Reply to Is Brent the best school in Capitol hill?

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[quote=Anonymous]I'm an AA Brent parent who grew up in a housing project in another E. Coast city but was lucky enough to attended GT and test-in magnets from 2nd grade up.  I went on to an excellent liberal arts college and top MBA program.  I earn several times what my non-AA spouse, an NGO worker, does.

I find that those against GT and test-in programs almost always fall into one of two categories.  Category A:  people who didn't need such programs to attend top colleges, or land good jobs, because they grew up in middle-class enclaves.  Category B:  people whose children aren't academic enough to qualify, for whatever reasons.

The city's refusal to identify the brightest low-income kids from a young age, or to supoort the advanced work they need to keep up with high-SES peers, is simply criminal.  What irks me the most about the set-up is the way white liberals with children in public schools often buy into the paternalistic view that test-in programs are "bad" for low-SES AA kids.  Were they bad for Michelle Obama and her brother in Chicago?  I also get angry when fellow AA parents reject such programs out of hand, generally due to lack of experience with them.

Well-administred urban GT and test-in programs actively identify low-SES talent young and cultivate it aggressively.  If one test had been the sole admissions criterion, I wouldn't have made the grade.  But that was far from the case - an interview, a parent interview (yes, my single parent had to demonstrate discipline and committment, too), a series of tests, and teacher recommendations all contributed to my selection as a participant.  I'm tired of knee jerk reactions to the concept of selectivity in public schools in this city.  As things stand, we'll go private for MS and HS.  How will low-SES AA kids benefit?  One less high-SES peer and parent role model to be had.  Fantastic.

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