Reply to My oldest is at RCF and my youngest got a spot for K

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Reply to "My oldest is at RCF and my youngest got a spot for K - what do you think about me?"

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Why does the immersion have a sibling link but not any of the choice magnets? Aren't those lottery based, too?[/quote]

Which choice magnets? There was a family in our neighborhood who had all three of her boys at the aerospace technology magnet program at Parkland. I highly doubt that all three of them got in through a random lottery.[/quote]

Choice MS magnets have sibling preference.[/quote]
All choice MS magnets?  I didn't know this.

I don't think sibling preference is fair.  You could potentially have one year where almost no one without a sibling link can get in.  It should be an individual lottery, not family lottery.[/quote]

So?  Each year, most kids who want to get in won't get in.  Whether you won't get in because your particular lottery number wasn't randomly chosen or because you don't have the sibling preference doesn't really make a difference.  Having the sibling preference provides a benefit to the program and the families by enriching the sense of community and allowing families with more than one child in the program to speak the language at home to each other.  Not having the preference doesn't provide a benefit to the program. [b] It just lets other families in the county feel like it's more "fair."[/b]  Maybe I might have a different opinion if my child had applied to the program, but I have no dog in this fight, so this is just my objective opinion about it.[/quote]
PP here. I have no dog in this particular fight, either. I don't have a kid in immersion.  But, I do have a kid in another magnet.   Yes, the program should be "fair" to all the families.    In what sense should a school program NOT ever be fair?

The benefit of the program is to enrich the student, and spread the awareness of foreign languages.  Better to spread that across the county than keep it in select families.[/quote]

My point is there's nothing unfair about a sibling preference.  It just feels unfair to someone who doesn't get in, particularly because they feel like it's because of the sibling preference (when really they probably wouldn't have gotten in anyway).

"Spreading it across the county" just makes it more likely that they won't continue with the language after the program ends.  [/quote]
Of course sibling preference is unfair.  It's supposed to be an individual lottery, not a family lottery.  I bet you would think it unfair if siblings got preference at elite universities (I know, some elite universities do have some bias towards familial relationships with the school).

I have news for you... the majority of the kids in immersion won't be able to speak the language very well as adults.  I speak two languages, one is my parents' language.  I barely speak it now because I don't use it much.  Unless you practice that language very often in everyday conversation, it's very difficult to keep up with it.

I also learned a 3rd language in school.  My ability to speak this language is even worse because, again, I rarely had opportunity to use it.  I did use it when I visited that country, but it was very basic.

Most likely, a child will continue with that language in MS/HS since language is a requirement.   So, the whole "it makes it less likely for them to not continue" is not a good reason, and I doubt this is the reason that mcps offers language immersion.[/quote]

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