Mcps has a dropout problem

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Objectively high school is incredibly easy. The people who don’t well refuse to study do homework etc. I knew very smart people who did poorly because they didn’t bother trying but as they got older their work study ethic improved .

This is the sort of topic that brings out the ignorance and unkindness in people. Prime example here. High school is not incredibly easy. Many kids struggle even if they study and do homework. Add to that language barriers in both student and family and also the stress of financial concerns. While there is a set of kids who have an incredibly easy time in high school, it is definitely not the norm.

Students struggle because they want to do well. If they just want to pass, it is not hard - "incredibly easy" may be a bit exaggerating, but certainly not hard.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:


Ride-On is actually free for minors, who told you that lie. https://www.montgomerycountymd.gov/dot-transit/kidsridefree/index.html

Saturday school often tries to work with families that economically disadvantaged, however, many of these families are living 10-15 in one house. Surely, between that many people they can come up with $40.

RideOn is free for kids under 18/kids in school, as of July 1, 2019 - hooray! It is true, however, that a lot of bus routes only run on weekdays.

Would you expect your neighbors to help pay for your child's violin lesson/shoes/whatever?

DP

Don't change your argument. Violin lessons are optional. Completely. Academics are not (at least for some people). And, the churches in my neighborhood have plenty of shoes/clothes available for those who need them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What probably isn't covered is that some of the dropouts perhaps move to an entirely different state or may go back to their home countries. Non-American native populations are highly transient. It doesn't make sense to waste money on students who frequently move around. In fact, there are lots of services already in place for students and families who struggle with poverty [food drives, schools partnerships with food banks and clothing banks, etc.]. MCPS has free Saturday school and after-school homework help hotline.

There are lots of students who work and go to school, they are not dropping out.

For the umpteenth time: Saturday School is not free.

https://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/uploadedFiles/schools/argylems/Program%20Flyer%20English%2018-19%20Final.pdf

True, but it's only $40. Also, our Focus school DOES offer weekly after-school tutoring help at the low-income apartments that feed into the school.

There are also lots of free online resources, that can be used for kids who are transient.

$40 is a lot of groceries at Aldi’s[b]. And it can’t be paid in installments. Plus you have to get there on Saturday morning when there aren’t school buses and Ride On isn’t free for minors. Also, many people have more than one child and a teen might be required to babysit on Saturday so that the parents can work.

True. But it's cheaper than a new iPhone. And, cheaper than getting your nails done weekly, and your ombre dye job.

The illegal immigrants living in my neighborhood all seem to have late model cars (Camrys, Siennas, Odysseys - Japanese models), so driving shouldn't be an issue.

Also, I believe there is a new program that is offering free bus service to students in MoCo.

My school’s immigrant students don’t have new iPhones or professionally dyed hair or nails. They don’t have family cars. They wear used clothes from our donation drive. They catch the ride on or walk. The ride on is free from 2-7 on week days during the school year.

Dollar tree sells hair dye and nail polish. It’s $1. I don’t begrudge a teen girl a couple bucks worth of beauty products each month.

You are likely assuming people are illegal.

No, I'm not assuming. We know these families. Our kids attend school together. It's not a secret, at least not in Montgomery County.

Your school's immigrant students catch the ride on to get to school? Are they attending schools that are outside of their zoned area? Because MCPS provides bus service. The only kids in my area who take Ride On, are the ones committing residency fraud and attending schools outside of boundary.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

No, I'm not assuming. We know these families. Our kids attend school together. It's not a secret, at least not in Montgomery County.

Your school's immigrant students catch the ride on to get to school? Are they attending schools that are outside of their zoned area? Because MCPS provides bus service. The only kids in my area who take Ride On, are the ones committing residency fraud and attending schools outside of boundary.

Lots of kids take RideOn to their zoned schools. Maybe you just don't know any.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Objectively high school is incredibly easy. The people who don’t well refuse to study do homework etc. I knew very smart people who did poorly because they didn’t bother trying but as they got older their work study ethic improved .

This is the sort of topic that brings out the ignorance and unkindness in people. Prime example here. High school is not incredibly easy. Many kids struggle even if they study and do homework. Add to that language barriers in both student and family and also the stress of financial concerns. While there is a set of kids who have an incredibly easy time in high school, it is definitely not the norm.

Students struggle because they want to do well. If they just want to pass, it is not hard - "incredibly easy" may be a bit exaggerating, but certainly not hard.

high school, especially on level or remedial is simple. Compare high school to taking the bar exam . Which is much harder ?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:


Ride-On is actually free for minors, who told you that lie. https://www.montgomerycountymd.gov/dot-transit/kidsridefree/index.html

Saturday school often tries to work with families that economically disadvantaged, however, many of these families are living 10-15 in one house. Surely, between that many people they can come up with $40.

RideOn is free for kids under 18/kids in school, as of July 1, 2019 - hooray! It is true, however, that a lot of bus routes only run on weekdays.

Would you expect your neighbors to help pay for your child's violin lesson/shoes/whatever?

DP

Don't change your argument. Violin lessons are optional. Completely. Academics are not (at least for some people). And, the churches in my neighborhood have plenty of shoes/clothes available for those who need them.

Do you expect your neighbors to help you pay for things for your kids? If not, why would you expect neighbors in shared housing to help people pay for things for their kids?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
Yes I did. And I regret to say, the writer was not doing a great job organizing the article. She first mentioned economic hardship. Then changed topics to teacher instructions (to be relevant, to reteach ...) What exactly is her point?

Anyway - if it is economic hardship - it is not MCPS's problem and don't try to make it so.
If it is a teaching issue, then something may need to be done but for most people here I highly doubt that they would be very enthusiastic about changing the teaching style to something like "reteach" "slow down" to make the "dropout" situation better.

If people are dropping out of school because of economic hardship, then it is MCPS's problem.

No. Economic hardship has nothing to do with schools. The school system is not there to solve people's economic problems. MCPS provides a platform for kids to go to school. If the parents choose not to send their kids to MCPS because they value money more than education, that is not MCPS's problem.

If the MCPS wanted to ask the DA to sue the families for dropping their kids out of school, that I would have no problem, just don't spend our education money on the legal fees.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:


Ride-On is actually free for minors, who told you that lie. https://www.montgomerycountymd.gov/dot-transit/kidsridefree/index.html

Saturday school often tries to work with families that economically disadvantaged, however, many of these families are living 10-15 in one house. Surely, between that many people they can come up with $40.

RideOn is free for kids under 18/kids in school, as of July 1, 2019 - hooray! It is true, however, that a lot of bus routes only run on weekdays.

Would you expect your neighbors to help pay for your child's violin lesson/shoes/whatever?

DP

Don't change your argument. Violin lessons are optional. Completely. Academics are not (at least for some people). And, the churches in my neighborhood have plenty of shoes/clothes available for those who need them.

Do you expect your neighbors to help you pay for things for your kids? If not, why would you expect neighbors in shared housing to help people pay for things for their kids?

Because they are not neighbors. They consider themselves ‘family’, which is how they get away with living in that situation. It’s technically illegal to have multiple unrelated families living in a SFH in Montgomery County. However, when pressed, these families say they are all ‘related’ so there can be no enforcement of housing code laws.

So, you choose. Either they are all families, and can support each other with $40, or they are unrelated and need to be forced to move out because they are living there illegally.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Because they are not neighbors. They consider themselves ‘family’, which is how they get away with living in that situation. It’s technically illegal to have multiple unrelated families living in a SFH in Montgomery County. However, when pressed, these families say they are all ‘related’ so there can be no enforcement of housing code laws.

So, you choose. Either they are all families, and can support each other with $40, or they are unrelated and need to be forced to move out because they are living there illegally.

Or, there are multiple unrelated families living in a house, which is not legal under current Montgomery County housing code, which is based on the assumption of one nuclear family per housing unit - and all of this is entirely irrelevant to the facts that

1. Saturday School is not free, and
2. $40 is a lot of money for people working low-wage jobs

[Anonymous]

MCPS could do a lot more to address this problem.

There should be a special on ramp school for older kids entering the system with limited English or multi year gaps in going to school. MCPS high schools are huge and students are subjected to tons of bureaucracy. I can't imagine plopping in from another county when I hadn't been in a class room for years.

The low income schools in MCPS need to have a vocational track. Rather than just handing out fake diplomas, inflating grades or over looking attendance to pretend that a kid who can't spell Chemistry passed Chemistry why not offer the chance to become a trained plumber, welder, mechanic, paramedic, hair dresser, restaurant chef or some other tradesman that pays better than minimum wage. Sprinkle in some basic english, math, and easier science classes but keep the majority of the vocational degree focused on pragmatic skills where the kid sees an employment path AND feels successful.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:MCPS could do a lot more to address this problem.

There should be a special on ramp school for older kids entering the system with limited English or multi year gaps in going to school. MCPS high schools are huge and students are subjected to tons of bureaucracy. I can't imagine plopping in from another county when I hadn't been in a class room for years.

The low income schools in MCPS need to have a vocational track. Rather than just handing out fake diplomas, inflating grades or over looking attendance to pretend that a kid who can't spell Chemistry passed Chemistry why not offer the chance to become a trained plumber, welder, mechanic, paramedic, hair dresser, restaurant chef or some other tradesman that pays better than minimum wage. Sprinkle in some basic english, math, and easier science classes but keep the majority of the vocational degree focused on pragmatic skills where the kid sees an employment path AND feels successful.

Agreed.

Instead, MCPs attempts half-a$$ed approaches and simply throws money at the problem, without actually implementing meaningful change.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:MCPS could do a lot more to address this problem.

There should be a special on ramp school for older kids entering the system with limited English or multi year gaps in going to school. MCPS high schools are huge and students are subjected to tons of bureaucracy. I can't imagine plopping in from another county when I hadn't been in a class room for years.

The low income schools in MCPS need to have a vocational track. Rather than just handing out fake diplomas, inflating grades or over looking attendance to pretend that a kid who can't spell Chemistry passed Chemistry why not offer the chance to become a trained plumber, welder, mechanic, paramedic, hair dresser, restaurant chef or some other tradesman that pays better than minimum wage. Sprinkle in some basic english, math, and easier science classes but keep the majority of the vocational degree focused on pragmatic skills where the kid sees an employment path AND feels successful.

Hey, maybe they could call it something like the Multidisciplinary Education Training and Support Program!

https://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/curriculum/esol/instruction/mets.aspx

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Because they are not neighbors. They consider themselves ‘family’, which is how they get away with living in that situation. It’s technically illegal to have multiple unrelated families living in a SFH in Montgomery County. However, when pressed, these families say they are all ‘related’ so there can be no enforcement of housing code laws.

So, you choose. Either they are all families, and can support each other with $40, or they are unrelated and need to be forced to move out because they are living there illegally.

Or, there are multiple unrelated families living in a house, which is not legal under current Montgomery County housing code, which is based on the assumption of one nuclear family per housing unit - and all of this is entirely irrelevant to the facts that

1. Saturday School is not free, and
2. $40 is a lot of money for people working low-wage jobs

Of course it’s relevant.

You’re arguing that students from lower income families CAN’T do well in school due to financial limitations.

And, some are arguing that students from lower income families don’t do as well in school because their families don’t prioritize education.

Likely, the truth is somewhere in the middle. And there are lower income students who fall in each category.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:MCPS could do a lot more to address this problem.

There should be a special on ramp school for older kids entering the system with limited English or multi year gaps in going to school. MCPS high schools are huge and students are subjected to tons of bureaucracy. I can't imagine plopping in from another county when I hadn't been in a class room for years.

The low income schools in MCPS need to have a vocational track. Rather than just handing out fake diplomas, inflating grades or over looking attendance to pretend that a kid who can't spell Chemistry passed Chemistry why not offer the chance to become a trained plumber, welder, mechanic, paramedic, hair dresser, restaurant chef or some other tradesman that pays better than minimum wage. Sprinkle in some basic english, math, and easier science classes but keep the majority of the vocational degree focused on pragmatic skills where the kid sees an employment path AND feels successful.

Hey, maybe they could call it something like the Multidisciplinary Education Training and Support Program!

https://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/curriculum/esol/instruction/mets.aspx

Usually, you need to be on grade level and on track to graduate (at least 10th grade) before they allow you into these vocational programs. The vocational programs can be quite competitive due to the prereq requirements.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Because they are not neighbors. They consider themselves ‘family’, which is how they get away with living in that situation. It’s technically illegal to have multiple unrelated families living in a SFH in Montgomery County. However, when pressed, these families say they are all ‘related’ so there can be no enforcement of housing code laws.

So, you choose. Either they are all families, and can support each other with $40, or they are unrelated and need to be forced to move out because they are living there illegally.

Or, there are multiple unrelated families living in a house, which is not legal under current Montgomery County housing code, which is based on the assumption of one nuclear family per housing unit - and all of this is entirely irrelevant to the facts that

1. Saturday School is not free, and
2. $40 is a lot of money for people working low-wage jobs

Of course it’s relevant.

You’re arguing that students from lower income families CAN’T do well in school due to financial limitations.

And, some are arguing that students from lower income families don’t do as well in school because their families don’t prioritize education.

Likely, the truth is somewhere in the middle. And there are lower income students who fall in each category.

Nobody is saying CAN'T. Read again. People are saying that it's more difficult. Which it is.