Who leaked the MCPS attendance documents to the Washington Post?

[Anonymous]

This is not just in the low income schools. The wealthy schools have the same issue! Parents just know what to write on the note. Traveling to Europe for 2 weeks at Christmas? Religous reasons. Same at Spring Break.

This story broke for PG County and DC schools over the past 2 years, it was just a matter of time before it came out for MCPs. I just wish the Post also talked about the issue at the wealthier schools, where absences are also a problem.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Of course we ask why. They tell us that school is long and boring. I guess it is compared to watching You Tube videos and playing FortNite all day. We also have chronic latenesses even though the families live within walking distance. The kids are used to being late and when they show up, their attitude is “Well, I’m here!” They don’t come in 10 minutes late. They come in 2-3 HOURS late. Why? Mom/Dad didn’t want to get up early.

There’s a lot you can do that isn’t YouTube or Fortnite. Ever create an Escape Room for your students? I did, but you can also download ready to go ones from TPT and other sites. You can play Kahoot. The kids love that and it gives me a formative assessment grade that doesn’t feel like a test to them.

Also, are you providing movement breaks or brain breaks? Again, lots of great ones are free online.

Here’s the thing: you can absolutely adopt and subtly express the attitude that “Kid, you are screwed in life because you had the bad luck to be born to your lazy-ass parents.” Or you can show the kid how to work around that bad luck so they can break the cycle. If my teacher rolled her eyes when I walk in late through no fault of my own (due to being a child), I wouldn’t be so enthusiastic about school.

Thanks for your tips on how to be a fun teacher but school is work and work is sometimes hard and boring. I am always happy when students come to school but lack of parenting causes so many issues which cause issues at school. I am a parent myself. My kid thinks school is pretty boring most of the time but he still has to go. I make him do other things he doesn’t like like go to bed at 9pm, not use technology during the week so he can do his homework, study for his final exams on a beautiful holiday weekend, etc. If I didn’t do that, it would cause issues at school and it isn’t his teacher’s job to fill in as a parent.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Of course we ask why. They tell us that school is long and boring. I guess it is compared to watching You Tube videos and playing FortNite all day. We also have chronic latenesses even though the families live within walking distance. The kids are used to being late and when they show up, their attitude is “Well, I’m here!” They don’t come in 10 minutes late. They come in 2-3 HOURS late. Why? Mom/Dad didn’t want to get up early.

There’s a lot you can do that isn’t YouTube or Fortnite. Ever create an Escape Room for your students? I did, but you can also download ready to go ones from TPT and other sites. You can play Kahoot. The kids love that and it gives me a formative assessment grade that doesn’t feel like a test to them.

Also, are you providing movement breaks or brain breaks? Again, lots of great ones are free online.

Here’s the thing: you can absolutely adopt and subtly express the attitude that “Kid, you are screwed in life because you had the bad luck to be born to your lazy-ass parents.” Or you can show the kid how to work around that bad luck so they can break the cycle. If my teacher rolled her eyes when I walk in late through no fault of my own (due to being a child), I wouldn’t be so enthusiastic about school.

Thanks for your tips on how to be a fun teacher but school is work and work is sometimes hard and boring. I am always happy when students come to school but lack of parenting causes so many issues which cause issues at school. I am a parent myself. My kid thinks school is pretty boring most of the time but he still has to go. I make him do other things he doesn’t like like go to bed at 9pm, not use technology during the week so he can do his homework, study for his final exams on a beautiful holiday weekend, etc. If I didn’t do that, it would cause issues at school and it isn’t his teacher’s job to fill in as a parent.

Wow, you completely missed the point.

[Anonymous]

One of my counselor colleagues in MCPS is leaving high school for elementary or middle because she can’t stand the deceptive and coercive practices anymore. It’s unethical all around and not in kids’ best interests. Accountability and being present matter. Now and in life.

[Anonymous]

Pp again, this is not a low income high school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am sure there is an issue but I also know that my kids often have unexcused absences that were entered wrong that no one bothers to correct. Sometimes we do not even know till we get the report card. Or we get an email and it is a field trip or sports.

This happens regularly to us — basically anytime we come in late because of a dr appointment, even though we tell the attendance secretary ahead of time and bring in a dr note. I regularly have to have her correct it, and I imagine most people don’t check to make sure it has been recorded properly.

[Anonymous]

We constantly get the emails from my kids middle school saying she had an unexcued absence. I used to call about them but the school never could tell me the reason why and when I asked my kid (who is a pretty good student, and I don’t think ditching class) she either didn’t know or thought it was because the sub didn’t mark correctly; she was late to class because she needed to go to the bathroom; or she had left class (with a note) to do a checkin with counselor or something like that. I have given up trying to track it because the front office was so unhelpful and it didn’t seem like a big deal. It would be moderately more helpful if the automated message reported which period(s) the child was marked absent—then a parent could tell whether the kid or ditching class regularly, or whether there’s just a teacher or sub that doesn’t take attendance well. I can’t email all seven teachers every time I get the auto email.

[Anonymous]

Several times I have called the school to correct and have been told it really doesn't matter. I stopped correcting. My kid is probably included in some of these stats. She is a very strong student, never skips class and absolutely deserves a diploma.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am sure there is an issue but I also know that my kids often have unexcused absences that were entered wrong that no one bothers to correct. Sometimes we do not even know till we get the report card. Or we get an email and it is a field trip or sports.

47 times? The article isn't about mistakes in recording. It is about massive unexcused absences that show that students don't actually have to attend MCPS to graduate. The article devalues MCPS diplomas for all students.

Wow. Just wow.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Knowing the root cause is not the same as addressing it. What have you actually done, either personally or as part of a group to help students overcome the reasons they miss classes?

So you're blaming teachers now?

This is a point I've made again and again, and you're part of the problem.

I don't owe you an explanation of steps I've taken, especially with your accusatory tone.

You're part of the problem, and you'll continue to help the system erode each and every day.

thanks

This work is part of our job. Each and every day. You don’t do this important part of your job and you resent being called out for it.

You are an ahole pp! I'm not a teacher but you are out of line. The teacher's responsibility is teaching, not social worker or counselor. Teachers are mandated reporters of abuse. It ends there. It is the school administrators responsibility to police attendance requirements and hire staff to monitor the epidemic and offer solutions.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Several times I have called the school to correct and have been told it really doesn't matter. I stopped correcting. My kid is probably included in some of these stats. She is a very strong student, never skips class and absolutely deserves a diploma.

Well, as you can see, it doesn't matter.

And I highly doubt your child is being marked absent 2 out of 5 times a week.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am sure there is an issue but I also know that my kids often have unexcused absences that were entered wrong that no one bothers to correct. Sometimes we do not even know till we get the report card. Or we get an email and it is a field trip or sports.

47 times? The article isn't about mistakes in recording. It is about massive unexcused absences that show that students don't actually have to attend MCPS to graduate. The article devalues MCPS diplomas for all students.

47 no not a mistake in recording. 10 yes..my kids have sometimes gotten a report card with 10 unexcused absences at the end of the year that we can not figure out..but the year is over and it does not seem to matter so I do nothing. Even when I get the recording when my kid was at a sport event, I ignore it. I am sure I am not the only parent who knows it does not matter.

We've had this issue too. The kid was signed out for a doctor's appointment, or the kid had a school field trip, or the kid left before the end of the day for a school sports event, or - most recently - the kid was allowed to not come in the morning because of an AP test in the afternoon. And then we get the phone call "your child was marked absent for all or part of the day..."

[Anonymous]

I have to correct attendance at least a few times a week. My son has a flash pass due to mental health issues. It’s part of his IEP. So all absences are excused. But no way could teachers know that he’s on an excused absence. And the staff to whom he goes while on the flash pass often forget to tell his counselor so she can correct attendance. And, of course sometimes his counselor isn’t there to correct it. If I didn’t correct attendance, he’d easily miss 47 classes a semester.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Knowing the root cause is not the same as addressing it. What have you actually done, either personally or as part of a group to help students overcome the reasons they miss classes?

So you're blaming teachers now?

This is a point I've made again and again, and you're part of the problem.

I don't owe you an explanation of steps I've taken, especially with your accusatory tone.

You're part of the problem, and you'll continue to help the system erode each and every day.

thanks

This work is part of our job. Each and every day. You don’t do this important part of your job and you resent being called out for it.

You are an ahole pp! I'm not a teacher but you are out of line. The teacher's responsibility is teaching, not social worker or counselor. Teachers are mandated reporters of abuse. It ends there. It is the school administrators responsibility to police attendance requirements and hire staff to monitor the epidemic and offer solutions.

Thanks to the ^ PP for defending me for not doing my job.

So here you go, Einstein. (I'm replying to the PP in bold.) I'll give you ONE example of what I did for ONE kid for an entire semester - not in any particular order b/c you wouldn't understand anyway. (One year half of my 32 students in ONE class had IEPs and behavioral issues. They traveled in a pack, and there were pages of pages of entries on the comm logs on multiple students in that group.)

1. talked to student - switched up my strategies, my groupings, my planning with the sped co-teacher
2. called home - could never reach the mother
3. emailed colleagues regarding successful methods in dealing with student - nothing of substance was shared, as she was an issue in all of her classes
4. tested reading level (reading 3 grade levels below)
5. documented all behaviors in class on the comm log - many, many entries (not just from me)
6. contacted counselor about a meeting with parent
7. suggested testing for an IEP (ED specifically, as she was not a coded student in this co-taught class) - was slapped down for overstepping bounds
8. contacted school psychologist to observe - In a nutshell, psych said the kid needed to be disciplined and that her hands were tied. OK, thanks for nothing
9. sent home work after she had been suspended for fighting before an assembly where a popular figure was giving a motivational speech during Hispanic Heritage Month - She beat up a boy. Hey - she was tough.
10. completed a BIP and FBA that went nowhere


long story short - She was placed in an honors English class the next semester with a wonderful teacher who should have been a role model. She failed the class and was gone the next year.

lather, rinse, repeat - multiple times throughout the year
So when does teaching get done?

You claim this is OUR job. So I'm assuming (ASSuming?) you're an educator. Tell me what you've done that matches anything close to what I've done. I resent being unfairly called out by an a**hole like you. You are an a**hole.

[Anonymous]

I have a child who has been severely bullied at school and social media that has caused a mental health crisis. We have reported the bullying but the school administrators are not doing anything to improve the situation. What we have been told to do is to submit a note saying that my child is out for medical reasons.

Out of concern for the missed instruction, we asked for home instruction because of the number of days missed. He was denied. It's ludicrous that he watches YouTube and Kahn Academy to learn the material and can get As and Bs when he has been absent 25% of the semester. He does better than some kids who attend class regularly because the online resources are better than the teachers in the classroom.