Anonymous wrote:Ive said this here before but Ill say it again. I work in the county and the people at the tippy top are not secretive about their feelings about the W schools. The goal is to narrow the achievement gap, and focusing on enrichment or class size or resources or magnet access in the W schools is inconsistent with that goal. They view it as a moral imperative to level the playing field, and whether or not you agree, there are limited resources. So yes, the W schools are going to remain an afterthought and they're going to let parents do the enriching. Honestly, how could anyone look at the MCPS website and not see this mandate so clearly? It's been this way for YEARS. And by the way, they're also not sending the superstar principals the W schools way either. The good ones in the Ws tend to move up quickly. There are one or two exceptions, but at the high school level only. That's why you see a lot of teacher turnover in the W schools too--lack of good leadership.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think it does.

Its part of a pattern at MCPS where no problem is important at a W school because UMC kids will always score high enough regardless of the quality of their education in school. No one wants to be under a school system that views their students as "assets" to get good scores and feels no responsibility whatsoever to provide for their education.

So why buy into a neighborhood that feeds to a W school if you really believe MCPS is providing nothing for your kids education???

Anonymous wrote:A PP poster somewhere upthread said that 95% of Bethesda/Potomac would vote to leave MCPS in a heartbeat. Why not let them leave? There is no integration between the schools. Does anyone in the east even know where Wootton is or do you really go out there often?

Out of curiosity, I googled around to read some of the back story on areas that have split off from large school systems. Its seldom about money being disproportionately spent and almost always about the larger system intervening in a negative manner or completely ignoring the area leaving. The area leaving often pays the larger system and real estate values have risen in all the areas that split off. The larger school systems gets its money, the splitting area gets a responsive education school district and real estate values rise. Its only a lose situation to the administration of the large system that now can no longer take credit for the performance of the area that split off.

Class size is a good example of why the W schools should leave. In many systems, student:teacher ratios are much lower in poorer schools but the system allows the affluent areas to fund raise to put an aide in the classroom. Even DCPS allows this. MCPS does not. The argument that is unfair to Focus and Title 1 schools to allow the W schools to fund raise to put an aide in a lower elementary school class with 29 kids is bull shit. The W school would not be achieving a ratio that is better than the Focus school only one that is equal to the Focus school without taking any resources from the Focus school. The MCPS rationale is that since students in a W school already have non-school advantages then the only way to equal things out is to create a disadvantageous situation within school - as MCPS controls the schools.

The Magnet fiasco is along the same lines. MCPS didn't decide to increase spots in the Magnet to bring in more URM students and UMC students from the east. MCPS decided to leave the kids in the W schools in their home schools and remove this option to equal things out again. As the W students already have advantages outside of school the only way to equal things out is to create a disadvantageous situation in the schools - which MCPS controls.

Curriculum 2.0 and ending math acceleration is another example. There is a problem within MCPS with the achievement gap so MCPS decides to go at not by focusing on bringing up the bottom but by holding back the top.

You can't really blame anyone in the W schools from wanting out from under MCPS.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think it does.

Its part of a pattern at MCPS where no problem is important at a W school because UMC kids will always score high enough regardless of the quality of their education in school. No one wants to be under a school system that views their students as "assets" to get good scores and feels no responsibility whatsoever to provide for their education.

truly? how ridiculous.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

As always, I find it difficult to tell whether I'm supposed to think that the Bethesda/Potomac schools are really awesome or terrible and downtrodden. If they're really awesome now, why would you want to leave? If they're terrible and downtrodden, why did you spend so much money to send your children to them?

People from Bethesda and Potomac for the most part have seen their schools get worse not better due to MCPS decisions. I have continually heard from parents with older children how they are so happy to have gone through MCPS before all of the changes over the past 10 years started. Same thing from parents with both older and younger kids.

The good things about the schools - some great teachers, students that are very engaged in academics, no crime or safety issues, and competitive peer group don't exist because of MCPS. The problems -bad curriculum, lack of rigorous testing, huge class sizes and no ability to ever address this is all MCPS. MCPS does not see itself as being charged with supporting the W schools at all.

I'll give you a small example from years age. There were a number of elementary schools that were declining in enrollment -result of real estate patterns and people jumping out to privates. In MCPS -when schools lose enrollments they lose teachers and classrooms sit empty. We had some wonderful teachers who had worked in the school for years and were part of the community. They were transferred east adding 45 minutes to their already long commute.

Several parents from schools outside the high school cluster and parents from within our school asked if there could be some type of fast track COSA so students from over crowded nearby schools could fill seats. At the overcrowded schools had kids packed into portables and ridiculous lunch times for younger kids because the classes couldn't fit in the cafeteria. Field trips were curtailed due to the logistics of the class size.

Letting kids in overcrowded schools from nearby areas voluntarily fast track COSA to take empty seats in the under enrolled school would have been a great solution. Parents would be responsible for their own transportation. There were no busing needs. Teachers would remain in their school. Crowding would be eased at the other schools. MCPS response - hell no! MCPS administrators pointed out that the overcrowded elementary schools nearby were high performing. There were hardly only FARMS students in the overcrowded schools nearby only less affluent MC students. MCPS would only consider busing kids from low performing schools which would cost money and require feasibility studies. Couldn't be done, don't waste our time.

Your example is about MCPS's COSA policy and what is and isn't a justification. I don't see how that shows MCPS isn't "supporting the W schools at all."

Anonymous wrote:I think it does.

Its part of a pattern at MCPS where no problem is important at a W school because UMC kids will always score high enough regardless of the quality of their education in school. No one wants to be under a school system that views their students as "assets" to get good scores and feels no responsibility whatsoever to provide for their education.

Anonymous wrote:I think it does.

Its part of a pattern at MCPS where no problem is important at a W school because UMC kids will always score high enough regardless of the quality of their education in school. No one wants to be under a school system that views their students as "assets" to get good scores and feels no responsibility whatsoever to provide for their education.

Anonymous wrote:I think it does.

Its part of a pattern at MCPS where no problem is important at a W school because UMC kids will always score high enough regardless of the quality of their education in school. No one wants to be under a school system that views their students as "assets" to get good scores and feels no responsibility whatsoever to provide for their education.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I live in Silver Spring and I would actually like if Bethesda and Potomac had their own district. It will never happen, obviously. But they could take their particular brand of affluenza-induced anxious parenting with them. I don't mind being part of an "average" school system where my child has some hope of succeeding at high levels without lots of tutors, year-round travel sports, anxiety medication, and therapists.

Make that two parents in Silver Spring!

Anonymous wrote:

As always, I find it difficult to tell whether I'm supposed to think that the Bethesda/Potomac schools are really awesome or terrible and downtrodden. If they're really awesome now, why would you want to leave? If they're terrible and downtrodden, why did you spend so much money to send your children to them?

People from Bethesda and Potomac for the most part have seen their schools get worse not better due to MCPS decisions. I have continually heard from parents with older children how they are so happy to have gone through MCPS before all of the changes over the past 10 years started. Same thing from parents with both older and younger kids.

The good things about the schools - some great teachers, students that are very engaged in academics, no crime or safety issues, and competitive peer group don't exist because of MCPS. The problems -bad curriculum, lack of rigorous testing, huge class sizes and no ability to ever address this is all MCPS. MCPS does not see itself as being charged with supporting the W schools at all.

I'll give you a small example from years age. There were a number of elementary schools that were declining in enrollment -result of real estate patterns and people jumping out to privates. In MCPS -when schools lose enrollments they lose teachers and classrooms sit empty. We had some wonderful teachers who had worked in the school for years and were part of the community. They were transferred east adding 45 minutes to their already long commute.

Several parents from schools outside the high school cluster and parents from within our school asked if there could be some type of fast track COSA so students from over crowded nearby schools could fill seats. At the overcrowded schools had kids packed into portables and ridiculous lunch times for younger kids because the classes couldn't fit in the cafeteria. Field trips were curtailed due to the logistics of the class size.

Letting kids in overcrowded schools from nearby areas voluntarily fast track COSA to take empty seats in the under enrolled school would have been a great solution. Parents would be responsible for their own transportation. There were no busing needs. Teachers would remain in their school. Crowding would be eased at the other schools. MCPS response - hell no! MCPS administrators pointed out that the overcrowded elementary schools nearby were high performing. There were hardly only FARMS students in the overcrowded schools nearby only less affluent MC students. MCPS would only consider busing kids from low performing schools which would cost money and require feasibility studies. Couldn't be done, don't waste our time.

As always, I find it difficult to tell whether I'm supposed to think that the Bethesda/Potomac schools are really awesome or terrible and downtrodden. If they're really awesome now, why would you want to leave? If they're terrible and downtrodden, why did you spend so much money to send your children to them?