Downcounty middle school magnet location
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Anonymous
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I looked into the elementary CES program and the magnet middle schools for the first time yesterday, and I was surprised that the downcounty middle schools are both located all the way in the southeast corner of the county. I live just about as far as you can get from them and still be assigned to them. I stopped reading more at that point because the commute would be way too long, but I'm curious as to why MCPS chose schools on the edge of the county rather than a more centralized location that could realistically accommodate the whole area it serves (like Wheaton or Kensington). Or is the goal NOT to accommodate the whole area? Is it meant to benefit the neighborhoods on that side of the county? I know there is a lot of disparity throughout the county, and I am not criticizing that resources need to be allocated accordingly.
Sorry if this is a dumb question - I just want to know more of the 'why' of these programs and not just what is posted on the MCPS website. |
Anonymous
| Google the MCPS Metis report. You can read all about the history. |
Anonymous
https://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/uploadedFiles/info/choice/ChoiceStudyReport-Version2-20160307.pdf The Metis report is the official MCPS version of events. However, here is supplemental information. Although officially unincorporated, in practice [Silver Spring] is an edge city[2] which had a population of 81,015 residents as of the 2020 census.[3] This makes it the fifth most populous place in Maryland, after Baltimore, Columbia, Waldorf and Germantown, and the second most populous in Montgomery County after Germantown.[4][5] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silver_Spring,_Maryland Individual Campaign Contributions in Silver Spring, MD In the last 4 years (2018-2021), there were 88,342 contributions totaling $32,151,729 to the Democratic Party and liberal campaigns, averaging $364 per contribution. In the last 4 years, there were 3,901 contributions totaling $2,116,806 to the Republican Party and conservative campaigns, averaging $543 per contribution. https://www.bestplaces.net/voting/city/maryland/silver_spring Almost since its inception in 1985, Discovery was based in Montgomery County, originally on Wisconsin Avenue in Bethesda. In the 1990s, Montgomery County was trying to find a way to revitalize downtown Silver Spring, which had been struggling for decades due to white flight and disinvestment. The county had entertained multiple proposals to build a megamall on four city blocks bounded by Georgia Avenue, Wayne Avenue, and Colesville Road, including one from the developers of the Mall of America. That plan fell through in 1996. Two years later, the county agreed to clear the land and give it to Discovery for a new headquarters, along with $10 million in tax subsidies. Montgomery County condemned several public streets and relocated many businesses, including the iconic Tastee Diner, which was put on the back of a truck and shifted a few blocks away. In 1998, Discovery began work on its new headquarters, a $165 million, 10-story tower. In 2017, after buying Scripps, Discovery moved its workers out of the Kennett Street building, and received $1 million in tax incentives from Montgomery County and Maryland to renovate its headquarters. (Part of that was a loan that had not yet been disbursed, a spokesperson for the Maryland Department of Commerce told Washingtonian.) https://ggwash.org/view/66162/discovery-is-leaving-silver-spring.-what-does-that-mean-for-the-city "Most of the money went to Montgomery County Council members and to the county executive and gubernatorial candidate, Douglas M. Duncan (D). Both Duncan and the council have enormous influence over zoning and other land-use decisions. "It's just another example of a development company contributing a significant amount of money to the campaign coffers of candidates who influence land-use policy," said Phil Andrews (D-Gaithersburg-Rockville), the only council member who does not accept contributions from developers or PACs. In 1998, for example, the council rebuffed protests from residents and allowed denser development on a parcel of land near the Friendship Heights Metro station that is owned by the company. It is building a 112,000-square-foot office and retail project on the land. The company is also a major proponent of the proposed inner route of the Purple Line of Metro. A potential stop sits directly across from property owned by the firm. Besides Silverman, Council President Tom Perez (D-Silver Spring), members Howard A. Denis (R-Potomac-Bethesda), Nancy Floreen (D-At Large), Michael Knapp (D-Upcounty), George L. Leventhal (D-At Large) and Michael L. Subin (D-At Large) have received contributions from the company. https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/local/2005/11/05/developers-contributions-exceed-md-limits/51feb2dc-0f92-464b-b6ed-c19e4c105c1b/ Like the campaign finance statements of Elrich and Riemer, Hucker’s report includes multiple contributions from multiple regular Democratic donors who live inside the Capital Beltway in communities like Silver Spring and Takoma Park — the general area where the three men live. Hucker’s report also shows several donations from labor unions, others from small and large businesses around the state, and perhaps two dozen from Annapolis lobbying firms. His biggest collection of donations — $18,000, plus $6,000 from a corporate account — came from members of the Day family, who own F.O. Day Co., an asphalt contractor in Rockville. Hucker also reported donations of $5,000 or more from developers Barry Gudelsky and Gary Michael. Donors from the political world included Trone, Maryland House Environment and Transportation Committee Chair Kumar P. Barve (D-Montgomery) and former Del. Charles Barkley (D-Montgomery). Ben Ross, the transit activist, donated $1,375. https://wtop.com/maryland/2022/01/heres-what-the-campaign-finance-reports-tell-us-about-county-exec-races/ https://ggwash.org/view/66162/discovery-is-leaving-silver-spring.-what-does-that-mean-for-the-city Personal opinion only, this is also why it's a bad idea to permit voters from other school boundaries to vote on your local Board of Education District Representative. Silver Spring (wiht Gaithersburg a close second?) is the most concentrated number of voters, so they can out-vote candidates in other parts of Montgomery County. |
Anonymous
| ^^Correction Germantown (not Gaithersburg) |
Anonymous
Many of us choose to live where we do because we value our children's education. |
Anonymous
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I mean, you can embrace a whole conspiracy theory that supposes decisions made in the 1980s around magnet placement were informed by voting/donation patterns in 2022.
OR, you could accept the official narrative which is also a lot more believable, which is: Those were schools that had space Those were schools that MCPS wanted to ensure remained integrated Those were schools that are near a huge swathe of the MoCo population. Putting these programs near population centers makes a lot of sense. |
Anonymous
This. END OF THREAD |
Anonymous
The same issue is present in elections for the Montgomery County Board of Education, which includes five members who are required to reside in a district, two members who can reside anywhere in the county and one student member. The five district members, however, are elected county-wide. “It means that my local policy views and those of all my neighbors who share a district with a school board member is going to get filtered through the views of very different voters from a very different part of the county,” said Del. David Moon (D-Montgomery). “It essentially gives veto power to a bare majority over school policy in every corner of the county.” https://www.marylandmatters.org/2021/12/13/proposal-would-change-how-montgomery-county-school-board-members-are-elected/ |
Anonymous
They did this already and you're free to live closer to the schools of your choice. |
Anonymous
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Magnet locations were chosen by which schools had slipping demographic while the county was afraid of middle class flight which had gripped the urban core the previous decade or so after the riots of 68. MoCo in the late 70-early 80s was a different place with declining population and school closures. Most schools had room back then which is why the previous poster are just wrong and many were closed. The programs went to the poorest areas in an effort to stop white flight as the areas were rapidly diversifying. Same with Blair which was the first school with such a large minority population. Magnets are a mixing program that use academics to get high SES family to voluntary in. There primary mission was never stickily academics and wasn't about being convenient for commutes, it was about creating programs that would boost test scores and given other family hope and raise local perception of the school so they wouldn't leave.
Why are they all on that corner of the county, because that was the boarder to a very poor part of DC and they were afraid that the remaining middle class would abandon it and make it even worse. |
Anonymous
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Magnet locations were chosen by which schools had slipping demographics while the county was afraid of middle class flight which had gripped the urban core the previous decade or so after the riots of 68. MoCo in the late 70-early 80s was a different place with declining population and school closures. Most schools had room back then which is why the previous posters are just wrong as many were closed. The programs went to the poorest areas in an effort to stop white flight as the areas were rapidly diversifying. Same with Blair which was the first school with such a large minority population in MoCo. Magnets are a mixing program that use academics to get high SES family to voluntary in. Their primary mission was never stickily academics and wasn't about being convenient for commutes, it was about creating programs that would boost test scores and given other families hope by raising local perceptions of the schools so the middle class wouldn't leave.
Why are they all on that corner of the county, because that was the boarder to a very poor part of DC & PG and they were afraid that the remaining middle class would abandon it and make it even worse. It should be worth noting that the rebound of the City and the programs has effectively done just that, maybe it is time to move the signature programs to different schools like Kennedy or Lee to make an impact there. |
Anonymous
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I mean, you can embrace a whole conspiracy theory that supposes decisions made in the 1980s around magnet placement were informed by voting/donation patterns in 2022. OR, you could accept the official narrative which is also a lot more believable, which is:
Let's look closer to see if you're correct? Those were schools that had space "In addition to the elementary center program for highly gifted students, the Takoma Park ES Primary Magnet [..]. All home school students are reviewed as candidates for this primary magnet. Additionally, 16 seats in each grade are available for non-home school students through the application process" https://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/uploadedFiles/info/choice/ChoiceStudyReport-Version2-20160307.pdf https://gis.mcpsmd.org/ServiceAreaMaps/TakomaParkPineyBranchES.pdf Those were schools that are near a huge swathe of the MoCo population. Putting these programs near population centers makes a lot of sense. the Board approved the opening of a Math, Science, and Computer Science magnet program at Montgomery Blair HS in 1982, and created middle (then called intermediate) school magnet programs at Takoma Park MS in 1984 and Eastern MS in 1986. Unlike their counterparts at the elementary level, these programs utilized selective admissions criteria to identify students to participate in the rigorous instruction programs offered https://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/uploadedFiles/info/choice/ChoiceStudyReport-Version2-20160307.pdf Those were schools that MCPS wanted to ensure remained integrated Regional competition on a selective admissions criteria makes it much more difficult to enter the magnet program in MS than ES. Since only TPES home school area received the primary magnet benefit and TPMS was using Regional selective admissions this conclusion does not follow? Why only TPES? |
Anonymous
| Are we arguing that Poolesville had a "slipping demographic"? |
Anonymous
Poolesville is not a Downcounty middle school magnet. Only Eastern and Takoma are. |
Anonymous
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The primary magnet at TPES ended years ago.
OP, if your kid wants to do one of those magnets and gets in tons of kids ride the bus or drive in from upper River Road or wherever you live. My kid attends (walks though) and it's an excellent program. That said, the W middle schools are also excellent. If we lived over there we would likely not commute for the magnet. |