So if MoCo schools are crappier than we all thought, where ARE the good public schools?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The difference in part is that no one is entitled to a Harvard or Yale education, but by law kids are entitled to an appropriate K-12 education. For many kids in the magnet regular schools are not appropriate.

Legacy students are entitled to them
If you attend the right private school, then you are entitled to it.
If Harvard has a building named after your grandfather, then you are entitled to it.
If your grandmother is willing to donate money to it, then you are entitled to enroll.

This is kind of off the mark, PP. I was referring to legal entitlement, not legacy admissions.

I know about IDEA and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act for students with disabilities, but what statute entitles students without disabilities to a free appropriate public education? Is there a specific law about this? Thanks.

[Anonymous]

I know about IDEA and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act for students with disabilities, but what statute entitles students without disabilities to a free appropriate public education? Is there a specific law about this? Thanks.

The states guarantee a free public education for all--here is a link from MD. It's not under the US Constitution.

http://www.msa.md.gov/msa/mdmanual/43const/html/08art8.html

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

uh . . . b/c people are up in arms when we suggest a tax increase??????

It's so easy to blame schools, isn't it? especially when the public is unwilling to support our public system

this

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
I know about IDEA and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act for students with disabilities, but what statute entitles students without disabilities to a free appropriate public education? Is there a specific law about this? Thanks.

The states guarantee a free public education for all--here is a link from MD. It's not under the US Constitution.

http://www.msa.md.gov/msa/mdmanual/43const/html/08art8.html

Thanks! It says "thorough and efficient." I wonder who determines whether the system is truly thorough and efficient?

[Anonymous]

I never said it was in the Constitution. However, MD law does provide for an appropriate education, which is what the magnets are intended to provide.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

The second poster's kids must not have reached middle school yet. MoCo offers absolutely amazing science, social studies, history, art and music programs. My 7th grader is going to be performing many of the experiments that are done on CSI in his daily science class. He will be learning photoshop in depth during his daily Art class, among many other skills. In his daily Advance World Studies, he's studied China, the Roman Empire, and now he's doing a unit on Europe. I come away from BTSN completely amazed at all of the opportunities my kids have in MoCo schools.

You are correct, our experience was one year in public after she had been in private (we switched for financial reasons). We weren't willing to wait until MS for my child to get a more well-rounded education in public. After her one year (5th grade), we pulled her and she's now in 7th, in private. And doing rigorous academic work in an atmosphere that cultivates personal responsibility, tolerance, service to others, and has a strong commitment to quality extracurricular activities. There is no way I was going to send her to our local MS after the nonsense I saw in our local ES.

So essentially you're admitting that you have no experience with MoCo middle schools -- none, no experience whatsoever -- yet you have incredibly strong opinions about them and won't hesitate to post these uninformed opinions on DCUM? This is when DCUM becomes useless as a source of reliable information....

I have experience with our local MS in that I know parents whose children attend, and I know parents who have decided to pull their kids. After our experience with our supposedly fantastic public ES (we live in the Eastern part of MoCo), no, I was not going to send my kid to our public MS. I believe you get one shot at educating your young kids, and we just weren't willing to experiment. I have seen first hand what kind of effects the wrong educational setting can have on a child, and we decided that our local wasn't for our DD. I don't know any single family in our public MS who can say they "love" the program. I can honestly say I LOVE the school my 7th grader attends, as does she. She is thriving, and that is the best thing I can give her. I don't believe that my opinions are uniformed at all, they are just not first hand via my own dd. I'm just not going to swallow the kool aid, or force it down my child's throat. Opinions yes. Uniformed, no.