Reply to WAPO article on Prince George's County Schools

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[quote=Anonymous]"Howell wants to stop spending the $10,000 in tuition he pays each year for his daughter. But until the school system can address classroom size, recruiting and retaining qualified teachers and providing them with the resources needed to provide a “world-class” education, Howell said he won’t take a chance with his daughter’s future."

This is the problem with many of the middle class families in PG (And I am one of them!).  We want someone else to go first, fix things and then we will feel comfortable sending our kids to the public schools.  It is not going to happen like that.  Unfortunately, many residents buy into the perceptions of the schools that non-residents have and therefore don't even give the schools a chance when they can afford other options.  When I went to open houses at the private schools, they were packed.  I went to the open houses at a couple of public schools and I could count the number of parents who showed up on one hand.  Do people have first hand knowledge of what is even going on in these schools?  For some place like Bowie, you have Tulip Grove and Heather Hills, and they are some of the top performing elementary schools in the state.  You can't tell me that the other schools within that same five mile radius have families with drastically different SES.  Why is Yorktown, Rockledge, Northview ranked maybe in the top 50% out of 700+ schools in the state of Maryland and Tulip Grove and Heather Hills are in the top 50?  They are all close and the FARMS rate is similar.

Most of the privates have a mandatory volunteer service requirement.  Think about how some of these schools would be changed if they put that same 20 hours per household in the public schools?

I don't blame the parents entirely though, the schools should be doing a better job at marketing what they are doing to change things for the better.  Why is there no outreach to parents?  Every open house I went to for public schools I had to call them to find out if they even had one. They know the zoned area, why are they not communicating with incoming families beginning with kindergarten.  I am willing to take a risk for a year, because my child is well-prepared and I can easily supplement at that age.  However, I would not be that willing for an older child.  Get the parents involved with the schools early.  Parents that I talk to with kids in public school have had really good experiences, at least in Bowie and for the magnet schools.  I figure I will at least give it a try. [/quote]

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