Teacher exposes the craptastic decline iof MCPS in Reddit rant

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There are only 2-6 good high schools in MoCo and people pay a lot to live there.

The other people buy cheap houses zoned for bad schools

If you believe that the only good schools are ones in neighborhoods with over-priced real estate, what do you think we as a society owe to people who truly cannot afford to live in those neighborhoods?

Surely, you also believe that an adequate education is a human right and the key to breaking cycles of generational poverty. Are you okay with real estate prices being the tool that creates a permanent underclass?

The slide began with eliminating finals, but that policy was a symptom of decline, not the cause. What we are calling pandemic learning loss was like a heart attack after the patient had a Krispy Kreme donut following a decade of daily Big Macs.

It is time for a true overhaul. But one that must include parental accountability as well. And buying a $900k house zoned to a W feeder doesn’t discharge your responsibility. Affluent parents need to advocate for a grading policy that supports rather than diminishes students learning time management and accountability skills. Affluent parents need to have constructive conversations with their children about the feedback teachers provide and not just react to low grades with angry emails and vitriolic DCUM posts. Your child didn’t get an A on homework because they really understand the concept. They got an A because that category only allows 100%, 90% (if late), and 50% (if never submitted). The C they got on classwork shows their true achievement.

Wait, they don't take final exams in MCPS?

Absolutely pathetic. What are these kids going to do when they get to college? Fail so much our colleges will have to water down curricula?

This is insane. Where's the education in MCPS and why do they keep raising my taxes?

Finals, college, and success are aspects of whiteness. As an anti-racism school system, MCPS must eschew these things and work toward equity.

This. This has been the basis of staff training and ‘professional development’ in MCPS recently.

OMG. I am not in the school system but have done anti-racist training and the parts about "white supremacist culture" are so ridiculous. It almost makes me wonder if a right-wing operative designed those pieces secretly as kind of a poison pill to undermine anti-racist efforts. But the anti-racist trainers kind of deserve it because they present it as something that can't be questioned or you'll be called a racist.

[Anonymous]

I am a teacher in another county and find this teacher incompetent. This teacher must be old and not able to keep up with the times. It’s ok, it happens. We never could force students back to class. You make it hurt the kids through a grade. Assign a warm up every day and an exit ticket at the end. It will bring their grade down. The teacher said one big assignment could bring their grade up? Every assignment should have the same weight. Not one standard or lesson is bigger than another… fifty percent grade on attempt is still an E. Document communication on an app that shows “read” status even if they don’t respond, like ClassDojo. It’s so easy to complain and be a part of the problem than to be a part of the solution. No, this will not work for everyone but nothing ever does.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am a teacher in another county and find this teacher incompetent. This teacher must be old and not able to keep up with the times. It’s ok, it happens. We never could force students back to class. You make it hurt the kids through a grade. Assign a warm up every day and an exit ticket at the end. It will bring their grade down. The teacher said one big assignment could bring their grade up? Every assignment should have the same weight. Not one standard or lesson is bigger than another… fifty percent grade on attempt is still an E. Document communication on an app that shows “read” status even if they don’t respond, like ClassDojo. It’s so easy to complain and be a part of the problem than to be a part of the solution. No, this will not work for everyone but nothing ever does.

People point out that a 50% is still an E, and that's true. But there's value information in the degree of E in terms of where the student is with regard to mastery and knowledge.

A kid who gets a 20% on an assessment is WAY farther off from being on track compared to a kid who gets a 50-58%. By FLATTENING all E's to just 50%, you're masking the kids who are REALLY struggling and lumping their performance in with kids who just might be struggling with time management. You're actually taking away vital information for the student and the educator.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There are only 2-6 good high schools in MoCo and people pay a lot to live there.

The other people buy cheap houses zoned for bad schools

If you believe that the only good schools are ones in neighborhoods with over-priced real estate, what do you think we as a society owe to people who truly cannot afford to live in those neighborhoods?

Surely, you also believe that an adequate education is a human right and the key to breaking cycles of generational poverty. Are you okay with real estate prices being the tool that creates a permanent underclass?

The slide began with eliminating finals, but that policy was a symptom of decline, not the cause. What we are calling pandemic learning loss was like a heart attack after the patient had a Krispy Kreme donut following a decade of daily Big Macs.

It is time for a true overhaul. But one that must include parental accountability as well. And buying a $900k house zoned to a W feeder doesn’t discharge your responsibility. Affluent parents need to advocate for a grading policy that supports rather than diminishes students learning time management and accountability skills. Affluent parents need to have constructive conversations with their children about the feedback teachers provide and not just react to low grades with angry emails and vitriolic DCUM posts. Your child didn’t get an A on homework because they really understand the concept. They got an A because that category only allows 100%, 90% (if late), and 50% (if never submitted). The C they got on classwork shows their true achievement.

Wait, they don't take final exams in MCPS?

Absolutely pathetic. What are these kids going to do when they get to college? Fail so much our colleges will have to water down curricula?

This is insane. Where's the education in MCPS and why do they keep raising my taxes?

Finals, college, and success are aspects of whiteness. As an anti-racism school system, MCPS must eschew these things and work toward equity.

This. This has been the basis of staff training and ‘professional development’ in MCPS recently.

OMG. I am not in the school system but [/img]have done anti-racist training and the parts about "white supremacist culture" are so ridiculous.[b] It almost makes me wonder if a right-wing operative designed those pieces secretly as kind of a poison pill to undermine anti-racist efforts. But the anti-racist trainers kind of deserve it because they present it as something that can't be questioned or you'll be called a racist.

I had to take some credits about this recently, along with some anti-bias classes for the LGBQT population. They were complete nonsense.

Not sure how this stuff gets out there, but I think there are actual progressive who do believe some of what they are preaching about white supremacist culture, etc.

Even worse because they are teaching this stuff to our kids in MCPS. Like when my MS kid was required to read Stamped by Kendi.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am a teacher in another county and find this teacher incompetent. This teacher must be old and not able to keep up with the times. It’s ok, it happens. We never could force students back to class. You make it hurt the kids through a grade. Assign a warm up every day and an exit ticket at the end. It will bring their grade down. The teacher said one big assignment could bring their grade up? Every assignment should have the same weight. Not one standard or lesson is bigger than another… fifty percent grade on attempt is still an E. Document communication on an app that shows “read” status even if they don’t respond, like ClassDojo. It’s so easy to complain and be a part of the problem than to be a part of the solution. No, this will not work for everyone but nothing ever does.

You mean you find MCPS incompetent. You clearly do not know what is allowed and not allowed here.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There are only 2-6 good high schools in MoCo and people pay a lot to live there.

The other people buy cheap houses zoned for bad schools

If you believe that the only good schools are ones in neighborhoods with over-priced real estate, what do you think we as a society owe to people who truly cannot afford to live in those neighborhoods?

Surely, you also believe that an adequate education is a human right and the key to breaking cycles of generational poverty. Are you okay with real estate prices being the tool that creates a permanent underclass?

The slide began with eliminating finals, but that policy was a symptom of decline, not the cause. What we are calling pandemic learning loss was like a heart attack after the patient had a Krispy Kreme donut following a decade of daily Big Macs.

It is time for a true overhaul. But one that must include parental accountability as well. And buying a $900k house zoned to a W feeder doesn’t discharge your responsibility. Affluent parents need to advocate for a grading policy that supports rather than diminishes students learning time management and accountability skills. Affluent parents need to have constructive conversations with their children about the feedback teachers provide and not just react to low grades with angry emails and vitriolic DCUM posts. Your child didn’t get an A on homework because they really understand the concept. They got an A because that category only allows 100%, 90% (if late), and 50% (if never submitted). The C they got on classwork shows their true achievement.

Wait, they don't take final exams in MCPS?

Absolutely pathetic. What are these kids going to do when they get to college? Fail so much our colleges will have to water down curricula?

This is insane. Where's the education in MCPS and why do they keep raising my taxes?

Finals, college, and success are aspects of whiteness. As an anti-racism school system, MCPS must eschew these things and work toward equity.

This. This has been the basis of staff training and ‘professional development’ in MCPS recently.

OMG. I am not in the school system but have done anti-racist training and the parts about "white supremacist culture" are so ridiculous. It almost makes me wonder if a right-wing operative designed those pieces secretly as kind of a poison pill to undermine anti-racist efforts. But the anti-racist trainers kind of deserve it because they present it as something that can't be questioned or you'll be called a racist.

These are all good ideas, although I think they would be better received if they were not characterized as aspects of "white supremacy" and instead discussed as ways that the current social structure advantages some people over others. For example, strict enforcement of punctuality in the workplace will favor individuals with reliable cars over those who must rely on public transportation like buses to get to work. The same is true for the original discussions about school discipline. We all have personal biases about what is the best way to behave. I find a noisy environment to be very stressful, so I can see how at times, my perception of certain behaviors that I find too loud or too confrontational might lead to inappropriate judgment of others.

Still, as a society and within communities, including school buildings, we must have some standards to create order and stability. This is particularly important for children. Personally, I think that we are in a mess because there is a lack of stability and clear expectations at every level and between stakeholders as well, and some of that stems from well-intentioned social justice ideals. My younger kids' experience in public school (not MCPSS, but a neighboring district) was one of complete chaos during the elementary school years when it seemed that options for disciplining extremely disruptive students had vanished. A small group of highly disruptive students, students switching classes to avoid them (and physical harm), significant teacher absences without stable substitute coverage (partly due to the chaos), and poor communication between administration and parents all undermined educational outcomes - for everyone. Students should not be disciplined based on unfair standards that disregard cultural differences; however, there has to be a limit to what is tolerated (assault, threats of physical harm, swearing at teachers and other students) and an ability to address what we all should consider unacceptable behavior. If kids get moved from grade to grade without attending school regularly or making a good-faith effort to do their work, there is less motivation for all students to hold themselves to high standards. Can we reconcile telling students that a fight at school or an assault of a teacher isn't a problem if the students are from marginalized groups, but also, it's really, really, really important that you show up for class on time and study for your exams?

Schools' ability to return to higher standards is compromised because students aren't ready for it, and part of that is due to the pandemic. Every time I hear someone say, "But this was happening before the pandemic," I fume. If standards were falling off before the pandemic and student behavior was deteriorating (and it was), there should have been even more urgency to avoid further dropoff instead of writing off the COVID years and then blaming kids and their parents for reentry difficulties.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There are only 2-6 good high schools in MoCo and people pay a lot to live there.

The other people buy cheap houses zoned for bad schools

If you believe that the only good schools are ones in neighborhoods with over-priced real estate, what do you think we as a society owe to people who truly cannot afford to live in those neighborhoods?

Surely, you also believe that an adequate education is a human right and the key to breaking cycles of generational poverty. Are you okay with real estate prices being the tool that creates a permanent underclass?

The slide began with eliminating finals, but that policy was a symptom of decline, not the cause. What we are calling pandemic learning loss was like a heart attack after the patient had a Krispy Kreme donut following a decade of daily Big Macs.

It is time for a true overhaul. But one that must include parental accountability as well. And buying a $900k house zoned to a W feeder doesn’t discharge your responsibility. Affluent parents need to advocate for a grading policy that supports rather than diminishes students learning time management and accountability skills. Affluent parents need to have constructive conversations with their children about the feedback teachers provide and not just react to low grades with angry emails and vitriolic DCUM posts. Your child didn’t get an A on homework because they really understand the concept. They got an A because that category only allows 100%, 90% (if late), and 50% (if never submitted). The C they got on classwork shows their true achievement.

Wait, they don't take final exams in MCPS?

Absolutely pathetic. What are these kids going to do when they get to college? Fail so much our colleges will have to water down curricula?

This is insane. Where's the education in MCPS and why do they keep raising my taxes?

Finals, college, and success are aspects of whiteness. As an anti-racism school system, MCPS must eschew these things and work toward equity.

This. This has been the basis of staff training and ‘professional development’ in MCPS recently.

OMG. I am not in the school system but have done anti-racist training and the parts about "white supremacist culture" are so ridiculous. It almost makes me wonder if a right-wing operative designed those pieces secretly as kind of a poison pill to undermine anti-racist efforts. But the anti-racist trainers kind of deserve it because they present it as something that can't be questioned or you'll be called a racist.

These are all good ideas, although I think they would be better received if they were not characterized as aspects of "white supremacy" and instead discussed as ways that the current social structure advantages some people over others. For example, strict enforcement of punctuality in the workplace will favor individuals with reliable cars over those who must rely on public transportation like buses to get to work. The same is true for the original discussions about school discipline. We all have personal biases about what is the best way to behave. I find a noisy environment to be very stressful, so I can see how at times, my perception of certain behaviors that I find too loud or too confrontational might lead to inappropriate judgment of others.

Still, as a society and within communities, including school buildings, we must have some standards to create order and stability. This is particularly important for children. Personally, I think that we are in a mess because there is a lack of stability and clear expectations at every level and between stakeholders as well, and some of that stems from well-intentioned social justice ideals. My younger kids' experience in public school (not MCPSS, but a neighboring district) was one of complete chaos during the elementary school years when it seemed that options for disciplining extremely disruptive students had vanished. A small group of highly disruptive students, students switching classes to avoid them (and physical harm), significant teacher absences without stable substitute coverage (partly due to the chaos), and poor communication between administration and parents all undermined educational outcomes - for everyone. Students should not be disciplined based on unfair standards that disregard cultural differences; however, there has to be a limit to what is tolerated (assault, threats of physical harm, swearing at teachers and other students) and an ability to address what we all should consider unacceptable behavior. If kids get moved from grade to grade without attending school regularly or making a good-faith effort to do their work, there is less motivation for all students to hold themselves to high standards. Can we reconcile telling students that a fight at school or an assault of a teacher isn't a problem if the students are from marginalized groups, but also, it's really, really, really important that you show up for class on time and study for your exams?

Schools' ability to return to higher standards is compromised because students aren't ready for it, and part of that is due to the pandemic. Every time I hear someone say, "But this was happening before the pandemic," I fume. If standards were falling off before the pandemic and student behavior was deteriorating (and it was), there should have been even more urgency to avoid further dropoff instead of writing off the COVID years and then blaming kids and their parents for reentry difficulties.

Oh I absolutely think there are ways to frame the ideas that make sense. But how it is done now is, "if you care about punctuality you are promoting White supremacist ideals". It's ridiculous and counterproductive.

[Anonymous]

$900k W zoned homes? Do you have a Time Machine?

I was house hunting in 2017 and under one million was as rare as a suntanned polar bear

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There are only 2-6 good high schools in MoCo and people pay a lot to live there.

The other people buy cheap houses zoned for bad schools

If you believe that the only good schools are ones in neighborhoods with over-priced real estate, what do you think we as a society owe to people who truly cannot afford to live in those neighborhoods?

Surely, you also believe that an adequate education is a human right and the key to breaking cycles of generational poverty. Are you okay with real estate prices being the tool that creates a permanent underclass?

The slide began with eliminating finals, but that policy was a symptom of decline, not the cause. What we are calling pandemic learning loss was like a heart attack after the patient had a Krispy Kreme donut following a decade of daily Big Macs.

It is time for a true overhaul. But one that must include parental accountability as well. And buying a $900k house zoned to a W feeder doesn’t discharge your responsibility. Affluent parents need to advocate for a grading policy that supports rather than diminishes students learning time management and accountability skills. Affluent parents need to have constructive conversations with their children about the feedback teachers provide and not just react to low grades with angry emails and vitriolic DCUM posts. Your child didn’t get an A on homework because they really understand the concept. They got an A because that category only allows 100%, 90% (if late), and 50% (if never submitted). The C they got on classwork shows their true achievement.

Wait, they don't take final exams in MCPS?

Absolutely pathetic. What are these kids going to do when they get to college? Fail so much our colleges will have to water down curricula?

This is insane. Where's the education in MCPS and why do they keep raising my taxes?

Finals, college, and success are aspects of whiteness. As an anti-racism school system, MCPS must eschew these things and work toward equity.

This. This has been the basis of staff training and ‘professional development’ in MCPS recently.

OMG. I am not in the school system but have done anti-racist training and the parts about "white supremacist culture" are so ridiculous. It almost makes me wonder if a right-wing operative designed those pieces secretly as kind of a poison pill to undermine anti-racist efforts. But the anti-racist trainers kind of deserve it because they present it as something that can't be questioned or you'll be called a racist.

These are all good ideas, although I think they would be better received if they were not characterized as aspects of "white supremacy" and instead discussed as ways that the current social structure advantages some people over others. For example, strict enforcement of punctuality in the workplace will favor individuals with reliable cars over those who must rely on public transportation like buses to get to work. The same is true for the original discussions about school discipline. We all have personal biases about what is the best way to behave. I find a noisy environment to be very stressful, so I can see how at times, my perception of certain behaviors that I find too loud or too confrontational might lead to inappropriate judgment of others.

Still, as a society and within communities, including school buildings, we must have some standards to create order and stability. This is particularly important for children. Personally, I think that we are in a mess because there is a lack of stability and clear expectations at every level and between stakeholders as well, and some of that stems from well-intentioned social justice ideals. My younger kids' experience in public school (not MCPSS, but a neighboring district) was one of complete chaos during the elementary school years when it seemed that options for disciplining extremely disruptive students had vanished. A small group of highly disruptive students, students switching classes to avoid them (and physical harm), significant teacher absences without stable substitute coverage (partly due to the chaos), and poor communication between administration and parents all undermined educational outcomes - for everyone. Students should not be disciplined based on unfair standards that disregard cultural differences; however, there has to be a limit to what is tolerated (assault, threats of physical harm, swearing at teachers and other students) and an ability to address what we all should consider unacceptable behavior. If kids get moved from grade to grade without attending school regularly or making a good-faith effort to do their work, there is less motivation for all students to hold themselves to high standards. Can we reconcile telling students that a fight at school or an assault of a teacher isn't a problem if the students are from marginalized groups, but also, it's really, really, really important that you show up for class on time and study for your exams?

Schools' ability to return to higher standards is compromised because students aren't ready for it, and part of that is due to the pandemic. Every time I hear someone say, "But this was happening before the pandemic," I fume. If standards were falling off before the pandemic and student behavior was deteriorating (and it was), there should have been even more urgency to avoid further dropoff instead of writing off the COVID years and then blaming kids and their parents for reentry difficulties.

Wow. You captured the situation with much more intelligence, depth and nuance than MCPS. I agree with you, in the clunky, clumsy implementation of these antiracist policies, I can see some merit in what they're trying to address. But they make such sweeping, broad, ridiculous claims that I can't take it seriously. And I'm a person of color!

It also backfires because I end up feeling insulted when they say things like "punctuality" is a function of white supremacy culture, because I'm a POC who strives to be punctual. I strive to do so NOT because I want perform whiteness, but because I value people's time and I think it's inconsiderate to waste their time, or to tell them I'll be there and show up 15-30 minutes. That's an issue of me having certain character values. And I do not believe those values are exclusive to white people.

So yeah, MCPS antiracism is a complete, irredeemable mess. It can only be cleaned up by an intelligent, discerning adult taking charge but I don't think that person is Monifa.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There are only 2-6 good high schools in MoCo and people pay a lot to live there.

The other people buy cheap houses zoned for bad schools

If you believe that the only good schools are ones in neighborhoods with over-priced real estate, what do you think we as a society owe to people who truly cannot afford to live in those neighborhoods?

Surely, you also believe that an adequate education is a human right and the key to breaking cycles of generational poverty. Are you okay with real estate prices being the tool that creates a permanent underclass?

The slide began with eliminating finals, but that policy was a symptom of decline, not the cause. What we are calling pandemic learning loss was like a heart attack after the patient had a Krispy Kreme donut following a decade of daily Big Macs.

It is time for a true overhaul. But one that must include parental accountability as well. And buying a $900k house zoned to a W feeder doesn’t discharge your responsibility. Affluent parents need to advocate for a grading policy that supports rather than diminishes students learning time management and accountability skills. Affluent parents need to have constructive conversations with their children about the feedback teachers provide and not just react to low grades with angry emails and vitriolic DCUM posts. Your child didn’t get an A on homework because they really understand the concept. They got an A because that category only allows 100%, 90% (if late), and 50% (if never submitted). The C they got on classwork shows their true achievement.

All MCPS schools are basically the same before they are filled with kids. W schools are filled with the kids of families who value education, very low SES schools are filled with kids whose families don't value education. That's the difference. It's why we in the W schools don't want busing. If they balanced the farms rate across all the schools they would ruin all the schools.

And what do we owe them? Nothing. Their own culture causes this. I do like the fact that the handful of kids who want to learn in these schools are able to get to the magnets though.

i sincerely hope you arent in charge of anything with logic like the bolded.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There are only 2-6 good high schools in MoCo and people pay a lot to live there.

The other people buy cheap houses zoned for bad schools

If you believe that the only good schools are ones in neighborhoods with over-priced real estate, what do you think we as a society owe to people who truly cannot afford to live in those neighborhoods?

Surely, you also believe that an adequate education is a human right and the key to breaking cycles of generational poverty. Are you okay with real estate prices being the tool that creates a permanent underclass?

The slide began with eliminating finals, but that policy was a symptom of decline, not the cause. What we are calling pandemic learning loss was like a heart attack after the patient had a Krispy Kreme donut following a decade of daily Big Macs.

It is time for a true overhaul. But one that must include parental accountability as well. And buying a $900k house zoned to a W feeder doesn’t discharge your responsibility. Affluent parents need to advocate for a grading policy that supports rather than diminishes students learning time management and accountability skills. Affluent parents need to have constructive conversations with their children about the feedback teachers provide and not just react to low grades with angry emails and vitriolic DCUM posts. Your child didn’t get an A on homework because they really understand the concept. They got an A because that category only allows 100%, 90% (if late), and 50% (if never submitted). The C they got on classwork shows their true achievement.

Wait, they don't take final exams in MCPS?

Absolutely pathetic. What are these kids going to do when they get to college? Fail so much our colleges will have to water down curricula?

This is insane. Where's the education in MCPS and why do they keep raising my taxes?

Finals, college, and success are aspects of whiteness. As an anti-racism school system, MCPS must eschew these things and work toward equity.

This. This has been the basis of staff training and ‘professional development’ in MCPS recently.

OMG. I am not in the school system but have done anti-racist training and the parts about "white supremacist culture" are so ridiculous. It almost makes me wonder if a right-wing operative designed those pieces secretly as kind of a poison pill to undermine anti-racist efforts. But the anti-racist trainers kind of deserve it because they present it as something that can't be questioned or you'll be called a racist.

These are all good ideas, although I think they would be better received if they were not characterized as aspects of "white supremacy" and instead discussed as ways that the current social structure advantages some people over others. For example, strict enforcement of punctuality in the workplace will favor individuals with reliable cars over those who must rely on public transportation like buses to get to work. The same is true for the original discussions about school discipline. We all have personal biases about what is the best way to behave. I find a noisy environment to be very stressful, so I can see how at times, my perception of certain behaviors that I find too loud or too confrontational might lead to inappropriate judgment of others.

Still, as a society and within communities, including school buildings, we must have some standards to create order and stability. This is particularly important for children. Personally, I think that we are in a mess because there is a lack of stability and clear expectations at every level and between stakeholders as well, and some of that stems from well-intentioned social justice ideals. My younger kids' experience in public school (not MCPSS, but a neighboring district) was one of complete chaos during the elementary school years when it seemed that options for disciplining extremely disruptive students had vanished. A small group of highly disruptive students, students switching classes to avoid them (and physical harm), significant teacher absences without stable substitute coverage (partly due to the chaos), and poor communication between administration and parents all undermined educational outcomes - for everyone. Students should not be disciplined based on unfair standards that disregard cultural differences; however, there has to be a limit to what is tolerated (assault, threats of physical harm, swearing at teachers and other students) and an ability to address what we all should consider unacceptable behavior. If kids get moved from grade to grade without attending school regularly or making a good-faith effort to do their work, there is less motivation for all students to hold themselves to high standards. Can we reconcile telling students that a fight at school or an assault of a teacher isn't a problem if the students are from marginalized groups, but also, it's really, really, really important that you show up for class on time and study for your exams?

Schools' ability to return to higher standards is compromised because students aren't ready for it, and part of that is due to the pandemic. Every time I hear someone say, "But this was happening before the pandemic," I fume. If standards were falling off before the pandemic and student behavior was deteriorating (and it was), there should have been even more urgency to avoid further dropoff instead of writing off the COVID years and then blaming kids and their parents for reentry difficulties.

Wow. You captured the situation with much more intelligence, depth and nuance than MCPS. I agree with you, in the clunky, clumsy implementation of these antiracist policies, I can see some merit in what they're trying to address. But they make such sweeping, broad, ridiculous claims that I can't take it seriously. And I'm a person of color!

It also backfires because I end up feeling insulted when they say things like "punctuality" is a function of white supremacy culture, because I'm a POC who strives to be punctual. I strive to do so NOT because I want perform whiteness, but because I value people's time and I think it's inconsiderate to waste their time, or to tell them I'll be there and show up 15-30 minutes. That's an issue of me having certain character values. And I do not believe those values are exclusive to white people.

So yeah, MCPS antiracism is a complete, irredeemable mess. It can only be cleaned up by an intelligent, discerning adult taking charge but I don't think that person is Monifa.

They are not and they are also not inclusive of all white people, such as white Latinos. In my white Latino family I've been chastised for arriving on time lol.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There are only 2-6 good high schools in MoCo and people pay a lot to live there.

The other people buy cheap houses zoned for bad schools

If you believe that the only good schools are ones in neighborhoods with over-priced real estate, what do you think we as a society owe to people who truly cannot afford to live in those neighborhoods?

Surely, you also believe that an adequate education is a human right and the key to breaking cycles of generational poverty. Are you okay with real estate prices being the tool that creates a permanent underclass?

The slide began with eliminating finals, but that policy was a symptom of decline, not the cause. What we are calling pandemic learning loss was like a heart attack after the patient had a Krispy Kreme donut following a decade of daily Big Macs.

It is time for a true overhaul. But one that must include parental accountability as well. And buying a $900k house zoned to a W feeder doesn’t discharge your responsibility. Affluent parents need to advocate for a grading policy that supports rather than diminishes students learning time management and accountability skills. Affluent parents need to have constructive conversations with their children about the feedback teachers provide and not just react to low grades with angry emails and vitriolic DCUM posts. Your child didn’t get an A on homework because they really understand the concept. They got an A because that category only allows 100%, 90% (if late), and 50% (if never submitted). The C they got on classwork shows their true achievement.

Wait, they don't take final exams in MCPS?

Absolutely pathetic. What are these kids going to do when they get to college? Fail so much our colleges will have to water down curricula?

This is insane. Where's the education in MCPS and why do they keep raising my taxes?

Finals, college, and success are aspects of whiteness. As an anti-racism school system, MCPS must eschew these things and work toward equity.

This. This has been the basis of staff training and ‘professional development’ in MCPS recently.

OMG. I am not in the school system but [/img]have done anti-racist training and the parts about "white supremacist culture" are so ridiculous.[b] It almost makes me wonder if a right-wing operative designed those pieces secretly as kind of a poison pill to undermine anti-racist efforts. But the anti-racist trainers kind of deserve it because they present it as something that can't be questioned or you'll be called a racist.

I had to take some credits about this recently, along with some anti-bias classes for the LGBQT population. They were complete nonsense.

Not sure how this stuff gets out there, but I think there are actual progressive who do believe some of what they are preaching about white supremacist culture, etc.

Even worse because they are teaching this stuff to our kids in MCPS. Like when my MS kid was required to read Stamped by Kendi.

Weird, I thought it was an excellent read? What did you hate about it?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There are only 2-6 good high schools in MoCo and people pay a lot to live there.

The other people buy cheap houses zoned for bad schools

If you believe that the only good schools are ones in neighborhoods with over-priced real estate, what do you think we as a society owe to people who truly cannot afford to live in those neighborhoods?

Surely, you also believe that an adequate education is a human right and the key to breaking cycles of generational poverty. Are you okay with real estate prices being the tool that creates a permanent underclass?

The slide began with eliminating finals, but that policy was a symptom of decline, not the cause. What we are calling pandemic learning loss was like a heart attack after the patient had a Krispy Kreme donut following a decade of daily Big Macs.

It is time for a true overhaul. But one that must include parental accountability as well. And buying a $900k house zoned to a W feeder doesn’t discharge your responsibility. Affluent parents need to advocate for a grading policy that supports rather than diminishes students learning time management and accountability skills. Affluent parents need to have constructive conversations with their children about the feedback teachers provide and not just react to low grades with angry emails and vitriolic DCUM posts. Your child didn’t get an A on homework because they really understand the concept. They got an A because that category only allows 100%, 90% (if late), and 50% (if never submitted). The C they got on classwork shows their true achievement.

Wait, they don't take final exams in MCPS?

Absolutely pathetic. What are these kids going to do when they get to college? Fail so much our colleges will have to water down curricula?

This is insane. Where's the education in MCPS and why do they keep raising my taxes?

Finals, college, and success are aspects of whiteness. As an anti-racism school system, MCPS must eschew these things and work toward equity.

This. This has been the basis of staff training and ‘professional development’ in MCPS recently.

OMG. I am not in the school system but have done anti-racist training and the parts about "white supremacist culture" are so ridiculous. It almost makes me wonder if a right-wing operative designed those pieces secretly as kind of a poison pill to undermine anti-racist efforts. But the anti-racist trainers kind of deserve it because they present it as something that can't be questioned or you'll be called a racist.

These are all good ideas, although I think they would be better received if they were not characterized as aspects of "white supremacy" and instead discussed as ways that the current social structure advantages some people over others. For example, strict enforcement of punctuality in the workplace will favor individuals with reliable cars over those who must rely on public transportation like buses to get to work. The same is true for the original discussions about school discipline. We all have personal biases about what is the best way to behave. I find a noisy environment to be very stressful, so I can see how at times, my perception of certain behaviors that I find too loud or too confrontational might lead to inappropriate judgment of others.

Still, as a society and within communities, including school buildings, we must have some standards to create order and stability. This is particularly important for children. Personally, I think that we are in a mess because there is a lack of stability and clear expectations at every level and between stakeholders as well, and some of that stems from well-intentioned social justice ideals. My younger kids' experience in public school (not MCPSS, but a neighboring district) was one of complete chaos during the elementary school years when it seemed that options for disciplining extremely disruptive students had vanished. A small group of highly disruptive students, students switching classes to avoid them (and physical harm), significant teacher absences without stable substitute coverage (partly due to the chaos), and poor communication between administration and parents all undermined educational outcomes - for everyone. Students should not be disciplined based on unfair standards that disregard cultural differences; however, there has to be a limit to what is tolerated (assault, threats of physical harm, swearing at teachers and other students) and an ability to address what we all should consider unacceptable behavior. If kids get moved from grade to grade without attending school regularly or making a good-faith effort to do their work, there is less motivation for all students to hold themselves to high standards. Can we reconcile telling students that a fight at school or an assault of a teacher isn't a problem if the students are from marginalized groups, but also, it's really, really, really important that you show up for class on time and study for your exams?

Schools' ability to return to higher standards is compromised because students aren't ready for it, and part of that is due to the pandemic. Every time I hear someone say, "But this was happening before the pandemic," I fume. If standards were falling off before the pandemic and student behavior was deteriorating (and it was), there should have been even more urgency to avoid further dropoff instead of writing off the COVID years and then blaming kids and their parents for reentry difficulties.

Wow. You captured the situation with much more intelligence, depth and nuance than MCPS. I agree with you, in the clunky, clumsy implementation of these antiracist policies, I can see some merit in what they're trying to address. But they make such sweeping, broad, ridiculous claims that I can't take it seriously. And I'm a person of color!

It also backfires because I end up feeling insulted when they say things like "punctuality" is a function of white supremacy culture, because I'm a POC who strives to be punctual. I strive to do so NOT because I want perform whiteness, but because I value people's time and I think it's inconsiderate to waste their time, or to tell them I'll be there and show up 15-30 minutes. That's an issue of me having certain character values. And I do not believe those values are exclusive to white people.

So yeah, MCPS antiracism is a complete, irredeemable mess. It can only be cleaned up by an intelligent, discerning adult taking charge but I don't think that person is Monifa.

I agree that racism is terrible, but I just can't imagine that is a big problem today. That stuff is illegal and people can get sued or lose their job over it. What is a big problem though is the lack of focus on academics.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There are only 2-6 good high schools in MoCo and people pay a lot to live there.

The other people buy cheap houses zoned for bad schools

If you believe that the only good schools are ones in neighborhoods with over-priced real estate, what do you think we as a society owe to people who truly cannot afford to live in those neighborhoods?

Surely, you also believe that an adequate education is a human right and the key to breaking cycles of generational poverty. Are you okay with real estate prices being the tool that creates a permanent underclass?

The slide began with eliminating finals, but that policy was a symptom of decline, not the cause. What we are calling pandemic learning loss was like a heart attack after the patient had a Krispy Kreme donut following a decade of daily Big Macs.

It is time for a true overhaul. But one that must include parental accountability as well. And buying a $900k house zoned to a W feeder doesn’t discharge your responsibility. Affluent parents need to advocate for a grading policy that supports rather than diminishes students learning time management and accountability skills. Affluent parents need to have constructive conversations with their children about the feedback teachers provide and not just react to low grades with angry emails and vitriolic DCUM posts. Your child didn’t get an A on homework because they really understand the concept. They got an A because that category only allows 100%, 90% (if late), and 50% (if never submitted). The C they got on classwork shows their true achievement.

All MCPS schools are basically the same before they are filled with kids. W schools are filled with the kids of families who value education, very low SES schools are filled with kids whose families don't value education. That's the difference. It's why we in the W schools don't want busing. If they balanced the farms rate across all the schools they would ruin all the schools.

And what do we owe them? Nothing. Their own culture causes this. I do like the fact that the handful of kids who want to learn in these schools are able to get to the magnets though.

i sincerely hope you arent in charge of anything with logic like the bolded.

I'm with you but also want to be respectful of these other cultures and not force their kids into classes if they aren't interested or dumb all the academic classes down so that nobody learns anything in the interest of equity.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There are only 2-6 good high schools in MoCo and people pay a lot to live there.

The other people buy cheap houses zoned for bad schools

If you believe that the only good schools are ones in neighborhoods with over-priced real estate, what do you think we as a society owe to people who truly cannot afford to live in those neighborhoods?

Surely, you also believe that an adequate education is a human right and the key to breaking cycles of generational poverty. Are you okay with real estate prices being the tool that creates a permanent underclass?

The slide began with eliminating finals, but that policy was a symptom of decline, not the cause. What we are calling pandemic learning loss was like a heart attack after the patient had a Krispy Kreme donut following a decade of daily Big Macs.

It is time for a true overhaul. But one that must include parental accountability as well. And buying a $900k house zoned to a W feeder doesn’t discharge your responsibility. Affluent parents need to advocate for a grading policy that supports rather than diminishes students learning time management and accountability skills. Affluent parents need to have constructive conversations with their children about the feedback teachers provide and not just react to low grades with angry emails and vitriolic DCUM posts. Your child didn’t get an A on homework because they really understand the concept. They got an A because that category only allows 100%, 90% (if late), and 50% (if never submitted). The C they got on classwork shows their true achievement.

Wait, they don't take final exams in MCPS?

Absolutely pathetic. What are these kids going to do when they get to college? Fail so much our colleges will have to water down curricula?

This is insane. Where's the education in MCPS and why do they keep raising my taxes?

Finals, college, and success are aspects of whiteness. As an anti-racism school system, MCPS must eschew these things and work toward equity.

This. This has been the basis of staff training and ‘professional development’ in MCPS recently.

I guess the smart kids must be dumbed down and have equal college results as other groups in the name of equity.