Please Read! Are we putting the blame about Prince Georges County on the wrong people?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Ok. And what do you propose we do about it, OP? I see a post about a problem, but no solutions coming from you. And we all know that PG County's government and the school district have had problems with accountability and corruption. I don't think anyone believes, given the high taxes we are paying, that our children are getting our money's worth.

First solution is to actually hold them accountable by showing them that similar demographics are getting better results and stop falling for the "myths" as to why were not. In doing that their will be more accountability, because their doing what we are demanding right next door so it can be done because it is being done.

When you say similar demographics are you assuming that all black students are the same? What's the poverty rate in some of those other schools? Are any of them selective admission?

The poverty rate in the schools OP posted is much lower than in most of PGCPS high schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
I as a resident am loyal to and love the county, but it is assumed that our high crime rate (in relation to neighboring counties) is because of our proximity to the poor areas of Washington, DC.

No, convention wisdom is that as poorer areas of DC gentrify and the poorest people are pushed out, they are moving to PG County being the cheapest nearest place to move into.

Honestly the only "solution" to this problem is to gentrify PG county as well and push the poorest people... out somewhere else.

Thats true but PG refused to gentrify. The residents want it but the County govt refuses. Its weird

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I live in Charles County and live near both the high schools you mentioned. My children are zoned for North Point.

I think you need to examine the SES for the schools in PG vs. the CC schools that you've cited -- you are not making an apples to apples comparison (except on race -- which is problematic)

The FARMS rate of PG High Schools have been trending upward significantly in the last 10 years (33% in 2004 to 56% in 2015)

The FARMS rate of Charles County HS has increased too -- but it's about half of PG's at 29% in 2015. North Point only has 17% and Westlake is at 32%. Roosevelt is at 42.5%.

(Got all of the above data from http://reportcard.msde.maryland.gov/)

Even though the kids in these CC schools are predominately black, these are not poor children. They are middle to upper-middle class children. The neighborhoods feeding into NP and WL are subdivisions that are typically less than 30 years old, have at least 1/4 acre lots, and 3000+ sq ft McMansions. Go to city-data.com and look at the discrepancies in wealth, housing, and education between the zip codes feeding into NP and WL (20601, 20603) and Roosevelt (20770)

The issue isn't that the kids are black - it's that they are poor.

Agreed.
A Brookings Institution article just came out last week showing direct correlation between parents' education and their children's success in school. The higher the secondary education, the greater the leaps in their child's achievement including test scores. A neighborhood where the majority of the parents have college, graduate, or post-graduate degrees is not poor.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
I as a resident am loyal to and love the county, but it is assumed that our high crime rate (in relation to neighboring counties) is because of our proximity to the poor areas of Washington, DC.

No, convention wisdom is that as poorer areas of DC gentrify and the poorest people are pushed out, they are moving to PG County being the cheapest nearest place to move into.

Honestly the only "solution" to this problem is to gentrify PG county as well and push the poorest people... out somewhere else.

Thats true but PG refused to gentrify. The residents want it but the County govt refuses. Its weird

???

Which residents want it???

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
I as a resident am loyal to and love the county, but it is assumed that our high crime rate (in relation to neighboring counties) is because of our proximity to the poor areas of Washington, DC.

No, convention wisdom is that as poorer areas of DC gentrify and the poorest people are pushed out, they are moving to PG County being the cheapest nearest place to move into.

Honestly the only "solution" to this problem is to gentrify PG county as well and push the poorest people... out somewhere else.

Thats true but PG refused to gentrify. The residents want it but the County govt refuses. Its weird[/quote


This doesn't make sense. Gentrification happens when people see opportunities for themselves and can take advantage of an area that is struggling. It often happens at the expense of current residents. What are you suggesting is "on offer" for your potential gentrifiers? For the most part, I see cheaper housing and few attractive school options. In the local communities where the neighborhoods have strong ( usually cross- race) communities and near by decent school options housing prices have already risen, so that's no call for folks looking for a housing bargain. Gentrification also often happens when there is beautiful older housing stock that can be renovated into homes of beauty. Not much of that available. One other factor is walkability. Hyattsville is an example of some options. However, it's not inexpensive at this point and public school options are limited. McMansions do not draw home improvement couples looking to dandy up a nice house they couldn't otherwise afford. With increased poverty rates, and transient student populations, it's difficult to trend up with test scores. Not impossible, and every effort should be made but difficult. Plus, there's a shrinking tax base to support it. It's a hard situation, but I don't see where gentrification fits in.

[Anonymous]

Unless you mean just growing the middle class, which would require stronger schools.

[Anonymous]

The fastest way to raise test scores in a given school in a low income area, would be to find the apartment complexes zoned for that school, and get the landlord to raise the rents $100-$250 a month.