Magnets, Regions, and the Future of MCPS Gifted Kids

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As I former RM IB kid with two kids who graduated from Blair I have to say that the desire to hog resources for the few slots in the IB / Blair STEM programs is not the right move and the new regional will be better with more slots and locations closer to where people live.

The dirty secret is that most of the magnet kids can and will excel at whatever high school they choose. Many of those kids who go to MIT from Blair will still get into MIT (just from different high schools). More kids should be given opportunities for advance coursework if they want to go down that path closer to home.

so now that you no more have any stakes in this discussion you are going to be "generous" with other people's kids. what a jerk.

[Anonymous]

These post are getting tiring. No one has a crystal ball so you have zero idea what the new programs will do, only what they aim to do. Some will be existing class bundled together into a program, some will be new magnet programs based off the info and best practices of the existing. Will they be new? Yes, but all the programs were new at some point.

Instead of spending all this time trying to stop the expansion, you can advocate for it to slow down(slightly) so it can be done correctly and you can get involved to hold everyone accountable to be sure the implementation is done well and evaluation is continuous to make improvements.

If you have a valid issue with the distribution of programs beside Whitman is already a great school, then bring that up. Because Whitman is a great school doesn’t mean it should be ignored and not get a program.

[Anonymous]

The multi-million dollar regional model proposal must demonstrate to the community, BOE and council that it would create equity and access if it is to be approved. MCPS has the burden of proof.

Unfortunately it looks like the opposite would occur.

In addition, student enrollment has fallen off (2600 fewer students compared to the prior year; another 6000 projected to leave in the near term).

It does not make sense to waste millions of taxpayer money for a proposal that would worsen inequity and access for a shrinking student population.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:These post are getting tiring. No one has a crystal ball so you have zero idea what the new programs will do, only what they aim to do. Some will be existing class bundled together into a program, some will be new magnet programs based off the info and best practices of the existing. Will they be new? Yes, but all the programs were new at some point.

Instead of spending all this time trying to stop the expansion, you can advocate for it to slow down(slightly) so it can be done correctly and you can get involved to hold everyone accountable to be sure the implementation is done well and evaluation is continuous to make improvements.

If you have a valid issue with the distribution of programs beside Whitman is already a great school, then bring that up. Because Whitman is a great school doesn’t mean it should be ignored and not get a program.

Many people have already explained at length why Whitman should not get a program. If you disagree, feel free to respond to those posts and explain why you think it makes sense to send hundreds of high performing students from other schools to Whitman, shrinking their high performing cohorts which are smaller than those at Whitman. Does it make sense to have a system that will predictably have lower income students traveling one way (west) because we all know BCC and Whitman students are not going to be choosing Einstein or Northwood in any large numbers? What is the benefit to Whitman of placing magnet programs there?

Sorry you don't like that we are pointing out how offensive it is to call this equity. It's truly disgraceful and I think Thomas should be ashamed of himself.

[Anonymous]

Btw Whitman has numerous wealth based programs already. They have their own engineering program, three different AP physics classes, 9 different AP social studies classes, and more advanced math than most MCPS schools. To try to play the victim and say they "don't have a program" is absurd. They have multiple programs.

[Anonymous]

They need a program if only to say that they aren’t excluding kids from other schools. If they don’t have one it looks exclusionary.

[Anonymous]

As a Rockville parent, this is delicious.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:As a Rockville parent, this is delicious.

“Amuse me, donkeys!”

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

What is the purpose of a magnet school?

The purpose of a magnet school is to attract white students to schools full of black students, in order to desegregate the school district, increase political power for gaining resources for that school and to game the "schoolwide" performance metrics to show "equity".

A "gifted program" is no the same as a "magnet school"

But, if you know the history of MoCo, you know that gifted programs were purposefully placed in low performing high minority low socioeconomic class schools in the hopes that they would act like desegregation magnets - pulling academically strong kids into these lower performing schools. MoCo hadn’t desegregated yet, and they were trying to avoid the forced busing Boston experienced and the white flight Prince William county experienced ( where they just closed the public school system).

That's your bigoted history, not MCPS history.

You are delusional and clearly allergic to facts.

You did not post any facts, just faux news.

[Anonymous]

There are two things getting conflated under “equity.” The first is that not all schools in the county had access to Blair and RM magnets or similar. Also arguable is whether all high performing kids got any sort of enrichment bc all resources were being funneled to the magnets. That’s inequitable.

The second is the proposed distribution of programs at schools and whether higher performing schools should get any magnet or magnet like program.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:They need a program if only to say that they aren’t excluding kids from other schools. If they don’t have one it looks exclusionary.

That is because they are telling everyone how unfair it is that the DCC schools "get to" share a bunch of programs that rich schools have at their home schools

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They need a program if only to say that they aren’t excluding kids from other schools. If they don’t have one it looks exclusionary.

That is because they are telling everyone how unfair it is that the DCC schools "get to" share a bunch of programs that rich schools have at their home schools

Well the DCC have program that other poor schools don’t which is the issue.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They need a program if only to say that they aren’t excluding kids from other schools. If they don’t have one it looks exclusionary.

That is because they are telling everyone how unfair it is that the DCC schools "get to" share a bunch of programs that rich schools have at their home schools

Well the DCC have program that other poor schools don’t which is the issue.

Whitman can have their special programs that only Whitman students can partake in, but the poors in DCC absolutely cannot have special programs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

What is the purpose of a magnet school?

The purpose of a magnet school is to attract white students to schools full of black students, in order to desegregate the school district, increase political power for gaining resources for that school and to game the "schoolwide" performance metrics to show "equity".

A "gifted program" is no the same as a "magnet school"

But, if you know the history of MoCo, you know that gifted programs were purposefully placed in low performing high minority low socioeconomic class schools in the hopes that they would act like desegregation magnets - pulling academically strong kids into these lower performing schools. MoCo hadn’t desegregated yet, and they were trying to avoid the forced busing Boston experienced and the white flight Prince William county experienced ( where they just closed the public school system).

That's your bigoted history, not MCPS history.

You are delusional and clearly allergic to facts.

You did not post any facts, just faux news.

How is this faux news?
This is from wikipedia and NYT has a news article about this (behind a paywall): https://www.nytimes.com/1993/03/03/education/in-a-minority-district-in-maryland-a-magnet-school-that-reall-draws.html

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They need a program if only to say that they aren’t excluding kids from other schools. If they don’t have one it looks exclusionary.

That is because they are telling everyone how unfair it is that the DCC schools "get to" share a bunch of programs that rich schools have at their home schools

Well the DCC have program that other poor schools don’t which is the issue.

Whitman can have their special programs that only Whitman students can partake in, but the poors in DCC absolutely cannot have special programs.

+1

"It's so unfair that some kids, like those at wealthy school and the DCC have access to special programs and others do not!"
"Okay, let's reduce access for DCC kids. For equity."