Another article about the magnet programs in Washington Post

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:^ George B Thomas is NOT a MCPS program. It's an independent program.

True. But MCPS can then fund these students to go there. I mean what is $40 per person compared to the thousands of dollars the parents of ORM (Over-Represented Minorities) students shell out for Dr. Li?

Lets use the existing resources first and bridge the achievement gap in the regular classrooms.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

I think the schools should bundle the magnet program information and saturday school information with the FARMS and ESOL information.

I mean the FARMS/ESOL crowd is not missing out on these services, are they? So maybe that is the correct channel for information for this demographic.

Easy peasy cheap and effective common sense solution!

"The FARMS/ESOL crowd"?

Do you know anybody who is on FARMS or whose child is in ESOL?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:^ George B Thomas is NOT a MCPS program. It's an independent program.

True. But MCPS can then fund these students to go there. I mean what is $40 per person compared to the thousands of dollars the parents of ORM (Over-Represented Minorities) students shell out for Dr. Li?

Lets use the existing resources first and bridge the achievement gap in the regular classrooms.

This is an argument for getting rid of the application magnets altogether. Let's use the resources in the regular classrooms!

Also I don't understand your point. Some private people have and are willing to spend $1,000s per person on test prep classes, therefore the public school system should spend $40 per person on Saturday school? That doesn't follow.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

For those worried about the magnets being watered down, aren't there many qualified kids who don't quite make the cut? Would it be so bad if, for example, the HGCs served the top 7% of kids in the county rather than the top 3%?

It doesn't sound MCPS is proposing expanding magnets to serve the top 7%. It sounds like they are attempting to create different entrance criteria based on race which to my knowledge is not legal in public K-12 education per MD state law and federal funding. MCPS can legally do more outreach, encouragement, and provide special services to minority students but they can't create two different standards for entrance criteria anymore than they can create two different grading scales dependent on race.

To my knowledge all kids take the first GT test -Raven or InView in 2nd grade. Did the consultants provide any data about how many minority students scored within the top 3%, 5%, 7%, 10%? Understanding the pool of qualified students within the demographic that you are targeting is the first step.

If there is evidence from the 2nd grade test that there are enough minority students scoring within the top 3% to increase diversity at magnets but that these students are just not applying then the solution is to address what are the barriers to applying. If there is evidence that enough minority students are within 3% of the top scores but are not being selected then the solution is to address why they weren't accepted despite their high scores.

If there are only enough minority scoring at 6% rather than 3% and MCPS plans to double the seats to accommodate all students meeting this target then its fair.

If there are not enough minority students scoring within the 3% then lowering the target to 6% without doubling the seats in the magnets and HGC to accommodate all students meeting this new target -only minority students-it is equally unfair. A non-minority student scoring 3% or higher would be losing their seat to a minority student scoring lower.

And, let me tell you, kids are not stupid. That non-minority student will remember and resent the fact his/her seat was taken away for a long time. Now you know why Trump is so popular.

Or that white kid will have idiot, racist parents who teach him this as gospel, whether or not it is actually true. I am black, and was an honors student at an Ivy. On more than one occasion since college, I have had some overgrown, middle aged white frat boy-type complain to me that I took his spot at my alma mater. Forget those high SAT and AP scores and the fact that I was valedictorian at a well-regarded NY area high school. A black woman with an ivy degree must have taken some poor white guy's spot.

I agree. I think efforts like undermines accomplishments of truly gifted URM kids and people like you. They can't escape "you got in because..." whether you are talking HS, college, or real life/career. It will always follow them and cast doubts on their true abilities. I am not sure MCPS's effort is truly helpful to URMs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Do the parents who do not know about magnet programs know about the George B Thomas Learning Academy? www.saturdayschool.org/

Are the underperforming students making use of this resource? Who is the person incharge of this academy? what is their race? What are they doing to inform everyone about this resource?

We are at a Focus School and get fliers in English and Spanish for this program, plus robo phone calls. However, it was never clear to me from the calls whether my family was the target audience. Recently our principal noted that about 40 kids from our school participate in this program, so I'm guessing that our school does a pretty decent job of making sure that the kids who would qualify/benefit are aware. Still, the blanket approach to publicizing it seems to be less effective than the school actively recruiting underperforming students. That means, of course, that the school staff need to be aware of the program, motivated to identify needy students, and in touch with parents to get kids signed up.

I agree with this statement. I certainly know this program exists due to the many calls I get but I'm not clear at all what the purpose of the program is even after visiting the website. As I'm typing this message I'm still trying to figure it out.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Do the parents who do not know about magnet programs know about the George B Thomas Learning Academy? www.saturdayschool.org/

Are the underperforming students making use of this resource? Who is the person incharge of this academy? what is their race? What are they doing to inform everyone about this resource?

We are at a Focus School and get fliers in English and Spanish for this program, plus robo phone calls. However, it was never clear to me from the calls whether my family was the target audience. Recently our principal noted that about 40 kids from our school participate in this program, so I'm guessing that our school does a pretty decent job of making sure that the kids who would qualify/benefit are aware. Still, the blanket approach to publicizing it seems to be less effective than the school actively recruiting underperforming students. That means, of course, that the school staff need to be aware of the program, motivated to identify needy students, and in touch with parents to get kids signed up.

I agree with this statement. I certainly know this program exists due to the many calls I get but I'm not clear at all what the purpose of the program is even after visiting the website. As I'm typing this message I'm still trying to figure it out.

It's for kids who need additional support keeping up in school. You are always welcomed to visit one of the centers and talk to the principal. It's not hard. They have centers all over the county.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

And, let me tell you, kids are not stupid. That non-minority student will remember and resent the fact his/her seat was taken away for a long time. Now you know why Trump is so popular.

Nobody is taking spots from deserving white kids and giving them to undeserving brown kids, regardless of what some white people (I am a white person) might think.

Though arguably selective colleges and universities are passing over Asian-heritage kids with higher test scores and grades in favor of white kids with lower test scores and grades. Speaking of resentment.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

And, let me tell you, kids are not stupid. That non-minority student will remember and resent the fact his/her seat was taken away for a long time. Now you know why Trump is so popular.

Nobody is taking spots from deserving white kids and giving them to undeserving brown kids, regardless of what some white people (I am a white person) might think.

Though arguably selective colleges and universities are passing over Asian-heritage kids with higher test scores and grades in favor of white kids with lower test scores and grades. Speaking of resentment.

Please explain. There are only 100 seats.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

And, let me tell you, kids are not stupid. That non-minority student will remember and resent the fact his/her seat was taken away for a long time. Now you know why Trump is so popular.

Nobody is taking spots from deserving white kids and giving them to undeserving brown kids, regardless of what some white people (I am a white person) might think.

Though arguably selective colleges and universities are passing over Asian-heritage kids with higher test scores and grades in favor of white kids with lower test scores and grades. Speaking of resentment.

Yes, it's outrageous that some schools "cap" Asian populations.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

I agree. I think efforts like undermines accomplishments of truly gifted URM kids and people like you. They can't escape "you got in because..." whether you are talking HS, college, or real life/career. It will always follow them and cast doubts on their true abilities. I am not sure MCPS's effort is truly helpful to URMs.

You seem to be saying, "We shouldn't work to increase the number of qualified people in a program who are black, brown, or poor, because that just encourages rich white people to believe that the black/brown/poor people don't deserve to be there."

You didn't really mean to say that, did you?

If I think, "I deserved to get into Yale but they didn't let me in because they gave my spot to some girl just because she's black!", it's not her responsibility to fix this racist thinking; it's mine.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:^ George B Thomas is NOT a MCPS program. It's an independent program.

True. But MCPS can then fund these students to go there. I mean what is $40 per person compared to the thousands of dollars the parents of ORM (Over-Represented Minorities) students shell out for Dr. Li?

Lets use the existing resources first and bridge the achievement gap in the regular classrooms.

This is an argument for getting rid of the application magnets altogether. Let's use the resources in the regular classrooms!

Also I don't understand your point. Some private people have and are willing to spend $1,000s per person on test prep classes, therefore the public school system should spend $40 per person on Saturday school? That doesn't follow.

It also makes no sense that the public school system should have special programs to provide enrichment to the students whose parents have already spent thousands prepping them for the admissions test to the very program. Don't make the argument that MCPS should spend more to keep up with what the haves already do privately. Because the simpler solution to that would be take away the magnets that only the wealthy can afford to prep for and let those families find private schools or settle for their home schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

And, let me tell you, kids are not stupid. That non-minority student will remember and resent the fact his/her seat was taken away for a long time. Now you know why Trump is so popular.

Nobody is taking spots from deserving white kids and giving them to undeserving brown kids, regardless of what some white people (I am a white person) might think.

Though arguably selective colleges and universities are passing over Asian-heritage kids with higher test scores and grades in favor of white kids with lower test scores and grades. Speaking of resentment.

Please explain. There are only 100 seats.

What's to explain?

[Anonymous]

You seem to be saying, "We shouldn't work to increase the number of qualified people in a program who are black, brown, or poor, because that just encourages rich white people to believe that the black/brown/poor people don't deserve to be there."

You didn't really mean to say that, did you?

If I think, "I deserved to get into Yale but they didn't let me in because they gave my spot to some girl just because she's black!", it's not her responsibility to fix this racist thinking; it's mine.

Uh... Go fix it then.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

It also makes no sense that the public school system should have special programs to provide enrichment to the students whose parents have already spent thousands prepping them for the admissions test to the very program. Don't make the argument that MCPS should spend more to keep up with what the haves already do privately. Because the simpler solution to that would be take away the magnets that only the wealthy can afford to prep for and let those families find private schools or settle for their home schools.

Actually that's a separate question, which I've been wondering about. Presumably the families who spend lots of money on test prep for magnet admissions think that they're getting value for their money. But are they actually? How many kids who did test prep and got in would have gotten in without the test prep? How many kids who did test prep and got in would not have gotten in without test prep? How many kids did test prep and didn't get in?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Do the parents who do not know about magnet programs know about the George B Thomas Learning Academy? www.saturdayschool.org/

Are the underperforming students making use of this resource? Who is the person incharge of this academy? what is their race? What are they doing to inform everyone about this resource?

We are at a Focus School and get fliers in English and Spanish for this program, plus robo phone calls. However, it was never clear to me from the calls whether my family was the target audience. Recently our principal noted that about 40 kids from our school participate in this program, so I'm guessing that our school does a pretty decent job of making sure that the kids who would qualify/benefit are aware. Still, the blanket approach to publicizing it seems to be less effective than the school actively recruiting underperforming students. That means, of course, that the school staff need to be aware of the program, motivated to identify needy students, and in touch with parents to get kids signed up.

I agree with this statement. I certainly know this program exists due to the many calls I get but I'm not clear at all what the purpose of the program is even after visiting the website. As I'm typing this message I'm still trying to figure it out.

It's for kids who need additional support keeping up in school. You are always welcomed to visit one of the centers and talk to the principal. It's not hard. They have centers all over the county.

So do teachers recommend this program? Because if they don't and their robocalls don't state the purpose of the program I can see why parents don't participate if they need to.