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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]If you want facts, you can look up FARMS rates at MoCo high schools here:  http://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/departments/regulatoryaccountability/glance/currentyear/schools/04406.pdf.  Here are stats for some of the &quot;richest&quot; MoCo high schools mentioned earlier:

BCC 11% FARMS, 9.3% special ed,
Walter Johnson 7.8% FARMS, 11.7% special ed
Churchill &lt;5% FARMs, 11.2% special ed
Whitman &lt;5% FARMs, 11.9% special ed
Richard Montgomery   20.6% FARMS, 7.7% special ed
Wootton 5.5% FARMs, 7.5 special ed
(You don't want to even ask about the downcounty schools, trust me)

Another important fact to keep in mind: the FARMS income cutoff is LOW. This source (http://febp.newamerica.net/background-analysis/federal-school-nutrition-programs) says the federal subsidized lunch program cutoff is 130% of the poverty line, or [b]$21,000 for a family of four. [/b]

So between FARMS and special ed programs, maybe 13-20% of kids at the &quot;richest&quot; public high schools we've been discussing are either (a) very poor or (b) on special ed. And certainly many more kids in these 6 &quot;richest&quot; public high schools have family incomes just above $21,000 but below $50,000.

It's truly difficult to understand how you could expect identical percents of a Sidwell graduating class, and a graduating class at one of these &quot;richest&quot; MoCo high schools, to be applying to the same Ivy League Colleges. Given that 10-30% kids in even the &quot;richest&quot; MoCo high schools live in families with less than $21,000 income, or are in special ed, and many more will have incomes not much above $21,000.
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Your analysis is fair enough for some of these schools, but take a look at Whitman and Churchill with &lt;5% FARMS.  Yes, special ed is 11-12%, but how is that defined?  Does it include all kids with IEPs?  If yes, how many of those are kids diagnosed with ADHD or executive disfunction?  You'd see that at independent schools as well.    [/quote]

NP here - I am an alum of a big 3 school and a parent at one of the schools above.  My view is that the top 200-250 kids at our public school are equivalent to students at the top private schools.  Obviously the whole class isn't, setting aside the special ed factor (which includes kids with severe disabilities), but because this is a general population school.  No tests required for admission, no selection process.  We also have a high ESOL group with world bank and other international families.  Some of those are not applying to US colleges as they return to their home countries for university.  Last year I think there were 25 NMSFs, and another 55 commended scholars, out of a class of about 450.  Yes, we have kids go to Montgomery College, and many to UMD for financial reasons, but our school has a good track record with top colleges, and certainly comparable to what I've seen at the private schools.  This year's class has about 20-25 going to ivy league schools, probably another 20 going to the top 3-4 SLACs (Williams and Middlebury are very popular), and many going to other great colleges.  I'm sure others will dispute my assessment but we've been very pleased with the quality of the education and while we don't know for sure yet, I think my DC will have the same or better college options than would have been the case had she attended my alma mater (likely better GPA, many AP classes, etc.).[/quote]

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