Big proposed class size increases for Title 1 and focus schools next year

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why everything has to be about FARMS schools? Children in other schools also need to be properly educated. My kid is in math class with 33 other students. Yes, I am all for decreasing the number of students at our school even if other schools will have to bump up a bit. I am not in a high FARMS rate school but it doesn't mean I can send my child to a private institution.

Lower income students cost more to education..that's why the state gives MCPS funding based on the number of FARMS students. But MCPS is taking that money and using it to increase resources for wealthy students. You may be okay with that (you care exclusively about your kid and kids similar to your kid) but that doesn't make it okay.

Yes,I care about my children first and foremost.
33 students in our school vs 18 in *poor* schools seem to much of a difference. That's almost doubled the classroom.

1) That's selfish.
2) Why can't parents work together for better things for all our kids, rather than you wanting to make things worse for poorer kids?
3) No elementary school class should have 33 kids-- even in 4th and 5th grade, they get funded for one teacher per 29 kids (although sometimes some of the classes will have 30 kids before they get extra funding, depending on how the numbers shake out.) If your principal is making classes of 33, that's your principal's decision/fault. Also, Title 1 and focus schools get one teacher per 27 kids in 4th and 5th grade so it's only a slight difference to the 29 in other schools.

+1
Unfortunately people like PP resent that tax dollars are being spent to help poor kids and wants those dollars for her family. And Thomas Taylor pretty much agrees with her.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why everything has to be about FARMS schools? Children in other schools also need to be properly educated. My kid is in math class with 33 other students. Yes, I am all for decreasing the number of students at our school even if other schools will have to bump up a bit. I am not in a high FARMS rate school but it doesn't mean I can send my child to a private institution.

Lower income students cost more to education..that's why the state gives MCPS funding based on the number of FARMS students. But MCPS is taking that money and using it to increase resources for wealthy students. You may be okay with that (you care exclusively about your kid and kids similar to your kid) but that doesn't make it okay.

Yes,I care about my children first and foremost.
33 students in our school vs 18 in *poor* schools seem to much of a difference. That's almost doubled the classroom.

1) That's selfish.
2) Why can't parents work together for better things for all our kids, rather than you wanting to make things worse for poorer kids?
3) No elementary school class should have 33 kids-- even in 4th and 5th grade, they get funded for one teacher per 29 kids (although sometimes some of the classes will have 30 kids before they get extra funding, depending on how the numbers shake out.) If your principal is making classes of 33, that's your principal's decision/fault. Also, Title 1 and focus schools get one teacher per 27 kids in 4th and 5th grade so it's only a slight difference to the 29 in other schools.

Focus schools have about 24-30 kids in their 4/5th grades. The benefit is only for K-3.

[Anonymous]

Some people want every single class in every single low income school to be larger than every single class in every high income school and think that is called "equity"

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I just want to highlight how ridiculous Taylor's equity claims are.

In his 400 page budget document, you have to go to page 349 (the appendix) to learn that he is increasing class sizes in focus and Title 1 schools. I don't see anywhere that he documents how much money he saves by doing this, but it is almost certainly tens of millions of dollars.

On the other hand, right up there on pages 5-6, he says "Equitable School Allocations: In the FY 2026 budget, I took a significant step to provide differentiated funding directly where our most impacted students are, and allow school leaders to determine what
will most benefit their students and their school communities by adding to the budget $2.5 million for this purpose. The FY 2027 budget recommended increase of $1.2 million for this critical need constitutes phase two of a five-year implementation to provide schools the resources needed based on the specific needs of their student population."

The total "equity add on" is about $4 million and it is spread out to ALL schools including the very wealthiest schools. So let's say three quarters is actually allocated to schools with more need - that's $3 million, which will most certainly be dwarfed by the money lost to focus and Title 1 schools.

That's sad. And it's sad that MCPS loses money in stupid ways, like mismanaging a teacher lawsuit that resulted in MCPS's insurance paying out $500k to a wronged teacher.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why everything has to be about FARMS schools? Children in other schools also need to be properly educated. My kid is in math class with 33 other students. Yes, I am all for decreasing the number of students at our school even if other schools will have to bump up a bit. I am not in a high FARMS rate school but it doesn't mean I can send my child to a private institution.

Lower income students cost more to education..that's why the state gives MCPS funding based on the number of FARMS students. But MCPS is taking that money and using it to increase resources for wealthy students. You may be okay with that (you care exclusively about your kid and kids similar to your kid) but that doesn't make it okay.

Yes,I care about my children first and foremost.
33 students in our school vs 18 in *poor* schools seem to much of a difference. That's almost doubled the classroom.

1) That's selfish.
2) Why can't parents work together for better things for all our kids, rather than you wanting to make things worse for poorer kids?
3) No elementary school class should have 33 kids-- even in 4th and 5th grade, they get funded for one teacher per 29 kids (although sometimes some of the classes will have 30 kids before they get extra funding, depending on how the numbers shake out.) If your principal is making classes of 33, that's your principal's decision/fault. Also, Title 1 and focus schools get one teacher per 27 kids in 4th and 5th grade so it's only a slight difference to the 29 in other schools.

Of course elementary school classes should not have 33 kids, but in reality some do. You can have a guideline of 29 kids to be in a class, and then there's a last minute enrollment into the school right before school starts or your kids' school is asked to pick up some severe overcapacity issues from a neighboring elementary school, and all of a sudden the class that was 27 last year becomes 33 this year.

And it's not like the principal has magic powers to hire-the principal needs to request permission from Central office to add the new teacher, then post the vacancy, interview and hire and get that teacher to start. By the time that occurs, you'll be lucky if the two classes in the school which have 33 ES kids get a new teacher to reduce those class sizes by end of November. That's a long time for little kids to be in such a crowded class.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why everything has to be about FARMS schools? Children in other schools also need to be properly educated. My kid is in math class with 33 other students. Yes, I am all for decreasing the number of students at our school even if other schools will have to bump up a bit. I am not in a high FARMS rate school but it doesn't mean I can send my child to a private institution.

Lower income students cost more to education..that's why the state gives MCPS funding based on the number of FARMS students. But MCPS is taking that money and using it to increase resources for wealthy students. You may be okay with that (you care exclusively about your kid and kids similar to your kid) but that doesn't make it okay.

Yes,I care about my children first and foremost.
33 students in our school vs 18 in *poor* schools seem to much of a difference. That's almost doubled the classroom.

1) That's selfish.
2) Why can't parents work together for better things for all our kids, rather than you wanting to make things worse for poorer kids?
3) No elementary school class should have 33 kids-- even in 4th and 5th grade, they get funded for one teacher per 29 kids (although sometimes some of the classes will have 30 kids before they get extra funding, depending on how the numbers shake out.) If your principal is making classes of 33, that's your principal's decision/fault. Also, Title 1 and focus schools get one teacher per 27 kids in 4th and 5th grade so it's only a slight difference to the 29 in other schools.

Of course elementary school classes should not have 33 kids, but in reality some do. You can have a guideline of 29 kids to be in a class, and then there's a last minute enrollment into the school right before school starts or your kids' school is asked to pick up some severe overcapacity issues from a neighboring elementary school, and all of a sudden the class that was 27 last year becomes 33 this year.

And it's not like the principal has magic powers to hire-the principal needs to request permission from Central office to add the new teacher, then post the vacancy, interview and hire and get that teacher to start. By the time that occurs, you'll be lucky if the two classes in the school which have 33 ES kids get a new teacher to reduce those class sizes by end of November. That's a long time for little kids to be in such a crowded class.

DP

The solution is not to take money meant for poor kids to reduce class sizes for everyone else. Good lord.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why everything has to be about FARMS schools? Children in other schools also need to be properly educated. My kid is in math class with 33 other students. Yes, I am all for decreasing the number of students at our school even if other schools will have to bump up a bit. I am not in a high FARMS rate school but it doesn't mean I can send my child to a private institution.

Lower income students cost more to education..that's why the state gives MCPS funding based on the number of FARMS students. But MCPS is taking that money and using it to increase resources for wealthy students. You may be okay with that (you care exclusively about your kid and kids similar to your kid) but that doesn't make it okay.

Yes,I care about my children first and foremost.
33 students in our school vs 18 in *poor* schools seem to much of a difference. That's almost doubled the classroom.

1) That's selfish.
2) Why can't parents work together for better things for all our kids, rather than you wanting to make things worse for poorer kids?
3) No elementary school class should have 33 kids-- even in 4th and 5th grade, they get funded for one teacher per 29 kids (although sometimes some of the classes will have 30 kids before they get extra funding, depending on how the numbers shake out.) If your principal is making classes of 33, that's your principal's decision/fault. Also, Title 1 and focus schools get one teacher per 27 kids in 4th and 5th grade so it's only a slight difference to the 29 in other schools.

Of course elementary school classes should not have 33 kids, but in reality some do. You can have a guideline of 29 kids to be in a class, and then there's a last minute enrollment into the school right before school starts or your kids' school is asked to pick up some severe overcapacity issues from a neighboring elementary school, and all of a sudden the class that was 27 last year becomes 33 this year.

And it's not like the principal has magic powers to hire-the principal needs to request permission from Central office to add the new teacher, then post the vacancy, interview and hire and get that teacher to start. By the time that occurs, you'll be lucky if the two classes in the school which have 33 ES kids get a new teacher to reduce those class sizes by end of November. That's a long time for little kids to be in such a crowded class.

DP

The solution is not to take money meant for poor kids to reduce class sizes for everyone else. Good lord.

It is with our BOE and Dr. Taylor.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why everything has to be about FARMS schools? Children in other schools also need to be properly educated. My kid is in math class with 33 other students. Yes, I am all for decreasing the number of students at our school even if other schools will have to bump up a bit. I am not in a high FARMS rate school but it doesn't mean I can send my child to a private institution.

Lower income students cost more to education..that's why the state gives MCPS funding based on the number of FARMS students. But MCPS is taking that money and using it to increase resources for wealthy students. You may be okay with that (you care exclusively about your kid and kids similar to your kid) but that doesn't make it okay.

Yes,I care about my children first and foremost.
33 students in our school vs 18 in *poor* schools seem to much of a difference. That's almost doubled the classroom.

1) That's selfish.
2) Why can't parents work together for better things for all our kids, rather than you wanting to make things worse for poorer kids?
3) No elementary school class should have 33 kids-- even in 4th and 5th grade, they get funded for one teacher per 29 kids (although sometimes some of the classes will have 30 kids before they get extra funding, depending on how the numbers shake out.) If your principal is making classes of 33, that's your principal's decision/fault. Also, Title 1 and focus schools get one teacher per 27 kids in 4th and 5th grade so it's only a slight difference to the 29 in other schools.

DP, but not everyone sees it the same way as you. I think 33 kids is completely unacceptable, and going from 19 kids to 21 kids is still acceptable in my personal opinion. I think more resources should go to higher needs schools, but I don’t think ALL resources should go to higher needs schools to the point that the lower needs schools can’t fit kids in the physical classroom and teachers can’t educate effectively. Especially since “wealthy” schools still have plenty of kids with special needs, English language learners, behavior challenges, too. If you said to me that these small class sizes in the title one or focus schools were producing promising results or better outcomes, that would be one thing. But they haven’t. All data shows abysmal proficiency with no upward trend. This is like the innovative calendar schools that were costing millions and not producing any better results than traditional calendar schools. When you don’t get return on your investment and you see that other schools are starting to decline too, you need to correct your allocations. The public school system serves all children, not just the neediest.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why everything has to be about FARMS schools? Children in other schools also need to be properly educated. My kid is in math class with 33 other students. Yes, I am all for decreasing the number of students at our school even if other schools will have to bump up a bit. I am not in a high FARMS rate school but it doesn't mean I can send my child to a private institution.

Lower income students cost more to education..that's why the state gives MCPS funding based on the number of FARMS students. But MCPS is taking that money and using it to increase resources for wealthy students. You may be okay with that (you care exclusively about your kid and kids similar to your kid) but that doesn't make it okay.

Yes,I care about my children first and foremost.
33 students in our school vs 18 in *poor* schools seem to much of a difference. That's almost doubled the classroom.

1) That's selfish.
2) Why can't parents work together for better things for all our kids, rather than you wanting to make things worse for poorer kids?
3) No elementary school class should have 33 kids-- even in 4th and 5th grade, they get funded for one teacher per 29 kids (although sometimes some of the classes will have 30 kids before they get extra funding, depending on how the numbers shake out.) If your principal is making classes of 33, that's your principal's decision/fault. Also, Title 1 and focus schools get one teacher per 27 kids in 4th and 5th grade so it's only a slight difference to the 29 in other schools.

DP, but not everyone sees it the same way as you. I think 33 kids is completely unacceptable, and going from 19 kids to 21 kids is still acceptable in my personal opinion. I think more resources should go to higher needs schools, but I don’t think ALL resources should go to higher needs schools to the point that the lower needs schools can’t fit kids in the physical classroom and teachers can’t educate effectively. Especially since “wealthy” schools still have plenty of kids with special needs, English language learners, behavior challenges, too. If you said to me that these small class sizes in the title one or focus schools were producing promising results or better outcomes, that would be one thing. But they haven’t. All data shows abysmal proficiency with no upward trend. This is like the innovative calendar schools that were costing millions and not producing any better results than traditional calendar schools. When you don’t get return on your investment and you see that other schools are starting to decline too, you need to correct your allocations. The public school system serves all children, not just the neediest.

Exactly. Even the 15-20 sized classes aren’t going to fix the problem. Mostly likely 2-4 of these students are going to have a reading or math disability on top of ESOL needs. Instead, the school would need an extra interventionist if 10 kids in every grade need intervention with a specific curriculum not used in the classroom. So it sounds like Thomas is recalibrating based on this knowledge. Small class sizes don’t solve every problem and he knows that. And no 33 is not acceptable.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why everything has to be about FARMS schools? Children in other schools also need to be properly educated. My kid is in math class with 33 other students. Yes, I am all for decreasing the number of students at our school even if other schools will have to bump up a bit. I am not in a high FARMS rate school but it doesn't mean I can send my child to a private institution.

Lower income students cost more to education..that's why the state gives MCPS funding based on the number of FARMS students. But MCPS is taking that money and using it to increase resources for wealthy students. You may be okay with that (you care exclusively about your kid and kids similar to your kid) but that doesn't make it okay.

Yes,I care about my children first and foremost.
33 students in our school vs 18 in *poor* schools seem to much of a difference. That's almost doubled the classroom.

1) That's selfish.
2) Why can't parents work together for better things for all our kids, rather than you wanting to make things worse for poorer kids?
3) No elementary school class should have 33 kids-- even in 4th and 5th grade, they get funded for one teacher per 29 kids (although sometimes some of the classes will have 30 kids before they get extra funding, depending on how the numbers shake out.) If your principal is making classes of 33, that's your principal's decision/fault. Also, Title 1 and focus schools get one teacher per 27 kids in 4th and 5th grade so it's only a slight difference to the 29 in other schools.

DP, but not everyone sees it the same way as you. I think 33 kids is completely unacceptable, and going from 19 kids to 21 kids is still acceptable in my personal opinion. I think more resources should go to higher needs schools, but I don’t think ALL resources should go to higher needs schools to the point that the lower needs schools can’t fit kids in the physical classroom and teachers can’t educate effectively. Especially since “wealthy” schools still have plenty of kids with special needs, English language learners, behavior challenges, too. If you said to me that these small class sizes in the title one or focus schools were producing promising results or better outcomes, that would be one thing. But they haven’t. All data shows abysmal proficiency with no upward trend. This is like the innovative calendar schools that were costing millions and not producing any better results than traditional calendar schools. When you don’t get return on your investment and you see that other schools are starting to decline too, you need to correct your allocations. The public school system serves all children, not just the neediest.

The funding is literally given to MCPS from the state based on the number of FARMS kids. If you don't like class size reductions for high FARMS schools (have you given a single thought to what it is like for teachers in a school with so many high needs kids, who are not "just" low income but also dispropeitionately special needs and EML), that money STILL should not go to wealthy schools, that's sociopathic

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why everything has to be about FARMS schools? Children in other schools also need to be properly educated. My kid is in math class with 33 other students. Yes, I am all for decreasing the number of students at our school even if other schools will have to bump up a bit. I am not in a high FARMS rate school but it doesn't mean I can send my child to a private institution.

Lower income students cost more to education..that's why the state gives MCPS funding based on the number of FARMS students. But MCPS is taking that money and using it to increase resources for wealthy students. You may be okay with that (you care exclusively about your kid and kids similar to your kid) but that doesn't make it okay.

Yes,I care about my children first and foremost.
33 students in our school vs 18 in *poor* schools seem to much of a difference. That's almost doubled the classroom.

1) That's selfish.
2) Why can't parents work together for better things for all our kids, rather than you wanting to make things worse for poorer kids?
3) No elementary school class should have 33 kids-- even in 4th and 5th grade, they get funded for one teacher per 29 kids (although sometimes some of the classes will have 30 kids before they get extra funding, depending on how the numbers shake out.) If your principal is making classes of 33, that's your principal's decision/fault. Also, Title 1 and focus schools get one teacher per 27 kids in 4th and 5th grade so it's only a slight difference to the 29 in other schools.

DP, but not everyone sees it the same way as you. I think 33 kids is completely unacceptable, and going from 19 kids to 21 kids is still acceptable in my personal opinion. I think more resources should go to higher needs schools, but I don’t think ALL resources should go to higher needs schools to the point that the lower needs schools can’t fit kids in the physical classroom and teachers can’t educate effectively. Especially since “wealthy” schools still have plenty of kids with special needs, English language learners, behavior challenges, too. If you said to me that these small class sizes in the title one or focus schools were producing promising results or better outcomes, that would be one thing. But they haven’t. All data shows abysmal proficiency with no upward trend. This is like the innovative calendar schools that were costing millions and not producing any better results than traditional calendar schools. When you don’t get return on your investment and you see that other schools are starting to decline too, you need to correct your allocations. The public school system serves all children, not just the neediest.

Exactly. Even the 15-20 sized classes aren’t going to fix the problem. Mostly likely 2-4 of these students are going to have a reading or math disability on top of ESOL needs. Instead, the school would need an extra interventionist if 10 kids in every grade need intervention with a specific curriculum not used in the classroom. So it sounds like Thomas is recalibrating based on this knowledge. Small class sizes don’t solve every problem and he knows that. And no 33 is not acceptable.

But he is taking teachers away from low income schools, not adding teachers for interventions, so to suggest this is the basis for reducing funding for low income schools is nonsensical.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why everything has to be about FARMS schools? Children in other schools also need to be properly educated. My kid is in math class with 33 other students. Yes, I am all for decreasing the number of students at our school even if other schools will have to bump up a bit. I am not in a high FARMS rate school but it doesn't mean I can send my child to a private institution.

Lower income students cost more to education..that's why the state gives MCPS funding based on the number of FARMS students. But MCPS is taking that money and using it to increase resources for wealthy students. You may be okay with that (you care exclusively about your kid and kids similar to your kid) but that doesn't make it okay.

Yes,I care about my children first and foremost.
33 students in our school vs 18 in *poor* schools seem to much of a difference. That's almost doubled the classroom.

1) That's selfish.
2) Why can't parents work together for better things for all our kids, rather than you wanting to make things worse for poorer kids?
3) No elementary school class should have 33 kids-- even in 4th and 5th grade, they get funded for one teacher per 29 kids (although sometimes some of the classes will have 30 kids before they get extra funding, depending on how the numbers shake out.) If your principal is making classes of 33, that's your principal's decision/fault. Also, Title 1 and focus schools get one teacher per 27 kids in 4th and 5th grade so it's only a slight difference to the 29 in other schools.

DP, but not everyone sees it the same way as you. I think 33 kids is completely unacceptable, and going from 19 kids to 21 kids is still acceptable in my personal opinion. I think more resources should go to higher needs schools, but I don’t think ALL resources should go to higher needs schools to the point that the lower needs schools can’t fit kids in the physical classroom and teachers can’t educate effectively. Especially since “wealthy” schools still have plenty of kids with special needs, English language learners, behavior challenges, too. If you said to me that these small class sizes in the title one or focus schools were producing promising results or better outcomes, that would be one thing. But they haven’t. All data shows abysmal proficiency with no upward trend. This is like the innovative calendar schools that were costing millions and not producing any better results than traditional calendar schools. When you don’t get return on your investment and you see that other schools are starting to decline too, you need to correct your allocations. The public school system serves all children, not just the neediest.

Exactly. Even the 15-20 sized classes aren’t going to fix the problem. Mostly likely 2-4 of these students are going to have a reading or math disability on top of ESOL needs. Instead, the school would need an extra interventionist if 10 kids in every grade need intervention with a specific curriculum not used in the classroom. So it sounds like Thomas is recalibrating based on this knowledge. Small class sizes don’t solve every problem and he knows that. And no 33 is not acceptable.

But he is taking teachers away from low income schools, not adding teachers for interventions, so to suggest this is the basis for reducing funding for low income schools is nonsensical.

He might be planning to move people around and hasn’t announced it yet. I think it’s great to push back and ask these questions but it’s clear very small class size wasn’t enough to solve the reading problems that this county and the rest of the US see year to year. There are some models of what is working and small class size is not enough. Look at tiny private schools with kids that can’t read. It’s an issue everywhere.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why everything has to be about FARMS schools? Children in other schools also need to be properly educated. My kid is in math class with 33 other students. Yes, I am all for decreasing the number of students at our school even if other schools will have to bump up a bit. I am not in a high FARMS rate school but it doesn't mean I can send my child to a private institution.

Lower income students cost more to education..that's why the state gives MCPS funding based on the number of FARMS students. But MCPS is taking that money and using it to increase resources for wealthy students. You may be okay with that (you care exclusively about your kid and kids similar to your kid) but that doesn't make it okay.

Yes,I care about my children first and foremost.
33 students in our school vs 18 in *poor* schools seem to much of a difference. That's almost doubled the classroom.

1) That's selfish.
2) Why can't parents work together for better things for all our kids, rather than you wanting to make things worse for poorer kids?
3) No elementary school class should have 33 kids-- even in 4th and 5th grade, they get funded for one teacher per 29 kids (although sometimes some of the classes will have 30 kids before they get extra funding, depending on how the numbers shake out.) If your principal is making classes of 33, that's your principal's decision/fault. Also, Title 1 and focus schools get one teacher per 27 kids in 4th and 5th grade so it's only a slight difference to the 29 in other schools.

DP, but not everyone sees it the same way as you. I think 33 kids is completely unacceptable, and going from 19 kids to 21 kids is still acceptable in my personal opinion. I think more resources should go to higher needs schools, but I don’t think ALL resources should go to higher needs schools to the point that the lower needs schools can’t fit kids in the physical classroom and teachers can’t educate effectively. Especially since “wealthy” schools still have plenty of kids with special needs, English language learners, behavior challenges, too. If you said to me that these small class sizes in the title one or focus schools were producing promising results or better outcomes, that would be one thing. But they haven’t. All data shows abysmal proficiency with no upward trend. This is like the innovative calendar schools that were costing millions and not producing any better results than traditional calendar schools. When you don’t get return on your investment and you see that other schools are starting to decline too, you need to correct your allocations. The public school system serves all children, not just the neediest.

The funding is literally given to MCPS from the state based on the number of FARMS kids. If you don't like class size reductions for high FARMS schools (have you given a single thought to what it is like for teachers in a school with so many high needs kids, who are not "just" low income but also dispropeitionately special needs and EML), that money STILL should not go to wealthy schools, that's sociopathic

Cite your source that state funding is based on the number of farms kids. The vast majority of this budget comes from county taxes. I would also appreciate the source for your claim that low income schools have disproportionately higher special needs students.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why everything has to be about FARMS schools? Children in other schools also need to be properly educated. My kid is in math class with 33 other students. Yes, I am all for decreasing the number of students at our school even if other schools will have to bump up a bit. I am not in a high FARMS rate school but it doesn't mean I can send my child to a private institution.

Lower income students cost more to education..that's why the state gives MCPS funding based on the number of FARMS students. But MCPS is taking that money and using it to increase resources for wealthy students. You may be okay with that (you care exclusively about your kid and kids similar to your kid) but that doesn't make it okay.

Yes,I care about my children first and foremost.
33 students in our school vs 18 in *poor* schools seem to much of a difference. That's almost doubled the classroom.

1) That's selfish.
2) Why can't parents work together for better things for all our kids, rather than you wanting to make things worse for poorer kids?
3) No elementary school class should have 33 kids-- even in 4th and 5th grade, they get funded for one teacher per 29 kids (although sometimes some of the classes will have 30 kids before they get extra funding, depending on how the numbers shake out.) If your principal is making classes of 33, that's your principal's decision/fault. Also, Title 1 and focus schools get one teacher per 27 kids in 4th and 5th grade so it's only a slight difference to the 29 in other schools.

DP, but not everyone sees it the same way as you. I think 33 kids is completely unacceptable, and going from 19 kids to 21 kids is still acceptable in my personal opinion. I think more resources should go to higher needs schools, but I don’t think ALL resources should go to higher needs schools to the point that the lower needs schools can’t fit kids in the physical classroom and teachers can’t educate effectively. Especially since “wealthy” schools still have plenty of kids with special needs, English language learners, behavior challenges, too. If you said to me that these small class sizes in the title one or focus schools were producing promising results or better outcomes, that would be one thing. But they haven’t. All data shows abysmal proficiency with no upward trend. This is like the innovative calendar schools that were costing millions and not producing any better results than traditional calendar schools. When you don’t get return on your investment and you see that other schools are starting to decline too, you need to correct your allocations. The public school system serves all children, not just the neediest.

The funding is literally given to MCPS from the state based on the number of FARMS kids. If you don't like class size reductions for high FARMS schools (have you given a single thought to what it is like for teachers in a school with so many high needs kids, who are not "just" low income but also dispropeitionately special needs and EML), that money STILL should not go to wealthy schools, that's sociopathic

Cite your source that state funding is based on the number of farms kids. The vast majority of this budget comes from county taxes. I would also appreciate the source for your claim that low income schools have disproportionately higher special needs students.

Yes, the majority of funding does come from county taxes. But the state does provide a variety of pots of funding including one based on the number of FARMS kids (something Iike $150 million, but I am not sure of the current number). There are separate pots of federal and state funding for special education and EML services. Unfortunately, MCPS doesn't present this information in an especially transparent way, but you are welcome to do your own research on the Blueprint formula for schools. For older data you can refer to this report: https://www.montgomerycountymd.gov/OLO/Resources/Files/2019%20Reports/OLOReport2019-14.pdf

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Anonymous wrote:Why everything has to be about FARMS schools? Children in other schools also need to be properly educated. My kid is in math class with 33 other students. Yes, I am all for decreasing the number of students at our school even if other schools will have to bump up a bit. I am not in a high FARMS rate school but it doesn't mean I can send my child to a private institution.

Lower income students cost more to education..that's why the state gives MCPS funding based on the number of FARMS students. But MCPS is taking that money and using it to increase resources for wealthy students. You may be okay with that (you care exclusively about your kid and kids similar to your kid) but that doesn't make it okay.

Yes,I care about my children first and foremost.
33 students in our school vs 18 in *poor* schools seem to much of a difference. That's almost doubled the classroom.

1) That's selfish.
2) Why can't parents work together for better things for all our kids, rather than you wanting to make things worse for poorer kids?
3) No elementary school class should have 33 kids-- even in 4th and 5th grade, they get funded for one teacher per 29 kids (although sometimes some of the classes will have 30 kids before they get extra funding, depending on how the numbers shake out.) If your principal is making classes of 33, that's your principal's decision/fault. Also, Title 1 and focus schools get one teacher per 27 kids in 4th and 5th grade so it's only a slight difference to the 29 in other schools.

DP, but not everyone sees it the same way as you. I think 33 kids is completely unacceptable, and going from 19 kids to 21 kids is still acceptable in my personal opinion. I think more resources should go to higher needs schools, but I don’t think ALL resources should go to higher needs schools to the point that the lower needs schools can’t fit kids in the physical classroom and teachers can’t educate effectively. Especially since “wealthy” schools still have plenty of kids with special needs, English language learners, behavior challenges, too. If you said to me that these small class sizes in the title one or focus schools were producing promising results or better outcomes, that would be one thing. But they haven’t. All data shows abysmal proficiency with no upward trend. This is like the innovative calendar schools that were costing millions and not producing any better results than traditional calendar schools. When you don’t get return on your investment and you see that other schools are starting to decline too, you need to correct your allocations. The public school system serves all children, not just the neediest.

Exactly. Even the 15-20 sized classes aren’t going to fix the problem. Mostly likely 2-4 of these students are going to have a reading or math disability on top of ESOL needs. Instead, the school would need an extra interventionist if 10 kids in every grade need intervention with a specific curriculum not used in the classroom. So it sounds like Thomas is recalibrating based on this knowledge. Small class sizes don’t solve every problem and he knows that. And no 33 is not acceptable.

But he is taking teachers away from low income schools, not adding teachers for interventions, so to suggest this is the basis for reducing funding for low income schools is nonsensical.

He might be planning to move people around and hasn’t announced it yet. I think it’s great to push back and ask these questions but it’s clear very small class size wasn’t enough to solve the reading problems that this county and the rest of the US see year to year. There are some models of what is working and small class size is not enough. Look at tiny private schools with kids that can’t read. It’s an issue everywhere.

His budget doesn't fund new interventions in low income schools. He is proposing reducing funding for low income schools and reallocating it to higher income schools.