Oh look. Maryland education is making headlines.

[LightRoasted]

For your consideration ...

Remember, it's for the children.

"Papst offers some very troubling news for residents:"

"In order to pay for it, according to those statistics, the state would have to either increase the personal income tax rate by 39% or raise the sales tax by 89% or increase property taxes by 535%."

"Self-Created Hole": Education Reforms Push Maryland Toward Financial Cliff | ZeroHedge

ZeroHedge - On a long enough timeline, the survival rate for everyone drops to zero

www.zerohedge.com

 

[3CATSAILOR]

For your consideration ...

Remember, it's for the children.

"Papst offers some very troubling news for residents:"

"In order to pay for it, according to those statistics, the state would have to either increase the personal income tax rate by 39% or raise the sales tax by 89% or increase property taxes by 535%."

"Self-Created Hole": Education Reforms Push Maryland Toward Financial Cliff | ZeroHedge

ZeroHedge - On a long enough timeline, the survival rate for everyone drops to zero

www.zerohedge.com

I wonder if most people think children in the schools are getting a good education? Can they read at grade leve? Math? Write at grade level? Hopefully it is all good.

 

[NorthBeachPerso]

This has been known for a couple or three decades. The various education initiatives were passed with no funding mechanism, and that was known. Slots were supposed to be the funding source but that ended up being a bait and switch originally, although Hogan cleaned it up a bit the Legislature stopped him from doing it totally.

So the can kept being kicked down the road and here we are.

 

[LightRoasted]

For your consideration ...

I wonder if most people think children in the schools are getting a good education? Can they read at grade leve? Math? Write at grade level? Hopefully it is all good.

Oh hell no. For all the money Calvert County spends, our teachers aren't teaching anything but CRT and that being part of an alphabet group is cool. I do know that Calvert public school students have less than a 50% proficiency in major subjects like math: Percent Proficiency, Elementary 48.7% / Middle 26.2% / High school 45.4%. And just slightly better at English Language Arts: Elementary 59.4% / Middle 63.8% / High School 66.6%. And yet, they have a 95.91% graduation rate. How the hell is that possible?

St. Mary's County is even worse. Percent Proficiency in math, Elementary 38.1% / Middle 31.6% / High School 38.3%. And for English Language Arts; Elementary 50.6% / Middle 56.0% / High School 61.5%.

But, but, but, the school system just needs more money. Right? Public education is an abysmal failure. Regardless if anyone likes their child's teachers, they are doing your children a great disservice.

If people want their children to be truly educated, they better start to home school, or send them to a private school. Because all public schools are now 100% indoctrination centers, regardless of all the fluffy statements and press releases coming from any Board of Education or County Commissioners. The "system" is leaving children fully unprepared for life after school. It is all a grift scam.

Search for yourself. https://reportcard.msde.maryland.gov

 

[vraiblonde]

Wait - I thought the big ass tax on cigarettes was supposed to go to schools and close the deficit?

 

[Kyle]

Wait - I thought the big ass tax on cigarettes was supposed to go to schools and close the deficit?

Same story with the lottery

Same story with off-track betting.

And that same story with the casinos

Makes one wonder where all the money went.

 

[RoseRed]

Wait - I thought the big ass tax on cigarettes was supposed to go to schools and close the deficit?

And the casino's.

 

[stgislander]

Same story with the lottery

Same story with off-track betting.

And that same story with the casinos

Makes one wonder where all the money went.

Legislators' pockets.

 

[NorthBeachPerso]

For your consideration ...



Oh hell no. For all the money Calvert County spends, our teachers aren't teaching anything but CRT and that being part of an alphabet group is cool. I do know that Calvert public school students have less than a 50% proficiency in major subjects like math: Percent Proficiency, Elementary 48.7% / Middle 26.2% / High school 45.4%. And just slightly better at English Language Arts: Elementary 59.4% / Middle 63.8% / High School 66.6%. And yet, they have a 95.91% graduation rate. How the hell is that possible?

St. Mary's County is even worse. Percent Proficiency in math, Elementary 38.1% / Middle 31.6% / High School 38.3%. And for English Language Arts; Elementary 50.6% / Middle 56.0% / High School 61.5%.

But, but, but, the school system just needs more money. Right? Public education is an abysmal failure. Regardless if anyone likes their child's teachers, they are doing your children a great disservice.

If people want their children to be truly educated, they better start to home school, or send them to a private school. Because all public schools are now 100% indoctrination centers, regardless of all the fluffy statements and press releases coming from any Board of Education or County Commissioners. The "system" is leaving children fully unprepared for life after school. It is all a grift scam.

Search for yourself. https://reportcard.msde.maryland.gov

You won't like to hear it but those numbers for Calvert and St. Mary's, especially Calvert, aren't that bad.
What everybody forgets is that half the population is below average in IQ. The whole school improvement movement, which predates No Child Left Behind, forgot that and placed what are really unattainable standards on schools.
Just one example: Attendance. To be considered meeting standards schools have to have 97% attendance. Private industry anticipates a 93% rate for attendance for daily staffing.
Also remember that we now keep track of things like dropouts. Before, say through the mid-80s, dropouts weren't counted. My graduating class started out with about 250 kids when we entered high school. We graduated 215. While a handful had moved in those three years (10th Grade started high school then, not 9th Grade) the rest had dropped out. But guess what? We had a 100% graduation rate.
So it goes down the line, even in the "Golden Age" (which never really existed) half or more of the students weren't reading at grade level and couldn't do Algebra (Hell, most of them couldn't do fractions). In my years of elective office I saw one glaring fact-most people get confused when a number has more than four digits. These are supposedly well educated individuals, many with fairly important positions across a range of private and public occupations.
Many years ago (as in over 40 and closer to 50) I worked in a couple of factories. For most of my fellow employees 8th Grade was their Senior year. Those jobs are gone and even factory work requires way more smarts than it used to.
I don't know what they're teaching in Calvert schools now but I think the reality is somewhere between what many people claim and what is really happening. You also have to remember that Maryland is a top down state for what's taught, the Maryland Department of Education dictates what courses are offered and what the curriculum will be.

 

[LightRoasted]

For your consideration ...

You won't like to hear it but those numbers for Calvert and St. Mary's, especially Calvert, aren't that bad.
What everybody forgets is that half the population is below average in IQ. The whole school improvement movement, which predates No Child Left Behind, forgot that and placed what are really unattainable standards on schools.
Just one example: Attendance. To be considered meeting standards schools have to have 97% attendance. Private industry anticipates a 93% rate for attendance for daily staffing.
Also remember that we now keep track of things like dropouts. Before, say through the mid-80s, dropouts weren't counted. My graduating class started out with about 250 kids when we entered high school. We graduated 215. While a handful had moved in those three years (10th Grade started high school then, not 9th Grade) the rest had dropped out. But guess what? We had a 100% graduation rate.
So it goes down the line, even in the "Golden Age" (which never really existed) half or more of the students weren't reading at grade level and couldn't do Algebra (Hell, most of them couldn't do fractions). In my years of elective office I saw one glaring fact-most people get confused when a number has more than four digits. These are supposedly well educated individuals, many with fairly important positions across a range of private and public occupations.
Many years ago (as in over 40 and closer to 50) I worked in a couple of factories. For most of my fellow employees 8th Grade was their Senior year. Those jobs are gone and even factory work requires way more smarts than it used to.
I don't know what they're teaching in Calvert schools now but I think the reality is somewhere between what many people claim and what is really happening. You also have to remember that Maryland is a top down state for what's taught, the Maryland Department of Education dictates what courses are offered and what the curriculum will be.

I'm picking up what you are putting down. But, sure, compared to Baltimore's scores, Calvert's scores aren't that bad.

"Maryland Department of Education dictates what courses are offered and what the curriculum will be." This is known. However, math is math, English is English, and writing is writing.

Back in the day though, those with only an 8th grade education, exceed that of today's collage sophomore.

Though I would argue that high standards are obtainable, but teachers do not want to 'teach'. Discipline isn't enforced. Parents aren't held to account. It's what happens when the focus is on the lowest common denominator.

 

[SamSpade]

I wish I had some idea where the money goes. Total spending divided by number of pupils is huge and comparable to private schools or even higher - but the staff are still often poorly paid, grounds poorly maintained and equipment is old.

And they produce an inferior product for the money.

 

[NorthBeachPerso]

I wish I had some idea where the money goes. Total spending divided by number of pupils is huge and comparable to private schools or even higher - but the staff are still often poorly paid, grounds poorly maintained and equipment is old.

And they produce an inferior product for the money.

Keep in mind that per student cost covers everything from transportation to bond payments to janitorial, whatever the cost is to run schools and not just teacher salaries/money in the classroom.

Just one SPED kid that's in a boarding placement will run $250K/year or more. It doesn't take many of them to run up a million dollars in cost. A One on One aide to a kid adds around $50K to the base per pupil cost. Once again it doesn't take many of them to run up a million. In many schools the SPED Department is the largest in the school, bigger than Math, English, Social Studies or Science.

Then there's ESOL, another cost added requirement.

You mentioned private schools having a lower per pupil cost (sometimes). Public schools have to take whoever walks in the door and whatever personal/educational/family baggage they carry, private schools don't, they get to cherry pick who they admit.

 

[phreddyp]

I wish I had some idea where the money goes. Total spending divided by number of pupils is huge and comparable to private schools or even higher - but the staff are still often poorly paid, grounds poorly maintained and equipment is old.

And they produce an inferior product for the money.

Staff and teachers and administrators are not poorly paid!

 

[SamSpade]

Staff and teachers and administrators are not poorly paid!

Certainly not administrators and teachers with a lot of seniority. But NOT the paras, subs, and so on that carry a substantial load of the work. It’s not unlike a doctor’s office where the doc breezes in, talks to you for five minutes, bills insurance for hundreds but everything else done by staff, many of whom are NOT paid a lot.

Wife works in the schools. Her pay finally went up a bit when Maryland increased the minimum wage.

 

[phreddyp]

Certainly not administrators and teachers with a lot of seniority. But NOT the paras, subs, and so on that carry a substantial load of the work. It’s not unlike a doctor’s office where the doc breezes in, talks to you for five minutes, bills insurance for hundreds but everything else done by staff, many of whom are NOT paid a lot.

Wife works in the schools. Her pay finally went up a bit when Maryland increased the minimum wage.

Sounds like she should have made a better choice for a career to me then.

 

[vraiblonde]

Sounds like she should have made a better choice for a career to me then.

You say that - and on some level I agree - but now you just want me to go on a rant about income inequity. The people who do the least are paid the most, and vice versa.

Take Soulless Inc, for example. The boots on the ground do most of the real work and are paid the least. They get less and less productive - as in, actual producing of revenue - as it goes up the chain, while the compensation gets higher.

So you say she should have made a better career choice....like what? Because it's all the same.

 

[phreddyp]

You say that - and on some level I agree - but now you just want me to go on a rant about income inequity. The people who do the least are paid the most, and vice versa.

Take Soulless Inc, for example. The boots on the ground do most of the real work and are paid the least. They get less and less productive - as in, actual producing of revenue - as it goes up the chain, while the compensation gets higher.

So you say she should have made a better career choice....like what? Because it's all the same.

" all the same" Not even close. I have worked private industry, government, and as a business owner.

1. The problem with private is you are paid what someone else thinks what you should be paid. Then you have to pay taxes on it before you receive
your money.

2. Government same as above but with better benefits, you get a pension that runs out when YOU check out or maybe your spouse continues
to receive it until they check out. But unless you invest well you basically have NOTHING to pass on.

3. Business owner it is all on you, but if you pull it off you decide what you are worth, pay taxes on what is left over after all expenses are paid. and
can pass on whatever assets you have to your heirs. Not to mention you can take off pretty much anytime you want with pay. Favorable tax
treatment on many things that are a benefit to you.

To me # 3 was a no brainer once I was subjected to the first two.

 

[phreddyp]

wow.... Freddy!!! Cool beans!!!
Ya know, I was an entrepreneur too, for a while... I was in commodities.... hard cash, hand to hand sales... only expenses I had was paying the staff at the Fairgrounds a fee 0f $10.00 on Saturdays....Oh yeah, a tractor supply 8X10 tarp..... yeah, I had some petty shoplifting from "migrant visitors" apparently not familiar with intrusive white supremacists "values", but as a good American, I knew I was making a better life for them with my excessive amounts of galvanized nails and a few Chinese end wrenches....


How bout that!!

I could have turned that business around for you all the important parts were already in place!

 

[Clem72]

You won't like to hear it but those numbers for Calvert and St. Mary's, especially Calvert, aren't that bad.
What everybody forgets is that half the population is below average in IQ.

This would make perfect sense, if grade level proficiency was targeted solidly at the mean IQ (100) and not the bare minimum that it actually is. If you just barely pass the proficiency exams, you should be a D student. You aren't "failing" but you aren't learning everything at the highest level (but of course you're probably an A student because they grade you on showing up and not eating crayons). If you don't pass the proficiency exams you have failed for your current grade level and should not pass the grade. Attendance should not be an academic metric, neither should "enrichment" or other BS they grade these schools on now when you look at the school report cards. THE METRIC should be the test. Do you know the basic sheet you are supposed to know at this point in time.

 

[NorthBeachPerso]

This would make perfect sense, if grade level proficiency was targeted solidly at the mean IQ (100) and not the bare minimum that it actually is. If you just barely pass the proficiency exams, you should be a D student. You aren't "failing" but you aren't learning everything at the highest level (but of course you're probably an A student because they grade you on showing up and not eating crayons). If you don't pass the proficiency exams you have failed for your current grade level and should not pass the grade. Attendance should not be an academic metric, neither should "enrichment" or other BS they grade these schools on now when you look at the school report cards. THE METRIC should be the test. Do you know the basic sheet you are supposed to know at this point in time.

Everybody ignores the fact that every single "education reform" adopted/enacted over the last just about forty years now has been aimed at the bottom 20% of students (more in some school systems).

That's the group that takes the air out of every classroom they're in (which is most since schools only track for AP/Honors and SPED). So you have classes of kids who are at or above grade level but aren't quite Honors (many times because the parents won't sign off on it) along with kids who can't spell Bob if you spot them the "B's.