Reply to Achievement Gap in MoCo

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

So annoying that Valerie Ervin seems to be blaming the "achievement gap" on MCPS.  What about talking about the responsibility of parents for a change and getting rid of all these racial categories for measuring performance?  
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Agree with this.  If the parents don't care, there is no way to close this 'achievement gap'.  Crazy if they continue to spend more money on this.[/quote]

It's very rarely because parents don't care. It's usually because they don't have the time and/or resources to help. [/quote]

So do we have to make them have time or force resources on them?  I am sorry but it is YOUR JOB as a parent to make sure your child is succeeding in school and to BE A PARENT to them. There are families out there that have full time working parents (some that work 2 jobs) that make the time.  Parents these days CHOOSE to let the schools take on so much more then they should.  Teaching, life skills, better eating, exercise, sex ed.  I am not saying the schools should not be teaching this but you as parents MUST supplement it.    If you take 2-4 hours a week filling your kids with positive influence, teaching them, helping them learn how to study, making them feel important - it WILL make a difference.  If you choose to spend that time at Chuckie Cheese, hanging out at the mall, or watching tv/video games, that is NOT the school system's problem.  We live in an area with free museums, free zoo, free libraries with free computer use.  Tons of resources online, free interpreters, free ESOL classes for kids and adults, highly discounted summer learning help.  There is no excuse.  I work 40hrs a week and my husband works 60hrs.  We have no outside help.  We MAKE the time.  I am so sick of excuses for the LAZY in all walks of life, which I believe weighs heavily on the "achievement gap."[/quote]

I always find it amusing when people who have so much in life get so angry at those who don't. You are lucky to have such a good, easy life. Not everyone does. This gap is NOT a question of a bunch of lazy parents who don't care about school.  It's about an inability to act on that desire to see their kids do well.

What about a single woman working two jobs to put a roof over her kid's head?  She's often not home to make dinner, much less sit over her kid to make sure he does his homework. What about the family that has trouble putting food on the table each day? A third of the kids in MoCo schools qualify for FARMS. They often can't put dinner together, and Manna Food sends home smart sacks for kids who otherwise wouldn't eat on the weekends. School is where they get their most nutritious meals. A perpetually hungry kid often has trouble learning well.  If you have ever lived like that, you know a parent's priority becomes food first, and school takes a back seat.

I've lived both sides of the income-achievement gap. It is worlds easier being middle class than poor. There is no comparison. [/quote]

I agree with all of your points, but the problem is systemic, not with the school system specifically.  What happens is that these problems are dumped at the schoolhouse doors, and the schools somehow become answerable for a variety of societal ills better addressed by the various social services that are (or should be) available.

I am a left-leaning Democrat and 100% in favor of providing whatever infrastructure and services are needed to help the working poor, but the problem cannot be dumped on the schools in the ways that it is.[/quote]

I agree with you as well. And MoCo actually provides many wraparound support services, more so than most jurisdictions. I think the school system does pretty well narrowing the achievement gap, personally. It's not perfect, but for a system its size, with an extremely diverse student population, it's really good. That doesn't mean we should stop looking for ways to improve, though.[/quote]

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