Anonymous wrote:My understanding is that very few people left. The schools that were struggling generally had smaller classes and alot more resources than the "succussful schools".

Resources and success are two different things. Yes, my local Title 1 school has smaller class sizes but less than 70 percent of students are passing reading and math proficiency tests - even less if you factor in results by race. And less than 50 percent passing state science proficiency exams in the 5th grade. These are horrendous results if you consider this is at the elementary school level. The school is NOT improvIng year over year - it's getting worse. School choice at least put some pressure on the school to improve or lose student population. Now local kids have nowhere to go. It's a terrible predicament for those who can't afford to move and/or afford private schools. What the County - and State - is essentially telling those of us at these schools is that we are screwed. It's disgraceful and essentially fences us off, with no options.

My understanding is that very few people left. The schools that were struggling generally had smaller classes and alot more resources than the "succussful schools".

What's the point of these exemptions? Is it to further eliminate what few choices students in areas with poor performing schools have? It essentially let's the school system off the hook. It creates pockets of poor performing schools without any escape, except privates (?) or, if the parents can afford it, moving.

Aren't all states getting these exemptions now?

The state department of Maryland got an exemption not Montgomery county specifically. The President signed off on this sometime last year and many states applied and received the waiver.

Anonymous wrote:Alexandria City also did this but it was for the opposite reason - to prevent middle class, upper middle class families from opting out of the ghetto schools and forcing more diversity in some schools.

Thereby causing even more white flight from the system.

Alexandria City also did this but it was for the opposite reason - to prevent middle class, upper middle class families from opting out of the ghetto schools and forcing more diversity in some schools.

the trend in Montgomery County seems to be fencing off schools that are poor performing, decreasing choice for students who live in the school districts with poorer performing schools, and lessening the degree to which students in those school districts can escape. My observation. Would guess that it's a matter of politics and power - poorer families have less of a voice and schools who were taking in school choice students didn't want students from poorer performing schools "infecting" their student population. Sorry, but schools are the front line of racial and class wars.

Why on earth would Mo Co opt to prevent students from school choice programs if their local school doesn't demonstrate AYP?! I went on the MCPS web site today and read the announcement that Mo Co had been granted an exemption not to comply with NCLB in this regard. Again why?

What benefit would it serve other than to continue to fence off, isolate, and essentially ghetto-ize poor performing schools and limit any option for students at these schools to get a decent education? It's shocking that this hasn't received more attention on this board.

By the way, for those who are not familiar, school choice allowed students from poor performing Title I schools to transfer to a specific set of schools if their home school failed to make Adequate Yearly Progress for several consecutive years. The schools that students would have had to choose from were other Title I schools - not necessarily high performing, but not failiing to meet AYP, either.