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Anonymous wrote:I've been a consistent critic of the school closures, and the generally ridiculous COVID policies for school/preK/childcare, but I really don't understand the people that want to see virtual academy killed off. Yes, it is subpar education that bad for the development of kids, the alternative for some families would be homeschooling. And that would be even worse. VA is unfair to the kids stuck in it, but it isn't harming anyone else. Let them keep it.

The main thing is change, though, is that virtual school should be handled statewide, not in individual districts. Have MSDE set up the program for anyone in the state that wants to use it instead of going to a local school.

How is VA subpar? Are your kids in it? It’s nothing like last year and last year could have done more but parents screamed how hard it was.

We go by county so doing it statewide makes no sense. They have the numbers to justify it. Each county uses a different curriculum so state run is not logical.

How is it harming our kids? Where is your evidence?

The data from last year is awfully compelling. Sure, whatever changes they made might reduce the gap, but there's no plausible way to close it. And even if you could close the academic gap, you're still risking severe developmental harm by removing kids from normal social interactions. Anyone that knows homeschooled kids knows they don't generally do well transitioning to college.

Public education is guaranteed at a state level, not a county level. If we're going to provide public virtual education as an alternative to homeschooling, then we should make sure everyone in the state has that option. The best and most economical way to do that is to have the state provide that option to everyone. There are more counties in the state than MoCo to think about. There's no good reason to handle virtual at a local level. Part of the point of virtual is that it doesn't matter where you're physically located.

Do you not understand VA is very different from last year and your comments have nothing to do with VA? We go by county. You need the same curriculum so kids can switch between them. It is economical. It costs less than in person school and uses far less resources. Removing 3k students would be a huge hit to funding.

If you don’t want it for your kids fine, but why do you care if others of us choose it?

If those of us left if they did not offer it, MCPS would have lost a lot of funding which then would impact your kids.

How are our kids being academically harmed if they have the same number of class hours and same curriculum?

I thought I was clear- people should be free to screw up their own kids with virtual education. It's almost certainly better than implicitly encouraging people to homeschool. I think VA should continue. I just think it is silly, inequitable, and inefficient to administer virtual at a county level. Handle it at a state level so that kids in counties big and small have access to it.

What do you find so threatening about having a common virtual option for kids across the state? Worried your kids might have to interact with black kids from Baltimore? It'll be good for them. If we're lucky, they'll end up less like you.

MCPS and Baltimore use completely different curriculums so your post makes no sense. The VA is based off the same curriculum as in person so kids can easily transfer in and out.

How are we messing up our kids education? They are doing the same curriculum for the same class hours as yours.

How is it inefficient, inequitable and silly to do it at the county level? We are county based.

Why don't you send your kids to school with kids in Baltimore? When my kids are in person they are in a low income/high minority schools so you are ranting at the wrong person. Why don't you send your kids to a school like that? Believe it or not, MCPS has plenty of those schools right here where the majority of kids are minorities.

And, if you look at the population in VA, there are a significant number of minorities in it. You are ranting about stuff you don't know to justify your poor choice of sending your kids in person and you feel guilty you cannot handle having your kids at home. Your kids NEED to be in person, but many of ours will thrive in either situation because as parents we support them.

Stop making everything about race and find a new attack. As, VA has tons of minorities and many of us go to high minority schools. Just because you don't, doesn't mean our kids don't either.

Why does it matter that different counties have different curriculums? This year was a transition year between virtual and in-person. I thought it made sense for districts to run their own virtual programs to try to make it easier to allow the kids to return after being vaccinated.

Next year, though, it makes sense to transition virtual to a sustainable, permanent program for parents that don't want their kids to have normal social interactions with others. There's little reason to think anyone continuing in virtual next year will come back to an in-person program. That's not to say they couldn't, but already teachers and students have to accomodate moves to school districts. An unexpected move from virtual back to an in-person program would just be like moving from one county to another, which kids/parents do all the time.

While Moco is big enough it could economically handle a permanent virtual program, the same cannot be said for smaller counties. If you look beyond your own situation, to what is best for students everywhere, it clearly makes sense to move virtual to a shared system administered by the state.

It's not going to happen, but please, continue pompously pontificating about matters over which you have no control.

Keep in mind it's an issue that will be ultimately decide through political processes at the state and local levels. I don't see the state excited at the prospect of paying money to do duplicate online learning across 24 jurisdictions. Fighting a state-run system might lead to killing VA entirely.

And you still haven't given a coherent reason by the state can't do it. Though, one of your last posts alluded to one. Yes, the state would likely outsource virtual to a private sector company. You're outraged at the potential to have non-union teachers? Is that what this is about?

The state does not run any schools. You have not provided a coherent reason why the state would provide a VA or they'd take it away when there is a clear demand. MCPS has said VA is here to stay.

Why are you so passionate that VA should be stopped or run by the state? It in no way impacts your family.

So, should we argue MCPS should never build any more schools since you don't feel more schools are necessary? Should we argue that the new schools being built be run by the state too?

Other states had online programs even more the pandemic. There's plenty of precedence for having the state administer the program. Likely the state would outsource it to a private company, like the online "public schools."

What is your real agenda? Other states run their school systems very differently than MD. Why do you care if MCPS offers a VA? It in no way impacts you, your children or your children's education.
MCPS has said VA is here to stay.

It would have been nice if MCPS or MD offered virtual prior to COVID but they didn't. But, there is a clear demand and they are offering it now.

Do you feel guilty sending your kids in person?

The argument its safe to go to school is subjective and fortunately we each get to decide that for our kids/families. What you decide is safe for your family, may not be safe for another family. You may decide your cut off for being what you consider careful is to be vaccinated, and others may not. There are no guarantees that just because you are vaccinated you will not get covid. There is no social distancing, very limited testing, no quarantine, and if you are in an older school, just portable air filters. MCPS is NOT following CDC guidelines. If that is good enough for you, great, but its not good enough for us.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The vaccine doesn’t ensure you won’t get Covid. It only makes it almost impossible to die from. Some families can’t take the risk of illness or hospitalization or long term disability. My kids are back in person full-time, but I respect those people who chose differently. If magnet had been offered virtually, I would have picked the VA.

But this logic would mean VA for ever and no standardized tests.

Does virtual academy even offer CES? Could they make the cogat test often for virtual academy students with the understanding that if they choose to send their child to CES they can't do it virtually?

They don't offer it in elementary school but most in person elementary schools don't offer it. We only got compacted math and that was it. Very few kids actually get into the centers.

MCPS could offer it virtually. They could offer it at every school. They don't. So, you supplement on your own.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I've been a consistent critic of the school closures, and the generally ridiculous COVID policies for school/preK/childcare, but I really don't understand the people that want to see virtual academy killed off. Yes, it is subpar education that bad for the development of kids, the alternative for some families would be homeschooling. And that would be even worse. VA is unfair to the kids stuck in it, but it isn't harming anyone else. Let them keep it.

The main thing is change, though, is that virtual school should be handled statewide, not in individual districts. Have MSDE set up the program for anyone in the state that wants to use it instead of going to a local school.

It's an interesting to debate whether homeschooling (which can be done on a spectrum from completely inept to competent) is superior in outcome then virtual academy which is generally conducted by a competent teacher but through a very poor educational medium of forcing kids to be tethered to a Chromebook for 5 hours.

There's been a lot of argument that virtual schooling is the worst of both worlds because with homeschooling you have more flexibility in schedule, pacing and content and lack of individual attention

Its pretty easy to homeschool in the elementary years but much harder with advanced math and classes in MS or HS.

I think its interesting that people who are not in VA are slamming it when it may not work for their family but working fine for many of ours. Many of our kids choose to continue in VA and are thriving. Some kids do better in virtual, some do better in person. Why does someone else care if another family chooses or MCPS offers VA? It has no impact in them.

MCPS has said VA is here to stay. There is a clear demand so those saying to get rid of it are really horrible people who don't have anyone's best interests at heart, not even their own kids.

We don't have a state educational system so demanding the state to it makes zero sense as they don't have educators and it would take a lot of funding away from MCPS.

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The vaccine doesn’t ensure you won’t get Covid. It only makes it almost impossible to die from. Some families can’t take the risk of illness or hospitalization or long term disability. My kids are back in person full-time, but I respect those people who chose differently. If magnet had been offered virtually, I would have picked the VA.

But this logic would mean VA for ever and no standardized tests.

Does virtual academy even offer CES? Could they make the cogat test often for virtual academy students with the understanding that if they choose to send their child to CES they can't do it virtually?

No enriched programs are offered in the VA. It’s why I sent DD in person. Since she was going in person, we sent DS as well. But if she could do her magnet in the VA, they both would have done the VA.

Most schools don't offer enriched classes until MS. Our Elementary only offered compacted math.

The Cogat test isn't a big deal that this one poster is making it. Our kids took MAP tests. Its only one factor in the selection process.

The big issue with VA is if you are in a magnet or special program there is no guarantee you can return to that program and may have to go back to your home school instead which is very unfair to the kids to have to have multiple school changes unnecessarily.

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Anonymous wrote:Thank you for that response. I was going to ignore the posters who immediately honed in on what it meant for my child, and why I may be bitter. But yes, I do think that my kid who is a straight A student, has MAP scores in the 99th percentile and had CogAT scores in the 99th percentile is more suited (I know people will get triggered if I say deserving), to the Magnet/CES program than kids at the 85% level. Cue up the "Your kid is a robot who was trained by Dr Li" comments.

I put my child in the Virtual Academy when she was shut out of the lottery (MAPs well within the 99th percentile for years, clear signs of giftedness since she was a preschooler), because her home school refused to accelerate her in math. Virtual Academy was willing to let her skip ahead in math, and skip ahead two years in orchestra. Her new math class still doesn't have a single thing she doesn't know already, and she solves all problems at a glance, but it's less mind-numbing than what she'd have received at her home school.

So if you're OP, pointing fingers at the VA, please understand that I HATE the current fake magnet selection as much as you do, and I HATE moronic gatekeepers that don't believe some kids are capable of doing advanced work, but... Virtual Academy saved the day (slightly). My plan is to return my child to her home school only on the condition they honor her current math track.

Perhaps you can do the same, OP. Or find another solution. The bottom line is that MCPS is no friend to really gifted students. Parents would do well to seek creative solutions and workarounds instead of tearing each other down - because that works in MCPS' favor, you see. Divide and conquer. Don't fall for that.

This is a troll. Any child can audition to take a more advanced orchestra class. It is not at all unusual to find sixth graders in advanced orchestra alongside 8th graders.

It depends on the school. I don't think they are fully truthful as I don't see VA jumping a child two math levels in less they are talking 6th grade math to Algebra and that's not jumping and some schools offer it.

However, our home school refused to allow our 6th grader to take the most advanced music class so its not true any child can audition and it depends on the school and teacher. That's great if you school allowed it. Ours didn't so we removed ours from music as it wasn't worth doing at the level they were doing it at.

I would be surprised if all this happened as most of us cannot get the counselors to respond to us to change classes or discuss any other issues.

Anonymous wrote:And VA kids, if they want to take the Cogat and apply to CES or magnet programs should come in for 1 day for a proctored test.

Why don't you worry about your kids and stop blaming VA for what you consider to be MCPS issues?

How about you be a responsible parent and help make it safe for our kids to return in person if its so important to you?

Our kids aren't stopping yours from getting into CES or Magnets.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Thank you for that response. I was going to ignore the posters who immediately honed in on what it meant for my child, and why I may be bitter. But yes, I do think that my kid who is a straight A student, has MAP scores in the 99th percentile and had CogAT scores in the 99th percentile is more suited (I know people will get triggered if I say deserving), to the Magnet/CES program than kids at the 85% level. Cue up the "Your kid is a robot who was trained by Dr Li" comments.

I put my child in the Virtual Academy when she was shut out of the lottery (MAPs well within the 99th percentile for years, clear signs of giftedness since she was a preschooler), because her home school refused to accelerate her in math. Virtual Academy was willing to let her skip ahead in math, and skip ahead two years in orchestra. Her new math class still doesn't have a single thing she doesn't know already, and she solves all problems at a glance, but it's less mind-numbing than what she'd have received at her home school.

So if you're OP, pointing fingers at the VA, please understand that I HATE the current fake magnet selection as much as you do, and I HATE moronic gatekeepers that don't believe some kids are capable of doing advanced work, but... Virtual Academy saved the day (slightly). My plan is to return my child to her home school only on the condition they honor her current math track.

Perhaps you can do the same, OP. Or find another solution. The bottom line is that MCPS is no friend to really gifted students. Parents would do well to seek creative solutions and workarounds instead of tearing each other down - because that works in MCPS' favor, you see. Divide and conquer. Don't fall for that.

This is a troll. Any child can audition to take a more advanced orchestra class. It is not at all unusual to find sixth graders in advanced orchestra alongside 8th graders.

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The vaccine doesn’t ensure you won’t get Covid. It only makes it almost impossible to die from. Some families can’t take the risk of illness or hospitalization or long term disability. My kids are back in person full-time, but I respect those people who chose differently. If magnet had been offered virtually, I would have picked the VA.

But this logic would mean VA for ever and no standardized tests.

Does virtual academy even offer CES? Could they make the cogat test often for virtual academy students with the understanding that if they choose to send their child to CES they can't do it virtually?

No enriched programs are offered in the VA. It’s why I sent DD in person. Since she was going in person, we sent DS as well. But if she could do her magnet in the VA, they both would have done the VA.

And VA kids, if they want to take the Cogat and apply to CES or magnet programs should come in for 1 day for a proctored test.

Anonymous wrote:I've been a consistent critic of the school closures, and the generally ridiculous COVID policies for school/preK/childcare, but I really don't understand the people that want to see virtual academy killed off. Yes, it is subpar education that bad for the development of kids, the alternative for some families would be homeschooling. And that would be even worse. VA is unfair to the kids stuck in it, but it isn't harming anyone else. Let them keep it.

The main thing is change, though, is that virtual school should be handled statewide, not in individual districts. Have MSDE set up the program for anyone in the state that wants to use it instead of going to a local school.

It's an interesting to debate whether homeschooling (which can be done on a spectrum from completely inept to competent) is superior in outcome then virtual academy which is generally conducted by a competent teacher but through a very poor educational medium of forcing kids to be tethered to a Chromebook for 5 hours.

There's been a lot of argument that virtual schooling is the worst of both worlds because with homeschooling you have more flexibility in schedule, pacing and content and lack of individual attention

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The vaccine doesn’t ensure you won’t get Covid. It only makes it almost impossible to die from. Some families can’t take the risk of illness or hospitalization or long term disability. My kids are back in person full-time, but I respect those people who chose differently. If magnet had been offered virtually, I would have picked the VA.

But this logic would mean VA for ever and no standardized tests.

Does virtual academy even offer CES? Could they make the cogat test often for virtual academy students with the understanding that if they choose to send their child to CES they can't do it virtually?

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Anonymous wrote:I've been a consistent critic of the school closures, and the generally ridiculous COVID policies for school/preK/childcare, but I really don't understand the people that want to see virtual academy killed off. Yes, it is subpar education that bad for the development of kids, the alternative for some families would be homeschooling. And that would be even worse. VA is unfair to the kids stuck in it, but it isn't harming anyone else. Let them keep it.

The main thing is change, though, is that virtual school should be handled statewide, not in individual districts. Have MSDE set up the program for anyone in the state that wants to use it instead of going to a local school.

How is VA subpar? Are your kids in it? It’s nothing like last year and last year could have done more but parents screamed how hard it was.

We go by county so doing it statewide makes no sense. They have the numbers to justify it. Each county uses a different curriculum so state run is not logical.

How is it harming our kids? Where is your evidence?

The data from last year is awfully compelling. Sure, whatever changes they made might reduce the gap, but there's no plausible way to close it. And even if you could close the academic gap, you're still risking severe developmental harm by removing kids from normal social interactions. Anyone that knows homeschooled kids knows they don't generally do well transitioning to college.

Public education is guaranteed at a state level, not a county level. If we're going to provide public virtual education as an alternative to homeschooling, then we should make sure everyone in the state has that option. The best and most economical way to do that is to have the state provide that option to everyone. There are more counties in the state than MoCo to think about. There's no good reason to handle virtual at a local level. Part of the point of virtual is that it doesn't matter where you're physically located.

Do you not understand VA is very different from last year and your comments have nothing to do with VA? We go by county. You need the same curriculum so kids can switch between them. It is economical. It costs less than in person school and uses far less resources. Removing 3k students would be a huge hit to funding.

If you don’t want it for your kids fine, but why do you care if others of us choose it?

If those of us left if they did not offer it, MCPS would have lost a lot of funding which then would impact your kids.

How are our kids being academically harmed if they have the same number of class hours and same curriculum?

I thought I was clear- people should be free to screw up their own kids with virtual education. It's almost certainly better than implicitly encouraging people to homeschool. I think VA should continue. I just think it is silly, inequitable, and inefficient to administer virtual at a county level. Handle it at a state level so that kids in counties big and small have access to it.

What do you find so threatening about having a common virtual option for kids across the state? Worried your kids might have to interact with black kids from Baltimore? It'll be good for them. If we're lucky, they'll end up less like you.

MCPS and Baltimore use completely different curriculums so your post makes no sense. The VA is based off the same curriculum as in person so kids can easily transfer in and out.

How are we messing up our kids education? They are doing the same curriculum for the same class hours as yours.

How is it inefficient, inequitable and silly to do it at the county level? We are county based.

Why don't you send your kids to school with kids in Baltimore? When my kids are in person they are in a low income/high minority schools so you are ranting at the wrong person. Why don't you send your kids to a school like that? Believe it or not, MCPS has plenty of those schools right here where the majority of kids are minorities.

And, if you look at the population in VA, there are a significant number of minorities in it. You are ranting about stuff you don't know to justify your poor choice of sending your kids in person and you feel guilty you cannot handle having your kids at home. Your kids NEED to be in person, but many of ours will thrive in either situation because as parents we support them.

Stop making everything about race and find a new attack. As, VA has tons of minorities and many of us go to high minority schools. Just because you don't, doesn't mean our kids don't either.

Why does it matter that different counties have different curriculums? This year was a transition year between virtual and in-person. I thought it made sense for districts to run their own virtual programs to try to make it easier to allow the kids to return after being vaccinated.

Next year, though, it makes sense to transition virtual to a sustainable, permanent program for parents that don't want their kids to have normal social interactions with others. There's little reason to think anyone continuing in virtual next year will come back to an in-person program. That's not to say they couldn't, but already teachers and students have to accomodate moves to school districts. An unexpected move from virtual back to an in-person program would just be like moving from one county to another, which kids/parents do all the time.

While Moco is big enough it could economically handle a permanent virtual program, the same cannot be said for smaller counties. If you look beyond your own situation, to what is best for students everywhere, it clearly makes sense to move virtual to a shared system administered by the state.

It's not going to happen, but please, continue pompously pontificating about matters over which you have no control.

Keep in mind it's an issue that will be ultimately decide through political processes at the state and local levels. I don't see the state excited at the prospect of paying money to do duplicate online learning across 24 jurisdictions. Fighting a state-run system might lead to killing VA entirely.

And you still haven't given a coherent reason by the state can't do it. Though, one of your last posts alluded to one. Yes, the state would likely outsource virtual to a private sector company. You're outraged at the potential to have non-union teachers? Is that what this is about?

The state does not run any schools. You have not provided a coherent reason why the state would provide a VA or they'd take it away when there is a clear demand. MCPS has said VA is here to stay.

Why are you so passionate that VA should be stopped or run by the state? It in no way impacts your family.

So, should we argue MCPS should never build any more schools since you don't feel more schools are necessary? Should we argue that the new schools being built be run by the state too?

Other states had online programs even more the pandemic. There's plenty of precedence for having the state administer the program. Likely the state would outsource it to a private company, like the online "public schools."

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I've been a consistent critic of the school closures, and the generally ridiculous COVID policies for school/preK/childcare, but I really don't understand the people that want to see virtual academy killed off. Yes, it is subpar education that bad for the development of kids, the alternative for some families would be homeschooling. And that would be even worse. VA is unfair to the kids stuck in it, but it isn't harming anyone else. Let them keep it.

The main thing is change, though, is that virtual school should be handled statewide, not in individual districts. Have MSDE set up the program for anyone in the state that wants to use it instead of going to a local school.

How is VA subpar? Are your kids in it? It’s nothing like last year and last year could have done more but parents screamed how hard it was.

We go by county so doing it statewide makes no sense. They have the numbers to justify it. Each county uses a different curriculum so state run is not logical.

How is it harming our kids? Where is your evidence?

The data from last year is awfully compelling. Sure, whatever changes they made might reduce the gap, but there's no plausible way to close it. And even if you could close the academic gap, you're still risking severe developmental harm by removing kids from normal social interactions. Anyone that knows homeschooled kids knows they don't generally do well transitioning to college.

Public education is guaranteed at a state level, not a county level. If we're going to provide public virtual education as an alternative to homeschooling, then we should make sure everyone in the state has that option. The best and most economical way to do that is to have the state provide that option to everyone. There are more counties in the state than MoCo to think about. There's no good reason to handle virtual at a local level. Part of the point of virtual is that it doesn't matter where you're physically located.

Do you not understand VA is very different from last year and your comments have nothing to do with VA? We go by county. You need the same curriculum so kids can switch between them. It is economical. It costs less than in person school and uses far less resources. Removing 3k students would be a huge hit to funding.

If you don’t want it for your kids fine, but why do you care if others of us choose it?

If those of us left if they did not offer it, MCPS would have lost a lot of funding which then would impact your kids.

How are our kids being academically harmed if they have the same number of class hours and same curriculum?

I thought I was clear- people should be free to screw up their own kids with virtual education. It's almost certainly better than implicitly encouraging people to homeschool. I think VA should continue. I just think it is silly, inequitable, and inefficient to administer virtual at a county level. Handle it at a state level so that kids in counties big and small have access to it.

What do you find so threatening about having a common virtual option for kids across the state? Worried your kids might have to interact with black kids from Baltimore? It'll be good for them. If we're lucky, they'll end up less like you.

MCPS and Baltimore use completely different curriculums so your post makes no sense. The VA is based off the same curriculum as in person so kids can easily transfer in and out.

How are we messing up our kids education? They are doing the same curriculum for the same class hours as yours.

How is it inefficient, inequitable and silly to do it at the county level? We are county based.

Why don't you send your kids to school with kids in Baltimore? When my kids are in person they are in a low income/high minority schools so you are ranting at the wrong person. Why don't you send your kids to a school like that? Believe it or not, MCPS has plenty of those schools right here where the majority of kids are minorities.

And, if you look at the population in VA, there are a significant number of minorities in it. You are ranting about stuff you don't know to justify your poor choice of sending your kids in person and you feel guilty you cannot handle having your kids at home. Your kids NEED to be in person, but many of ours will thrive in either situation because as parents we support them.

Stop making everything about race and find a new attack. As, VA has tons of minorities and many of us go to high minority schools. Just because you don't, doesn't mean our kids don't either.

Why does it matter that different counties have different curriculums? This year was a transition year between virtual and in-person. I thought it made sense for districts to run their own virtual programs to try to make it easier to allow the kids to return after being vaccinated.

Next year, though, it makes sense to transition virtual to a sustainable, permanent program for parents that don't want their kids to have normal social interactions with others. There's little reason to think anyone continuing in virtual next year will come back to an in-person program. That's not to say they couldn't, but already teachers and students have to accomodate moves to school districts. An unexpected move from virtual back to an in-person program would just be like moving from one county to another, which kids/parents do all the time.

While Moco is big enough it could economically handle a permanent virtual program, the same cannot be said for smaller counties. If you look beyond your own situation, to what is best for students everywhere, it clearly makes sense to move virtual to a shared system administered by the state.

It's not going to happen, but please, continue pompously pontificating about matters over which you have no control.

Keep in mind it's an issue that will be ultimately decide through political processes at the state and local levels. I don't see the state excited at the prospect of paying money to do duplicate online learning across 24 jurisdictions. Fighting a state-run system might lead to killing VA entirely.

And you still haven't given a coherent reason by the state can't do it. Though, one of your last posts alluded to one. Yes, the state would likely outsource virtual to a private sector company. You're outraged at the potential to have non-union teachers? Is that what this is about?

The state does not run any schools. You have not provided a coherent reason why the state would provide a VA or they'd take it away when there is a clear demand. MCPS has said VA is here to stay.

Why are you so passionate that VA should be stopped or run by the state? It in no way impacts your family.

So, should we argue MCPS should never build any more schools since you don't feel more schools are necessary? Should we argue that the new schools being built be run by the state too?

The demand that the state run the VA is silly. Each school system runs their educational programs and has their own VA. Our state doesn't run any actual schools nor have they or would they. If you contact the state, which I have, they recommend two private virtual programs that they approved that are private pay. We were happy to private pay for a program but not all families can afford it. BUT, and the big BUT, was we wanted a program that was equal to in person, with live teaching. The private programs were basically self-study programs with check ins every so often. They did not have live teaching and at best had a few videos. There is zero reason to pay for that kind of program if you are basically homeschooling. You can argue all you want for a state run program but its not happening.

MCPS has been clear that they have continued funding for years to come and this is a program here to stay. Its no different than them opening up a new elementary, middle or high school. We desperately need more schools, not less to alive overcrowding. Especially during covid.

Having a VA takes nothing away from kids in person. It doesn't impact your kids. If anything, it reduces the number of kids in person, and during covid it makes it safer. If its not right for your family, that's ok. But, it is right for many of ours for a variety of reasons, including covid. It takes up far less financial resources as we don't utilize any physical space (except the administrators have some office space) and all the expenses and staff that go along with that. We don't have any sports or activities, to less expenses. We don't get transportation, so less expenses. We don't use any supplies from copy paper to toilet paper. The only thing we get, if you choose to take it, is a chrome book (and many families who can afford it are using their own computers as the chrome books are pretty bad). And, in person students now each have their own computer.

The families in VA fully support those who choose to go back in person. That was the right choice for those families/your families, but for others of us VA was the right decision. Many of us do hope to go back, some plan to stay long term. What ever the reason is, its great to have choices within MCPS so we can all have our needs met.

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Anonymous wrote:I've been a consistent critic of the school closures, and the generally ridiculous COVID policies for school/preK/childcare, but I really don't understand the people that want to see virtual academy killed off. Yes, it is subpar education that bad for the development of kids, the alternative for some families would be homeschooling. And that would be even worse. VA is unfair to the kids stuck in it, but it isn't harming anyone else. Let them keep it.

The main thing is change, though, is that virtual school should be handled statewide, not in individual districts. Have MSDE set up the program for anyone in the state that wants to use it instead of going to a local school.

How is VA subpar? Are your kids in it? It’s nothing like last year and last year could have done more but parents screamed how hard it was.

We go by county so doing it statewide makes no sense. They have the numbers to justify it. Each county uses a different curriculum so state run is not logical.

How is it harming our kids? Where is your evidence?

The data from last year is awfully compelling. Sure, whatever changes they made might reduce the gap, but there's no plausible way to close it. And even if you could close the academic gap, you're still risking severe developmental harm by removing kids from normal social interactions. Anyone that knows homeschooled kids knows they don't generally do well transitioning to college.

Public education is guaranteed at a state level, not a county level. If we're going to provide public virtual education as an alternative to homeschooling, then we should make sure everyone in the state has that option. The best and most economical way to do that is to have the state provide that option to everyone. There are more counties in the state than MoCo to think about. There's no good reason to handle virtual at a local level. Part of the point of virtual is that it doesn't matter where you're physically located.

Do you not understand VA is very different from last year and your comments have nothing to do with VA? We go by county. You need the same curriculum so kids can switch between them. It is economical. It costs less than in person school and uses far less resources. Removing 3k students would be a huge hit to funding.

If you don’t want it for your kids fine, but why do you care if others of us choose it?

If those of us left if they did not offer it, MCPS would have lost a lot of funding which then would impact your kids.

How are our kids being academically harmed if they have the same number of class hours and same curriculum?

I thought I was clear- people should be free to screw up their own kids with virtual education. It's almost certainly better than implicitly encouraging people to homeschool. I think VA should continue. I just think it is silly, inequitable, and inefficient to administer virtual at a county level. Handle it at a state level so that kids in counties big and small have access to it.

What do you find so threatening about having a common virtual option for kids across the state? Worried your kids might have to interact with black kids from Baltimore? It'll be good for them. If we're lucky, they'll end up less like you.

MCPS and Baltimore use completely different curriculums so your post makes no sense. The VA is based off the same curriculum as in person so kids can easily transfer in and out.

How are we messing up our kids education? They are doing the same curriculum for the same class hours as yours.

How is it inefficient, inequitable and silly to do it at the county level? We are county based.

Why don't you send your kids to school with kids in Baltimore? When my kids are in person they are in a low income/high minority schools so you are ranting at the wrong person. Why don't you send your kids to a school like that? Believe it or not, MCPS has plenty of those schools right here where the majority of kids are minorities.

And, if you look at the population in VA, there are a significant number of minorities in it. You are ranting about stuff you don't know to justify your poor choice of sending your kids in person and you feel guilty you cannot handle having your kids at home. Your kids NEED to be in person, but many of ours will thrive in either situation because as parents we support them.

Stop making everything about race and find a new attack. As, VA has tons of minorities and many of us go to high minority schools. Just because you don't, doesn't mean our kids don't either.

Why does it matter that different counties have different curriculums? This year was a transition year between virtual and in-person. I thought it made sense for districts to run their own virtual programs to try to make it easier to allow the kids to return after being vaccinated.

Next year, though, it makes sense to transition virtual to a sustainable, permanent program for parents that don't want their kids to have normal social interactions with others. There's little reason to think anyone continuing in virtual next year will come back to an in-person program. That's not to say they couldn't, but already teachers and students have to accomodate moves to school districts. An unexpected move from virtual back to an in-person program would just be like moving from one county to another, which kids/parents do all the time.

While Moco is big enough it could economically handle a permanent virtual program, the same cannot be said for smaller counties. If you look beyond your own situation, to what is best for students everywhere, it clearly makes sense to move virtual to a shared system administered by the state.

It's not going to happen, but please, continue pompously pontificating about matters over which you have no control.

Keep in mind it's an issue that will be ultimately decide through political processes at the state and local levels. I don't see the state excited at the prospect of paying money to do duplicate online learning across 24 jurisdictions. Fighting a state-run system might lead to killing VA entirely.

And you still haven't given a coherent reason by the state can't do it. Though, one of your last posts alluded to one. Yes, the state would likely outsource virtual to a private sector company. You're outraged at the potential to have non-union teachers? Is that what this is about?