TogetherAgainMCPS

Thanks so much @PerrisFox5DC for your excellent reporting yesterday. Hope at @MCPS is listening. @ksglassman @DrHasson2 @mkorman @MontCoExec @jribas @AnnaLysaGayle @CaitlynnPeetz14

Extended School Year (ESY) program for students with disabilities begins in a month, yet @fcpsnews is short a special education teacher for one out of four classes, and they're still missing half the paraprofessionals they need. 🧵

1 of the reasons I fell in love with education reporting is just the sheer complexity & importance. Everything that is (&isn’t) happening in our schools impacts everything else for decades — the economy, workforce, criminal justice, etc. How do we keep failing children this badly

Look at the visual. The difference is striking.

Let’s not try to rewrite history. Yes, wellness centers are important and yes, they will help to address issues. But let’s not forget these issues were compounded by the council’s handling of the pandemic response.

school buildings and libraries remained closed. Libraries JUST reopened not too long ago. Students could go to Barnes and Nobles to read but not a free library. They could go see a Wizards game but could not see their classmates play basketball. 2/3

And yet the @MoCoCouncilMD, which includes @nancy_navarro, did not say or do anything to help reopen @mcps buildings. Students remained isolated from their physical connection to schools for over a year. While the @MoCoCouncilMD opened restaurants, bars, stores, 1/3

Prove us wrong. Address this now. Let’s see a plan.

What is the plan to address this @mcps, @mocoboe, @MontCoExec & @MoCoCouncilMD? We assume there will be a workgroup created, followed by surveys, and then we will have a plan to address this 2022 issue sometime by 2025.

Our youngest learners were not prepared for the classroom, putting stress on them and the educators who work with them. PreK enrollment dropped 25% and most were virtual (3 & 4 year olds in front of a screen)

Something I’ve noticed in these students’ testimony is they’re not only asking for help, they’re offering solutions. “Our expectations are not that high … We are simply asking for an investment in our mental health and social workers. By investing, I mean long term investments”

@KellyTKPK @MdPublicSchools The research has consistently shown in person is superior than virtual. There’s a few kids that do well with virtual but they are the exception rather than the role. And any teacher will tell you, don’t trust anything that comes from Pearson.

Let’s dive a little deeper into the @MdPublicSchools data from yesterday, shall we? 🧵

@moh_choudhury what are the plans to address this? The virtual programs are costly - @mcps reported a “down payment” of 3.5 million already. Maybe money can be better spent elsewhere? bethesdamagazine.com/bethesda-beat/…

Something isn’t working with virtual. The failure rates are higher, and even @MdPublicSchools came out and said there is a need for interaction. And this isn’t just interactions between student and teacher, but also student-student interaction and student-material interaction.