Op-Ed from previous MCPS SMOBs

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is 100% a housing issue, and not school issue. However the developers have too much money (and give to much money to County Council members who also choose Planning Board members) and wont succumb to pressure like the school system will.

It's a school issue, not least because your school is assigned based on your housing.

Incidentally, it's not developers who favor restrictive zoning. Developers favor being allowed to build whatever they want, wherever they want.

Who does favor restrictive zoning? Some of the people who currently live in those segregated neighborhoods. And why do they favor it? Partly "because of the schools."

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Institutional racism is an excuse. If a black family is living in Bethesda and attending the same school as whites and Asian Americans, then what is holding him/her back ? How is he/she 20 years behind the starting line ?

Unbelievable.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Charters self select and push out under achievers back to public schools. That is why they are successful. They don’t have accept special ed students for example. They also have much harsher discipline in terms of suspensions and expulsions to force out troublemakers. You can compare that to public schools.

Teacher union response here. Take successful best practices from charters and implement them in public school. And if that means tracking special ed and "troublemakers" back to separate classrooms, do it, so that others can achieve.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Institutional racism is an excuse. If a black family is living in Bethesda and attending the same school as whites and Asian Americans, then what is holding him/her back ? How is he/she 20 years behind the starting line ?

Unbelievable.

NP - It is true. Talk to the whole class of Blacks who went to college in the 1960s and 1970s. They had experienced actual, real life racism, but valued education and went on to become respected professionals. Racism will hold you down IF YOU LET IT.

[Anonymous]

This article about the New York experience is thought provoking

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.nydailynews.com/opinion/stuyvesant-serves-needy-minorities-article-1.3944199%3foutputType=amp

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Institutional racism is an excuse. If a black family is living in Bethesda and attending the same school as whites and Asian Americans, then what is holding him/her back ? How is he/she 20 years behind the starting line ?

Unbelievable.

NP - It is true. Talk to the whole class of Blacks who went to college in the 1960s and 1970s. They had experienced actual, real life racism, but valued education and went on to become respected professionals. Racism will hold you down IF YOU LET IT.

Also if you don't, of course.

[Anonymous]

Institutional racism is a large part of the problem, but it’s not 100% of the issue.

There’s something with the culture as well. When African American students care about school they can get accused of “acting white.” They essentially get peer pressured to not try as hard.

Why does that happen? There needs to be more discussion on what causes this reaction.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Institutional racism is a large part of the problem, but it’s not 100% of the issue.

There’s something with the culture as well. When African American students care about school they can get accused of “acting white.” They essentially get peer pressured to not try as hard.

Why does that happen? There needs to be more discussion on what causes this reaction.

The legacy of institutional racism might have something to do with it.

[Anonymous]

There are five BOE members elected by MoCo residences. Where is the racisim?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Institutional racism is a large part of the problem, but it’s not 100% of the issue.

There’s something with the culture as well. When African American students care about school they can get accused of “acting white.” They essentially get peer pressured to not try as hard.

Why does that happen? There needs to be more discussion on what causes this reaction.

The legacy of institutional racism might have something to do with it.

Please tell, what does the legacy of institutional racism have to do with it? I think we all agree that institutional racism plays a part but there is something with the culture/home life as well. How can you deny that? Look at the numbers for Clarksburg that were posted on another page. I even checked the numbers for my school - a very diverse high school - and the whites and asians always have higher percentages than the blacks and latinos. Same school, same education, same teachers, different home environments.

This problem won't be able to be solved until we take hard looks at home environments. We can integrate schools under there is all races are evenly mixed but until everyone has the same home environment, the blacks and latinos will lag behind.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Institutional racism is a large part of the problem, but it’s not 100% of the issue.

There’s something with the culture as well. When African American students care about school they can get accused of “acting white.” They essentially get peer pressured to not try as hard.

Why does that happen? There needs to be more discussion on what causes this reaction.

The legacy of institutional racism might have something to do with it.

Please tell, what does the legacy of institutional racism have to do with it? I think we all agree that institutional racism plays a part but there is something with the culture/home life as well. How can you deny that? Look at the numbers for Clarksburg that were posted on another page. I even checked the numbers for my school - a very diverse high school - and the whites and asians always have higher percentages than the blacks and latinos. Same school, same education, same teachers, different home environments.

This problem won't be able to be solved until we take hard looks at home environments. We can integrate schools under there is all races are evenly mixed but until everyone has the same home environment, the blacks and latinos will lag behind.

Culture doesn't exist in a societal vacuum, eh?