Anonymous
11/21/2023 11:29
Subject: Re:Teacher exposes the craptastic decline iof MCPS in Reddit rant
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Progressives run MCPS. Progressives are tying to progress to Marxism. Therefore, MCPS's mission is to teach why Marxism is good. Because they can't say this, of course, they cloud that message with talk about equity which is simply Marxism in sheep's clothing. "These groups are doing worse because they are oppressed so we're going to take power from those who have too much and give it to those tho have too little."Anonymous wrote:Once one realizes that the underlying assumption of those crafting education policy in MCPS is that education (as we understand it) is oppression, then one can begin to understand the what, why, and how of initiatives causing the decay of MCPS as an institution of learning. If you believe MCPS is currently failing in its mission, then ask yourself whether you truly understand what the mission of MCPS is.
Marxists don’t believe in education?
The GOP hates public education so they have that in common.
Anonymous
11/21/2023 11:00
Subject: Teacher exposes the craptastic decline iof MCPS in Reddit rant
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:I am a secondary teacher in NYC and can echo a lot of this. I teach honors, gen Ed and ICT science classes. Last year my school was one in the district that piloted removing homework from the grading policy. Just removing it entirely.
This is a well performing school in a good nyc district. Parents want homework. My honors parents complain when there is not homework. I really have mixed opinions on HW overall, but believe it is ok especially in moderation, and students benefit from working on skills and reading at home.
Also, there is tons of homework at the competitive high schools these kids are trying to get into- so what does it say if we give them 0 homework for years before?
It’s all absurd. There is no accountability for students or parents; all on the teachers. I am expected to call parents when kids have missing assignments (!) even though I spend hours per week updating a digital gradebook that has EVERYTHING there. And I have 150 students.
This is why teachers want to leave
But at least we have more equity in outcomes, right?
No. The Asian American kids have involved and educated parents who will teach them at home and they will continue to be high achievers. In fact, due to MCPS policies, the achievement gap has become an Achievement Chasm that can never be bridged because now more than one generation is undereducated and lazy.
No equity in outcome. The rest of the MCPS students have already starting to flunk out in college and in life.
Anonymous
11/21/2023 10:54
Subject: Teacher exposes the craptastic decline iof MCPS in Reddit rant
Wow attendence is a priority. They must have passed too many kids who were never there.
Anonymous
11/15/2023 12:19
Subject: Teacher exposes the craptastic decline iof MCPS in Reddit rant
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Parents don’t care. Period. I have 12 kids who had over 26 absences each in quarter 1. It’s time for a mirror.
Actually, some of us parents do care. A lot. And your comment is offensive. As a teacher and a parent myself, I detest hearing a colleague generalize about parents this way. Most are doing the best they can and many are as frustrated with their kids as you are.
My senior has the body of a grown man. Maybe he is one of the students you teach. He hates school. I can’t pick him up and carry him to school the way I did in elementary. I asked the school what kind of support they have for truancy in light of the fact MCPS is making attendance a “priority” this year and was told “well, get him here and we’ll talk to him”. How? Nobody ever has an answer.
It doesn’t help that any student who completed Algebra 1 in 8th grade as well as the tech, art, and PE requirements by the end of junior year are only required to pass English class senior year to graduate. He can fail everything else but as long as he has a D in English, across the stage he goes in June. Thanks MSDE! If MC is your plan for next year, and they admit everyone with a high school diploma, motivation to pass other classes isn’t there. Oh - and thank you to MCPS for their brilliant grading system - if a student receives an E quarter 1 but a D quarter 2, they pass for the semester because they show a “positive trajectory”. So, quarter 2 and 4 must be passed in English senior year, quarters 1 and 3 don’t matter. Parents can’t compete with these ridiculous realities. We ground him, we have taken away the car, we stopped paying for the cell phone bill - in the end he knows the game MCPS and MSDE are requiring he play and he is going to do just enough to graduate.
His decisions keep us up at night worrying about his future. At the same time, as bad as the school situation is, he has held a job for more than 2 years and is beloved by his managers and paid an adult salary because he is such an asset. So in the work world, he is thriving and proving he is responsible. At this point, we just want to make it to graduation and put this horror show behind us.
I can see you’re frustrated but I don’t think the problem here is MCPS’s lax standards. If they had higher standards, your son just wouldn’t graduate high school. You can say hypothetically that he would rise to the occasion, but if you can’t force him on the school bus now then that doesn’t seem likely. Let’s not blame the department of education for this.
This isn’t true. Students must earn math credits each year enrolled. My kids are taking much more advanced math than they will need in college and future careers because they were accelerated in MS. I wish I’d known that.
Actually, it is true about the senior math. Yes, students must take math all 4 years of high school but if they passed algebra 1, 2, geometry and precalculus by end of junior year their senior year math class doesn’t matter so far as graduation. They have to be enrolled in a math class senior year but they don’t have to pass it to graduate. Ask any MCPS high school counselor.
You have no idea and frankly neither do I how my child would have responded to higher standards. He had a 3.3 GPA until the middle of junior year. Not great, but not awful. He was on track to go to a decent college for majority of his high school years. The department of education determines standards in MD and they are abysmally low. It’s an embarrassment that the only class students have to pass senior year is English. I didn’t even know until this year that was the case bc my other children were all intrinsically motivated students with big goals who are now attending well regarded universities. They filled their senior schedules with challenging AP courses and worked so hard for As. Unmotivated students are the ones who need rigor to be a reality in our schools - if for no other reason than it prepares them for working after high school. MSDE and MCPS fail in this regard.
Anonymous
11/14/2023 20:14
Subject: Teacher exposes the craptastic decline iof MCPS in Reddit rant
Anonymous wrote:Parents don’t care. Period. I have 12 kids who had over 26 absences each in quarter 1. It’s time for a mirror.
Actually, some of us parents do care. A lot. And your comment is offensive. As a teacher and a parent myself, I detest hearing a colleague generalize about parents this way. Most are doing the best they can and many are as frustrated with their kids as you are.
My senior has the body of a grown man. Maybe he is one of the students you teach. He hates school. I can’t pick him up and carry him to school the way I did in elementary. I asked the school what kind of support they have for truancy in light of the fact MCPS is making attendance a “priority” this year and was told “well, get him here and we’ll talk to him”. How? Nobody ever has an answer.
It doesn’t help that any student who completed Algebra 1 in 8th grade as well as the tech, art, and PE requirements by the end of junior year are only required to pass English class senior year to graduate. He can fail everything else but as long as he has a D in English, across the stage he goes in June. Thanks MSDE! If MC is your plan for next year, and they admit everyone with a high school diploma, motivation to pass other classes isn’t there. Oh - and thank you to MCPS for their brilliant grading system - if a student receives an E quarter 1 but a D quarter 2, they pass for the semester because they show a “positive trajectory”. So, quarter 2 and 4 must be passed in English senior year, quarters 1 and 3 don’t matter. Parents can’t compete with these ridiculous realities. We ground him, we have taken away the car, we stopped paying for the cell phone bill - in the end he knows the game MCPS and MSDE are requiring he play and he is going to do just enough to graduate.
His decisions keep us up at night worrying about his future. At the same time, as bad as the school situation is, he has held a job for more than 2 years and is beloved by his managers and paid an adult salary because he is such an asset. So in the work world, he is thriving and proving he is responsible. At this point, we just want to make it to graduation and put this horror show behind us.
Why in the world would you keep your son in such an educational environment? My kid was a "do the bare minimum" and collect my A kind of kid in ES. I switched him to private school in MS and that straightened him up. It took a few years for him to adjust to actual high expectations, not like the ones the public schools claim to have. I'm glad I did. Nobody else is going to help you kid except you.
Anonymous
11/14/2023 18:57
Subject: Teacher exposes the craptastic decline iof MCPS in Reddit rant
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Parents don’t care. Period. I have 12 kids who had over 26 absences each in quarter 1. It’s time for a mirror.
Actually, some of us parents do care. A lot. And your comment is offensive. As a teacher and a parent myself, I detest hearing a colleague generalize about parents this way. Most are doing the best they can and many are as frustrated with their kids as you are.
My senior has the body of a grown man. Maybe he is one of the students you teach. He hates school. I can’t pick him up and carry him to school the way I did in elementary. I asked the school what kind of support they have for truancy in light of the fact MCPS is making attendance a “priority” this year and was told “well, get him here and we’ll talk to him”. How? Nobody ever has an answer.
It doesn’t help that any student who completed Algebra 1 in 8th grade as well as the tech, art, and PE requirements by the end of junior year are only required to pass English class senior year to graduate. He can fail everything else but as long as he has a D in English, across the stage he goes in June. Thanks MSDE! If MC is your plan for next year, and they admit everyone with a high school diploma, motivation to pass other classes isn’t there. Oh - and thank you to MCPS for their brilliant grading system - if a student receives an E quarter 1 but a D quarter 2, they pass for the semester because they show a “positive trajectory”. So, quarter 2 and 4 must be passed in English senior year, quarters 1 and 3 don’t matter. Parents can’t compete with these ridiculous realities. We ground him, we have taken away the car, we stopped paying for the cell phone bill - in the end he knows the game MCPS and MSDE are requiring he play and he is going to do just enough to graduate.
His decisions keep us up at night worrying about his future. At the same time, as bad as the school situation is, he has held a job for more than 2 years and is beloved by his managers and paid an adult salary because he is such an asset. So in the work world, he is thriving and proving he is responsible. At this point, we just want to make it to graduation and put this horror show behind us.
I can see you’re frustrated but I don’t think the problem here is MCPS’s lax standards. If they had higher standards, your son just wouldn’t graduate high school. You can say hypothetically that he would rise to the occasion, but if you can’t force him on the school bus now then that doesn’t seem likely. Let’s not blame the department of education for this.
This isn’t true. Students must earn math credits each year enrolled. My kids are taking much more advanced math than they will need in college and future careers because they were accelerated in MS. I wish I’d known that.