Anonymous wrote:It comes down to money. Are people willing to support a supplemental tax to give MCPS the budget they requested from MoCo? Or an increase in property taxes? Are people willing to acknowledge that some kids need remedial help and need a longer school day to accomplish that? Everyone does not enter MCPS with the same educational background—if we acknowledge that, MCPS could provide a better education for everyone.

I can only speak from my perspective of having a child in a non public placement. This placement is viewed as a last resort, detrimental to a child’s academic success, the place no one wants their kid to go. But it’s the right fit for my kid, it’s the place where he is successful and happy, where he’s grown to enjoy school and learning. Keeping him in a mainstream classroom in the name of equity would have been a horrible outcome. Different kids need different things.

Anonymous wrote:Sorry, MCPS was always a substandard educational system - even 36 years ago. It was shocking for me to come from India - a 3rd world country- and see how terrible MCPS was and how dumb the teachers were. Then I also checked out the private schools. And their education sucked worse than MCPS.

I had to become very hands-on with my kids education and put in hours daily to give them a well-rounded education (even when my kids were in the magnet pipeline) outside of the school hours.

Do I dislike that MoCo has become a sanctuary county? For sure. Do I dislike the diversity? Not at all. Were Blacks and Hispanics and poor people always doing terribly? Yes. I would say that MCPS has always given poor education to students - but it is also a reflection of how uneducated the parents are. Most cannot help their kids with ES and MS level Math.

It is just that when a lot of "high achieving" (in comparison to the natives) immigrants, whose families prioritized education, started to do way better than the natives in measurable ways, everyone started talking of achievement gap as a racial injustice. The achievement gap always existed because standards of K-12 education in America has sucked balls for past several decades, and people get by only because of their accent or skin color.

I actually like MoCo. MCPS may be better than many school systems. But, if you think that without your intervention your kid can get a world-class education in MCPS? Nope.

Anonymous wrote:does anyone just dislike this area and counting down the days their kids are graduated? or is this a spoiled attitude and should just suck it up. if you had a choice of a better public school system anywhere in the country ( cannot afford private), where would you go?

Anonymous wrote:I don't think this thread is redundant to the other one because I don’t view it as a “fall” from previous good times.
-I think MCPS responds to squeaky wheel small group concerns to the detriment of providing fair, high-quality programming for all students.
-I don’t think the English instruction has been very good in the middle school and early high school years, and I’m looking forward to the AP English years. I would like to see MCPS implement a solid writing curriculum earlier and have more of a focus on reading the classics, supplemented with modern lit in the middle grades and high school, rather than the other way around.
-My kids’ math teachers have been a mixed bag, and some have been not great! I wish MCPS had math textbooks from algebra on so parents could track what is happening at school instead of it being worksheets? packets? that maybe come home and are sometimes posted on canvas.
-I hate the way MCPS uses magnet programs in the elementary and middle grades. I think there is no good reason to have magnet programs at these ages when they could just offer the curriculum at the schools. I hate the way they split up the kids and I think it’s awful for building a school community. And on top of that, if they’re going to have a magnet, I think it’s ridiculous that they decided to make it a lottery. If they set the criteria for a program, they should be prepared to provide access to those who qualify. At the elementary level, they keep changing what they provide to the non-lottery winners, which I’m pretty sure this year is nothing, so it feels extra unfair.
-I think about moving but it’s expensive, a hassle, and my kids are not unhappy (they also know nothing other than MCPS so have no point of comparison).

Anonymous wrote:It comes down to money. Are people willing to support a supplemental tax to give MCPS the budget they requested from MoCo? Or an increase in property taxes? Are people willing to acknowledge that some kids need remedial help and need a longer school day to accomplish that? Everyone does not enter MCPS with the same educational background—if we acknowledge that, MCPS could provide a better education for everyone.

I can only speak from my perspective of having a child in a non public placement. This placement is viewed as a last resort, detrimental to a child’s academic success, the place no one wants their kid to go. But it’s the right fit for my kid, it’s the place where he is successful and happy, where he’s grown to enjoy school and learning. Keeping him in a mainstream classroom in the name of equity would have been a horrible outcome. Different kids need different things.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I grew up in Rockville. Life seemed simpler then which is probably a combination of me not being an adult and the lack of social media. Outside of your immediate friends and family, you really had no idea what was going on.

I often think I’m missing something about MCPS. So many people complain about the schools. I honestly believe MCPS is doing the best they can, given the resources they have, and the demographics of the county.

Changes have to occur at the state level. MCPS is too big to serve anyone effectively. What a new immigrant student/family needs is vastly different from a student with two highly educated parents with high paying flexible jobs.

Overall I think MCPS is no better or worse than other large school districts in the country. As a country, our standards have been lowered. I had one in private that graduated this year and one in MCPS public. I can’t say that my private school grad got a better education than my public school kid. The environments in which the education occurred was different but the content and curriculum was about the same. I’d like to expectations of students in MCPS increased, but again how do you hold an immigrant who doesn’t speak English to the same grammar standards as a native English speaker.

I suppose it’s me b/c most people on DCUM are dissatisfied. But overall Im happy. Our schools still occur 5 days a week, not 4. MCPS offers AP classes and pays for community college if a student wishes. Due to our location, MCPS kids have access to STEM programs at NIH and NIST. Overall, parents are heavily involved in their students education and are often willing to share their expertise via clubs.

Yes the traffic sucks but I don’t know of any major city where this is not true.

Isn't that the same as saying it’s pretty good at sucking.

Anonymous wrote:I grew up in Rockville. Life seemed simpler then which is probably a combination of me not being an adult and the lack of social media. Outside of your immediate friends and family, you really had no idea what was going on.

I often think I’m missing something about MCPS. So many people complain about the schools. I honestly believe MCPS is doing the best they can, given the resources they have, and the demographics of the county.

Changes have to occur at the state level. MCPS is too big to serve anyone effectively. What a new immigrant student/family needs is vastly different from a student with two highly educated parents with high paying flexible jobs.

Overall I think MCPS is no better or worse than other large school districts in the country. As a country, our standards have been lowered. I had one in private that graduated this year and one in MCPS public. I can’t say that my private school grad got a better education than my public school kid. The environments in which the education occurred was different but the content and curriculum was about the same. I’d like to expectations of students in MCPS increased, but again how do you hold an immigrant who doesn’t speak English to the same grammar standards as a native English speaker.

I suppose it’s me b/c most people on DCUM are dissatisfied. But overall Im happy. Our schools still occur 5 days a week, not 4. MCPS offers AP classes and pays for community college if a student wishes. Due to our location, MCPS kids have access to STEM programs at NIH and NIST. Overall, parents are heavily involved in their students education and are often willing to share their expertise via clubs.

Yes the traffic sucks but I don’t know of any major city where this is not true.