Are you relieved to be done with MCPS?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I agree that the size of the county is a major contributing factor to why people are so dissatisfied. There’s so much diversity of backgrounds and viewpoints and it’s extremely difficult (impossible, really) to come up with a solution that meets the needs of everyone. The leadership not being great just makes things worse. We also have an extremely high striver/entitled population in the close to DC suburbs which also cranks up the complaints. Friends in New England suburbs have had such a different experience for their children in public school and I regret getting stuck (work) in this area. Ready to move on…

But most people are happy with MCPS IRL.
The loud minority on DCUM (about 10 of them) doesn't represent the vast majority of MCPS families.

Most of the parents I know IRL have complaints. They're usually not extreme, but especially after the abundance of snow days, calendar shuffles, etc. this past year, the mood I see is mixed rather than positive.

Everybody has a complaint, but research shows most parents are happy with MCPS.

A 2024 resident survey showed that the percentage of residents rating k-12 education in MoCo went down from 82% in 2018 to 68% in 2024. Let's assume this is reflective of attitudes among current MCPS parents (the survey was of residents so this might also be reflective of people whose MCPS experiences are not current). If we assume that, you are correct that "most parents are happy with MCPS". However, it would appear that a large and increasing minority of parents do not think MCPS is good, much less excellent. MCPS should stop dismissing people who have concerns as "privileged" (the irony is they also ignore unprivileged people).

Everybody knows that survey responses go up when people are unhappy, and most people won’t respond to a survey if they don’t have anything to complain about.

No. People don't complete surveys generally

MCPS surveys are full of biases in one way or another - yet they serve as the only "evidence" for community input.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm also quite disgusted with MCPS's impulse to discredit anyone who criticizes them as being privileged and White. Many of the people I know who have had the worst experiences with MCPS are Black and Latino families. Some people seem to live under the delusion that thousands of Black and Brown kids are graduating not proficient in math and reading and their families are perfectly satisfied. GMAFB.

Taylor turns to the 2 men that comprise the Black and Brown Coalition to validate that he is a progressive multicultural white man choosing only the best on behalf of Black and Latino families. If Diego Uriburu and Byron Jones of the Black and Brown Coalition say it's OK for Taylor to do something, then that must be the case.

LOL, thought it was the other way around, with TT bribing them persuading/compelling them to provide vocal "support"

Oh TT does bribe them - Uriburu's organization Identity has all the Wellness Center contracts at MCPS high schools, plus a number of other school-based programs for which the county contracts services. The Black and Brown Coalition has two board members, one of which is an employee of Uriburu's at Identity. Probably skirting the law on this stuff. The county, not MCPS, is the contracting organization, but TT could have plenty of influence telling principals what contractors to favor in scoring proposals.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I agree that the size of the county is a major contributing factor to why people are so dissatisfied. There’s so much diversity of backgrounds and viewpoints and it’s extremely difficult (impossible, really) to come up with a solution that meets the needs of everyone. The leadership not being great just makes things worse. We also have an extremely high striver/entitled population in the close to DC suburbs which also cranks up the complaints. Friends in New England suburbs have had such a different experience for their children in public school and I regret getting stuck (work) in this area. Ready to move on…

But most people are happy with MCPS IRL.
The loud minority on DCUM (about 10 of them) doesn't represent the vast majority of MCPS families.

Most of the parents I know IRL have complaints. They're usually not extreme, but especially after the abundance of snow days, calendar shuffles, etc. this past year, the mood I see is mixed rather than positive.

Everybody has a complaint, but research shows most parents are happy with MCPS.

A 2024 resident survey showed that the percentage of residents rating k-12 education in MoCo went down from 82% in 2018 to 68% in 2024. Let's assume this is reflective of attitudes among current MCPS parents (the survey was of residents so this might also be reflective of people whose MCPS experiences are not current). If we assume that, you are correct that "most parents are happy with MCPS". However, it would appear that a large and increasing minority of parents do not think MCPS is good, much less excellent. MCPS should stop dismissing people who have concerns as "privileged" (the irony is they also ignore unprivileged people).

Everybody knows that survey responses go up when people are unhappy, and most people won’t respond to a survey if they don’t have anything to complain about.

No. People don't complete surveys generally

MCPS surveys are full of biases in one way or another - yet they serve as the only "evidence" for community input.

Agree.

The so-called “surveys” are a fig-leaf used to cover the school board doing whatever it originally planned to do.

MCPS is not a democracy

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm also quite disgusted with MCPS's impulse to discredit anyone who criticizes them as being privileged and White. Many of the people I know who have had the worst experiences with MCPS are Black and Latino families. Some people seem to live under the delusion that thousands of Black and Brown kids are graduating not proficient in math and reading and their families are perfectly satisfied. GMAFB.

Taylor turns to the 2 men that comprise the Black and Brown Coalition to validate that he is a progressive multicultural white man choosing only the best on behalf of Black and Latino families. If Diego Uriburu and Byron Jones of the Black and Brown Coalition say it's OK for Taylor to do something, then that must be the case.

LOL, thought it was the other way around, with TT bribing them persuading/compelling them to provide vocal "support"

Oh TT does bribe them - Uriburu's organization Identity has all the Wellness Center contracts at MCPS high schools, plus a number of other school-based programs for which the county contracts services. The Black and Brown Coalition has two board members, one of which is an employee of Uriburu's at Identity. Probably skirting the law on this stuff. The county, not MCPS, is the contracting organization, but TT could have plenty of influence telling principals what contractors to favor in scoring proposals.

wow, MoCo and MCPS aren't known for their integrity or moral character. How low we've fallen.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This county is so full of whiners, it’s insane. We are always moving due to military positions and I’ve never seen a more pathetic school community. No one thinks or talks about their school district,this much,anywhere else. This is a special breed of humans in the worst way possible. Glad to be done in a few months and back to where sane people exist.

Having worked in a couple of local school systems and trading notes with others that have as well, I think the consensus is that you tend to hear more from families in the counties with a wealthier population. You hardly hear from families in counties that have more of a working class population.

You might call it entitlement in some ways. But I also see it as families being more invested in their kids' education. Just look at the population in Montgomery County. A good number are/were Federal workers who worked in NIH or HHS, so are researchers, have doctorates, etc. So their standards for education are higher. I can say in multiple school systems some of the biggest time sinks are some of these Federal workers who apparently are researchers and have nothing better to do but create websites and newsletters with their analysis on why the local school system(not just MCPS and not just one person) is horrible and we have to talk with them on how they came about their numbers and analysis.

I don't like the way MCPS and Montgomery County is going. But I don't think it's a horrible school system and students should still do okay with it as long as families don't settle for the status quo. So it is perfectly okay to complain or advocate for their students.

The bolded is where I am. It's not a bad school system, it's better than the ones I grew up in for sure. It's also got a lot of problems. Some of those problems are problems with most school systems in 2026 (too much edtech for one example), some are specific to MCPS (bad leadership at the top), but there are problems. As a parent, I speak out about the problems I see.

And yeah, I'm well educated. I have expectations of the public school system to be more than "fine." I don't have hugely high expectations (I don't care much about access to the very top math classes), but I do have expectations. I get suspicious though, when someone treats expectations of more than mediocre as a problem.

Most families don’t see the school system as terrible. And having lived others place I know with absolutely certainly that it’s better than most.

Does it have its issues? Certainly. Should there be improvements in places and parents voices heard about that? Again certainly. But MCPS could do with a lot less interference from parents/community. The need to talk to everybody and everything requires so much time. And everyone is doing so much to avoid winding up in the news or sued. It’s definitely a whiny place.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you are moving, switching to private, have a graduating student etc...?

We are moving. It's downhill with Taylor at the helm.

Put down the pipe. He's been so amazing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This county is so full of whiners, it’s insane. We are always moving due to military positions and I’ve never seen a more pathetic school community. No one thinks or talks about their school district,this much,anywhere else. This is a special breed of humans in the worst way possible. Glad to be done in a few months and back to where sane people exist.

Having worked in a couple of local school systems and trading notes with others that have as well, I think the consensus is that you tend to hear more from families in the counties with a wealthier population. You hardly hear from families in counties that have more of a working class population.

You might call it entitlement in some ways. But I also see it as families being more invested in their kids' education. Just look at the population in Montgomery County. A good number are/were Federal workers who worked in NIH or HHS, so are researchers, have doctorates, etc. So their standards for education are higher. I can say in multiple school systems some of the biggest time sinks are some of these Federal workers who apparently are researchers and have nothing better to do but create websites and newsletters with their analysis on why the local school system(not just MCPS and not just one person) is horrible and we have to talk with them on how they came about their numbers and analysis.

I don't like the way MCPS and Montgomery County is going. But I don't think it's a horrible school system and students should still do okay with it as long as families don't settle for the status quo. So it is perfectly okay to complain or advocate for their students.

The bolded is where I am. It's not a bad school system, it's better than the ones I grew up in for sure. It's also got a lot of problems. Some of those problems are problems with most school systems in 2026 (too much edtech for one example), some are specific to MCPS (bad leadership at the top), but there are problems. As a parent, I speak out about the problems I see.

And yeah, I'm well educated. I have expectations of the public school system to be more than "fine." I don't have hugely high expectations (I don't care much about access to the very top math classes), but I do have expectations. I get suspicious though, when someone treats expectations of more than mediocre as a problem.

Most families don’t see the school system as terrible. And having lived others place I know with absolutely certainly that it’s better than most.

Does it have its issues? Certainly. Should there be improvements in places and parents voices heard about that? Again certainly. But MCPS could do with a lot less interference from parents/community. The need to talk to everybody and everything requires so much time. And everyone is doing so much to avoid winding up in the news or sued. It’s definitely a whiny place.

The Karens just love to complain. Just ignore them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you are moving, switching to private, have a graduating student etc...?

We are moving. It's downhill with Taylor at the helm.

Put down the pipe. He's been so amazing.

Sheesh, Sue, dont you have kids to tend to?

[Anonymous]

Yes, so relieved. Should never have moved from DCPS

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you are moving, switching to private, have a graduating student etc...?

We are moving. It's downhill with Taylor at the helm.

Put down the pipe. He's been so amazing.

Is it Sunday night duty for MCPS CO staff to post snarky comebacks for DCUM posts you don't think Taylor would like?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If you are moving, switching to private, have a graduating student etc...?

Switching to private but thought our school was cool. Just didn’t like the parents at the school.

[Anonymous]

Adding another voice to say no, not really. MCPS served my kids well. They had a lot of really good teachers, they had good opportunities. I don't have big complaints.
Agree with other posters - I feel relief at leaving the parents behind.

[Anonymous]

My kid would have stayed if too many kids had not been budding sociopaths. Prison culture basically. Locked building too.

Some really great parents + hope to stay in touch with those, but also many blah ones who represent the banality of evil and i don't want my kid around them or their offspring right now.

Most teachers were really great.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This county is so full of whiners, it’s insane. We are always moving due to military positions and I’ve never seen a more pathetic school community. No one thinks or talks about their school district,this much,anywhere else. This is a special breed of humans in the worst way possible. Glad to be done in a few months and back to where sane people exist.

Having worked in a couple of local school systems and trading notes with others that have as well, I think the consensus is that you tend to hear more from families in the counties with a wealthier population. You hardly hear from families in counties that have more of a working class population.

You might call it entitlement in some ways. But I also see it as families being more invested in their kids' education. Just look at the population in Montgomery County. A good number are/were Federal workers who worked in NIH or HHS, so are researchers, have doctorates, etc. So their standards for education are higher. I can say in multiple school systems some of the biggest time sinks are some of these Federal workers who apparently are researchers and have nothing better to do but create websites and newsletters with their analysis on why the local school system(not just MCPS and not just one person) is horrible and we have to talk with them on how they came about their numbers and analysis.

I don't like the way MCPS and Montgomery County is going. But I don't think it's a horrible school system and students should still do okay with it as long as families don't settle for the status quo. So it is perfectly okay to complain or advocate for their students.

The bolded is where I am. It's not a bad school system, it's better than the ones I grew up in for sure. It's also got a lot of problems. Some of those problems are problems with most school systems in 2026 (too much edtech for one example), some are specific to MCPS (bad leadership at the top), but there are problems. As a parent, I speak out about the problems I see.

And yeah, I'm well educated. I have expectations of the public school system to be more than "fine." I don't have hugely high expectations (I don't care much about access to the very top math classes), but I do have expectations. I get suspicious though, when someone treats expectations of more than mediocre as a problem.

Most families don’t see the school system as terrible. And having lived others place I know with absolutely certainly that it’s better than most.

Does it have its issues? Certainly. Should there be improvements in places and parents voices heard about that? Again certainly. But MCPS could do with a lot less interference from parents/community. The need to talk to everybody and everything requires so much time. And everyone is doing so much to avoid winding up in the news or sued. It’s definitely a whiny place.

This is a tell that you work for MCPS.

Because in no way does MCPS even deter itself from doing what it wants to do despite massive parent/community pushback and feedback.

And the fact that you believe parents/community should take whatever scraps MCPS gives it and not push back is undemocratic and antiethical to the idea of what public education is supposed to be. There's a reason why the school board positions are elected.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This county is so full of whiners, it’s insane. We are always moving due to military positions and I’ve never seen a more pathetic school community. No one thinks or talks about their school district,this much,anywhere else. This is a special breed of humans in the worst way possible. Glad to be done in a few months and back to where sane people exist.

Having worked in a couple of local school systems and trading notes with others that have as well, I think the consensus is that you tend to hear more from families in the counties with a wealthier population. You hardly hear from families in counties that have more of a working class population.

You might call it entitlement in some ways. But I also see it as families being more invested in their kids' education. Just look at the population in Montgomery County. A good number are/were Federal workers who worked in NIH or HHS, so are researchers, have doctorates, etc. So their standards for education are higher. I can say in multiple school systems some of the biggest time sinks are some of these Federal workers who apparently are researchers and have nothing better to do but create websites and newsletters with their analysis on why the local school system(not just MCPS and not just one person) is horrible and we have to talk with them on how they came about their numbers and analysis.

I don't like the way MCPS and Montgomery County is going. But I don't think it's a horrible school system and students should still do okay with it as long as families don't settle for the status quo. So it is perfectly okay to complain or advocate for their students.

The bolded is where I am. It's not a bad school system, it's better than the ones I grew up in for sure. It's also got a lot of problems. Some of those problems are problems with most school systems in 2026 (too much edtech for one example), some are specific to MCPS (bad leadership at the top), but there are problems. As a parent, I speak out about the problems I see.

And yeah, I'm well educated. I have expectations of the public school system to be more than "fine." I don't have hugely high expectations (I don't care much about access to the very top math classes), but I do have expectations. I get suspicious though, when someone treats expectations of more than mediocre as a problem.

Most families don’t see the school system as terrible. And having lived others place I know with absolutely certainly that it’s better than most.

Does it have its issues? Certainly. Should there be improvements in places and parents voices heard about that? Again certainly. But MCPS could do with a lot less interference from parents/community. The need to talk to everybody and everything requires so much time. And everyone is doing so much to avoid winding up in the news or sued. It’s definitely a whiny place.

This is a tell that you work for MCPS.

Because in no way does MCPS even deter itself from doing what it wants to do despite massive parent/community pushback and feedback.

And the fact that you believe parents/community should take whatever scraps MCPS gives it and not push back is undemocratic and antiethical to the idea of what public education is supposed to be. There's a reason why the school board positions are elected.

+100

Every staffer that is buying into the Parents are the Enemy talking point should be fired.

Sorry you don't like working for a public school district. Go work somewhere else if you don't like being held accountable for how tax dollars are spent you lazy stupid biches