Sign Petition Asking for Boundaries Now, Programs Later

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why do so many DCC people lottery out of Kennedy? Is it racial makeup, lack of class offerings, behavior, something else?

It is striking the Kennedy is so underutilized.

No, it’s not as most families don’t want to send their kids there, just like you wouldn’t. Having Kennedy as a smaller school is not a bad thing given the needs at that school are so high.

But it has space, and other schools are overcrowded. It looks like a lot of people lotterying out. Why? Why don’t people want to send their kids to Kennedy?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We will never get anywhere with an us vs them mentality.

That’s how it’s always been as the divide is huge. We are paying for a much better education for some kids while others go without.

That is simply not true. If you moved the population of Whitman into Kennedy’s building with their existing teachers/classes/schedules, the kids would still flourish due to their home life. The better education you seek is right in your school. Without the countywide magnets to pull kids out, each school will have a healthy group of high achievers who can track together. MCPS cannot change the demographics of the county and people from all areas of the county have prioritized shorter commutes to school, so the schools are set. If you don’t like the peers at your child’s school that is a YOU problem and not an MCPS problem. Or you can move. Nobody really cares. Schools choice for the DCC (and only the DCC) is a silly thing to fight for.

The petition asks to slow the regional program implementation and does not ask to keep the DCC and only for the DCC.

The petition very much advocates for school choice for the DCC.

Read again. It does not. It notes the sudden elimination of the DCC as one of many concerns. But the three asks at the bottom do not mention DCC at all.

Try all you want to argue how it should be read by other rational adults, who can also read the plain language about being concerned about the end of school choice.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We will never get anywhere with an us vs them mentality.

That’s how it’s always been as the divide is huge. We are paying for a much better education for some kids while others go without.

That is simply not true. If you moved the population of Whitman into Kennedy’s building with their existing teachers/classes/schedules, the kids would still flourish due to their home life. The better education you seek is right in your school. Without the countywide magnets to pull kids out, each school will have a healthy group of high achievers who can track together. MCPS cannot change the demographics of the county and people from all areas of the county have prioritized shorter commutes to school, so the schools are set. If you don’t like the peers at your child’s school that is a YOU problem and not an MCPS problem. Or you can move. Nobody really cares. Schools choice for the DCC (and only the DCC) is a silly thing to fight for.

The petition asks to slow the regional program implementation and does not ask to keep the DCC and only for the DCC.

The petition very much advocates for school choice for the DCC.

Read again. It does not. It notes the sudden elimination of the DCC as one of many concerns. But the three asks at the bottom do not mention DCC at all.

Try all you want to argue how it should be read by other rational adults, who can also read the plain language about being concerned about the end of school choice.

You keep lying by implying the petition demands "school choice for DCC but not for thee" when what it actually asks for is for MCPS to take more time to develop a refined regional program model:

"Support the MCCPTA resolution to delay implementation of the regional model, allowing the final plan to be refined according to actual school attendance and community needs and providing greater clarity on school choice and magnet program access at both the middle and high school levels."

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why do so many DCC people lottery out of Kennedy? Is it racial makeup, lack of class offerings, behavior, something else?

It is striking the Kennedy is so underutilized.

No, it’s not as most families don’t want to send their kids there, just like you wouldn’t. Having Kennedy as a smaller school is not a bad thing given the needs at that school are so high.

But it has space, and other schools are overcrowded. It looks like a lot of people lotterying out. Why? Why don’t people want to send their kids to Kennedy?

Why do you think? Would you send your kids to Kennedy?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We will never get anywhere with an us vs them mentality.

That’s how it’s always been as the divide is huge. We are paying for a much better education for some kids while others go without.

That is simply not true. If you moved the population of Whitman into Kennedy’s building with their existing teachers/classes/schedules, the kids would still flourish due to their home life. The better education you seek is right in your school. Without the countywide magnets to pull kids out, each school will have a healthy group of high achievers who can track together. MCPS cannot change the demographics of the county and people from all areas of the county have prioritized shorter commutes to school, so the schools are set. If you don’t like the peers at your child’s school that is a YOU problem and not an MCPS problem. Or you can move. Nobody really cares. Schools choice for the DCC (and only the DCC) is a silly thing to fight for.

The petition asks to slow the regional program implementation and does not ask to keep the DCC and only for the DCC.

The petition very much advocates for school choice for the DCC.

Read again. It does not. It notes the sudden elimination of the DCC as one of many concerns. But the three asks at the bottom do not mention DCC at all.

Try all you want to argue how it should be read by other rational adults, who can also read the plain language about being concerned about the end of school choice.

You keep lying by implying the petition demands "school choice for DCC but not for thee" when what it actually asks for is for MCPS to take more time to develop a refined regional program model:

"Support the MCCPTA resolution to delay implementation of the regional model, allowing the final plan to be refined according to actual school attendance and community needs and providing greater clarity on school choice and magnet program access at both the middle and high school levels."

“We are concerned about the elimination of school choice”. It’s right there in the petition.

You are strawmanning that I or someone is claiming differential school choice for DCC.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why do so many DCC people lottery out of Kennedy? Is it racial makeup, lack of class offerings, behavior, something else?

It is striking the Kennedy is so underutilized.

No, it’s not as most families don’t want to send their kids there, just like you wouldn’t. Having Kennedy as a smaller school is not a bad thing given the needs at that school are so high.

But it has space, and other schools are overcrowded. It looks like a lot of people lotterying out. Why? Why don’t people want to send their kids to Kennedy?

Why do you think? Would you send your kids to Kennedy?

I don’t know. I don’t know anything about the school and don’t have friends who are
Zoned for Kennedy. I have friends in TP and up through Kensington, but the topic of Kennedy has never come up. They like Blair and Einstein.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don't understand how the DCC makes it a lot easier to access high-level STEM classes than the proposed new model. As far as I can tell, the 2 schools in the DCC that have a lot of STEM classes are Blair and Wheaton- is that right? Now these 2 schools will be in different regions, but there will be other schools in those regions with strong STEM offerings.

Also the DCC doesn't mean you can choose whichever school you want; you have to be selected from the lottery.

Location and with the new model less kids will have the opportunity to go. Bussing kids to Whitman is a nightmare. You have to get them back and forth to their home school and for when they go late or early you are fully responsible for transportation regardless of your job, other kids, and going cross county in traffic. Wheaton and Whitman are much closer. Plus, the culture is very different. We could afford to live in a w school area and choose not to.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why do so many DCC people lottery out of Kennedy? Is it racial makeup, lack of class offerings, behavior, something else?

It is striking the Kennedy is so underutilized.

No, it’s not as most families don’t want to send their kids there, just like you wouldn’t. Having Kennedy as a smaller school is not a bad thing given the needs at that school are so high.

But it has space, and other schools are overcrowded. It looks like a lot of people lotterying out. Why? Why don’t people want to send their kids to Kennedy?

Why do you think? Would you send your kids to Kennedy?

I don’t know. I don’t know anything about the school and don’t have friends who are
Zoned for Kennedy. I have friends in TP and up through Kensington, but the topic of Kennedy has never come up. They like Blair and Einstein.

Take the time to learn about the schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why do so many DCC people lottery out of Kennedy? Is it racial makeup, lack of class offerings, behavior, something else?

It is striking the Kennedy is so underutilized.

No, it’s not as most families don’t want to send their kids there, just like you wouldn’t. Having Kennedy as a smaller school is not a bad thing given the needs at that school are so high.

But it has space, and other schools are overcrowded. It looks like a lot of people lotterying out. Why? Why don’t people want to send their kids to Kennedy?

Why do you think? Would you send your kids to Kennedy?

Are you just not trying to say a quiet part out loud? Race? Gangs? Crime? What?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't understand how the DCC makes it a lot easier to access high-level STEM classes than the proposed new model. As far as I can tell, the 2 schools in the DCC that have a lot of STEM classes are Blair and Wheaton- is that right? Now these 2 schools will be in different regions, but there will be other schools in those regions with strong STEM offerings.

Also the DCC doesn't mean you can choose whichever school you want; you have to be selected from the lottery.

Location and with the new model less kids will have the opportunity to go. Bussing kids to Whitman is a nightmare. You have to get them back and forth to their home school and for when they go late or early you are fully responsible for transportation regardless of your job, other kids, and going cross county in traffic. Wheaton and Whitman are much closer. Plus, the culture is very different. We could afford to live in a w school area and choose not to.

And, if you don’t get into the magnets you can try to lottery or cosa in and still take stem. Wheaton and Blair are 10-15 one way, Whitman could easily be 30 minutes driving directly. More either way traffic.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We will never get anywhere with an us vs them mentality.

That’s how it’s always been as the divide is huge. We are paying for a much better education for some kids while others go without.

That is simply not true. If you moved the population of Whitman into Kennedy’s building with their existing teachers/classes/schedules, the kids would still flourish due to their home life. The better education you seek is right in your school. Without the countywide magnets to pull kids out, each school will have a healthy group of high achievers who can track together. MCPS cannot change the demographics of the county and people from all areas of the county have prioritized shorter commutes to school, so the schools are set. If you don’t like the peers at your child’s school that is a YOU problem and not an MCPS problem. Or you can move. Nobody really cares. Schools choice for the DCC (and only the DCC) is a silly thing to fight for.

The petition asks to slow the regional program implementation and does not ask to keep the DCC and only for the DCC.

The petition very much advocates for school choice for the DCC.

Read again. It does not. It notes the sudden elimination of the DCC as one of many concerns. But the three asks at the bottom do not mention DCC at all.

Try all you want to argue how it should be read by other rational adults, who can also read the plain language about being concerned about the end of school choice.

You keep lying by implying the petition demands "school choice for DCC but not for thee" when what it actually asks for is for MCPS to take more time to develop a refined regional program model:

"Support the MCCPTA resolution to delay implementation of the regional model, allowing the final plan to be refined according to actual school attendance and community needs and providing greater clarity on school choice and magnet program access at both the middle and high school levels."

“We are concerned about the elimination of school choice”. It’s right there in the petition.

You are strawmanning that I or someone is claiming differential school choice for DCC.

Yes, the DCC is concerned about the current options we have being taken away and the thing it is being replaced with doesn't address the negatives of the DCC - it just expands them to the whole county. It's not a demand to keep everything the same. The demands are clearly stated at the bottom of the letter and do not include keeping the DCC.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't understand how the DCC makes it a lot easier to access high-level STEM classes than the proposed new model. As far as I can tell, the 2 schools in the DCC that have a lot of STEM classes are Blair and Wheaton- is that right? Now these 2 schools will be in different regions, but there will be other schools in those regions with strong STEM offerings.

Also the DCC doesn't mean you can choose whichever school you want; you have to be selected from the lottery.

Location and with the new model less kids will have the opportunity to go. Bussing kids to Whitman is a nightmare. You have to get them back and forth to their home school and for when they go late or early you are fully responsible for transportation regardless of your job, other kids, and going cross county in traffic. Wheaton and Whitman are much closer. Plus, the culture is very different. We could afford to live in a w school area and choose not to.

And, if you don’t get into the magnets you can try to lottery or cosa in and still take stem. Wheaton and Blair are 10-15 one way, Whitman could easily be 30 minutes driving directly. More either way traffic.

The time complaints ring hollow when many of the DCC kids already choose 45+ minute bus rides.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't understand how the DCC makes it a lot easier to access high-level STEM classes than the proposed new model. As far as I can tell, the 2 schools in the DCC that have a lot of STEM classes are Blair and Wheaton- is that right? Now these 2 schools will be in different regions, but there will be other schools in those regions with strong STEM offerings.

Also the DCC doesn't mean you can choose whichever school you want; you have to be selected from the lottery.

Location and with the new model less kids will have the opportunity to go. Bussing kids to Whitman is a nightmare. You have to get them back and forth to their home school and for when they go late or early you are fully responsible for transportation regardless of your job, other kids, and going cross county in traffic. Wheaton and Whitman are much closer. Plus, the culture is very different. We could afford to live in a w school area and choose not to.

And, if you don’t get into the magnets you can try to lottery or cosa in and still take stem. Wheaton and Blair are 10-15 one way, Whitman could easily be 30 minutes driving directly. More either way traffic.

The time complaints ring hollow when many of the DCC kids already choose 45+ minute bus rides.

What you are saying is: "A small number of DCC kids currently in high school have chosen long commutes to access the same courses Whitman and BCC kids have at their home schools, so it's okay to make future DCC kids travel further". What kind of a POS are you?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why do so many DCC people lottery out of Kennedy? Is it racial makeup, lack of class offerings, behavior, something else?

It is striking the Kennedy is so underutilized.

It's at 81% utilization, which is within the recommended range. Also, it just had an addition completed a couple years ago, in advance of the current boundary study.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't understand how the DCC makes it a lot easier to access high-level STEM classes than the proposed new model. As far as I can tell, the 2 schools in the DCC that have a lot of STEM classes are Blair and Wheaton- is that right? Now these 2 schools will be in different regions, but there will be other schools in those regions with strong STEM offerings.

Also the DCC doesn't mean you can choose whichever school you want; you have to be selected from the lottery.

Location and with the new model less kids will have the opportunity to go. Bussing kids to Whitman is a nightmare. You have to get them back and forth to their home school and for when they go late or early you are fully responsible for transportation regardless of your job, other kids, and going cross county in traffic. Wheaton and Whitman are much closer. Plus, the culture is very different. We could afford to live in a w school area and choose not to.

And, if you don’t get into the magnets you can try to lottery or cosa in and still take stem. Wheaton and Blair are 10-15 one way, Whitman could easily be 30 minutes driving directly. More either way traffic.

The time complaints ring hollow when many of the DCC kids already choose 45+ minute bus rides.

The regional model only provides bus service from the home schools - that means your child has to get there by either walking or you (and we are talking about kids getting there at 6-6:30 AM across dangerous roads). The DCC has centralized bus stops to pick up kids, especially at local elementary schools, which is a safer walk. Some of these communities don't have sidewalks and other safety measures in place.

There is a big difference from a 45-minute bus ride that has multiple stops to a 15-minute car ride.

You also need to factor in kids staying late or go in early for sports, activities, and extra assistance from teachers, and it requires parent transportation to those schools and that's not realistic for most families.

Many of the DCC families are lower income so when kids are driving age, they cannot afford to buy the kids a car, insurance, gas, maintenance and many schools don't have parking.

It's also a big cultural difference between Whitman and the other W schools and the DCC schools.

It's great if you can make all that driving work, on top of outside activities and sports but many cannot.

The other issue is friendships. Given the distance, it's very hard for kids to maintain friendships out of school and would you allow your child to visit a friend in their community that you would never live in and spend hours on here bashing? Of course not.

DCC schools are nice as there isn't the same culture in terms of material things, how kids dress, expensive sneakers and everyone outdoing each other.