Reply to Achievement gap continues to grow between high- and low-income schools

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Reply to "Achievement gap continues to grow between high- and low-income schools"

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]This is so depressing. Anecdotally, I can tell by looking around my neighborhood and comparing what I see to the FARMS and ESOL rates at the local elementary school, people of any means are sending their kids elsewhere. While $300k isn't that much for the DC area, that is the minimum for a sfh in the DCC, and that requires a middle class income. It's sad that that doesn't equate to a middle class school. I stress all the time about where to send my kids to school. Take a chance on local high FARMS high ESOL school? Scramble to try to move to at least a better elementary school in the DCC, or out of it altogether? Can't afford private, so maybe send them to a Catholic school? I think that there is a critical mass of professional-class parents that if everyone just decided to send their kids to the local schools, it would diversify the schools and provide the peer group most of us worry about the schools lacking. The problem is no one wants to experiment with their own kids so they try I get out. Hence the "white flight" (really not race-based, actually socioeconomic-based).

It seems that MoCo's solution is to provide meals (FARMS), have ESOL teachers in classrooms, keep class sizes smaller, and in some cases put in community health clinics at schools. I'm sure the thinking is that providing these extras are to bring the kids who need the services up while not impacting the kids who don't need the services. Problem is, how is it not impacting those kids if their peers are so behind and so much in need of basics?

I don't know what the solution is, but it seems the county has to do something to address this. They can't just throw more resources to address the issues surrounding poverty. They will have to reassure the middle class families that the schools can meet their kids' academic needs as well. [/quote]

I have observed this too. About 5 years ago MCPS redrew the boundaries clustering FARMS kids tougher in certain schools and pouring appropriate resources to manage that. The schools typically  retained magnet or HGC centers. The school like the one we are at as a result are unusual for SS. High SES, under enrolled and whiter. Guess where the property prices are going up! I think 5 years from now certain pyramids in SS are going to be very desirable and certain ones really desirable to be tracked into.[/quote]

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