Boundary study- how will Whitman be impacted (s/o)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So explain it to me like I’m three. How will any of this help to “diversify” the schools. You look at the map and what makes sense is to move the northern half of WJ up to Woodward and then the northern part of Bradley hills and burning tree up to fill some of the void left in WJ. And maybe shift some of the western Whitman kids to church hill. But Whitman is still Whitman. It’s still primarily white and wealthy. I get the need to fill spaces in a new school, but how is the BOE going to accomplish their goal of equity within schools unless they go back to their ridiculous talk three years ago of bussing kids far distances?

At the end of the day they probably can’t do much to diversify Whitman, but BCC, WJ and Woodward could all get some DCC feeders, which will diversify those schools. I cannot see the BOE choosing to bus kids from the DCC all the way to Whitman, and as a DCC parent I don’t want my kid bussed to Whitman, a desire that is not uncommon amongst DCC parents.

So your county grouped the diverse areas into a region called the DCC in order to segregate the less diverse wealthier students? That kind of sounds illegal.

It sure sounds like it after reading the posts in this thread.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So explain it to me like I’m three. How will any of this help to “diversify” the schools. You look at the map and what makes sense is to move the northern half of WJ up to Woodward and then the northern part of Bradley hills and burning tree up to fill some of the void left in WJ. And maybe shift some of the western Whitman kids to church hill. But Whitman is still Whitman. It’s still primarily white and wealthy. I get the need to fill spaces in a new school, but how is the BOE going to accomplish their goal of equity within schools unless they go back to their ridiculous talk three years ago of bussing kids far distances?

At the end of the day they probably can’t do much to diversify Whitman, but BCC, WJ and Woodward could all get some DCC feeders, which will diversify those schools. I cannot see the BOE choosing to bus kids from the DCC all the way to Whitman, and as a DCC parent I don’t want my kid bussed to Whitman, a desire that is not uncommon amongst DCC parents.

So your county grouped the diverse areas into a region called the DCC in order to segregate the less diverse wealthier students? That kind of sounds illegal.

It sure sounds like it after reading the posts in this thread.

Folks might take issue with an inference of intent to group students but it’s definitely true that schools in MCPS are highly segregated based on race and socio economic status. The inequity that has resulted is something that BOE members pay lip service to but never really do anything concrete to change. The SMOBs generally lead the way here - no coincidence that they’re the only members of the BOE who don’t have to run for re-election and so can do the politically tough things.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So explain it to me like I’m three. How will any of this help to “diversify” the schools. You look at the map and what makes sense is to move the northern half of WJ up to Woodward and then the northern part of Bradley hills and burning tree up to fill some of the void left in WJ. And maybe shift some of the western Whitman kids to church hill. But Whitman is still Whitman. It’s still primarily white and wealthy. I get the need to fill spaces in a new school, but how is the BOE going to accomplish their goal of equity within schools unless they go back to their ridiculous talk three years ago of bussing kids far distances?

At the end of the day they probably can’t do much to diversify Whitman, but BCC, WJ and Woodward could all get some DCC feeders, which will diversify those schools. I cannot see the BOE choosing to bus kids from the DCC all the way to Whitman, and as a DCC parent I don’t want my kid bussed to Whitman, a desire that is not uncommon amongst DCC parents.

So your county grouped the diverse areas into a region called the DCC in order to segregate the less diverse wealthier students? That kind of sounds illegal.

It sure sounds like it after reading the posts in this thread.

Folks might take issue with an inference of intent to group students but it’s definitely true that schools in MCPS are highly segregated based on race and socio economic status. The inequity that has resulted is something that BOE members pay lip service to but never really do anything concrete to change. The SMOBs generally lead the way here - no coincidence that they’re the only members of the BOE who don’t have to run for re-election and so can do the politically tough things.

Yes, but, that's largely because neighborhoods in MoCo are highly segregated based on race and socioeconomic status. Over the decades, various iterations of the BOE have at times approved boundaries designed to move the numbers on this (Rosemary Hills to BCC, Darnestown to Northwest, Cabin Branch to Seneca Valley) and this study will be looking for similar opportunities. Will it be transformational change? Probably not. Will it be a few steps in the right direction? Probably.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So explain it to me like I’m three. How will any of this help to “diversify” the schools. You look at the map and what makes sense is to move the northern half of WJ up to Woodward and then the northern part of Bradley hills and burning tree up to fill some of the void left in WJ. And maybe shift some of the western Whitman kids to church hill. But Whitman is still Whitman. It’s still primarily white and wealthy. I get the need to fill spaces in a new school, but how is the BOE going to accomplish their goal of equity within schools unless they go back to their ridiculous talk three years ago of bussing kids far distances?

At the end of the day they probably can’t do much to diversify Whitman, but BCC, WJ and Woodward could all get some DCC feeders, which will diversify those schools. I cannot see the BOE choosing to bus kids from the DCC all the way to Whitman, and as a DCC parent I don’t want my kid bussed to Whitman, a desire that is not uncommon amongst DCC parents.

So your county grouped the diverse areas into a region called the DCC in order to segregate the less diverse wealthier students? That kind of sounds illegal.

No, our county (like much of the country) is highly segregated by race/class as a result of housing policies that included racial red-lining as well as zoning decisions that made it difficult/impossible to build multi-family dwellings in the "whiter/wealthier" parts of the county. This is the same problem as much of the rest of the country, but it looks different because the county-wide school district means there is substantial diversity within the district. So, if this were New Jersey, Chevy Chase would be its own school district, Potomac would be its own school district, Takoma Park would be its own school district, etc. But it's not, so our challenges look a little different.

[Anonymous]

Montgomery county is a massive district (too big IMO) and therefore you’re going to see a wide variety of neighborhoods. Just like everywhere else in the country, some of those neighborhoods will be wealthier and some will be less so. And typically the wealthier neighborhoods will be perceived as having “better” schools because the parents will be more involved, they’re able to raise more money, etc etc. This is not novel to mcps but it seems like more pronounced because of the large size of the school system.
But without busing students far distances, you’re not going to be able change the socioeconomic nature of the wealthier schools unless you start making affordable housing more prevalent. And given even “well to do” people are having trouble currently purchasing homes in bounds for Whitman, it seems highly unlikely anything will change.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Montgomery county is a massive district (too big IMO) and therefore you’re going to see a wide variety of neighborhoods. Just like everywhere else in the country, some of those neighborhoods will be wealthier and some will be less so. And typically the wealthier neighborhoods will be perceived as having “better” schools because the parents will be more involved, they’re able to raise more money, etc etc. This is not novel to mcps but it seems like more pronounced because of the large size of the school system.
But without busing students far distances, you’re not going to be able change the socioeconomic nature of the wealthier schools unless you start making affordable housing more prevalent. And given even “well to do” people are having trouble currently purchasing homes in bounds for Whitman, it seems highly unlikely anything will change.

This is exactly why nothing gets done to make MCPS schools less segregated and more equitable. Ok, so the county school system is very big and encompasses a wide variety of communities. That can't be an excuse to maintain segregated schools with vastly different performance results within the same system. The BOE talks a mean game about transformational change but then points to housing policy and the county council as the only way to make changes. The county council sidesteps the politically toxic issue of school boundaries by saying it's not their issue and pushing it back to the BOE. Rinse. Repeat.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Montgomery county is a massive district (too big IMO) and therefore you’re going to see a wide variety of neighborhoods. Just like everywhere else in the country, some of those neighborhoods will be wealthier and some will be less so. And typically the wealthier neighborhoods will be perceived as having “better” schools because the parents will be more involved, they’re able to raise more money, etc etc. This is not novel to mcps but it seems like more pronounced because of the large size of the school system.
But without busing students far distances, you’re not going to be able change the socioeconomic nature of the wealthier schools unless you start making affordable housing more prevalent. And given even “well to do” people are having trouble currently purchasing homes in bounds for Whitman, it seems highly unlikely anything will change.

This is exactly why nothing gets done to make MCPS schools less segregated and more equitable. Ok, so the county school system is very big and encompasses a wide variety of communities. That can't be an excuse to maintain segregated schools with vastly different performance results within the same system. The BOE talks a mean game about transformational change but then points to housing policy and the county council as the only way to make changes. The county council sidesteps the politically toxic issue of school boundaries by saying it's not their issue and pushing it back to the BOE. Rinse. Repeat.

So what would you propose? I ask this honestly. How would you fix the problem?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Montgomery county is a massive district (too big IMO) and therefore you’re going to see a wide variety of neighborhoods. Just like everywhere else in the country, some of those neighborhoods will be wealthier and some will be less so. And typically the wealthier neighborhoods will be perceived as having “better” schools because the parents will be more involved, they’re able to raise more money, etc etc. This is not novel to mcps but it seems like more pronounced because of the large size of the school system.
But without busing students far distances, you’re not going to be able change the socioeconomic nature of the wealthier schools unless you start making affordable housing more prevalent. And given even “well to do” people are having trouble currently purchasing homes in bounds for Whitman, it seems highly unlikely anything will change.

This is exactly why nothing gets done to make MCPS schools less segregated and more equitable. Ok, so the county school system is very big and encompasses a wide variety of communities. That can't be an excuse to maintain segregated schools with vastly different performance results within the same system. The BOE talks a mean game about transformational change but then points to housing policy and the county council as the only way to make changes. The county council sidesteps the politically toxic issue of school boundaries by saying it's not their issue and pushing it back to the BOE. Rinse. Repeat.

So what would you propose? I ask this honestly. How would you fix the problem?

Buses

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Montgomery county is a massive district (too big IMO) and therefore you’re going to see a wide variety of neighborhoods. Just like everywhere else in the country, some of those neighborhoods will be wealthier and some will be less so. And typically the wealthier neighborhoods will be perceived as having “better” schools because the parents will be more involved, they’re able to raise more money, etc etc. This is not novel to mcps but it seems like more pronounced because of the large size of the school system.
But without busing students far distances, you’re not going to be able change the socioeconomic nature of the wealthier schools unless you start making affordable housing more prevalent. And given even “well to do” people are having trouble currently purchasing homes in bounds for Whitman, it seems highly unlikely anything will change.

This is exactly why nothing gets done to make MCPS schools less segregated and more equitable. Ok, so the county school system is very big and encompasses a wide variety of communities. That can't be an excuse to maintain segregated schools with vastly different performance results within the same system. The BOE talks a mean game about transformational change but then points to housing policy and the county council as the only way to make changes. The county council sidesteps the politically toxic issue of school boundaries by saying it's not their issue and pushing it back to the BOE. Rinse. Repeat.

So what would you propose? I ask this honestly. How would you fix the problem?

Buses

You’d bus kids far away to diversify the schools? You do realize NO ONE wants this right? Not the parents in high SES schools and not the parents in lower ones.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Montgomery county is a massive district (too big IMO) and therefore you’re going to see a wide variety of neighborhoods. Just like everywhere else in the country, some of those neighborhoods will be wealthier and some will be less so. And typically the wealthier neighborhoods will be perceived as having “better” schools because the parents will be more involved, they’re able to raise more money, etc etc. This is not novel to mcps but it seems like more pronounced because of the large size of the school system.
But without busing students far distances, you’re not going to be able change the socioeconomic nature of the wealthier schools unless you start making affordable housing more prevalent. And given even “well to do” people are having trouble currently purchasing homes in bounds for Whitman, it seems highly unlikely anything will change.

This is exactly why nothing gets done to make MCPS schools less segregated and more equitable. Ok, so the county school system is very big and encompasses a wide variety of communities. That can't be an excuse to maintain segregated schools with vastly different performance results within the same system. The BOE talks a mean game about transformational change but then points to housing policy and the county council as the only way to make changes. The county council sidesteps the politically toxic issue of school boundaries by saying it's not their issue and pushing it back to the BOE. Rinse. Repeat.

So what would you propose? I ask this honestly. How would you fix the problem?

Buses

You’d bus kids far away to diversify the schools? You do realize NO ONE wants this right? Not the parents in high SES schools and not the parents in lower ones.

Then how would you fix the segregated schools?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Montgomery county is a massive district (too big IMO) and therefore you’re going to see a wide variety of neighborhoods. Just like everywhere else in the country, some of those neighborhoods will be wealthier and some will be less so. And typically the wealthier neighborhoods will be perceived as having “better” schools because the parents will be more involved, they’re able to raise more money, etc etc. This is not novel to mcps but it seems like more pronounced because of the large size of the school system.
But without busing students far distances, you’re not going to be able change the socioeconomic nature of the wealthier schools unless you start making affordable housing more prevalent. And given even “well to do” people are having trouble currently purchasing homes in bounds for Whitman, it seems highly unlikely anything will change.

This is exactly why nothing gets done to make MCPS schools less segregated and more equitable. Ok, so the county school system is very big and encompasses a wide variety of communities. That can't be an excuse to maintain segregated schools with vastly different performance results within the same system. The BOE talks a mean game about transformational change but then points to housing policy and the county council as the only way to make changes. The county council sidesteps the politically toxic issue of school boundaries by saying it's not their issue and pushing it back to the BOE. Rinse. Repeat.

So what would you propose? I ask this honestly. How would you fix the problem?

Buses

You’d bus kids far away to diversify the schools? You do realize NO ONE wants this right? Not the parents in high SES schools and not the parents in lower ones.

Then how would you fix the segregated schools?

I am the one who said it’s an impossible problem to fix. Which is why you see it all over the country. It just seems more blatant here because of the size of the system

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Montgomery county is a massive district (too big IMO) and therefore you’re going to see a wide variety of neighborhoods. Just like everywhere else in the country, some of those neighborhoods will be wealthier and some will be less so. And typically the wealthier neighborhoods will be perceived as having “better” schools because the parents will be more involved, they’re able to raise more money, etc etc. This is not novel to mcps but it seems like more pronounced because of the large size of the school system.
But without busing students far distances, you’re not going to be able change the socioeconomic nature of the wealthier schools unless you start making affordable housing more prevalent. And given even “well to do” people are having trouble currently purchasing homes in bounds for Whitman, it seems highly unlikely anything will change.

This is exactly why nothing gets done to make MCPS schools less segregated and more equitable. Ok, so the county school system is very big and encompasses a wide variety of communities. That can't be an excuse to maintain segregated schools with vastly different performance results within the same system. The BOE talks a mean game about transformational change but then points to housing policy and the county council as the only way to make changes. The county council sidesteps the politically toxic issue of school boundaries by saying it's not their issue and pushing it back to the BOE. Rinse. Repeat.

So what would you propose? I ask this honestly. How would you fix the problem?

Buses

You’d bus kids far away to diversify the schools? You do realize NO ONE wants this right? Not the parents in high SES schools and not the parents in lower ones.

Then how would you fix the segregated schools?

I am the one who said it’s an impossible problem to fix. Which is why you see it all over the country. It just seems more blatant here because of the size of the system

Must be nice if "sorry, it's not just your kids who go to segregated schools" and "it's impossible to fix" does the trick for you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Montgomery county is a massive district (too big IMO) and therefore you’re going to see a wide variety of neighborhoods. Just like everywhere else in the country, some of those neighborhoods will be wealthier and some will be less so. And typically the wealthier neighborhoods will be perceived as having “better” schools because the parents will be more involved, they’re able to raise more money, etc etc. This is not novel to mcps but it seems like more pronounced because of the large size of the school system.
But without busing students far distances, you’re not going to be able change the socioeconomic nature of the wealthier schools unless you start making affordable housing more prevalent. And given even “well to do” people are having trouble currently purchasing homes in bounds for Whitman, it seems highly unlikely anything will change.

This is exactly why nothing gets done to make MCPS schools less segregated and more equitable. Ok, so the county school system is very big and encompasses a wide variety of communities. That can't be an excuse to maintain segregated schools with vastly different performance results within the same system. The BOE talks a mean game about transformational change but then points to housing policy and the county council as the only way to make changes. The county council sidesteps the politically toxic issue of school boundaries by saying it's not their issue and pushing it back to the BOE. Rinse. Repeat.

So what would you propose? I ask this honestly. How would you fix the problem?

Buses

You’d bus kids far away to diversify the schools? You do realize NO ONE wants this right? Not the parents in high SES schools and not the parents in lower ones.

Then how would you fix the segregated schools?

I am the one who said it’s an impossible problem to fix. Which is why you see it all over the country. It just seems more blatant here because of the size of the system

Must be nice if "sorry, it's not just your kids who go to segregated schools" and "it's impossible to fix" does the trick for you.

dp.. I recall during some of the boundary discussions that lower income parents did NOT want their kids bused further away. It's hard enough for these families to get to events, like parent/teacher conferences. If you throw in the distance, it all but guarantees zero participation from these families.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Montgomery county is a massive district (too big IMO) and therefore you’re going to see a wide variety of neighborhoods. Just like everywhere else in the country, some of those neighborhoods will be wealthier and some will be less so. And typically the wealthier neighborhoods will be perceived as having “better” schools because the parents will be more involved, they’re able to raise more money, etc etc. This is not novel to mcps but it seems like more pronounced because of the large size of the school system.
But without busing students far distances, you’re not going to be able change the socioeconomic nature of the wealthier schools unless you start making affordable housing more prevalent. And given even “well to do” people are having trouble currently purchasing homes in bounds for Whitman, it seems highly unlikely anything will change.

This is exactly why nothing gets done to make MCPS schools less segregated and more equitable. Ok, so the county school system is very big and encompasses a wide variety of communities. That can't be an excuse to maintain segregated schools with vastly different performance results within the same system. The BOE talks a mean game about transformational change but then points to housing policy and the county council as the only way to make changes. The county council sidesteps the politically toxic issue of school boundaries by saying it's not their issue and pushing it back to the BOE. Rinse. Repeat.

So what would you propose? I ask this honestly. How would you fix the problem?

Buses

You’d bus kids far away to diversify the schools? You do realize NO ONE wants this right? Not the parents in high SES schools and not the parents in lower ones.

Then how would you fix the segregated schools?

that's easy desegregate them

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Montgomery county is a massive district (too big IMO) and therefore you’re going to see a wide variety of neighborhoods. Just like everywhere else in the country, some of those neighborhoods will be wealthier and some will be less so. And typically the wealthier neighborhoods will be perceived as having “better” schools because the parents will be more involved, they’re able to raise more money, etc etc. This is not novel to mcps but it seems like more pronounced because of the large size of the school system.
But without busing students far distances, you’re not going to be able change the socioeconomic nature of the wealthier schools unless you start making affordable housing more prevalent. And given even “well to do” people are having trouble currently purchasing homes in bounds for Whitman, it seems highly unlikely anything will change.

This is exactly why nothing gets done to make MCPS schools less segregated and more equitable. Ok, so the county school system is very big and encompasses a wide variety of communities. That can't be an excuse to maintain segregated schools with vastly different performance results within the same system. The BOE talks a mean game about transformational change but then points to housing policy and the county council as the only way to make changes. The county council sidesteps the politically toxic issue of school boundaries by saying it's not their issue and pushing it back to the BOE. Rinse. Repeat.

So what would you propose? I ask this honestly. How would you fix the problem?

Buses

You’d bus kids far away to diversify the schools? You do realize NO ONE wants this right? Not the parents in high SES schools and not the parents in lower ones.

Then how would you fix the segregated schools?

that's easy desegregate them

but, but it's too hard and we're not the only ones in the U.S. with this problem! plus, your schools are good enough, so don't complain.