I distinctly remember the day my then-second grader came home in tears over her math homework. "It's too hard, I can't do it," she cried. I happened to be at her school the next day and mentioned to her teacher that she was upset about the math homework...
...Up until now, this has been an issue that is addressed in hushed conversations outside of school walls. Teachers quietly admit it, parents struggle with how to help their kids, but officially, the subject is taboo.
But the tide may be turning. A group of parents at one local high school are organizing to bring the needs of their at-risk children to the community's attention. On Sept. 30, Walt Whitman High School is premiering the documentary Race to Nowhere, which explores the "pressures faced by American schoolchildren and their teachers in a system and culture obsessed with the illusion of achievement, competition and the pressure to perform."
In Montgomery County, we will soon have the opportunity to make this a priority with the selection of a new school superintendent. Let's get this conversation out in the open and do something about it.
I just found this group and I agree. But my daughters' experience for lower school at private schools was so, so different - grades were not stressed and my daughters had such a love for learning. Now my older daughter is in an MCPS high school and we are already hounded by Edline. Do you think the situation at private school is different - or is it just the difference between lower grades and upper grades?
The Parents' Coalition of Montgomery County, Maryland seeks to achieve the goals of coherent, content-rich curriculum standards; high expectations combined with timely remediation and acceleration; a wider range of educational options for parents and children; greater transparency and accountability; and meaningful community input.
Contact us at: contact@parentscoalitionmc.com
Former Inspector General Thomas Dagley
"Montgomery County would benefit from a cultural change that encourages residents and employees to ask tough questions on difficult issues — and forces leaders to answer."
"Along the way, you’ve had a challenging relationship with the Parents’ Coalition, the network of citizen activists who use the political process and other means to hold MCPS accountable.
The thing people accuse me of is listening, but not hearing. I hear, but I do not always agree. I am sorry that the world is faster than it was 10 years ago. I did not do that. [But] if we do not keep up, then our kids will be behind. We have to stop whining and get real."
Bethesda Magazine, March-April 2011
What the Washington Post said about the Parents' Coalition
The coalition might be the best-known parent advocacy group in the region. Its members represent several constituencies, including parents of special education and gifted education students and fiscal watchdogs. The group's defining victory came this school year when the school system scaled back the fees charged to families for course materials.
Coalition leaders have drawn attention to the misuse of funds collected from students for activities, the broadcast of a commercial radio service on school buses and, with their "Weast Watch" blog, the travel habits of Weast and his lieutenants.
Tip: Include the word "minutes" in your search keywords to focus your search on BOE minutes. But note that the search function on the MCPS website has been broken by a redesign on the site by the MCPS Public Information Office. It is no longer possible to restrict your search to just Board of Education minutes.
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I just found this group and I agree. But my daughters' experience for lower school at private schools was so, so different - grades were not stressed and my daughters had such a love for learning. Now my older daughter is in an MCPS high school and we are already hounded by Edline. Do you think the situation at private school is different - or is it just the difference between lower grades and upper grades?
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