interesting discussion regarding abysmal decline of MoCo schools

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Publics are trash everywhere yuck

Not at all. Small rich public districts that pay for the schools via property taxes can spend well over 30 grand per pupil. They cost a fortune and you get what you pay for including high quality faculty and administration.

MCPS spends a ton of money per pupil. I’d have to find the stat, but MCPS is well-funded. The BOE even admitted it!

It’s just that MCPs wastes a TON of money on useless Central Office positions and useless initiatives that don’t directly benefit students.

If someone did a serious audit and cut out all the useless spending we could have more teachers, more paraprofessionals, more services for kids who need it and do the necessary repairs on the school.

YES!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Reading through the comments, it seems this is an issue across the country, and we do see that it is the case. There is a district in the midwest that is about to go to a 4 day week because they don't have enough teachers.

But, ITA, MCPS needs to do something. Stop spending time and money on coming up with new labels and nomenclature so that some people's feelings won't be hurt. If they really want to help URM, low income students, start with smaller class sizes, more services, and not lowering expectations.

+100. Teacher here

[Anonymous]

We need more teachers and smaller class sizes. And student accountability.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We need more teachers and smaller class sizes. And student accountability.

if parents don’t value work and education the kids won’t no matter how much you spend on education . A school of poor Pakistani immigrants with $1000 spent per pupil will out perform a baltimore city school that spent $75000 per pupil

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Fairfax County is very similar to MoCo in terms of population, demographics, and income level. How come FCPS does better than MCPS? It comes down to management.

FCPS has only 2 high performing schools, McLean and Langley. MCPS has maybe 5 (Poolesville, Churchill, Wooton, WJ, Whitman, BCC) + magnet programs (Blair, RM). FCPS also has worse facilities and generally more over crowding, except Langley.

The problem for MCPS is that their lower performing schools are significantly worse than FCPS low performing schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Fairfax County is very similar to MoCo in terms of population, demographics, and income level. How come FCPS does better than MCPS? It comes down to management.

FCPS has only 2 high performing schools, McLean and Langley. MCPS has maybe 5 (Poolesville, Churchill, Wooton, WJ, Whitman, BCC) + magnet programs (Blair, RM). FCPS also has worse facilities and generally more over crowding, except Langley.

The problem for MCPS is that their lower performing schools are significantly worse than FCPS low performing schools.

Usually the Maryland posters claim FCPS only has one high-performing high school (TJ).

In addition to TJ, Langley, and McLean, FCPS has quite a few other high-performing high schools, including Woodson, Oakton, Madison, Marshall, Chantilly, Lake Braddock, Robinson, and West Springfield. These schools thrive despite, not because of, the central administration and the FCPS School Board, which is awful.

Agree that MCPS has better facilities (FCPS leadership is utterly incompetent when it comes to addressing overcrowding). MCPS does have more lower performing high schools than FCPS, but I'm not sure a school like Kennedy is any better or worse than a school like Mount Vernon.

In general, it's hard to say FCPS is managed "better" than MCPS; it's just that MoCo is further along the path of indulging those who denigrate merit and chalk up every disparity to structural inequities that teachers are somehow magically called upon to fix. It probably makes FCPS a somewhat less stressful teaching environment, but then the pay is higher in MoCo.

[Anonymous]

I think most of what is in the Reddit is true. Morale abysmal (students, parents, teachers, paras, etc.), administration is severely bloated, special ed is a disaster that will cost the system for years to come (for all the education the special ed kids are entitled to and are not receiving), and there is no longer any discipline anywhere, or consequences for anything for students (for behaviors, for abuses, for not doing work).

So many reasons, but I'll put the blame squarely at the top: the GOP would like to dismantle public education and use tax dollars for private catholic education. They have been playing the long game, and have been helped along by the oandemic

[Anonymous]

MCPS facilities are utter crap. My kids school is a rabbit warren of trailers and has NO gym.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We need more teachers and smaller class sizes. And student accountability.

+1 YES!!

[Anonymous]

Ex-mcps teacher here. I taught here 15 yrs ago, coming from a top private school in Westchester County NY that served the kids of hedge fund managers. When I got here, hands down, everything we did blew away that expensive private school. Teachers were able to individualize and use creativity but we had high standards to meet. Now, with kids in the system, I’m desperate to get out. Haters, don’t tell me to enroll in private bc I can’t afford it. We are trapped in pathetic schools with no standard of excellence.

[Anonymous]

why is my kid getting all As but spending half the day scrolling sports & youtube….while mcps spends time getting rid of honors courses?! what a joke. how do we end this bs

[Anonymous]

ayo monifa mcknight /chris cram i hope you read this

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:MCPS is way, way too big. It should be broken down to the level where each high school is its own school district.

Agree, but it will not happen. One size does not fit all. Need localized clusters and school boards.

Just move to New Jersey. You'd love all the redundant bureaucracies, with each tiny school district having its own superintendent.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There are public hearings on the new operating budget coming up on January 11th and 17th. Rather than posting complaints on reddit or DCUM, people need to show up to these hearings en masse and convey a clear message of what they want to be prioritized in the budget. Not just parents, but teachers and administrators too. And students.

90% of the budget is already allocated to pensions, healthcare and salaries. It’s like the Federal budget. You’ve got demographics (more retirees than employees) and that limits flexibility for budget. Thank your unionized work force and their smart payments to the pols you are basically f’ed. add a tax base that’s well paid but departing to be replaced by new Americans who hear - even in rural Nicaragua - it’s the place to be. Couldn’t happen to a sweeter place. We were in Moco but quickly left. The real problem has nothing to do with money - that is one toxic public school culture! Glad their rep is crashing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There are public hearings on the new operating budget coming up on January 11th and 17th. Rather than posting complaints on reddit or DCUM, people need to show up to these hearings en masse and convey a clear message of what they want to be prioritized in the budget. Not just parents, but teachers and administrators too. And students.

90% of the budget is already allocated to pensions, healthcare and salaries. It’s like the Federal budget. You’ve got demographics (more retirees than employees) and that limits flexibility for budget. Thank your unionized work force and their smart payments to the pols you are basically f’ed. add a tax base that’s well paid but departing to be replaced by new Americans who hear - even in rural Nicaragua - it’s the place to be. Couldn’t happen to a sweeter place. We were in Moco but quickly left. The real problem has nothing to do with money - that is one toxic public school culture! Glad their rep is crashing.

Win-win.