Anonymous
Post 02/08/2012 10:04     Subject: there is only one Montgomery County School District
You are always going to have massive inequality of outcomes between the schools in richer areas and the poorer areas, because at the end of the day the parents are a greater influence on how the large majority of children turn out than the teachers.

I think MoCo does a pretty good job of balancing the need to direct more resources to the poorer areas while still keeping the quality high enough in the prosperous areas to keep the wealthy sending their kids to the public schools.
Anonymous
Post 02/08/2012 09:29     Subject: Re:there is only one Montgomery County School District
As long as Montgomery has assigned neighborhood schools for most of the county, and the Downcounty and Northeast Consortia in the eastern part of the county, that area will have a stigma. It sends a strong message that those schools aren't good enough to stand on their own feet, and that parents will only stay in the system if they have choices that aren't needed in the rest of the county. Whether there's literally one school district is besides the point.
Anonymous
Post 02/07/2012 16:31     Subject: there is only one Montgomery County School District
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:"other than get some support from people who can't afford B-CC or the Ws, "

there are many of us who live even in the dreaded DCC that don't think it is "one system" where all is equal. i posted earlier that PP missed the obvious impact that the other kids have on how the class is conducted, within the guidelines of the curriculum. Most of my neighbors w/ little kids agree and are similarly very nervously eyeing public schools (a yr or so away for most of us). I think some folks in downtown SS or TP area really love their schools but many of us in the DCC area bought a starter house figuring we would move before school age and now are stuck for awhile and not at all happy w/ the options in front of us for how the local public is set up.


Which schools are you talking about? My kids are in a DCC school (Oakland Terrace) and I think that families are generally very happy. Same with Woodlin and Takoma Park ES.

And Forest Knolls, and Highland View.
Anonymous
Post 02/07/2012 16:25     Subject: there is only one Montgomery County School District
Anonymous wrote:"other than get some support from people who can't afford B-CC or the Ws, "

there are many of us who live even in the dreaded DCC that don't think it is "one system" where all is equal. i posted earlier that PP missed the obvious impact that the other kids have on how the class is conducted, within the guidelines of the curriculum. Most of my neighbors w/ little kids agree and are similarly very nervously eyeing public schools (a yr or so away for most of us). I think some folks in downtown SS or TP area really love their schools but many of us in the DCC area bought a starter house figuring we would move before school age and now are stuck for awhile and not at all happy w/ the options in front of us for how the local public is set up.


Which schools are you talking about? My kids are in a DCC school (Oakland Terrace) and I think that families are generally very happy. Same with Woodlin and Takoma Park ES.
Anonymous
Post 02/07/2012 16:18     Subject: there is only one Montgomery County School District
"other than get some support from people who can't afford B-CC or the Ws, "

there are many of us who live even in the dreaded DCC that don't think it is "one system" where all is equal. i posted earlier that PP missed the obvious impact that the other kids have on how the class is conducted, within the guidelines of the curriculum. Most of my neighbors w/ little kids agree and are similarly very nervously eyeing public schools (a yr or so away for most of us). I think some folks in downtown SS or TP area really love their schools but many of us in the DCC area bought a starter house figuring we would move before school age and now are stuck for awhile and not at all happy w/ the options in front of us for how the local public is set up.
Anonymous
Post 02/07/2012 14:55     Subject: there is only one Montgomery County School District
Anonymous wrote:"The difference being those in the wealthier 'hoods try to privatize their local public . . . So there's always an unfair advantage created by money & too much time on one's hands. "

hunh? what do you mean "privatize their local public school"?
I'm the PP you replied to and while yes, money always plays a role, at least if those families w/ more money (and virtually no one who's "rolling in it" lives in the red zones anyway - we're just talking middle class) are kept in the local school, they will still play an advocacy and volunteer role for that school as compared to if they see no choice but to move or send their kid to private out of concern for the level at which the teacher will need to pitch the lesson plans to meet where most of the class is.



ugh

I really need you to revise that rambling "sentence" before I can respond.

Anonymous
Post 02/07/2012 13:37     Subject: Re:there is only one Montgomery County School District
Anonymous wrote:
I am the OP. I see the differences in performance among schools too, but my point is that these are averages based on the different populations of kids who go there. That's what I meant by who sits next to your kid in class. If you know your child, you encourage your child, and they have great teachers, they will not suffer harm if the kid next to them does not go to college.


Maybe they won't get germs, but they may not progress academically to the same extent, because the teacher's efforts will be focused on helping kids who don't speak English or don't come from a family that's dedicated to their academic success. To some extent it gets addressed through smaller class sizes, but you're swimming upstream. Ask any random group of people in MoCo whether, given a choice, they'd prefer to have their kids attend Churchill or Blair, and the answer will be Churchill.

Not sure what you thought you'd accomplish by starting this thread, other than get some support from people who can't afford B-CC or the Ws, and from a few others who can, but decided to live in the Downcounty area for whatever reason.



Anonymous
Post 02/07/2012 13:13     Subject: there is only one Montgomery County School District
"The difference being those in the wealthier 'hoods try to privatize their local public . . . So there's always an unfair advantage created by money & too much time on one's hands. "

hunh? what do you mean "privatize their local public school"?
I'm the PP you replied to and while yes, money always plays a role, at least if those families w/ more money (and virtually no one who's "rolling in it" lives in the red zones anyway - we're just talking middle class) are kept in the local school, they will still play an advocacy and volunteer role for that school as compared to if they see no choice but to move or send their kid to private out of concern for the level at which the teacher will need to pitch the lesson plans to meet where most of the class is.

Anonymous
Post 02/07/2012 12:54     Subject: there is only one Montgomery County School District
The difference being those in the wealthier 'hoods try to privatize their local public . . . So there's always an unfair advantage created by money & too much time on one's hands.

Anonymous wrote:"Is this 15th kid really losing so much that it's worth it for his wealthier family to pull him out, like all the other wealthier families have pulled their kids out, so there are literally no highly involved parents left? It seems like we've made that bargain in this country. That we keep our own kid completely safe, surrounded by other wealthy kids, while draining all the parental resources out of the schools we leave. "

Yes, that 15th kid is going to pass the exam, but they are sure not maximizing their own learning. so they are getting really shortchanged. There IS a way to keep higher income & more involved families at the local/eastern schools, but it's not PC/popular apparently. You would be ability grouping from the get-go in at least 1st grade. That would make more middle class parents consider schools they are now worried about if they could have confidence their kid would be with similar learners. In turn, those parents would stay involved in the school rather than fleeing for other zones or for private.
Anonymous
Post 02/07/2012 11:57     Subject: there is only one Montgomery County School District
Anonymous wrote:

You are simply repeating what the PP already said, quite clearly.

Obviously the same tax rate applied to a more expensive house will yield more DOLLARS.


Yup, this is the kind of jerky poster that makes me think DCUM is a complete waste of time. Sayonara, jerk.
Anonymous
Post 02/07/2012 11:56     Subject: there is only one Montgomery County School District
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:If you live in a more expensive house you pay more..and though there is one curriculm, it is implemented differently at different schools. At one school, coming in to K with no reading skills is the norm. At another one, many children are already reading. The teacher will teach differently as they should. The thing that poster here need to remember is that both can be excallant schools..even if one has lower scores etc.


You pay more for the house. You pay the same tax rate. You do not pay "higher taxes."


Just to be clear, the same tax rate is applied to a $1M house and to a $400K house - but the DOLLAR amount of taxes paid on the $1M house is higher.

That said, MoCo collects all the tax income and redistributes it across the county. As it should.


You are simply repeating what the PP already said, quite clearly.

Obviously the same tax rate applied to a more expensive house will yield more DOLLARS.


That seemed uncalled for. Having a bad day? Besides, some of the posts following this one didn't seem to get this posters point, so maybe a clarification was in fact in order...
Anonymous
Post 02/07/2012 11:55     Subject: Re:there is only one Montgomery County School District
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:I agree and would only add that no one pays "higher property taxes" (a comment that typically goes hand-in-hand with, "and therefore we pay for better schools."). We all pay the same tax rate.

The point of a county-based school system (as opposed to a town-based one) is uniformity of resources/opportunities/education county-wide. There are no "higher property taxes" districts. There is ONE school district.


I agree, and to this point, people often say that they pay more for their house so they should get better schools. Well, if the housing downturn has taught anything it's that the market is not always "right." It's possible you paid more for your house and your child's school is not in fact "better" than a nearby one where houses cost less. Or, it's possible you paid more for your house because people pay a premium to send their children to schools with more white children because they are more comfortable with that. There are no guarantees your housing choice was correct, or that the price of your house will not go down in the future.


Another point of clarification. There is definite link, establish in copious economic literature, that a house in better school districts cost more than the same house in a bad school district. The causation is easy to follow: people want to live in good school districts so they big more aggressively on those houses.
Also, to the extent the economic downturn affected the DC area, it has lowered all boats proportionately. It's still true that a 3-BR colonial on 1 acre will cost more in Bethesda (green zone) than in Takoma Park (Red Zone), with perhaps a few changes within small pockets, but on average.

It may not make it right, and it doesn't guarantee that the same school will be good 20 years from now. But on average, and within the span of a few years, the house green zone (schools considered good) will be more expensive than the same house in the red zone.
Anonymous
Post 02/07/2012 11:50     Subject: there is only one Montgomery County School District
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:If you live in a more expensive house you pay more..and though there is one curriculm, it is implemented differently at different schools. At one school, coming in to K with no reading skills is the norm. At another one, many children are already reading. The teacher will teach differently as they should. The thing that poster here need to remember is that both can be excallant schools..even if one has lower scores etc.


You pay more for the house. You pay the same tax rate. You do not pay "higher taxes."


Just to be clear, the same tax rate is applied to a $1M house and to a $400K house - but the DOLLAR amount of taxes paid on the $1M house is higher.

That said, MoCo collects all the tax income and redistributes it across the county. As it should.


You are simply repeating what the PP already said, quite clearly.

Obviously the same tax rate applied to a more expensive house will yield more DOLLARS.
Anonymous
Post 02/07/2012 11:46     Subject: there is only one Montgomery County School District
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:If you live in a more expensive house you pay more..and though there is one curriculm, it is implemented differently at different schools. At one school, coming in to K with no reading skills is the norm. At another one, many children are already reading. The teacher will teach differently as they should. The thing that poster here need to remember is that both can be excallant schools..even if one has lower scores etc.


You pay more for the house. You pay the same tax rate. You do not pay "higher taxes."


Just to be clear, the same tax rate is applied to a $1M house and to a $400K house - but the DOLLAR amount of taxes paid on the $1M house is higher.

That said, MoCo collects all the tax income and redistributes it across the county. As it should.
Anonymous
Post 02/06/2012 21:48     Subject: there is only one Montgomery County School District
"Is this 15th kid really losing so much that it's worth it for his wealthier family to pull him out, like all the other wealthier families have pulled their kids out, so there are literally no highly involved parents left? It seems like we've made that bargain in this country. That we keep our own kid completely safe, surrounded by other wealthy kids, while draining all the parental resources out of the schools we leave. "

Yes, that 15th kid is going to pass the exam, but they are sure not maximizing their own learning. so they are getting really shortchanged. There IS a way to keep higher income & more involved families at the local/eastern schools, but it's not PC/popular apparently. You would be ability grouping from the get-go in at least 1st grade. That would make more middle class parents consider schools they are now worried about if they could have confidence their kid would be with similar learners. In turn, those parents would stay involved in the school rather than fleeing for other zones or for private.