Law Suit

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Seems like the immersion lotteries could at least be after the kindergarten signups in the spring and also expanded. This is an area where MCPS could really change things without having to change the program itself..like the competitive magnets.

I absolutely think that the bare minimum MCPS should do is accept magnet applications through kindergarten registration week, and eliminate the sibling link. That would create a more level playing ground and help to eliminate the "white flight" factor in immersion applications. With that said, Jawando's an ass if he passed up Rolling Terrace because RCF was the ONLY school he wanted. Either immersion is important to him, or it isn't. It it's important to him and his family, he should be able to handle not having Westland and BCC feeder rights, and being in a school that is majority minority.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Seems like the immersion lotteries could at least be after the kindergarten signups in the spring and also expanded. This is an area where MCPS could really change things without having to change the program itself..like the competitive magnets.

I absolutely think that the bare minimum MCPS should do is accept magnet applications through kindergarten registration week, and eliminate the sibling link. That would create a more level playing ground and help to eliminate the "white flight" factor in immersion applications. With that said, Jawando's an ass if he passed up Rolling Terrace because RCF was the ONLY school he wanted. Either immersion is important to him, or it isn't. It it's important to him and his family, he should be able to handle not having Westland and BCC feeder rights, and being in a school that is majority minority.

Well I wonder what was the reasoning behind applying to Rolling Terrace at all if it wasn't acceptable. It is true that RCF is more desirable simply due to the fact that is full immersion rather than partial so its hard to parse out whether its popularity is because of the format or desirability of the cluster.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Seems like the immersion lotteries could at least be after the kindergarten signups in the spring and also expanded. This is an area where MCPS could really change things without having to change the program itself..like the competitive magnets.

I absolutely think that the bare minimum MCPS should do is accept magnet applications through kindergarten registration week, and eliminate the sibling link. That would create a more level playing ground and help to eliminate the "white flight" factor in immersion applications. With that said, Jawando's an ass if he passed up Rolling Terrace because RCF was the ONLY school he wanted. Either immersion is important to him, or it isn't. It it's important to him and his family, he should be able to handle not having Westland and BCC feeder rights, and being in a school that is majority minority.

Well I wonder what was the reasoning behind applying to Rolling Terrace at all if it wasn't acceptable. It is true that RCF is more desirable simply due to the fact that is full immersion rather than partial so its hard to parse out whether its popularity is because of the format or desirability of the cluster.

I think a lot of people apply to more than one program without vetting the logistics/desirability before hand. There is no point in having a big family discussion about sending a kid if it isn't even an option. We applied to all the programs even though College Gardens would have been a tough commute and it's only partial immersion. We likely would have accepted if it was our only option, but we decided to defer the final decision until we knew what, if any, options we had. Our priorities were full immersion, then commute concerns, then which language, in that order (and we didn't care about the MS/HS feeder pattern). Other families have different priorities, so it's hard to know why they would decline RTES. It could have been that it was partial immersion if their private provides full (though even RTES is full immersion in K). Or it could have been the BCC feeder pattern. Who knows.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Seems like the immersion lotteries could at least be after the kindergarten signups in the spring and also expanded. This is an area where MCPS could really change things without having to change the program itself..like the competitive magnets.

I absolutely think that the bare minimum MCPS should do is accept magnet applications through kindergarten registration week, and eliminate the sibling link. That would create a more level playing ground and help to eliminate the "white flight" factor in immersion applications. With that said, Jawando's an ass if he passed up Rolling Terrace because RCF was the ONLY school he wanted. Either immersion is important to him, or it isn't. It it's important to him and his family, he should be able to handle not having Westland and BCC feeder rights, and being in a school that is majority minority.

Well I wonder what was the reasoning behind applying to Rolling Terrace at all if it wasn't acceptable. It is true that RCF is more desirable simply due to the fact that is full immersion rather than partial so its hard to parse out whether its popularity is because of the format or desirability of the cluster.

It's true that RT is partial immersion but the school is also largely Latinx, which gives kids a chance to practice their Spanish with native speakers in an informal context. Also, if Jawando's zoned for Cannon Road Elementary, as it says in the article, Rolling Terrace is closer to him than Rock Creek Forest. I have no problem with someone deciding RT isn't for them but I do have a problem with someone getting into one of the schools they optioned and then lodging a complaint because they didn't get into a more desirable option. I'll be super pissed if this results in him getting a RCF spot, as it will just prove that influence and squeaky wheels rule MCPS.

[Anonymous]

Once you are in MCPS you get phone calls in English and Spanish and mailings in the English (and other languages if you requested to receive their mailings in another language) telling you about information meetings for all the choice programs and reminding you about application deadlines. In the DCC and NEC, the children get visits from the high school choice programs so they can learn about these.
If parents don't read the mailings, don't listen to the phone calls/voice messages from the school system, don't attend information meetings or if they can't go to the meetings, don't look at the MCPS website I am unsympathetic. The language immersion programs are a little different because you have to apply before you are actually in the school system. I think I heard about them from other parents. It would be more challenging for MCPS to advertise these to prospective students unless they required families to register their children for kindergarten earlier than they do now and then give them information about the language immersion programs. What exactly does Will Jawando expect them to do? Send a blanket mailing to every household in MCPS in multiple languages? I am so happy he did not win the election!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Once you are in MCPS you get phone calls in English and Spanish and mailings in the English (and other languages if you requested to receive their mailings in another language) telling you about information meetings for all the choice programs and reminding you about application deadlines. In the DCC and NEC, the children get visits from the high school choice programs so they can learn about these.
If parents don't read the mailings, don't listen to the phone calls/voice messages from the school system, don't attend information meetings or if they can't go to the meetings, don't look at the MCPS website I am unsympathetic. The language immersion programs are a little different because you have to apply before you are actually in the school system. I think I heard about them from other parents. It would be more challenging for MCPS to advertise these to prospective students unless they required families to register their children for kindergarten earlier than they do now and then give them information about the language immersion programs. What exactly does Will Jawando expect them to do? Send a blanket mailing to every household in MCPS in multiple languages? I am so happy he did not win the election!

I'm the one upthread complaining about how Jawando passed up RT, but I do think he has a point about the immersion programs. Not only do you have to apply before you are in the system, you have to apply before schools do a big registration push. This guarantees that the only people who hear about it are either "in the know" or have older siblings in the system. It's profoundly unfair. As for what MCPS can do, I'd start with at least linking the immersion application to the big registration push in May, and dismantling the sibling link.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Once you are in MCPS you get phone calls in English and Spanish and mailings in the English (and other languages if you requested to receive their mailings in another language) telling you about information meetings for all the choice programs and reminding you about application deadlines. In the DCC and NEC, the children get visits from the high school choice programs so they can learn about these.
If parents don't read the mailings, don't listen to the phone calls/voice messages from the school system, don't attend information meetings or if they can't go to the meetings, don't look at the MCPS website I am unsympathetic. The language immersion programs are a little different because you have to apply before you are actually in the school system. I think I heard about them from other parents. It would be more challenging for MCPS to advertise these to prospective students unless they required families to register their children for kindergarten earlier than they do now and then give them information about the language immersion programs. What exactly does Will Jawando expect them to do? Send a blanket mailing to every household in MCPS in multiple languages? I am so happy he did not win the election!

I'm the one upthread complaining about how Jawando passed up RT, but I do think he has a point about the immersion programs. Not only do you have to apply before you are in the system, you have to apply before schools do a big registration push. This guarantees that the only people who hear about it are either "in the know" or have older siblings in the system. It's profoundly unfair. As for what MCPS can do, I'd start with at least linking the immersion application to the big registration push in May, and dismantling the sibling link.

What does that mean to be "in the know"? We moved here from out of state and didn't know anyone in the area when we moved here. At the time, we had a 4.5 year old, so I looked at the MCPS website regarding the public school system and learned about the immersion programs.

I do think they should advertise the programs more to the community. Maybe have information sessions at pre-schools/daycares. I'm sure there are other ways. And they should link the lottery with the regular registration instead of requiring registration and lottery forms by April. Getting rid of the sibling link won't increase diversity in the programs though. It would increase the number of different families, but they would have the same percentage of white families as before because... lottery.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Once you are in MCPS you get phone calls in English and Spanish and mailings in the English (and other languages if you requested to receive their mailings in another language) telling you about information meetings for all the choice programs and reminding you about application deadlines. In the DCC and NEC, the children get visits from the high school choice programs so they can learn about these.
If parents don't read the mailings, don't listen to the phone calls/voice messages from the school system, don't attend information meetings or if they can't go to the meetings, don't look at the MCPS website I am unsympathetic. The language immersion programs are a little different because you have to apply before you are actually in the school system. I think I heard about them from other parents. It would be more challenging for MCPS to advertise these to prospective students unless they required families to register their children for kindergarten earlier than they do now and then give them information about the language immersion programs. What exactly does Will Jawando expect them to do? Send a blanket mailing to every household in MCPS in multiple languages? I am so happy he did not win the election!

I'm the one upthread complaining about how Jawando passed up RT, but I do think he has a point about the immersion programs. Not only do you have to apply before you are in the system, you have to apply before schools do a big registration push. This guarantees that the only people who hear about it are either "in the know" or have older siblings in the system. It's profoundly unfair. As for what MCPS can do, I'd start with at least linking the immersion application to the big registration push in May, and dismantling the sibling link.

What does that mean to be "in the know"? We moved here from out of state and didn't know anyone in the area when we moved here. At the time, we had a 4.5 year old, so I looked at the MCPS website regarding the public school system and learned about the immersion programs.

I do think they should advertise the programs more to the community. Maybe have information sessions at pre-schools/daycares. I'm sure there are other ways. And they should link the lottery with the regular registration instead of requiring registration and lottery forms by April. Getting rid of the sibling link won't increase diversity in the programs though. It would increase the number of different families, but they would have the same percentage of white families as before because... lottery.

Exactly. The sibling link does not decrease diversity. The lack of diversity in the applicant pool (and those who accept the spots) does.

[Anonymous]

Regarding the sibling link and diversity - the current system rewards those who have been in the community for a long time, PP's experience as a new resident notwithstanding. Because those who rent or are housing insecure are less likely to be in the neighborhood for a long time, or to utilize resources like the MCPS website, the magnet programs favor those with at least some socioeconomic means.

The sibling link perpetuates that tendency, because it guarantees ALL your kids will get a spot if you were clued in the first time.

So, if they increase advertising, move the deadline to coincide with registration week, and sever the sibling link, then there will be more diversity because the pool of candidates will be diverse AND there will be no "middle class legacy" spots.

[Anonymous]

I know from the Post article that 47% of the participants are white. But how many of the applicants are white? How many are each of the other races/ethnicities?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Once you are in MCPS you get phone calls in English and Spanish and mailings in the English (and other languages if you requested to receive their mailings in another language) telling you about information meetings for all the choice programs and reminding you about application deadlines. In the DCC and NEC, the children get visits from the high school choice programs so they can learn about these.
If parents don't read the mailings, don't listen to the phone calls/voice messages from the school system, don't attend information meetings or if they can't go to the meetings, don't look at the MCPS website I am unsympathetic. The language immersion programs are a little different because you have to apply before you are actually in the school system. I think I heard about them from other parents. It would be more challenging for MCPS to advertise these to prospective students unless they required families to register their children for kindergarten earlier than they do now and then give them information about the language immersion programs. What exactly does Will Jawando expect them to do? Send a blanket mailing to every household in MCPS in multiple languages? I am so happy he did not win the election!

I'm the one upthread complaining about how Jawando passed up RT, but I do think he has a point about the immersion programs. Not only do you have to apply before you are in the system, you have to apply before schools do a big registration push. This guarantees that the only people who hear about it are either "in the know" or have older siblings in the system. It's profoundly unfair. As for what MCPS can do, I'd start with at least linking the immersion application to the big registration push in May, and dismantling the sibling link.

That is fine with me as long as the schools are able to handle it. If I remember correctly the schools usually know by May which children are going to be attending as the immersion lottery results are out and the parents have attended the orientation meeting etc. and made a decision

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I know from the Post article that 47% of the participants are white. But how many of the applicants are white? How many are each of the other races/ethnicities?

According to the choice study, 45% of the applicants were White, 17% Black, 18% Hispanic for the year they did the evaluation. They only evaluated one year, so there obviously will be some variability of those numbers each year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Now it is up to OCR to look at the way MCPS promotes these opportunities and decide if they do so in a non-discriminatory way.

Slacker K orientation misser PP here. My question is, does MCPS "promote these opportunities" at all and how does the complaint propose that they should promote them? They're on their website. Now that my kids are older and in MCPS I get mailers and robocalls about the HGCs, magnet middle school programs, voluntary summer school, Thomas Edison and other special programs. But I never heard anything about the immersion programs that begin at K, presumably because MCPS doesn't have a comprehensive list of the contact information for the parents of every 4-year-old in the county.

At our MCPS ES, which is in a very prominent location, a large banner is erected in front of the school and left out for months advertising K orientation.

[Anonymous]

I'm new to the area. Admission to the immersion program at College Garden for instance is not based on where you live but by lottery? So you could have kids at the immersion program who lives in Gaithersburg?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Now it is up to OCR to look at the way MCPS promotes these opportunities and decide if they do so in a non-discriminatory way.

Slacker K orientation misser PP here. My question is, does MCPS "promote these opportunities" at all and how does the complaint propose that they should promote them? They're on their website. Now that my kids are older and in MCPS I get mailers and robocalls about the HGCs, magnet middle school programs, voluntary summer school, Thomas Edison and other special programs. But I never heard anything about the immersion programs that begin at K, presumably because MCPS doesn't have a comprehensive list of the contact information for the parents of every 4-year-old in the county.

At our MCPS ES, which is in a very prominent location, a large banner is erected in front of the school and left out for months advertising K orientation.

Yes, but we are talking about the language immersion applications, which are due 3 months before those big prominent signs go up.