Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am also really disappointed with MCPS, for all the reasons described above. We have three kids and can’t afford private. If you left and moved to another county for better public education, where did you go?

You might want to lurk around the DCPS, FCPS, and MD other schools forum. They are having similar discussion that MCPS are having.

Similar, in that sense, that people are worried about Covid.

The extremes are not there at all.

We moved to a neighboring county, and I can tell you the whole vibe is different. Both of my kids have gone the entirety of the year without having to quarantine, mostly due to more relaxed quarantining rules than MCPS.

The biggest difference is that the few times I've emailed a BOE member or administrator, I've gotten a response! within 24 hours. I even had a phone conversation with a BOE member after swapping some emails

And basically, the tone where I am is: we may need to switch to virtual if there's not enough staff. But that will be a last resort. and first, it will be by classroom. Then, maybe by grade. Then worst, case, by school. and even if that happens, it will only be 5 days, I believe.

Generally, its a much more level headed response it feels

That's ... so sane and rational. Please tell me more about this county

Anonymous wrote:Serious question. Our current ES is a mess. It’s not in a “W” - it’s a solidly middle of the road socio-economic mixed school (I’ll say it here: busing to increase FARMS). There is only 1 administrator right now, everyone else quit or is on leave. Lots of substitutes. Even more behavior problems, specifically in the younger grades. It’s been a disappointment. DD is suffering and it’s hard to see your kid go from loving to hating school in just a few months.

Realistically, when do you think MCPS will return to some semblance of pre-pandemic education and administrative stability? School year 22-23, 23-24, never…

Trying to decide whether moving to a different cluster would help or if planning for private is the better option.

It really seems like Covid or not, until MCPS gets a superintendent and a board/teachers union willing to focus on students, it’s not going to improve.

First step towards change- VOTE! Vote for a board that WILL listen to actual principals and teachers at the schools. For people who actually believe that those teaching our kids and running the actual schools should drive how decisions are made. NOT the teacher's union! I repeat- NOT the teacher's union. Vote for people who are NOT supported by the County Council. It's like everyone who is running this county is in bed together- they only want people who support their agenda so that no one can question their decisions. Seriously, vote for sensible people, real parents who know that what is happening in this county and that their priorities are out of whack! I think it's a shame that people didn't give Stephen Austin a chance. Every time people like him want to actually make a difference, they get demonized and called all sorts of horrible things. He would've brought sensibility and common sense which is what we are lacking with the current leadership. We brought this onto ourselves people so stop complaining. Next time, use your actual mind when deciding who to vote for.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They won't. McKnight and the BOE have zero incentive to recant on their policy choices, and no one can remove them or change their minds.

I unfortunately mostly agree with this. The main issue right now are that many of the problems OP identified are caused by specific policy choices and PP is right that the incentive structure is not in place to (1) recognize/admit these are problems in the first place and (2) implement reforms/changes that address them.

The good things about MCPS that make it a good school system are due to hard work, dedication and decisions of people decades ago. The school system has just been riding that momentum since while also making it worse when they do make decisions.

Quite honestly, I think s big part of the problem with MCPS is that while salaries of administrators are generous, the quality of people it attracts and promotes seems to be very poor.

You can still get a quality education in MCPS, but the schools where this is possible is getting narrower and the types of kids that it serves well is getting smaller. There is no way around the fact that it’s a school system in decline and the issues are not changing demographics, as many argue. It’s much deeper than that.

After working through MCPS morass for over 16 years, I can attest that this entire post is very accurate. Especially on the administrators part.

Perhaps I have been lucky, but most of the teachers at MCPS have been good to excellent. There have been a few duds along the way, but their shortcomings were possible to navigate.

The administrators, on the other hand, have a been a mixed bag of fantastic to pathetically incompetent. It seems to me that the higher up you go on the MCPS food chain, that the individuals are far more concerned about their positions and salaries than they are for the students.

It's the teachers who do the heavy lifting, but many of them are starting to walk away. I really feel sorry for people who are just putting their kids into the system now. The signs and projections do not bode well for the near future. I wish you the best of luck and urge you to fight like hell to endure that your children get the best education possible.

Anonymous wrote:They won't. McKnight and the BOE have zero incentive to recant on their policy choices, and no one can remove them or change their minds.

I unfortunately mostly agree with this. The main issue right now are that many of the problems OP identified are caused by specific policy choices and PP is right that the incentive structure is not in place to (1) recognize/admit these are problems in the first place and (2) implement reforms/changes that address them.

The good things about MCPS that make it a good school system are due to hard work, dedication and decisions of people decades ago. The school system has just been riding that momentum since while also making it worse when they do make decisions.

Quite honestly, I think s big part of the problem with MCPS is that while salaries of administrators are generous, the quality of people it attracts and promotes seems to be very poor.

You can still get a quality education in MCPS, but the schools where this is possible is getting narrower and the types of kids that it serves well is getting smaller. There is no way around the fact that it’s a school system in decline and the issues are not changing demographics, as many argue. It’s much deeper than that.