Reply to I am confused between Stuart Hobson Middle School vs. Deal Middle School

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Reply to "I am confused between Stuart Hobson Middle School vs. Deal Middle School"

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Why not just copy NYC and offer free test prep in every ward, starting in 6th or 7th grade?  Students eligible for free or reduced meals could have a few extra points added to their scores if they turned up for the prep.  Done. There are no shortcuts on the math prep.  The kids either learn the math to cope with the curriculum or the curriculum invariably gets watered down to cater to kids who didn't get the requisite prep.[/quote]

So I think the reason this wouldn't solve the problem in DC is that even with this, you'd still wind up with far fewer kids in Wards 7/8 passing the test than elsewhere.
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So because a possible solution that would allow some kids to get a better opportunity wouldn't solve the entire problem we shouldn't do anything? People like you are part of the problem, not the solution. There's also an element to this that requires kids nd their families to want to help themselves. You infantilize the people you purport to defend when you assume they cannot advocate for or take advantage of opportunities presented. [/quote]

I never said we shouldn't do anything and I even like this suggestion. I'm just saying that when DC implements solutions like this, it never solves the actual problem they are trying to solve, because most of them are bandaids.

If you give kids in other parts of the city test prep for magnet schools (and actually have real magnet schools, which DC doesn't really at the moment especially for MS) but then all the magnet schools ar located in parts of the city that you need resources to live near or commute to, what have you solved?

What I'm saying is that "access to test prep" is not actually the problem. It's access to actual schools. There are not enough good MS and HS in DC, and the ones we have are all located in one part of the city that is not that accessible to people living in other parts of the city. What does the kid in Ward 8, or even Ward 5 or 6 for that matter, do if he gets this test prep, gets into Walls, and then has no feasible way of getting there?

Walls is not the solution to the problem. To be honest, I'm about ready to suggest that the actual solution to the problem might be to give BASIS, Latin, and DCI a bunch of money and the chance to take over several MSs HSs on the East side of town. Not kidding. We simply do not have enough functioning schools outside of NW and helping a small number of kids stand a better shot of getting into one or two application high schools is not going to cut it.[/quote]

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