did I make a mistake?

[Anonymous]

OP, I have one child in a well regarded private school and one in MCPS. Honestly, wrt academics, they are the same, with a slight edge to MCPS because they spend oodles of time on academics. Downside is NO time for quality specials.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What schools have kindergartens with nearly 30 kids and teachers yelling "stop it"? This never happened in my child's school. 19 kids in K, and the veteran teacher had total control of the class. Things were calm, kids had fun and learned, and all in all it was a very nurturing environment. Ditto for 1st and 2nd grade. FWIW, we're in the Olney/Brookeville area, and the class sizes have stayed about the same despite the budget cuts.

You are in the 'red zone' (low SES) so you get lower class sizes. In the green zone, you get kindergarten classes with 28. This happened to me last year. It doesn't take a lot of imagination to wonder how 1 adult can manage 28 kids. Teachers do the best they can. My older child had 17 kids in K, so I know what the difference looks like. It is stark. Class size may not matter as much in older grades, but K-2 it is important if you are concerned about teaching them reading and math.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What schools have kindergartens with nearly 30 kids and teachers yelling "stop it"? This never happened in my child's school. 19 kids in K, and the veteran teacher had total control of the class. Things were calm, kids had fun and learned, and all in all it was a very nurturing environment. Ditto for 1st and 2nd grade. FWIW, we're in the Olney/Brookeville area, and the class sizes have stayed about the same despite the budget cuts.

You are in the 'red zone' (low SES) so you get lower class sizes. In the green zone, you get kindergarten classes with 28. This happened to me last year. It doesn't take a lot of imagination to wonder how 1 adult can manage 28 kids. Teachers do the best they can. My older child had 17 kids in K, so I know what the difference looks like. It is stark. Class size may not matter as much in older grades, but K-2 it is important if you are concerned about teaching them reading and math.

I'm not PP but I don't believe Olney/Brookeville is in the red zone. Look at the stats for schools like Greenwood, Olney Elementary, and Belmont on the MCPS website. those schools have pretty low FARMS rates.

[Anonymous]

OP here. Please excuse my ignorance (I'm humming, "To Dream the Impossible Dream" here): how does one go about fundraising so that there is a floater for all kindergarden classes in Montgomery County? If State Farm can give $5 million to save the petting zoo at the National Zoo (and thank you, State Farm), then we can raise--how much?--for a floater for human children at our public zoos! I mean, kindergardens.
So: how much do you guesstimate is needed? For EVERY school. Yes, I know there are schools in poorer areas where class sizes are manageable, but the "have/have not" divide is sensitive, and has killed this issue before. Let's assume we're going to raise $$ to fund a kindergardener floater (an aide who floats among the K classes as needed) for EVERY elementary school.
There are about 131 elementary schools in Montgomery County,
according to page 3 of this report, which lists them: http://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/departments/regulatoryaccountability/glance/currentyear/SAAG2011.pdf
So--how much would a group need to fundraise? Incorrect answers are not counted against your total score, so feel free to guess.

[Anonymous]

Just to clarify: The schools in Brookeville and Olney aren't low income. My kids go to Greenwood in Brookeville. FARMS is 5.5%; ESOL is 1.7%. I think those rates are probably comparable to the fancy-pants schools in Bethesda. Nonetheless, class sizes are reasonable. And perhaps more important, teachers can handle whatever is thrown at them. The school is quiet and peaceful, and the kids seem to thrive. The PTA and volunteer parents are VERY active. Fundraising provides lots of enrichment activities as well as stipends for the teachers for supplies, etc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What schools have kindergartens with nearly 30 kids and teachers yelling "stop it"? This never happened in my child's school. 19 kids in K, and the veteran teacher had total control of the class. Things were calm, kids had fun and learned, and all in all it was a very nurturing environment. Ditto for 1st and 2nd grade. FWIW, we're in the Olney/Brookeville area, and the class sizes have stayed about the same despite the budget cuts.

You are in the 'red zone' (low SES) so you get lower class sizes. In the green zone, you get kindergarten classes with 28. This happened to me last year. It doesn't take a lot of imagination to wonder how 1 adult can manage 28 kids. Teachers do the best they can. My older child had 17 kids in K, so I know what the difference looks like. It is stark. Class size may not matter as much in older grades, but K-2 it is important if you are concerned about teaching them reading and math.

I live in Silver Spring, the "red zone," and my child's kindergarten class has 27 children in it.

Our neighborhood is not low SES. A house on my street just sold for about $800K.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here. Please excuse my ignorance (I'm humming, "To Dream the Impossible Dream" here): how does one go about fundraising so that there is a floater for all kindergarden classes in Montgomery County? If State Farm can give $5 million to save the petting zoo at the National Zoo (and thank you, State Farm), then we can raise--how much?--for a floater for human children at our public zoos! I mean, kindergardens.
So: how much do you guesstimate is needed? For EVERY school. Yes, I know there are schools in poorer areas where class sizes are manageable, but the "have/have not" divide is sensitive, and has killed this issue before. Let's assume we're going to raise $$ to fund a kindergardener floater (an aide who floats among the K classes as needed) for EVERY elementary school.
There are about 131 elementary schools in Montgomery County,
according to page 3 of this report, which lists them: http://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/departments/regulatoryaccountability/glance/currentyear/SAAG2011.pdf
So--how much would a group need to fundraise? Incorrect answers are not counted against your total score, so feel free to guess.

Just not sure that people would really contribute for such a specific purpose. Every parent has different priorities. You want aides in K b/c your kids are in K. But what about 1st or2nd grade or later grades when the math concepts become more difficult and kids need more one-on-one help? Our local elementary used to have a science special but that was cut due to the budget. I could see our families wanting their $$ to go towards reviving the science program rather than aides in K. I'm not saying that aides in K aren't needed -- but don't know if everyone would jump on the bandwagon, especially families with no child in K. Not to mention the prohibitions against fundraising for staff which I believe were discussed in another thread. Then what happens if you need $2 million (as an example) but you raise just $1 million. Who gets the aides? I understand where you are coming from and your frustration, though.

[Anonymous]

OP, didn't you know that MCPS were overcrowded before you moved? You probably would have been fine in DC.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP, didn't you know that MCPS were overcrowded before you moved? You probably would have been fine in DC.

You must be kidding. DC school academics are terrible -- and the schools are getting crowded. If your child is smart and ready to learn above the least-common-denominator level taught at even the best DC elementary schools, MCPS is the better choice (even with larger class size). BTW, the reason DC schools never had a crowding issue in the past is b/c anyone with the means to do so moved or applied to private. Now, under the current economic conditions, many of the upper middle class families in NWDC can't move (and make money on their home) and can't afford private. Also, funny how the word "fine" is always used to describe DC schools (and even that is a stretch). Many of us want more than "fine" for our kids.

[Anonymous]

OP here. We are settling in and I'm much more pleased with the school, kindergarden, and specials. I learned that Janney Elementary School (in DC) asks parents to contribute over $500 per family via the PTA and these funds go towards the salary of a floater or assistant teacher in the lower grades.
Is this prohibited in Mont. County?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here. We are settling in and I'm much more pleased with the school, kindergarden, and specials. I learned that Janney Elementary School (in DC) asks parents to contribute over $500 per family via the PTA and these funds go towards the salary of a floater or assistant teacher in the lower grades.
Is this prohibited in Mont. County?

Yes. It seems MoCo PTAs can raise some funds for the school, but cannot support staff salaries.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here. We are settling in and I'm much more pleased with the school, kindergarden, and specials. I learned that Janney Elementary School (in DC) asks parents to contribute over $500 per family via the PTA and these funds go towards the salary of a floater or assistant teacher in the lower grades.
Is this prohibited in Mont. County?

Yes. It seems MoCo PTAs can raise some funds for the school, but cannot support staff salaries.

I don't understand why the MD teachers union don't fight to change this prohibition. Parent in other jurisdictions are able to pay for additional help for their teachers, why not MOCO parents?

[Anonymous]

B/c it would be the parents in the wealthy areas who would be equipped to cover the costs for additional staff support and the rest of the schools in the lower-income areas would be left out (b/c those parents can't afford to chip in). FWIW, lots of schools have paraeducators or reading specialists or other support staff who assist with certain classes each day. You should ask the principal if that is an option. For example, my child only has 22 in his 2nd grade class (in a green zone school), there are 4 second grades each with 20-22 kids, and the school also provides a reading specialist so that reading groups are even smaller.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:B/c it would be the parents in the wealthy areas who would be equipped to cover the costs for additional staff support and the rest of the schools in the lower-income areas would be left out (b/c those parents can't afford to chip in). FWIW, lots of schools have paraeducators or reading specialists or other support staff who assist with certain classes each day. You should ask the principal if that is an option. For example, my child only has 22 in his 2nd grade class (in a green zone school), there are 4 second grades each with 20-22 kids, and the school also provides a reading specialist so that reading groups are even smaller.

Ok, but that would mean that in the lower-income areas, the kids would have EXACTLY what they have now. Why is allowing certain schools to provide more than this level harm the lower income schools? It wouldn't be changing anything for those schools.

Also, who's to say that the lower income schools would, necessarily, not be able to raise money. Theoretically, a more affluent school could have parents that are already able to volunteer in the classroom, so those parents might not feel it is necessary to contribute money for add't staff. By the same token, a lower income school could have families that decide they will contribute additional money at whatever level they are able. After all, those families should be allowed to chose how to spend their resources and not have someone decide that because they are "lower income" that they must not have anything to contribute.

[Anonymous]

oops autocorrect: meant to write "Why is allowing certain schools to provide more than this level necessarily going to harm the lower income schools?