MCPS is an unmanageable behemoth - It's time to break the wheel

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I get the frustration with McPS. But I also feel like a lot of these comments about the county having different needs are just veiled class resentments. Basically — east county is poor and has lots of immigrants so their needs are different (greater) than west county. In states that have those small school districts there is a lot of disparity between school districts and more de facto segregation in schools. I mean, look at Newton versus Boston. I think a lot of the “McPS is too big” sentiment is really just “we should ditch the low income areas of MoCo” sentiment.

That's exactly what it means.

I think this is a fair critique and neither option is without flaws. Part of what we hear during the boundary discussions is that people feel they are pieces on the bureaucrat's chessboard. Moving to smaller districts would actually empower people in lower SES areas to take back control over the schools serving their kids through school board elections. That adds a layer of accountability.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I get the frustration with McPS. But I also feel like a lot of these comments about the county having different needs are just veiled class resentments. Basically — east county is poor and has lots of immigrants so their needs are different (greater) than west county. In states that have those small school districts there is a lot of disparity between school districts and more de facto segregation in schools. I mean, look at Newton versus Boston. I think a lot of the “McPS is too big” sentiment is really just “we should ditch the low income areas of MoCo” sentiment.

That's exactly what it means.

I think this is a fair critique and neither option is without flaws. Part of what we hear during the boundary discussions is that people feel they are pieces on the bureaucrat's chessboard. Moving to smaller districts would actually empower people in lower SES areas to take back control over the schools serving their kids through school board elections. That adds a layer of accountability.

Is this how you justify it?

[Anonymous]

Ew, poor people in OP's school district!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I get the frustration with McPS. But I also feel like a lot of these comments about the county having different needs are just veiled class resentments. Basically — east county is poor and has lots of immigrants so their needs are different (greater) than west county. In states that have those small school districts there is a lot of disparity between school districts and more de facto segregation in schools. I mean, look at Newton versus Boston. I think a lot of the “McPS is too big” sentiment is really just “we should ditch the low income areas of MoCo” sentiment.

That's exactly what it means.

+1

These entitled folks hate brown immigrants and blame them for all of society's problems but have no problem hiring them at low wages. Our community depends on them in so many ways. Splitting up the county is just a refusal to support the education of the kids of the people that are doing the hard jobs. So gross.

[Anonymous]

A. This absolutely should happen.
B. It is so difficult that it verges on impossible, for all the reasons previously identified.
C. But I really came here to say that I appreciate the Wheel of Time reference. RIP Robert Jordan.

[Anonymous]

I support your view. This way decisions would be less susceptible to special interests, which is clearly the case with this programs analysis proposal.

Wonder if there's a way to bring the decision to directly to voters.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How would that work with so many unincorporated areas? It works in other states because they actually have town/city government and taxes.

Easy. Make those areas incorporated and let them represent themselves instead of the county council member who "reps" them into giving developers everything they want.

No, it’s not easy. It would require massive change at the state level first.

+1. And the state in general is fine with countywide school districts. It's only an issue for MoCo and maybe a couple others.

It would make for many entertaining threads, though. Imagine the boundary issues creating all those cities. And how would the tax rates be determined?

“My block should have been in Kensington, not Wheaton!”

“My street is POTOMAC, not Gaithersburg!”

I grew up in a state with municipal school districts and those come with plenty of challenges, too.

They could do the whole thing by zipcodes and then combine zipcodes where necessary.

[Anonymous]

While there are times I wish Silver Spring was incorporated and more in control of its destiny like a normal city, I think splitting the school district is a bad idea. Think of moco as a city of a million. A small los Angeles. It's economic diversity is a superpower, even if most of y'all think poor people have cooties.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:While there are times I wish Silver Spring was incorporated and more in control of its destiny like a normal city, I think splitting the school district is a bad idea. Think of moco as a city of a million. A small los Angeles. It's economic diversity is a superpower, even if most of y'all think poor people have cooties.

But the difference between a lot of small cities and MoCo is that there are charter options and lottery options for various schools. MoCo has...limited options and will have increasingly limited high quality options post-Regional model.

A small city would also have better public transportation options so the logistics of transportation to various options is easier.

[Anonymous]

If MCPS were to ever split into multiple smaller districts, i wonder how the pay and benefits at each district would compare. Have to imagine that a Potomac based district would probably have better pay and benefits than a Wheaton or Gaithersburg based district which would result in an even wider educational gap between the districts.

[Anonymous]

The size isn’t the biggest problem.

The biggest problem is entitled parents, even those without a sprinkle of racism.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:While there are times I wish Silver Spring was incorporated and more in control of its destiny like a normal city, I think splitting the school district is a bad idea. Think of moco as a city of a million. A small los Angeles. It's economic diversity is a superpower, even if most of y'all think poor people have cooties.

As a former very long time downtown Silver Spring resident, I wouldn’t want that extra layer of bureaucracy added to already complex processes.

[Anonymous]

While I can see the merit to the complaint, with this being a state decision, it's a moot and irrelevant point. Until there's a viable piece of state legislation on the table that would change our school districts from being managed at the county level, this is a waste of time.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How would that work with so many unincorporated areas? It works in other states because they actually have town/city government and taxes.

Easy. Make those areas incorporated and let them represent themselves instead of the county council member who "reps" them into giving developers everything they want.

No, it’s not easy. It would require massive change at the state level first.

+1. And the state in general is fine with countywide school districts. It's only an issue for MoCo and maybe a couple others.

If, in fantasy-land, this could be done, can it be done without each area also needing its own council/mayor, planning, zoning, trash pick-up and services, etc.? Usually towns and cities don’t get all their services from the county and have their own government along with their own BOE.

Also, small-city councils and mayors are typically a nightmare of their own.

No. Once you decided to become your own place that place owns all the governments services. Having lived in the south and watched several places do this, I can confirm it comes with its own issue and yes you have really wealthy towns right down the street from towns that are struggling.

[Anonymous]

If poor people do have cooties they are liable to spread it to the richers as health care is so poor in the US. It is a dynamic that divides people further when we should be working on a fair society not a society of division and hate.