Letters sent to minority ES student encouraging them to apply to MS HCG

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I understand OP frustration, it seems in MCPS, everything is race based. Try not declaring your race on a school form, they will not desist until you comply and designate your race. I want education to be about education, not race.

MCPS wants you to check a box on a form, therefore everything in MCPS is race-based?

I wrote my statement and followed it with an example whereas you took my example and declare it as my statement. A subtle but disingenuous rephrasing of my post. Herr Goebbels would be proud of your distortion.

Godwin.

I've noticed the people who throw out 'godwin' do so to censure a blogger. They attempt to marginalize a person because he wrote something that is verboten due to its perceived academic intellectual illegitimacy. Of course that isn't really the case because a discussion of fascism does have merit in discussions on civil society and government. Thus it seems to me your attempt to censure is a form of fascist tactic all its own. Quite ironic isn't it…??

Censor.

And no. Meaningful discussion is over once you compare a slightly snarky post on an anonymous Internet message board to Goebbels, but please, talk about the Nazis all you want..

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:DD in 5th grade said that letter was given to two minority students in her class encouraging them to apply to HGC Middle School. DD said these were the only students in the class given letters. The two students were not top students---and before I hear the moans--DD has been in class with kids since K. The kid are not in high reading groups, not in Compacted Math and very clearly not in the top caliber academically in the class. Kids know the smart kids in their class by 5th grade. Now to add to the mix, DD and several other students were given letter by home middle school inviting them to check out classes and basically encouraging them to go to home middle school. I find this offensive. DD not sure if she wants to apply to magnet even before letter but even less so now that other were asked to apply and she wasn't picked. Does this happen at every school?

are you surprised. mcps engineering at its best.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I understand OP frustration, it seems in MCPS, everything is race based. Try not declaring your race on a school form, they will not desist until you comply and designate your race. I want education to be about education, not race.

MCPS wants you to check a box on a form, therefore everything in MCPS is race-based?

I wrote my statement and followed it with an example whereas you took my example and declare it as my statement. A subtle but disingenuous rephrasing of my post. Herr Goebbels would be proud of your distortion.

Godwin.

I've noticed the people who throw out 'godwin' do so to censure a blogger. They attempt to marginalize a person because he wrote something that is verboten due to its perceived academic intellectual illegitimacy. Of course that isn't really the case because a discussion of fascism does have merit in discussions on civil society and government. Thus it seems to me your attempt to censure is a form of fascist tactic all its own. Quite ironic isn't it…??

Censor.

And no. Meaningful discussion is over once you compare a slightly snarky post on an anonymous Internet message board to Goebbels, but please, talk about the Nazis all you want..

No.. censure.

The anonymous poster purposely twisted what I said to change the context and denigrate my post. It was obvious and it was ugly and I called it as I saw it. Anonymous denigration is exactly how fascism arises… but live with your head in the sand if you must.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Many people know about HGC and magnets and do not even want to apply based on their own reasons. Many a times there kids are very bright but they are not interested because they do not know all the facts.


I understand why the teachers gave the minority students letters, it is because they are underrepresented. I understand why OP is annoyed, it is because it is creating a rift in the classroom since this act is seen as preferential.

If I was a teacher - I would give these letters to ALL the students in the classroom and then I would phone these 2 parents and also reinforce the benefits of HGC for their kids to them. I think this would be more effective and less preferential, more politically correct too.

Sneakier, anyway.

No. Not sneakier. I am Asian and my kids are in HGC and magnet programs. I feel that it is proper to give the same info to everyone. If there is a need to encourage bright AA students or any bright students with oblivious parents to apply - then it is more effective to have a one-on-one talk with the parents. Eventually, it should be the merit of the child that should get them selected into the program and not their race.

I do not mind 2 AA kids getting the letter. I mind that the rest of the class did not get the letter.

The reason bright AA kids elect not to apply is their parents don't want these types of attitudes rubbing off on them. The other AA students don't have heritage weekend schools teaching them math, reading and writing on the weekends so that they can display more merit.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I understand OP frustration, it seems in MCPS, everything is race based. Try not declaring your race on a school form, they will not desist until you comply and designate your race. I want education to be about education, not race.

It's called federal regulations. It's called this country's history with educational racial segregation which is why you have to check the box.

[Anonymous]

I wonder perhaps if it is also an issue of getting the word out to minority parents.

I just attended the HGC meeting at Kennedy High School. Every child who received a letter about the meeting had been identified at GT. The audience was filled with minorities - kids who were in the top of their class - so it should not be hard to fill enough slots.

I just find it hard to believe that somehow by the end of 5th grade, the large pool of GT minority students disappears and MCPS has to pick kids without the credentials.

Maybe parents aren't as informed about the middle school options. Sometimes, in households with parents who do not speak the language, without a letter, the parent may not be aware of what is going on? My child is part Latino but we are in an English speaking household and I am type A and affirmatively research my options. I know my child has classmates who are bright but whose parents are not as informed. Without a GT letter, I can see many of them missing the HGC application. So without a middle school magnet letter, they may not be applying in enough numbers for MCPS to get a good pool or at least feel like not all populations in the county are aware of the programs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I understand OP frustration, it seems in MCPS, everything is race based. Try not declaring your race on a school form, they will not desist until you comply and designate your race. I want education to be about education, not race.

It's called federal regulations. It's called this country's history with educational racial segregation which is why you have to check the box.

Interesting perspective. Does prior race based discrimination require federally condoned race based discrimination to resolve?? Something aint right there... I think getting the government out of the racial quota, discrimination business would be the better long term answer. What do you think??

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I understand OP frustration, it seems in MCPS, everything is race based. Try not declaring your race on a school form, they will not desist until you comply and designate your race. I want education to be about education, not race.

It's called federal regulations. It's called this country's history with educational racial segregation which is why you have to check the box.

Interesting perspective. Does prior race based discrimination require federally condoned race based discrimination to resolve?? Something aint right there... I think getting the government out of the racial quota, discrimination business would be the better long term answer. What do you think??

How is MCPS discriminating based on race? Or do you think that merely collecting data on race constitutes race-based discrimination?

[Anonymous]

My child's HGC class is probably about 30-40% minority- a number of African American students, a few latino students, maybe one Indian student, and one Asian student. So it seems like this problem is not universal in the HGCs. (I recognize that this does not reflect the student population as a whole but it is also not fair to say that it is all white). I also know that there are several students in the HGC class who receive free and reduced lunches.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I wonder perhaps if it is also an issue of getting the word out to minority parents.

I just attended the HGC meeting at Kennedy High School. Every child who received a letter about the meeting had been identified at GT. The audience was filled with minorities - kids who were in the top of their class - so it should not be hard to fill enough slots.

I just find it hard to believe that somehow by the end of 5th grade, the large pool of GT minority students disappears and MCPS has to pick kids without the credentials.

Maybe parents aren't as informed about the middle school options. Sometimes, in households with parents who do not speak the language, without a letter, the parent may not be aware of what is going on? My child is part Latino but we are in an English speaking household and I am type A and affirmatively research my options. I know my child has classmates who are bright but whose parents are not as informed. Without a GT letter, I can see many of them missing the HGC application. So without a middle school magnet letter, they may not be applying in enough numbers for MCPS to get a good pool or at least feel like not all populations in the county are aware of the programs.

I thought all third grade families received the application and not just those identified?