MCPS Is Broken What Are Your Ideas to Fix It?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Kick out the children of citizens who don’t pay taxes and don’t want to be in school. If the parents are on welfare and the kids refuse to act appropriate in school, there’s no use wasting money on educating them.

LOL

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How to fix MCPS? Make lying to the Public a crime?

MCPS spent 1.6 M on Kids Museum, 160M on electric buses and has a billion dollar budget. If they say they need more funding overall, or that they can't pay teachers, etc. I don't buy it.

I didn’t know they spent $160 million on electric buses. Seriously?

DP

There is SO much wasted money in MCPS. Once you start paying attention, you’ll be appalled.

pi

Yup..the head of transportation for mcps..the electric busses were his pet project.. He along with another staff member was recently let go for financial impropriety. Where are those electric busses now? Spent all that money and we can't even get a bus tracking app.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How to fix MCPS? Make lying to the Public a crime?

MCPS spent 1.6 M on Kids Museum, 160M on electric buses and has a billion dollar budget. If they say they need more funding overall, or that they can't pay teachers, etc. I don't buy it.

I didn’t know they spent $160 million on electric buses. Seriously?

DP

There is SO much wasted money in MCPS. Once you start paying attention, you’ll be appalled.

pi

Yup..the head of transportation for mcps..the electric busses were his pet project.. He along with another staff member was recently let go for financial impropriety. Where are those electric busses now? Spent all that money and we can't even get a bus tracking app.

They may not be doing a bus tracking app for safety. Get your kid a phone, gizmo or AirTag and track them yourself.

[Anonymous]

The Montgomery County Board of Education this week voted to approve a $168.7 million contract to lease hundreds of electric school buses over the next 16 years.

It is reportedly the largest local government bus order in U.S. history.

https://www.marylandmatters.org/2021/02/27/montgomery-school-system-deal-to-lease-electric-buses-called-historic/

The worst part is I don't think anyone calculated how much energy that would require on the Montgomery County electric grid? Or if these things can recharge overnight?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:broken school system is not the cause, it's the result of poor county policies. low SES families = f'ed school system

It's not just because of low SES families. It's the culture of low expectations. There is a boy in my DC's MS who is a troublemaker and has done some terrible things. DC tells me that he's from a well off family. Zero consequences. MCPS doesn't do restorative justice the way it was intended.

IMO, MCPS leadership are too concerned with the optics of certain demographics not performing well. They are obsessed with the achievement gap without any good plans to address it other than lowering the bar and half-a$$ implementation of restorative justice.

They push certain groups to challenge themselves by taking more AP classes when that same group has an abysmal record on performing even at grade level. What a way to set them up for failure.

MCPS needs to focus on two things:
1. continuing to provide challenging curriculum and programs for the high achieving students
2. get the lower performing students to at least perform at grade level. Stop focusing on the fact that this group has low representation in test in magnets and such. There's a reason why that group has a low pass rate for AP exams. It would be one thing if they had a high pass rate and low representation in test in magnets, but if they can't even pass AP exams at a high rate, then there's no point in pushing them into test in magnets. Way to set them up for failure.

Focus instead on smaller class sizes and after school tutors where they are needed. I don't mind paying taxes to provide support for certain groups who need it. I myself grew up lower income to parents who don't speak English.

+1 I'll be blunter than you, I think MCPS is obsessed with racial disparities. Instead, they should recognize that every student in their system is unique and the product of their environment and respond with all the needed supports.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have come to the conclusion that MCPS is incapable of reform.

How can there can reform when people keep voting the same old way?

Yep. The decline in the school system goes hand in hand with the decline in the county. Both are a result of the one-party rule. The ‘progressive’ Democratic politicians have run the school system into the ground. They clearly don’t care about our students and/or our students’ safety. They prefer to espouse progressive policies (Defund the police! Sanctuary county! Eliminate SROs! Restorative Justice!) that have made things so much worse over this past decade. Our kids don’t have a chance.

Sounds like Florida or Texas would be more your speed. Enjoy!

I'd wager the PP is from FL or TX and just paid to post their right-wing views here. The thing is very few people in this county vote for these right-wing policies because they know that's only going to make things worse. As someone who graduated fromMCPS around 30 years ago, my kids are getting a vastly better education today and things seem much better to me. I guess I'm just not one of these half-empty folks that love to complain about everything here.

NP - Why would anyone waste their money trying to persuade people of anything on a MCPS forum?

And, we've read your "vastly better education" on many different threads and have refuted it with data. If you feel that MCPS gives your children an excellent education, why are you on a "MCPS is Broken" thread?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have come to the conclusion that MCPS is incapable of reform.

How can there can reform when people keep voting the same old way?

Yep. The decline in the school system goes hand in hand with the decline in the county. Both are a result of the one-party rule. The ‘progressive’ Democratic politicians have run the school system into the ground. They clearly don’t care about our students and/or our students’ safety. They prefer to espouse progressive policies (Defund the police! Sanctuary county! Eliminate SROs! Restorative Justice!) that have made things so much worse over this past decade. Our kids don’t have a chance.

Sounds like Florida or Texas would be more your speed. Enjoy!

I'd wager the PP is from FL or TX and just paid to post their right-wing views here. The thing is very few people in this county vote for these right-wing policies because they know that's only going to make things worse. As someone who graduated fromMCPS around 30 years ago, my kids are getting a vastly better education today and things seem much better to me. I guess I'm just not one of these half-empty folks that love to complain about everything here.

NP - Why would anyone waste their money trying to persuade people of anything on a MCPS forum?

And, we've read your "vastly better education" on many different threads and have refuted it with data. If you feel that MCPS gives your children an excellent education, why are you on a "MCPS is Broken" thread?

So you think the GOP doesn't dump tens of millions targeting places like Loundon county trying to stir up parental anxiety over education in order to make in roads in state politics?

[Anonymous]

It's Bannon's (and Russia's) Ultra-Right propaganda strategy. Focus on local politics. Undermine from within. If you don't feel safe at home, you're more likely to support using violent measures. It works. It's how Hitler rose to power.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It's Bannon's (and Russia's) Ultra-Right propaganda strategy. Focus on local politics. Undermine from within. If you don't feel safe at home, you're more likely to support using violent measures. It works. It's how Hitler rose to power.

Yep. But we don't snack on as many lead paint chips as the folks over in Loudon.

[Anonymous]

Here’s a problem that hasn’t been discussed on this thread. MCPS is losing enrollment, which means that it’s losing state and federal funding. And yet, it spends more and more and more money acting as a social welfare agency instead of teaching. How long is this tenable before things fall apart?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Here’s a problem that hasn’t been discussed on this thread. MCPS is losing enrollment, which means that it’s losing state and federal funding. And yet, it spends more and more and more money acting as a social welfare agency instead of teaching. How long is this tenable before things fall apart?[/quote

Here is a vague problem that I can cite that has no evidence, answers, or solutions but will drum up outrage about "social welfare." Maybe if I do this these people will stop calling out my bullshit.

Sorry, bud. Not working. You're just not very good at this

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Here’s a problem that hasn’t been discussed on this thread. MCPS is losing enrollment, which means that it’s losing state and federal funding. And yet, it spends more and more and more money acting as a social welfare agency instead of teaching. How long is this tenable before things fall apart?

Here is a vague problem that I can cite that has no evidence, answers, or solutions but will drum up outrage about "social welfare." Maybe if I do this these people will stop calling out my bullshit.

Sorry, bud. Not working. You're just not very good at this

Not good at what exactly? And what is factually incorrect?
- state and federal funding is based on per child enrollment
- MCPS provides a lot of social services beyond the scope of what would normally be expected of a school system, such as weekend lunches.

It’s interesting that people don’t like to deal with facts. The fact is - and everyone knows - it’s a school system on the slide. If you are not interested in understanding the factors involved, then there is no way to make it better.

What’s clear to me though is that MCPS - and it’s enablers - will need to be dragged along kicking and screaming to improve the district. The alternative is to just accept poor schools and everything that goes along with that, which we can see in other communities.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The Montgomery County Board of Education this week voted to approve a $168.7 million contract to lease hundreds of electric school buses over the next 16 years.

It is reportedly the largest local government bus order in U.S. history.

https://www.marylandmatters.org/2021/02/27/montgomery-school-system-deal-to-lease-electric-buses-called-historic/

The worst part is I don't think anyone calculated how much energy that would require on the Montgomery County electric grid? Or if these things can recharge overnight?

Where are the electric buses? Did they ever arrive?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:broken school system is not the cause, it's the result of poor county policies. low SES families = f'ed school system

It's not just because of low SES families. It's the culture of low expectations. There is a boy in my DC's MS who is a troublemaker and has done some terrible things. DC tells me that he's from a well off family. Zero consequences. MCPS doesn't do restorative justice the way it was intended.

IMO, MCPS leadership are too concerned with the optics of certain demographics not performing well. They are obsessed with the achievement gap without any good plans to address it other than lowering the bar and half-a$$ implementation of restorative justice.

They push certain groups to challenge themselves by taking more AP classes when that same group has an abysmal record on performing even at grade level. What a way to set them up for failure.

MCPS needs to focus on two things:
1. continuing to provide challenging curriculum and programs for the high achieving students
2. get the lower performing students to at least perform at grade level. Stop focusing on the fact that this group has low representation in test in magnets and such. There's a reason why that group has a low pass rate for AP exams. It would be one thing if they had a high pass rate and low representation in test in magnets, but if they can't even pass AP exams at a high rate, then there's no point in pushing them into test in magnets. Way to set them up for failure.

Focus instead on smaller class sizes and after school tutors where they are needed. I don't mind paying taxes to provide support for certain groups who need it. I myself grew up lower income to parents who don't speak English.

+1 I'll be blunter than you, I think MCPS is obsessed with racial disparities. Instead, they should recognize that every student in their system is unique and the product of their environment and respond with all the needed supports.

Yep. The hyper-focus on race in this county has been detrimental to ALL kids.

They need to focus on improvement. Not even achievement, really. Show that each and every kid is improving as a result of their time spent in school. Otherwise, what is the school system even doing?

I want to see the ESOL kid improving year to year.

I want to see the special needs kid improving from year to year. Not necessarily reaching some arbitrary benchmarks.

I want to see the bright, math-whiz kid improving from year to year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It's Bannon's (and Russia's) Ultra-Right propaganda strategy. Focus on local politics. Undermine from within. If you don't feel safe at home, you're more likely to support using violent measures. It works. It's how Hitler rose to power.

That sounds a lot like what the Democrats are doing!

Keep the public in a constant state of fear and ‘crisis’ with regards to Covid. Implement as many mandates and useless restrictions as possible. Keep people feeling scared and unsafe so that you can implement whatever policy changes you choose. Censor any opposing ideas.