Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
But look at Rockville and Takoma Park, incorporated cities in a sea of un-incorporated suburbia.

There is nothing to stop a school system from developing independently of a County.

There is not a single town based school system in the state. Are you sure it's possible to crest one under state law?

Sorry, I expressed myself badly. I meant, if some areas can incorporate and have their own systems to deal with public services, why can't an area request to create its own public school system?

If there is a Bethesda public school system, I wonder what effect it would have on college admissions. I assume a student would have to have slightly better grades in such a system than in the surrounding public schools, since universities will assume that families have the means to educated their children well. Of course, perhaps they do so now! If that's already the case, perhaps it would be best for residents of Bethesda to have their own schools where the curriculum can be more in-depth and teachers better paid and more intelligent.

I dream of textbooks with full color on every page and quality paper, just like I had as a child. One problem with that: backpacks get REALLY heavy

Basically you want to build a wall, a socio economic one.

I wasn't the one who floated the idea, but since I am a product of private schools and send my kids to public school in Bethesda... I wouldn't be against it.

Please realize that the wall you speak of is already there, in real estate value. Creating a different public school system in Bethesda won't change anything.

Anonymous wrote:

I wasn't the one who floated the idea, but since I am a product of private schools and send my kids to public school in Bethesda... I wouldn't be against it.

Please realize that the wall you speak of is already there, in real estate value. Creating a different public school system in Bethesda won't change anything.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:School districts throughout Maryland are by county. You would have to split the county - not just the school district.

Splitting the county would not be a bad idea. Incorporating some cities , ala Rockville and Chevy Chase, would also be great.
The politics of the county have become insane and the robbing from the do called ‘rich’ (aka middle class people working two jobs)for the politicians’ latest pleasure has got to end[b].

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
But look at Rockville and Takoma Park, incorporated cities in a sea of un-incorporated suburbia.

There is nothing to stop a school system from developing independently of a County.

There is not a single town based school system in the state. Are you sure it's possible to crest one under state law?

Sorry, I expressed myself badly. I meant, if some areas can incorporate and have their own systems to deal with public services, why can't an area request to create its own public school system?

If there is a Bethesda public school system, I wonder what effect it would have on college admissions. I assume a student would have to have slightly better grades in such a system than in the surrounding public schools, since universities will assume that families have the means to educated their children well. Of course, perhaps they do so now! If that's already the case, perhaps it would be best for residents of Bethesda to have their own schools where the curriculum can be more in-depth and teachers better paid and more intelligent.

I dream of textbooks with full color on every page and quality paper, just like I had as a child. One problem with that: backpacks get REALLY heavy

Basically you want to build a wall, a socio economic one.

Anonymous wrote:This is going on now in Malibu and Salt Lake City. Areas with higher performing students are working to split off from large ineffective, bureaucratic systems. The Malibu - Santa Monica split is being complicated by the amount of money Santa Monica wants from Malibu but it looks like this will eventually happen. CA actually makes it harder for systems to do this so it might be easier here in MD.

There is a tipping point in frustration when a school system only takes from one area to benefit another even if the need in the other area is greater. If students in the W clusters are no eligible for county-wide magnet programs, building renovations are constantly delayed, parents can't fund raise for things like teacher aides or facility improvements then perhaps its time to split.

Anonymous wrote:We live in a W school district, though haven't followed the magnet thing since all our children are still in preschool. So W school children can't apply to Blair's science program or Richard Montgomery's IB program then?

Anyway, there is a lot of overhead in running a school district, like maintenance, buses, and government-mandated bureaucracy (reporting and so on). There's a benefit to having that done at the county-level -- it's an economy of scale. You may need just one person to handle the system's FARMs program paperwork, but that's one person per school district -- so MCPS can spread that cost across most students. Not that MCPS isn't bloated on the admin-side, just saying there's a lot more to running a school district than the actual schools.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
Do you live in a W district? People are pissed off. School PTAs are sending around the email from the GT group and MCPS. A much broader group of people now know that W schools are no longer eligible for magnets yet our tax dollars go toward them just like the other 100+ school.

I think things like not having to accept things like 2.0, allowing an area to decide if it wants to raise taxes that go directly toward smaller class sizes rather than just having their taxes raised and getting fewer teachers, allowing PTA to fund raise for meaningful things in the school not just the social stuff are pretty compelling.

The W schools aren't getting much from MCPS.

Really? And yet I'm always reading on DCUM about how the Western/Wealthy/White schools in the school district (i.e., MCPS) are so much better than the pitiful schools in Ganglandia and Hinterlandia, to which no caring parent would send their child. Are you saying that's not so?

Anonymous wrote:Can someone explain in a nutshell how access to magnet programs is being curtailed in MCPS?

Anonymous wrote:
Do you live in a W district? People are pissed off. School PTAs are sending around the email from the GT group and MCPS. A much broader group of people now know that W schools are no longer eligible for magnets yet our tax dollars go toward them just like the other 100+ school.

I think things like not having to accept things like 2.0, allowing an area to decide if it wants to raise taxes that go directly toward smaller class sizes rather than just having their taxes raised and getting fewer teachers, allowing PTA to fund raise for meaningful things in the school not just the social stuff are pretty compelling.

The W schools aren't getting much from MCPS.

Anonymous wrote:

That's still mostly true despite the very prolific posters complaining about the changes. Most people I know have no interest in the magnets given the travel involved. Moco probably realizes most people don't care and won't be up in arms about the changes.

Do you live in a W district? People are pissed off. School PTAs are sending around the email from the GT group and MCPS. A much broader group of people now know that W schools are no longer eligible for magnets yet our tax dollars go toward them just like the other 100+ school.

I think things like not having to accept things like 2.0, allowing an area to decide if it wants to raise taxes that go directly toward smaller class sizes rather than just having their taxes raised and getting fewer teachers, allowing PTA to fund raise for meaningful things in the school not just the social stuff are pretty compelling.

The W schools aren't getting much from MCPS.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
But look at Rockville and Takoma Park, incorporated cities in a sea of un-incorporated suburbia.

There is nothing to stop a school system from developing independently of a County.

There is not a single town based school system in the state. Are you sure it's possible to crest one under state law?

Sorry, I expressed myself badly. I meant, if some areas can incorporate and have their own systems to deal with public services, why can't an area request to create its own public school system?

If there is a Bethesda public school system, I wonder what effect it would have on college admissions. I assume a student would have to have slightly better grades in such a system than in the surrounding public schools, since universities will assume that families have the means to educated their children well. Of course, perhaps they do so now! If that's already the case, perhaps it would be best for residents of Bethesda to have their own schools where the curriculum can be more in-depth and teachers better paid and more intelligent.

I dream of textbooks with full color on every page and quality paper, just like I had as a child. One problem with that: backpacks get REALLY heavy