<p>Local word here is that the Prince George’s County school district is in the process of hiring Dr. John Deasy, our school superintendent, to take over as superintendent for the Prince George’s system.</p>
<p>If this goes through, and it’s all but final, you’re getting a heck of a guy. He’s smart and hard working. Smoothly put up with all the political b.s. that goes with the job here.</p>
<p>Uh, lessee…and he’s from Boston originally–you have but to hear him speak–and he’s a Red Sox fan.</p>
<p>PG is one of the two Maryland counties, the other is Montgomery, that are contiguoous to DC. PG is predominately African-American, and quite well-off, although the areas near the DC line tend to be very rundown and crime-ridden. The school system was until a few years ago under a desegragtion order. There are a few good schools in the county, Eleanor Roosevelt comes to mind, but there has been considerable problems within the School Board and major rivalries among the politicans. The School District does not function well and the children do not perform as well as they should on standardized tests. The County also suffers from a self-imposed taxing limitation, which impacts on all county services.</p>
<p>Anyone taking the job as superintendent will be facing a huge task.</p>
<p>Huh. Thanks for the info. Fwiw, Dr. Deasy was very aggressive in trying to address the “two schools” phenomenon at the local high school, where Anglo & Asian students get high grades/scores, Black/Latino students get low grades/scores. He’s one of the “high standards for everyone” kind of guys.</p>
<p>He’s also a fan of breaking larger high schools down into Small Learning Communities, the theory being that it’s harder for a student to “slip through the cracks” that way.</p>
<p>It was announced in today’s Washington Post. I agree with tsdad, Prince George’s goes through superintendents like Sherman went through Atlanta.</p>
<p>Hmmm. Interesting. A close relative with young children is about to accept a new job in neighboring Montgomery County. Anyone care to provide an opinion about Montgomery schools and/or a comparison of Montgomery and Prince Georges?</p>
<p>Entire world of difference. I grew up in Montgomery County, initially fairly close to PG County border, then further out into Montgomery County. Without commenting on PG County schools, I can tell you that Montgomery County houses some of the very best schools in the country. Search - on this board or elsewhere - for the three W’s: Wooton, Whitman, and Churchill (<em>W</em>inston Churchill). That will begin to give you an idea of the calibre.</p>
<p>Montgomery has some of the best schools in the country. Excellent system. Lots of money. Parents are generally devoted to it.</p>
<p>Thank you Jmmom and Tsdad.</p>
<p>RM grad here. MoCo has a VERY good school system, so that’s a third nod in that direction. Even the worst schools in the county are among the top nationwide.</p>
<p>:)</p>
<p>I lived in PG county as a kid and my best friend lived in Montgomery County. Mind you this was 1960-1970s, but my impression as a young teen was that her schools had a much worse enviroment then mine, even though they had more money. Still I moved back into DC in 9th grade and went to church owned alternative school in rural PG county but my sister finished out at Northwestern HS. My friend went to Montgomery Blair HS and hated it.
Ellen</p>
<p>Blair was a troubled hs. Then the county turned into some kind of magnet and now it’s extremely popular.</p>
<p>I must admit to being a little vague on it though since I live in Fairfax County VA, my kid went a private school in DC, and for the last year and half I’ve been mostly in Madison.</p>