Reply to MoCo is diverse, for sure, but MCPS schools are not

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Reply to "MoCo is diverse, for sure, but MCPS schools are not"

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]

Maybe.  But my point in asking for a solution is that even if we are in agreement that poor/underachieving students don't do well in schools with high numbers of other poor/underachieving students, what specifically should or can be done?  I am hearing lots of general statements about how it's helpful to those students to be surrounded by high-achieving peers, and that's likely true, but that doesn't mean it's easily accomplished, especially on the scale that people here seem to want it done (i.e. every poor child should be able to have the opportunities that wealthy children have).  Busing has been proposed, but I don't see how that necessarily helps, for many of the reasons already given.  [b]Shouldn't we focus on ways to improve the schools where they are, with the students they have, rather than trying to figure out how to get all kids into the high-performing schools through busing or redistricting, or some other method of integration?[/b]  It seems there's a lot of anger directed at those apparently selfish people who live in relatively wealthier areas without much practical purpose.[/quote]

We've been trying that. It's not enough. One reason it's not enough is that the schools' main problem are that a high proportion of their students are poor. The way to fix this problem is to lower the school's proportion of students who are poor.

And, really, I'm not seeing a lot of anger directed at people who live in Bethesda, Potomac, and Chevy Chase. I am seeing a lot of defensiveness from people who live in Bethesda, Potomac, and Chevy Chase, though.[/quote]

Oh, there's plenty of carping about how people in those communities are not doing their share because their FARMS or minority numbers are too low...why can't they be subject to busing?  [b]Why should they be entitled to go to high-performing schools just because they were able to buy houses in the zones[/b]?

Anyway, you say that "the way to fix this problem is to lower the school's proportion of students who are poor."  How, specifically, do you propose to do that?[/quote]

[b]Or, more accurately, why should they be entitled to go to schools with few or no poor students just because they have a lot of money?[/b]

Now, if you're saying that there are no easy answers or quick solutions, I agree -- there aren't. However, that's different from saying that nothing can be done. I think that there are a lot of things that can be done, all the way from small-scale busing and zoning (which MCPS is already doing) to big changes in county housing policy, land use and development policy, and transportation policy. None of these things individually will solve the problem. But each of them will help.[/quote]

Well, until we decide that schools should be filled lottery-style from the entire county, and people desire neighborhood schools, schools will be populated by the people who live in a community...which can be very homogenous sometimes.  House prices in the western part of the county are high because of the schools, and it's a self-perpetuating cycle.  Disrupting that connection is a big thing to tackle, but many things are being tried:

*Developers have to set aside a certain percentage of affordable units in new construction.
  --there are still not enough affordable units to meet demand in wealthier areas
*There's been some effort to redistrict or institute busing to increase diversity
  --many schools on the western side of the county are very overcrowded, but perhaps more can be done between RM and Wootton?
*Magnet MS and HS programs are nearly exclusively set up in schools on the eastern side of the county to encourage high-performing kids to attend schools that are otherwise lower performing
  --many students on the western side opt out because of long commutes
*Title I schools get additional funding to lower class sizes and address other educational needs

What else?[/quote]

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