Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As MCPS staff I’m going to go with whistleblower too. I hope more step up. I know there are plenty who would speak if the press contacted them directly and gave them anonymity.

OP here, I don't know if "MCPS Whistleblower" is a thing, I am just really frustrated with the direction this county has gone and I don't know how much parents know.
If it is a real thing, count me in. I would love to tell the press what I know. And so would about half of the teachers I work with.
Teachers are fed up.
The county got rid of suspensions a while back because there were a disproportionate amount of black and Latino students suspended and those students, who were already not performing as well as their white and Asian counterparts, were missing a ton of instructional time. The problem is, teenagers aren't dumb. They recognized pretty quickly that there are no consequences for their actions (not just fighting, but also insubordination, bullying, cursing out teachers, absences). This has lead to a slow trickle of behaviors becoming accepted, and those behaviors will continue to be allowed until something BIG happens.
So we are being trained on how to take down an assailant, meanwhile, students in our classrooms are our biggest threat.

Okay, what's the Teacher's Union's position on this? Also, what is preventing teachers from calling the cops? I know for sure if some kid became violent in my classroom, I would call the cops. It is within your rights to call the cops if you feel like your safety or a student's safety is in danger. I would say that it's your obligation to call. Who cares what the principal or what the school WANTS you to do.

A teacher calling the cops would effectively end her teaching career with mcps. I know teachers who’ve been attached by students and witnessed their students being attacked. The police are never called for these assaults because teachers need their jobs.

I would call the cops in a heartbeat if a kid attacked me.

in
a
heartbeat

It's not that. I didn't post any of the other comments on teachers calling the cops, but teachers in mcps have no idea what's in their rights, and mcps can find lots of ways to retaliate if they want.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As MCPS staff I’m going to go with whistleblower too. I hope more step up. I know there are plenty who would speak if the press contacted them directly and gave them anonymity.

OP here, I don't know if "MCPS Whistleblower" is a thing, I am just really frustrated with the direction this county has gone and I don't know how much parents know.
If it is a real thing, count me in. I would love to tell the press what I know. And so would about half of the teachers I work with.
Teachers are fed up.
The county got rid of suspensions a while back because there were a disproportionate amount of black and Latino students suspended and those students, who were already not performing as well as their white and Asian counterparts, were missing a ton of instructional time. The problem is, teenagers aren't dumb. They recognized pretty quickly that there are no consequences for their actions (not just fighting, but also insubordination, bullying, cursing out teachers, absences). This has lead to a slow trickle of behaviors becoming accepted, and those behaviors will continue to be allowed until something BIG happens.
So we are being trained on how to take down an assailant, meanwhile, students in our classrooms are our biggest threat.

Okay, what's the Teacher's Union's position on this? Also, what is preventing teachers from calling the cops? I know for sure if some kid became violent in my classroom, I would call the cops. It is within your rights to call the cops if you feel like your safety or a student's safety is in danger. I would say that it's your obligation to call. Who cares what the principal or what the school WANTS you to do.

A teacher calling the cops would effectively end her teaching career with mcps. I know teachers who’ve been attached by students and witnessed their students being attacked. The police are never called for these assaults because teachers need their jobs.

I would call the cops in a heartbeat if a kid attacked me.

in
a
heartbeat

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As MCPS staff I’m going to go with whistleblower too. I hope more step up. I know there are plenty who would speak if the press contacted them directly and gave them anonymity.

OP here, I don't know if "MCPS Whistleblower" is a thing, I am just really frustrated with the direction this county has gone and I don't know how much parents know.
If it is a real thing, count me in. I would love to tell the press what I know. And so would about half of the teachers I work with.
Teachers are fed up.
The county got rid of suspensions a while back because there were a disproportionate amount of black and Latino students suspended and those students, who were already not performing as well as their white and Asian counterparts, were missing a ton of instructional time. The problem is, teenagers aren't dumb. They recognized pretty quickly that there are no consequences for their actions (not just fighting, but also insubordination, bullying, cursing out teachers, absences). This has lead to a slow trickle of behaviors becoming accepted, and those behaviors will continue to be allowed until something BIG happens.
So we are being trained on how to take down an assailant, meanwhile, students in our classrooms are our biggest threat.

Okay, what's the Teacher's Union's position on this? Also, what is preventing teachers from calling the cops? I know for sure if some kid became violent in my classroom, I would call the cops. It is within your rights to call the cops if you feel like your safety or a student's safety is in danger. I would say that it's your obligation to call. Who cares what the principal or what the school WANTS you to do.

A teacher calling the cops would effectively end her teaching career with mcps. I know teachers who’ve been attached by students and witnessed their students being attacked. The police are never called for these assaults because teachers need their jobs.

So what you're saying is that a teacher could get fired for doing what is well within her rights? Um, lawsuit???

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As MCPS staff I’m going to go with whistleblower too. I hope more step up. I know there are plenty who would speak if the press contacted them directly and gave them anonymity.

OP here, I don't know if "MCPS Whistleblower" is a thing, I am just really frustrated with the direction this county has gone and I don't know how much parents know.
If it is a real thing, count me in. I would love to tell the press what I know. And so would about half of the teachers I work with.
Teachers are fed up.
The county got rid of suspensions a while back because there were a disproportionate amount of black and Latino students suspended and those students, who were already not performing as well as their white and Asian counterparts, were missing a ton of instructional time. The problem is, teenagers aren't dumb. They recognized pretty quickly that there are no consequences for their actions (not just fighting, but also insubordination, bullying, cursing out teachers, absences). This has lead to a slow trickle of behaviors becoming accepted, and those behaviors will continue to be allowed until something BIG happens.
So we are being trained on how to take down an assailant, meanwhile, students in our classrooms are our biggest threat.

Okay, what's the Teacher's Union's position on this? Also, what is preventing teachers from calling the cops? I know for sure if some kid became violent in my classroom, I would call the cops. It is within your rights to call the cops if you feel like your safety or a student's safety is in danger. I would say that it's your obligation to call. Who cares what the principal or what the school WANTS you to do.

A teacher calling the cops would effectively end her teaching career with mcps. I know teachers who’ve been attached by students and witnessed their students being attacked. The police are never called for these assaults because teachers need their jobs.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Bullet, one bullet.

ONE bullet is too many! I have a kid at Sherwood and received the letter from the principal explaining the incident. “Just one” bullet doesn’t make me feel much better. We also heard about the adult that was attacked by a group of students. This information wasn’t shared by the principal, but rather the students. A friend’s kid witnessed it. FWIW, the students involved are residents of a halfway house (some with ankle bracelets) and according to my kid “look like they’re about 20 years old”...

It's Our House.
I used to tutor the residents there for their GED. In my experience there, the boys were actually pretty great (all things considered), except for one I was deathly afraid of and another who had "anger issues" I heard about, but never experienced.

Our House kids have been arrested and charged with a (usually nonviolent) crime. Most are from Baltimore. Very few are from MoCo. Their lawyer usually has a choice of jail or the Our House program. Students usually work on site (a farm) during the day, then get tutored at night. During my time there (about four years ago - for a year), I never heard of a resident attending a local HS. Not sure what changed. Residents were only allowed to leave for medical appointments and visitation IF they earned it. However, several escaped because there was no way to keep them there. The rule was, if you escaped and were caught, you were immediately sent to jail. Those who did runaway in my tenure there didn't come back.

At one point I remember a "kid" telling me he had been selling drugs on Balitmore streets since he was four years old! And he didn't know any other way to live. He couldn't read or write. He was one of the runaways (he was found hitchhiking on 108) and didn't come back.

If Our House kids are attending Sherwood, that would surprise me. They are not ready to be in a general school environment. I am all for giving second chances, but they should be receiving tutoring at the facility and not in a public classroom.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Bullet, one bullet.

ONE bullet is too many! I have a kid at Sherwood and received the letter from the principal explaining the incident. “Just one” bullet doesn’t make me feel much better. We also heard about the adult that was attacked by a group of students. This information wasn’t shared by the principal, but rather the students. A friend’s kid witnessed it. FWIW, the students involved are residents of a halfway house (some with ankle bracelets) and according to my kid “look like they’re about 20 years old”...

I didn't hear about the fight, but my kid texted me from school when the police were there re the bullet.

And I've heard plenty about the kids with ankle bracelets.

Also: when I drop my kid off in the morning, tons of kids hop off the bus without book bags or anything and instead of going into school they walk away from the building and back up to 108. They aren't even going to school. My kid suggested that maybe they are walking to 7-11, but there clearly isn't enough time to do that before the bell.

I've heard horror stories about kids who are beyond disruptive and tell teachers to F off, etc. These aren't your average kids from Olney.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:WaPo? Reliable;e reporting? It's sources like that liberal rag that turns good discipline into snowflake "discipline."

Too bad if most of the violence is done by black and Latino kids. Arrest them. They have no business being in school.

--MCPS teacher who has seen it all

I hope that you don't teach at my kids' schools.

As another teacher, I also hope you are no longer teaching. And, by the way, the WaPo has reported the overall problems well.

Anonymous wrote:Bullet, one bullet.

ONE bullet is too many! I have a kid at Sherwood and received the letter from the principal explaining the incident. “Just one” bullet doesn’t make me feel much better. We also heard about the adult that was attacked by a group of students. This information wasn’t shared by the principal, but rather the students. A friend’s kid witnessed it. FWIW, the students involved are residents of a halfway house (some with ankle bracelets) and according to my kid “look like they’re about 20 years old”...

Anonymous wrote:WaPo? Reliable;e reporting? It's sources like that liberal rag that turns good discipline into snowflake "discipline."

Too bad if most of the violence is done by black and Latino kids. Arrest them. They have no business being in school.

--MCPS teacher who has seen it all

I hope that you don't teach at my kids' schools.

Anonymous wrote:WaPo? Reliable;e reporting? It's sources like that liberal rag that turns good discipline into snowflake "discipline."

Too bad if most of the violence is done by black and Latino kids. Arrest them. They have no business being in school.

--MCPS teacher who has seen it all

Also when it comes to lawsuits, there's a cap on what MCPS has to pay. It's X amount per sexual assault, for example. They do the cost benefit analysis on everything, and the cap is pretty low on how much people can get from the system. That's a big problem.

WaPo? Reliable;e reporting? It's sources like that liberal rag that turns good discipline into snowflake "discipline."

Too bad if most of the violence is done by black and Latino kids. Arrest them. They have no business being in school.

--MCPS teacher who has seen it all

Anonymous wrote:The teachers should wake up to the new reality when guns are brought to school. There's no guarantee that they will make it to retirement under that scenario. If they know something, they should say something to the police. The life they say may be their own.

We've actually discussed this with one of my kid's teacher, and he has said that teachers really don't get 'heard'. There isn't much teachers can do. How can a teacher make a difference when the whole system is designed against them because MCPS is ONLY concerned about its 'image'. The higher ups (principal/admin) certainly don't want to advertise problems.

The teachers should wake up to the new reality when guns are brought to school. There's no guarantee that they will make it to retirement under that scenario. If they know something, they should say something to the police. The life they say may be their own.

There's a Stockholm Syndrome aspect to being part of MCPS. I've seen it again and again. Principals are too paralyzed to even send an email to parents without central and lawyerly approval. Teachers have no idea how to report a damn thing, even when their safety is endangered. It's all fear based, but if everyone acted en masse it could change. I know a lot of teachers close to retirement who talk about whistleblowing the second they're out. But it's always "when I get my 30 years, when I'm out, when I'm whatever."

I have a friend at Blair that says the exact same thing. Her school is so crazy about only letting good PR out that incidents are rarely reported even when they happen frequently.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm giving names, people. Pay attention.

klewis@sbgtv.com
Kevin Lewis

Ha ha. Sinclair Broadcast group? Special interest right wing group? In the pockets of Trump and like Fox News? No thank you. We need real journalists...like from WaPo.

Have you seen his articles?

I would think that someone would actually take the time to review his articles before slamming him for being part of a "special interest right wing group."

And I would think the "right" would enjoy the fight in these cases.

WaPo didn't respond to my offer to give them newsworthy information. Not the OP. They didn't seem that interested. Actually, they didn't even follow up with me after making initial contact. And they knew I was a credible source.

There's a Stockholm Syndrome aspect to being part of MCPS. I've seen it again and again. Principals are too paralyzed to even send an email to parents without central and lawyerly approval. Teachers have no idea how to report a damn thing, even when their safety is endangered. It's all fear based, but if everyone acted en masse it could change. I know a lot of teachers close to retirement who talk about whistleblowing the second they're out. But it's always "when I get my 30 years, when I'm out, when I'm whatever."