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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]OP here. I guess my question is whether it is worth investing in a home in a district like Langley or whatever versus living some place less expensive and investing those resources to supplement our children's educational experience since the outcomes are uniformly unacceptable for our student population, regardless of location. I know we can't rely on our schools to do everything, but I guess my question is whether it's better to just assume the worst and take things over at home/supplemental experiences/activities approach.[/quote]

Excuse my ignorance, but why does it matter that you are black? It seems to me this is the same question that runs through the minds of all parents. [b]What is different[/b]?[/quote]

Not to hijack OP's thread but I think the difference is that the stakes are higher for black students (even high SES).  Even those of us who are successful don't have generations of family members with strong academic records or that have worked in white collar jobs, or have a set history of financial stability.  Outside of core family stability, education is really the only true pathway for progress in our communities.

I live in DC and struggled with this question that OP is asking.  When my family moved to DC in 2005 I noticed that AA's of a higher SES resoundingly rejected, even the higher performing DCPS schools, especially for HS - many sent their kids to private.  This has changed somewhat over the years, but I think the idea of sending a child to a mediocre school was out of the question.  Families don't want to take a chance. The other thing I noticed were families with black boys left in elementary - quickly - in some cases because of bias by teachers and administrators.  In my case we decided to stick with public, but we reevaluated every year.  What really worked for us was making sure our DD's were with a strong cohort of friends, from all backgrounds and races, that valued education.  If you go with a school that does not have a strong record of achievement that could be difficult to overcome in the middle and high school years.  The key is you want to make sure your kids are prepared to take advantage of the offerings that MCPS provides.  I also think that as kids get older it is difficult to supplement appropriately.  I don't know how school funding works in MCPS but I can tell you that in DC, there is a vast difference in the extracurricular offerings at our middle school and those across town. Our kids only do one activity outside of school because the middle and high school offer so much.

Good Luck to you!

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