Time to start loking seriously into Double shift school system.

[Anonymous]

If teachers had the work ethic of nurses, they would try to make things work instead of being such Debbie freaking downers all of the time.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think a lot of families confuse needs and wants. No one "needs" to own a home, go on a vacation, go out to eat, own more than 1 car per family, go to starbucks, get their nails done, buy clothes new, etc. People want those things and it is fine to want them. But they aren't needs. A family of 4 can easily live in a 500 square foot 1 bedroom apartment. If one parent stays home, he or she can prepare all meals homemade. Public transportation is available in most major cities, Goodwill and thrift stores sell clothes really cheap.

My family lived on 40K a year in HCOL city for about 5 years. We lived within our means. Now, it helped that we didn't have college loans, but I'll tell you that neither of us had parent help with college either. We both worked our rears off, got scholarships and went to the schools that offered us free rides. We lived with no car for a long time. We sacrificed and scraped. We had no daycare costs because I stayed home. We bought or borrowed any baby gear we needed. It worked just fine. Now, if one of us were to lose our job, even as homeowners, we'd be fine on 80K a year. We know how to live cheap. If both of us lost our jobs, we could make it a few years on unemployment.

Do you realize how absurd you sound. You were given a free ride to college. Do you realize how much you were given that most people don't get?

We have a 900 square foot house. It would be very difficult to go smaller as that one bedroom could barely put a bed in on 500 square feet. Somehow I doubt you live in a 500 square foot house.

And, goodwill and thrift stores often are not that cheap. I can get new stuff on clearance for my kids and turn around and sell it for a decent price (minus all the fees).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No matter the situation in the Fall we should take all precautions and limit the exposure by introducing the change that
would solve many problems. Not only would it allow for the adequate degree of separation but also would solve crowding.

Voila!.. Not a new concept at all:


Double shift school is a type of school which operates in two shifts, with one group of students in the building early in the day and a second group of students later in the day.[1] The purpose of a double shift school is to increase the number of students that can be taught without having to build another building. To avoid crowded classrooms, a school may adopt a dual shift system without reducing the students actual study time.[2]


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Double_shift_school

My husband had this as a child. He grew up in the Middle East and it was during a war. I’ve thought about it too. Or every other day shifts.

Did the same teachers teach the morning and afternoon class? If the concern is the spread of diseases like COVID, having am and pm kids utilizing the same desks would not help in the current situation.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think a lot of families confuse needs and wants. No one "needs" to own a home, go on a vacation, go out to eat, own more than 1 car per family, go to starbucks, get their nails done, buy clothes new, etc. People want those things and it is fine to want them. But they aren't needs. A family of 4 can easily live in a 500 square foot 1 bedroom apartment. If one parent stays home, he or she can prepare all meals homemade. Public transportation is available in most major cities, Goodwill and thrift stores sell clothes really cheap.

My family lived on 40K a year in HCOL city for about 5 years. We lived within our means. Now, it helped that we didn't have college loans, but I'll tell you that neither of us had parent help with college either. We both worked our rears off, got scholarships and went to the schools that offered us free rides. We lived with no car for a long time. We sacrificed and scraped. We had no daycare costs because I stayed home. We bought or borrowed any baby gear we needed. It worked just fine. Now, if one of us were to lose our job, even as homeowners, we'd be fine on 80K a year. We know how to live cheap. If both of us lost our jobs, we could make it a few years on unemployment.

In this area, PG County. That apartment is over $1200 month without utilities. That right there is over $14,400 just for rent or over 1/3 of your income. You now have $25,600 for everything else. Add in basic utilities (gas, electric, water, and a landline) and you’ve spent another $4000. You are at $21600. If you follow the USDA “thrifty” food plan for March 2020, you’re spending just under $600 a month for groceries. That is $7200 for the year. You now have $14400. I hope your employer provides health insurance. Otherwise to pay for health insurance —even on the exchange, the average cost for a family is roughly $1150 a month. That is $13800 a year. A weekly bus pass is $45 last I checked. You’ll need at least two of those —one for the working parent and one for the SAHP unless you expect him or her to walk a couple miles with bags of groceries and two small children. That will be $1080 a year. Only you have just $600 left for the year. So the SAHP can’t go to the grocery store, public library, or doctor except by foot. And you don’t have enough left over each month to save for an emergency.

Yeah, it’s really easy being low income.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If teachers had the work ethic of nurses, they would try to make things work instead of being such Debbie freaking downers all of the time.

There have been far more nurses’ strikes than teachers’ strikes. You need to research labor history before you speak about work ethic.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think a lot of families confuse needs and wants. No one "needs" to own a home, go on a vacation, go out to eat, own more than 1 car per family, go to starbucks, get their nails done, buy clothes new, etc. People want those things and it is fine to want them. But they aren't needs. A family of 4 can easily live in a 500 square foot 1 bedroom apartment. If one parent stays home, he or she can prepare all meals homemade. Public transportation is available in most major cities, Goodwill and thrift stores sell clothes really cheap.

My family lived on 40K a year in HCOL city for about 5 years. We lived within our means. Now, it helped that we didn't have college loans, but I'll tell you that neither of us had parent help with college either. We both worked our rears off, got scholarships and went to the schools that offered us free rides. We lived with no car for a long time. We sacrificed and scraped. We had no daycare costs because I stayed home. We bought or borrowed any baby gear we needed. It worked just fine. Now, if one of us were to lose our job, even as homeowners, we'd be fine on 80K a year. We know how to live cheap. If both of us lost our jobs, we could make it a few years on unemployment.

In this area, PG County. That apartment is over $1200 month without utilities. That right there is over $14,400 just for rent or over 1/3 of your income. You now have $25,600 for everything else. Add in basic utilities (gas, electric, water, and a landline) and you’ve spent another $4000. You are at $21600. If you follow the USDA “thrifty” food plan for March 2020, you’re spending just under $600 a month for groceries. That is $7200 for the year. You now have $14400. I hope your employer provides health insurance. Otherwise to pay for health insurance —even on the exchange, the average cost for a family is roughly $1150 a month. That is $13800 a year. A weekly bus pass is $45 last I checked. You’ll need at least two of those —one for the working parent and one for the SAHP unless you expect him or her to walk a couple miles with bags of groceries and two small children. That will be $1080 a year. Only you have just $600 left for the year. So the SAHP can’t go to the grocery store, public library, or doctor except by foot. And you don’t have enough left over each month to save for an emergency.

Yeah, it’s really easy being low income.

I did it. Though we were smart enough to ensure the working parent had insurance through work. Yes, we made choices about what profession to pursue based on income and insurance. For real.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think a lot of families confuse needs and wants. No one "needs" to own a home, go on a vacation, go out to eat, own more than 1 car per family, go to starbucks, get their nails done, buy clothes new, etc. People want those things and it is fine to want them. But they aren't needs. A family of 4 can easily live in a 500 square foot 1 bedroom apartment. If one parent stays home, he or she can prepare all meals homemade. Public transportation is available in most major cities, Goodwill and thrift stores sell clothes really cheap.

My family lived on 40K a year in HCOL city for about 5 years. We lived within our means. Now, it helped that we didn't have college loans, but I'll tell you that neither of us had parent help with college either. We both worked our rears off, got scholarships and went to the schools that offered us free rides. We lived with no car for a long time. We sacrificed and scraped. We had no daycare costs because I stayed home. We bought or borrowed any baby gear we needed. It worked just fine. Now, if one of us were to lose our job, even as homeowners, we'd be fine on 80K a year. We know how to live cheap. If both of us lost our jobs, we could make it a few years on unemployment.

Do you realize how absurd you sound. You were given a free ride to college. Do you realize how much you were given that most people don't get?

We have a 900 square foot house. It would be very difficult to go smaller as that one bedroom could barely put a bed in on 500 square feet. Somehow I doubt you live in a 500 square foot house.

And, goodwill and thrift stores often are not that cheap. I can get new stuff on clearance for my kids and turn around and sell it for a decent price (minus all the fees).

Given a free ride to college? Hahaha. No. We both earned those free rides. Our friends went to private schools they could not afford. We both went to lower level state schools, worked full time while we went to school full time. No one gave us sh&t. We earned that money.
And then for 5 years, we raised two little babies in a tiny little apartment in a bad neighborhood. We lived a good life then. We found free stuff to do. We went to the park, to the beach, we were thrifty as heck. Now, we have reaped the benefits of all that. Not absurd at all.
Last year, I bought my professional wardrobe, for the year, including shoes, for less than $200 at Goodwill. Needs and wants.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If teachers had the work ethic of nurses, they would try to make things work instead of being such Debbie freaking downers all of the time.

So true. Front line workers working overtime as needed. Only complaint is needing more protection.

Teachers working 1-3 hour days from home complaining about endless things over and over and over again.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think a lot of families confuse needs and wants. No one "needs" to own a home, go on a vacation, go out to eat, own more than 1 car per family, go to starbucks, get their nails done, buy clothes new, etc. People want those things and it is fine to want them. But they aren't needs. A family of 4 can easily live in a 500 square foot 1 bedroom apartment. If one parent stays home, he or she can prepare all meals homemade. Public transportation is available in most major cities, Goodwill and thrift stores sell clothes really cheap.

My family lived on 40K a year in HCOL city for about 5 years. We lived within our means. Now, it helped that we didn't have college loans, but I'll tell you that neither of us had parent help with college either. We both worked our rears off, got scholarships and went to the schools that offered us free rides. We lived with no car for a long time. We sacrificed and scraped. We had no daycare costs because I stayed home. We bought or borrowed any baby gear we needed. It worked just fine. Now, if one of us were to lose our job, even as homeowners, we'd be fine on 80K a year. We know how to live cheap. If both of us lost our jobs, we could make it a few years on unemployment.

In this area, PG County. That apartment is over $1200 month without utilities. That right there is over $14,400 just for rent or over 1/3 of your income. You now have $25,600 for everything else. Add in basic utilities (gas, electric, water, and a landline) and you’ve spent another $4000. You are at $21600. If you follow the USDA “thrifty” food plan for March 2020, you’re spending just under $600 a month for groceries. That is $7200 for the year. You now have $14400. I hope your employer provides health insurance. Otherwise to pay for health insurance —even on the exchange, the average cost for a family is roughly $1150 a month. That is $13800 a year. A weekly bus pass is $45 last I checked. You’ll need at least two of those —one for the working parent and one for the SAHP unless you expect him or her to walk a couple miles with bags of groceries and two small children. That will be $1080 a year. Only you have just $600 left for the year. So the SAHP can’t go to the grocery store, public library, or doctor except by foot. And you don’t have enough left over each month to save for an emergency.

Yeah, it’s really easy being low income.

I did it. Though we were smart enough to ensure the working parent had insurance through work. Yes, we made choices about what profession to pursue based on income and insurance. For real.

Not everyone has the option of insurance through an employer. You can make a smart choice between choices you don’t have. You honestly have no idea what the majority of people contend with.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If teachers had the work ethic of nurses, they would try to make things work instead of being such Debbie freaking downers all of the time.

So true. Front line workers working overtime as needed. Only complaint is needing more protection.

Teachers working 1-3 hour days from home complaining about endless things over and over and over again.

I appreciate their service, but teachers habitually work unpaid overtime. Sometimes 20+ hours a week. My family is mostly service oriented professionals: teachers, nurses, cops, and clergy. My cousins who are nurses consistently note that their job is better because it ends when they leave the hospital or doctor’s office. They don’t have to go home every night and try to squeeze in patient care in between loads of laundry or trying to reconnect with family.

When teachers complain, the argument is always “Well, you knew that when you chose to become a teacher.” No, not everyone did. Especially if they listen to DCUM which claims teaching is so easy. Fewer and fewer people are choosing to teach. I don’t know what you are going to do when class sizes reach 50 because hardly anyone hireable wants to teach in MCPS.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Pretty sure free birth control is a lot cheaper too. Why do poor people pop out more kids than middle income and the rich? It is completely ridiculous. If you can not afford to raise a child from 0 to 17yrs old, than be a responsible human being and use birth control or not have sex. It is amazing how hard that is for idiots.

I usually assume that people who refer to "popping out" kids have never given birth to any.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think a lot of families confuse needs and wants. No one "needs" to own a home, go on a vacation, go out to eat, own more than 1 car per family, go to starbucks, get their nails done, buy clothes new, etc. People want those things and it is fine to want them. But they aren't needs. A family of 4 can easily live in a 500 square foot 1 bedroom apartment. If one parent stays home, he or she can prepare all meals homemade. Public transportation is available in most major cities, Goodwill and thrift stores sell clothes really cheap.

My family lived on 40K a year in HCOL city for about 5 years. We lived within our means. Now, it helped that we didn't have college loans, but I'll tell you that neither of us had parent help with college either. We both worked our rears off, got scholarships and went to the schools that offered us free rides. We lived with no car for a long time. We sacrificed and scraped. We had no daycare costs because I stayed home. We bought or borrowed any baby gear we needed. It worked just fine. Now, if one of us were to lose our job, even as homeowners, we'd be fine on 80K a year. We know how to live cheap. If both of us lost our jobs, we could make it a few years on unemployment.

In this area, PG County. That apartment is over $1200 month without utilities. That right there is over $14,400 just for rent or over 1/3 of your income. You now have $25,600 for everything else. Add in basic utilities (gas, electric, water, and a landline) and you’ve spent another $4000. You are at $21600. If you follow the USDA “thrifty” food plan for March 2020, you’re spending just under $600 a month for groceries. That is $7200 for the year. You now have $14400. I hope your employer provides health insurance. Otherwise to pay for health insurance —even on the exchange, the average cost for a family is roughly $1150 a month. That is $13800 a year. A weekly bus pass is $45 last I checked. You’ll need at least two of those —one for the working parent and one for the SAHP unless you expect him or her to walk a couple miles with bags of groceries and two small children. That will be $1080 a year. Only you have just $600 left for the year. So the SAHP can’t go to the grocery store, public library, or doctor except by foot. And you don’t have enough left over each month to save for an emergency.

Yeah, it’s really easy being low income.

I did it. Though we were smart enough to ensure the working parent had insurance through work. Yes, we made choices about what profession to pursue based on income and insurance. For real.

Ha! Well, I was smart enough to get a job that pays a good salary. We live in a really nice neighborhood and have nice things - it’s awesome! Why didn’t you just decide do that?

[Anonymous]

I was smart enough to get born to middle-class parents who were able to pay for college, at a time when middle-class parents could still do that. That's really what PP should have decided to do.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think a lot of families confuse needs and wants. No one "needs" to own a home, go on a vacation, go out to eat, own more than 1 car per family, go to starbucks, get their nails done, buy clothes new, etc. People want those things and it is fine to want them. But they aren't needs. A family of 4 can easily live in a 500 square foot 1 bedroom apartment. If one parent stays home, he or she can prepare all meals homemade. Public transportation is available in most major cities, Goodwill and thrift stores sell clothes really cheap.

My family lived on 40K a year in HCOL city for about 5 years. We lived within our means. Now, it helped that we didn't have college loans, but I'll tell you that neither of us had parent help with college either. We both worked our rears off, got scholarships and went to the schools that offered us free rides. We lived with no car for a long time. We sacrificed and scraped. We had no daycare costs because I stayed home. We bought or borrowed any baby gear we needed. It worked just fine. Now, if one of us were to lose our job, even as homeowners, we'd be fine on 80K a year. We know how to live cheap. If both of us lost our jobs, we could make it a few years on unemployment.

In this area, PG County. That apartment is over $1200 month without utilities. That right there is over $14,400 just for rent or over 1/3 of your income. You now have $25,600 for everything else. Add in basic utilities (gas, electric, water, and a landline) and you’ve spent another $4000. You are at $21600. If you follow the USDA “thrifty” food plan for March 2020, you’re spending just under $600 a month for groceries. That is $7200 for the year. You now have $14400. I hope your employer provides health insurance. Otherwise to pay for health insurance —even on the exchange, the average cost for a family is roughly $1150 a month. That is $13800 a year. A weekly bus pass is $45 last I checked. You’ll need at least two of those —one for the working parent and one for the SAHP unless you expect him or her to walk a couple miles with bags of groceries and two small children. That will be $1080 a year. Only you have just $600 left for the year. So the SAHP can’t go to the grocery store, public library, or doctor except by foot. And you don’t have enough left over each month to save for an emergency.

Yeah, it’s really easy being low income.

I did it. Though we were smart enough to ensure the working parent had insurance through work. Yes, we made choices about what profession to pursue based on income and insurance. For real.

Ha! Well, I was smart enough to get a job that pays a good salary. We live in a really nice neighborhood and have nice things - it’s awesome! Why didn’t you just decide do that?

I have that now. My spouse and I both make close to 100K a year. With an HHI of 190K we truly feel rich after living on 40K a year for so many years. We save about half our income and live on the other half. Life is good!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I like the idea of split shifts and 4 day weeks. School is not daycare. It never was until around 30-40 years ago when families decided it was, because both partners chose to work outside the home and use one income to supplement the job of a homemaker, thinking they would have so much extra money. Fast forward to today and now it is basically forced.

Two overworked parents expecting FT daycare, food, mental health care, etc... with school because the economy caught up to two parents working. Constant cries of days off, no cheap camps, extra holidays, overpriced aftercare etc... Now everything but salaries has risen in the last 30 years and poverty has increased. Parents raising kids instead of daycare providers has decreased. Families barely surviving on two salaries and tons of credit card and mortgage debt. So many depending on the government for help.

Maybe this pandemic will make some families realize priorities need to change. This won’t be the last pandemic. Life can change drastically. Be prepared.

School was never daycare and should never be treated as such. It shouldn’t be a home and a way for kids to be fed for free either. It shouldn’t offer parenting courses, free aftercare, ESOL, parent ESOL classes, and TED talks for free either. The amount of money that is now spent NOT on education in the MCPS budget is disgusting. Let MCPS do the teaching and the county and town budget do social services.

I agree with you on all of this. Other agencies should be responsible for feeding/clothing/teaching English. Not schools. MCPS is already too big, and this makes it even harder to run such a large school system.

However, voters and the public support all of this being the responsibility of the schools. It is not favorable public opinion to leave this to other entities.

So, not much you can do.

Why not? Kids are in school for six hours. It behooves the schools to educate both parents and kids such that the kids have the tools to be better students. Teaching doesn't happen in a vacuum, as much as we want it to. Whether the county/state allocate the funds to CPS or some other organization to provide those services, it's still funds coming out of the budget.

Now, I don't agree that teachers themselves should be providing most of those services, but how do you feed a child lunch during the middle of the school day if the school isn't the one providing it? Should the child leave the school during lunch time to get that meal some place else? Who is going to get that child to that place to get the meal?

It would be great if all parents care and have enough money to provide food and a stable home life to their kids, but that's not reality. If your attitude is "tough sh1t then", well, I'll just remind you that it costs us taxpayers a lot more to pay for someone to be in prison than to pay for wrap around services from K-12 such that the child gets an education, and eventually becomes contributing member of society.


State prison cost per inmate, 2015 - Average cost per inmate $44,601/yr

Pretty sure free birth control is a lot cheaper too. Why do poor people pop out more kids than middle income and the rich? It is completely ridiculous. If you can not afford to raise a child from 0 to 17yrs old, than be a responsible human being and use birth control or not have sex. It is amazing how hard that is for idiots.

Sure, but we can't force people to take birth control. Why do poor people pop out more kids than middle income and the rich? Because they don't have easy access to birth control. Even if it was free, they'd have to take time off to go to the clinic and get it, and many poor people don't have the luxury to take time off during the day to do that, and/or it's harder for them to go to the clinic as many rely on public transportation. Have you ever heard the term "being poor is expensive"? No, probably not. It basically is about how to do one thing, like go to a clinic, it takes them several hours because the buses that they rely on take a long time to get them there.

Also, this is a chicken and the egg scenario... if low income kids are more educated and have better prospects, they would be less likely to get pregnant.