Reply to Woodward boundary study public hearing

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]It is painful to read the (pretend) outrage toward Woodward families because they are requesting for WJ and Woodward - and every high school ideally! - to have similar utilization rates.

There is something very, very wrong when utilization rates differ so widely among schools. This is the opportunity to even it out and this recommendation absolutely does not do that. [/quote]

The truth is parents are mostly outraged at the numbers of FARMS kids now attending their kids school.  I guarantee they would have said nothing about utilization rates if two wealthier elementary schools were zoned for Woodward.  This sentiment about FARMS kids does not just apply to these Farmland and Luxmanor parents, it really applies to all these Bethesda and Potomac parents who would be protesting if this situation happened to them.   These families don’t mind financially supporting these FARMS families and schools, but they definitely don’t want them coming to their kids school.  Let’s not kid ourselves that it’s anything other than that….[/quote]

Yes, there is a lot of hypocrisy in criticizing those neighborhoods specifically. And people know that and are just stirring the pot.

I think the Luxmanor and Farmland parents should just embrace Woodward. But the criticism of them has been outsized. They are being asked to go from a solid, high performing school to one that is entirely new and no one knows how good it will be. They have the right to fight for factors - utilization and programs in particular- that may impact the school quality substantially.[b] FARMs and EML [/b]they need to let go of. [/quote]

Every parent should feel free to discuss FARMS rate. It's one fo the 4 major criterion defined by MCPS. [/quote]

It's hypocritical and hilarious that when the system talks about balancing FARMS rates between clusters or schools, that's acceptable and valuable. But when parents point out that certain boundary configurations result in FARMS rates that are imbalanced, they're racist and hate poor people.

Frankly, the points made by advocates against modified option B that question whether it's wise to open a brand-new school with a 90% utilization rate, and that's before you start funneling in additional students through the regional programs, were sound. Why on earth is MCPS doing that?[/quote]

I agree and I think it is lazy to just call them all racist for broaching FARMS. What people really want is not the exclusion of minorities or income classes. They want high performing and high quality schools. There is a complex relationship between those factors. Wanting a high performance school is understandable and OK. The conversation goes off the rails is lost when someone’s “high performing school” comes at the expense or exclusion of another community. (This is also why they should have just gone with the original, popular Option B and not pitted people against each other.) Nevertheless, with respect to Woodward it is not a successful or productive conversation to discuss FARMS, whether it impacts the school or not.[/quote]

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