Reply to Thursday Nov 20 BOE Discussion on Boundaries and Regional Program Model

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Reply to "Thursday Nov 20 BOE Discussion on Boundaries and Regional Program Model"

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Btw an equity mindset would mean[b] placing programs in schools that have gaps.[/b] Like if there are zero advanced science classes at a school, put a science program there.

They are doing the opposite. They are putting programs at schools that already have the classes. Then they proposing having certain kids from other schools get driven by their parents to their home school to take a bus to this school that already has these classes to take them. [/quote]

[b]Highlighted sentence is exactly the reason why SMCS was originally established at Blair.[/b] Wootton and Churchill kids sacrifice long bus ride for an excellent education, and kids living in DCC area also benefits from (Blair kids can freely take any magnet class as long as prerequisite is met and counselor approves). CO can move this program to Kennedy or Gaithersburg. It’ll still be excellent and filled with majority of W kids. They can add one more closer to Ws so to allow more access. Dismantling it completely and make 6…… that’s as crazy as it sounds like.[/quote]
No.
Keep repeating that same lie, doesn't make it true. 
The magnet was placed there to stem white flight. [/quote]

DP I don't personally know the history of Blair's SMCS. That being said, if what you are saying is true, [b]isn't putting criteria based academic programs at Whitman and BCC[/b] that are only reasonably accessible to families with their own transportation a way to promote White flight?[/quote]
Whitman and BCC are not the only places that will have criteria based academic programs. STEM won't be at either places, for example. [/quote]

On Thursday they proposed an interest based engineering program at BCC. It will not attract kids struggling in math. 75% of Black students and 86% of Latino students in MCPS are not proficient in high school math.[/quote]

Central office is pulling programs out of the air; doesn't seem there is much rhyme or reason to many of them. [/quote]

BCC already has an engineering program. They will attract students from other schools with it which will increase the staff allocation for BCC. Can't say the same for the Einstein biomedical program that doesn't exist and won't get any resources.[/quote]

Both Whitman and BCC have engineering. That means Whitman students continue to have the same access they always had.

Northwood, Einstein, and Blair do not have engineering programs. DCC students who want engineering go to Wheaton, which is closer than BCC will be. Moreover, the DCC model allowed a few hundred non-Wheaton students per year to access the engineering program.

The new model will accept maybe 30 non-BCC students in the first few years. It seems like there won’t be limits on BCC students who want to sign up for engineering classes.

So basically, BCC and Whitman students will have unrestricted access to engineering, while 30 students from Blair, Einstein and Northwood will get into the program.

There’s no equity in this proposal and MCPS should stop pretending otherwise. [/quote]

The Blair magnet has multiple engineering courses in that program, to which Blair Northwood and Einstein kids can access seats. So now you have three schools that were not available to you before but which are now available with engineering. We cannot locate all programs at Einstein, sorry. [/quote]

First of all it's incredibly disingenuous to say Einstein kids "can access" seats at other schools. First they have to get into the program by lottery or by criteria and they also have to figure out the commute which not all schools can do.

Whitman and BCC have all the programs already. They have engineering, they have advanced math, they have advanced humanities. Every single student at these schools can access those programs, not just ones that win the lottery. To suggest Einstein families are asking for too much when Whitman and BCC already have everything is disgusting and offensive.

How about just having one AP physics class at 
Einstein. Not asking for the three different AP physics classes that BCC and Whitman have that give their students an edge for admission to engineering programs. Just one. Am I being greedy?[/quote]

The Einstein families posting on this Board looking for higher-level APs would do well to advocate for retiring in the local IB program there, which would clear the way to have more AP classes in lieu of IB classes.[/quote]

Plenty of schools have IB programs and AP classes. Richard Montgomery and BCC do just fine. [/quote]

They do, but Einstein is[b] telling families there are not enough students to fill the AP courses.[/b] Also the demographics of those 3 schools are very different. [/quote]

How can they possibly know this if they don't offer the courses in the first place?

And yes, Einstein serves a higher needs population than BCC or Whitman. It has larger percentages of students with IEPs, EMLs and students that receive FARMS. Yet it receives no extra funding to meet the needs of the FARMS students, even though MCPS gets extra funding from the state for every FARMS student. Of course, they are stretched thin.

If you want to constantly shriek that you are advancing equity, then actually try to advance equity. Don't make zero effort and then talk down to and shut down families and staff that complain.[/quote]

If you actually cared about equity you’d want the school resources allocated to help with meeting the needs of your school’s higher needs population and would say that it’s satisfactory that the better resourced high achieving students should manage with IB physics or should take advantage of the myriad other special programs your students can also access so they can take AP Physics. It’s not “equity” to run two different advanced physics courses with very small enrollment numbers when the school budget is finite and you acknowledge you have lots of high needs community members who are definitely not taking AP physics. You are weaponizing equity to get yours. [/quote]

You have hit upon what Taylor will propose in the operating budget on Dec 1. Schools with higher needs will get greater resources than previously.[/quote]
I'll believe it when I see it. For this year's budget he included an "equity allocation" that was really, offensively tiny. Like he just wanted to put a line in. The budget that said "equity" but not allocate any real resources to it.[/quote]

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