I don't think my child is getting a 'crappy education' (while we're at it, I'm wondering if GDS, Sidwell, Holton, etc students are getting 42K a year worth of education. Do they, really?), my child at her ES is getting an okay education. Our school is excellent, the principal is stellar and the PTA and parents are involved; the peer group is of a high caliber, also. Yes, I'm not crazy about the curriculum, since my child is academically advanced, yes, I think she would benefit from more challenge. That's why we supplement. Do I wish MCPS cater more to its brightest? Yes, of course.

In MS and HS we would reevaluate, but, for now, MCPS it is. And yes, it is superior to Howard and PG (don't know much about Fairfax, but I believe it's comparable).

Anonymous wrote:

I still don't get it. You say MCPS wins in competitions. That is all well and good, but don't you think that is based on sheer numbers? If you have a team of MCPS students numbering in the tens of thousands competing with a couple thousand private school students, of course you are going to have an advantage. If you think just because the brightest of the brightest at MCPS (likely from magnet schools) are winning these competitions makes MCPS a good place for your DC, well good for you. Perhaps it is. But for many (mainly those in the middle who fly under the radar), it is not. And the sad thing is most parents don't even realize their kid is getting a crappy education. It is too hard to change a system of its magnitude. That is why we just left the system.

The sad thing is that most parents prefer their judgment of their kids' education to my judgment of their kids' education!

-you

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Hah...nice try! Another MCPS parent in complete denial.

DP.

Me: My kids are getting a good education in MCPS.
You: No, they're not!

PP here. I am just basing my assumption on the fact that there are 18 pages of unhappy mcps parents whining about the lack of grammar and writing instruction among other things. Perhaps you are happy, but that doesn't mean the curriculum is competitive with the rest of the country/world and private schools that are light years ahead of mcps.

18 pages of mostly private schools parents trying to bash MCPS.
MCPS is the most competitive school system in the DC area. It is proven in any academic competition. Period.
The "least desirable "school in MCPS will beat the best any other school system has to offer, that includes the privates .
When was the last time a school other than MCPS has won the "it's academics " competition?

I still don't get it. You say MCPS wins in competitions. That is all well and good, but don't you think that is based on sheer numbers? If you have a team of MCPS students numbering in the tens of thousands competing with a couple thousand private school students, of course you are going to have an advantage. If you think just because the brightest of the brightest at MCPS (likely from magnet schools) are winning these competitions makes MCPS a good place for your DC, well good for you. Perhaps it is. But for many (mainly those in the middle who fly under the radar), it is not. And the sad thing is most parents don't even realize their kid is getting a crappy education. It is too hard to change a system of its magnitude. That is why we just left the system.

I highly doubt private school parents are thinking about MCPS so much they’d fill 18 pages—the most notable posts in this thread are from disappointed public school parents sharing their anecdotal evidence and concerns.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The Kirwan commission has been pretty harsh about the state of Maryland education and the path it needs to take to restore itself to its former glory. But it looks like Annapolis is less interested in funding that than throwing tax breaks at Amazon.

Yes and yet Maryland still rank #1

https://www.usnews.com/education/best-high-schools/articles/how-states-compare

Or #37 when student demographics are taken into account: https://www.urban.org/urban-wire/how-do-states-really-stack-2015-naep

wow

NAEP is no joke either.

And then this quote hit me, as the span of time was very short:

The 2015 ranking of adjusted scores is fairly similar to the 2013 list, with the most notable exception being Maryland, which fell from 6th in 2013 to 37th in 2015.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The Kirwan commission has been pretty harsh about the state of Maryland education and the path it needs to take to restore itself to its former glory. But it looks like Annapolis is less interested in funding that than throwing tax breaks at Amazon.

Yes and yet Maryland still rank #1

https://www.usnews.com/education/best-high-schools/articles/how-states-compare

Or #37 when student demographics are taken into account: https://www.urban.org/urban-wire/how-do-states-really-stack-2015-naep

wow

NAEP is no joke either.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Hah...nice try! Another MCPS parent in complete denial.

DP.

Me: My kids are getting a good education in MCPS.
You: No, they're not!

PP here. I am just basing my assumption on the fact that there are 18 pages of unhappy mcps parents whining about the lack of grammar and writing instruction among other things. Perhaps you are happy, but that doesn't mean the curriculum is competitive with the rest of the country/world and private schools that are light years ahead of mcps.

18 pages of mostly private schools parents trying to bash MCPS.
MCPS is the most competitive school system in the DC area. It is proven in any academic competition. Period.
The "least desirable "school in MCPS will beat the best any other school system has to offer, that includes the privates .
When was the last time a school other than MCPS has won the "it's academics " competition?

That’s the measure of it all, right? A Saturday morning half hour trivia bowl? The kids that win automatically get a BS from MIT after all.

Also, it’s ‘It’s Academic’

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:When and how do people figure out that the curriculum is lacking?

When they take a tour
When they talk to parents and older kids
When they get no report card or graded work back.
When their kids hang out w cousins from another state.
When they go nearsighted in grade 2 from Chromebook games.
When they are 9 yo and don’t know what a sentence is, what biology vs geography vs history is.
When you realize no real art will ever come home because there is a part time art teacher and only once a week so coloring is where it’s at for six years straight.
When ever other ES in the country has Spanish 3x a week but not MCPS.
When the library is dismantled in favor of cheap digital book excerpts and zero textbooks.
Snow days when it’s hot out or rainy out.

I'm super confused as to what school you are in where "coloring is the thing" for art, or kids don't know what sentences is? I don't think that's an MCPS issues, given I have experience with two MCPS elementary schools and the art and work the kids are doing is fantastic. The schools I'm referring to are not in "rich" areas either, so that isn't the difference. This sounds to me like a school specific problem.

The schools ‘not in the rich areas’ are the ones with the best resources. Duh,
Richer people are supposed to send their kids to private school (even after paying their huge property tax bill) or supplement with after school classes.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The Kirwan commission has been pretty harsh about the state of Maryland education and the path it needs to take to restore itself to its former glory. But it looks like Annapolis is less interested in funding that than throwing tax breaks at Amazon.

Yes and yet Maryland still rank #1

https://www.usnews.com/education/best-high-schools/articles/how-states-compare

Or #37 when student demographics are taken into account: https://www.urban.org/urban-wire/how-do-states-really-stack-2015-naep

Anonymous wrote:The Kirwan commission has been pretty harsh about the state of Maryland education and the path it needs to take to restore itself to its former glory. But it looks like Annapolis is less interested in funding that than throwing tax breaks at Amazon.

Yes and yet Maryland still rank #1

https://www.usnews.com/education/best-high-schools/articles/how-states-compare

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Hah...nice try! Another MCPS parent in complete denial.

DP.

Me: My kids are getting a good education in MCPS.
You: No, they're not!

PP here. I am just basing my assumption on the fact that there are 18 pages of unhappy mcps parents whining about the lack of grammar and writing instruction among other things. Perhaps you are happy, but that doesn't mean the curriculum is competitive with the rest of the country/world and private schools that are light years ahead of mcps.

18 pages of mostly private schools parents trying to bash MCPS.
MCPS is the most competitive school system in the DC area. It is proven in any academic competition. Period.
The "least desirable "school in MCPS will beat the best any other school system has to offer, that includes the privates .
When was the last time a school other than MCPS has won the "it's academics " competition?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:When and how do people figure out that the curriculum is lacking?

When they take a tour
When they talk to parents and older kids
When they get no report card or graded work back.
When their kids hang out w cousins from another state.
When they go nearsighted in grade 2 from Chromebook games.
When they are 9 yo and don’t know what a sentence is, what biology vs geography vs history is.
When you realize no real art will ever come home because there is a part time art teacher and only once a week so coloring is where it’s at for six years straight.
When ever other ES in the country has Spanish 3x a week but not MCPS.
When the library is dismantled in favor of cheap digital book excerpts and zero textbooks.
Snow days when it’s hot out or rainy out.

I'm super confused as to what school you are in where "coloring is the thing" for art, or kids don't know what sentences is? I don't think that's an MCPS issues, given I have experience with two MCPS elementary schools and the art and work the kids are doing is fantastic. The schools I'm referring to are not in "rich" areas either, so that isn't the difference. This sounds to me like a school specific problem.

The Kirwan commission has been pretty harsh about the state of Maryland education and the path it needs to take to restore itself to its former glory. But it looks like Annapolis is less interested in funding that than throwing tax breaks at Amazon.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Hah...nice try! Another MCPS parent in complete denial.

DP.

Me: My kids are getting a good education in MCPS.
You: No, they're not!

PP here. I am just basing my assumption on the fact that there are 18 pages of unhappy mcps parents whining about the lack of grammar and writing instruction among other things. Perhaps you are happy, but that doesn't mean the curriculum is competitive with the rest of the country/world and private schools that are light years ahead of mcps.

It doesn't mean that it isn't, eh? It just means that there are lots of people who like to post complaints on DCUM.

it's a mistake to assume that DCUM is an accurate reflection of reality, on this forum or on any other.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Hah...nice try! Another MCPS parent in complete denial.

DP.

Me: My kids are getting a good education in MCPS.
You: No, they're not!

PP here. I am just basing my assumption on the fact that there are 18 pages of unhappy mcps parents whining about the lack of grammar and writing instruction among other things. Perhaps you are happy, but that doesn't mean the curriculum is competitive with the rest of the country/world and private schools that are light years ahead of mcps.

Complainers are more likely to post them others..especially on DCUM.