UMC parents in low income schools

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I still stand by my very unfortunate discovery that there isn’t much for a UMC family in a high farms school.

What do you want there to be?

I would want a fast paced curriculum, a large group of kids my child could relate to, a wide range of enrichment events, a large group of parents to help organize things.
Money were not as big a problem as lack of someone to put them to use (organize).
There was some free enrichment, I have to be honest. But not as much as at the new school.

Where is this school? Is it on Mars? May be the Big three?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
So this is what I don’t understand. They travel thousands of miles to come here to escape a toxic culture in their home country only to continue to live by this toxic culture here in the US? I’m sorry for their struggle but heck, they sky has just opened up for them with opportunities galore! Why continue to live defeated lives when they have attained freedom? Let’s empower them and challenge them to live better lives. I have been where they have been and it angers me to see them waste opportunities. They might as well have stayed put in their home country. Sorry to anyone I offend but it offends me when immigrants waste their freedom because there are so many others who couldn’t make it here that would’ve loved these opportunities.

This statement is so laughable. We are talking about PTA participation for crying out loud. What makes you think that their disinterest in it is a sign of being defeated. Trust me, for them, coming to this country, being able to live here is priceless. The fact that their kids are getting a US education so that they can have better lives than them is the ultimate dream. They don't see it as toxic at all. They could care less about PTA meetings.

Neither of you guys understand immigrants.

We come here, mostly because of we can earn more money here. That's it. Culture? Sky opening up? Priceless? US education?
What are you talking about? You really think everything is heaven here compared to other countries?

So you are affirming the assertion that immigrants are just here to take, take, take from Americans, without any loyalty or buy-in to American ideals. But we should welcome you with open arms, so that we can spend $200,000 to educate each of your children.

You got a terrible attitude about work if you think people who com here for better pay are "take take take"

They all state, right on the news, that they came here for the wage armitage opportunity. They are economic migrants. They make more in Mexico than Central America,they make mire in America than Mexico. They work cash black market jobs and remit over half back to Central America to build a bigger house for their wife and remaining kids and to return some day. Yes they can get int the asylum claimant line but that’s just to gain entry and stay forever. And fund chain migration of their other relatives via their remittances. $billions of USD to Honduras, Guatemala, El Salvador per year. Never through the USA tax system.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We have around a 50% FARMS rate at our school. I have organized clubs with private vendors. There is a minimum enrollment they have to have to be profitable to run the club. If you can't get say, 10 or 15 paying kids, then the club can't be offered. We have many clubs offered and then cancelled for low enrollment.

You can request the vendor provide a scholarship but if the club enrollment is low, they won't be too enthused about it. They certainly won't provide free club enrollment to any FARMs kid.

Same here. Less farms.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I still stand by my very unfortunate discovery that there isn’t much for a UMC family in a high farms school.

What do you want there to be?

I would want a fast paced curriculum, a large group of kids my child could relate to, a wide range of enrichment events, a large group of parents to help organize things.
Money were not as big a problem as lack of someone to put them to use (organize).
There was some free enrichment, I have to be honest. But not as much as at the new school.

nW DC ES schools have all of this. And preK. And teachers aides pk-2nd grade. And 3 gyms classes, art classes, music classes a week. And foreign language. All as part of the standard curriculum.
And they all start at 8:30am, not this 9:25am BS.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Sounds like a very interesting experiment. Would we actually see parents come out of their shell to advocate for their kids if we start taking away some free services.

They don’t know anything about public school. They don’t even know what taxes from where pays for what in America. All they are verbally told is what to sign up for and they get free stuff— free stuff at SSA for their baby, free treatment at the ER room, free stuff at public school, free food st school, free clothes at CASA and church.
Then they call the home land and talk about all the free stuff and cash they are making,

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

What I have seen, is in schools with a high (over 65%) Spanish speaking population, there is NO PTA. Why is this? Because you could have all the translators in the world and they are not going to participate. I am not trying to sound racist here. What I have seen are parents living below the poverty line and struggling to put food on the table, much less run a PTA meeting.

I agree but has anyone considered that maybe the PTA is not a good thing to have in the first place? Poor people shouldn't be forced to join it if they want to engage.

The solution is not having a PTA and finding other ways to build community and parent engagement without a PTA in low income schools. A PTA that is run by a small number of white people advocating for their needs over the majority of parents that are not involved in their PTA is not OK. The solution isn't to strong arm the poor parents into participating in the PTA but to make sure that the PTA has zero influence and there are other avenues for parental engagement.

This is truly the most bizarre post. Let's dismantle the PTA b/c the URM don't want to participate. But then create what?...a way to build community and parental engagement ... Hmmmm....oh! You mean...something like a monthly meeting where parents can gather and share concerns and meet one another and have discussions with teachers and administrators about various issues that affect their school and their kids' education??...Oh wait. I think there's already an "avenue" for that...it's called the frickin' PTA!!!! dumb@$$ post of all time.

[Anonymous]

Agree. There are a couple truly insane SjW people on DCUM MCPS

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Agree. There are a couple truly insane SjW people on DCUM MCPS

Unfortunately, there are a ton of these insane SJW people in Montgomery County! They truly believe in their causes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

What I have seen, is in schools with a high (over 65%) Spanish speaking population, there is NO PTA. Why is this? Because you could have all the translators in the world and they are not going to participate. I am not trying to sound racist here. What I have seen are parents living below the poverty line and struggling to put food on the table, much less run a PTA meeting.

I agree but has anyone considered that maybe the PTA is not a good thing to have in the first place? Poor people shouldn't be forced to join it if they want to engage.

The solution is not having a PTA and finding other ways to build community and parent engagement without a PTA in low income schools. A PTA that is run by a small number of white people advocating for their needs over the majority of parents that are not involved in their PTA is not OK. The solution isn't to strong arm the poor parents into participating in the PTA but to make sure that the PTA has zero influence and there are other avenues for parental engagement.

This is truly the most bizarre post. Let's dismantle the PTA b/c the URM don't want to participate. But then create what?...a way to build community and parental engagement ... Hmmmm....oh! You mean...something like a monthly meeting where parents can gather and share concerns and meet one another and have discussions with teachers and administrators about various issues that affect their school and their kids' education??...Oh wait. I think there's already an "avenue" for that...it's called the frickin' PTA!!!! dumb@$$ post of all time.

+ 1
I have been a PTA officer at a high FARMS school with a very high Hispanic population. There are two major problems with the immigrant hispanic population - most of them are working their second job in the evening and most do not have access to emails on a computer easily. However, these parents are very connected on FB and WhatsApp. If the PTA can find a bilingual parent or teacher who can post on a spanish language FB page and WhatsApp group - you can absolutely reach and engage these parents. Another thing I found is that while they may not really understand the nitty-gritty of MCPSspeak (really, who does?) They are awesome in participating where clear course of action is set up for them. We have to find creative solutions that are culturally sensitive to engage these parents. It can be done.

[Anonymous]

“Been there” parent. We had a FB page, very low ratio of followers.
Not in Spanish though.
But FB translates stuff.
Some want to participate but without the language there is only so much they can do.
Food prep for the festivals was epic though!

[Anonymous]

Anyway, what I am saying is: yes it is possible to engage these parents somewhat. But why would I do it if I have a choice of attending a school where parents are willing and able to help the pta already?

[Anonymous]

For larger events, our ES would bring in AP Spanish students from a nearby high school. They'd get real world experience translating and also earn SSL hours (at least this is my understanding).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
So this is what I don’t understand. They travel thousands of miles to come here to escape a toxic culture in their home country only to continue to live by this toxic culture here in the US? I’m sorry for their struggle but heck, they sky has just opened up for them with opportunities galore! Why continue to live defeated lives when they have attained freedom? Let’s empower them and challenge them to live better lives. I have been where they have been and it angers me to see them waste opportunities. They might as well have stayed put in their home country. Sorry to anyone I offend but it offends me when immigrants waste their freedom because there are so many others who couldn’t make it here that would’ve loved these opportunities.

This statement is so laughable. We are talking about PTA participation for crying out loud. What makes you think that their disinterest in it is a sign of being defeated. Trust me, for them, coming to this country, being able to live here is priceless. The fact that their kids are getting a US education so that they can have better lives than them is the ultimate dream. They don't see it as toxic at all. They could care less about PTA meetings.

Neither of you guys understand immigrants.

We come here, mostly because of we can earn more money here. That's it. Culture? Sky opening up? Priceless? US education?
What are you talking about? You really think everything is heaven here compared to other countries?

So you are affirming the assertion that immigrants are just here to take, take, take from Americans, without any loyalty or buy-in to American ideals. But we should welcome you with open arms, so that we can spend $200,000 to educate each of your children.

You got a terrible attitude about work if you think people who com here for better pay are "take take take"

They all state, right on the news, that they came here for the wage armitage opportunity. They are economic migrants. They make more in Mexico than Central America,they make mire in America than Mexico. They work cash black market jobs and remit over half back to Central America to build a bigger house for their wife and remaining kids and to return some day. Yes they can get int the asylum claimant line but that’s just to gain entry and stay forever. And fund chain migration of their other relatives via their remittances. $billions of USD to Honduras, Guatemala, El Salvador per year. Never through the USA tax system.

Look up the thread and you can see we are talking about "immigrants". Yet you only think about people from Mexico and Central America?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

What I have seen, is in schools with a high (over 65%) Spanish speaking population, there is NO PTA. Why is this? Because you could have all the translators in the world and they are not going to participate. I am not trying to sound racist here. What I have seen are parents living below the poverty line and struggling to put food on the table, much less run a PTA meeting.

I agree but has anyone considered that maybe the PTA is not a good thing to have in the first place? Poor people shouldn't be forced to join it if they want to engage.

The solution is not having a PTA and finding other ways to build community and parent engagement without a PTA in low income schools. A PTA that is run by a small number of white people advocating for their needs over the majority of parents that are not involved in their PTA is not OK. The solution isn't to strong arm the poor parents into participating in the PTA but to make sure that the PTA has zero influence and there are other avenues for parental engagement.

This is truly the most bizarre post. Let's dismantle the PTA b/c the URM don't want to participate. But then create what?...a way to build community and parental engagement ... Hmmmm....oh! You mean...something like a monthly meeting where parents can gather and share concerns and meet one another and have discussions with teachers and administrators about various issues that affect their school and their kids' education??...Oh wait. I think there's already an "avenue" for that...it's called the frickin' PTA!!!! dumb@$$ post of all time.

+ 1
I have been a PTA officer at a high FARMS school with a very high Hispanic population. There are two major problems with the immigrant hispanic population - most of them are working their second job in the evening and most do not have access to emails on a computer easily. However, these parents are very connected on FB and WhatsApp. If the PTA can find a bilingual parent or teacher who can post on a spanish language FB page and WhatsApp group - you can absolutely reach and engage these parents. Another thing I found is that while they may not really understand the nitty-gritty of MCPSspeak (really, who does?) They are awesome in participating where clear course of action is set up for them. We have to find creative solutions that are culturally sensitive to engage these parents. It can be done.

Of course it can be done. But why? Because it looks good to have engaged more parents?

Nowadays with the county managing most of the routine stuff, parental involvement on school matters are becoming less and less important. I am not saying it is BAD to engage more parents. But how much that can help the school, is yet to be seen.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

What I have seen, is in schools with a high (over 65%) Spanish speaking population, there is NO PTA. Why is this? Because you could have all the translators in the world and they are not going to participate. I am not trying to sound racist here. What I have seen are parents living below the poverty line and struggling to put food on the table, much less run a PTA meeting.

I agree but has anyone considered that maybe the PTA is not a good thing to have in the first place? Poor people shouldn't be forced to join it if they want to engage.

The solution is not having a PTA and finding other ways to build community and parent engagement without a PTA in low income schools. A PTA that is run by a small number of white people advocating for their needs over the majority of parents that are not involved in their PTA is not OK. The solution isn't to strong arm the poor parents into participating in the PTA but to make sure that the PTA has zero influence and there are other avenues for parental engagement.

This is truly the most bizarre post. Let's dismantle the PTA b/c the URM don't want to participate. But then create what?...a way to build community and parental engagement ... Hmmmm....oh! You mean...something like a monthly meeting where parents can gather and share concerns and meet one another and have discussions with teachers and administrators about various issues that affect their school and their kids' education??...Oh wait. I think there's already an "avenue" for that...it's called the frickin' PTA!!!! dumb@$$ post of all time.

+ 1
I have been a PTA officer at a high FARMS school with a very high Hispanic population. There are two major problems with the immigrant hispanic population - most of them are working their second job in the evening and most do not have access to emails on a computer easily. However, these parents are very connected on FB and WhatsApp. If the PTA can find a bilingual parent or teacher who can post on a spanish language FB page and WhatsApp group - you can absolutely reach and engage these parents. Another thing I found is that while they may not really understand the nitty-gritty of MCPSspeak (really, who does?) They are awesome in participating where clear course of action is set up for them. We have to find creative solutions that are culturally sensitive to engage these parents. It can be done.

Of course it can be done. But why? Because it looks good to have engaged more parents?

Nowadays with the county managing most of the routine stuff, parental involvement on school matters are becoming less and less important. I am not saying it is BAD to engage more parents. But how much that can help the school, is yet to be seen.

I would think it’s more about your individual child. It shows them that you are being supportive of their learning and social environment at school. It’s reassuring for a child to know that mom or dad is an active member of the school community.