Boundary Study

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
I live in Bethesda in a high-performing district, have attended multiple meetings, and find the anti-W bias so petty. It clearly stems from a few jealous individuals, and then every lemming starts repeating it.

I have attended multiple community meetings about boundaries, and NONE of the Bethesda parents I have spoken to are racist or prejudiced in any way against balancing socio-economic demographics. I am of mixed heritage, the parents I spoke to were of all ethnicities. We all moved to Bethesda because of the schools.

What we want is this for MCPS to:
1. ALLEVIATE OVERCROWDING by building more schools and expanding others as appropriate. MCPS is not in charge of the school budget! This is on the State and County level - vote for politicians who care about overcrowding!
2. NOT HAVE STUDENTS SPEND HOURS ON BUSES - it increases congestion and wastes everyone's time. I can guarantee that no politician or MCPS administrator actually wants this. It's physically impossible in our already congested area anyway.

If you tweak boundaries so that schools are more balanced without impacting 1 and 2, then wonderful. My neighbors and I fully support that, even if we end up in a cluster we hadn't chosen to begin with!

Most W school families will not be affected, as much as the jealous non W people hope.

ignorance ugh get out

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
I live in Bethesda in a high-performing district, have attended multiple meetings, and find the anti-W bias so petty. It clearly stems from a few jealous individuals, and then every lemming starts repeating it.

I have attended multiple community meetings about boundaries, and NONE of the Bethesda parents I have spoken to are racist or prejudiced in any way against balancing socio-economic demographics. I am of mixed heritage, the parents I spoke to were of all ethnicities. We all moved to Bethesda because of the schools.

What we want is this for MCPS to:
1. ALLEVIATE OVERCROWDING by building more schools and expanding others as appropriate. MCPS is not in charge of the school budget! This is on the State and County level - vote for politicians who care about overcrowding!
2. NOT HAVE STUDENTS SPEND HOURS ON BUSES - it increases congestion and wastes everyone's time. I can guarantee that no politician or MCPS administrator actually wants this. It's physically impossible in our already congested area anyway.

If you tweak boundaries so that schools are more balanced without impacting 1 and 2, then wonderful. My neighbors and I fully support that, even if we end up in a cluster we hadn't chosen to begin with!

Yes, you live in Bethesda, which is part of MCPS. MCPS is the school district.

One of the two main purposes of the boundary analysis is to find possible ways to ALLEVIATE OVERCROWDING - through boundary changes.

Nobody - but nobody - is proposing to HAVE STUDENTS SPEND HOURS ON BUSES.

[Anonymous]

If you don't care that working families lose $150k per household, why should they care whether your kid gets a "diverse" experience? "W" families have nothing to gain by gaming the school system based on wobbly studies that find an ephemeral improvement in English scores only for the kids who move to the "better' schools, which in these studies usually means more expenditure per pupil schools (not the case in MoCo where money and curriculum is already equitable).

In this contry, schools review, families educate for the highly achieving students. Until that changes, there is clearly no way to make education more equitable. Once it changes, there is no reason to bus students across town, except to magnet programs. How does one change it? Look at countries with bettee social elevators, seek advice.

[Anonymous]

I don’t care if poor or minority students attend my children’s schools. MCPS is racist for thinking the problem is race. It’s economics not race. What I do care about is social issues that are brought as a result of bringing poverty to my children’s school and classrooms as a result of boundary changes. I work so hard at my job and with my kids to provide them with the best educational experience I can. I don’t want them surrounded by unsafe people (ie gang members) or in classrooms with kids that are unable or unwilling to take initiative and learn. That’s why I bought and choose to live in a good pyramid.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP, you're a kid. Things aren't so black and white. Personally, we chose a diverse area of MoCo to raise our kids. I am for a boundary change because the current boundaries are outdated and unsustainable. BUT some parents bought houses that were priced higher because they are in a W neighborhood. They did it because they wanted to give their kids the best, and avoid problems they believe will result in more diverse schools. Now they have several hundreds of thousands of dollars to lose if the boundaries change. While they might support integration in principle, their finances are tied to the status quo. Kind of like how Thomas Jefferson's kids were slaves, and he advocated for slavery to end, all the while owning like 600 slaves and only freeing his kids and wife. The rest of his slaves, he sold. Sometimes doing the right thing is complicated. Moral of the story for you, as you grow up-- if you don't put yourself in a moral quandary to begin with, you won't have these problems. Figure out what kind of morals you have now and then live by them even when it sucks. Develop your character when you're young, because you will need it when you're older.

Jefferson didn’t actually free Sally Hemings. One of his descendants did so after Jefferson died. He held on to her until his dying breath. Nothing complicated or good about that. It was selfish and indefensible.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don’t care if poor or minority students attend my children’s schools. MCPS is racist for thinking the problem is race. It’s economics not race. What I do care about is social issues that are brought as a result of bringing poverty to my children’s school and classrooms as a result of boundary changes. I work so hard at my job and with my kids to provide them with the best educational experience I can. I don’t want them surrounded by unsafe people (ie gang members) or in classrooms with kids that are unable or unwilling to take initiative and learn. That’s why I bought and choose to live in a good pyramid.

It's hard to separate the two.

Not to mention that classism isn't any more defensible than racism.

[Anonymous]

[quote=Anonymous]If you don't care that working families lose $150k per household, why should they care whether your kid gets a "diverse" experience? "W" families have nothing to gain by gaming the school system based on wobbly studies that find an ephemeral improvement in English scores only for the kids who move to the "better' schools, which in these studies usually means more expenditure per pupil schools (not the case in MoCo where money and curriculum is already equitable).

In this contry, schools review, families educate for the highly achieving students. Until that changes, there is clearly no way to make education more equitable. Once it changes, there is no reason to bus students across town, except to magnet programs. How does one change it? Look at countries with bettee social elevators, seek advice. [/quote]

The problem here is the thinking that you paid $150k for that school and are now having to face the loss of that “investment.” What occurred was that you paid a premium — some of which went to a lucky real estate agent who was complicit — for what you believed was a promise you’d have a special school environment. But that was a promise the seller and the real estate agent were not legally able to make. It’s just like if you invested $150k in bitcoins and then their value fell, or if you bought a house on a beautiful golf course and then the golf course closed and you lost value. Real estate agents should be forced to put a big asterisk next to the school assignment in their listings: “school not guaranteed.”

We should be ashamed of ourselves that we attach such a specific dollar value to kids’ test scores. We have adults standing here pointing the finger at school-aged kids, telling them they are responsible for holding up their home values by doing well enough on the damn PARCC test. Yes, that’s what the school ratings — and your home value apparently — are based on. Children sitting down in front of a screen every spring and answering math and reading questions.

[Anonymous]

People oppose boundary changes because they realize it will be ineffective.

Simply busing a lower-performing kid to a higher-performing school will not mean that the student him/herself performs better. It might mean that it makes MCPS look better. From experience, we know that MCPS now only does things to help it appear like it closing the achievement gap, when in reality, it’s not actually closing anything.

So, people are opposed to wasting money on yet another useless initiative that will degrade an already declining school system.

If MCPS really cared about it’s students, MCPS would focus more on smaller class sizes for all grades, and focus less mixed-gender restrooms. It would focus more on showing that ALL students are showing improvement due to their time at school, and less time on having unrealistic expectations about closing the achievement gap.

A good, solid elementary school curriculum would go a long way in helping ALL students. Hopefully we get that this year, but the last 5 years were a disorganized disaster.

MCPS likes to take band-aid approaches and focus on unimportant initiatives. Instead of focusing on the classroom, and the teachers, it spends money on useless Central Office positions and endless ‘forums’.

We see how poorly MCPS spends money and don’t trust MCPS and/or the BOE to do what is in the best interest of the students.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, you're a kid. Things aren't so black and white. Personally, we chose a diverse area of MoCo to raise our kids. I am for a boundary change because the current boundaries are outdated and unsustainable. BUT some parents bought houses that were priced higher because they are in a W neighborhood. They did it because they wanted to give their kids the best, and avoid problems they believe will result in more diverse schools. Now they have several hundreds of thousands of dollars to lose if the boundaries change. While they might support integration in principle, their finances are tied to the status quo. Kind of like how Thomas Jefferson's kids were slaves, and he advocated for slavery to end, all the while owning like 600 slaves and only freeing his kids and wife. The rest of his slaves, he sold. Sometimes doing the right thing is complicated. Moral of the story for you, as you grow up-- if you don't put yourself in a moral quandary to begin with, you won't have these problems. Figure out what kind of morals you have now and then live by them even when it sucks. Develop your character when you're young, because you will need it when you're older.

It's rude to say I am a kid because I'm not. So your dismissed and I dont care if they bought their house for higher prices. All schools need diversity and you can go somewhere else if you disagree. Point blank and the period.

DP

Can you explain why you think this?

I’m not White an my kids attend a non-W school. I don’t care at all how ‘diverse’ my kids school is. I want good teachers, a solid curriculum and small class sizes.

We are an interracial family and my kids get ‘diversity’ in our own family. I don’t care what color/race/religion my kids’ teachers are. I don’t care what color/race/religion my kids’ friends are.

Why does it matter?

[Anonymous]

I’m not pp but I’ll tell you why all schools should be diverse. Because the opposite of all schools being diverse is all schools being basically homogeneous. And when all schools are homogeneous, the schools that are white/Asian end up with better resources than the schools that are black/Hispanic. They have PTAs that raise $100k a year, they have dozens of after-school activities, etc. Meanwhile at the poorer schools, teachers are forced to send out GoFundMe’s to their family and friends to supply their classrooms. It’s called “separate but equal,” and it never really ended.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:People oppose boundary changes because they realize it will be ineffective.

Simply busing a lower-performing kid to a higher-performing school will not mean that the student him/herself performs better. It might mean that it makes MCPS look better. From experience, we know that MCPS now only does things to help it appear like it closing the achievement gap, when in reality, it’s not actually closing anything.

So, people are opposed to wasting money on yet another useless initiative that will degrade an already declining school system.

If MCPS really cared about it’s students, MCPS would focus more on smaller class sizes for all grades, and focus less mixed-gender restrooms. It would focus more on showing that ALL students are showing improvement due to their time at school, and less time on having unrealistic expectations about closing the achievement gap.

A good, solid elementary school curriculum would go a long way in helping ALL students. Hopefully we get that this year, but the last 5 years were a disorganized disaster.

MCPS likes to take band-aid approaches and focus on unimportant initiatives. Instead of focusing on the classroom, and the teachers, it spends money on useless Central Office positions and endless ‘forums’.

We see how poorly MCPS spends money and don’t trust MCPS and/or the BOE to do what is in the best interest of the students.

I think for the most part, people in wealthy areas oppose boundary changes because they are afraid that their house values will depreciate.

Also, there have been studies that show that low income students do better in schools with < 25% FARMs.

I do agree that they should focus on smaller class sizes for everyone.

[Anonymous]

And the more the BOE pushes for everyone in honors the more that I’ll push for homogeneous schools (by income). I want my kid to get a great education and that’s more likely among UMC households.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:People oppose boundary changes because they realize it will be ineffective.

Simply busing a lower-performing kid to a higher-performing school will not mean that the student him/herself performs better. It might mean that it makes MCPS look better. From experience, we know that MCPS now only does things to help it appear like it closing the achievement gap, when in reality, it’s not actually closing anything.

So, people are opposed to wasting money on yet another useless initiative that will degrade an already declining school system.

If MCPS really cared about it’s students, MCPS would focus more on smaller class sizes for all grades, and focus less mixed-gender restrooms. It would focus more on showing that ALL students are showing improvement due to their time at school, and less time on having unrealistic expectations about closing the achievement gap.

A good, solid elementary school curriculum would go a long way in helping ALL students. Hopefully we get that this year, but the last 5 years were a disorganized disaster.

MCPS likes to take band-aid approaches and focus on unimportant initiatives. Instead of focusing on the classroom, and the teachers, it spends money on useless Central Office positions and endless ‘forums’.

We see how poorly MCPS spends money and don’t trust MCPS and/or the BOE to do what is in the best interest of the students.

I think for the most part, people in wealthy areas oppose boundary changes because they are afraid that their house values will depreciate.

Also, there have been studies that show that low income students do better in schools with < 25% FARMs.

I do agree that they should focus on smaller class sizes for everyone.

It’s not the 150k premium per se- it’s the reason that there is a 150k premium that makes people want to resist this change.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why do parents not want change in this county? I've learned a lot about the W schools and how parents don't want minorites at their schools. I believe our students are attending schools not parents.. so why does it matter who our students go to school with?

You are a student so your parents decide where to live and send you to school. Your parents also have to work so they can purchase food and clothing to feed and dress you. Your parents are also responsible to pay rent or mortgage to provide a shelter so you have a place to sleep. We do the same things for our kids. When we send our kids to school we trusted the teachers and school admin who provide our kids education. We dont care whome my kids go to school with. However, I expect stability so all my kids could attend our neighborhood school. I cannot speak for all the parents, but I know most of the parents, no matter skin color, want their kids to go to a neighborhood school. It happened in Gaitgurburg and Rockville.

I am a minority and live in a W school district. We purchased the house after considering commute routes to jobs. Before we moved to the W district, we lived in Germantown. We chose the current location so our kids can walk to school and we can go to their school for daytime clssroom acitivities. My kids have friends who are black, brown, and white. Kids play together when they have common interests. At ES level, no one cares your skin color. As a minority parent, I found it is harder to join conversition as an immigrant parent than US-born parents because the culture and language barriers.

Maybe there are other parents in W schools don't want minority in the schools but there are a lots of minority families already live in the neighborhoods and send their kids to the W schools. In MCPS, there are more hispanic students than white students. White students are also one of minority student groups.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It isn't that the parents at the W schools don't want minorities. They don't want any poor people. They are not fighting racial diversity; they are fighting economic diversity. They (wrongly) believe that poorer families don't deserve access to better resources and better schools. They want to keep those things for themselves.

This is so very deeply offensive because it's grossly untrue. I live in a "W" school and not a single person I know thinks / feels or believes this. While you are off accusing parents here of this foul rhetoric go and actually talk to people. The one and only reason I have heard and quite frankly agree with is I want me kid to go the the school closest to our home only because I don't want them on a bus in traffic and wasting time. I want them to be able to walk or ride their bikes to school / sports/ friends houses. To be able to carpool to events / sports etc for my kids without spending hours in the car. I know people whose kids have to take the bus to Pyle but live directly across the street from Westland and would prefer their kids go there.

Stop with the broad brush insults and condensation. It's just not true. What an asshole you are for stating "they believe poor families...." What a load of crap. You have no idea what I and others have dedicated our lives to, believe in and advocate for. Get off this forum and instead of insulting people you don't know or understand do something constructive about it.