Law Suit

[Anonymous]

Interesting to see where this goes

https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/civil-rights-complaint-alleges-discrimination-in-language-immersion-programs/2016/06/23/43ba2670-3864-11e6-9ccd-d6005beac8b3_story.html?hpid=hp_local-news_complaint-1130am%3Ahomepage%2Fstory

[Anonymous]

Seems to me that the current approach does not include a racial aspect.

[Anonymous]

I think he's going to have a standing problem. It wasn't that he didn't learn about the program and therefore failed to apply on time. He DID learn about the program and managed to get his application in on time. He just failed to earn a spot in the lottery -- which is by chance. This would have happened regardless of when he learned of the existence of the program.

[Anonymous]

Also interesting in light of the supreme court decision today that race can be used in admissions. Not sure how it applies to a lottery though.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think he's going to have a standing problem. It wasn't that he didn't learn about the program and therefore failed to apply on time. He DID learn about the program and managed to get his application in on time. He just failed to earn a spot in the lottery -- which is by chance. This would have happened regardless of when he learned of the existence of the program.

And he did earn a spot in the lottery - at Rolling Terrace. Just not the one he wanted. So it was ultimately his decision to "reduce diversity" in the RTES program.

[Anonymous]

He's arguing partly for poor people, turned down a language immersion program for free and sent his kid to a private school. He isn't poor.

[Anonymous]

I think his personally experience is probably not included in the complaint. The argument will be based on the fact that a disproportionate number of white kids are enrolled in the language immersion program.
Not sure if this will turn out to be a lack of access to information. I can imagine many Hispanic families making a concious decision to NOT enroll in language immersion, figuring they are already getting dual language.

[Anonymous]

There are other programs in the county - French and Chinese. He only seems interested in Spanish, which is fine, I suppose.

We are at CGES, home to the Chinese Immersion program. (I'm excluding the one in Potomac because it has preference for neighborhood children.) There are Hispanic kids in it, black, and Asian. (Asian is a minority, right?) Also white kids. And multi-racial.

I know kids who applied to EVERY program in the county and didn't get their number drawn.

This year, my son's Spanish 1A class was actually broken up and re-formed during the 1st marking period. They combined 2 different 1A classes taught during the same period and made 1 into a truly 1A class and the other into "Spanish for Spanish speakers."

I honestly don't think many Hispanic families are interested in going to a Spanish immersion program for the language benefit. Maybe to get to a different school. I think Jawando wanted a different school. I don't know anything about his assigned ES (and the MCPS web site is down, so I can't get to At a Glance, but it's Great Schools rating is 4/10).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think he's going to have a standing problem. It wasn't that he didn't learn about the program and therefore failed to apply on time. He DID learn about the program and managed to get his application in on time. He just failed to earn a spot in the lottery -- which is by chance. This would have happened regardless of when he learned of the existence of the program.

I don't think he's going to have a standing problem. "Standing problems" only arise when you are filing suit in court. Based on the article, he has filed a complaint with the Office of Civil Rights. Anyone can do that. In fact, it would probably help OCR investigators if other people filed complaints as well, with details about whether they received adequate notice about special programs. OCR will investigate MCPS.

[Anonymous]

crazy. i saw both him and his wife at the open house at rock creek! they didn't seem rushed.

unfortunately, i've learned so much about the public systems (especially if you're not in it yet) is word of mouth and doing your own research. if i didn't stalk our school website, i wouldn't know about the open houses, orientations, and other events.

[Anonymous]

Makes me wonder what their problem was with Rolling Terrace if immersion was so important.

[Anonymous]

I think there is an issue. If 31% of the school system is white, but 47% of immersion, why is there an over representation? Are white people attracted to theses programs more than other races? That said 53% of other kids are non-white. Is there an over representation of other groups?

[Anonymous]

Personally I don't understand this lack of "outreach" aspect. Everyone has equal access to the information. Do they expect a personal invitation?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Personally I don't understand this lack of "outreach" aspect. Everyone has equal access to the information. Do they expect a personal invitation?

I don't understand it either. Is MCPS supposed to advertise? I'm a lifelong resident of Montgomery County and I didn't know about the immersion programs until my daughter was already in K - one of her friends from preschool ended up at Rock Creek Forest. Perhaps if I felt more strongly about immersion I would have sought out that information, but I'm the slacker who called in April wondering about K orientation to find out that I had just missed it.

[Anonymous]

I know Asian is underrepresented in these programs. Most Asian families don't apply because their kids are already learning two languages: English and the language those kids speak with their parents and grandparents.

He said white people is over represented and more colored people should be in. However, he did not mention that true underrepresented group are Asian. Instead, he said " the school system fails to publicize the opportunities in areas with high percentages of black and Hispanic students..."

I am so confused by his position. He is not poor as he can afford private school. He does not speak for Asian, which is truly an underrepresented group in these program by an understandable reason.