Reply to Another article about the magnet programs in Washington Post

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]None of us know how the magnet application process will change. This is just an outside study with recommendations.

But I get the sense from all these comments that people on DCUM think of "us" as the gifted white and Asian students, and "them" as the potentially lower scoring black and Hispanic students. MCPS and the school board does not think this way. They are responsible for all the children.

If every black and Hispanic kid in the county dropped out of school, would you posters even care? If MCPS decided to officially segregate the entire school system based on IQ, would you think this was a good idea? [b]I know those suggestions are nuts but I get the sense from some posters here that they really don't care about anyone but their kid.[/b] [/quote]

I think this is profoundly unfair.  We're having the same conversation on two threads, so I'll repost the gist of what I said on the other one- MCPS is looking for a cheap solution to an expensive problem.

The achievement gap cannot be closed by only judging low-income kids against other low-income kids, or by "group specific standards."

Closing the achievement gap would mean a MASSIVE investment in high quality pre-K for everyone, summer school, and identification and encouragement of high performing low income kids well before the 3rd grade test.

My kids are at a high poverty, majority minority, ES in the eastern part of MoCo.  I see kids who were on par with my kids in kindergarten slipping behind as they move onto 2nd and 3rd grade.  Why?  It isn't a lack of parental engagement.  It's summers with nothing to do but hang out at a neighbor's house because summer camp is expensive.  It's the high cost of enrichment activities like instrumental music, which the middle class kids have been doing since pre-K but the schools don't start until 4th grade.

I see the problem, and I care because these are my kids' friends.  But I don't think the answer to the problem is to set up different standards for those kids to enter the HGC or other programs.  The answer is to nurture these kids and keep them from slipping behind starting in kindergarten if not before.  [/quote]

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