15:45 MCPS sucks at math. This is no secret. They have dumbed down the math curriculum to the degree that it is embarrassing. Yes, this approach is about the achievement gap and trying to artificially show progress. Its shameful.

Do you really want to argue that only have PE once a week and a 30 minute daily recess, which becomes stay in your classroom whenever it is drizzling or even slightly cold is anywhere near the national recommendations that children at 60 minutes of PE and recess IN SCHOOL a day? MCPS is the poster child of poor health practice.

Anonymous wrote:At a bare minimum the county should be split into sections.

Given that the unit of local government in Maryland is the county, please explain how you would do this, and also how you would persuade a majority of voters and legislators to agree with you.

Anonymous wrote:Ironically, MCPS is moving further away from the national trends in education. The two largest initiatives are increased physical education and recess to address childhood obesity and increased focus on STEM instruction and student performance to address how far behind we are from other nations. STEM and PE/recess are areas that MCPS is the absolute worst now and the new changes take the system even farther back. Its embarrassing.

There is something terribly wrong with the MD legislature inability to control and manage large organizations. Don't forget that we let Pepco completely run amok and have a power services that ranks close to the bottom in all 50 states. MCPS is going down the same road.

No. The largest initiative is the Common Core.

Also, PP, please provide evidence that MCPS is "the absolute worst" in STEM and recess. I will provide evidence that it's not:

1. in the 2.0 math that everybody complains is holding their children back in MCPS's nefarious attempt to disguise the achievement gap, on-grade-level math is a year ahead of on-grade-level math in many, many other school systems.

2. there are many school systems that do not have recess in elementary school at all.

Also, the reason the Maryland legislature is unable to control and manage Pepco is because actually it's the Maryland Public Service Commission (not the legislature) that regulates (not controls and manages) Pepco. I am not a lawyer, but I suspect that if the Maryland legislature were controlling and managing Pepco, they would be breaking the law.

I don't find MCPS embarrassing and I would be interested in statistics that show it is the "absolute worst" in recess and STEM education.

Ironically, MCPS is moving further away from the national trends in education. The two largest initiatives are increased physical education and recess to address childhood obesity and increased focus on STEM instruction and student performance to address how far behind we are from other nations. STEM and PE/recess are areas that MCPS is the absolute worst now and the new changes take the system even farther back. Its embarrassing.

There is something terribly wrong with the MD legislature inability to control and manage large organizations. Don't forget that we let Pepco completely run amok and have a power services that ranks close to the bottom in all 50 states. MCPS is going down the same road.

Anonymous wrote:

There are no towns in MoCo. Which is part of the problem, IMO.

DCUM is such an echo chamber that this is the exact some comment someone made when I typed the words "towns in Montgomery County" in a different post another time. It was clear what I meant -- do parents complain about 2.0 more in Bethesda, Potomac, Silver Spring, Rockville, Olney, where? Are there particular schools that are rolling it out poorly or well? I believe that if we knew these answers we would be able to see how much truth there really is to people's complaints, or how much it is result of local rumor mills.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I go to drop-off and pickup every day at Oakland Terrace Elementary and talk to moms all around me and no one has ever mentioned disliking the curriculum. I am not the pp, but I agree that DCUM seems like a whole other world than my world on this question. My child has made tremendous progress this year in writing, reading, and math.

Who talks about that stuff at drop off and pickup? I know a lot of parents in our neighborhood who dislike the curriculum, but you only hear them talk about it at PTA meetings on the subject or when they are withdrawing their child from school and going private and even then parents will often say "it just wasn't a good fit" or when you are comparing notes about difficulties with close friends.

I will clarify my answer to say I know a lot of parents in my neighborhood too, and we do speak a lot, and so far none of them have left for private or voiced special concern at PTA meetings about the curriculum at all. I would just like people on here to know that this is not as widespread a complaint as this board may make it appear. I would also be curious whether people are particularly concerned in particular schools or towns.

There are no towns in MoCo. Which is part of the problem, IMO.

There are lots of incorporated towns in MoCo but they are not LEAs. A county-wide system of education is set at the state level by MSDE. FWIW, I'm not sure that exchanging a county system for a town system would make things better -- it's really a matter of exchanging one set of problems for another.

True. Places where education is more localized have some advantages (greater autonomy over their curriculum, for example), but how do you think they pay for that sort of localized control (home rule). Take a look at the ridiculously high property taxes in NJ and you'll have a clue!

But there is no town income tax. It comes out about the same, except that in a town the people have a voice.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I go to drop-off and pickup every day at Oakland Terrace Elementary and talk to moms all around me and no one has ever mentioned disliking the curriculum. I am not the pp, but I agree that DCUM seems like a whole other world than my world on this question. My child has made tremendous progress this year in writing, reading, and math.

Who talks about that stuff at drop off and pickup? I know a lot of parents in our neighborhood who dislike the curriculum, but you only hear them talk about it at PTA meetings on the subject or when they are withdrawing their child from school and going private and even then parents will often say "it just wasn't a good fit" or when you are comparing notes about difficulties with close friends.

I will clarify my answer to say I know a lot of parents in my neighborhood too, and we do speak a lot, and so far none of them have left for private or voiced special concern at PTA meetings about the curriculum at all. I would just like people on here to know that this is not as widespread a complaint as this board may make it appear. I would also be curious whether people are particularly concerned in particular schools or towns.

There are no towns in MoCo. Which is part of the problem, IMO.

There are lots of incorporated towns in MoCo but they are not LEAs. A county-wide system of education is set at the state level by MSDE. FWIW, I'm not sure that exchanging a county system for a town system would make things better -- it's really a matter of exchanging one set of problems for another.

True. Places where education is more localized have some advantages (greater autonomy over their curriculum, for example), but how do you think they pay for that sort of localized control (home rule). Take a look at the ridiculously high property taxes in NJ and you'll have a clue!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I go to drop-off and pickup every day at Oakland Terrace Elementary and talk to moms all around me and no one has ever mentioned disliking the curriculum. I am not the pp, but I agree that DCUM seems like a whole other world than my world on this question. My child has made tremendous progress this year in writing, reading, and math.

Who talks about that stuff at drop off and pickup? I know a lot of parents in our neighborhood who dislike the curriculum, but you only hear them talk about it at PTA meetings on the subject or when they are withdrawing their child from school and going private and even then parents will often say "it just wasn't a good fit" or when you are comparing notes about difficulties with close friends.

I will clarify my answer to say I know a lot of parents in my neighborhood too, and we do speak a lot, and so far none of them have left for private or voiced special concern at PTA meetings about the curriculum at all. I would just like people on here to know that this is not as widespread a complaint as this board may make it appear. I would also be curious whether people are particularly concerned in particular schools or towns.

There are no towns in MoCo. Which is part of the problem, IMO.

There are lots of incorporated towns in MoCo but they are not LEAs. A county-wide system of education is set at the state level by MSDE. FWIW, I'm not sure that exchanging a county system for a town system would make things better -- it's really a matter of exchanging one set of problems for another.

Not really. The town-based system I moved from was vastly different. Parents have a voice in the system, the politics are truly local.

At a bare minimum the county should be split into sections.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:PP@13:40: Please explain what you want MCPS to do about this. Please also explain a way to split Montgomery County into two or three parts that is actually politically feasible.

Haha, that's the beauty of Maryland politics! Montgomery County funds Maryland, and a few communities there fund 200 MCPS schools! Btw, last I checked 80% of property tax collections go to MCPS, and almost 80% of MCPS' budget goes to teachers union salaries and benefits. So you tell me who's driving the ship into the ground!

So wait, where is your politically-feasible policy for splitting Montgomery County into 2 or 3 parts? I don't see it. Your argument seems to be:

1. I live in [Bethesda/Chevy Chase/Potomac].
2. My property taxes pay for other people's services.
4. Including teachers' salaries.
4. Therefore [something].

And where do you think most of MCPS money should go, if not for teacher compensation? I really don't understand. Usually people complain that the proportion spent on teacher compensation is too low, i.e. too much is spent on administration.

Finally please also provide a citation showing that 80% of property tax collections go to MCPS.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I go to drop-off and pickup every day at Oakland Terrace Elementary and talk to moms all around me and no one has ever mentioned disliking the curriculum. I am not the pp, but I agree that DCUM seems like a whole other world than my world on this question. My child has made tremendous progress this year in writing, reading, and math.

Who talks about that stuff at drop off and pickup? I know a lot of parents in our neighborhood who dislike the curriculum, but you only hear them talk about it at PTA meetings on the subject or when they are withdrawing their child from school and going private and even then parents will often say "it just wasn't a good fit" or when you are comparing notes about difficulties with close friends.

I will clarify my answer to say I know a lot of parents in my neighborhood too, and we do speak a lot, and so far none of them have left for private or voiced special concern at PTA meetings about the curriculum at all. I would just like people on here to know that this is not as widespread a complaint as this board may make it appear. I would also be curious whether people are particularly concerned in particular schools or towns.

There are no towns in MoCo. Which is part of the problem, IMO.

There are lots of incorporated towns in MoCo but they are not LEAs. A county-wide system of education is set at the state level by MSDE. FWIW, I'm not sure that exchanging a county system for a town system would make things better -- it's really a matter of exchanging one set of problems for another.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I go to drop-off and pickup every day at Oakland Terrace Elementary and talk to moms all around me and no one has ever mentioned disliking the curriculum. I am not the pp, but I agree that DCUM seems like a whole other world than my world on this question. My child has made tremendous progress this year in writing, reading, and math.

Who talks about that stuff at drop off and pickup? I know a lot of parents in our neighborhood who dislike the curriculum, but you only hear them talk about it at PTA meetings on the subject or when they are withdrawing their child from school and going private and even then parents will often say "it just wasn't a good fit" or when you are comparing notes about difficulties with close friends.

I will clarify my answer to say I know a lot of parents in my neighborhood too, and we do speak a lot, and so far none of them have left for private or voiced special concern at PTA meetings about the curriculum at all. I would just like people on here to know that this is not as widespread a complaint as this board may make it appear. I would also be curious whether people are particularly concerned in particular schools or towns.

There are no towns in MoCo. Which is part of the problem, IMO.

I want to say that I think a lot of blame is being put on 2.0 when in reality it is the common core standards and the entire national education system. I am a former Fairfax teacher (now MCPS parent) and they have just adopted a standards based report card and are rolling out new standards and many similar complaints are happening. My siblings in Texas and they are having similar complaints.

There are certain trends in education that are prevalant everywhere. I actually believe that MCPS through 2.0 is making these changes better for our students than many states/counties in our country.

I remember hearing Laura Bush on Oprah once saying that she had a reality call when she once complained to her mother about how messy a classroom was (that her daughter was in) and her mother replied, "Then go help her clean it up, she is busy doing too many other things."

I took a lot away from this. Instead of complaining, go help. Our teachers do so much for our children everyday.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I go to drop-off and pickup every day at Oakland Terrace Elementary and talk to moms all around me and no one has ever mentioned disliking the curriculum. I am not the pp, but I agree that DCUM seems like a whole other world than my world on this question. My child has made tremendous progress this year in writing, reading, and math.

Who talks about that stuff at drop off and pickup? I know a lot of parents in our neighborhood who dislike the curriculum, but you only hear them talk about it at PTA meetings on the subject or when they are withdrawing their child from school and going private and even then parents will often say "it just wasn't a good fit" or when you are comparing notes about difficulties with close friends.

I will clarify my answer to say I know a lot of parents in my neighborhood too, and we do speak a lot, and so far none of them have left for private or voiced special concern at PTA meetings about the curriculum at all. I would just like people on here to know that this is not as widespread a complaint as this board may make it appear. I would also be curious whether people are particularly concerned in particular schools or towns.

Anonymous wrote:PP@13:40: Please explain what you want MCPS to do about this. Please also explain a way to split Montgomery County into two or three parts that is actually politically feasible.

Haha, that's the beauty of Maryland politics! Montgomery County funds Maryland, and a few communities there fund 200 MCPS schools! Btw, last I checked 80% of property tax collections go to MCPS, and almost 80% of MCPS' budget goes to teachers union salaries and benefits. So you tell me who's driving the ship into the ground!