Reply to Initial boundary options for Woodward study area are up

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Do all county-based school systems around the country do this? Try to make everything equal among all schools in a county? I mean, technically, the schools are teaching the same curriculum, and in theory, the teachers are no better or worse in certain schools, regardless of demographics. While I understand the concern over having some schools with higher FARMs  rates, I don't understand artificially modifying boundaries and forcing kids to travel half way across the county in the name trying to achieve equal demographic and socioeconomic distribution. Kids should go to school in or close to their community. Tilden MS is less than 1/2 mile from Farmland ES, and Woodward is probably a mile away, but you're proposing busing those students 30+ minutes to Parkland and Kennedy to attend school with kids who live no where near them?[/quote]

They could address some of this by providing enough differential funding to schools with populations of more highly heterogeneous academic need.  Enough to ensure that no student's options for classes, extracurriculars, etc., are different at one school than they would be at another.  If they start with the assumptions that students of all backgrounds have similar distribution of capability but that there are background-associated needs for differential supports to bring that capability to fruition, the need to ensure certain demographic homogeneity becomes less exigent with that approach (not that diversity should be avoided), and the system can reap cost savings (which can support a portion of the needed funding) & other community benefits associated with geographic proximity.

That would require "rich" schools to accept considerably greater funding differentials than currently exist, however, and, likely, higher tax rates overall both to bring the same breadth & level of non-magnet classes to all schools and to ensure that the burden of teaching to heterogeneous classroom populations is met by a commensurately low student-to-teacher ratio.  It better would address the achievement deficit, however, and not just achievement gaps.[/quote]

"If they start with the assumptions that students of all backgrounds have similar distribution of capability but that there are background-associated needs for differential supports to bring that capability to fruition, the need to ensure certain demographic homogeneity becomes less exigent with that approach (not that diversity should be avoided), and the system can reap cost savings (which can support a portion of the needed funding) & other community benefits associated with geographic proximity."

Ok but we all know that's bullchit. And also they basically ALREADY do this in moco...not a viable option. [/quote]

They don't already do it, and that was the point.  [b]Classes aren't equally available wherever you live.[/b]  Staffing allocations do not reflect the management challenges of more highly heterogeneous student ability levels within a class.  Entirely viable, except for the sway of populations at schools that currently have it good but don't want either to shift resource levels or to up the tax rate to maintain them while providig the greater resources where needed.[/quote]

This PP posts continually about all high schools having the same classes available, and we keep responding to her... it will not happen.  High schools with eight students who are prepared to succeed in a math class beyond calculus are not going to offer Multi-variate Calculus or Linear Algebra.  There are many other examples in other subjects.  The school must offer classes that will be filled by students, and be responsive to their level of academic preparedness and capacity.  That's just the way it is.  She needs to move or enroll her child at MC or take on-line classes.

This would be the benefit of a regional model, though.[/quote]

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