I like our diverse (aka low tier high school). What I don't appreciate is people on DCUM thinking it's a ghetto, ganglandia, low tier, or that we have uneducated, un-involved parents. Or that our FARMS and ESOL rates are so high that AP classes are only attended by a dozen kids.

We do have a "high SES cohort", and a diverse school. They are not mutually exclusive.

I will continue to respond accordingly to ignorant posters who have never stepped foot inside our school.

This thread is a troll.

Anonymous wrote:I'm getting really tired of posters making a huge point about how they value "diversity" and then in the VERY next sentence go on and on how there is a large enough high SES peer cohort at their diverse school with 20%-50% so their kids don't need to mix with the low income kids. This comes up constantly here.

What is the point of choosing a diverse school if you don't want your kids be friends and mix into classes with the low SES kids?

If you were only seeking a cheaper house in a more affordable area and then were pleasantly surprised that your kids got to avoid the poor kids in school, well then OK, at least own it. Don't go on about wanting diversity and in the next breath contradict yourself.

You're making a lot of assumptions to go from a diverse school to kids not mixing. The truth is diverse schools have a more diverse cohort. I'm sorry if this doesn't go with your pre-civil rights worldview.

Anonymous wrote:I'm getting really tired of posters making a huge point about how they value "diversity" and then in the VERY next sentence go on and on how there is a large enough high SES peer cohort at their diverse school with 20%-50% so their kids don't need to mix with the low income kids. This comes up constantly here.

What is the point of choosing a diverse school if you don't want your kids be friends and mix into classes with the low SES kids?

If you were only seeking a cheaper house in a more affordable area and then were pleasantly surprised that your kids got to avoid the poor kids in school, well then OK, at least own it. Don't go on about wanting diversity and in the next breath contradict yourself.

You're missing the point, OP. Most people who value diversity also value other things such as having their kids attend a school where there are a good number of other kids who do well at school,who don't act like bullies and go around beating people up; who are respectful to teachers; and who come from families who value education and teach their kids right from wrong. Why can't someone want all those things? Poor kids can be all those things too. I don't care what color they are or how much their parents make. But it's not a secret that schools with the highest FARMS rate, tend to experience more issues that are a result of having too many kids from poor and troubled families. On the other hand, schools with very few FARMS also tend to have very little diversity so most people I know (not DCUM) who do value diversity and all of those other things, don't look at those schools either.

Anonymous wrote:

It's not "SES peer cohort".. it's "academic peer cohort" which doesn't mean that they are all not low income. Calm down. You're making a big stink out of nothing.

Yeah no, it has zero to do with academic cohort. Its about SES, making sure that their kids are around kids with educated parents, not food insecure, no drop out siblings, parents are employed/not in jail etc There was a thread a while back with someone asking about New Hampshire Estates and all the posters nearby made a huge deal that the school is too poor so the OP's kids would have a hard time finding friends.

New Hampshire Estates ES is 72% Hispanic and 21% black/African-American, and 89% of students qualify for free or reduced meals. It's not a diverse school. It's as homogeneous demographically as Carderock Springs ES.

Also, this:

You: People are hypocrites because they claim to want diversity but actually insist on a large group of kids from affluent, educated families!
PP: No, a large-enough group of academically-minded kids.
You: Nuh uh, you insist on a large group of kids from affluent, educated families!

It's as though you were a vegan, and I accused you of hypocrisy for eating a big steak at a steakhouse last night, and you said no, you ate at the vegetarian Indian restaurant, and I said, nuh uh you ate at the steakhouse!

Anonymous wrote:
Economic or racial/cultural diversity or both?
You need to specify, because my kids go to a very culturally diverse school that doesn't have a lot of lower-income families.

As I said before on other threads, I don't think anyone cares about people's skin color. What they do care about is that there is a sufficient number of families at school that prioritize education and academic achievement. And that is directly linked to income. It's not that lower-income families don't care, it's that they often don't have the means to push. And there are exceptions among the wealthy as well. But statistically (a word that a lot of people on DCUM do not understand), all this is true.

Plenty of people care about people's skin color.

Economic or racial/cultural diversity or both?
You need to specify, because my kids go to a very culturally diverse school that doesn't have a lot of lower-income families.

As I said before on other threads, I don't think anyone cares about people's skin color. What they do care about is that there is a sufficient number of families at school that prioritize education and academic achievement. And that is directly linked to income. It's not that lower-income families don't care, it's that they often don't have the means to push. And there are exceptions among the wealthy as well. But statistically (a word that a lot of people on DCUM do not understand), all this is true.

Because it makes them feel like they are “better”than others. But deep inside they are no better.

Hipocrisy about diverse schools is all around.

Well we chose diverse schools because we aren’t white, and didn’t want our kids to feel isolated. DD has a strong cohort of academic achievers. And because her school is truly diverse, the cohort of high achievers is diverse. They are ethnically diverse, diverse in family structure, and presumably economically diverse, given the school’s FARMS numbers. But I would have no reason to know or care what their families incomes are.

Anonymous wrote:

It's not "SES peer cohort".. it's "academic peer cohort" which doesn't mean that they are all not low income. Calm down. You're making a big stink out of nothing.

Yeah no, it has zero to do with academic cohort. Its about SES, making sure that their kids are around kids with educated parents, not food insecure, no drop out siblings, parents are employed/not in jail etc There was a thread a while back with someone asking about New Hampshire Estates and all the posters nearby made a huge deal that the school is too poor so the OP's kids would have a hard time finding friends.

New Hampshire Estates is not a diverse school. It’s overwhelmingly poor and Hispanic. It’s also only k-2.

Anonymous wrote:

It's not "SES peer cohort".. it's "academic peer cohort" which doesn't mean that they are all not low income. Calm down. You're making a big stink out of nothing.

Yeah no, it has zero to do with academic cohort. Its about SES, making sure that their kids are around kids with educated parents, not food insecure, no drop out siblings, parents are employed/not in jail etc There was a thread a while back with someone asking about New Hampshire Estates and all the posters nearby made a huge deal that the school is too poor so the OP's kids would have a hard time finding friends.

It has everything to do with academic cohort. Not all low income kids have parents in jail or siblings who dropped out of school.

I grew up low income, and my parents weren't educated, barely spoke any English, one sibling almost dropped out, and I went to a "bad" HS, but took some AP classes. I have been making six figures now for the past 15 years.

It's about academics, not income level. Some of my DC's friends are not wealthy by any means; some are single parents. But most of them are good students.

I don't live in a W cluster.

It's not "SES peer cohort".. it's "academic peer cohort" which doesn't mean that they are all not low income. Calm down. You're making a big stink out of nothing.

Yeah no, it has zero to do with academic cohort. Its about SES, making sure that their kids are around kids with educated parents, not food insecure, no drop out siblings, parents are employed/not in jail etc There was a thread a while back with someone asking about New Hampshire Estates and all the posters nearby made a huge deal that the school is too poor so the OP's kids would have a hard time finding friends.

Anonymous wrote:I'm getting really tired of posters making a huge point about how they value "diversity" and then in the VERY next sentence go on and on how there is a large enough high SES peer cohort at their diverse school with 20%-50% so their kids don't need to mix with the low income kids. This comes up constantly here.

What is the point of choosing a diverse school if you don't want your kids be friends and mix into classes with the low SES kids?

If you were only seeking a cheaper house in a more affordable area and then were pleasantly surprised that your kids got to avoid the poor kids in school, well then OK, at least own it. Don't go on about wanting diversity and in the next breath contradict yourself.

It's not "SES peer cohort".. it's "academic peer cohort" which doesn't mean that they are all not low income. Calm down. You're making a big stink out of nothing.

I'm getting really tired of posters making a huge point about how they value "diversity" and then in the VERY next sentence go on and on how there is a large enough high SES peer cohort at their diverse school with 20%-50% so their kids don't need to mix with the low income kids. This comes up constantly here.

What is the point of choosing a diverse school if you don't want your kids be friends and mix into classes with the low SES kids?

If you were only seeking a cheaper house in a more affordable area and then were pleasantly surprised that your kids got to avoid the poor kids in school, well then OK, at least own it. Don't go on about wanting diversity and in the next breath contradict yourself.