School district sued for their math placement policy

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:FCPS parents are kept in the dark about math acceleration options such as Algebra1 in 6th grade, and lack of that awareness impacts URM families the most. Equity battalion wants to limit URM students to general ed and remedial classes.

Algebra1 at 6th grade needs recommendation for math teacher in 4th grade so that the student can take IAAT at 5th grade. It's only for the most advanced students. It is not healthy to advocating for Algebra1 in 6th grade.

That's how URM students are being suppressed. It is insulting and racist to tell students that advanced education is unhealthy, especially when students nationwide succeed in advanced math at a higher rate after enrollment.

It can be unhealthy to advocate Algebra I in 6th grade, for example, for Asian students, because every Asian family would be prepping for that and it creates unnecessary stress. Nobody is gatekeeping URM to Algebra I, you are free to go to Kumon and do 10 math worksheets every day from 1st grade to 6th grade, EVERY DAY including vacation, holidays, sick or well, to get to 2 levels above grade, then come back to say you are discriminated against.

Is that the fear? Asian students already dominate advanced math classes, and if barriers are removed for URM students, it would also mean no barriers for Asian students, potentially leading to a complete asian student takeover of advanced math?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:FCPS parents are kept in the dark about math acceleration options such as Algebra1 in 6th grade, and lack of that awareness impacts URM families the most. Equity battalion wants to limit URM students to general ed and remedial classes.

Algebra1 at 6th grade needs recommendation for math teacher in 4th grade so that the student can take IAAT at 5th grade. It's only for the most advanced students. It is not healthy to advocating for Algebra1 in 6th grade.

That's how URM students are being suppressed. It is insulting and racist to tell students that advanced education is unhealthy, especially when students nationwide succeed in advanced math at a higher rate after enrollment.

It can be unhealthy to advocate Algebra I in 6th grade, for example, for Asian students, because every Asian family would be prepping for that and it creates unnecessary stress. Nobody is gatekeeping URM to Algebra I, you are free to go to Kumon and do 10 math worksheets every day from 1st grade to 6th grade, EVERY DAY including vacation, holidays, sick or well, to get to 2 levels above grade, then come back to say you are discriminated against.

FCPS can use all the might that budget allows, but they can't stop some students from dedicating their time to prepping for basketball, others for baseball, and yet another segment for math.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's only a matter of time before parents sue FCPS for creating numerous barriers that prevent any advanced 6th-grade students from enrolling in Algebra 1.

Based on what state law?

A series of them, but can start with discrimination against URM students access to advanced math.

Again, what state law? It's conveniently all online

https://law.lis.virginia.gov/vacode/

What law do you think FCPS 6th grade math placement violates?

Current laws and policies are discriminatory. If they weren't, one would see many URMs in advanced math, not in gen ed and remedial.

The AAP equity report showed that URMs were being placed in AAP with significantly lower test scores than white and Asian kids. If anything, FCPS is bending over backward to try to find any URMs who might have the slightest chance of being successful in advanced classes.

That is the problem. By lowering the bar, FCPS is implying that URM students cannot get into advanced classes on their own merit. By creating a substandard entry point, now the URM students are being setup for failure. Instead if URM students and most importantly their parents were informed on the all advanced acceleration options, especially algbera 1 in 6th grade, and increase awareness of what it truly takes to get there, more URM families have a better chance of preparing their students for success.

Things like Young Scholars is FCPS trying to get families dialed in on acceleration opportunities. FCPS does many things very poorly, but saying the purposefully hide 6th grade Algebra 1 from URMs is just absurd and you know it. They purposefully hide it from everyone so they don't have 11 year olds tanking their high school GPAs!

that's your made up BS. Every statistic out there proves there is 90%+ success after advanced enrollment is "allowed". Right here at, FCPS, LCPS, etc., students that enrolled in Algebra 2 in 8th grade, have a 98% success rate.

They only have a 90%+ success rate because they handpick kids who have already demonstrated that they're ready. Simply cramming unready kids into 6th grade Algebra would be a disaster and would not serve anyone's interests.

Perhaps you should direct your focus to 7th grade Algebra instead. FCPS is very clear on the benchmarks that must be met to be eligible, and despite that, the URMs are very under-represented in 7th grade Algebra.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's only a matter of time before parents sue FCPS for creating numerous barriers that prevent any advanced 6th-grade students from enrolling in Algebra 1.

Based on what state law?

A series of them, but can start with discrimination against URM students access to advanced math.

The exact same benchmarks must be met for any student of any race to qualify for algebra in 6th or 7th grade. URMs are held to the exact same standard as everyone else, and in fact the VDOE SOL report shows that there were a few URMs among the 30 kids who took 6th grade Algebra.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
The AAP equity report showed that URMs were being placed in AAP with significantly lower test scores than white and Asian kids. If anything, FCPS is bending over backward to try to find any URMs who might have the slightest chance of being successful in advanced classes.

Not necessarily. How are AAP centers spread out? If certain schools or clusters of schools are heavy minorities and have their own AAP, then taking the top students for this center would get lower scores through.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's only a matter of time before parents sue FCPS for creating numerous barriers that prevent any advanced 6th-grade students from enrolling in Algebra 1.

Based on what state law?

A series of them, but can start with discrimination against URM students access to advanced math.

Again, what state law? It's conveniently all online

https://law.lis.virginia.gov/vacode/

What law do you think FCPS 6th grade math placement violates?

Current laws and policies are discriminatory. If they weren't, one would see many URMs in advanced math, not in gen ed and remedial.

The AAP equity report showed that URMs were being placed in AAP with significantly lower test scores than white and Asian kids. If anything, FCPS is bending over backward to try to find any URMs who might have the slightest chance of being successful in advanced classes.

That is the problem. By lowering the bar, FCPS is implying that URM students cannot get into advanced classes on their own merit. By creating a substandard entry point, now the URM students are being setup for failure. Instead if URM students and most importantly their parents were informed on the all advanced acceleration options, especially algbera 1 in 6th grade, and increase awareness of what it truly takes to get there, more URM families have a better chance of preparing their students for success.

They are not setting up for failure. A gifted program should select the top students at that school, even if they re behind countywide. Unlike a magnet school, the local AAP can be adjusted to meet the students they are teaching.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's only a matter of time before parents sue FCPS for creating numerous barriers that prevent any advanced 6th-grade students from enrolling in Algebra 1.

Based on what state law?

A series of them, but can start with discrimination against URM students access to advanced math.

Again, what state law? It's conveniently all online

https://law.lis.virginia.gov/vacode/

What law do you think FCPS 6th grade math placement violates?

Current laws and policies are discriminatory. If they weren't, one would see many URMs in advanced math, not in gen ed and remedial.

The AAP equity report showed that URMs were being placed in AAP with significantly lower test scores than white and Asian kids. If anything, FCPS is bending over backward to try to find any URMs who might have the slightest chance of being successful in advanced classes.

That is the problem. By lowering the bar, FCPS is implying that URM students cannot get into advanced classes on their own merit. By creating a substandard entry point, now the URM students are being setup for failure. Instead if URM students and most importantly their parents were informed on the all advanced acceleration options, especially algbera 1 in 6th grade, and increase awareness of what it truly takes to get there, more URM families have a better chance of preparing their students for success.

Things like Young Scholars is FCPS trying to get families dialed in on acceleration opportunities. FCPS does many things very poorly, but saying the purposefully hide 6th grade Algebra 1 from URMs is just absurd and you know it. They purposefully hide it from everyone so they don't have 11 year olds tanking their high school GPAs!

that's your made up BS. Every statistic out there proves there is 90%+ success after advanced enrollment is "allowed". Right here at, FCPS, LCPS, etc., students that enrolled in Algebra 2 in 8th grade, have a 98% success rate.

They only have a 90%+ success rate because they handpick kids who have already demonstrated that they're ready. Simply cramming unready kids into 6th grade Algebra would be a disaster and would not serve anyone's interests.

Perhaps you should direct your focus to 7th grade Algebra instead. FCPS is very clear on the benchmarks that must be met to be eligible, and despite that, the URMs are very under-represented in 7th grade Algebra.

Agreed. Manby more would be able to get into 6th grade prealgebra.