Lynne Harris: "People complain about Montgomery County Public Schools until they go somewhere else"

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

In case it doesn't start, she said this at 1 hour and 48 minutes in.

Does this sound like the words or sentiment of an incumbent board member who realizes the BOE has been off track, failed in its oversight responsibilities and owes the public better than what it has given to students, parents and staff? Or does it sound like someone who thinks MCPS is doing just fine and everyone who's upset is just being unrealistic with their expectations and ungrateful and unappreciative of how amazing MCPS is?

To be perfectly honest, a lot of the complaints posted here seem delusional.

DCUM gonna DCUM!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't live in the area, but she is making a good point overall. All ps systems are terrible. And they are doing their best with real humans and it's not like another system is going to be any better. It's true.

I'm not surprised there would be some who would agree with her that MCPS is just fine, since that contingent makes itself known in many threads on this forum.

Which is fine if that's Harris's POV. But she can't also ask for people to vote for her a change agent who'll the right the ship since she literally thinks it's going in the right direction and that we're lucky things aren't worse than they are.

Which further substantiates why the MCEA refused to endorse any incumbents. Despite eroding the trust of teachers, parents, admin and staff, the incumbent BOE candidates think they've done a fine job and that they don't owe the public contrition or a change of behavior or mentality. This is important information for everyone to have when making their choice at the ballot box in May for the primary election and November for the general.

Where does Harris say she is a change agent? Genuinely curious because I don’t see how that could possibly work given that she is an incumbent.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Hmmm, unless they did a survey of people that left MCPS, she's just full of crap.

And as someone that left MCPS, our experience has been LIGHTYEARS better in our new school system

Where did you move to?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Generally she's right, OP, but recognizing this can take several years on the parents' part.

My friend is regretting not having stuck with MCPS. Like many people I know whose kids have undiagnosed learning disabilities, she thought a change of school environment would fix things. It didn't, because her kid needed intensive therapies and possibly meds she wasn't getting. She needed an IEP, or at minimum, a 504, and despite multiple teachers hinting there was a problem, my friend pulled her kid out instead of getting her an evaluation. Years later, after finally getting an evaluation, she regrets it. I have another friend who has a similar situation.

The only person I know who did the RIGHT thing in leaving MCPS has a child with a serious and complex special needs profile who did not do well in the private placement MCPS offered - sadly, he was physically restrained and misunderstood and given no chance to communicate at all. Ever since he's been homeschooled, he's blossomed and can now communicate.

There's no evidence the first parent's child would have done better with an IEP at MCPS than with an IEP at the new district, or better without an IEP at MCPS than without an IEP at the new school.

You seem to be comparing MCPS+IEP with the new district+no IEP, which isn't a fair comparison.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don't live in the area, but she is making a good point overall. All ps systems are terrible. And they are doing their best with real humans and it's not like another system is going to be any better. It's true.

Unless they go to Massachusetts.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don't live in the area, but she is making a good point overall. All ps systems are terrible. And they are doing their best with real humans and it's not like another system is going to be any better. It's true.

No leader of a school system should EVER use such a comparison as a deflection of criticism. The proper attitude is that, "while we believe that MCPS continues to deliver a good education, we are constantly looking for ways to improve the educational experience for both students and teachers."

Then they shouldn't just say it, they should do it. I can't imagine prioritizing the institution itself over its impact on children.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't live in the area, but she is making a good point overall. All ps systems are terrible. And they are doing their best with real humans and it's not like another system is going to be any better. It's true.

Unless they go to Massachusetts.

New England has smaller systems that segregate by town which most often separates the rich and poor.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

In case it doesn't start, she said this at 1 hour and 48 minutes in.

Does this sound like the words or sentiment of an incumbent board member who realizes the BOE has been off track, failed in its oversight responsibilities and owes the public better than what it has given to students, parents and staff? Or does it sound like someone who thinks MCPS is doing just fine and everyone who's upset is just being unrealistic with their expectations and ungrateful and unappreciative of how amazing MCPS is?

To be perfectly honest, a lot of the complaints posted here seem delusional.

This isn't news.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't live in the area, but she is making a good point overall. All ps systems are terrible. And they are doing their best with real humans and it's not like another system is going to be any better. It's true.

I'm not surprised there would be some who would agree with her that MCPS is just fine, since that contingent makes itself known in many threads on this forum.

Which is fine if that's Harris's POV. But she can't also ask for people to vote for her a change agent who'll the right the ship since she literally thinks it's going in the right direction and that we're lucky things aren't worse than they are.

Which further substantiates why the MCEA refused to endorse any incumbents. Despite eroding the trust of teachers, parents, admin and staff, the incumbent BOE candidates think they've done a fine job and that they don't owe the public contrition or a change of behavior or mentality. This is important information for everyone to have when making their choice at the ballot box in May for the primary election and November for the general.

Where does Harris say she is a change agent? Genuinely curious because I don’t see how that could possibly work given that she is an incumbent.

Unless she experienced resistance to that change from enough others on the board. In that case, she'd claim she's a beachhead for change, but needs turnover in the other seats to make that happen.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't live in the area, but she is making a good point overall. All ps systems are terrible. And they are doing their best with real humans and it's not like another system is going to be any better. It's true.

Unless they go to Massachusetts.

+1

Or Connecticut or New Jersey.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't live in the area, but she is making a good point overall. All ps systems are terrible. And they are doing their best with real humans and it's not like another system is going to be any better. It's true.

Unless they go to Massachusetts.

New England has smaller systems that segregate by town which most often separates the rich and poor.

Right, and MCPS ... doesn't separate by SES?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't live in the area, but she is making a good point overall. All ps systems are terrible. And they are doing their best with real humans and it's not like another system is going to be any better. It's true.

Unless they go to Massachusetts.

New England has smaller systems that segregate by town which most often separates the rich and poor.

Right, and MCPS ... doesn't separate by SES?

DP. Not if you're comparing at a district level; for something like test scores, you're always mixing students from across the SES spectrum when you look at MCPS's numbers. It's not really meaningful to compare a county with large amounts of poverty with somewhere like Weston, Massachusetts, where those numbers are much lower.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't live in the area, but she is making a good point overall. All ps systems are terrible. And they are doing their best with real humans and it's not like another system is going to be any better. It's true.

Unless they go to Massachusetts.

+1

Or Connecticut or New Jersey.

Or heck, even other systems in the DMV.

People have to realize that while some people are leaving bc of the decline in academic performance, others leave because of the culture.

For example, we had a teacher that actively discouraged boys from running for their student government (and admitted it freely) because she thought a student government of all girls would be more progressive.

We complained. We had meetings (which is where we heard the teacher admit to it), and NOTHING was done. The academic rigor may have been fine, but I wasn't about to let my son be in an environment that like that

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't live in the area, but she is making a good point overall. All ps systems are terrible. And they are doing their best with real humans and it's not like another system is going to be any better. It's true.

Unless they go to Massachusetts.

New England has smaller systems that segregate by town which most often separates the rich and poor.

Right, and MCPS ... doesn't separate by SES?

DP. Not if you're comparing at a district level; for something like test scores, you're always mixing students from across the SES spectrum when you look at MCPS's numbers. It's not really meaningful to compare a county with large amounts of poverty with somewhere like Weston, Massachusetts, where those numbers are much lower.

Right, because Carderock Elementary and Weller Road Elementary have such a mix of students from across the SES spectrum.

Leaving that aside, Massachusetts as a whole outperforms other states consistently.

MCPS isn't the nirvana it fancies itself to be.

[Anonymous]

I, like many complainants, went somewhere else and that’s why we complain about the lack of rigor and discipline at mcps. We know ps can actually be good.