Reply to Cliff Notes summary of MCPS boundary study fight?

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Here's the thing. Everyone is screaming at each other when all our anger should be directed at the BOE, who, through years of truly terrible decision making, have created the perception/reality that education in Montgomery County is a zero sum game.

Every single child in this County is entitled to a first-rate education. The improvement of the educational experience for some should not cost the decrease of the experience for others, but that's where we are thanks to the BOE's race to the bottom.

The reality is that even the W schools are declining. A huge number of families pay thousands of dollars a year to supplement the mediocre education the kids are getting. Curriculum 2.0 was a disaster.  The BOE has done away with final exams, so that kids aren't learning how to study for and take exams in college. The teachers union has too much power, so we're stuck with teachers and administrators that are not great. We don't pay teachers enough, and thereby don't attract the good teachers. There are over 200 vacant teaching positions in the County. And the BOE has cut off the legs of even the good teachers, taking away their ability to control their classrooms, use creative teaching methods, etc. So yeah, as they see their schools already declining, W parents are losing their shit over yet more half-baked decisions from a BOE that has proven over and over again that it can't be trusted to make a good decision.

But what's a thousand times worse is the disservices the BOE has visited upon the schools with lower-income populations. The above problems with teachers are even more magnified. In a misguided effort to not single anyone out, the BOE has utterly forsaken it's obligation to actually give each kid what she needs to succeed, and instead sets them up to fail. We need to let go of the idea that splitting kids up by skill level is more damaging then the alternative, which is the potentially lifelong burden that comes from spending years feeling like you're not as smart as your peers. 
[b]
Basically, every parent in the County has good reason to be pissed as hell.[/b] But that anger shouldn't be directed at other parents who also just want a decent education for their kids. It should be directed at the BOE for it's policies that have made a good education a finite resource in the County. Education should not be a zero sum game, where parents have to fight to get a share for their child. The BOE created this mess, and now they're sitting back and watching us year each other to pieces. And we're letting them, rather than holding the BOE responsible[/quote]

I'm not. And I don't think that education in MCPS is a zero sum game.

-parent with two kids in MCPS[/quote]

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