Reply to Is MCPS positioning to shut down the GT/magnet programs?

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Reply to "Is MCPS positioning to shut down the GT/magnet programs?"

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I'd say that getting rid of the director position and redistributing the staff into local schools is a pretty clear hint that the magnets do not have long to survive. [/quote]

I get the feeling that there's a meaningful contingent of people on DCUM who are hoping that MCPS gets rid of the application magnet programs so that they can say, HA! I TOLD YOU SO! MCPS IS THE WORST. SYSTEM. EVER![/quote]

I doubt it. I’ve been on this forum for years now and I don’t remember many complaints at all about the Magnet programs from families with children who have attended/are attending them. There are grumbles at times about the logistics or the workload but most families I know personally and have heard from on this anonymous forum are extremely grateful for the education their children have received from teachers who meet them where they are and challenge them with rigorous and exciting assignments.  The alarm bells you are hearing are from parents who are concerned that the lowering standards we have observed in MCPS with C2.0, the algebra grade inflation scandal and the jettisoning of high school exams is starting to seep into the Magnet programs. This has started to happen in the CES programs (parents who’ve had multiple kids go through them have commented on this).  The lack of transparency and a new dubiously implemented peer cohort criteria wrt the middle school Magnet application process is also troubling. We have also  heard from one teacher who said that the Magnet humanities classes may no longer be linked, MCPS has decimated AEI, the removal of the director of RMIB etc., etc.,  
In the plus column we have universal screening for middle school magnets and a couple of new enriched middle school classes. I applaud these two moves but I am very troubled by everything else. My child will graduate from high school soon but I feel very sorry for the kids who won’t have the same experience. There are a lot of very high achieving kids in a high performing school district like MCPS. Many/most of the kids who are in the top 3 -5% in MCPS would be in the 99th percentile for the nation as a whole. The middle school and high school Magnet programs are a Godsend for many of these kids. 
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