Redistrict Montgomery County

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am not sure I understand the argument regarding desegregation. It has always been my understanding that desegregation was implemented in part because of huge differentials in the amount of resources and the quality of education. Minority communities generally did not receive the same quality of education. That is not the situation in MCPS. The schools have the same funding, the same curriculum, the teachers have the same credentials etc. So the only reason to move kids all over the county in terrible traffic is to change the racial composition of schools? To what end?
I think SES is probably the most important factor in explaining student achievement.
The mean SAT score for students qualifying for FARMs was 1361. The FARMs rate for MCPS 2016 graduates is 24%
There are 10 high schools that produce noticeably better results for their FARMs students (10% higher than 1361 or 1429/2400)
Blair 1415 (30% of graduates are FARMs)
Clarksburg 1432 (28% FARMs)
WJ 1463 (7% FARMS)
RM 1491 (13.7%)
Poolesville 1891 (8% FARMs)
Quince Orchard 1486 (24% FARMs)
Watkin Mills 1458 (47% FARMs)
Whitman 1529 (not sure how many took the test but Whitman's FARMs rate is less than 5%)
Wootton 1598 (5%)

BCC which has been transporting kids into their high school from Silver Spring for years did poorly: 1274

I am not exactly sure what to make of these numbers but it does look like the 3 schools that performed the best (above 1500) were the ones that had FARMs rates below 10%. So, just moving kids to a higher performing school might not have the desired effect if the school ends up with a noticeably higher FARMs rate after the desegregation.
I think the county has been looking for solutions in all the wrong places:
*getting rid of tracking (teachers now have to juggle groups of students at different levels which ends up being unfair to all groups)
*getting rid of exams for high school courses or padding grades in the case of the infamous Algebra exam a couple of years ago
*lowering standards for admission to magnet programs

If we are serious about the achievement gap and want to do something meaningful why not try to ensure that the gap is closed by the end of kindergarten by funding universal preschool. I would support that and I would support funding for even smaller class sizes for schools with high FARMs rates (I know these are smaller already).
The school also has to do more community outreach to encourage parents to partner more effectively with the schools. Parents have to be encouraged to show up for BTS night, to check homework, to show up for parent teacher conferences, to check edline. Perhaps expanding the Parent Academy
workshop program and making sure there are plenty of Spanish workshops offered and expanding the George Thomas Learning Academy programs. These types of efforts will strengthen the communities in low performing school clusters and help students.

You have written a thoughtful, well informed post. Please send this to MCPS and the County Council. Flag it for your local reps. It doesn't have to have much more than your name & neighborhood. We are in a crisis of capacity and you can make a difference. Get your neighbors involved. For the sake of our kids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am not sure I understand the argument regarding desegregation. It has always been my understanding that desegregation was implemented in part because of huge differentials in the amount of resources and the quality of education. Minority communities generally did not receive the same quality of education. That is not the situation in MCPS. The schools have the same funding, the same curriculum, the teachers have the same credentials etc. So the only reason to move kids all over the county in terrible traffic is to change the racial composition of schools? To what end?
I think SES is probably the most important factor in explaining student achievement.
The mean SAT score for students qualifying for FARMs was 1361. The FARMs rate for MCPS 2016 graduates is 24%
There are 10 high schools that produce noticeably better results for their FARMs students (10% higher than 1361 or 1429/2400)
Blair 1415 (30% of graduates are FARMs)
Clarksburg 1432 (28% FARMs)
WJ 1463 (7% FARMS)
RM 1491 (13.7%)
Poolesville 1891 (8% FARMs)
Quince Orchard 1486 (24% FARMs)
Watkin Mills 1458 (47% FARMs)
Whitman 1529 (not sure how many took the test but Whitman's FARMs rate is less than 5%)
Wootton 1598 (5%)

BCC which has been transporting kids into their high school from Silver Spring for years did poorly: 1274

I am not exactly sure what to make of these numbers but it does look like the 3 schools that performed the best (above 1500) were the ones that had FARMs rates below 10%. So, just moving kids to a higher performing school might not have the desired effect if the school ends up with a noticeably higher FARMs rate after the desegregation.
I think the county has been looking for solutions in all the wrong places:
*getting rid of tracking (teachers now have to juggle groups of students at different levels which ends up being unfair to all groups)
*getting rid of exams for high school courses or padding grades in the case of the infamous Algebra exam a couple of years ago
*lowering standards for admission to magnet programs

If we are serious about the achievement gap and want to do something meaningful why not try to ensure that the gap is closed by the end of kindergarten by funding universal preschool. I would support that and I would support funding for even smaller class sizes for schools with high FARMs rates (I know these are smaller already).
The school also has to do more community outreach to encourage parents to partner more effectively with the schools. Parents have to be encouraged to show up for BTS night, to check homework, to show up for parent teacher conferences, to check edline. Perhaps expanding the Parent Academy
workshop program and making sure there are plenty of Spanish workshops offered and expanding the George Thomas Learning Academy programs. These types of efforts will strengthen the communities in low performing school clusters and help students.

The thought that community outreach to promote parent involvement is enough is a little Polyanna. It's hard to be an involved parent when you are working 2 low wage jobs to keep a roof over your head. MontCo doesn't seem to have a huge segment of true urban problems like rampant drug dealing/ addiction and accompanying violence, but it has a bunch of hard working low wage employees living on the edge. Telling them to check Johnny's homework or sign up for ABC mouse isn't going to work.[i]

No of course it isn't enough. I support really ramping up the amount of resources that low SES kids receive from ages 3-7 (universal preschool and a massive deployment of resources in kindergarten). What I am saying is that the school system cannot succeed in closing the achievement gap without significant help from families and there might be ways to facilitate that. There are some (or maybe it is the same poster who says something similar on numerous threads on this forum) who argue for redistricting and busing kids from low performing schools to high performing schools. I don't see how families who (according to you) are too busy working to "check Johnny's homework" are going to find the time to get their kids ready for school perhaps an hour earlier than they do now and get them to a centralized bus stop that will drive them across county. Busing takes a lot of family commitment and involvement. If they can do that, they can surely find the time to help their children succeed in their home school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:To me it would depend on what would be the goal of such an effort? If it is to alleviate over crowding, I am all for it. If it is for "diversity" than forget it. I dont want my kid bussed across the county to some gang school. FWIW we are in RM cluster, not W

Which school or schools are gang schools in your opinion?

The one we moved away from, Watkins Mill. I would also include Gaithersburg, Seneca Valley, SS schools.

What a snob you are. Did you have a child who actually attended any of these schools? My children are students at one of the schools you listed. They are not afraid to go to school. There are not gang fights in the hallways. My relative's children recently graduated from Watkins Mill, where they were involved in a lot of activities and enjoyed their high school experience; their kids were not afraid to go to school, either.

There are plenty of students from good, caring families at the schools you listed, and teachers/administrators who care about their students. If you wanted to move away because you didn't want your kids to go there, fine, but don't put down a school you don't have any experience with.

Its funny as RM was not a good or nice school when I was growing up. It was one to be avoided. If they truly think RM is better, good luck to them.

RM of today is so not the RM of 20 yrs ago. It has a gs rating of 8. You might say it's the IB program but the MS feeder school JW, which doesn't have a test in magnet program, has a GS rating of 9.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am not sure I understand the argument regarding desegregation. It has always been my understanding that desegregation was implemented in part because of huge differentials in the amount of resources and the quality of education. Minority communities generally did not receive the same quality of education. That is not the situation in MCPS. The schools have the same funding, the same curriculum, the teachers have the same credentials etc. So the only reason to move kids all over the county in terrible traffic is to change the racial composition of schools? To what end?
I think SES is probably the most important factor in explaining student achievement.
The mean SAT score for students qualifying for FARMs was 1361. The FARMs rate for MCPS 2016 graduates is 24%
There are 10 high schools that produce noticeably better results for their FARMs students (10% higher than 1361 or 1429/2400)
Blair 1415 (30% of graduates are FARMs)
Clarksburg 1432 (28% FARMs)
WJ 1463 (7% FARMS)
RM 1491 (13.7%)
Poolesville 1891 (8% FARMs)
Quince Orchard 1486 (24% FARMs)
Watkin Mills 1458 (47% FARMs)
Whitman 1529 (not sure how many took the test but Whitman's FARMs rate is less than 5%)
Wootton 1598 (5%)

BCC which has been transporting kids into their high school from Silver Spring for years did poorly: 1274

I am not exactly sure what to make of these numbers but it does look like the 3 schools that performed the best (above 1500) were the ones that had FARMs rates below 10%. So, just moving kids to a higher performing school might not have the desired effect if the school ends up with a noticeably higher FARMs rate after the desegregation.
I think the county has been looking for solutions in all the wrong places:
*getting rid of tracking (teachers now have to juggle groups of students at different levels which ends up being unfair to all groups)
*getting rid of exams for high school courses or padding grades in the case of the infamous Algebra exam a couple of years ago
*lowering standards for admission to magnet programs

If we are serious about the achievement gap and want to do something meaningful why not try to ensure that the gap is closed by the end of kindergarten by funding universal preschool. I would support that and I would support funding for even smaller class sizes for schools with high FARMs rates (I know these are smaller already).
The school also has to do more community outreach to encourage parents to partner more effectively with the schools. Parents have to be encouraged to show up for BTS night, to check homework, to show up for parent teacher conferences, to check edline. Perhaps expanding the Parent Academy
workshop program and making sure there are plenty of Spanish workshops offered and expanding the George Thomas Learning Academy programs. These types of efforts will strengthen the communities in low performing school clusters and help students.

The thought that community outreach to promote parent involvement is enough is a little Polyanna. It's hard to be an involved parent when you are working 2 low wage jobs to keep a roof over your head. MontCo doesn't seem to have a huge segment of true urban problems like rampant drug dealing/ addiction and accompanying violence, but it has a bunch of hard working low wage employees living on the edge. Telling them to check Johnny's homework or sign up for ABC mouse isn't going to work.[i]

No of course it isn't enough. I support really ramping up the amount of resources that low SES kids receive from ages 3-7 (universal preschool and a massive deployment of resources in kindergarten). What I am saying is that the school system cannot succeed in closing the achievement gap without significant help from families and there might be ways to facilitate that. There are some (or maybe it is the same poster who says something similar on numerous threads on this forum) who argue for redistricting and busing kids from low performing schools to high performing schools. I don't see how families who (according to you) are too busy working to "check Johnny's homework" are going to find the time to get their kids ready for school perhaps an hour earlier than they do now and get them to a centralized bus stop that will drive them across county. Busing takes a lot of family commitment and involvement. If they can do that, they can surely find the time to help their children succeed in their home school.

How about we start with providing services to the SN kids? Many of our kids have gone without services as sadly, its cheaper for us to pay privately than hire an advocate and attorney and fight MCPS for years to get basics like speech and OT. Part of what you are saying is parenting. Low income have head start. Many others choose not to send their kids to preschool and our preschools are not like head start and do not prepare kids to go to school. Parents want play based so kids are coming in with less skills due to lazy parents and preschools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:To me it would depend on what would be the goal of such an effort? If it is to alleviate over crowding, I am all for it. If it is for "diversity" than forget it. I dont want my kid bussed across the county to some gang school. FWIW we are in RM cluster, not W

Which school or schools are gang schools in your opinion?

The one we moved away from, Watkins Mill. I would also include Gaithersburg, Seneca Valley, SS schools.

What a snob you are. Did you have a child who actually attended any of these schools? My children are students at one of the schools you listed. They are not afraid to go to school. There are not gang fights in the hallways. My relative's children recently graduated from Watkins Mill, where they were involved in a lot of activities and enjoyed their high school experience; their kids were not afraid to go to school, either.

There are plenty of students from good, caring families at the schools you listed, and teachers/administrators who care about their students. If you wanted to move away because you didn't want your kids to go there, fine, but don't put down a school you don't have any experience with.

Its funny as RM was not a good or nice school when I was growing up. It was one to be avoided. If they truly think RM is better, good luck to them.

RM of today is so not the RM of 20 yrs ago. It has a gs rating of 8. You might say it's the IB program but the MS feeder school JW, which doesn't have a test in magnet program, has a GS rating of 9.

That's exactly why. Without it, it is as bad as any other HS in MCPS (except BCC and W-schools).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:To me it would depend on what would be the goal of such an effort? If it is to alleviate over crowding, I am all for it. If it is for "diversity" than forget it. I dont want my kid bussed across the county to some gang school. FWIW we are in RM cluster, not W

Which school or schools are gang schools in your opinion?

The one we moved away from, Watkins Mill. I would also include Gaithersburg, Seneca Valley, SS schools.

What a snob you are. Did you have a child who actually attended any of these schools? My children are students at one of the schools you listed. They are not afraid to go to school. There are not gang fights in the hallways. My relative's children recently graduated from Watkins Mill, where they were involved in a lot of activities and enjoyed their high school experience; their kids were not afraid to go to school, either.

There are plenty of students from good, caring families at the schools you listed, and teachers/administrators who care about their students. If you wanted to move away because you didn't want your kids to go there, fine, but don't put down a school you don't have any experience with.

Its funny as RM was not a good or nice school when I was growing up. It was one to be avoided. If they truly think RM is better, good luck to them.

RM of today is so not the RM of 20 yrs ago. It has a gs rating of 8. You might say it's the IB program but the MS feeder school JW, which doesn't have a test in magnet program, has a GS rating of 9.

More rich people move to the area so now its well regarded and yet other schools are bashed. RM has had some very serious issues and incidents. But, yes, lets just cover them all up and pretend all is good now. Not a chance I'd send my kids there.

[Anonymous]

Would Churchill still be regarded if the "rich people" moved out? Would you say I am sending my kids there based on its past reputation. I doubt it. Schools change over time.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:To me it would depend on what would be the goal of such an effort? If it is to alleviate over crowding, I am all for it. If it is for "diversity" than forget it. I dont want my kid bussed across the county to some gang school. FWIW we are in RM cluster, not W

Which school or schools are gang schools in your opinion?

The one we moved away from, Watkins Mill. I would also include Gaithersburg, Seneca Valley, SS schools.

What a snob you are. Did you have a child who actually attended any of these schools? My children are students at one of the schools you listed. They are not afraid to go to school. There are not gang fights in the hallways. My relative's children recently graduated from Watkins Mill, where they were involved in a lot of activities and enjoyed their high school experience; their kids were not afraid to go to school, either.

There are plenty of students from good, caring families at the schools you listed, and teachers/administrators who care about their students. If you wanted to move away because you didn't want your kids to go there, fine, but don't put down a school you don't have any experience with.

Its funny as RM was not a good or nice school when I was growing up. It was one to be avoided. If they truly think RM is better, good luck to them.

RM of today is so not the RM of 20 yrs ago. It has a gs rating of 8. You might say it's the IB program but the MS feeder school JW, which doesn't have a test in magnet program, has a GS rating of 9.

That's exactly why. Without it, it is as bad as any other HS in MCPS (except BCC and W-schools).

Yes, exactly! Without all those great students coming from JW, RM would be terrible.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:To me it would depend on what would be the goal of such an effort? If it is to alleviate over crowding, I am all for it. If it is for "diversity" than forget it. I dont want my kid bussed across the county to some gang school. FWIW we are in RM cluster, not W

Which school or schools are gang schools in your opinion?

The one we moved away from, Watkins Mill. I would also include Gaithersburg, Seneca Valley, SS schools.

What a snob you are. Did you have a child who actually attended any of these schools? My children are students at one of the schools you listed. They are not afraid to go to school. There are not gang fights in the hallways. My relative's children recently graduated from Watkins Mill, where they were involved in a lot of activities and enjoyed their high school experience; their kids were not afraid to go to school, either.

There are plenty of students from good, caring families at the schools you listed, and teachers/administrators who care about their students. If you wanted to move away because you didn't want your kids to go there, fine, but don't put down a school you don't have any experience with.

Its funny as RM was not a good or nice school when I was growing up. It was one to be avoided. If they truly think RM is better, good luck to them.

RM of today is so not the RM of 20 yrs ago. It has a gs rating of 8. You might say it's the IB program but the MS feeder school JW, which doesn't have a test in magnet program, has a GS rating of 9.

More rich people move to the area so now its well regarded and yet other schools are bashed. RM has had some very serious issues and incidents. But, yes, lets just cover them all up and pretend all is good now. Not a chance I'd send my kids there.

? Because W schools are without incidences? I've read about a few, and know someone who definitely knows that many of the issues at those schools get covered up by wealth parents' money.

And to the other PP who stated it's just the IB, you totally disregarded the second sentence about JW being rated 9. But since it doesn't fit into your narrative, you just can't accept it, can you?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:To me it would depend on what would be the goal of such an effort? If it is to alleviate over crowding, I am all for it. If it is for "diversity" than forget it. I dont want my kid bussed across the county to some gang school. FWIW we are in RM cluster, not W

Which school or schools are gang schools in your opinion?

The one we moved away from, Watkins Mill. I would also include Gaithersburg, Seneca Valley, SS schools.

What a snob you are. Did you have a child who actually attended any of these schools? My children are students at one of the schools you listed. They are not afraid to go to school. There are not gang fights in the hallways. My relative's children recently graduated from Watkins Mill, where they were involved in a lot of activities and enjoyed their high school experience; their kids were not afraid to go to school, either.

There are plenty of students from good, caring families at the schools you listed, and teachers/administrators who care about their students. If you wanted to move away because you didn't want your kids to go there, fine, but don't put down a school you don't have any experience with.

Its funny as RM was not a good or nice school when I was growing up. It was one to be avoided. If they truly think RM is better, good luck to them.

RM of today is so not the RM of 20 yrs ago. It has a gs rating of 8. You might say it's the IB program but the MS feeder school JW, which doesn't have a test in magnet program, has a GS rating of 9.

More rich people move to the area so now its well regarded and yet other schools are bashed. RM has had some very serious issues and incidents. But, yes, lets just cover them all up and pretend all is good now. Not a chance I'd send my kids there.

? Because W schools are without incidences? I've read about a few, and know someone who definitely knows that many of the issues at those schools get covered up by wealth parents' money.

And to the other PP who stated it's just the IB, you totally disregarded the second sentence about JW being rated 9. But since it doesn't fit into your narrative, you just can't accept it, can you?

The RM cluster is really the god standard of turning around schools for MCPS. Prior to 1987, JW and RM were in serious trouble. There was extreme underenrollment and the student bodies of the schools were severely underperforming goals. The solution was a multipronged, but highly controversial, set of actions:

(1) Redistrict higher SES areas to JW and RM.
(2) Improve the paper performance of the school to make it more desirable (on paper at least).
(3) Develop new construction into the district targeting families with higher SES.

Redistricting was accomplished by moving Ritchie Park Elementary School from the Frost/Wootton cluster to JW/RM. The families of Ritchie Park were livid and fought this hard. Home values have been affected, but the longterm effects have been blunted. Short-term effects were clear.

Improvement of paper scores was accomplished by bringing in the IB magnet, which initially made up a large percent of the school population. Not only did this improve the paper view of the school--encouraging higher SES families to move to or remain in the district, but it may have positively affected the non-magnet population of the school with increased population and budgets for non-magnet programs, too.

Development of new construction for higher SES families was a huge success with both the Falls Grove and Rose Hill communities. Falls Grove's large houses can sell for over $1m, though there is also mixed development and more urban development. Rose Hill is not mixed, and most homes there currently market for $1m or more when they are even available.

Today, the RM and JW district is highly performing--even for the non-IB-magnet students--a complete turnaround from 30 years ago. Downtown rockville has become much more desirable, and large and expensive construction has continued there, bringing higher SES students to RM as well. Just look at the school ratings of the feeder schools to RM, of which only College Gardens has an immersion program to bring in outside-district students:

College Gardens: 9
Ritchie Park: 8
Beall: 8
Twinbrook: 4
Julius West: 9

Clearly, only Twinbrook is lagging in rating. The district is pretty good. It is the gold standard of how to improve a cluster.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:To me it would depend on what would be the goal of such an effort? If it is to alleviate over crowding, I am all for it. If it is for "diversity" than forget it. I dont want my kid bussed across the county to some gang school. FWIW we are in RM cluster, not W

Which school or schools are gang schools in your opinion?

The one we moved away from, Watkins Mill. I would also include Gaithersburg, Seneca Valley, SS schools.

What a snob you are. Did you have a child who actually attended any of these schools? My children are students at one of the schools you listed. They are not afraid to go to school. There are not gang fights in the hallways. My relative's children recently graduated from Watkins Mill, where they were involved in a lot of activities and enjoyed their high school experience; their kids were not afraid to go to school, either.

There are plenty of students from good, caring families at the schools you listed, and teachers/administrators who care about their students. If you wanted to move away because you didn't want your kids to go there, fine, but don't put down a school you don't have any experience with.

Its funny as RM was not a good or nice school when I was growing up. It was one to be avoided. If they truly think RM is better, good luck to them.

RM of today is so not the RM of 20 yrs ago. It has a gs rating of 8. You might say it's the IB program but the MS feeder school JW, which doesn't have a test in magnet program, has a GS rating of 9.

That's exactly why. Without it, it is as bad as any other HS in MCPS (except BCC and W-schools).

Yes, exactly! Without all those great students coming from JW, RM would be terrible.

I think PP meant IB program.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:To me it would depend on what would be the goal of such an effort? If it is to alleviate over crowding, I am all for it. If it is for "diversity" than forget it. I dont want my kid bussed across the county to some gang school. FWIW we are in RM cluster, not W

Which school or schools are gang schools in your opinion?

The one we moved away from, Watkins Mill. I would also include Gaithersburg, Seneca Valley, SS schools.

What a snob you are. Did you have a child who actually attended any of these schools? My children are students at one of the schools you listed. They are not afraid to go to school. There are not gang fights in the hallways. My relative's children recently graduated from Watkins Mill, where they were involved in a lot of activities and enjoyed their high school experience; their kids were not afraid to go to school, either.

There are plenty of students from good, caring families at the schools you listed, and teachers/administrators who care about their students. If you wanted to move away because you didn't want your kids to go there, fine, but don't put down a school you don't have any experience with.

Its funny as RM was not a good or nice school when I was growing up. It was one to be avoided. If they truly think RM is better, good luck to them.

RM of today is so not the RM of 20 yrs ago. It has a gs rating of 8. You might say it's the IB program but the MS feeder school JW, which doesn't have a test in magnet program, has a GS rating of 9.

That's exactly why. Without it, it is as bad as any other HS in MCPS (except BCC and W-schools).

Yes, exactly! Without all those great students coming from JW, RM would be terrible.

I think PP meant IB program.

OK, so the JW students (close to a 1000 students) who are making the school have a rating of 9 somehow magically disappear or become underachievers when they go to RM, and its *only* because of the IB program there that RM has a high rating? Okaaay. Someone's in lala land.

[Anonymous]

To claim busing students won't hurt the students from high SEC schools is simply a lie. It has been studied and has been confirmed again and again that it requires some sacrifices of the richer party.

Searching "Does Segregation Still Matter? The impact of student Composition on Academic achievement in High school", you will find the well regarded and highly cited study by Russell Rumberger and Palardy. If you have no patience to read through the paper as it's scientific and data driven which can be boring to a lot of people, go directly to figure 4 on page 21, which titles "Estimated achievement growth during 4 years of high school for disadvantaged, average and advantaged White and Black students in low-, middle-, and high-SES high schools".

What it says is that you place a student in higher-SES schools, regardless his/her race or academic performance level or family SEC status, he/she will do better than if he is in lower-SES schools, vice versa. What it means is that if you mix low-SES with high-SES school students to make the school middle-SES, the kids who are from the low-SES schools will do better and those who are from the high-SES schools will do worse than they were.

This gives a valid argument that busing would reduce the achievement gap. Ideally, the families from high-SES schools will comply for the noble goal of equality, but in reality it's hard to sell.

[Anonymous]

OK, so the JW students (close to a 1000 students) who are making the school have a rating of 9 somehow magically disappear or become underachievers when they go to RM, and its *only* because of the IB program there that RM has a high rating? Okaaay. Someone's in lala land.

I think you are.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Counties need to consider more than education. I would think the economic impact of redistricting would be a big consideration. Not just on housing, but on housing prices and thus on stores, etc.

And traffic