No More Reading Levels in Grades 3 - 5

[Anonymous]

Parents with higher achieving students have just about had it with the dumbing down. Mcps will eventually see more and more higher achieving students pulled out. If more reasonably priced private schools or education co-ops existed, I'd pull both of my kids out immediately.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Parents with higher achieving students have just about had it with the dumbing down. Mcps will eventually see more and more higher achieving students pulled out. If more reasonably priced private schools or education co-ops existed, I'd pull both of my kids out immediately.

That's exactly why we're sending our kid to a private school this year. We can't afford the $40K/year schools without seriously jeopardizing retirement and college savings, but we can swing $25K. When we toured it, we looked at each other and said "this is a lovely school, but it almost seems like what we had in public school, with more developed science and art curricula and smaller classes." It's sad we have to shell out $25K/year to replicate that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Parents with higher achieving students have just about had it with the dumbing down. Mcps will eventually see more and more higher achieving students pulled out. If more reasonably priced private schools or education co-ops existed, I'd pull both of my kids out immediately.

Well my kid does well but we can’t afford private so we’re kinda stuck.

I don’t really think MCPS cares if people leave for private. Just fewer students for them!

But I do think it is unfortunate because a strong public school system is pretty important.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Parents with higher achieving students have just about had it with the dumbing down. Mcps will eventually see more and more higher achieving students pulled out. If more reasonably priced private schools or education co-ops existed, I'd pull both of my kids out immediately.

That's exactly why we're sending our kid to a private school this year. We can't afford the $40K/year schools without seriously jeopardizing retirement and college savings, but we can swing $25K. When we toured it, we looked at each other and said "this is a lovely school, but it almost seems like what we had in public school, with more developed science and art curricula and smaller classes." It's sad we have to shell out $25K/year to replicate that.

It’s particularly sad because I’m from a country where the middle and upper classes really don’t get served by the public school system and so everyone pretty much pays for private. I think it’s a crappy system because a decent education is partially why we pay so much in taxes and it used to be what was so great about America!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Parents with higher achieving students have just about had it with the dumbing down. Mcps will eventually see more and more higher achieving students pulled out. If more reasonably priced private schools or education co-ops existed, I'd pull both of my kids out immediately.

Well my kid does well but we can’t afford private so we’re kinda stuck.

I don’t really think MCPS cares if people leave for private. Just fewer students for them!

But I do think it is unfortunate because a strong public school system is pretty important.

Oh totally -- I'm sure MCPS is happy to see people switch to private. Like you said, fewer kids for them to deal with and they still get your property taxes. Plus they'll never lose SO many kids to seriously jeopardize their revenue base (like what happened in Detroit and DC).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Parents with higher achieving students have just about had it with the dumbing down. Mcps will eventually see more and more higher achieving students pulled out. If more reasonably priced private schools or education co-ops existed, I'd pull both of my kids out immediately.

That's exactly why we're sending our kid to a private school this year. We can't afford the $40K/year schools without seriously jeopardizing retirement and college savings, but we can swing $25K. When we toured it, we looked at each other and said "this is a lovely school, but it almost seems like what we had in public school, with more developed science and art curricula and smaller classes." It's sad we have to shell out $25K/year to replicate that.

It’s particularly sad because I’m from a country where the middle and upper classes really don’t get served by the public school system and so everyone pretty much pays for private. I think it’s a crappy system because a decent education is partially why we pay so much in taxes and it used to be what was so great about America!

I totally agree. I grew up here, but when I was a kid no one would think of going to private school unless you had a religious reason to do so, or the kid had special needs that really couldn't be accommodated in public school. I think for us, our breaking point was realizing that, even if MCPS adopted a stellar new math and reading curriculum, there's zero indication that they're adopting one that includes proper instruction in subjects other than math and reading. Math and reading are obviously important, but how can a kid be well educated without instruction in science, history, etc.? You can't just cram that into MS and HS.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Parents with higher achieving students have just about had it with the dumbing down. Mcps will eventually see more and more higher achieving students pulled out. If more reasonably priced private schools or education co-ops existed, I'd pull both of my kids out immediately.

That's exactly why we're sending our kid to a private school this year. We can't afford the $40K/year schools without seriously jeopardizing retirement and college savings, but we can swing $25K. When we toured it, we looked at each other and said "this is a lovely school, but it almost seems like what we had in public school, with more developed science and art curricula and smaller classes." It's sad we have to shell out $25K/year to replicate that.

It’s particularly sad because I’m from a country where the middle and upper classes really don’t get served by the public school system and so everyone pretty much pays for private. I think it’s a crappy system because a decent education is partially why we pay so much in taxes and it used to be what was so great about America!

Can we please have some perspective here? People on DCUM post as though MCPS were comparable to Ritchie County Public Schools.

http://www.ritchieschools.com/

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Parents with higher achieving students have just about had it with the dumbing down. Mcps will eventually see more and more higher achieving students pulled out. If more reasonably priced private schools or education co-ops existed, I'd pull both of my kids out immediately.

That's exactly why we're sending our kid to a private school this year. We can't afford the $40K/year schools without seriously jeopardizing retirement and college savings, but we can swing $25K. When we toured it, we looked at each other and said "this is a lovely school, but it almost seems like what we had in public school, with more developed science and art curricula and smaller classes." It's sad we have to shell out $25K/year to replicate that.

It’s particularly sad because I’m from a country where the middle and upper classes really don’t get served by the public school system and so everyone pretty much pays for private. I think it’s a crappy system because a decent education is partially why we pay so much in taxes and it used to be what was so great about America!

Can we please have some perspective here? People on DCUM post as though MCPS were comparable to Ritchie County Public Schools.

http://www.ritchieschools.com/

I don’t know anything about the schools in WV, but I think in general, the public school system in this country has gone downhill. I have friends and families who have been teachers for decades and they will all tell you that our public education system is in trouble.

I am a child of immigrants and I would not be where I am if it were not for the public school system. 100%. My parents couldn’t do anything with me, so I was dependent on fantastic teachers and a good curriculum.

I am not seeing that at my kids’ ES. At all. We do still have awesome teachers, but the curriculum is terrible and there are SO many gaps! The lack of textbooks and over-reliance on Chromebooks are probably my biggest complaints. But the lack of any organized curriculum is a huge problem.

[Anonymous]

And is that what we want for our kids? Hey, at least our school system is not as bad as DC. Or WV?

That’s setting the bar pretty low, don’t you think?

And in that case, I want to see my taxes go down so a I can use that money to pay for private school instead.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:And is that what we want for our kids? Hey, at least our school system is not as bad as DC. Or WV?

That’s setting the bar pretty low, don’t you think?

And in that case, I want to see my taxes go down so a I can use that money to pay for private school instead.

Nobody is saying that.

And no, your taxes aren't going down so that you can use that money to pay for private school instead. If you want to live in a low-tax state, try Kansas. How are the public schools in Kansas, these days?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Parents with higher achieving students have just about had it with the dumbing down. Mcps will eventually see more and more higher achieving students pulled out. If more reasonably priced private schools or education co-ops existed, I'd pull both of my kids out immediately.

How is expecting kids to be 1 to 2 grades above grade level dumbing things down?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:And is that what we want for our kids? Hey, at least our school system is not as bad as DC. Or WV?

That’s setting the bar pretty low, don’t you think?

And in that case, I want to see my taxes go down so a I can use that money to pay for private school instead.

Nobody is saying that.

And no, your taxes aren't going down so that you can use that money to pay for private school instead. If you want to live in a low-tax state, try Kansas. How are the public schools in Kansas, these days?

Taxes aren't going down so you can pay for private school, but now you can use a 529 to put $10K/year towards private school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Parents with higher achieving students have just about had it with the dumbing down. Mcps will eventually see more and more higher achieving students pulled out. If more reasonably priced private schools or education co-ops existed, I'd pull both of my kids out immediately.

How is expecting kids to be 1 to 2 grades above grade level dumbing things down?

It’s not that. It’s the fact that they no longer want to keep records. Keeping it off the report card makes it easier to say that kids are all ‘doing fine’. Allows MCPS to get out of providing services for kids who might need services. Allows MCPS to talk about how all the URMS are doing fantastic because there is no data otherwise.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:And is that what we want for our kids? Hey, at least our school system is not as bad as DC. Or WV?

That’s setting the bar pretty low, don’t you think?

And in that case, I want to see my taxes go down so a I can use that money to pay for private school instead.

Nobody is saying that.

And no, your taxes aren't going down so that you can use that money to pay for private school instead. If you want to live in a low-tax state, try Kansas. How are the public schools in Kansas, these days?

Umm, that’s exactly what that PP said. That we should get some perspective because our schools are better than the ones in WV.

I can’t move to Kansas because of our jobs. And i know nothing about Kansas schools. Why does that matter?

I live in Montgomery County. My kids attend school here.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:And is that what we want for our kids? Hey, at least our school system is not as bad as DC. Or WV?

That’s setting the bar pretty low, don’t you think?

And in that case, I want to see my taxes go down so a I can use that money to pay for private school instead.

Nobody is saying that.

And no, your taxes aren't going down so that you can use that money to pay for private school instead. If you want to live in a low-tax state, try Kansas. How are the public schools in Kansas, these days?

Umm, that’s exactly what that PP said. That we should get some perspective because our schools are better than the ones in WV.

I can’t move to Kansas because of our jobs. And i know nothing about Kansas schools. Why does that matter?

I live in Montgomery County. My kids attend school here.

No, I'm that PP. And I said that you should get some perspective because you are talking as if our schools were as bad as the ones in WV.

If you want to send your kid(s) to private school, and you can do so, then do so.