s/o from the 2.0 discussion, please move if you're that unhappy

[Anonymous]

P.S. we will not hesitate to sell our Bethesda house and move back to the District and do private or go to Arlington.

That's a quote from one of the many vocal and vehment DCUMs who have done nothing but shriek about Curriculum 2.0 for the past few months. You have literally ruined every PTA event and back-to-school night and meet-the-principal coffee with your hystrionics. Acceleration, acceleration, acceleration. We get it - all your kids are incredibly gifted, which presumably is the product of (or justification for) the fact that you quit your big-firm lawyer job or shelved that Wharton MBA as soon as you peed on the stick. You're insufferable, and if you give me this much of a headache from my relatively infrequent contact with you at these meetings or at school pickups, I can only imagine how much the MCPS teachers and administrators enjoy your dramatics.

My husband went to one of these meetings and came back laughing about the neurotic freak show, all wearing their yoga pants but apparently absolutely certain of the appropriate pedagogy for their special snowflakes. Evidently the litany of complaints about Sophie's devastation at having to repeat multiplication was only derailed by one parent (one of the few other fathers, fwiw) who had the temerity to ask about resources for "average" kids in MCPS. If I knew who this guy was, I would give him a medal.

To the PP who "threatened" to sell her house and move back to DC or Arlington, please, I beg you, start packing. Believe it or not, the rest of us will do just fine without you! Something tells me, however, you will stay in your Bethesda rebuild and continue to complain. Fwiw, I'm sure MCPS isn't perfect, but my kid has had fantastic teachers and has learned a lot. I had a lot less and managed to do okay in life, so I'm pretty happy with what we've got.

[Anonymous]

Silly OP. You should know this is not about poor little you.

Public education in the USA drains a huge amount of resources but accomplishes relatively little, compared to other developed nations' educational systems.

Montgomery County's public schools are better than the US average.
However, it is disappointing, considering this is such an affluent and educated County, that the best they can come up with is 2.0.
Before 2.0, the curriculum was not up to the standard of most developed European and Asian countries. Acceleration was sometimes given to students without fully monitoring their comprehension of the material, or lack thereof. Some students had gaps in their learning or ended up not fully assimilating concepts.
With 2.0, the curriculum has been simplified even more, especially in math. Acceleration seems to be denied almost on principle, because of the problems in pre-2.0 acceleration, when really it had been a good idea poorly applied.

As someone who has experienced German, French, British and a little bit of Japanese education, what on earth are we preparing our children for here in the USA?

The economic superpowers will be Asian ones - they have worked hard on their educational goals and their students are ambitious and work hard.
The next American generations will have not have a chance to be competitive if we muck about like this.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

P.S. we will not hesitate to sell our Bethesda house and move back to the District and do private or go to Arlington.

That's a quote from one of the many vocal and vehment DCUMs who have done nothing but shriek about Curriculum 2.0 for the past few months. You have literally ruined every PTA event and back-to-school night and meet-the-principal coffee with your hystrionics. Acceleration, acceleration, acceleration. We get it - all your kids are incredibly gifted, which presumably is the product of (or justification for) the fact that you quit your big-firm lawyer job or shelved that Wharton MBA as soon as you peed on the stick. You're insufferable, and if you give me this much of a headache from my relatively infrequent contact with you at these meetings or at school pickups, I can only imagine how much the MCPS teachers and administrators enjoy your dramatics.

My husband went to one of these meetings and came back laughing about the neurotic freak show, all wearing their yoga pants but apparently absolutely certain of the appropriate pedagogy for their special snowflakes. Evidently the litany of complaints about Sophie's devastation at having to repeat multiplication was only derailed by one parent (one of the few other fathers, fwiw) who had the temerity to ask about resources for "average" kids in MCPS. If I knew who this guy was, I would give him a medal.

To the PP who "threatened" to sell her house and move back to DC or Arlington, please, I beg you, start packing. Believe it or not, the rest of us will do just fine without you! Something tells me, however, you will stay in your Bethesda rebuild and continue to complain. Fwiw, I'm sure MCPS isn't perfect, but my kid has had fantastic teachers and has learned a lot. I had a lot less and managed to do okay in life, so I'm pretty happy with what we've got.

Sounds like you live in the green zone. Because if you lived in the red zone you'd know there are advanced kids from all socio-economic levels whose parents are concerned about them not "learning a lot" as your DC is fortunate to have done. And there hasn't been any histrionics at our PTA meetings, only real concerns voiced with level-headed respect. No one in my family is employed by a big law firm and we can't afford to move to Arlington or go to private school. Where does that leave people like us in terms of getting our kids the education they have a right to? Curriculum 2.0 holds back advanced kids of all colors and backgrounds, not just privileged whites.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

P.S. we will not hesitate to sell our Bethesda house and move back to the District and do private or go to Arlington.

That's a quote from one of the many vocal and vehment DCUMs who have done nothing but shriek about Curriculum 2.0 for the past few months. You have literally ruined every PTA event and back-to-school night and meet-the-principal coffee with your hystrionics. Acceleration, acceleration, acceleration. We get it - all your kids are incredibly gifted, which presumably is the product of (or justification for) the fact that you quit your big-firm lawyer job or shelved that Wharton MBA as soon as you peed on the stick. You're insufferable, and if you give me this much of a headache from my relatively infrequent contact with you at these meetings or at school pickups, I can only imagine how much the MCPS teachers and administrators enjoy your dramatics.

My husband went to one of these meetings and came back laughing about the neurotic freak show, all wearing their yoga pants but apparently absolutely certain of the appropriate pedagogy for their special snowflakes. Evidently the litany of complaints about Sophie's devastation at having to repeat multiplication was only derailed by one parent (one of the few other fathers, fwiw) who had the temerity to ask about resources for "average" kids in MCPS. If I knew who this guy was, I would give him a medal.

To the PP who "threatened" to sell her house and move back to DC or Arlington, please, I beg you, start packing. Believe it or not, the rest of us will do just fine without you! Something tells me, however, you will stay in your Bethesda rebuild and continue to complain. Fwiw, I'm sure MCPS isn't perfect, but my kid has had fantastic teachers and has learned a lot. I had a lot less and managed to do okay in life, so I'm pretty happy with what we've got.

I pretty much agree.

[Anonymous]

Bless You OP!

[Anonymous]

So, OP, your child gets to learn a lot, bit mine doesn't have a right to learn anything new because she's already proficient in all the material presented, is that what you're saying? And we're out of luck because we can't afford private school or to move to a better school district. and because you DC is having a great experience, we should just sit down and shut up and stop advocating for our kids? Maybe you should get out of your tony neighborhood sometime and see that some of us Folks who aren't yoga pants wearing lawyers are also upset about our kids being robbed of academic opportunty by this new curriculum.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:So, OP, your child gets to learn a lot, bit mine doesn't have a right to learn anything new because she's already proficient in all the material presented, is that what you're saying? And we're out of luck because we can't afford private school or to move to a better school district. and because you DC is having a great experience, we should just sit down and shut up and stop advocating for our kids? Maybe you should get out of your tony neighborhood sometime and see that some of us Folks who aren't yoga pants wearing lawyers are also upset about our kids being robbed of academic opportunty by this new curriculum.

Here's the thing. Under both the law and policy, kids are entitled to an adequate education, not the best. Adequate isn't well defined, but has to do with reaching proficiency in subject matter set by the state. That means that the curriculum must be geared to the middle of the bell curve and that services and resources have to be provided to those below the curve to help that group get as close to proficient as possible. And, in the public system, it does mean that if you want better for your very high functioning child, you may have to do at least some of it on your own. Nothing wrong with advocating, but it's really an uphill battle.

[Anonymous]

Teachers are joking that we have ditched "no child left behind". In favor of having all the kids jump off a cliff together. Here's th thing: mcps is notorious for trying some new fad, discovering that it doesn't work, and then switching back. I know folks who have taught in mcps for twenty years and they can rattle off the collasol failures. As a parent, I don't want my kids to waste a couple years whil they try out 2.0. The lack of differentiation for math hurts ALzl students. Try to imagine teaching math to three or four different group of kids all at different levels during one ninety minute block. All kids suffer...including my solidly average kid who only gets limited instruction as the techer bounces from group to group. And don't even get me started on the dumb strategies they are using to teach subtraction.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

P.S. we will not hesitate to sell our Bethesda house and move back to the District and do private or go to Arlington.

That's a quote from one of the many vocal and vehment DCUMs who have done nothing but shriek about Curriculum 2.0 for the past few months. You have literally ruined every PTA event and back-to-school night and meet-the-principal coffee with your hystrionics. Acceleration, acceleration, acceleration. We get it - all your kids are incredibly gifted, which presumably is the product of (or justification for) the fact that you quit your big-firm lawyer job or shelved that Wharton MBA as soon as you peed on the stick. You're insufferable, and if you give me this much of a headache from my relatively infrequent contact with you at these meetings or at school pickups, I can only imagine how much the MCPS teachers and administrators enjoy your dramatics.

My husband went to one of these meetings and came back laughing about the neurotic freak show, all wearing their yoga pants but apparently absolutely certain of the appropriate pedagogy for their special snowflakes. Evidently the litany of complaints about Sophie's devastation at having to repeat multiplication was only derailed by one parent (one of the few other fathers, fwiw) who had the temerity to ask about resources for "average" kids in MCPS. If I knew who this guy was, I would give him a medal.

To the PP who "threatened" to sell her house and move back to DC or Arlington, please, I beg you, start packing. Believe it or not, the rest of us will do just fine without you! Something tells me, however, you will stay in your Bethesda rebuild and continue to complain. Fwiw, I'm sure MCPS isn't perfect, but my kid has had fantastic teachers and has learned a lot. I had a lot less and managed to do okay in life, so I'm pretty happy with what we've got.

Ha, ha, speaking of neurotic, your post is a fine example!
Wonder what you'd tell someone who is about to buy their long term house and has a 3year old? Is this new program going to be just as great as what your children received under the former program?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So, OP, your child gets to learn a lot, bit mine doesn't have a right to learn anything new because she's already proficient in all the material presented, is that what you're saying? And we're out of luck because we can't afford private school or to move to a better school district. and because you DC is having a great experience, we should just sit down and shut up and stop advocating for our kids? Maybe you should get out of your tony neighborhood sometime and see that some of us Folks who aren't yoga pants wearing lawyers are also upset about our kids being robbed of academic opportunty by this new curriculum.

Here's the thing. Under both the law and policy, kids are entitled to an adequate education, not the best. Adequate isn't well defined, but has to do with reaching proficiency in subject matter set by the state. That means that the curriculum must be geared to the middle of the bell curve and that services and resources have to be provided to those below the curve to help that group get as close to proficient as possible. And, in the public system, it does mean that if you want better for your very high functioning child, you may have to do at least some of it on your own. Nothing wrong with advocating, but it's really an uphill battle.

Precisely why MoCo will lose its tax base of educated, hardworking couples who value a challenging education, not mediocrity.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Teachers are joking that we have ditched "no child left behind". In favor of having all the kids jump off a cliff together. Here's th thing: mcps is notorious for trying some new fad, discovering that it doesn't work, and then switching back. I know folks who have taught in mcps for twenty years and they can rattle off the collasol failures. As a parent, I don't want my kids to waste a couple years whil they try out 2.0. The lack of differentiation for math hurts ALzl students. Try to imagine teaching math to three or four different group of kids all at different levels during one ninety minute block. All kids suffer...including my solidly average kid who only gets limited instruction as the techer bounces from group to group. And don't even get me started on the dumb strategies they are using to teach subtraction.

But the shapes and colours are so pretty....

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So, OP, your child gets to learn a lot, bit mine doesn't have a right to learn anything new because she's already proficient in all the material presented, is that what you're saying? And we're out of luck because we can't afford private school or to move to a better school district. and because you DC is having a great experience, we should just sit down and shut up and stop advocating for our kids? Maybe you should get out of your tony neighborhood sometime and see that some of us Folks who aren't yoga pants wearing lawyers are also upset about our kids being robbed of academic opportunty by this new curriculum.

Here's the thing. Under both the law and policy, kids are entitled to an adequate education, not the best. Adequate isn't well defined, but has to do with reaching proficiency in subject matter set by the state. That means that the curriculum must be geared to the middle of the bell curve and that services and resources have to be provided to those below the curve to help that group get as close to proficient as possible. And, in the public system, it does mean that if you want better for your very high functioning child, you may have to do at least some of it on your own. Nothing wrong with advocating, but it's really an uphill battle.

Precisely why MoCo will lose its tax base of educated, hardworking couples who value a challenging education, not mediocrity.

+1. Here's the thing. MCPS does a lot of crowing about, and spends a lot of PR money publicizing about how fabulous it is. "Adequate" is not fabulous. So if it wants to provide "adequacy" then fine, but it cannot expect highly-educated affluent taxpayers to stick around to give their kids an "adequate" education.

[Anonymous]

You do all realize that this is all about corporate profits made off the backs of our children?:

http://www.gazette.net/article/20120118/NEWS/701189629/1122/pension-shift-could-hurt-teachers-critics-say/Montgomery-school-system-deal-trip-raise-ethics-questions&template=gazette

http://parentscoalitionmc.blogspot.com/2010/06/weasts-tuesday-surprise-mcps-sold-to.html

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You do all realize that this is all about corporate profits made off the backs of our children?:

http://www.gazette.net/article/20120118/NEWS/701189629/1122/pension-shift-could-hurt-teachers-critics-say/Montgomery-school-system-deal-trip-raise-ethics-questions&template=gazette

http://parentscoalitionmc.blogspot.com/2010/06/weasts-tuesday-surprise-mcps-sold-to.html

Wow, 24 hours for the MoCo board to receive, read and vote on Curriculum 2.0 that publishing/edu giant Pearson created and offered to give a cut of sales to MoCo.

Yuck.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You do all realize that this is all about corporate profits made off the backs of our children?:

http://www.gazette.net/article/20120118/NEWS/701189629/1122/pension-shift-could-hurt-teachers-critics-say/Montgomery-school-system-deal-trip-raise-ethics-questions&template=gazette

http://parentscoalitionmc.blogspot.com/2010/06/weasts-tuesday-surprise-mcps-sold-to.html

Wow, 24 hours for the MoCo board to receive, read and vote on Curriculum 2.0 that publishing/edu giant Pearson created and offered to give a cut of sales to MoCo.

Yuck.

Pearson didn't create it. I know several people who worked on The writing team. They all work (and have always worked) for MCPS. Pearson basically bought what they wrote after it was written to then edit and package up themselves (though differently than MCPS uses it) and sell to other districts.