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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I agree - this additional money won't make a difference.

Population is growing and getting more and more fragmented. The only way to improve meeting the needs of every child is segregating them to some extent but there is know way that is going to fly.

My daughter's classroom currently has 2 special needs students, 4 esol students, and 5 students who were selected for HGC next year. One teacher and one aide, 26 kids. Guess who gets the short-end of the stick, the 15 kids who are average.

Struggling kids need to be grouped together so they can get the attention they need, just like the high performers can be segregated into magnet programs. Children with emotional problems or weak support systems at home should also be segregated so they can receive additional supports.

My son is in middle school, east county, and half of his class are kids from a low income housing development several miles away. These kids don't want to be there, they fight several times a day and cause disruptions. No amount of money will close this achievement gap. These kids do not belong in a "regular" classroom. They need more attention than any teacher can provide and these disruptions impact the other kids in the classroom. I wish we could move, but this all we can afford so I can now pay even more dollars each year for a "solution" that has been shown not to work.

I attended a performance at the school and it depressed me to see how my tax dollars are being wasted. It took 30 minutes just to get the student audience to calm down. The way most of these kids were acting was down right scary. And then you had a small population of kids sitting quietly, waiting. I spoke to the principal about this and her hands are basically tied. During the performance, several students were acting up and were sent to the school counselor.

So county council, BOE - how is the extra money going to be used? How is reducing class size by 2 students going to help? Why should my $$$ be used to help kids learn English? Shouldn't that be on the parent's dime? My immigrant parents took English classes when they came here. They spoke English to us at home so we were prepared when we entered kindergarten. We were low income but they paid our neighbor to tutor us. And, why aren't parents held accountable? If their kids don't pass each grade, the parents need to pay to have them repeat the class until they do pass. Both my parents worked over 8 hours a day. They came home exhausted but still spent time with us because they value education.

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What you are suggesting is to leave some kids behind[b] if they and their families have no intention to catch up. [/b]It might work for your kids, but from their point  of view, it's unfair and unjustified. The truth is that no matter how little one contributes, one still wants to gain as much as possible from the society. US now encourages this. Programs like the MCPS magnets are deemed a failure because of lack of diversity despite its established academic excellence. [/quote]

Cannot take your comment seriously as long as you make statements such as this. All parents want the best for their kids, and kids, even ones that are trouble makers or "thugs", a favorite, racially coded term here on DCUM, want to do well. Struggling students want to "catch up."

What PP is noting is called "achievement" or "ability" grouping. In theory in sounds like a great idea. That is until your child, who is strong in math and science, but has trouble with reading, ends up on a slow track. He is then not able to cultivate his math skills to the level of those in the higher group b/c he is held back by his reading, thus creating a education gap that will continue to increase throughout their schools years. This typically how growing has worked in the past. A better approach would be "flexible grouping" where students are group based on subject matter, instead of just lumped broadly into one track. That way, this student could still compete, and still have strong area cultivated. This approach though, would cost money. Wealthy families with high performing kids will not want to pay more to have a more fair system b/c it gives their kids the best shot. And so this is where we are today.

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