school that can better meet their needs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Does anyone ever think how MCPS is failing the Non-Farms students at Title 1 schools? By keeping their performance low and lacking MCPS is only fulfilling its blind equity agenda. If you want equity, invent a time machine, and go back to USSR.

Nobody of importance ever thinks that, unfortunately. Parents need to look out for their kids and not send them to such schools.

Rich parents don't send their kids there, a few middle class moms and dads do. Desperate for a house they convince themselves that they are clever and come up with circle logic to placate themselves that they aren't screwing their kids over so Mom can have quartz counter tops. You'll hear lines like easier to stand out, smaller class sizes, better food at international night, better rounded experiences but what they really get is a bunch of friends who can't read and write, an overwhelmed teacher, lame birthday parties and their child being the one who doesn't fit in. Can you make it work, sure but most don't.

Everyone looks down on a worse school but they become irrational in understanding that their school is one of them. You ask the Avg Eastern Middle school parent when no one is looking and they will ramble on about MoCo being better than PG but there are plenty of Middle schools in PG better than Eastern and there is very little that differentiates that school from it's neighbors in Langley Park

What makes the difference is having good teachers and admin. Being at a rich school with bad teachers is worthless.

Partially true but people underestimate the amount a community raises it's kids. Example; picture what style clothes you wish your kid would wear, now and what is your 15 or 16 year old wearing. Now multiply that over 1000s of micro decision points. Some the parents can influence 99%, some as low as 1%, but what the parents can select is the environment. To your point a bad teacher can gunk up a kids progress and even set them back, but find me a rational person who think poor schools with poor outcomes has a stronger concentration of good teachers than motivated communities with ample resources. We actually know these stats and affluent school's have more experience, education and time at the school on avg not to mention better production. Sure it's the kids mainly but you don't think good teachers are drawn to that or are you the type that thinks Michelle Pfeiffers are hunkering down in mass to save the paupers, life isn't that noble.

As a parent of teens I heavily influence everything. You may allow your kids to run your home but many of us don’t. We are at what you’d consider poor schools and what we see makes the difference is the quality and skill of the teachers. These kids and families you look down on are our friends and neighbors and I’d take them over someone like you any day.

+1

I recognize that poster and their poor writing skills. Ignore.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The ELO Summer school program is also being reduced from 5 days a week to 4 days a week.

I love it when Taylor says we have to spend a lot of resources to construct 90+ new programs across 26 high schools because of equity, but high poverty schools and programs are getting cut. What a guy.

He is a scam artist.