Montgomery county parents - did we make a mistake?

[Anonymous]

I'm really just looking for some reassurance. We just moved into the MoCo from the District for the express purpose of having good public schools, and now I feel like we didn't do enough research because every article I read in the Post talks about how bad off the County is. Considering the economic situation, I know every area is facing big budget shortfalls and cuts in education spending, but MoCo seems worse off than others. How are you all dealing with this uncertainty; are people thinking about moving out of MoCo and if so, where would you go?

[Anonymous]

I think all of the school districts are going through serious budget crises. It's a tough time. But, I'm not sure that MoCo is any worse than others. My kids have been in MoCo schools for the past five years and so far we're happy. I am sure that we will feel the budget cuts, but I feel confident that the schools will do everything they can to make sure our kids get a good education.

[Anonymous]

Mo Co is a large system. So "quality control" and equity are hard factors to manage. Schools in areas with higher tax bases usually have strong PTAs with money who manage to ease the economic pain to some extent. Other schools are not so lucky.

If you're concerned, find a smaller system like Howard County. Howard rarely jumps on any bandwagon. It has a "nuts and bolts" philosophy. But keep in mind that if diversity is important to you, Howard can't offer that - at least not in the western part of the county.

[Anonymous]

Every county has fiscal difficulties at present. Contrary to what pp said, MoCo has much better quality control than almost any other county. If you think you could find a better public school system in another county then you are kidding yourself. Excellent public school systems like the BCC cluster don't deteriorate because of a year or two of tighter budgets.

[Anonymous]

MoCo is huge, so it really does depend on where you live. We used to live in DC and moved to MoCo for the same reason and are very happy with our decision.
We are in the Chevy Chase Cluster - so Rosemary hills/Chevy Chase/Westland/BCC.

[Anonymous]

I've lived in MoCo most of my life and now have a child in kindergarden there. There have always been years where budget cuts were made or the economy wasn't going well; I remember one year in junior high, they got rid of most sports! So don't worry.

[Anonymous]

"I'm really just looking for some reassurance. We just moved into the MoCo from the District for the express purpose of having good public schools, and now I feel like we didn't do enough research because every article I read in the Post talks about how bad off the County is. Considering the economic situation, I know every area is facing big budget shortfalls and cuts in education spending, but MoCo seems worse off than others. How are you all dealing with this uncertainty; are people thinking about moving out of MoCo and if so, where would you go? "

I did the same thing! We left the district and moved out to Montgomery Country based on the rankings for the schools for our district. I did not realize that they high rankings mean constant test prep at the expense of everything else. I'm very ticked off and we are considering moving. I have several friends in Arlington who have a completely different experience. Yes, VA does standardized testing but they are much less obsessive about it and do not spend nearly as much class time prepping the students.

At this point I think MoCo has been using test prep to justify budget cuts for other programs that cost more than kids sitting down doing worksheet after worksheet. It is beyond NCLB and school administrators use the test scores to justify their performance. They can screw everything else up, provide little real education experience, but as long as the test scores are up, they are golden.

I have friends who did not want to red shirt their kindergarten child. He had no behavorial problems just was not as ahead in reading as the other kids entering K but don't behind according to accepted developmental guidelines or their pediatrician. They had a horrible time as the poor little boy was put under ridiculous pressure throughout K-2nd all in the name of getting good test scores for the school. They finally pulled him and are doing private until they can move but he has poor self esteem issues now and hates school. I have spoken with two other sets of parents with the same experience. I do not want to red shirting and I am generally opposed to the idea but if you plan to go into MoCo schools and your son is not ahead then you want to think about it.

Kids that are ahead do not do much better out here. The constant test prep is boring to them so kids who went into school with a love for learning are not learning to hate school and not pay attention. It only works and by works I mean does no harm, for kids who sit solidily in the middle range.

For math there is pressure for kids to move ahead in math but very little focus on the concepts. If they had a richer math curriculum they could accomodate a broader range of students and only move up kids were truly ready. I'm not sure what their goal here is expept to make sure kids develop a dislike for math.

Lastly, MoCo is a solid wall of bureacracy to the extent that you see articles about how parents groups are forming advocacy groups to fight them. Its basically the teachers and parents against the administrators.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:"I'm really just looking for some reassurance. We just moved into the MoCo from the District for the express purpose of having good public schools, and now I feel like we didn't do enough research because every article I read in the Post talks about how bad off the County is. Considering the economic situation, I know every area is facing big budget shortfalls and cuts in education spending, but MoCo seems worse off than others. How are you all dealing with this uncertainty; are people thinking about moving out of MoCo and if so, where would you go? "

I did the same thing! We left the district and moved out to Montgomery Country based on the rankings for the schools for our district. I did not realize that they high rankings mean constant test prep at the expense of everything else. I'm very ticked off and we are considering moving. I have several friends in Arlington who have a completely different experience. Yes, VA does standardized testing but they are much less obsessive about it and do not spend nearly as much class time prepping the students.

At this point I think MoCo has been using test prep to justify budget cuts for other programs that cost more than kids sitting down doing worksheet after worksheet. It is beyond NCLB and school administrators use the test scores to justify their performance. They can screw everything else up, provide little real education experience, but as long as the test scores are up, they are golden.

I have friends who did not want to red shirt their kindergarten child. He had no behavorial problems just was not as ahead in reading as the other kids entering K but don't behind according to accepted developmental guidelines or their pediatrician. They had a horrible time as the poor little boy was put under ridiculous pressure throughout K-2nd all in the name of getting good test scores for the school. They finally pulled him and are doing private until they can move but he has poor self esteem issues now and hates school. I have spoken with two other sets of parents with the same experience. I do not want to red shirting and I am generally opposed to the idea but if you plan to go into MoCo schools and your son is not ahead then you want to think about it.

Kids that are ahead do not do much better out here. The constant test prep is boring to them so kids who went into school with a love for learning are not learning to hate school and not pay attention. It only works and by works I mean does no harm, for kids who sit solidily in the middle range.

For math there is pressure for kids to move ahead in math but very little focus on the concepts. If they had a richer math curriculum they could accomodate a broader range of students and only move up kids were truly ready. I'm not sure what their goal here is expept to make sure kids develop a dislike for math.

Lastly, MoCo is a solid wall of bureacracy to the extent that you see articles about how parents groups are forming advocacy groups to fight them. Its basically the teachers and parents against the administrators.

This would all be more helpful if you named specific schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Every county has fiscal difficulties at present. Contrary to what pp said, MoCo has much better quality control than almost any other county. If you think you could find a better public school system in another county then you are kidding yourself. Excellent public school systems like the BCC cluster don't deteriorate because of a year or two of tighter budgets.

Arlington and Fairfax are better IMO. But you'd have to live in VA to access the schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
I did the same thing! We left the district and moved out to Montgomery Country based on the rankings for the schools for our district. I did not realize that they high rankings mean constant test prep at the expense of everything else. I'm very ticked off and we are considering moving. I have several friends in Arlington who have a completely different experience. Yes, VA does standardized testing but they are much less obsessive about it and do not spend nearly as much class time prepping the students.

One thing to keep in mind is that the VA county schools have had to deal with state tests (the SOLs) for at least 10 years, now -- they started mandatory testing (and it was cumulative -- the 3rd grade Social Studies test measured things taught in K, 1, 2 AND 3) quite a while back.

There was a STEEP learning curve for schools and teachers when the SOLs came out. I had just started teaching then, and you did see a whole lot of test prep and pressure and teaching to the test and so on, as schools figured out how they were going to track their students and provide extra help and remediat and still teach their kids who had already mastered the basics.

Now they've got a lot more experience, and I think they are basically doing a good job. MD schools though are just starting this process. So give them at least 5 more years and I think things will settle down here too.

[Anonymous]

We have felt very similar to you, OP, and are lost as what to do about it. We are considering Arlington, VA schools despite the long commute (spouse works in MD) though we haven't visited yet. Both our kids are doing fine academically in K-2 but don't enjoy school. The rigidity with which the school is run combined with the high pressure Moco curriculum has had a clear impact on their curiosity and risk-taking. Even if we're stuck here for a couple years, we will be figuring a way to move out of the area.

[Anonymous]

MD had state testing prior to the MSAs called the MSPAP. I did student teaching when they gave it but I believe it was only given to 3rd and 5th graders in ES. They wouldn't let new teachers teach in those grades b/c they didn't want them to be unfamiliar with the test prep. They bribed the kids left and right to be in school during the week it was given. MD has had years of practice in test giving too.

[Anonymous]

OP, I will weigh in since you wanted reassurance. We moved from the District last year (looked at Arlington and here + moved to MoCo). My child was bored in DC schools (they weren't differentiating, she's an advanced reader) and *loves* her class here in MD. She has a varied curriculum, and hasn't complained at all about test prep (which was awful in DC - as well as test administration there - kids had busywork so poor teachers could do 1-on-1 testing). She's finally being challenged. She adores her (1st grade) teacher, is learning and is excited about going to school. Two of her friends moved from DC in the last couple years as well and I know those families are happy too. IMHO, test prep is everywhere unless you're going to go private. I wanted a school district that used structure, assessment and standards to its advantage and that's what I see so far.

[Anonymous]

22:30 - new poster here, but thanks so much for posting - that's very reassuring to a parent that will have her first DC in K in the Fall.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP, I will weigh in since you wanted reassurance. We moved from the District last year (looked at Arlington and here + moved to MoCo). My child was bored in DC schools (they weren't differentiating, she's an advanced reader) and *loves* her class here in MD. She has a varied curriculum, and hasn't complained at all about test prep (which was awful in DC - as well as test administration there - kids had busywork so poor teachers could do 1-on-1 testing). She's finally being challenged. She adores her (1st grade) teacher, is learning and is excited about going to school. Two of her friends moved from DC in the last couple years as well and I know those families are happy too. IMHO, test prep is everywhere unless you're going to go private. I wanted a school district that used structure, assessment and standards to its advantage and that's what I see so far.

Test prep in MoCo really gets started in 3rd grade when the MSAs begin. Yep, my DC was quite happy in 1st and 2nd grade as well. That completely changed in 3rd, 4th, and 5th grades. The type of parent that sees nothing wrong with bribing kids ($20 for an A on a report card?), would be happy in our ES where the teachers use all kids of bribes (they call them prizes) to get kids to do their MSA packets. And if the huge packets don't get finished, they can stay in for recess to complete it. Oh, joy.