Someone upthread said charters would never fly in MD, what’s the reason for that? They work pretty well in other states like CA I think.

New Jersey has a ton of magnet high schools. They are fantastic, some of the best in the state and country. So it is NOT true to say that town-based school systems = no magnets. Here’s Niche for your perusal.

https://www.niche.com/k12/search/best-public-high-schools/s/new-jersey/

I am the OP. I appreciate the thoughtful dialogue of the participants on this thread. We lived in NJ. While there are pros/cons to both systems (NJ and MCPS), I feel MCPS is too large with lot of centralization with attendant bureaucracy and remoteness to local/unique needs. A simple example is that all schools shutdown or start late even when some towns had absolutely no snow!

To answer some shortcomings (real or not) raised by some posters on here:
1. In NJ some districts (not all) do have district wide test-in Whole High School Magnets that are science/humanities focused and district buses to transport students.
2. Some districts also have career-based trade schools in which some majors are test-in (eg. Healthcare concentration).
3. The state distributes state education funds based on the Socioeconomic Level of the residents of each school district with rich school districts receiving less money per student than poor districts. https://www.state.nj.us/education/schools/achievement/dfg.htm
4. However, there is a case to be made that poorer school districts should be given even more money than they are currently receiving because they have greater needs (based on the student demographics and their level of school preparedness) http://www.edlawcenter.org/news/archives/school-funding/the-right-way-to-compare-nj-education-funding.html. I must point out that this article in a footnote states that NJ already has a high degree of "equity" in terms of school district funding between rich and poor school districts.
5. With regard to the degree of PTA involvement, whether a school district is small as in NJ or large (MCPS) doesn't matter. What matters is the ability of parents to devote their time and effort, their education level and skills, their level of involvement at home with their children's education on a daily basis. In MCPS there is a large variation in how PTAs of various schools function in support of each school.
6. In my opinion, the achievement gap is being reduced in MCPS by accelerating the learning of some groups of students while simultaneously slowing (curtailing certain opportunities) some other groups of students. Whereas, in smaller school districts (like in NJ) no student groups will be curtailed in how fast they are learning. At the same time, smaller school districts where students need extra support, many different innovative methods can be tested, improved, and applied due to relative freedom each of those school districts will have to tailor the offerings to meet the specific needs of its student body.

Anonymous wrote:I’m from NJ. I was fortunate to live in the poorest part of the one of the richest school systems. NJ is highly segregated. This would never fly in MoCo - see separate threads about redistributing.

LMAO what. You’ve got schools like Bradley Hills, Wyngate, Carderock Springs, etc. that are 60+% white, less than 5% FARMS...then 10-15 miles away are Arcola,Sargent Shriver, Greencastle etc. at >5% white and 70+% FARMS. MoCo is segregated as heck.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I grew up in Chappaqua, where all the school districts are town-based. What it leads to is:

1. super high property taxes to pay for the administrative overhead

2. high test scores in the rich towns, and lower test scores in the poor towns.

3. because the towns are so small, i'm not aware of many magnet programs, or other things MCPS has. Chappaqua has accelerated classes for gifted kids, but I'm not aware of any whole-school magnets. You have a handful of ES's, maybe 2 MS's (one when I was there) and 1 HS. Very little choice.

That was not my experience at all.

I went to a town based school district in NJ and we were not wealthy at all. We had a fantastic GT program.

I’d happily give up the ‘choice’ that MCPS offers for a better-run school system.

I'm not talking about GT programs; like I said, Chappaqua has those. I'm talking about the whole-school magnets people love in MCPS. Chappaqua does not have those.

The MS Magnets are completely being overhauled this year (and last), so they will no longer be as attractive as they once were. The spots were covered because they were thought to attract the ‘best of the best’, but MCPS has done away with that and is now choosing the kids based on their performance relative to other kids in their schools.

And my town in NJ offered a GT program in every home school. This is not currently done in MCPS. Again, I’d take the universal offering of enrichment over the limited Magnet/CES seats MCPS offers.

Our NJ town offered as many kids as were eligible the chance for enrichment. MCPS puts about 80 kids on the Wait List for a regional CES.

I know the magnet are so competitive now that it's not just for the few kids whose parents recomended them.

Yes the tax dollars from Bethesda/Chevy Chase/ Potomac will only be spent on schools there. That will fly in Montgomery County. Then we can look at the achievement gap for each area sperately. This will instantly solve the gap!!! Somehow I can’t see it.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I grew up in Chappaqua, where all the school districts are town-based. What it leads to is:

1. super high property taxes to pay for the administrative overhead

2. high test scores in the rich towns, and lower test scores in the poor towns.

3. because the towns are so small, i'm not aware of many magnet programs, or other things MCPS has. Chappaqua has accelerated classes for gifted kids, but I'm not aware of any whole-school magnets. You have a handful of ES's, maybe 2 MS's (one when I was there) and 1 HS. Very little choice.

That was not my experience at all.

I went to a town based school district in NJ and we were not wealthy at all. We had a fantastic GT program.

I’d happily give up the ‘choice’ that MCPS offers for a better-run school system.

I'm not talking about GT programs; like I said, Chappaqua has those. I'm talking about the whole-school magnets people love in MCPS. Chappaqua does not have those.

The MS Magnets are completely being overhauled this year (and last), so they will no longer be as attractive as they once were. The spots were covered because they were thought to attract the ‘best of the best’, but MCPS has done away with that and is now choosing the kids based on their performance relative to other kids in their schools.

And my town in NJ offered a GT program in every home school. This is not currently done in MCPS. Again, I’d take the universal offering of enrichment over the limited Magnet/CES seats MCPS offers.

Our NJ town offered as many kids as were eligible the chance for enrichment. MCPS puts about 80 kids on the Wait List for a regional CES.

To add to that, if our CES had about 80 kids on the Wait List, and there are 7 Regional CESs in MCPS - we're talking hundreds of kids who would benefit from enrichment through a CES, but are not being allowed access to it. That's crazy. It's baffling to me that a county like MCPS just leaves all this potential talent behind, instead of finding a way to create more seats. Again, most parents would much prefer to have access to these programs for every kid who is up to the challenge. Instead of the ridiculous 'choice' that the PP mentions.

Coveted, not covered

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I grew up in Chappaqua, where all the school districts are town-based. What it leads to is:

1. super high property taxes to pay for the administrative overhead

2. high test scores in the rich towns, and lower test scores in the poor towns.

3. because the towns are so small, i'm not aware of many magnet programs, or other things MCPS has. Chappaqua has accelerated classes for gifted kids, but I'm not aware of any whole-school magnets. You have a handful of ES's, maybe 2 MS's (one when I was there) and 1 HS. Very little choice.

That was not my experience at all.

I went to a town based school district in NJ and we were not wealthy at all. We had a fantastic GT program.

I’d happily give up the ‘choice’ that MCPS offers for a better-run school system.

I'm not talking about GT programs; like I said, Chappaqua has those. I'm talking about the whole-school magnets people love in MCPS. Chappaqua does not have those.

The MS Magnets are completely being overhauled this year (and last), so they will no longer be as attractive as they once were. The spots were covered because they were thought to attract the ‘best of the best’, but MCPS has done away with that and is now choosing the kids based on their performance relative to other kids in their schools.

And my town in NJ offered a GT program in every home school. This is not currently done in MCPS. Again, I’d take the universal offering of enrichment over the limited Magnet/CES seats MCPS offers.

Our NJ town offered as many kids as were eligible the chance for enrichment. MCPS puts about 80 kids on the Wait List for a regional CES.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I grew up in Chappaqua, where all the school districts are town-based. What it leads to is:

1. super high property taxes to pay for the administrative overhead

2. high test scores in the rich towns, and lower test scores in the poor towns.

3. because the towns are so small, i'm not aware of many magnet programs, or other things MCPS has. Chappaqua has accelerated classes for gifted kids, but I'm not aware of any whole-school magnets. You have a handful of ES's, maybe 2 MS's (one when I was there) and 1 HS. Very little choice.

That was not my experience at all.

I went to a town based school district in NJ and we were not wealthy at all. We had a fantastic GT program.

I’d happily give up the ‘choice’ that MCPS offers for a better-run school system.

I'm not talking about GT programs; like I said, Chappaqua has those. I'm talking about the whole-school magnets people love in MCPS. Chappaqua does not have those.

In smaller districts, teachers can have more say as to what goes on in the schools. Or, with a charter schools (but charter schools will never fly here). Currently, MCPS makes teachers into robots with little autonomy. Leads to little creativity and lack of morale IME.

Anonymous wrote:I grew up in Chappaqua, where all the school districts are town-based. What it leads to is:

1. super high property taxes to pay for the administrative overhead

2. high test scores in the rich towns, and lower test scores in the poor towns.

3. because the towns are so small, i'm not aware of many magnet programs, or other things MCPS has. Chappaqua has accelerated classes for gifted kids, but I'm not aware of any whole-school magnets. You have a handful of ES's, maybe 2 MS's (one when I was there) and 1 HS. Very little choice.

That was not my experience at all.

I went to a town based school district in NJ and we were not wealthy at all. We had a fantastic GT program.

I’d happily give up the ‘choice’ that MCPS offers for a better-run school system.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I grew up in CT with town based education...agree that it benefits the wealthy and leaves the poorer areas much worse off. The discrepancies are shocking... most needy students with the least reasources. I don't have a solution for mcps but taking away all measures of success to try to equalize student achievement is not a valid plan...grading, differentiated learning , exams, gifted programs...we are seeing them all phased out....not sure who supports that.

But how is that different from what is happening in MCPS? We are at a Focus school and have friends at wealthier elementary schools. Huge differences in field trips, PTA involvement, level of expectation, etc.

The County could still continue to offer its myriad of programs, like Saturday School, tutoring, etc. Could see how that would still work.

Services offered through the county, but town-based school systems. It would be a huge improvement over the disaster that MCPS is now. School closings can be made on a town/cluster basis. Busing would be much simpler.

Not even close. Every school in MCPS gets certain basic money amounts. Bridgeport CT has a library budget of $0 for books. They only get donations of used books from other districts. Field trips are one thing. Paper supplies are another. Read more..https://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/12/nyregion/in-connecticut-a-wealth-gap-divides-neighboring-schools.html

I grew up in Chappaqua, where all the school districts are town-based. What it leads to is:

1. super high property taxes to pay for the administrative overhead

2. high test scores in the rich towns, and lower test scores in the poor towns.

3. because the towns are so small, i'm not aware of many magnet programs, or other things MCPS has. Chappaqua has accelerated classes for gifted kids, but I'm not aware of any whole-school magnets. You have a handful of ES's, maybe 2 MS's (one when I was there) and 1 HS. Very little choice.

We don’t have townships in Mo Co.