The state of MCPS is atrocious

[Anonymous]

Mcps educator here and this is a sinking ship. I'm probably going to pull my kids out and put them in private.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:I work in a Title One elementary school in MCPS. Our behaviors are off the charts this year. I honestly don't know how our admin continues to come to work each day. They constantly have kids in their offices. Even our staff development teacher, reading specialist, math coach AND both counselors are constantly with kids displaying behavior issues or eloping class. Admin can't suspend kids for running the halls, even in elementary school. I feel bad for our core team above because they can't do their actual jobs as they basically play security all day. I have some difficult kids but at least I can close my classroom door and ignore the chaos that's unfolding in rooms across the school.
Parents need to wake up and start parenting their kids rather than ignoring them on their phones or trying to be their friend. I applaud all of you who are trying your best to do right by your kids. Raise hell with the county council and board of ed. Your neighborhood school's principal can't do anything to make the changes we need to see.

You all need to work with the parents and let them know what's going on and have parents come in and volunteer and help vs. complaining. This isn't something new. Even before covid, may schools were closed to parents and yet, the teachers and admin complained bitterly about the parents. We cannot help if we don't know what's going on. Kids behave differently so they may be behaving at home and not school so if that's the situation it's on the teachers to communicate. We'd email the teachers and rarely get a response back.

Please point out where I said we were NOT calling parents on a daily basis about their child's behaviors? We do call and we either get sent to voicemail or cussed out and called racist. Trust me, teachers are trying everything under the sun.

Parents who curse out school staff and admin should suffer repercussions. The government, which funds and runs MCPS, needs to start holding people accountable for this stuff.

Repercussions? Like taking away the recess they don’t get? What exactly do you think MCPS can do to parents who aren’t breaking a law?

Documentation on the parent's behavior would be a start. And then don't be afraid to call the police. Parents who come shouting and hollering can and do get charged for disorderly conduct and aggressive encounters with school staff.

It just happened in Florida over a father who got aggressive with a bus aide: https://nypost.com/2023/05/09/florida-dad-attacks-school-worker-after-son-banned-from-riding-from-bus/

Document, call the police, hold the aggressive, violent parents accountable.

Yes, hitting school staff should be reported. Attempting to report missed phone calls and raised voices is a waste of everyone’s time.

Look at the other examples I posted as well. Parents who yelled and cursed also got police called on them.

Read them again— verbal threats. I strongly suspect they were told to leave as well. And the police certainly isn’t going to respond to a complaint about someone yelling over the phone.

Yes, obviously in-person is what I'm referencing for disorderly conduct. But that applies to the poster who said the mom showed up at the school "enraged" and cursing at them cause her daughter was in the ER. That sounds like a disorderly conduct charge to me.

If that’s all she did, then it isn’t disorderly conduct. That’s more than just being “mean.”

Definitely call the police and report back!

Ever sense they removed the SROs it's like MCPD is purposefully neglecting to enforce laws at our schools.

It's like ever since they removed t he SROs your brain cells died.

Nah, I think MCPD is being spiteful to retaliate unfortunately this puts our kids at risk.

Wrong again.

The council and Elrich put the kids at risk. MCPD continues to do its job well in spite of the the council.

The attack against MCPD can stop. You can’t back it up, and we know your argument is nonsense.

[Anonymous]

I've been an elementary school teacher in MCPS for 22 years. The first 17 were just about everything I thought teaching would be when I went to college. The last 5 years have been a rapid decline. I can't speak for other schools, but our biggest issues have been the behavior from students and the lack of support from these students' parents. It's reached a point where the kids know that there aren't any consequences so they do whatever they want. I sometimes walk to my car after school in utter disbelief at all of the things I witnessed that day. It takes a lot to rattle me but there are always kids just leaving their classrooms without permission and literally sprinting around the building up and down staircases. Our admin has set up shop in the hallways and the kids will run right by them as admin tries to get them to stop without actually putting their hands on the children.
I think it's wonderful that so many of you aren't experiencing this at your children's schools. However, this is not the case at many schools across the county..or country at this point. We are teaching students that there are no repercussions for not following directions or meeting expectations.
#sendhelp

[Anonymous]

You are exactly right. If I had known this is what educationbhas turned into I would never have joined. I feel that we are punished for trying to help and doing good in school. The kids who disrupt are rewarded as we are told to give them a boost and the kids who do their work are also punished by ending up with the same grades as their delinquent counterparts. Working hard is a losing game and acting like a criminal gets you candy and attention but not detention.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You are exactly right. If I had known this is what educationbhas turned into I would never have joined. I feel that we are punished for trying to help and doing good in school. The kids who disrupt are rewarded as we are told to give them a boost and the kids who do their work are also punished by ending up with the same grades as their delinquent counterparts. Working hard is a losing game and acting like a criminal gets you candy and attention but not detention.

This is the problem. It's a dreadful cycle. There's a culture that embraces disrespect for authority and kids feeling entitled to say what they want and act however they want. Then you top that off with politicians and administrators who excuse these behaviors and remove repurcussions in the name of equity which only exacerbate the problem. Teachers get fed up and quit and we have a teacher shortage problem. So then parents who actually care about education and with the means get fed up and move their kids to schools that are less rough and where these problems aren't as prominent. So the original school is left with a large number of kids who don't care and misbehave, and with staff who don't want to work there.

[Anonymous]

Of you actually grade fairly based on any standards what so ever you are rated as I effective by admin and mcea will go along with go along with pushing you out. The last straw was when they lied to unemployment and said I quit. It didn't work bc I had the paperwork but to think of the lack of accountability to do the right thing by afmin and the union. They act like thugs and it doesn't feel like they are on the same team as teachers.

[Anonymous]

* correction. If you grade fairly you are rated as ineffective*

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:I work in a Title One elementary school in MCPS. Our behaviors are off the charts this year. I honestly don't know how our admin continues to come to work each day. They constantly have kids in their offices. Even our staff development teacher, reading specialist, math coach AND both counselors are constantly with kids displaying behavior issues or eloping class. Admin can't suspend kids for running the halls, even in elementary school. I feel bad for our core team above because they can't do their actual jobs as they basically play security all day. I have some difficult kids but at least I can close my classroom door and ignore the chaos that's unfolding in rooms across the school.
Parents need to wake up and start parenting their kids rather than ignoring them on their phones or trying to be their friend. I applaud all of you who are trying your best to do right by your kids. Raise hell with the county council and board of ed. Your neighborhood school's principal can't do anything to make the changes we need to see.

You all need to work with the parents and let them know what's going on and have parents come in and volunteer and help vs. complaining. This isn't something new. Even before covid, may schools were closed to parents and yet, the teachers and admin complained bitterly about the parents. We cannot help if we don't know what's going on. Kids behave differently so they may be behaving at home and not school so if that's the situation it's on the teachers to communicate. We'd email the teachers and rarely get a response back.

Please point out where I said we were NOT calling parents on a daily basis about their child's behaviors? We do call and we either get sent to voicemail or cussed out and called racist. Trust me, teachers are trying everything under the sun.

Parents who curse out school staff and admin should suffer repercussions. The government, which funds and runs MCPS, needs to start holding people accountable for this stuff.

Repercussions? Like taking away the recess they don’t get? What exactly do you think MCPS can do to parents who aren’t breaking a law?

Documentation on the parent's behavior would be a start. And then don't be afraid to call the police. Parents who come shouting and hollering can and do get charged for disorderly conduct and aggressive encounters with school staff.

It just happened in Florida over a father who got aggressive with a bus aide: https://nypost.com/2023/05/09/florida-dad-attacks-school-worker-after-son-banned-from-riding-from-bus/

Document, call the police, hold the aggressive, violent parents accountable.

Yes, hitting school staff should be reported. Attempting to report missed phone calls and raised voices is a waste of everyone’s time.

Look at the other examples I posted as well. Parents who yelled and cursed also got police called on them.

Read them again— verbal threats. I strongly suspect they were told to leave as well. And the police certainly isn’t going to respond to a complaint about someone yelling over the phone.

Yes, obviously in-person is what I'm referencing for disorderly conduct. But that applies to the poster who said the mom showed up at the school "enraged" and cursing at them cause her daughter was in the ER. That sounds like a disorderly conduct charge to me.

If that’s all she did, then it isn’t disorderly conduct. That’s more than just being “mean.”

Definitely call the police and report back!

Ever sense they removed the SROs it's like MCPD is purposefully neglecting to enforce laws at our schools.

It's like ever since they removed t he SROs your brain cells died.

Nah, I think MCPD is being spiteful to retaliate unfortunately this puts our kids at risk.

It does seem like ever since Elrich got rid of the cushy SRO jobs they started ignoring schools as retaliation. People say the bathrooms at some schools are open air drug marts but the cops do nothing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Mcps educator here and this is a sinking ship. I'm probably going to pull my kids out and put them in private.

My kids are doing great. Much better than when I was an MCPS student, but we also parent and value education. But it sure is a problem for people who expect the county to raise their kids.

[Anonymous]

Mcps and retaliation go together like peas and carrots. Unfortunately we lose alot of great teachers over it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I've been an elementary school teacher in MCPS for 22 years. The first 17 were just about everything I thought teaching would be when I went to college. The last 5 years have been a rapid decline. I can't speak for other schools, but our biggest issues have been the behavior from students and the lack of support from these students' parents. It's reached a point where the kids know that there aren't any consequences so they do whatever they want. I sometimes walk to my car after school in utter disbelief at all of the things I witnessed that day. It takes a lot to rattle me but there are always kids just leaving their classrooms without permission and literally sprinting around the building up and down staircases. Our admin has set up shop in the hallways and the kids will run right by them as admin tries to get them to stop without actually putting their hands on the children.
I think it's wonderful that so many of you aren't experiencing this at your children's schools. However, this is not the case at many schools across the county..or country at this point. We are teaching students that there are no repercussions for not following directions or meeting expectations.
#sendhelp

WLknus through what used to happen when a kid was disrespectful?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The 50% grade thing for doing nothing was done in the name of equity. They foujnd that too many kids of certain groups were not doing any work. By giving 50% for doing nothing, then if they at least did one or two assignments, it would be enough for a D and they'd pass.

Otherwise, MCPS would fail its equity goals because certain groups would have too high of a failure rate.

As a POC, it's a sick, twisted fix and I don't agree with it in the name of equity.

I do understand mathematically that too many zeros can make it mathematically impossible for a kid to recover from mistakes, but that's why I think due dates and deadlines are already a good grace that allows for revision and correction. Also, I think a policy that drops the three lowest grades, which used to be in effect when I was in MCPS in the '90s for some classes, also works too.

But the 50% automatic rule lowers the bar too much.

+1 Long-time educator here. Yes to all you wrote. Will add that I think mentoring and before/during/after-school tutoring programs led by teachers and other paid staff can make a world of difference.

[Anonymous]

You try to correct the kid. The kid tells you to go fck yourself. You try to kick the kid out they throw trash at you and say " you can't kick me out". Detention, they never show, security, they never show. The next day the behavior kids doubled bc they see the one bad kid getting high grades (as we are pressured to do24/7). Then at the end of the year the kids learned they won the fight because we teacher had no protection or support and everyday with this type of system is a nightmare.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I work in a Title One elementary school in MCPS. Our behaviors are off the charts this year. I honestly don't know how our admin continues to come to work each day. They constantly have kids in their offices. Even our staff development teacher, reading specialist, math coach AND both counselors are constantly with kids displaying behavior issues or eloping class. Admin can't suspend kids for running the halls, even in elementary school. I feel bad for our core team above because they can't do their actual jobs as they basically play security all day. I have some difficult kids but at least I can close my classroom door and ignore the chaos that's unfolding in rooms across the school.
Parents need to wake up and start parenting their kids rather than ignoring them on their phones or trying to be their friend. I applaud all of you who are trying your best to do right by your kids. Raise hell with the county council and board of ed. Your neighborhood school's principal can't do anything to make the changes we need to see.

You all need to work with the parents and let them know what's going on and have parents come in and volunteer and help vs. complaining. This isn't something new. Even before covid, may schools were closed to parents and yet, the teachers and admin complained bitterly about the parents. We cannot help if we don't know what's going on. Kids behave differently so they may be behaving at home and not school so if that's the situation it's on the teachers to communicate. We'd email the teachers and rarely get a response back.

Please point out where I said we were NOT calling parents on a daily basis about their child's behaviors? We do call and we either get sent to voicemail or cussed out and called racist. Trust me, teachers are trying everything under the sun.

Parents who curse out school staff and admin should suffer repercussions. The government, which funds and runs MCPS, needs to start holding people accountable for this stuff.

Repercussions? Like taking away the recess they don’t get? What exactly do you think MCPS can do to parents who aren’t breaking a law?

Documentation on the parent's behavior would be a start. And then don't be afraid to call the police. Parents who come shouting and hollering can and do get charged for disorderly conduct and aggressive encounters with school staff.

It just happened in Florida over a father who got aggressive with a bus aide: https://nypost.com/2023/05/09/florida-dad-attacks-school-worker-after-son-banned-from-riding-from-bus/

Document, call the police, hold the aggressive, violent parents accountable.

Yes, hitting school staff should be reported. Attempting to report missed phone calls and raised voices is a waste of everyone’s time.

Look at the other examples I posted as well. Parents who yelled and cursed also got police called on them.

Read them again— verbal threats. I strongly suspect they were told to leave as well. And the police certainly isn’t going to respond to a complaint about someone yelling over the phone.

Yes, obviously in-person is what I'm referencing for disorderly conduct. But that applies to the poster who said the mom showed up at the school "enraged" and cursing at them cause her daughter was in the ER. That sounds like a disorderly conduct charge to me.

If that’s all she did, then it isn’t disorderly conduct. That’s more than just being “mean.”

Definitely call the police and report back!

Ever sense they removed the SROs it's like MCPD is purposefully neglecting to enforce laws at our schools.

It's like ever since they removed t he SROs your brain cells died.

Nah, I think MCPD is being spiteful to retaliate unfortunately this puts our kids at risk.

It does seem like ever since Elrich got rid of the cushy SRO jobs they started ignoring schools as retaliation. People say the bathrooms at some schools are open air drug marts but the cops do nothing.

Nope again.

Blame MCPS for the open-air drug marts. Admin needs to call for officers if they want officers to report. Guess what? That doesn’t happen. You can’t blame the police for not showing up if they aren’t called.

Blame the council. The reason police aren’t monitoring halls in the first place is because of council decisions.

The only people you can’t blame are MCPD. They can only do what they are allowed to do, and politicians have made sure that is very little.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Mcps educator here and this is a sinking ship. I'm probably going to pull my kids out and put them in private.

Sure, you are!