Reply to AAP should be eliminated as it’s not the path to equity

Forum Index » Advanced Academic Programs (AAP)

Reply to "AAP should be eliminated as it’s not the path to equity"

Subject:

Emoticons





More smilies

Text Color: Font: Close Marks

[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I think there's another angle to this that gets missed a lot. One of the big complaints to any form of specialized opportunities for "advanced" kids (honors/advanced classes, AAP, G&T, anything) is that you end up a cohort of kids in the advanced track who are richer and whiter and so it's seen as a form of segregation. I think this is a reasonable concern. Segregation in housing and in educational opportunities is a huge problem in the US, and has been an ongoing problem since before Civil Rights. This is something we need to try to address.

But simplistic ideas like getting rid of AAP are missing the bigger picture. Yes, you can segregate kids within a school, and that's not good. But what's worse than that is to segregate kids into different schools. And what's worse than that is to segregate kids into completely different communities.

If a diverse school in a diverse community offers an advanced option that is somewhat segregated, and then they simply remove that advanced option to avoid segregation in the name of equity, some of the parents whose kids were or would be in the advanced option may choose a different school if they have that option. They may move into a neighborhood where the gen ed educational path has more rigor, if they can afford it. Those schools and neighborhoods are likely to be richer and whiter, exacerbating the problem.

Removing an AAP program that's 75% white from a school that's 75% students of color, but then causing most of those white kids (over time) to decamp to adjacent mostly white school districts, INCREASES segregation. No, you won't have the visual anymore of gen ed classes filled with students of color and the AAP classes filled with white kids. But those kids will be even more segregated, going to completely different schools and living in completely different neighborhoods.

So to me, the better option is to dig deeper into causes of inequality and try to address them. If there's a test for admission, don't allow families with resources to retake or try another option or talk their kids into the program. But maybe, allow at risk kids whose scores are slightly below the cutoff to join the advanced track. Provide high-quality early education programs. Make sure that special needs are addressed for all kids. These kinds of changes are much more expensive and complex than "end AAP because of segregation" but they're a better path to equity in the long run. [/quote]

Not just better- the only path that makes sense.

It’s also important to note- people will move without AAP. Young families can’t afford this area to begin with. Without AAP to attract the young wealthy families- people will just move to Loudoun, WV or RVA. [/quote]

Options

	Disable HTML in this message
	Disable BB Code in this message
	Disable smilies in this message

Review message

Search Recent Topics Hottest Topics