Reply to MCPS Boundary Study Meeting Tonight (12/11) at Julius West @ 7pm

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I do not understand why this is so difficult for people.

-White and Asian kids do just as well academically regardless of the SES or racial demo of a school. If anything, being in a higher FARMs demo would make it easier for them to get into elite schools.

-Studies show White kids in particular actually benefit the most from being in SES and racially diverse schools. Go figure. Most white kids in America go to deeply segregated schools that does not reflect the world they will deal with when they become an adult.

-Residents are entitled to free public school, but they are not entitled to a particular school. If parents have a problem with this, they can do like the rest of white americans and can isolate their kids in a private school.

-You are free to pay for specialized enrichment activities for your child on your own dime.

Don't let your fear of brown and black people and your perception of their respective &quot;cultures&quot; blind you from basic facts.[/quote]

Can you link the studies?[/quote]
NP here but this study was in the email we all got from MCPS. https://tcf.org/content/facts/the-benefits-of-socioeconomically-and-racially-integrated-schools-and-classrooms/?session=1[/quote]

So here's where it would be nice to have a reasonable conversation/discussion.  I believe in research.  But I don't necessarily believe that those studies are using the same definitions of &quot;integrated&quot; &quot;high-poverty&quot; and &quot;affluent&quot; across studies, or that people advocating for change want to use in this County.  I agree and believe that concentrated poverty is bad for schools.  But what does &quot;concentrated poverty&quot; or &quot;high-poverty&quot; mean?  Is 40% impoverished &quot;high&quot;?  Only 80%+?  Each study defines it differently.  Some studies compare students in 80% impoverished schools with those in &lt;20% impoverished schools.  MCPS cannot distribute its population so that ALL schools are &lt;20% FARMs.  What about the 20-80% schools?  Do they improve achievement gaps or not?  Also, a lot of the studies compare places where the tax base and school funding are not shared between the &quot;high&quot; and &quot;low&quot; poverty schools - town systems where towns next to each other have very different resources to devote to their schools.  That is at least not true of MCPS elementary schools, where high poverty schools receive more funding for lower class sizes and additional instructional specialists.

Basically, I don't think the studies necessarily support the idea that the current MCPS achievement gap will be improved by as many schools as possible being as close to the full-County percentages in terms of racial and SES demographics.  I'd be interested in whether people more familiar with the studies think that they apply to MCPS in this way.  Honestly, I would be ok with sending my kids to any of the schools closest to my home (of which there are multiple MS and HS - we are walkers only to our ES).  I might lose money on my house if the boundaries change, but I care more about my kids' education than about the value of our home.  I think they can get a good education at any of these schools and that there are benefits to not living in a bubble of privilege.  But I don't see how getting each school closer to countywide percentages will solve the persistent achievement gap and I also don't think that boundary changes will solve our capacity problems.  Schools cannot run at exactly 100% capacity all the time.  MCPS itself says ideal is 80-100% capacity, and there are very few schools in the County that are below 80% capacity.  I'm sure some improvement can be made, but there is no magic bullet solution.     [/quote]

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