dislike MoCo and MCPS?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:this forum has arguments about multivariable calculus and still thinks MCPS sucks. It boggles the mind.

That's all you think makes a school system not "suck?"

[Anonymous]

There is a huge disparity in HS's and that is part of the issue and my kids' needs aren't met with AP classes as our school offers very few. I am also disappointed with the sports and arts. And, the curriculum.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:this forum has arguments about multivariable calculus and still thinks MCPS sucks. It boggles the mind.

MV is important to some kids. If your kids get the opportunity to take it, shouldn't ours. Its not just the MV issue, its the academics. In ES, they don't teach the basics like spelling, grammar and math facts. You have to do it at home (hopefully with the new currriculum changes that will change). They don't use textbooks which is hard for visual learners and some teachers have them and still refuse to hand them out.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Sorry, MCPS was always a substandard educational system - even 36 years ago. It was shocking for me to come from India - a 3rd world country- and see how terrible MCPS was and how dumb the teachers were. Then I also checked out the private schools. And their education sucked worse than MCPS.

I had to become very hands-on with my kids education and put in hours daily to give them a well-rounded education (even when my kids were in the magnet pipeline) outside of the school hours.

Do I dislike that MoCo has become a sanctuary county? For sure. Do I dislike the diversity? Not at all. Were Blacks and Hispanics and poor people always doing terribly? Yes. I would say that MCPS has always given poor education to students - but it is also a reflection of how uneducated the parents are. Most cannot help their kids with ES and MS level Math.

It is just that when a lot of "high achieving" (in comparison to the natives) immigrants, whose families prioritized education, started to do way better than the natives in measurable ways, everyone started talking of achievement gap as a racial injustice. The achievement gap always existed because standards of K-12 education in America has sucked balls for past several decades, and people get by only because of their accent or skin color.

I actually like MoCo. MCPS may be better than many school systems. But, if you think that without your intervention your kid can get a world-class education in MCPS? Nope.

I’m always amused when people from India trash the US educational system. India refuses to participate in international academic assessment test like the PISA because when they do they score absolutely abysmally. The last time India participated they ranked 73rd out of 74 countries; barely beating out Kazakhstan. They were slated to take it in 2022 but pulled out at the last minute.

You have to look at the wealthier areas and compare, not the impoverished area. Their higher level schools are far superior. But, most parents here wouldn't tolerate strict no nonsense teaching.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:In our DCC experience, elementary and middle schools were fine.

First kid went in bounds to high school and it sucked, all around.

Second kid went to the STEM academy at Wheaton and received an excellent STEM education but sucky everything else.

I wish someone told me this. Our ES experience was meh and we had to heavily supplement.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It comes down to money. Are people willing to support a supplemental tax to give MCPS the budget they requested from MoCo? Or an increase in property taxes? Are people willing to acknowledge that some kids need remedial help and need a longer school day to accomplish that? Everyone does not enter MCPS with the same educational background—if we acknowledge that, MCPS could provide a better education for everyone.

I can only speak from my perspective of having a child in a non public placement. This placement is viewed as a last resort, detrimental to a child’s academic success, the place no one wants their kid to go. But it’s the right fit for my kid, it’s the place where he is successful and happy, where he’s grown to enjoy school and learning. Keeping him in a mainstream classroom in the name of equity would have been a horrible outcome. Different kids need different things.

We just approved the largest budget increase in MCPS history. How is it that you're honing in on taxpayer willingness as the problem here?

The budget is currently over $3 billion. If that's not enough, what is? And if we fund it at whatever amount above what we're currently funding, what accountability measures are in place to give we, the taxpayers, any semblance of ROI?

MCPS gets more and more money every year and is one of the highest budgeted school systems. Its not a money issue; its a management and accountability issue. There is no excuse for the poor conditions in some buildings, teachers don't have the supplies they need, especially paper when they don't do textbooks, lack of textbooks, etc. In the budget they should give each teacher 500-1K a year for supplies and other needs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:In our DCC experience, elementary and middle schools were fine.

First kid went in bounds to high school and it sucked, all around.

Second kid went to the STEM academy at Wheaton and received an excellent STEM education but sucky everything else.

I wish someone told me this. Our ES experience was meh and we had to heavily supplement.

It's work..the school is not enough for a kid to "get it"

[Anonymous]

When MCPS is good, it is very very good. The community is caring and involved and the teachers are top notch. The magnets are terrific too. I agree with whoever complained about core classes though. English and Science could be better in the non magnets. I think greater New York schools do better with science. But public school English everywhere is getting pretty weak.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It comes down to money. Are people willing to support a supplemental tax to give MCPS the budget they requested from MoCo? Or an increase in property taxes? Are people willing to acknowledge that some kids need remedial help and need a longer school day to accomplish that? Everyone does not enter MCPS with the same educational background—if we acknowledge that, MCPS could provide a better education for everyone.

I can only speak from my perspective of having a child in a non public placement. This placement is viewed as a last resort, detrimental to a child’s academic success, the place no one wants their kid to go. But it’s the right fit for my kid, it’s the place where he is successful and happy, where he’s grown to enjoy school and learning. Keeping him in a mainstream classroom in the name of equity would have been a horrible outcome. Different kids need different things.

We just approved the largest budget increase in MCPS history. How is it that you're honing in on taxpayer willingness as the problem here?

The budget is currently over $3 billion. If that's not enough, what is? And if we fund it at whatever amount above what we're currently funding, what accountability measures are in place to give we, the taxpayers, any semblance of ROI?

MCPS gets more and more money every year and is one of the highest budgeted school systems. Its not a money issue; its a management and accountability issue. There is no excuse for the poor conditions in some buildings, teachers don't have the supplies they need, especially paper when they don't do textbooks, lack of textbooks, etc. In the budget they should give each teacher 500-1K a year for supplies and other needs.

Look what was said just before pandemic and schools pivoted to virtual https://www.dcurbanmom.com/jforum/posts/list/853239.page

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It comes down to money. Are people willing to support a supplemental tax to give MCPS the budget they requested from MoCo? Or an increase in property taxes? Are people willing to acknowledge that some kids need remedial help and need a longer school day to accomplish that? Everyone does not enter MCPS with the same educational background—if we acknowledge that, MCPS could provide a better education for everyone.

I can only speak from my perspective of having a child in a non public placement. This placement is viewed as a last resort, detrimental to a child’s academic success, the place no one wants their kid to go. But it’s the right fit for my kid, it’s the place where he is successful and happy, where he’s grown to enjoy school and learning. Keeping him in a mainstream classroom in the name of equity would have been a horrible outcome. Different kids need different things.

We just approved the largest budget increase in MCPS history. How is it that you're honing in on taxpayer willingness as the problem here?

The budget is currently over $3 billion. If that's not enough, what is? And if we fund it at whatever amount above what we're currently funding, what accountability measures are in place to give we, the taxpayers, any semblance of ROI?

MCPS gets more and more money every year and is one of the highest budgeted school systems. Its not a money issue; its a management and accountability issue. There is no excuse for the poor conditions in some buildings, teachers don't have the supplies they need, especially paper when they don't do textbooks, lack of textbooks, etc. In the budget they should give each teacher 500-1K a year for supplies and other needs.

Look what was said just before pandemic and schools pivoted to virtual https://www.dcurbanmom.com/jforum/posts/list/853239.page

This one...https://www.dcurbanmom.com/jforum/posts/list/856402.page

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It comes down to money. Are people willing to support a supplemental tax to give MCPS the budget they requested from MoCo? Or an increase in property taxes? Are people willing to acknowledge that some kids need remedial help and need a longer school day to accomplish that? Everyone does not enter MCPS with the same educational background—if we acknowledge that, MCPS could provide a better education for everyone.

I can only speak from my perspective of having a child in a non public placement. This placement is viewed as a last resort, detrimental to a child’s academic success, the place no one wants their kid to go. But it’s the right fit for my kid, it’s the place where he is successful and happy, where he’s grown to enjoy school and learning. Keeping him in a mainstream classroom in the name of equity would have been a horrible outcome. Different kids need different things.

We just approved the largest budget increase in MCPS history. How is it that you're honing in on taxpayer willingness as the problem here?

The budget is currently over $3 billion. If that's not enough, what is? And if we fund it at whatever amount above what we're currently funding, what accountability measures are in place to give we, the taxpayers, any semblance of ROI?

MCPS gets more and more money every year and is one of the highest budgeted school systems. Its not a money issue; its a management and accountability issue. There is no excuse for the poor conditions in some buildings, teachers don't have the supplies they need, especially paper when they don't do textbooks, lack of textbooks, etc. In the budget they should give each teacher 500-1K a year for supplies and other needs.

Look what was said just before pandemic and schools pivoted to virtual https://www.dcurbanmom.com/jforum/posts/list/853239.page

This one...https://www.dcurbanmom.com/jforum/posts/list/856402.page

What's happened since?: https://www.dcurbanmom.com/jforum/posts/list/856402.page

[Anonymous]

People have been crying. What's being done?
https://www.dcurbanmom.com/jforum/posts/list/1151017.page

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Sorry, MCPS was always a substandard educational system - even 36 years ago. It was shocking for me to come from India - a 3rd world country- and see how terrible MCPS was and how dumb the teachers were. Then I also checked out the private schools. And their education sucked worse than MCPS.

I had to become very hands-on with my kids education and put in hours daily to give them a well-rounded education (even when my kids were in the magnet pipeline) outside of the school hours.

Do I dislike that MoCo has become a sanctuary county? For sure. Do I dislike the diversity? Not at all. Were Blacks and Hispanics and poor people always doing terribly? Yes. I would say that MCPS has always given poor education to students - but it is also a reflection of how uneducated the parents are. Most cannot help their kids with ES and MS level Math.

It is just that when a lot of "high achieving" (in comparison to the natives) immigrants, whose families prioritized education, started to do way better than the natives in measurable ways, everyone started talking of achievement gap as a racial injustice. The achievement gap always existed because standards of K-12 education in America has sucked balls for past several decades, and people get by only because of their accent or skin color.

I actually like MoCo. MCPS may be better than many school systems. But, if you think that without your intervention your kid can get a world-class education in MCPS? Nope.

I’m always amused when people from India trash the US educational system. India refuses to participate in international academic assessment test like the PISA because when they do they score absolutely abysmally. The last time India participated they ranked 73rd out of 74 countries; barely beating out Kazakhstan. They were slated to take it in 2022 but pulled out at the last minute.

You have to look at the wealthier areas and compare, not the impoverished area. Their higher level schools are far superior. But, most parents here wouldn't tolerate strict no nonsense teaching.

Majority of India is still impoverished. But, the UMC population has increased rapidly too in recent years, and they are the ones who are comparable to the citizens of wealthy nations. The quality of education for this population is extremely high. You have to open your eyes and see that "Educated In India" folks are going all over the world to become the richest ex-pat community.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:this forum has arguments about multivariable calculus and still thinks MCPS sucks. It boggles the mind.

That's all you think makes a school system not "suck?"

Their kids have access to ap classes and higher level math so they don’t see why other kids might want it too.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It comes down to money. Are people willing to support a supplemental tax to give MCPS the budget they requested from MoCo? Or an increase in property taxes? Are people willing to acknowledge that some kids need remedial help and need a longer school day to accomplish that? Everyone does not enter MCPS with the same educational background—if we acknowledge that, MCPS could provide a better education for everyone.

I can only speak from my perspective of having a child in a non public placement. This placement is viewed as a last resort, detrimental to a child’s academic success, the place no one wants their kid to go. But it’s the right fit for my kid, it’s the place where he is successful and happy, where he’s grown to enjoy school and learning. Keeping him in a mainstream classroom in the name of equity would have been a horrible outcome. Different kids need different things.

We just approved the largest budget increase in MCPS history. How is it that you're honing in on taxpayer willingness as the problem here?

The budget is currently over $3 billion. If that's not enough, what is? And if we fund it at whatever amount above what we're currently funding, what accountability measures are in place to give we, the taxpayers, any semblance of ROI?

Ask yourself what you want for your kid and then assume that 100K others kids should get the same. What would you be willing to pay for that. Speaking only to the PPP who before has a kid in a non-public placement, imaging that their are other kids in the system for who this would also be beneficial. Now imagine the school district having to pay 40-50K for each of those kids tuition, because that's what happens.

People hear 3.4Billion and it seems like a huge number. But divide that by 160K students and its only 21K per student. That's less than tuition at many good private schools in the area, and MCPS has to account for things they don't like transportations, nurses, special education, non-private placement, and the maintenance of 212 buildings.

So the question is what would be a good amount per pupil to spend? 10k, 15k, 18k? And what are you willing to give up to decrease the budget to that?