MCPS not paying for APs this year?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My senior heard a rumor at school that MCPS won't be paying for AP/IB exams this year? She said before, they would always know before school begins but this year they don't. She said they'll find out at the end of the month.

Has anyone heard anything?

Why would MCPS (or any other school systems) pay for your kid's AP/IB exams?? This "give me, give me" gotta stop.

Because the state requires it

Statement like that without a link?

https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/cmte_testimony/2025/wam/17DP6Eyo3sOfq1xk4K7DagtUESQCeMS9M.pdf

This is your proof of “state requires it”? Maybe you provided a wrong link.

"Currently, the Blueprint for Maryland’s Future requires school systems to cover the costs of Advanced Placement (AP) and International Baccalaureate (IB) exams for all students who meet the College and Career Readiness standard."

Or the PP you responded to could simply have read the start of this thread.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:As a teacher of a high school CTE program it is very frustrating that MCPS will pay test fees for kids who have 15 APs but I can’t get them to help with payment of any of the CTE exams.

Equity my ass…

Per the Blueprint legislation and the AIB’s initial implementation plan, “each
high school offers post-College and Career Readiness (CCR) pathways to all CCR
students in grades 11 and 12 to earn early college credits and career and technical
education (CTE) credentials at no cost to the student or the student’s parents,
including the cost of any fees, starting in FY 24” (see Pillar 3, Objective 3, Task 2
i.e. 3.3.2). Local education agencies (LEAs) should therefore cover the cost of a
student taking a test/exam to earn an industry-recognized credential. Covering
the cost of more than one examination is at the discretion of the LEA.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As a teacher of a high school CTE program it is very frustrating that MCPS will pay test fees for kids who have 15 APs but I can’t get them to help with payment of any of the CTE exams.

Equity my ass…

Most employers don't pay for professional exams, especially the government. There is a difference between a teacher and student. Very few kids take 15 AP's as our schools don't even have that many.

Blue print wants kids to come out of high school either college bound or having passed the 1st licensing exam for a trade/industry. MCPS and other counties just aren’t supporting it. It’s a real disservice to kids who need help paying/navigating websites for testing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:As a teacher of a high school CTE program it is very frustrating that MCPS will pay test fees for kids who have 15 APs but I can’t get them to help with payment of any of the CTE exams.

Equity my ass…

Why not? I agree those should be covered as well.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:As a teacher of a high school CTE program it is very frustrating that MCPS will pay test fees for kids who have 15 APs but I can’t get them to help with payment of any of the CTE exams.

Equity my ass…

What are the costs of the CTE exams?

[Anonymous]

At back to school night we were told that the county was paying for AP exams.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There are two separable issues here. One is whether MCPS should pay (either for all or for those with needs). The other is whether they should automatically enroll kids the way they have the last couple of years.

At BTSN, one of the teachers pointed out that the average score had declined because there are kids who were automatically enrolled and then told they would face a fee if they didn't follow through and take the test. So there were kids showing up who had no interest in taking the test. (I think you could decline in the fall, but as the test approached students faced a penalty for not taking it?)

I don't care about the average test scores (though I suppose principals might) but it's a waste of money to pay for kids who have no interest in taking the test and won't take it seriously.

Then they shouldn't be in the class. They are taking it for a GPA bump, and trust me, the level of effort for kids who don't plan to take the exam weighs down the rest of the class.
- longtime AP teacher

My kid enjoys the material and the rigor but has no desire to take the exams.

I believe if they made the course semester length like college courses that would help solve some of the problem.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Currently they are still paying for them but they are advocating to have it be a needs based system. Personally I think it should be more of a criteria based system dependent on how students are doing at a certain point in the class and teacher sign off.

In other words, parents, they will not longer pay for your child but they will have you pay for those who cant . This all while they are still pushing for every student to take AP exams, even though it used to be only the top performers who could ( AND SHOULD).

[Anonymous]

I keep seeing mcps publish the number of students who TAKE ap exams, as if taking the exam is a metric of success. I would like to see how students are doing on those exams.
A recent social media post showed Maryland scoring very poorly on ap exam scores, overall.
Why should we pay to cover students taking ap exams if we cant see how they are performing? It sounds like kids are being pushed into APs for mcps to look good on paper but its just adding stress to students who aren't ready for them yet.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I keep seeing mcps publish the number of students who TAKE ap exams, as if taking the exam is a metric of success. I would like to see how students are doing on those exams.
A recent social media post showed Maryland scoring very poorly on ap exam scores, overall.
Why should we pay to cover students taking ap exams if we cant see how they are performing? It sounds like kids are being pushed into APs for mcps to look good on paper but its just adding stress to students who aren't ready for them yet.

They do publish the scores by exam by school:

https://ww2.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/departments/sharedaccountability/reports/2025/240206_2024_APIB_Exam%20Enroll%20Part%20and%20Perf.pdf

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As a teacher of a high school CTE program it is very frustrating that MCPS will pay test fees for kids who have 15 APs but I can’t get them to help with payment of any of the CTE exams.

Equity my ass…

Per the Blueprint legislation and the AIB’s initial implementation plan, “each
high school offers post-College and Career Readiness (CCR) pathways to all CCR
students in grades 11 and 12 to earn early college credits and career and technical
education (CTE) credentials at no cost to the student or the student’s parents,
including the cost of any fees, starting in FY 24” (see Pillar 3, Objective 3, Task 2
i.e. 3.3.2). Local education agencies (LEAs) should therefore cover the cost of a
student taking a test/exam to earn an industry-recognized credential. Covering
the cost of more than one examination is at the discretion of the LEA.

This reads as if parents should be paying for AP tests in grades 9 and 10

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I keep seeing mcps publish the number of students who TAKE ap exams, as if taking the exam is a metric of success. I would like to see how students are doing on those exams.
A recent social media post showed Maryland scoring very poorly on ap exam scores, overall.
Why should we pay to cover students taking ap exams if we cant see how they are performing? It sounds like kids are being pushed into APs for mcps to look good on paper but its just adding stress to students who aren't ready for them yet.

They do publish the scores by exam by school:

https://ww2.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/departments/sharedaccountability/reports/2025/240206_2024_APIB_Exam%20Enroll%20Part%20and%20Perf.pdf

Thank you for sharing this. What colleges care about a 3 on an AP test? The MCPS draw should be just for scores of 4 and 5

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I keep seeing mcps publish the number of students who TAKE ap exams, as if taking the exam is a metric of success. I would like to see how students are doing on those exams.
A recent social media post showed Maryland scoring very poorly on ap exam scores, overall.
Why should we pay to cover students taking ap exams if we cant see how they are performing? It sounds like kids are being pushed into APs for mcps to look good on paper but its just adding stress to students who aren't ready for them yet.

They do publish the scores by exam by school:

https://ww2.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/departments/sharedaccountability/reports/2025/240206_2024_APIB_Exam%20Enroll%20Part%20and%20Perf.pdf

Thank you for sharing this. What colleges care about a 3 on an AP test? The MCPS draw should be just for scores of 4 and 5

Lots. I believe 37 states require their public universities to give credit for scores of 3. Maryland’s law has some wiggle room on how credit is awarded. UMD generally credits 3s, just might be an elective credit instead of a specific course like you would for a 4 or 5.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Currently they are still paying for them but they are advocating to have it be a needs based system. Personally I think it should be more of a criteria based system dependent on how students are doing at a certain point in the class and teacher sign off.

In other words, parents, they will not longer pay for your child but they will have you pay for those who cant . This all while they are still pushing for every student to take AP exams, even though it used to be only the top performers who could ( AND SHOULD).

Sucks to be you! Bet you wish you were poor now!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So if parents can't pay for a test or two, how can they afford college tuition?

Some kids don’t go to college, community college, aid.

Kids who have full need have always received a fee waiver from the CB anyway, and actually, if kids are planning to pay for themselves to go to community college, they can pony up the $97 dollars, which is a lot less than the cost of course there.

If you don’t have the money now, you can’t pony it up no matter how much it will save you in the future. There are kids on scholarships to MC and there are those who have to take out a loan for 2-4 semesters.

Baby-sitting for one night = enough to pay for the AP fee