Cliff Notes summary of MCPS boundary study fight?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

but they should. Can we finally put to be the myth the school environment actually matters at all. It is almost entirely based on the education of the mother and the home environment.

So again why are we spending all this time on this when almost nothing will change

NO SCHOOL DISTRICT ACROSS THE COUNTRY HAS FIXED THE ACHIEVEMENT GAP. The biggest factor is the home environment period.

If the outcome for a given kid is the same regardless of whether the kid is at a "good school" or a "bad school," then why are some parents who own property zoned for "good schools" fighting the boundary analysis so vociferously?

And don't tell me it's about long bus rides and neighborhood schools, because there already are lots of long bus rides and lots of kids zoned for farther-away schools. If that's what they were really objecting to, they'd want MCPS to change the boundaries, not maintain them.

It is about long bus rides!! If you want to change the boundaries to maximize walking to school, have at it! I doubt that will satisfy the BOE's diversity goals, though.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

but they should. Can we finally put to be the myth the school environment actually matters at all. It is almost entirely based on the education of the mother and the home environment.

So again why are we spending all this time on this when almost nothing will change

NO SCHOOL DISTRICT ACROSS THE COUNTRY HAS FIXED THE ACHIEVEMENT GAP. The biggest factor is the home environment period.

If the outcome for a given kid is the same regardless of whether the kid is at a "good school" or a "bad school," then why are some parents who own property zoned for "good schools" fighting the boundary analysis so vociferously?

And don't tell me it's about long bus rides and neighborhood schools, because there already are lots of long bus rides and lots of kids zoned for farther-away schools. If that's what they were really objecting to, they'd want MCPS to change the boundaries, not maintain them.

1. They’re afraid their homes will be worth less
2. They’re afraid their children will sit next to children they view as undesirable

That’s really all this is about. It’s ugly, all the way down.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

but they should. Can we finally put to be the myth the school environment actually matters at all. It is almost entirely based on the education of the mother and the home environment.

So again why are we spending all this time on this when almost nothing will change

NO SCHOOL DISTRICT ACROSS THE COUNTRY HAS FIXED THE ACHIEVEMENT GAP. The biggest factor is the home environment period.

If the outcome for a given kid is the same regardless of whether the kid is at a "good school" or a "bad school," then why are some parents who own property zoned for "good schools" fighting the boundary analysis so vociferously?

And don't tell me it's about long bus rides and neighborhood schools, because there already are lots of long bus rides and lots of kids zoned for farther-away schools. If that's what they were really objecting to, they'd want MCPS to change the boundaries, not maintain them.

1. They’re afraid their homes will be worth less
2. They’re afraid their children will sit next to children they view as undesirable

That’s really all this is about. It’s ugly, all the way down.

When there is finally a proposal to redraw school boundaries on the table, plenty of lower income folks whose children are slated for longer commutes to schools that are farther away will be voicing their opposition to that as well. And they'll ostensibly be the families that stand to benefit economically and educationally. People in the main would prefer to have their kids go to neighborhood schools with other kids from their community.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

but they should. Can we finally put to be the myth the school environment actually matters at all. It is almost entirely based on the education of the mother and the home environment.

So again why are we spending all this time on this when almost nothing will change

NO SCHOOL DISTRICT ACROSS THE COUNTRY HAS FIXED THE ACHIEVEMENT GAP. The biggest factor is the home environment period.

If the outcome for a given kid is the same regardless of whether the kid is at a "good school" or a "bad school," then why are some parents who own property zoned for "good schools" fighting the boundary analysis so vociferously?

And don't tell me it's about long bus rides and neighborhood schools, because there already are lots of long bus rides and lots of kids zoned for farther-away schools. If that's what they were really objecting to, they'd want MCPS to change the boundaries, not maintain them.

1. They’re afraid their homes will be worth less
2. They’re afraid their children will sit next to children they view as undesirable

That’s really all this is about. It’s ugly, all the way down.

When there is finally a proposal to redraw school boundaries on the table, plenty of lower income folks whose children are slated for longer commutes to schools that are farther away will be voicing their opposition to that as well. And they'll ostensibly be the families that stand to benefit economically and educationally. People in the main would prefer to have their kids go to neighborhood schools with other kids from their community.

Are plenty of affluent folks whose children are slated for shorter commutes to schools that are closer, but "worse," going to voice their support?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

but they should. Can we finally put to be the myth the school environment actually matters at all. It is almost entirely based on the education of the mother and the home environment.

So again why are we spending all this time on this when almost nothing will change

NO SCHOOL DISTRICT ACROSS THE COUNTRY HAS FIXED THE ACHIEVEMENT GAP. The biggest factor is the home environment period.

If the outcome for a given kid is the same regardless of whether the kid is at a "good school" or a "bad school," then why are some parents who own property zoned for "good schools" fighting the boundary analysis so vociferously?

And don't tell me it's about long bus rides and neighborhood schools, because there already are lots of long bus rides and lots of kids zoned for farther-away schools. If that's what they were really objecting to, they'd want MCPS to change the boundaries, not maintain them.

It is about long bus rides!! If you want to change the boundaries to maximize walking to school, have at it! I doubt that will satisfy the BOE's diversity goals, though.

I haven't heard anything from people whose kids currently have long bus rides and who want to be rezoned to closer schools that have more poor kids. Have you?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

but they should. Can we finally put to be the myth the school environment actually matters at all. It is almost entirely based on the education of the mother and the home environment.

So again why are we spending all this time on this when almost nothing will change

NO SCHOOL DISTRICT ACROSS THE COUNTRY HAS FIXED THE ACHIEVEMENT GAP. The biggest factor is the home environment period.

If the outcome for a given kid is the same regardless of whether the kid is at a "good school" or a "bad school," then why are some parents who own property zoned for "good schools" fighting the boundary analysis so vociferously?

And don't tell me it's about long bus rides and neighborhood schools, because there already are lots of long bus rides and lots of kids zoned for farther-away schools. If that's what they were really objecting to, they'd want MCPS to change the boundaries, not maintain them.

+100

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

but they should. Can we finally put to be the myth the school environment actually matters at all. It is almost entirely based on the education of the mother and the home environment.

So again why are we spending all this time on this when almost nothing will change

NO SCHOOL DISTRICT ACROSS THE COUNTRY HAS FIXED THE ACHIEVEMENT GAP. The biggest factor is the home environment period.

If the outcome for a given kid is the same regardless of whether the kid is at a "good school" or a "bad school," then why are some parents who own property zoned for "good schools" fighting the boundary analysis so vociferously?

And don't tell me it's about long bus rides and neighborhood schools, because there already are lots of long bus rides and lots of kids zoned for farther-away schools. If that's what they were really objecting to, they'd want MCPS to change the boundaries, not maintain them.

It is about long bus rides!! If you want to change the boundaries to maximize walking to school, have at it! I doubt that will satisfy the BOE's diversity goals, though.

I haven't heard anything from people whose kids currently have long bus rides and who want to be rezoned to closer schools that have more poor kids. Have you?

Have you ever looked at the boundary maps? There are plenty of people assigned to WJ who are much closer to Wheaton or closer to Einstein but bused to BCC. Seems like many people only object when they're being bused to a more diverse area.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

but they should. Can we finally put to be the myth the school environment actually matters at all. It is almost entirely based on the education of the mother and the home environment.

So again why are we spending all this time on this when almost nothing will change

NO SCHOOL DISTRICT ACROSS THE COUNTRY HAS FIXED THE ACHIEVEMENT GAP. The biggest factor is the home environment period.

If the outcome for a given kid is the same regardless of whether the kid is at a "good school" or a "bad school," then why are some parents who own property zoned for "good schools" fighting the boundary analysis so vociferously?

And don't tell me it's about long bus rides and neighborhood schools, because there already are lots of long bus rides and lots of kids zoned for farther-away schools. If that's what they were really objecting to, they'd want MCPS to change the boundaries, not maintain them.

It is about long bus rides!! If you want to change the boundaries to maximize walking to school, have at it! I doubt that will satisfy the BOE's diversity goals, though.

I haven't heard anything from people whose kids currently have long bus rides and who want to be rezoned to closer schools that have more poor kids. Have you?

Have you ever looked at the boundary maps? There are plenty of people assigned to WJ who are much closer to Wheaton or closer to Einstein but bused to BCC. Seems like many people only object when they're being bused to a more diverse area.

I'm the PP who opposes long bus rides and I'd agree with you that, if the BOE is going to make boundary changes, the kind that make the most sense deal with balancing capacity issues in adjacent clusters. Will some people complain? Of course. If the BOE assures the public that any school assignment changes will be limited to shifting kids among adjacent clusters and gives some iron-clad guarantees that kids will not be bused beyond "X" miles or "X" number of minutes, I think fewer people would be suspicious of the BOE's intentions, though for sure some would still be upset.

[Anonymous]

thing is - What's good for my kids (short bus ride or walk) is good for ALL kids.

But if it ain't broke for my kid, don't mess with our situation.

Why would I want to uproot my kid - only to place him/her in some school farther out?

This is why we moved over a year ago - b/c I knew the system was grasping at anything to keep it afloat at the most superficial level.

no thanks

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:thing is - What's good for my kids (short bus ride or walk) is good for ALL kids.

But if it ain't broke for my kid, don't mess with our situation.

Why would I want to uproot my kid - only to place him/her in some school farther out?

This is why we moved over a year ago - b/c I knew the system was grasping at anything to keep it afloat at the most superficial level.

no thanks

Yes, I also believe that MCPS/BoE should make decisions based on what's best for my individual children. Of course, what's best for my individual children may not be what's best for your individual children. That might be a problem.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

I'm the PP who opposes long bus rides and I'd agree with you that, if the BOE is going to make boundary changes, the kind that make the most sense deal with balancing capacity issues in adjacent clusters. Will some people complain? Of course. If the BOE assures the public that any school assignment changes will be limited to shifting kids among adjacent clusters and gives some iron-clad guarantees that kids will not be bused beyond "X" miles or "X" number of minutes, I think fewer people would be suspicious of the BOE's intentions, though for sure some would still be upset.

They have said that they are looking at adjacent clusters.

They can't give iron-clad guarantees about time and distance. It's a big county. One might almost say that it's a big and diverse county. And my guess is, whatever miles/number of minutes to the assigned school you consider intolerable, there are kids in MCPS who have that as their current reality.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

I'm the PP who opposes long bus rides and I'd agree with you that, if the BOE is going to make boundary changes, the kind that make the most sense deal with balancing capacity issues in adjacent clusters. Will some people complain? Of course. If the BOE assures the public that any school assignment changes will be limited to shifting kids among adjacent clusters and gives some iron-clad guarantees that kids will not be bused beyond "X" miles or "X" number of minutes, I think fewer people would be suspicious of the BOE's intentions, though for sure some would still be upset.

They have said that they are looking at adjacent clusters.

They can't give iron-clad guarantees about time and distance. It's a big county. One might almost say that it's a big and diverse county. And my guess is, whatever miles/number of minutes to the assigned school you consider intolerable, there are kids in MCPS who have that as their current reality.

So you're attitude is, "It's bad already, so why not make it worse?"

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

I'm the PP who opposes long bus rides and I'd agree with you that, if the BOE is going to make boundary changes, the kind that make the most sense deal with balancing capacity issues in adjacent clusters. Will some people complain? Of course. If the BOE assures the public that any school assignment changes will be limited to shifting kids among adjacent clusters and gives some iron-clad guarantees that kids will not be bused beyond "X" miles or "X" number of minutes, I think fewer people would be suspicious of the BOE's intentions, though for sure some would still be upset.

They have said that they are looking at adjacent clusters.

They can't give iron-clad guarantees about time and distance. It's a big county. One might almost say that it's a big and diverse county. And my guess is, whatever miles/number of minutes to the assigned school you consider intolerable, there are kids in MCPS who have that as their current reality.

So you're attitude is, "It's bad already, so why not make it worse?"

No. My attitude is, "It's bad, so I support the boundary analysis to examine possibilities for making it better."

What's your attitude about the boundary analysis?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:thing is - What's good for my kids (short bus ride or walk) is good for ALL kids.

But if it ain't broke for my kid, don't mess with our situation.

Why would I want to uproot my kid - only to place him/her in some school farther out?

This is why we moved over a year ago - b/c I knew the system was grasping at anything to keep it afloat at the most superficial level.

no thanks

Yes, I also believe that MCPS/BoE should make decisions based on what's best for my individual children. Of course, what's best for my individual children may not be what's best for your individual children. That might be a problem.

not a problem for us b/c we moved

These chess moves don't hit the root of the dysfunction; they're simply PC measures that make MCPS APPEAR to address the achievement gaps. HCPS will not see changes after the redistricting, and neither will MCPS.

There's no discipline. Teachers are left on their own. Grades are a joke. Deadlines disappeared. Exams are gone, and attendance is whatever you want it to be.

but the most dangerous measure of all? requiring that teachers become psychologists, social workers, and counselors
slippery slope, folks - And it's happening right under your noses.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

I'm the PP who opposes long bus rides and I'd agree with you that, if the BOE is going to make boundary changes, the kind that make the most sense deal with balancing capacity issues in adjacent clusters. Will some people complain? Of course. If the BOE assures the public that any school assignment changes will be limited to shifting kids among adjacent clusters and gives some iron-clad guarantees that kids will not be bused beyond "X" miles or "X" number of minutes, I think fewer people would be suspicious of the BOE's intentions, though for sure some would still be upset.

They have said that they are looking at adjacent clusters.

They can't give iron-clad guarantees about time and distance. It's a big county. One might almost say that it's a big and diverse county. And my guess is, whatever miles/number of minutes to the assigned school you consider intolerable, there are kids in MCPS who have that as their current reality.

So you're attitude is, "It's bad already, so why not make it worse?"

No. My attitude is, "It's bad, so I support the boundary analysis to examine possibilities for making it better."

What's your attitude about the boundary analysis?

My attitude is that I'm suspicious of the BOE's intentions. Adjusting boundaries in adjoining clusters to address imbalances in school capacity, while still prioritizing neighborhood schools, is sometimes unpopular, but it makes sense. Going beyond that, and making kids (of all economic backgrounds and races) ride buses for long distances/commute times to balance out FARMS rates across schools and paper over the fact that MCPS has thrown in the towel on improving neighborhood schools in poorer neighborhoods, is not acceptable.