General Frustration and Disappointment

[Anonymous]

There just isn’t any accountability. Students aren’t accountable to their teachers or for their grades. Parents aren’t accountable for their children’s behavior. And the superintendent isn’t accountable to the constituents.

[Anonymous]

My students who come back to visit me their freshman year of college largely report that college is much easier than their high school experience, so I think they're well prepared.

I also think the experience (especially in elementary) is very non-standardized. My own child has been writing 5 paragraph essays since 3rd grade, so the anecdote about being overwhelmed by an essay is odd to me.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My students who come back to visit me their freshman year of college largely report that college is much easier than their high school experience, so I think they're well prepared.

I also think the experience (especially in elementary) is very non-standardized. My own child has been writing 5 paragraph essays since 3rd grade, so the anecdote about being overwhelmed by an essay is odd to me.

My now 9th and 11th graders, who were in AAP, barely wrote anything through middle school and I have been surprised at how little they write in HS.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think it is very common for parents to remember their own experiences with rose-colored glasses. When my kids started in FCPS I was very wary of certain ways of doing things that were different from when I was in school. I had a hard time with the lack of physical text books and differentiated learning was a very new type of learning than I had experienced.

But what I have come to learn is that different doesn't mean worse and that education is an evolving discipline. There is a lot in 2026 that is different than it was in the 1990s. Namely, the internet and computers have reshaped education completely.

Now as the parent of two FCPS educated college students both of whom are at universities that attract students from all over the country, I can say that comparatively speaking, my students are better prepared than many of their peers. Not just in the knowledge accrued, but in work habits and their approach to education.

If you look at statistics of outcomes, FCPS also ranks very well when compared across the country.

I think it's easy to criticize without fully understanding the whole picture. But also, comparing today's educational landscape to the landscape of 30 years ago when most of us were just children ourselves and probably didn't grasp the larger picture of what was going on around us is probably not the most accurate assessment of the reality and the evolution.

See, you were doing real well until this. I had four kids go to various colleges, including highly prestigious ones, and I couldn't tell you how prepared they are compared to their peers. How on earth can you possibly know that?

DP here. I'm a teacher and have many graduates each year come and say the same thing. Just as in high school where everyone knows who the smart ones and the less-smart ones are, college students know who is prepared and who is not.

Well, I'll tell you this: I've never had a discussion with any of my kids, ever, about how "prepared" their college classmates and friends are compared to them. Certainly not enough to come up with a hierarchy of a "preparedness" to come to the conclusion that they are more prepared than "many." That's just plain weird.

On top of that, with the average GPA in almost every college being well above a 3.0 how the hell can you possibly know?

You sound crazy. If your kid is getting A+s and As in college pre-med classes and the grade distribution is 5% or fewer A+ and 25% or fewer As, then your kid was well prepared relative to their peers. It is not that hard.

And how often is that happening?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think it is very common for parents to remember their own experiences with rose-colored glasses. When my kids started in FCPS I was very wary of certain ways of doing things that were different from when I was in school. I had a hard time with the lack of physical text books and differentiated learning was a very new type of learning than I had experienced.

But what I have come to learn is that different doesn't mean worse and that education is an evolving discipline. There is a lot in 2026 that is different than it was in the 1990s. Namely, the internet and computers have reshaped education completely.

Now as the parent of two FCPS educated college students both of whom are at universities that attract students from all over the country, I can say that comparatively speaking, my students are better prepared than many of their peers. Not just in the knowledge accrued, but in work habits and their approach to education.

If you look at statistics of outcomes, FCPS also ranks very well when compared across the country.

I think it's easy to criticize without fully understanding the whole picture. But also, comparing today's educational landscape to the landscape of 30 years ago when most of us were just children ourselves and probably didn't grasp the larger picture of what was going on around us is probably not the most accurate assessment of the reality and the evolution.

See, you were doing real well until this. I had four kids go to various colleges, including highly prestigious ones, and I couldn't tell you how prepared they are compared to their peers. How on earth can you possibly know that?

DP here. I'm a teacher and have many graduates each year come and say the same thing. Just as in high school where everyone knows who the smart ones and the less-smart ones are, college students know who is prepared and who is not.

Well, I'll tell you this: I've never had a discussion with any of my kids, ever, about how "prepared" their college classmates and friends are compared to them. Certainly not enough to come up with a hierarchy of a "preparedness" to come to the conclusion that they are more prepared than "many." That's just plain weird.

On top of that, with the average GPA in almost every college being well above a 3.0 how the hell can you possibly know?

Then maybe your kid just isn't one of the more "prepared" kids in college bc my kids talk about it all the time. They talk about how their friends spend more time partying and miss important deadlines for classes, how group projects are frustrating because other students don't do the required reading before coming to the meetings and how they thought college would be harder than it is but they think high school was harder in a lot of ways.

Your kid is a real nerd if all they're doing is complaining to their mommy while in friggin COLLEGE about their classmates.

My kids never did any such thing. They had fun in good colleges AND did well. So, yea, they were both prepared AND mature.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think it is very common for parents to remember their own experiences with rose-colored glasses. When my kids started in FCPS I was very wary of certain ways of doing things that were different from when I was in school. I had a hard time with the lack of physical text books and differentiated learning was a very new type of learning than I had experienced.

But what I have come to learn is that different doesn't mean worse and that education is an evolving discipline. There is a lot in 2026 that is different than it was in the 1990s. Namely, the internet and computers have reshaped education completely.

Now as the parent of two FCPS educated college students both of whom are at universities that attract students from all over the country, I can say that comparatively speaking, my students are better prepared than many of their peers. Not just in the knowledge accrued, but in work habits and their approach to education.

If you look at statistics of outcomes, FCPS also ranks very well when compared across the country.

I think it's easy to criticize without fully understanding the whole picture. But also, comparing today's educational landscape to the landscape of 30 years ago when most of us were just children ourselves and probably didn't grasp the larger picture of what was going on around us is probably not the most accurate assessment of the reality and the evolution.

See, you were doing real well until this. I had four kids go to various colleges, including highly prestigious ones, and I couldn't tell you how prepared they are compared to their peers. How on earth can you possibly know that?

DP here. I'm a teacher and have many graduates each year come and say the same thing. Just as in high school where everyone knows who the smart ones and the less-smart ones are, college students know who is prepared and who is not.

Well, I'll tell you this: I've never had a discussion with any of my kids, ever, about how "prepared" their college classmates and friends are compared to them. Certainly not enough to come up with a hierarchy of a "preparedness" to come to the conclusion that they are more prepared than "many." That's just plain weird.

On top of that, with the average GPA in almost every college being well above a 3.0 how the hell can you possibly know?

Well, my DD is in college and she ought comment on some of the idiots at her school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think it is very common for parents to remember their own experiences with rose-colored glasses. When my kids started in FCPS I was very wary of certain ways of doing things that were different from when I was in school. I had a hard time with the lack of physical text books and differentiated learning was a very new type of learning than I had experienced.

But what I have come to learn is that different doesn't mean worse and that education is an evolving discipline. There is a lot in 2026 that is different than it was in the 1990s. Namely, the internet and computers have reshaped education completely.

Now as the parent of two FCPS educated college students both of whom are at universities that attract students from all over the country, I can say that comparatively speaking, my students are better prepared than many of their peers. Not just in the knowledge accrued, but in work habits and their approach to education.

If you look at statistics of outcomes, FCPS also ranks very well when compared across the country.

I think it's easy to criticize without fully understanding the whole picture. But also, comparing today's educational landscape to the landscape of 30 years ago when most of us were just children ourselves and probably didn't grasp the larger picture of what was going on around us is probably not the most accurate assessment of the reality and the evolution.

See, you were doing real well until this. I had four kids go to various colleges, including highly prestigious ones, and I couldn't tell you how prepared they are compared to their peers. How on earth can you possibly know that?

DP here. I'm a teacher and have many graduates each year come and say the same thing. Just as in high school where everyone knows who the smart ones and the less-smart ones are, college students know who is prepared and who is not.

Well, I'll tell you this: I've never had a discussion with any of my kids, ever, about how "prepared" their college classmates and friends are compared to them. Certainly not enough to come up with a hierarchy of a "preparedness" to come to the conclusion that they are more prepared than "many." That's just plain weird.

On top of that, with the average GPA in almost every college being well above a 3.0 how the hell can you possibly know?

Then maybe your kid just isn't one of the more "prepared" kids in college bc my kids talk about it all the time. They talk about how their friends spend more time partying and miss important deadlines for classes, how group projects are frustrating because other students don't do the required reading before coming to the meetings and how they thought college would be harder than it is but they think high school was harder in a lot of ways.

Your kid is a real nerd if all they're doing is complaining to their mommy while in friggin COLLEGE about their classmates.

My kids never did any such thing. They had fun in good colleges AND did well. So, yea, they were both prepared AND mature.

You do realize that not all kids/parents talk about the same thing, right?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I grew up in FCPS in the 90's. When we decided to start a family, we moved back to the area specifically because we knew the FCPS was a very good public school system and we would never be able to afford private school. My kids were still little when COVID shut downs happened, so we weren't deep into school yet. So, I can't compare immediate pre-COVID to post-COVID. But now that my kids have gotten a little older, I have felt like the whole system is floundering around my kids and I'm having to fill gaps educationally that my parents never had to fill for me. I couldn't tell you if it is because of computers in school, social media comparison or distraction, COVID lags, or just every parent/kid getting on a race track to no where. I do feel, however, that the news about public education is scary and feels slightly hopeless and I don't feel like FCPS is responding in the right ways. I don't think it's the teachers. I think that the teachers, and even most school administrators, feel the same way. I think FCPS is being mismanaged and losing its focus on what matters most. I think COVID broke a lot of it, and maybe we're finally starting to climb out of it. I don't know what the answer is and I know I haven't defined the problem very well, if at all. I'm just venting and wondering if anyone else feels the same way.

This is all public school systems in the country.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My students who come back to visit me their freshman year of college largely report that college is much easier than their high school experience, so I think they're well prepared.

I also think the experience (especially in elementary) is very non-standardized. My own child has been writing 5 paragraph essays since 3rd grade, so the anecdote about being overwhelmed by an essay is odd to me.

My now 9th and 11th graders, who were in AAP, barely wrote anything through middle school and I have been surprised at how little they write in HS.

That's what I mean, for much of recent history it's been non standardized.

Benchmark has definitely created more commonality across schools, but it's also decreased the amount of reading/writing required. Instead of reading novels and writing essays, it's reading excerpts and writing paragraph responses. His AAP teacher has tried to create essays for them, but it's hard to write a full essay on a bunch of half page excerpts.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:No standards in elementary. Passing kids that should be held back. No more classroom novels with discussions. No spelling tests. Kids can’t read and write on grade-level and are pushed through the system.

Escape if you can.

It’s not FCPS, it’s the entire educational system. And now it’s beyond K-12. It’s college as well. So yes, it takes a lot more involvement as a parent to get your kid to get something out the educational system. Supplement. AAP/honors/AP/IB classes only for core classes. Encourage reading from a young age. Limit screen time. Teach your kids the basics (listening, communication, email etiquette). And hold them accountable. I think a huge part of the educational system crumping is the lack of parents holding their kids accountable. Teachers can only do so much.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My students who come back to visit me their freshman year of college largely report that college is much easier than their high school experience, so I think they're well prepared.

I also think the experience (especially in elementary) is very non-standardized. My own child has been writing 5 paragraph essays since 3rd grade, so the anecdote about being overwhelmed by an essay is odd to me.

My now 9th and 11th graders, who were in AAP, barely wrote anything through middle school and I have been surprised at how little they write in HS.

My kids were in AAP as well and I wish they had done more writing. There was some essay writing in late ES and MS but not that much. Now DC is in an IB school. Yes there are issues with IB (how it can be inflexible at times) but I do appreciate that they start pushing lots and lots of writing in 9th grade. Lots of in-class writing/essay exams (by hand). And also research papers using appropriate academic journals/sources starting in 9th grade (at least for honors).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My students who come back to visit me their freshman year of college largely report that college is much easier than their high school experience, so I think they're well prepared.

I also think the experience (especially in elementary) is very non-standardized. My own child has been writing 5 paragraph essays since 3rd grade, so the anecdote about being overwhelmed by an essay is odd to me.

My now 9th and 11th graders, who were in AAP, barely wrote anything through middle school and I have been surprised at how little they write in HS.

That's what I mean, for much of recent history it's been non standardized.

Benchmark has definitely created more commonality across schools, but it's also decreased the amount of reading/writing required. Instead of reading novels and writing essays, it's reading excerpts and writing paragraph responses. His AAP teacher has tried to create essays for them, but it's hard to write a full essay on a bunch of half page excerpts.

Teacher here. Every benchmark unit has an essay or longer written component versus paragraph. My students wrote a ton of essays this year.

[Anonymous]

I think behaviors are way worse. This is my 15th year and the behaviors I see now or nothing like I did at the beginning of my career. A lot of parents don’t address behavior concerns at school and believe their child over the teacher. Even if multiple teachers contact them over the years. Many parents would be APPALLED with how their kids act and speak to adults.

[Anonymous]

the county is poorer than its ever been and FARMs have more than doubled since the 90s. It is what it is.

Generally speaking, these trends are also national regarding lack of accountability and lowering of standards.

And while some MC/UMC children are well prepared compared to peers from somewhere like rural NC, thats just relative and I think all groups are worse than even 15 years ago.

[Anonymous]

Also grew up going to FCPS K-12 and now my kids have been through FCPS (last one just completing 11th grade)

My parents used to say that FCPS was good because of the parents. It’s a well educated area and when the education was lacking, parents would supplement, even back then.

I remember being assigned a 2nd/3rd combo class. No way for teacher to teach both grades at the same time at appropriate grade levels/needs for the different student abilities. My parents ultimately had to supplementarer when I was behind.