Anonymous wrote:Define qualified...if you want to have a program for the top students, there is always a group at the top.

Qualified is the state standard for giftedness so top 20% right?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is one of example of why MCPS is in steady decline. The school system is so into social justice/political correctness vs teaching kids and challenging high performing kids (b/c again, they happen to be non-URM kids). So many are trying to get out to privates/move. It's totally crazy sh8t.

Which is why we moved to private this year. We're in a W-feeder elementary school, and we're not the only ones. Our former ES is down to 2 teachers per grade (from 3) in most grades due to enrollment declines. The people in our area can afford private if they want to, and that's what they did.

I honestly don't see MCPS making huge changes to improve in the next few years at least. The BOE has shown themselves to be a bunch of yes-women (indeed it's all women.. guess we don't need gender diversity), but they can get away with it. The teacher's union is powerful and well-funded. All of the union-backed incumbents up for election last November won handily, and this was in a time when voter turnout was at an all-time high _and_ people were mad at MCPS since their kids were on virtual learning. If you can't get enough voters to toss out the BOE then, it's not going to happen in a "normal" year.

My prediction: increasing school violence; lowering of standards; and lower academic results.

I'm not happy about it -- we like MoCo as a place to live and it's sad to see so many children who are going to be let down... but what can honestly be done?

I know! So many of us moved to private that there is a surplus of teachers now. I've heard there are so few students left that they'll have to start layoffs soon.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is one of example of why MCPS is in steady decline. The school system is so into social justice/political correctness vs teaching kids and challenging high performing kids (b/c again, they happen to be non-URM kids). So many are trying to get out to privates/move. It's totally crazy sh8t.

Which is why we moved to private this year. We're in a W-feeder elementary school, and we're not the only ones. Our former ES is down to 2 teachers per grade (from 3) in most grades due to enrollment declines. The people in our area can afford private if they want to, and that's what they did.

I honestly don't see MCPS making huge changes to improve in the next few years at least. The BOE has shown themselves to be a bunch of yes-women (indeed it's all women.. guess we don't need gender diversity), but they can get away with it. The teacher's union is powerful and well-funded. All of the union-backed incumbents up for election last November won handily, and this was in a time when voter turnout was at an all-time high _and_ people were mad at MCPS since their kids were on virtual learning. If you can't get enough voters to toss out the BOE then, it's not going to happen in a "normal" year.

My prediction: increasing school violence; lowering of standards; and lower academic results.

I'm not happy about it -- we like MoCo as a place to live and it's sad to see so many children who are going to be let down... but what can honestly be done?

People can stop running and get to work. Schools reflect the problems of society. There is a chorus of folks always complaining but few ready to put in the hard work necessary for change and results. Where are y’all going to run to next: FAirfax, Howard, Loundon?? No because all those sought after places are now in the news or on this board with their own problems. Maybe everyone can run to private school? Oh wait, there’s not enough seats, they cost 25k-50k(and increasing) to attend, and they can select who they want and it may not be you. But the teacher’s union is so powerful… The teacher’s union represents teachers. That’s their interest. The people who represent students are parents, PTAs, Student Organizations, etc.

Complaining about gender diversity on the board, but nothing prevents a bunch of men or non binary persons from running for BOE. The same way the teaching profession in K-12 is at least 80% female. School districts would love to have more male teachers. Where is this abundant supply, that no one is pulling from??

Lots can be done. What will be done is another question entirely.

The first poster nailed it. The second poster just hasn’t lived in MoCo long enough. Keep trying to defeat the Apple Ballot - and you will come to the same conclusion as the first poster. Go Catholic folks for K-8. That’s where the middle class are going...then magnet for High School or move to a smaller town. We moved. So much better...

People always vote the apple ballot because they are the best candidates. They win by a landslide everitme despite the DCUM malcontents.

Anonymous wrote:Does anyone know what is the real reason MCPS BOE uses lottery for CES program?
Why can't it be the consistency of performance against benchmarks in elementary school? and/or likewise consistency of performance in middle school for highschool magnet program

Are they using Lottery for selection into sports and games teams as well instead of performance benchmarks? or is the lottery exclusive for academic programs?

This is a public school that is funded by tax dollars. It isn't analogous to a for-profit pro sports team.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is one of example of why MCPS is in steady decline. The school system is so into social justice/political correctness vs teaching kids and challenging high performing kids (b/c again, they happen to be non-URM kids). So many are trying to get out to privates/move. It's totally crazy sh8t.

Which is why we moved to private this year. We're in a W-feeder elementary school, and we're not the only ones. Our former ES is down to 2 teachers per grade (from 3) in most grades due to enrollment declines. The people in our area can afford private if they want to, and that's what they did.

I honestly don't see MCPS making huge changes to improve in the next few years at least. The BOE has shown themselves to be a bunch of yes-women (indeed it's all women.. guess we don't need gender diversity), but they can get away with it. The teacher's union is powerful and well-funded. All of the union-backed incumbents up for election last November won handily, and this was in a time when voter turnout was at an all-time high _and_ people were mad at MCPS since their kids were on virtual learning. If you can't get enough voters to toss out the BOE then, it's not going to happen in a "normal" year.

My prediction: increasing school violence; lowering of standards; and lower academic results.

I'm not happy about it -- we like MoCo as a place to live and it's sad to see so many children who are going to be let down... but what can honestly be done?

People can stop running and get to work. Schools reflect the problems of society. There is a chorus of folks always complaining but few ready to put in the hard work necessary for change and results. Where are y’all going to run to next: FAirfax, Howard, Loundon?? No because all those sought after places are now in the news or on this board with their own problems. Maybe everyone can run to private school? Oh wait, there’s not enough seats, they cost 25k-50k(and increasing) to attend, and they can select who they want and it may not be you. But the teacher’s union is so powerful… The teacher’s union represents teachers. That’s their interest. The people who represent students are parents, PTAs, Student Organizations, etc.

Complaining about gender diversity on the board, but nothing prevents a bunch of men or non binary persons from running for BOE. The same way the teaching profession in K-12 is at least 80% female. School districts would love to have more male teachers. Where is this abundant supply, that no one is pulling from??

Lots can be done. What will be done is another question entirely.

The first poster nailed it. The second poster just hasn’t lived in MoCo long enough. Keep trying to defeat the Apple Ballot - and you will come to the same conclusion as the first poster. Go Catholic folks for K-8. That’s where the middle class are going...then magnet for High School or move to a smaller town. We moved. So much better...

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This region has astronomically more qualified kids than seats.

Not quite.

MCPS deliberately chose to limit the size and scope of the Magnet program. They could very easily designate more CES classrooms at local schools, use that additional capacity to offload the 97% percentile and under, then use the Magnet slots for those that are truly 98-99th as pull-outs.

The question you should be asking is why they didn't do that.

The seats issue is one of the availability of qualified and willing teachers. Why has Eastern’s magnet seen three 7th grade SS teachers in 3 years? And a few years back, they had to repeatedly replace the 6th grade SS teachers? That’s just one program.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Define qualified...if you want to have a program for the top students, there is always a group at the top.

How to measure accurately, though? There's no "best" measure. Some kids test better. Some write better. Some speak better.

Under the old system there were tests, teacher recs, student essays, grades. Pretty broad measures.

So, It looks like some did not like the measurement?

A lot of white boys with ADHD and Autism fail to test well, but are gifted by other measures.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This region has astronomically more qualified kids than seats.

I don’t disagree with you BUT if there were enough seats for every single kid labeled as gifted you would have segregated schools. Smart schools and regular schools. That’s not ok. They need to stop pulling the gifted and bright kids out of their neighborhood schools and provide them with advanced work at their home school.

Bingo.

Magnets are away to cover up segregation by bussing White kids to low income schools but segregating them within the school. What a waste.

Man.. now I know why all these magnet programs are in the schools that they are in.

A: No one is pulling them. They are going of their own free will, because they get so little appropriate level instruction at their home school. At some larger elementary schools, where there are enough kids to make a cohort, there is now an in-school CES. For others, they are offered slots in a regional CES.

B: Most of the kids in our school’s CES are POC. Very few white kids.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is one of example of why MCPS is in steady decline. The school system is so into social justice/political correctness vs teaching kids and challenging high performing kids (b/c again, they happen to be non-URM kids). So many are trying to get out to privates/move. It's totally crazy sh8t.

Which is why we moved to private this year. We're in a W-feeder elementary school, and we're not the only ones. Our former ES is down to 2 teachers per grade (from 3) in most grades due to enrollment declines. The people in our area can afford private if they want to, and that's what they did.

I honestly don't see MCPS making huge changes to improve in the next few years at least. The BOE has shown themselves to be a bunch of yes-women (indeed it's all women.. guess we don't need gender diversity), but they can get away with it. The teacher's union is powerful and well-funded. All of the union-backed incumbents up for election last November won handily, and this was in a time when voter turnout was at an all-time high _and_ people were mad at MCPS since their kids were on virtual learning. If you can't get enough voters to toss out the BOE then, it's not going to happen in a "normal" year.

My prediction: increasing school violence; lowering of standards; and lower academic results.

I'm not happy about it -- we like MoCo as a place to live and it's sad to see so many children who are going to be let down... but what can honestly be done?

People can stop running and get to work. Schools reflect the problems of society. There is a chorus of folks always complaining but few ready to put in the hard work necessary for change and results. Where are y’all going to run to next: FAirfax, Howard, Loundon?? No because all those sought after places are now in the news or on this board with their own problems. Maybe everyone can run to private school? Oh wait, there’s not enough seats, they cost 25k-50k(and increasing) to attend, and they can select who they want and it may not be you. But the teacher’s union is so powerful… The teacher’s union represents teachers. That’s their interest. The people who represent students are parents, PTAs, Student Organizations, etc.

Complaining about gender diversity on the board, but nothing prevents a bunch of men or non binary persons from running for BOE. The same way the teaching profession in K-12 is at least 80% female. School districts would love to have more male teachers. Where is this abundant supply, that no one is pulling from??

Lots can be done. What will be done is another question entirely.

There may not be enough room in private schools for _all_ kids, but there is room in private school for _my_ kids.

I tried for change at the BOE. I donated to decent candidates who would represent parents, and did my best to campaign for them. That wasn't enough. I think the reason is that typically it's only parents with kids in MCPS who really follow the BOE races. Lots of people don't have kids, or their kids are too old for MCPS. They just vote for whoever the incumbent is, or whatever name they saw on the most flyers (the teacher's union can fund a lot of flyers!). This explains how people like Docca -- who is currnetly 80 years old -- manage to win re-election over and over.

Then let's say the unthinkable happens, and we do get some new candidates on the BOE. Only 3 out of 9 come up for election at every election cycle. How many years until we can bring in enough candidates with competence to have a majority vote? My kids will be half-way through their schooling at that point, and that outcome is based on a lot of "if's". I'll do what's best for our family -- leave MCPS for private -- but I'll continue to vote for the BOE people I think are best for the job, even if they don't win.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is one of example of why MCPS is in steady decline. The school system is so into social justice/political correctness vs teaching kids and challenging high performing kids (b/c again, they happen to be non-URM kids). So many are trying to get out to privates/move. It's totally crazy sh8t.

Which is why we moved to private this year. We're in a W-feeder elementary school, and we're not the only ones. Our former ES is down to 2 teachers per grade (from 3) in most grades due to enrollment declines. The people in our area can afford private if they want to, and that's what they did.

I honestly don't see MCPS making huge changes to improve in the next few years at least. The BOE has shown themselves to be a bunch of yes-women (indeed it's all women.. guess we don't need gender diversity), but they can get away with it. The teacher's union is powerful and well-funded. All of the union-backed incumbents up for election last November won handily, and this was in a time when voter turnout was at an all-time high _and_ people were mad at MCPS since their kids were on virtual learning. If you can't get enough voters to toss out the BOE then, it's not going to happen in a "normal" year.

My prediction: increasing school violence; lowering of standards; and lower academic results.

I'm not happy about it -- we like MoCo as a place to live and it's sad to see so many children who are going to be let down... but what can honestly be done?

People can stop running and get to work. Schools reflect the problems of society. There is a chorus of folks always complaining but few ready to put in the hard work necessary for change and results. Where are y’all going to run to next: FAirfax, Howard, Loundon?? No because all those sought after places are now in the news or on this board with their own problems. Maybe everyone can run to private school? Oh wait, there’s not enough seats, they cost 25k-50k(and increasing) to attend, and they can select who they want and it may not be you. But the teacher’s union is so powerful… The teacher’s union represents teachers. That’s their interest. The people who represent students are parents, PTAs, Student Organizations, etc.

Complaining about gender diversity on the board, but nothing prevents a bunch of men or non binary persons from running for BOE. The same way the teaching profession in K-12 is at least 80% female. School districts would love to have more male teachers. Where is this abundant supply, that no one is pulling from??

Lots can be done. What will be done is another question entirely.

Anonymous wrote:This is one of example of why MCPS is in steady decline. The school system is so into social justice/political correctness vs teaching kids and challenging high performing kids (b/c again, they happen to be non-URM kids). So many are trying to get out to privates/move. It's totally crazy sh8t.

Which is why we moved to private this year. We're in a W-feeder elementary school, and we're not the only ones. Our former ES is down to 2 teachers per grade (from 3) in most grades due to enrollment declines. The people in our area can afford private if they want to, and that's what they did.

I honestly don't see MCPS making huge changes to improve in the next few years at least. The BOE has shown themselves to be a bunch of yes-women (indeed it's all women.. guess we don't need gender diversity), but they can get away with it. The teacher's union is powerful and well-funded. All of the union-backed incumbents up for election last November won handily, and this was in a time when voter turnout was at an all-time high _and_ people were mad at MCPS since their kids were on virtual learning. If you can't get enough voters to toss out the BOE then, it's not going to happen in a "normal" year.

My prediction: increasing school violence; lowering of standards; and lower academic results.

I'm not happy about it -- we like MoCo as a place to live and it's sad to see so many children who are going to be let down... but what can honestly be done?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They don’t want to get sued.

They do not want to get sued for what? Is this a relavent post?

Yes, it is. They want to avoid the legal problems of TJ and Harvard. I recall there also was similar legal action against TPMS the first year they changed the criteria.

I wonder what happened to those lawsuits. But MCPS is going equity over excellence route.

Really confusion though. Are they doing televised lottery or someone in the basement decide

Huh? Translation, please. Into English, please.

troll alert

This thread was started as a trolling effort.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This region has astronomically more qualified kids than seats.

I don’t disagree with you BUT if there were enough seats for every single kid labeled as gifted you would have segregated schools. Smart schools and regular schools. That’s not ok. They need to stop pulling the gifted and bright kids out of their neighborhood schools and provide them with advanced work at their home school.

Bingo.

Magnets are away to cover up segregation by bussing White kids to low income schools but segregating them within the school. What a waste.

Man.. now I know why all these magnet programs are in the schools that they are in.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This region has astronomically more qualified kids than seats.

I don’t disagree with you BUT if there were enough seats for every single kid labeled as gifted you would have segregated schools. Smart schools and regular schools. That’s not ok. They need to stop pulling the gifted and bright kids out of their neighborhood schools and provide them with advanced work at their home school.

Bingo.

Magnets are away to cover up segregation by bussing White kids to low income schools but segregating them within the school. What a waste.

This is one of example of why MCPS is in steady decline. The school system is so into social justice/political correctness vs teaching kids and challenging high performing kids (b/c again, they happen to be non-URM kids). So many are trying to get out to privates/move. It's totally crazy sh8t.