Anonymous wrote:High FARMS rate, huge discipline issues, failing infrastructure—and before you guys say anything, I sent my kid to Briggs Chaney, so I have experience. I pulled him out for private after three months. It was a zoo and still is, from what I hear. The local high schools are also bad, even from what I hear from neighbors. If you guys have any insights, let me know. I’ve always wondered.

Anonymous wrote:Redlining determined the residential patterns of concentrated poverty. Kids living in concentrated poverty face more challenges than any school system can effectively address. Right now, these schools are doing their best.

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The degree of wealth and education is not the same. East MoCo has more populations than West MoCo who lack the background, education, money or time to insist that their kids do their homework and pay attention to their teachers.

You left out desire of parents to prioritize their children's education. My elementary-aged kids like to visit libraries all over MoCo, so we've been doing this for years. We've probably been to 80% of all libraries in the county. One pattern I noticed in the kids section no matter where we go -- the vast majority of kids there are white or Asian, even when the demographics of the surrounding area is not like that.

It's not a cost thing. Libraries are free, open long hours (all are open as I write this, in fact), and many are easily accessibly by public transportation. All MCPS students can ride Ride-On for free.

Of course, going to libraries is not required, and there are many other activities children can do to improve their knowledge, but we see this consistently on our library trips and it seems like a sign.

It likely also tells you which families earn their livings in jobs that do not have the flexibility to visit libraries during kid-friendly hours, or the clock time available to spend walking to a stop and waiting for a bus to get to a library when they already have to do that to get groceries. Availability of resources unfortunately does not create the luxury of the leisure to use them.

Correct. When people say something is easily accessible by public transportation they often mean the bus or train goes nearby. But they haven’t yet investigate how long it would actually take to get there. Also what times are you going to the library? Is it possible others are showing up at different times like later in the evening.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The degree of wealth and education is not the same. East MoCo has more populations than West MoCo who lack the background, education, money or time to insist that their kids do their homework and pay attention to their teachers.

You left out desire of parents to prioritize their children's education. My elementary-aged kids like to visit libraries all over MoCo, so we've been doing this for years. We've probably been to 80% of all libraries in the county. One pattern I noticed in the kids section no matter where we go -- the vast majority of kids there are white or Asian, even when the demographics of the surrounding area is not like that.

It's not a cost thing. Libraries are free, open long hours (all are open as I write this, in fact), and many are easily accessibly by public transportation. All MCPS students can ride Ride-On for free.

Of course, going to libraries is not required, and there are many other activities children can do to improve their knowledge, but we see this consistently on our library trips and it seems like a sign.

Anonymous wrote:The county concentrated all the pools in one area. A lot of them depend on the schools to do the parents job. Parents do not care to be involved with anything happening at the school. I know because u was a sub in that area and have lived there for 20
Years. I am a stones throw away from Briggs Chaney ms and refused to send my kids there. Shelled out for private. The schools don’t allow discipline and the parents can’t be bothered so this is what you get.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The degree of wealth and education is not the same. East MoCo has more populations than West MoCo who lack the background, education, money or time to insist that their kids do their homework and pay attention to their teachers.

You left out desire of parents to prioritize their children's education. My elementary-aged kids like to visit libraries all over MoCo, so we've been doing this for years. We've probably been to 80% of all libraries in the county. One pattern I noticed in the kids section no matter where we go -- the vast majority of kids there are white or Asian, even when the demographics of the surrounding area is not like that.

It's not a cost thing. Libraries are free, open long hours (all are open as I write this, in fact), and many are easily accessibly by public transportation. All MCPS students can ride Ride-On for free.

Of course, going to libraries is not required, and there are many other activities children can do to improve their knowledge, but we see this consistently on our library trips and it seems like a sign.

PP you replied to. I didn't want to get into it, because that's loaded.

Low-income parents (income overlaps significantly with race and ethnicity) are not different from high-income parents, in that they want the best for their children. But a lot of them don't have the life background to understand what the educational options are out there, and because their frame of reference is so different they don't even know where to begin; a lot don't know what it takes to get into college these days, or even that college statistically increases the odds of financial stability. Maybe they can't fathom paying for college, even community college. If you don't know anyone who has gone to college who now holds a white collar job that pays more than 150K a year, maybe plumbing seems a safer choice (and maybe it is, if you can't help your child study and do well academically). If you don't like to read, because you've never been taught to like it, odds are your kids don't have a natural love of reading either and you're not going to think of encouraging that by going to the library. Maybe you're working on weekends anyway.

The wealthy neighborhoods are comparatively better-informed because they are seeded with more people who have reached the white-collar top and know how the system works. They talk to their friends and neighbors and the information gets disseminated from there. They also populate DCUM, and other forums and discuss options online. They know the basics of childhood development and how to get children to succeed academically.

My husband is an immigrant who survived a war, clawed his way out from poverty and became a doctor. His parents hit him if he didn't bring home good grades, but they didn't know how to help him. As a result he hates to read. He'd never of his own volition bring his kids to a library. He stuck our oldest in front of the TV when I was in grad school, which contributed to a language delay. Even though he's a terrific success on paper, there are lots of things he "missed" in his social education because of his childhood poverty and living in a poor, crime-ridden neighborhood from which practically nobody got out except him and his brothers (all science fields). So my secondary point is that one's environment is VERY important to achieve well-rounded growth.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The degree of wealth and education is not the same. East MoCo has more populations than West MoCo who lack the background, education, money or time to insist that their kids do their homework and pay attention to their teachers.

You left out desire of parents to prioritize their children's education. My elementary-aged kids like to visit libraries all over MoCo, so we've been doing this for years. We've probably been to 80% of all libraries in the county. One pattern I noticed in the kids section no matter where we go -- the vast majority of kids there are white or Asian, even when the demographics of the surrounding area is not like that.

It's not a cost thing. Libraries are free, open long hours (all are open as I write this, in fact), and many are easily accessibly by public transportation. All MCPS students can ride Ride-On for free.

Of course, going to libraries is not required, and there are many other activities children can do to improve their knowledge, but we see this consistently on our library trips and it seems like a sign.

It likely also tells you which families earn their livings in jobs that do not have the flexibility to visit libraries during kid-friendly hours, or the clock time available to spend walking to a stop and waiting for a bus to get to a library when they already have to do that to get groceries. Availability of resources unfortunately does not create the luxury of the leisure to use them.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The degree of wealth and education is not the same. East MoCo has more populations than West MoCo who lack the background, education, money or time to insist that their kids do their homework and pay attention to their teachers.

You left out desire of parents to prioritize their children's education. My elementary-aged kids like to visit libraries all over MoCo, so we've been doing this for years. We've probably been to 80% of all libraries in the county. One pattern I noticed in the kids section no matter where we go -- the vast majority of kids there are white or Asian, even when the demographics of the surrounding area is not like that.

It's not a cost thing. Libraries are free, open long hours (all are open as I write this, in fact), and many are easily accessibly by public transportation. All MCPS students can ride Ride-On for free.

Of course, going to libraries is not required, and there are many other activities children can do to improve their knowledge, but we see this consistently on our library trips and it seems like a sign.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The degree of wealth and education is not the same. East MoCo has more populations than West MoCo who lack the background, education, money or time to insist that their kids do their homework and pay attention to their teachers.

You left out desire of parents to prioritize their children's education. My elementary-aged kids like to visit libraries all over MoCo, so we've been doing this for years. We've probably been to 80% of all libraries in the county. One pattern I noticed in the kids section no matter where we go -- the vast majority of kids there are white or Asian, even when the demographics of the surrounding area is not like that.

It's not a cost thing. Libraries are free, open long hours (all are open as I write this, in fact), and many are easily accessibly by public transportation. All MCPS students can ride Ride-On for free.

Of course, going to libraries is not required, and there are many other activities children can do to improve their knowledge, but we see this consistently on our library trips and it seems like a sign.

Anonymous wrote:Socio-economics, OP. I used to live in Silver Spring and moved to Bethesda for the schools and a shorter work commute. The degree of wealth and education is not the same. East MoCo has more populations than West MoCo who lack the background, education, money or time to insist that their kids do their homework and pay attention to their teachers. There are lots of special needs that go undiagnosed and untreated, due to parental ignorance and lack of funds, and which contribute to classroom disruptions. In communities where education is not held to the stratospheric standards of the rich, it makes it harder for those families who do prioritize it, because classroom atmosphere is not conducive to learning.

Anonymous wrote:High FARMS rate, huge discipline issues, failing infrastructure—and before you guys say anything, I sent my kid to Briggs Chaney, so I have experience. I pulled him out for private after three months. It was a zoo and still is, from what I hear. The local high schools are also bad, even from what I hear from neighbors. If you guys have any insights, let me know. I’ve always wondered.