Root cause of issues at MOCO schools?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Central Office is the root cause of issues at MoCo schools. It is bloated, gaming the pension system, did nothing with 8 years of serious complaints on C2.0, and only focuses on the golden unicorn Achievement Gap. Everyone else (teachers, parents who care), have to pick up the slack.

I don't understand what a golden unicorn is.

I assume PP is arguing that MCPS has become so myopically focused on closing the achievement gap that it has lost sight of other goals, likely including trying to make sure that kids who are already passing the tests are also pushed to excel and not just left to their own devices since they are already "achieving."

[Anonymous]

Agree with PP 1000%

[Anonymous]

Be aware that sometimes teachers curve grades (even if they aren't supposed to). If your child is just passing, he or she is in big trouble.

[Anonymous]

Please the reverse is true. MCPS is pressuring teachers to pass students who barely came to class. They can show up for a day of bogus "credit recovery" and boom, that E is now a passing grade.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Please the reverse is true. MCPS is pressuring teachers to pass students who barely came to class. They can show up for a day of bogus "credit recovery" and boom, that E is now a passing grade.

So MCPS is no better than PG County Public Schools.

Teachers should use their Union Reps to bring this problem officially to light. This should be reported to the media.

[Anonymous]

Exactly! When the report came out about all the DC kids with huge amount of absences, not doing assignments, and still passing, I was thinking we have the same issue in MCPS!

[Anonymous]

So then where can one obtain a decent public education in the DC area? Or should families just pay for private school if they can do so?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Please the reverse is true. MCPS is pressuring teachers to pass students who barely came to class. They can show up for a day of bogus "credit recovery" and boom, that E is now a passing grade.

So MCPS is no better than PG County Public Schools.

Teachers should use their Union Reps to bring this problem officially to light. This should be reported to the media.

The union knows because I reported it in 2012 with documentation. It’s why the admin at that school turned against me and I was singled out for the worst duties and class schedules. I finally just transferred.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Please the reverse is true. MCPS is pressuring teachers to pass students who barely came to class. They can show up for a day of bogus "credit recovery" and boom, that E is now a passing grade.

So MCPS is no better than PG County Public Schools.

Teachers should use their Union Reps to bring this problem officially to light. This should be reported to the media.

The union is pretty useless on issues like these. They don't want to risk their "collaborative" relationship with MCPS. I thought they finally grew some balls with the Kemp Mill ES situation but that ended right after it started.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:So then where can one obtain a decent public education in the DC area? Or should families just pay for private school if they can do so?

One can get a decent public education in many locations within the DC metro area if one is the right kind of student. I'm confident my kids are getting a decent public education at the moment. But are ALL kids in our school getting a decent public education? I don't really know. I know one family whose younger daughter attends our school who pulled their older daughter out and put her in private school because they didn't think the school was serving her needs well enough. I've known others over the years who have switched to private as well and think that it better serves their particular kid's needs. Private schools have different philosophies - and you get to shop around and choose the one that you think will work best for your kid and your family. To do that with public schools you have to be willing to move; and to some extent the range of options is limited. But the fact that some kids may graduate without having done all the work or attended enough class doesn't necessarily mean that kids who do attend and do the work aren't getting a decent education.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Please the reverse is true. MCPS is pressuring teachers to pass students who barely came to class. They can show up for a day of bogus "credit recovery" and boom, that E is now a passing grade.

So MCPS is no better than PG County Public Schools.

Teachers should use their Union Reps to bring this problem officially to light. This should be reported to the media.

The union is pretty useless on issues like these. They don't want to risk their "collaborative" relationship with MCPS. I thought they finally grew some balls with the Kemp Mill ES situation but that ended right after it started.

Union is a joke, and it's not really a union. We have agreements, not binding contracts. So anything for which we bargain is easily changed.

Remember that they bargain for our $ and benefits, which, in turn, means we give up quite a bit of our autonomy and voices. 49th in autonomy - MD, one step above FL

These are the trade offs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Please the reverse is true. MCPS is pressuring teachers to pass students who barely came to class. They can show up for a day of bogus "credit recovery" and boom, that E is now a passing grade.

So MCPS is no better than PG County Public Schools.

Teachers should use their Union Reps to bring this problem officially to light. This should be reported to the media.

The union knows because I reported it in 2012 with documentation. It’s why the admin at that school turned against me and I was singled out for the worst duties and class schedules. I finally just transferred.

Well time may be up. I know of four teachers who work in the county who are about to blow the lid off. They know they’ll face retribution and no longer care. They feel they’re being asked to do things that go against all the ethics of their profession. Historically the local media has turned a blind eye to these types of issues, but that could be changing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Please the reverse is true. MCPS is pressuring teachers to pass students who barely came to class. They can show up for a day of bogus "credit recovery" and boom, that E is now a passing grade.

So MCPS is no better than PG County Public Schools.

Teachers should use their Union Reps to bring this problem officially to light. This should be reported to the media.

The union knows because I reported it in 2012 with documentation. It’s why the admin at that school turned against me and I was singled out for the worst duties and class schedules. I finally just transferred.

This. There is no such thing as confidential discussions with the union. They will share with your admin and you will be targeted and punished. Ask me how I know.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The code of conduct and the extreme behavior issues which hijack the majority of the resources away from the rest of the students. I'm not talking about kids with IEPs.

--from a teacher

What about violations of the MCPS Employee Code of Conduct in which students who are in the care of MCPS are harmed?

-- A MCPS Parent

If you think there are more teachers harming students than students harming their peers and teachers, you are part of the problem.

[Anonymous]

Our principal is the root cause.