Ditch the PTA, join the Parents' Coalition?

[Anonymous]

My kids are in three different schools in Montgomery County and in all of them an increasing number of parents are beginning to rely solely on information put out by the Parents Coaltion. They also turn to the Parents' Coaltion for help with advocacy. Surely, this trend must also be happening in other parts of the County. Why is that?

[Anonymous]

Can you show evidence of this?

It's one thing to hear that Agnes Anti-Educator is all up the PC's ass; it's quite another to prove it.

Where are your statistics? At least give some good anecdotal evidence.

[Anonymous]

Isnt the Parents Coalition really just a website where people post comments?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Isnt the Parents Coalition really just a website where people post comments?

Claiming to be educational activists, they ran for BOE positions . . . and lost.

lost BADLY

It was actually quite funny.

[Anonymous]

Janus Sartucci is the ringleader, who - b/c of an ax she had to grind with her son's school - started a battle with MCPS.

They berate MCPS for its lack of transparency, but fail many times to publish posts by readers who disagree with their agenda.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Janus Sartucci is the ringleader, who - b/c of an ax she had to grind with her son's school - started a battle with MCPS.

They berate MCPS for its lack of transparency, but fail many times to publish posts by readers who disagree with their agenda.

It is a meaningless group of mostly former parents who run a National Enquirer type blog.

[Anonymous]

They have pretty different functions, although there is some overlap. Your school's PTA is about organizing mulch sales and book drives to fund purchases for the school's own media center, prom and international day. The PTA may also may hold parent info sessions on bullying or other current educational issues, or they may have a screening of Race to Nowhere.

The Parents' Coalition focuses on county-wide issues that may include bullying, but they also ask a lot of questions about what does MCPS do with money from the sale of some school or land. And they criticize transparency endlessly. To my knowledge, however, they've never posted any follow-up, along the lines of "we found out where the money went, it went to improve facilities for LD kids" or something of that sort. The tone is pretty belligerent, as PPs have pointed out, and they always hate whichever Superintendent is in the job.

My acquaintances see them as a perhaps necessary evil, rather than a font of knowledge and understanding. They ask some good questions, but don't expect answers, unless the answers are suitably inflammatory.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:They have pretty different functions, although there is some overlap. Your school's PTA is about organizing mulch sales and book drives to fund purchases for the school's own media center, prom and international day. The PTA may also may hold parent info sessions on bullying or other current educational issues, or they may have a screening of Race to Nowhere.

The Parents' Coalition focuses on county-wide issues that may include bullying, but they also ask a lot of questions about what does MCPS do with money from the sale of some school or land. And they criticize transparency endlessly. To my knowledge, however, they've never posted any follow-up, along the lines of "we found out where the money went, it went to improve facilities for LD kids" or something of that sort. The tone is pretty belligerent, as PPs have pointed out, and they always hate whichever Superintendent is in the job.

My acquaintances see them as a perhaps necessary evil, rather than a font of knowledge and understanding. They ask some good questions, but don't expect answers, unless the answers are suitably inflammatory.

Seems fair--though my fellow parents and I don't find the collection of people transparent or accepting of criticism.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:They have pretty different functions, although there is some overlap. Your school's PTA is about organizing mulch sales and book drives to fund purchases for the school's own media center, prom and international day. The PTA may also may hold parent info sessions on bullying or other current educational issues, or they may have a screening of Race to Nowhere.

The Parents' Coalition focuses on county-wide issues that may include bullying, but they also ask a lot of questions about what does MCPS do with money from the sale of some school or land. And they criticize transparency endlessly. To my knowledge, however, they've never posted any follow-up, along the lines of "we found out where the money went, it went to improve facilities for LD kids" or something of that sort. The tone is pretty belligerent, as PPs have pointed out, and they always hate whichever Superintendent is in the job.

My acquaintances see them as a perhaps necessary evil, rather than a font of knowledge and understanding. They ask some good questions, but don't expect answers, unless the answers are suitably inflammatory.

I think this is a very accurate description. Lots of stone throwing by the Parents' Coalition, but not much else. They hated Star before he even started.

[Anonymous]

15:12 again. If you're concerned about those charges for pizza delivery on MCPS officials' Amex cards, the Parents Coalition are your folks. Don't expect to learn whether there was a good explanation, however, like the MCPS officials had locked themselves in a room until they finished some urgent task. The Parents Coalition just isn't that kind of group. They're about raising the alarm rather than taking constructive or nuanced positions.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They have pretty different functions, although there is some overlap. Your school's PTA is about organizing mulch sales and book drives to fund purchases for the school's own media center, prom and international day. The PTA may also may hold parent info sessions on bullying or other current educational issues, or they may have a screening of Race to Nowhere.

The Parents' Coalition focuses on county-wide issues that may include bullying, but they also ask a lot of questions about what does MCPS do with money from the sale of some school or land. And they criticize transparency endlessly. To my knowledge, however, they've never posted any follow-up, along the lines of "we found out where the money went, it went to improve facilities for LD kids" or something of that sort. The tone is pretty belligerent, as PPs have pointed out, and they always hate whichever Superintendent is in the job.

My acquaintances see them as a perhaps necessary evil, rather than a font of knowledge and understanding. They ask some good questions, but don't expect answers, unless the answers are suitably inflammatory.

Seems fair--though my fellow parents and I don't find the collection of people transparent or accepting of criticism.

Their love of the limelight by carping about anything and everything MCPS does serve a purpose. They have time on their hands to dig through the internet for news and stuff. Very simply, they serve a purpose though not to represent parents in any way.

[Anonymous]

I don't know what her hit count is but people very rarely post comments on her site. Go there now and look at ten topics and count the comments. It will be less than one per topic.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:15:12 again. If you're concerned about those charges for pizza delivery on MCPS officials' Amex cards, the Parents Coalition are your folks. Don't expect to learn whether there was a good explanation, however, like the MCPS officials had locked themselves in a room until they finished some urgent task. The Parents Coalition just isn't that kind of group. They're about raising the alarm rather than taking constructive or nuanced positions.

You hit the nail on the head. It's all about Janus Sartucci listening to the sound of her own voice. She's MoCo's own version of Bill O'Reilly, and is worth about as much attention as he should be given; none!

[Anonymous]

15:12 here. I guess I'm glad someone has the time to scrutinize every line item in MCPS' budget and post about it. Whereas I wouldn't listen to Bill O'Reilly if you paid me.

I just think the Parents Coalition could be a better version of itself if it offered more balance and nuance and toned down the shrieking. Oh well.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:15:12 again. If you're concerned about those charges for pizza delivery on MCPS officials' Amex cards, the Parents Coalition are your folks. Don't expect to learn whether there was a good explanation, however, like the MCPS officials had locked themselves in a room until they finished some urgent task. The Parents Coalition just isn't that kind of group. They're about raising the alarm rather than taking constructive or nuanced positions.

You hit the nail on the head. It's all about Janus Sartucci listening to the sound of her own voice. She's MoCo's own version of Bill O'Reilly, and is worth about as much attention as he should be given; none!

Well said! I give both the attention they deserve-none!! It is a group you can look to for salacious gossip and the sound of their hands clapping.