OP here. Yes, we tried the lottery and obtained slots at CPA CMIT North. We decided on CMIT, and it was a nightmare. I pulled my child out mid-year and headed to the neighborhood school (central part of county). We were able to get her into Samuel Ogle on a transfer request, but she wanted to stay at the neighborhood school. And it works overall. Except for a couple of nutty teachers, lol. Don't get wrong, there are some good teachers there, but there are a few new ones that give me pause.

Parents don't band together too tough at this school, but last year my child and several other kids complained at home about certain teachers. So parents may have called individually.

Are other parents having problems with the same teachers? If you can get them to, have them pose their concerns to the principal individually. I'm guessing if there are enough parental complaints on file that the principal will have more ammunition if he/she wants to take disciplinary action against a teacher. We had a major problem with a teacher who had a reputation of being a terrible and the principal informed us that they had never had a complaint against this teacher. If parents don't speak up, the principals hands are tied.

Some teachers are inherited and under their contract, it can be very difficult to transition a problem/ineffective teacher out.

Hmmm that does seem to be a problem with the lower rank schools in PG. what area are you located in? Can u try the lottery for charter school?

I have noticed, in dealing with certain PG County public schools (the lower-ranked ones) that when you call or email a teacher, or even the principal, you likely won't hear back from them. If you do, the tone is often defensive, even if the questions or concerns were posed politely.

But let your child "break a rule" or do something behavioral in nature (I am talking non-violent, non-physical, nothing illegal or disruptive), and here come the phone calls with an attitude from the caller.

I don't excuse my children from following the rules. But I feel like staff in these schools are more concerned with following rules than ensuring my children are well-educated. Or perhaps the problem is that staff at the lower ranked schools have fewer classroom management skills?

Any thoughts? I cannot afford private, and I am trying to get my kids through a couple of lower ranked public schools. The principals seem fine, but they hire and support some questionable teachers. For every good teacher, there is at least one mediocre and one bad teacher.