Hypocrisy about diverse schools

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I feel like we are digressing in this conversation. This is not about race; it's about SES. I think it's clear that many parents want a diverse school as long as it doesn't impede their child's chances of having a high-achieving peer cohort. Because most parents don't have recent first hand experience when researching schools, they look at the available data, the FARMS rate; and evaluate if they're comfortable with that. The level of comfort varies from family to family.

That's true, if by "most parents", you mean, "many parents in the DCUM demographic".

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
Economic or racial/cultural diversity or both?
You need to specify, because my kids go to a very culturally diverse school that doesn't have a lot of lower-income families.

As I said before on other threads, I don't think anyone cares about people's skin color. What they do care about is that there is a sufficient number of families at school that prioritize education and academic achievement. And that is directly linked to income. It's not that lower-income families don't care, it's that they often don't have the means to push. And there are exceptions among the wealthy as well. But statistically (a word that a lot of people on DCUM do not understand), all this is true.

Absolutely!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
Economic or racial/cultural diversity or both?
You need to specify, because my kids go to a very culturally diverse school that doesn't have a lot of lower-income families.

As I said before on other threads, I don't think anyone cares about people's skin color. What they do care about is that there is a sufficient number of families at school that prioritize education and academic achievement. And that is directly linked to income. It's not that lower-income families don't care, it's that they often don't have the means to push. And there are exceptions among the wealthy as well. But statistically (a word that a lot of people on DCUM do not understand), all this is true.

Absolutely!

yup everyone knows this the question is is this classist/racist

i

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
But we value other things too. We value public transportation and walkable community- like being around farmers markets etc. we wouldn’t have that if we moved further out.

Actually these things do exist out in higher ranked areas too. The Shady Grove red line is close to W schools so there are parents who drive 5-10 minutes and then take the metro. There are farmers markets all over. Many areas that feed into RM are walkable -Fallsgrove, RTC and there are tons of farmers markets. Wootton is getting an area with Trader Joe's, restaurants etc off Travilah RD. Churchill has Park Potomac and the Village. QO has Lakelands and the Kentlands.

Right, but those areas would add a ton of time to our commute. So we prefer close-in SS, and have been very happy with the schools. Yes, there are more lower SES kids in the schools, but they do a great job of having a mix of classes for all types of abilities. My children are in a very competitive cohort. We brought in our starter home, but love the area so much instead of moving out of the DCC we renovated and are staying in our house.

It wouldn't add time to your commute if you are taking the metro.

LOL. These areas you talked about are just plain further away from the city then close in SS. It just is what it is. One of my fave phenoms on DCUM is people trying to convince themselves their commute is the same as people who live closer to the city.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
But we value other things too. We value public transportation and walkable community- like being around farmers markets etc. we wouldn’t have that if we moved further out.

Actually these things do exist out in higher ranked areas too. The Shady Grove red line is close to W schools so there are parents who drive 5-10 minutes and then take the metro. There are farmers markets all over. Many areas that feed into RM are walkable -Fallsgrove, RTC and there are tons of farmers markets. Wootton is getting an area with Trader Joe's, restaurants etc off Travilah RD. Churchill has Park Potomac and the Village. QO has Lakelands and the Kentlands.

Right, but those areas would add a ton of time to our commute. So we prefer close-in SS, and have been very happy with the schools. Yes, there are more lower SES kids in the schools, but they do a great job of having a mix of classes for all types of abilities. My children are in a very competitive cohort. We brought in our starter home, but love the area so much instead of moving out of the DCC we renovated and are staying in our house.

It wouldn't add time to your commute if you are taking the metro.

LOL. These areas you talked about are just plain further away from the city then close in SS. It just is what it is. One of my fave phenoms on DCUM is people trying to convince themselves their commute is the same as people who live closer to the city.

Well, believe it or not, one's commute is dependent on their destination; and guess what- not everyone works in the city.

[Anonymous]

This thread makes it perfectly clear that the diversity bus needs to make a stop at the W's ASAP. Thank god the school board is on top of this.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm getting really tired of posters making a huge point about how they value "diversity" and then in the VERY next sentence go on and on how there is a large enough high SES peer cohort at their diverse school with 20%-50% so their kids don't need to mix with the low income kids. This comes up constantly here.

What is the point of choosing a diverse school if you don't want your kids be friends and mix into classes with the low SES kids?

If you were only seeking a cheaper house in a more affordable area and then were pleasantly surprised that your kids got to avoid the poor kids in school, well then OK, at least own it. Don't go on about wanting diversity and in the next breath contradict yourself.

No one is saying the bolded, OP. That's your inference.

Here's the thing: when people claim that schools with, say, high FARMS rates are sh*tty and horrible and afford no one a good education, those of us with kids in such schools respond, actually, that's not true, in part because there's a cohort of kids, FARMS or not, who are in AP/IB/choose your accelerated class. *You* choose to interpret that as saying that we don't want our kids associating with the poor kids. Why would I want my kids to avoid the poor kids?

My guess is that posters like you are projecting their own avoidance of poor kids (which isn't okay, even when you're open about it). And then you're telling people to "own it"? Please.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I feel like we are digressing in this conversation. This is not about race; it's about SES. I think it's clear that many parents want a diverse school as long as it doesn't impede their child's chances of having a high-achieving peer cohort. Because most parents don't have recent first hand experience when researching schools, they look at the available data, the FARMS rate; and evaluate if they're comfortable with that. The level of comfort varies from family to family.

Forgive the rest of us if we’re not concerned about how “comfortable” other parents are with the existence of low-income children. Quick quiz: what percentage of all American public school children do you think get free lunch? A) 10% B) 20% C) 30% D) 50% ?

Irrelevant, we live in a sanctuary county. We get 40k-50k unskilled El salvadorians a year plus their 3-4 kids.
The rest of the country should be paying us for their schooling, healthcare, and socialization.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This thread makes it perfectly clear that the diversity bus needs to make a stop at the W's ASAP. Thank god the school board is on top of this.

You know what I love about our HUGE county and it’s oublic school bussing system? It is the #1 reason we have a ton of “snow days” and “delayed start” days. Sheer unconfidence in our bus drivers and driving at 6-10am in any weather other than sun and warm.

[Anonymous]

"Sanctuary county" + "county too big because snow days" = DCUM BINGO!

Thread over.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
But we value other things too. We value public transportation and walkable community- like being around farmers markets etc. we wouldn’t have that if we moved further out.

Actually these things do exist out in higher ranked areas too. The Shady Grove red line is close to W schools so there are parents who drive 5-10 minutes and then take the metro. There are farmers markets all over. Many areas that feed into RM are walkable -Fallsgrove, RTC and there are tons of farmers markets. Wootton is getting an area with Trader Joe's, restaurants etc off Travilah RD. Churchill has Park Potomac and the Village. QO has Lakelands and the Kentlands.

Right, but those areas would add a ton of time to our commute. So we prefer close-in SS, and have been very happy with the schools. Yes, there are more lower SES kids in the schools, but they do a great job of having a mix of classes for all types of abilities. My children are in a very competitive cohort. We brought in our starter home, but love the area so much instead of moving out of the DCC we renovated and are staying in our house.

It wouldn't add time to your commute if you are taking the metro.

LOL. These areas you talked about are just plain further away from the city then close in SS. It just is what it is. One of my fave phenoms on DCUM is people trying to convince themselves their commute is the same as people who live closer to the city.

Well, believe it or not, one's commute is dependent on their destination; and guess what- not everyone works in the city.

But most people do, and the person from close in SS clearly does. Yet you were twisting yourself in pretzels to convince that poster to move to y your neighborhood much, much further out.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I feel like we are digressing in this conversation. This is not about race; it's about SES. I think it's clear that many parents want a diverse school as long as it doesn't impede their child's chances of having a high-achieving peer cohort. Because most parents don't have recent first hand experience when researching schools, they look at the available data, the FARMS rate; and evaluate if they're comfortable with that. The level of comfort varies from family to family.

Forgive the rest of us if we’re not concerned about how “comfortable” other parents are with the existence of low-income children. Quick quiz: what percentage of all American public school children do you think get free lunch? A) 10% B) 20% C) 30% D) 50% ?

Irrelevant, we live in a sanctuary county. We get 40k-50k unskilled El salvadorians a year plus their 3-4 kids.
The rest of the country should be paying us for their schooling, healthcare, and socialization.

Troll, no one will take you seriously when you tell untruths and exaggerate like this.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm getting really tired of posters making a huge point about how they value "diversity" and then in the VERY next sentence go on and on how there is a large enough high SES peer cohort at their diverse school with 20%-50% so their kids don't need to mix with the low income kids. This comes up constantly here.

What is the point of choosing a diverse school if you don't want your kids be friends and mix into classes with the low SES kids?

If you were only seeking a cheaper house in a more affordable area and then were pleasantly surprised that your kids got to avoid the poor kids in school, well then OK, at least own it. Don't go on about wanting diversity and in the next breath contradict yourself.

\


We bought a starter home when were were 29 because we are boring, were ready to be out of the city, wanted a house and yard, and wanted to start building equity. We figured this was a starter home in maybe even a starter area. We were still years away from wanting kids.

When we did have kids and started researching, we were thrilled with the preschool options and excited about our elementary school, which is highly regarded here on DCUM - I've noticed most of the true bashing is usually about the high schools. But, we've been paying attention and are quite satisfied with what is happening in the middle and high school we are zoned for as well. I guess you can call it a pleasant surprise, though obviously it's come with years of research, talking to families, etc., so a little condescending to act like we woke up and realized all this one morning.

Our hood is mainly made up of dual income fed workers, lawyers, professors, scientists, etc. and so we know the cohort well. We are not in high school yet, so still time to move if need be, but seems like a ton of families have already experienced or are planning on heading to our zoned school. My oldest will start middle school next year and I'm very happy with the course load - including two invitation only courses for accelerated kids DC will take. And the language option is only available for kids who don't need to take reading, so kids who need less accelerated courses will be in the various reading intervention classes while my child will not.

I love our community and love that it is diverse. WAY more diverse than my experience and how I grew up. But I don't want that for my kids. Nor does my DH. I do want them to take the classes that challenge them and that may mean taking classes with a certain cohort. I don't see this as hypocrisy but YMMV.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
But we value other things too. We value public transportation and walkable community- like being around farmers markets etc. we wouldn’t have that if we moved further out.

Actually these things do exist out in higher ranked areas too. The Shady Grove red line is close to W schools so there are parents who drive 5-10 minutes and then take the metro. There are farmers markets all over. Many areas that feed into RM are walkable -Fallsgrove, RTC and there are tons of farmers markets. Wootton is getting an area with Trader Joe's, restaurants etc off Travilah RD. Churchill has Park Potomac and the Village. QO has Lakelands and the Kentlands.

Right, but those areas would add a ton of time to our commute. So we prefer close-in SS, and have been very happy with the schools. Yes, there are more lower SES kids in the schools, but they do a great job of having a mix of classes for all types of abilities. My children are in a very competitive cohort. We brought in our starter home, but love the area so much instead of moving out of the DCC we renovated and are staying in our house.

It wouldn't add time to your commute if you are taking the metro.

LOL. These areas you talked about are just plain further away from the city then close in SS. It just is what it is. One of my fave phenoms on DCUM is people trying to convince themselves their commute is the same as people who live closer to the city.

Well, believe it or not, one's commute is dependent on their destination; and guess what- not everyone works in the city.

But most people do, and the person from close in SS clearly does. Yet you were twisting yourself in pretzels to convince that poster to move to y your neighborhood much, much further out.

I was actually a new DP so Im not trying to convince anyone to move to the previous PPs neighborhood and I don't think she was either. She or he was saying that SS isn't the only area that has walkable neighborhoods which is true. And I was just saying that for some people a commute to DC isn't necessary. I work in Bethesda, husband works in Rockville. You do what works for your family. SS clearly works for yours. But where I live is perfect for my family. We're a big county with many people with different commuting needs.

[Anonymous]

In HOCO we don't have these problems with diversity. It's like stepping into a time machine back to the 1950s.