Please sign this petition to continue countywide magnets

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The simple fact that they are trying to scale a magnet from 2 schools to 6 in one huge jump, instead of sustainably growing one school at a time, clearly shows that they haven't thought through the change at all, are are just doing a paperwork exercise that will completely fail in the field

Yes, I'm one of the posters in favor of scaling up the magnets, but the pace does seem concerning.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:I will not sign, and my kids have both been in a magnet. One graduated in 2025, and the other is in HS.

It's been a good experience for them, but there's far too much talent in the county to limit the participation to a few hundred students per grade level per year.

This. Regional magnet programs are a good idea.

+1 The "I got mine" posters are out in force, including hijacking parent chat groups at TPMS.

No. More opportunity is good and if we have to "dilute" classes that only 10 kids per year take in MCPS, so be it.

Those classes that only 10 kids take won’t be diluted; they’ll be eliminated because those 10 kids will be distributed among many schools, none of which will have the talent pool to field enough students for these classes. That’s how these STEM programs will be diluted. We’ll have many good programs and no exceptional ones.

If the very good programs provide access to 3x the number of students, as long as the delta between exceptional and very good isn't too large, then that is a win from the perspective of maximizing educational benefit across the county.

I trust the SMCS teachers to know how big the delta is between very good STEM cohorting and exceptional STEM cohorting.

When we were in a race to develop the atomic bomb first or put a man on the moon first, we needed lots of very smart people to work together and a handful of geniuses to get us across the finish line. It seems like it would be beneficial to cater our educational system to both.

LOL. How many high schoolers contributed to the atomic bomb? Perhaps more importantly, how much quicker would we have advanced as a country if we had not been gatekeeping science jobs all those years? Providing a high quality education to every kid in the county, regardless of whether they passed a certain test or got help with a certain essay in 8th grade, is far more important to the future of our nation than maintaining a bubble of privilege for the favored few.

I’m guessing just about everyone who contributed to the atomic bomb took high school STEM classes at some point and could not have contributed without them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I will not sign, and my kids have both been in a magnet. One graduated in 2025, and the other is in HS.

It's been a good experience for them, but there's far too much talent in the county to limit the participation to a few hundred students per grade level per year.

This. Regional magnet programs are a good idea.

+1 The "I got mine" posters are out in force, including hijacking parent chat groups at TPMS.

No. More opportunity is good and if we have to "dilute" classes that only 10 kids per year take in MCPS, so be it.

Those classes that only 10 kids take won’t be diluted; they’ll be eliminated because those 10 kids will be distributed among many schools, none of which will have the talent pool to field enough students for these classes. That’s how these STEM programs will be diluted. We’ll have many good programs and no exceptional ones.

If the very good programs provide access to 3x the number of students, as long as the delta between exceptional and very good isn't too large, then that is a win from the perspective of maximizing educational benefit across the county.

I trust the SMCS teachers to know how big the delta is between very good STEM cohorting and exceptional STEM cohorting.

When we were in a race to develop the atomic bomb first or put a man on the moon first, we needed lots of very smart people to work together and a handful of geniuses to get us across the finish line. It seems like it would be beneficial to cater our educational system to both.

LOL. How many high schoolers contributed to the atomic bomb? Perhaps more importantly, how much quicker would we have advanced as a country if we had not been gatekeeping science jobs all those years? Providing a high quality education to every kid in the county, regardless of whether they passed a certain test or got help with a certain essay in 8th grade, is far more important to the future of our nation than maintaining a bubble of privilege for the favored few.

I’m guessing just about everyone who contributed to the atomic bomb took high school STEM classes at some point and could not have contributed without them.

Oh, I'm sorry. Is MCPS eliminating math and science? Is that what's happening here?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I will not sign, and my kids have both been in a magnet. One graduated in 2025, and the other is in HS.

It's been a good experience for them, but there's far too much talent in the county to limit the participation to a few hundred students per grade level per year.

This. Regional magnet programs are a good idea.

+1 The "I got mine" posters are out in force, including hijacking parent chat groups at TPMS.

No. More opportunity is good and if we have to "dilute" classes that only 10 kids per year take in MCPS, so be it.

Those classes that only 10 kids take won’t be diluted; they’ll be eliminated because those 10 kids will be distributed among many schools, none of which will have the talent pool to field enough students for these classes. That’s how these STEM programs will be diluted. We’ll have many good programs and no exceptional ones.

If the very good programs provide access to 3x the number of students, as long as the delta between exceptional and very good isn't too large, then that is a win from the perspective of maximizing educational benefit across the county.

I trust the SMCS teachers to know how big the delta is between very good STEM cohorting and exceptional STEM cohorting.

When we were in a race to develop the atomic bomb first or put a man on the moon first, we needed lots of very smart people to work together and a handful of geniuses to get us across the finish line. It seems like it would be beneficial to cater our educational system to both.

Why limit it to Montgomery County then? Why not one magnet for the best and the brightest across the state of Maryland?

We don’t currently have a statewide magnet that we’re deciding to dismantle so each county can create their own. If we did have a statewide STEM magnet, it would be ludicrous to think every county could create one of the same caliber.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It worked very well when we kept the CESs, but added ELC and made parents feel like their kids were getting the CES experience at their home schools. Why don’t we add a few extra cohorted math and science classes to each region, tell parents that’s the magnet experience, but still keep the existing STEM magnets so the truly gifted kids can still take these tiny, super specialized advanced classes? Everyone will be happy.

Because after not very many years, they got rid of ELC. It was seen as expendable, whereas for some reason the magnet was not. And based on your post, you seem to think it’s a farce that the two could be approximate, or that kids who were in the one and not the other aren’t as smart. Even though qualification for the magnet pool was criteria-based, and then an actual spot in the magnet was lottery-based. So all of the kids in ELC were equally qualified. I think the lottery is unfair and the programs should all be equal, so I’m in favor of local school programs at the elementary level, and regional magnets at the high school level, not “real” magnets and “fake” magnets like you propose.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It worked very well when we kept the CESs, but added ELC and made parents feel like their kids were getting the CES experience at their home schools. Why don’t we add a few extra cohorted math and science classes to each region, tell parents that’s the magnet experience, but still keep the existing STEM magnets so the truly gifted kids [b]can still take these tiny, super specialized advanced classes? Everyone will be happy.

Are they?

Right now bulk of Magnet seats are taken by WJ/Churchill/Wootton. I doubt that most tryly gifted kids are attending these magnets. They will be distributed all over the county.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The simple fact that they are trying to scale a magnet from 2 schools to 6 in one huge jump, instead of sustainably growing one school at a time, clearly shows that they haven't thought through the change at all, are are just doing a paperwork exercise that will completely fail in the field

2 to 4 jump would have been better. 6 is stretching it thin. Hopefully it works ut well.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It worked very well when we kept the CESs, but added ELC and made parents feel like their kids were getting the CES experience at their home schools. Why don’t we add a few extra cohorted math and science classes to each region, tell parents that’s the magnet experience, but still keep the existing STEM magnets so the truly gifted kids can still take these tiny, super specialized advanced classes? Everyone will be happy.

Because after not very many years, they got rid of ELC. It was seen as expendable, whereas for some reason the magnet was not. And based on your post, you seem to think it’s a farce that the two could be approximate, or that kids who were in the one and not the other aren’t as smart. Even though qualification for the magnet pool was criteria-based, and then an actual spot in the magnet was lottery-based. So all of the kids in ELC were equally qualified. I think the lottery is unfair and the programs should all be equal, so I’m in favor of local school programs at the elementary level, and regional magnets at the high school level, not “real” magnets and “fake” magnets like you propose.

I don’t know whether ELC was equal to a CES because ELC was introduced when my youngest was starting middle school. My point is just that parents were happy about it, so why not replicate that at the high school level? Have the 6 regional STEM programs that serve the masses of smart kids, but don’t eliminate the cohorting at the two existing STEM magnets. Let the kids at the tippy top take their highly specialized classes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I will not sign, and my kids have both been in a magnet. One graduated in 2025, and the other is in HS.

It's been a good experience for them, but there's far too much talent in the county to limit the participation to a few hundred students per grade level per year.

This. Regional magnet programs are a good idea.

+1 The "I got mine" posters are out in force, including hijacking parent chat groups at TPMS.

No. More opportunity is good and if we have to "dilute" classes that only 10 kids per year take in MCPS, so be it.

Those classes that only 10 kids take won’t be diluted; they’ll be eliminated because those 10 kids will be distributed among many schools, none of which will have the talent pool to field enough students for these classes. That’s how these STEM programs will be diluted. We’ll have many good programs and no exceptional ones.

If the very good programs provide access to 3x the number of students, as long as the delta between exceptional and very good isn't too large, then that is a win from the perspective of maximizing educational benefit across the county.

I trust the SMCS teachers to know how big the delta is between very good STEM cohorting and exceptional STEM cohorting.

When we were in a race to develop the atomic bomb first or put a man on the moon first, we needed lots of very smart people to work together and a handful of geniuses to get us across the finish line. It seems like it would be beneficial to cater our educational system to both.

LOL. How many high schoolers contributed to the atomic bomb? Perhaps more importantly, how much quicker would we have advanced as a country if we had not been gatekeeping science jobs all those years? Providing a high quality education to every kid in the county, regardless of whether they passed a certain test or got help with a certain essay in 8th grade, is far more important to the future of our nation than maintaining a bubble of privilege for the favored few.

I’m guessing just about everyone who contributed to the atomic bomb took high school STEM classes at some point and could not have contributed without them.

Oh, I'm sorry. Is MCPS eliminating math and science? Is that what's happening here?

No, we’re just eliminating the very most advanced, specialized classes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It worked very well when we kept the CESs, but added ELC and made parents feel like their kids were getting the CES experience at their home schools. Why don’t we add a few extra cohorted math and science classes to each region, tell parents that’s the magnet experience, but still keep the existing STEM magnets so the truly gifted kids [b]can still take these tiny, super specialized advanced classes? Everyone will be happy.

Are they?

Right now bulk of Magnet seats are taken by WJ/Churchill/Wootton. I doubt that most tryly gifted kids are attending these magnets. They will be distributed all over the county.

Nobody is saying that there are no truly gifted kids who aren’t taking these highly specialized classes; what we’re saying is that the kids who do take these highly specialized classes are truly gifted. Each sixth of the county can’t necessarily field enough of these students to offer these classes.

[Anonymous]

It's 1% vs 20% kids issue. Also, 1% are not really 1% because lots of 1% kids are not taking magnets due to distance.

It's most likely resource allocation issue here. With bigger budgets, it will be fine to maintain both, but with the same budget, I will prefer to take care of 20%.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It worked very well when we kept the CESs, but added ELC and made parents feel like their kids were getting the CES experience at their home schools. Why don’t we add a few extra cohorted math and science classes to each region, tell parents that’s the magnet experience, but still keep the existing STEM magnets so the truly gifted kids [b]can still take these tiny, super specialized advanced classes? Everyone will be happy.

Are they?

Right now bulk of Magnet seats are taken by WJ/Churchill/Wootton. I doubt that most tryly gifted kids are attending these magnets. They will be distributed all over the county.

Nobody is saying that there are no truly gifted kids who aren’t taking these highly specialized classes; what we’re saying is that the kids who do take these highly specialized classes are truly gifted. Each sixth of the county can’t necessarily field enough of these students to offer these classes.

Why can't Churchill/Wootton together can fill spot for those same courses in regional magnets?

All kids who are leaving for magnet + many who are same level but opt out due to distance.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It worked very well when we kept the CESs, but added ELC and made parents feel like their kids were getting the CES experience at their home schools. Why don’t we add a few extra cohorted math and science classes to each region, tell parents that’s the magnet experience, but still keep the existing STEM magnets so the truly gifted kids [b]can still take these tiny, super specialized advanced classes? Everyone will be happy.

Are they?

Right now bulk of Magnet seats are taken by WJ/Churchill/Wootton. I doubt that most tryly gifted kids are attending these magnets. They will be distributed all over the county.

Nobody is saying that there are no truly gifted kids who aren’t taking these highly specialized classes; what we’re saying is that the kids who do take these highly specialized classes are truly gifted. Each sixth of the county can’t necessarily field enough of these students to offer these classes.

A some portion of trully gifted attend magnet. If Entire portion can attend regional magnets then population size may be big enough to offer super specialized courses.

[Anonymous]

I agree with the magnet supporters that MCPS is gaslighting the public when they claim they can scale all of these programs regionally. But I also struggle with believing their claim that the countywide magnets can be scaled. If they could've added more seats to the magnets, they would have. But they haven't.

And so I have to support the regional model, even though I know it's going to be a mess.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It worked very well when we kept the CESs, but added ELC and made parents feel like their kids were getting the CES experience at their home schools. Why don’t we add a few extra cohorted math and science classes to each region, tell parents that’s the magnet experience, but still keep the existing STEM magnets so the truly gifted kids [b]can still take these tiny, super specialized advanced classes? Everyone will be happy.

Are they?

Right now bulk of Magnet seats are taken by WJ/Churchill/Wootton. I doubt that most tryly gifted kids are attending these magnets. They will be distributed all over the county.

Nobody is saying that there are no truly gifted kids who aren’t taking these highly specialized classes; what we’re saying is that the kids who do take these highly specialized classes are truly gifted. Each sixth of the county can’t necessarily field enough of these students to offer these classes.

A some portion of trully gifted attend magnet. If Entire portion can attend regional magnets then population size may be big enough to offer super specialized courses.

At 6 different locations?