Changes in MCPS in the last 15 years

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think the change is that there are a lot more poor brown people now, much like the rest of the US, and many don't like it.

This is it. We moved here 30 years ago and raised three kids in MoCo/MCPS. It's not like people don't like "brown" people, the increased number of latinos and blacks affected the school system, many view negatively.

It's a hard pill to swallow but this is the root cause

Some people even are "brown" people.

But yes, there is a part of the DCUM demographic that wishes it were still 1975 in Montgomery County (and the world), and that's reflected in the MD Public Schools forum.

Plus people like to complain on the internet.

Do you have kids in the school system? It not just on the internet. I hear parents complaining at the bus stop. I hear teachers complaining. Hell, I hear students complaining about the crappy behaviors they have to put up with at school.

MCPS has grown too large, and has abysmal leadership. It's a miserable school system, and would benefit from some major changes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think the change is that there are a lot more poor brown people now, much like the rest of the US, and many don't like it.

This is it. We moved here 30 years ago and raised three kids in MoCo/MCPS. It's not like people don't like "brown" people, the increased number of latinos and blacks affected the school system, many view negatively.

It's a hard pill to swallow but this is the root cause

Some people even are "brown" people.

But yes, there is a part of the DCUM demographic that wishes it were still 1975 in Montgomery County (and the world), and that's reflected in the MD Public Schools forum.

Plus people like to complain on the internet.

Do you have kids in the school system? It not just on the internet. I hear parents complaining at the bus stop. I hear teachers complaining. Hell, I hear students complaining about the crappy behaviors they have to put up with at school.

MCPS has grown too large, and has abysmal leadership. It's a miserable school system, and would benefit from some major changes.

Yes, I have kids in MCPS.

But you're right - people like to complain, in general. On and off the internet.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Will try to be brief, but ever since Weast left and Zuckerman seems to have staying powers it has been a disaster and going down hill fast.

- curriculum 2.0
- no discipline or consequences
- no autonomy for teachers, who have to teach to the tests and stay on schedule
- less professional development and planning time for teachers, who are already having to teach, parent, be a social worker and more, so that even the good ones are overwhelmed and burning out
- no resources for ED and not enough for other SN issues (the home school model does not serve all well)
- by making Advanced programming available to all, you're actually making it available to none. Having everyone in 8th grade take algebra, is a lofty goal, but somewhat will not be ready. Other Advanced programming has become watered down to the point of ridiculousness
- severe overcrowding because MCPS cannot seem to get the forecasts/projections right
- overcrowding means everything from not enough classroom space to not enough counselors to instruments being taught in closet space to a copy machine that is always broken because ESs only get one (doesn't matter if there are 350 or 1,000 students, ESs get one copy machine - just an example of a policy that is past its prime)
-facilities that are a disaster (no sprinklers, not ADA compliant, mold because of leaks that arent repaired properly or at all, portables that should have been put out of commission a long time ago and are held together with duct tape, roof tiles flying off buildings, plumbing that overflows and clogs on a regular basis, bathroom stalls without doors and on and on and on)
- MCPS seems to have mastered pitting schools and school clusters against each other over fewer and fewer resources
- MCCPTA in the past few years has made the above worse, by pitting wealthy schools and lower socio-economic area schools against each other. They also have ignored their own bylaws, and have abdicated power in the past few years.

I could go on and on, but that's enough for one night.

Here are some other issues (I'm in mcps too and agree with this pp):
Principals almost never lose their jobs even when they're in WAY over their head and losing their sh*t with kids publicly, or having affairs with teachers/subordinates, or mismanaging funds horribly--but they also don't get much coaching beyond their first and second years.
Policies that keep staff on the move instead of feeling rooted in a community, ie the constant threat to some of involuntary transfers
Also no effort to retain good faculty who start to look around. Exit interviews should be done with everyone. There should be transparency about numbers of staff leaving schools. We're also losing admin to other school districts. Who is collecting data on this?
Paranoia in central office that things will happen that make THEM look bad, which leads them to micromanage those below them (which then trickles down to lower level central admin, principals etc.)
Lax policies around things that impact how everyone feels about working for the county--ie people not getting fired for posting hate material online, or driving drunk, or punching their partner, or bullying others--just as long as students aren't impacted.
Little transparency about how staff can get help if they're bullied by a supervisor/colleague.

[Anonymous]

Our elementary school principal in the W cluster has been sick on and off for three years. She is older and could have easily retired 10 years ago. How is this fair to the school community to have a substitute principal three times? Just because the children are from educated families that don’t complain doesn’t mean they deserve this from MCPS.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think the change is that there are a lot more poor brown people now, much like the rest of the US, and many don't like it.

Whether you like it or not, doesn’t change the fact that the demographics of MCPS have changed.

OP’s sister doesn’t really see it at Wootton, but we see it at other schools.

Our MS sends out every email and newsletter in Spanish and spends money to have translators at all events. My friend at Frost doesn’t report the same.

MCPS closes during Jewish holidays because there are so many here. Is that a bad thing, too?

[Anonymous]

I hope Sebra Evans, the current President of the BOE, gets the higher office she has been craving so the business of schooling can begin again in earnest.
She can now say she brought equity and justice to Montgomery county and be president of the NAACP. Imagine they just gave her an award for advocating for student wellness, even though she is asking high school kids in Clarksburg to wake up earlier and sit on a bus longer.

[Anonymous]

I moved here several years ago, found this forum while doing a google search about something 4 years ago. I went back several pages in the MD school forum, and read posts from pre 2.0. People didn't seem happy back then, either. I'm not defending 2.0. There were certainly problems with it, and I'm glad they are changing it. But, I don't think the problem started with 2.0.

[Anonymous]

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think the change is that there are a lot more poor brown people now, much like the rest of the US, and many don't like it.

Whether you like it or not, doesn’t change the fact that the demographics of MCPS have changed.

OP’s sister doesn’t really see it at Wootton, but we see it at other schools.

Our MS sends out every email and newsletter in Spanish and spends money to have translators at all events. My friend at Frost doesn’t report the same.

I'm sorry but this has nothing to do with brown skinned children. My kids go to school in mostly white Bethesda and Chevy Chase schools where most kids are wealthy and it STILL SUCKS. It's still the same MCPS lame curriculum taught in some newfangled way. FARMS has absolutely ZERO to do with it.

It has everything to do with it. There is a political commitment to teach and assess so that the lower academic performance of certain subgroups is less obvious. They can declare victory when there is no longer any ability to detect failure.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think the change is that there are a lot more poor brown people now, much like the rest of the US, and many don't like it.

Whether you like it or not, doesn’t change the fact that the demographics of MCPS have changed.

OP’s sister doesn’t really see it at Wootton, but we see it at other schools.

Our MS sends out every email and newsletter in Spanish and spends money to have translators at all events. My friend at Frost doesn’t report the same.

I'm sorry but this has nothing to do with brown skinned children. My kids go to school in mostly white Bethesda and Chevy Chase schools where most kids are wealthy and it STILL SUCKS. It's still the same MCPS lame curriculum taught in some newfangled way. FARMS has absolutely ZERO to do with it.

You are so clueless I don't even know how to respond to your post. It's got everthying to do with fact that the demo of MCPS/MoCo has changed over the years. It puts pressure on everything - teachers, funding, county residents (tax), achievement gap...etc. EVERYTHING.

[Anonymous]

The BOE did not higher all these Equity Officers for nothing. Desegregation coming to a neighborhood near you. By any means necessary.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The BOE did not higher all these Equity Officers for nothing. Desegregation coming to a neighborhood near you. By any means necessary.

Only if you live in a segregated neighborhood.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think the change is that there are a lot more poor brown people now, much like the rest of the US, and many don't like it.

Whether you like it or not, doesn’t change the fact that the demographics of MCPS have changed.

OP’s sister doesn’t really see it at Wootton, but we see it at other schools.

Our MS sends out every email and newsletter in Spanish and spends money to have translators at all events. My friend at Frost doesn’t report the same.

I'm sorry but this has nothing to do with brown skinned children. My kids go to school in mostly white Bethesda and Chevy Chase schools where most kids are wealthy and it STILL SUCKS. It's still the same MCPS lame curriculum taught in some newfangled way. FARMS has absolutely ZERO to do with it.

I think it depends on the school. You’re partially right, but both issues have caused a decline in MCPS.

We are at a high FARMS/high ESOL school and every year we see money getting re-allocated to hiring more ESOL teachers, and less money do music/art/PE. We have 700 kids at our school, and only 1 PE teacher. But we have three (yes, three!) ESOL teachers.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think the change is that there are a lot more poor brown people now, much like the rest of the US, and many don't like it.

This is it. We moved here 30 years ago and raised three kids in MoCo/MCPS. It's not like people don't like "brown" people, the increased number of latinos and blacks affected the school system, many view negatively.

It's a hard pill to swallow but this is the root cause

Some people even are "brown" people.

But yes, there is a part of the DCUM demographic that wishes it were still 1975 in Montgomery County (and the world), and that's reflected in the MD Public Schools forum.

Plus people like to complain on the internet.

Do you have kids in the school system? It not just on the internet. I hear parents complaining at the bus stop. I hear teachers complaining. Hell, I hear students complaining about the crappy behaviors they have to put up with at school.

MCPS has grown too large, and has abysmal leadership. It's a miserable school system, and would benefit from some major changes.

Yes, I have kids in MCPS.

But you're right - people like to complain, in general. On and off the internet.

Fair enough. Maybe part of it is simply people complaining. But, don’t you think some of the complaints are valid?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think the change is that there are a lot more poor brown people now, much like the rest of the US, and many don't like it.

Whether you like it or not, doesn’t change the fact that the demographics of MCPS have changed.

OP’s sister doesn’t really see it at Wootton, but we see it at other schools.

Our MS sends out every email and newsletter in Spanish and spends money to have translators at all events. My friend at Frost doesn’t report the same.

I'm sorry but this has nothing to do with brown skinned children. My kids go to school in mostly white Bethesda and Chevy Chase schools where most kids are wealthy and it STILL SUCKS. It's still the same MCPS lame curriculum taught in some newfangled way. FARMS has absolutely ZERO to do with it.

I think it depends on the school. You’re partially right, but both issues have caused a decline in MCPS.

We are at a high FARMS/high ESOL school and every year we see money getting re-allocated to hiring more ESOL teachers, and less money do music/art/PE. We have 700 kids at our school, and only 1 PE teacher. But we have three (yes, three!) ESOL teachers.

We are in a low FARMS ES (around the same size as yours) and have only 1 PE teacher as well.