I feel like MCPS is turning my DC into a robot...

[Anonymous]

DC is a good example where the vaulted JLKM ES schools only receive half the funding and staff allocation of the poorer schools. DC allows parents to fundraise to replace those staff so you still see 2 teachers in a room of 24 Kindergarteners rather than 1 teacher for 24 Kindergartens in MCPS.

This one really bugs me. I'm OK with more central resources going away from the wealthier schools and into the poor schools. I don't think its ethical though that MCPS disallows parents from fundraising to achieve equal ratios. They could have a rule that parents can't fundraise to provide resources that exceed a Title 1 school but there is something wrong with requiring that wealthier schools have larger classes despite other options.

Does anyone know why MCPS will not allow fundraising to pay to equal out teacher ratios in school's with the larger classes? Doesn't make sense to disallow this.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

it's really unfair to expect MCPS to give the same customized experience as a school that costs 20k to 40k a year and is not required to educate the more challenged children.

Yes, but that's not unique to MCPS.

It also not universal. In school systems that are not as large, a public school can raise the bar. There are more financial resources available to the school. Kids in higher income, higher educated smaller communities create a study body similar to the private schools. Teachers can teach more challenging work and it isn't disallowed because the local school system is following a prescribed county wide curriculum designed for a different demographic. You see this more in some New England areas.

So the problem here is that MCPS includes poor communities. Yes, the W schools should revolt and create their own school district. Let those who can't afford to live in the more affluent areas suffer the low-income problems.

[Anonymous]

MCPS has set up a system where the higher performing schools in the affluent areas can only go down. There is nothing parents can do. They can't raise funds like they do in DC to replace lost teachers and aides. They can't advocate for more teachers because the need is too great in the poorer areas in the county. Even if they advocate for more dollars at the state level to provide better staffing those dollars would quickly be diverted to the poorer schools.

There is just no where to go but down for those schools. For all the clamor about the magical four Ws, these schools are just screwed in the current MCPS system.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

This one really bugs me. I'm OK with more central resources going away from the wealthier schools and into the poor schools. I don't think its ethical though that MCPS disallows parents from fundraising to achieve equal ratios. They could have a rule that parents can't fundraise to provide resources that exceed a Title 1 school but there is something wrong with requiring that wealthier schools have larger classes despite other options.

Does anyone know why MCPS will not allow fundraising to pay to equal out teacher ratios in school's with the larger classes? Doesn't make sense to disallow this.

Why does it not make sense to disallow affluent parents from buying extra teachers for their children in public school?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:MCPS has set up a system where the higher performing schools in the affluent areas can only go down. There is nothing parents can do. They can't raise funds like they do in DC to replace lost teachers and aides. They can't advocate for more teachers because the need is too great in the poorer areas in the county. Even if they advocate for more dollars at the state level to provide better staffing those dollars would quickly be diverted to the poorer schools.

There is just no where to go but down for those schools. For all the clamor about the magical four Ws, these schools are just screwed in the current MCPS system.

MCPS = Montgomery County Public Schools. The Montgomery County public schools are there equally for every child who lives in Montgomery County.

[Anonymous]

MCPS = Montgomery County Public Schools. The Montgomery County public schools are there equally for every child who lives in Montgomery County.

But its not equal. A K student in a Title I school gets 1 teacher per 12 kids and a K student in a non-Title I school gets 1 teacher for 24 over more students. I could understand this argument if parents were fundraising to put 1 teacher per 6 students in the wealthy school but as long as the ratio isn't beyond the Title I school, how is it unequal to gain equal ratios?

[Anonymous]

MCPS = Montgomery County Public Schools. The Montgomery County public schools are there equally for every child who lives in Montgomery County.

DCPS = District of Columbia Public School. The District of Columbia public schools are there equally for every child who lives in the District.

Yet, DCPS allows parents in schools that lost teachers and aides to fundraise to replace them. These school don't get more staff or resources from the District but they aren't unfairly forced to deal with classes sizes twice as large if they can replace the resource themselves.

[Anonymous]

You sound like a really poor parent. How can you not know that they have already done their fall round of standardized testing and are now starting with the winter round?
It's required in all MCPS kindergarteners.

Anonymous wrote:I have a kindergartener in MCPS and they have not gotten any report cards yet (they only get 2/year unlike older kids.) Nor have they done any standardized testing. I'm sure OP is volunteering precisely for the purposes of ascertaining where her daughter stands in the fierce academic pecking order of K, but it's a pointless effort. Anyone who has older kids knows how much changes in these first few years of schooling, and many of the kids who may seem to be "at the bottom of the class" (!) in K wind up in a very different place by grades 3 or 4, much less when it matters in HS.

To the point of her post - yes, K spends a lot of time on socialization and teaching kids the rules of the institution. You may not like it OP, but if you were teaching a classroom of 5/6yos - whether it's 18 or 28 of them - it's essential that they learn to operate within the classroom setting, which is quite different than a home setting and most private preschools.

So OP, stop worrying about where your child ranks - you are the one who is turning her into a robot, not the school system.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

MCPS = Montgomery County Public Schools. The Montgomery County public schools are there equally for every child who lives in Montgomery County.

DCPS = District of Columbia Public School. The District of Columbia public schools are there equally for every child who lives in the District.

Yet, DCPS allows parents in schools that lost teachers and aides to fundraise to replace them. These school don't get more staff or resources from the District but they aren't unfairly forced to deal with classes sizes twice as large if they can replace the resource themselves.

They should be, but they're not, because if you're in a school where the parents can raise lots of money, you get stuff that the other kids don't.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

MCPS = Montgomery County Public Schools. The Montgomery County public schools are there equally for every child who lives in Montgomery County.

But its not equal. A K student in a Title I school gets 1 teacher per 12 kids and a K student in a non-Title I school gets 1 teacher for 24 over more students. I could understand this argument if parents were fundraising to put 1 teacher per 6 students in the wealthy school but as long as the ratio isn't beyond the Title I school, how is it unequal to gain equal ratios?

It's so unfair that the poor kids get all of the advantages.

No, wait...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You sound like a really poor parent. How can you not know that they have already done their fall round of standardized testing and are now starting with the winter round?
It's required in all MCPS kindergarteners.

Evidently now you can't be a good parent unless you've memorized the information on this website:

http://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/departments/sharedaccountability/calendar/estesting.aspx

The testing windows for kindergarten for the MAP-P test are September 8–October 30, January 5–February 27, and March 30–June 10. The MAP-P test measures individual student progress for K-2 students (i.e., fall scores compared to winter scores compared to spring scores). Parents can review scores with the teacher.

[Anonymous]

I'm not a parent of a MCPS student but by now in kindergarten, parents should have had a parent teacher conference where results of fall testing should have been shared. Either the poster who claims her child has not yet been assessed is an absentee parent who hasn't bothered to meet with the teacher or has a short term memory issue. You don't need to read the website if you are a decent parent who has met with your child's teacher.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

MCPS = Montgomery County Public Schools. The Montgomery County public schools are there equally for every child who lives in Montgomery County.

But its not equal. A K student in a Title I school gets 1 teacher per 12 kids and a K student in a non-Title I school gets 1 teacher for 24 over more students. I could understand this argument if parents were fundraising to put 1 teacher per 6 students in the wealthy school but as long as the ratio isn't beyond the Title I school, how is it unequal to gain equal ratios?

It's so unfair that the poor kids get all of the advantages.

No, wait...

In the school they do.

[Anonymous]

Sort of off topic, but our school does not share MAP-P results. In fact it seems the teachers do not want to say. Not sure what it takes to get them but I know you could submit some sort of formal requests.

So the person that does not have test results is not a bad parent.

[Anonymous]

Teachers are becoming robots too... So sad.