BOE/MCPS is a mess

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

I will try to say this as clearly as I can, for the benefit of others who may actually be interested. If a student does not live within the walk zone of any school, then they will ride a bus. This is the case for tens of thousands of students. Many of these students' neighborhoods without a closeby school are comparably distant from two or three schools to which they could reasonably ride a bus. When determining which of these non-walkable but also not-far schools a neighborhood should attend, MCPS looks at demographic characteristics so that the adjacent schools can have similarly diverse student bodies, when possible.

Thank you for finally agreeing that MCPS will race-balance schools with busing. Now what are we going to do about it? Because 90% of the people in the county value their closest school and don't value diversity very much. The BOE got it exactly wrong when they prioritized diversity in the boundary policy.

I would love to see a real statistically sound survey asking about the above scenario, which is what has been happening in the past several studies. I bet most people would be in favor of continuing the practice as described.

Then look at the study they did for Bayard Rustin. They proposed to move Twinbrook kids to Richie Park and vice versa. Everyone went nuts but especially Twinbrook parents. So the BOE didn't do it. That was before diversity was made the top priority in the boundary policy. If that study was performed today most likely the BOE would have ignored the will of the people involved and bused all those kids.

[Anonymous]

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The part that you left out is that, in every corner of the county, people said they overwhelmingly supported sending kids to their nearest school and that diversity wasn't that important to them.

You don't understand how surveys work do you?

You also don't care to concern yourself with the reality that currently, many students do not attend the school closest to them, the boundaries do not make sense even if you ignore diversity, and it is possible to improve utilization of existing space AND reduce segregation. The problem is, you think reducing segregation is inherently bad, which is why you keep prattling on about a wildly unrepresentative survey while completely ignoring decades of research showing why segregation in education is bad. But, nevermind all that, 90% of the people who filled out this online thing want to go to the school closest to them. Guess that's settled then.

I do. And I underatnad that if we look at the breakdown of each individual are of the county, proximity was overwhelmingly supported. Conversely, diversity was marked as not that important.

And I would have supported a countywide boundary study if the boundary policy hadn't been altered to prioritize diversity. Under the current diversity-priorotozed policy, kids cannot be moved to a closer school if it make the school less divers. Because of where people live, almost every move will be farther which is busing.

That is absolutely false. Nowhere in the policy does it say that.

I wish you were right. Unfortunately, during the largest boundary student to date under the new policy (Clarksburg), Sup. Smith said he couldn't choose one of the options most people preferred because it didn't advance the diversity factor enough. And that was in one of the most diverse areas of the county. Just imagine what they'll do I'm places like Bethesda, Damascus, and Silver Spring.

First of all, you are moving the goalposts. What you said above in bold above isn't the same thing as what you just said. Second, you conveniently omitted that Smith also said he couldn't choose other options because they didn't advance the proximity factor or they didn't advance the utilization factor. Which is how the process works.

Right. He didn't choose the worst busing option. He chose the second worst busing option.

Well then MCPS isn't all that interested in "busing."

Of course they are. Didn't you watch any of the BOE meetings? They said that increasing diversity was the most important thing they could do for the students. Busing is the only way to make that happen.

You're extrapolating there.

That's a C- on the DCUM Trolling scale

Incorrect. That was a direct quote.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Thank you for finally agreeing that MCPS will race-balance schools with busing. Now what are we going to do about it? Because 90% of the people in the county value their closest school and don't value diversity very much. The BOE got it exactly wrong when they prioritized diversity in the boundary policy.

Actually only about a third of respondents to the wildly unrepresentative survey actually went so far as to say diversity was "unimportant" to them. There are your Steve Austin supporters. Guess what, Steve Austin lost. Most people do want diversity.

Thanks for admitting what you mean by "busing". To you, "busing" doesn't refer to busing kids across the county, it doesn't mean busing kids particularly far, it just means changing school boundaries to reduce segregation, and you REALLY hate the idea of reducing segregation

Actually the more likely conclusion is that the way the law is constructed, anyone can vote for any school district; so this helps to boost the Apple Ballot slate. Remember that if everyone could only vote for At-Large and THEIR OWN Districts, there might be a better outcome than what we have now. (And if Steve Austin ran again, yes, I would vote for him!)

I noticed that your argument is "all-or-nothing". People want proximity over diversity, but not to say that they're necessarily against diversity - just that it shouldn't Trump proximity. It was a cute smear attempt though.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Thank you for finally agreeing that MCPS will race-balance schools with busing. Now what are we going to do about it? Because 90% of the people in the county value their closest school and don't value diversity very much. The BOE got it exactly wrong when they prioritized diversity in the boundary policy.

Actually only about a third of respondents to the wildly unrepresentative survey actually went so far as to say diversity was "unimportant" to them. There are your Steve Austin supporters. Guess what, Steve Austin lost. Most people do want diversity.

Thanks for admitting what you mean by "busing". To you, "busing" doesn't refer to busing kids across the county, it doesn't mean busing kids particularly far, it just means changing school boundaries to reduce segregation, and you REALLY hate the idea of reducing segregation

Actually the more likely conclusion is that the way the law is constructed, anyone can vote for any school district; so this helps to boost the Apple Ballot slate. Remember that if everyone could only vote for At-Large and THEIR OWN Districts, there might be a better outcome than what we have now. (And if Steve Austin ran again, yes, I would vote for him!)

I noticed that your argument is "all-or-nothing". People want proximity over diversity, but not to say that they're necessarily against diversity - just that it shouldn't Trump proximity. It was a cute smear attempt though.

While I don't think anyone is against diversity, if its a choice between diversity or proximity, the boundary analysis was clear - people overwhelmingly prefer proximity.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Thank you for finally agreeing that MCPS will race-balance schools with busing. Now what are we going to do about it? Because 90% of the people in the county value their closest school and don't value diversity very much. The BOE got it exactly wrong when they prioritized diversity in the boundary policy.

Actually only about a third of respondents to the wildly unrepresentative survey actually went so far as to say diversity was "unimportant" to them. There are your Steve Austin supporters. Guess what, Steve Austin lost. Most people do want diversity.

Thanks for admitting what you mean by "busing". To you, "busing" doesn't refer to busing kids across the county, it doesn't mean busing kids particularly far, it just means changing school boundaries to reduce segregation, and you REALLY hate the idea of reducing segregation

Exactly!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Thank you for finally agreeing that MCPS will race-balance schools with busing. Now what are we going to do about it? Because 90% of the people in the county value their closest school and don't value diversity very much. The BOE got it exactly wrong when they prioritized diversity in the boundary policy.

Actually only about a third of respondents to the wildly unrepresentative survey actually went so far as to say diversity was "unimportant" to them. There are your Steve Austin supporters. Guess what, Steve Austin lost. Most people do want diversity.

Thanks for admitting what you mean by "busing". To you, "busing" doesn't refer to busing kids across the county, it doesn't mean busing kids particularly far, it just means changing school boundaries to reduce segregation, and you REALLY hate the idea of reducing segregation

Actually the more likely conclusion is that the way the law is constructed, anyone can vote for any school district; so this helps to boost the Apple Ballot slate. Remember that if everyone could only vote for At-Large and THEIR OWN Districts, there might be a better outcome than what we have now. (And if Steve Austin ran again, yes, I would vote for him!)

I noticed that your argument is "all-or-nothing". People want proximity over diversity, but not to say that they're necessarily against diversity - just that it shouldn't Trump proximity. It was a cute smear attempt though.

While I don't think anyone is against diversity, if its a choice between diversity or proximity, the boundary analysis was clear - people overwhelmingly prefer proximity.

But of course that's not a real choice since you can have both.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Thank you for finally agreeing that MCPS will race-balance schools with busing. Now what are we going to do about it? Because 90% of the people in the county value their closest school and don't value diversity very much. The BOE got it exactly wrong when they prioritized diversity in the boundary policy.

Actually only about a third of respondents to the wildly unrepresentative survey actually went so far as to say diversity was "unimportant" to them. There are your Steve Austin supporters. Guess what, Steve Austin lost. Most people do want diversity.

Thanks for admitting what you mean by "busing". To you, "busing" doesn't refer to busing kids across the county, it doesn't mean busing kids particularly far, it just means changing school boundaries to reduce segregation, and you REALLY hate the idea of reducing segregation

Actually the more likely conclusion is that the way the law is constructed, anyone can vote for any school district; so this helps to boost the Apple Ballot slate. Remember that if everyone could only vote for At-Large and THEIR OWN Districts, there might be a better outcome than what we have now. (And if Steve Austin ran again, yes, I would vote for him!)

I noticed that your argument is "all-or-nothing". People want proximity over diversity, but not to say that they're necessarily against diversity - just that it shouldn't Trump proximity. It was a cute smear attempt though.

While I don't think anyone is against diversity, if its a choice between diversity or proximity, the boundary analysis was clear - people overwhelmingly prefer proximity.

But of course that's not a real choice since you can have both.

You can't because wealthy people live on one side of the county and poor people love on the other side. The only way to achieve the "ideal mix" is via busing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Thank you for finally agreeing that MCPS will race-balance schools with busing. Now what are we going to do about it? Because 90% of the people in the county value their closest school and don't value diversity very much. The BOE got it exactly wrong when they prioritized diversity in the boundary policy.

Actually only about a third of respondents to the wildly unrepresentative survey actually went so far as to say diversity was "unimportant" to them. There are your Steve Austin supporters. Guess what, Steve Austin lost. Most people do want diversity.

Thanks for admitting what you mean by "busing". To you, "busing" doesn't refer to busing kids across the county, it doesn't mean busing kids particularly far, it just means changing school boundaries to reduce segregation, and you REALLY hate the idea of reducing segregation

Actually the more likely conclusion is that the way the law is constructed, anyone can vote for any school district; so this helps to boost the Apple Ballot slate. Remember that if everyone could only vote for At-Large and THEIR OWN Districts, there might be a better outcome than what we have now. (And if Steve Austin ran again, yes, I would vote for him!)

I noticed that your argument is "all-or-nothing". People want proximity over diversity, but not to say that they're necessarily against diversity - just that it shouldn't Trump proximity. It was a cute smear attempt though.

While I don't think anyone is against diversity, if its a choice between diversity or proximity, the boundary analysis was clear - people overwhelmingly prefer proximity.

But of course that's not a real choice since you can have both.

You can't because wealthy people live on one side of the county and poor people love on the other side. The only way to achieve the "ideal mix" is via busing.

You might want to explore the county a bit since you really don't know anything. The PP was correct. This is a false choice.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Thank you for finally agreeing that MCPS will race-balance schools with busing. Now what are we going to do about it? Because 90% of the people in the county value their closest school and don't value diversity very much. The BOE got it exactly wrong when they prioritized diversity in the boundary policy.

Actually only about a third of respondents to the wildly unrepresentative survey actually went so far as to say diversity was "unimportant" to them. There are your Steve Austin supporters. Guess what, Steve Austin lost. Most people do want diversity.

Thanks for admitting what you mean by "busing". To you, "busing" doesn't refer to busing kids across the county, it doesn't mean busing kids particularly far, it just means changing school boundaries to reduce segregation, and you REALLY hate the idea of reducing segregation

Actually the more likely conclusion is that the way the law is constructed, anyone can vote for any school district; so this helps to boost the Apple Ballot slate. Remember that if everyone could only vote for At-Large and THEIR OWN Districts, there might be a better outcome than what we have now. (And if Steve Austin ran again, yes, I would vote for him!)

I noticed that your argument is "all-or-nothing". People want proximity over diversity, but not to say that they're necessarily against diversity - just that it shouldn't Trump proximity. It was a cute smear attempt though.

While I don't think anyone is against diversity, if its a choice between diversity or proximity, the boundary analysis was clear - people overwhelmingly prefer proximity.

But of course that's not a real choice since you can have both.

You can't because wealthy people live on one side of the county and poor people love on the other side. The only way to achieve the "ideal mix" is via busing.

You might want to explore the county a bit since you really don't know anything. The PP was correct. This is a false choice.

+1 yeah because all those people in $1 million+ homes in Woodside are so "poor" lol. Lots of nice houses in east county and you need $$$ to buy them. Maybe not $$$$$, but not poor either.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Thank you for finally agreeing that MCPS will race-balance schools with busing. Now what are we going to do about it? Because 90% of the people in the county value their closest school and don't value diversity very much. The BOE got it exactly wrong when they prioritized diversity in the boundary policy.

Actually only about a third of respondents to the wildly unrepresentative survey actually went so far as to say diversity was "unimportant" to them. There are your Steve Austin supporters. Guess what, Steve Austin lost. Most people do want diversity.

Thanks for admitting what you mean by "busing". To you, "busing" doesn't refer to busing kids across the county, it doesn't mean busing kids particularly far, it just means changing school boundaries to reduce segregation, and you REALLY hate the idea of reducing segregation

Actually the more likely conclusion is that the way the law is constructed, anyone can vote for any school district; so this helps to boost the Apple Ballot slate. Remember that if everyone could only vote for At-Large and THEIR OWN Districts, there might be a better outcome than what we have now. (And if Steve Austin ran again, yes, I would vote for him!)

I noticed that your argument is "all-or-nothing". People want proximity over diversity, but not to say that they're necessarily against diversity - just that it shouldn't Trump proximity. It was a cute smear attempt though.

While I don't think anyone is against diversity, if its a choice between diversity or proximity, the boundary analysis was clear - people overwhelmingly prefer proximity.

But of course that's not a real choice since you can have both.

You can't because wealthy people live on one side of the county and poor people love on the other side. The only way to achieve the "ideal mix" is via busing.

You might want to explore the county a bit since you really don't know anything. The PP was correct. This is a false choice.

+1 yeah because all those people in $1 million+ homes in Woodside are so "poor" lol. Lots of nice houses in east county and you need $$$ to buy them. Maybe not $$$$$, but not poor either.

Ok. Tell me how you would make Springbrook more diverse. Or Whitman. Or Damascus. Or Poolesville.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Ok. Tell me how you would make Springbrook more diverse. Or Whitman. Or Damascus. Or Poolesville.

The very vocal minority (many from Richard Montgomery), who also happen to be the most active on SM, think busing is the answer. Most students, and most parents, do not.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
Ok. Tell me how you would make Springbrook more diverse. Or Whitman. Or Damascus. Or Poolesville.

Did you look at the data before generalizing? Springbrook is diverse:

FARMS: 48.5%
ESOL: 19.0%
Special ed: 8.6%
Asian-American: 12.4%
Black: 38.1%
Hispanic: 40.5%
White: 6.1%

Compare to my child's high school, Seneca Valley, which is diverse:

FARMS: 46.4%
ESOL: 10.0%
Special ed: 14.4%
Asian-American: 10.2%
Black: 37.3%
Hispanic: 34.4%
White: 12.9%

Compare to overall high school, county-wide:

FARMS: 33.4%
ESOL: 9.9%
Special ed: 10.7%
Asian-American: 14.8%
Black: 21.6%
Hispanic: 31.1%
White: 28.0%

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Thank you for finally agreeing that MCPS will race-balance schools with busing. Now what are we going to do about it? Because 90% of the people in the county value their closest school and don't value diversity very much. The BOE got it exactly wrong when they prioritized diversity in the boundary policy.

Actually only about a third of respondents to the wildly unrepresentative survey actually went so far as to say diversity was "unimportant" to them. There are your Steve Austin supporters. Guess what, Steve Austin lost. Most people do want diversity.

Thanks for admitting what you mean by "busing". To you, "busing" doesn't refer to busing kids across the county, it doesn't mean busing kids particularly far, it just means changing school boundaries to reduce segregation, and you REALLY hate the idea of reducing segregation

Actually the more likely conclusion is that the way the law is constructed, anyone can vote for any school district; so this helps to boost the Apple Ballot slate. Remember that if everyone could only vote for At-Large and THEIR OWN Districts, there might be a better outcome than what we have now. (And if Steve Austin ran again, yes, I would vote for him!)

I noticed that your argument is "all-or-nothing". People want proximity over diversity, but not to say that they're necessarily against diversity - just that it shouldn't Trump proximity. It was a cute smear attempt though.

While I don't think anyone is against diversity, if its a choice between diversity or proximity, the boundary analysis was clear - people overwhelmingly prefer proximity.

But of course that's not a real choice since you can have both.

You can't because wealthy people live on one side of the county and poor people love on the other side. The only way to achieve the "ideal mix" is via busing.

You might want to explore the county a bit since you really don't know anything. The PP was correct. This is a false choice.

+1 yeah because all those people in $1 million+ homes in Woodside are so "poor" lol. Lots of nice houses in east county and you need $$$ to buy them. Maybe not $$$$$, but not poor either.

I live close on the east side maybe 50 ft from the DC line and a short walk to the red line. I moved here after selling my home on the West coast where real estate is double the cost of DC. Most places in MoCO just aren't that interesting. I think some of these West county posters are delusional. I wouldn't want to live in Rockville or Potomac. It's just not that interesting to me.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
Actually the more likely conclusion is that the way the law is constructed, anyone can vote for any school district; so this helps to boost the Apple Ballot slate. Remember that if everyone could only vote for At-Large and THEIR OWN Districts, there might be a better outcome than what we have now. (And if Steve Austin ran again, yes, I would vote for him!)

I noticed that your argument is "all-or-nothing". People want proximity over diversity, but not to say that they're necessarily against diversity - just that it shouldn't Trump proximity. It was a cute smear attempt though.

While I don't think anyone is against diversity, if its a choice between diversity or proximity, the boundary analysis was clear - people overwhelmingly prefer proximity.

But of course that's not a real choice since you can have both.

The poster is just fearmongering by presenting a false choice. They likely have a larger political agenda.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Thank you for finally agreeing that MCPS will race-balance schools with busing. Now what are we going to do about it? Because 90% of the people in the county value their closest school and don't value diversity very much. The BOE got it exactly wrong when they prioritized diversity in the boundary policy.

Actually only about a third of respondents to the wildly unrepresentative survey actually went so far as to say diversity was "unimportant" to them. There are your Steve Austin supporters. Guess what, Steve Austin lost. Most people do want diversity.

Thanks for admitting what you mean by "busing". To you, "busing" doesn't refer to busing kids across the county, it doesn't mean busing kids particularly far, it just means changing school boundaries to reduce segregation, and you REALLY hate the idea of reducing segregation

Actually the more likely conclusion is that the way the law is constructed, anyone can vote for any school district; so this helps to boost the Apple Ballot slate. Remember that if everyone could only vote for At-Large and THEIR OWN Districts, there might be a better outcome than what we have now. (And if Steve Austin ran again, yes, I would vote for him!)

I noticed that your argument is "all-or-nothing". People want proximity over diversity, but not to say that they're necessarily against diversity - just that it shouldn't Trump proximity. It was a cute smear attempt though.

While I don't think anyone is against diversity, if its a choice between diversity or proximity, the boundary analysis was clear - people overwhelmingly prefer proximity.

But of course that's not a real choice since you can have both.

You can't because wealthy people live on one side of the county and poor people love on the other side. The only way to achieve the "ideal mix" is via busing.

You might want to explore the county a bit since you really don't know anything. The PP was correct. This is a false choice.

+1 yeah because all those people in $1 million+ homes in Woodside are so "poor" lol. Lots of nice houses in east county and you need $$$ to buy them. Maybe not $$$$$, but not poor either.

Ok. Tell me how you would make Springbrook more diverse. Or Whitman. Or Damascus. Or Poolesville.

You know at least Whitman, you really can't, and I don't believe the BOE has any intention of trying to. That doesn't mean there aren't clusters you can't make more balanced demographically, and that's what the boundary analysis was for.