Housing policy is school policy. Development policy is school policy. Transportation policy is school policy.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/affluent-montgomery-county-has-pockets-of-poverty-mostly-in-the-east/2014/09/06/e09dbb6a-1cea-11e4-82f9-2cd6fa8da5c4_story.html

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm new to the thread, and my kids attend a school that is over 70% white. People always think of our school as fairly homogenous, but it really isn't. When I started up a little PTA gig to promote diversity and inclusion and for things like international night, I did a little survey to figure out who's who and we have 34 home languages in a school of 700, and 17 different religions, and that is without splitting protestants. That's pretty mindblowing, and cool. I think it's important to look beyond skin color and realize that diversity can be much more.

Your school sounds lovely and truly diverse. Diverse does not mean that only people who are AA or Hispanic can be counted. If that's what people want to count, than say so. Using a euphemism such as " diverse" because it sounds nicer than saying we're only interested in counting the number of AA or Hispanics is a load of political crap.

Except that over 70% of the school belongs to the same race, of course. I don't call that diversity, any more than I call schools where over 70% of students are black diverse, or schools where over 70% of students are Hispanic, or schools where over 70% of students are poor.

For example, here are two non-diverse elementary schools: Carderock Springs ES and New Hampshire Estates ES. Carderock Springs ES is 71% white, and basically none of its students is learning English, now receives FARMS, or has received FARMS in the past. New Hampshire Estates ES is 82% Hispanic and 13% black, 73% of its students are learning English, 94% of its students are on FARMS, and basically every child in the school either now receives FARMS or has received FARMS in the past. What these two schools have in common is lack of diversity.

http://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/departments/regulatoryaccountability/glance/currentyear/schools/02417.pdf
http://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/departments/regulatoryaccountability/glance/currentyear/schools/02791.pdf

When the OP said "MoCo is diverse, for sure, but MCPS schools are not" -- that's exactly what the OP was talking about.

Anonymous wrote:

+1

I come from a lower SES background, and one thing you don't find, and that is often echoed by other poster who come from a similar background is that higher SES parents are moe involved in their schools. Often ridiculously so.

If everyone that was of a lower SES started demanding more of their schools more would happen.

Yes, if everyone with a lower SES behaved more like people with a high SES, then the schools wouldn't have the problems that go with having lots of students with low-SES parents. That kind of goes without saying. It's not a policy solution, though. Unless you think that, "Hey! Poors! Start behaving more like affluent people!" is a policy solution?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Instead of suggestions about 2 hour bus commutes a day, razing neighborhoods inside the Beltway in order to build subsidized middle class housing, forcing school integration by income, and attacking educated white collar families, how about focusing on something easier, more likely to happen and that can have a real impact: IMPROVING YOUR OWN SCHOOL. Get involved. Work from within. Complain and report class disruptions. Sit in on your kids’ class. Demand accountability from your teacher and principal. Know where your tax dollars are going. Get to know other parents. Raise your expectations. Demand tracking for high performers. Be noisy at the school, not on DCUM. Look how noisy Casa de Maryland is for all the Hispanics, legal or illegal. Get going!!!

Seriously, if you pay federal, Maryland state and MoCo county income tax, property tax, gas tax, sales tax then YOU fund the MCPS, state and county budget. Demand a well-functioning neighborhood school.

Because I have a job and doing this would take all of my spare time and then some. Much easier to move and pay taxes that get me a school that doesn't need me to rebuild it from the ground up. MCPS is generally resistant to any change that it does not self-initiate and I don't have the energy to fight those kinds of battles.

People like you are the problem. "Let the SAHM do it". Guess what, there aren't many out there. Working moms AND dads need to help out too. Don't wait for someone else to do something. That is a huge issuees with schools. They need help, support, money, teachers that know that parents have their back. But wow, people are just so effing LAZY. Treat school like daycare. Always bitching they are too busy. Too busy to care, support and stay involved in their children's education. Sad, very sad.

Keep telling yourself that. I'm very active in my PTA at my child's wonderful school. We moved so my daughter could have a great education and I volunteer my time weekly through the PTA. What I don't have time for are endless battles with a sub-par school trying to get my kid's basic educational needs met. I'm very involved in my daughter's education and what would be sad is if rather than volunteering on fun activity days and at lunch I was babysitting her teacher to share my numerous complaints. Moving was a great choice for us and I'm just thankful we had the option. I have enough time either to be involved with my child and her education or fighting with her school and the BOE. But I don't have time for both.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Instead of suggestions about 2 hour bus commutes a day, razing neighborhoods inside the Beltway in order to build subsidized middle class housing, forcing school integration by income, and attacking educated white collar families, how about focusing on something easier, more likely to happen and that can have a real impact: IMPROVING YOUR OWN SCHOOL. Get involved. Work from within. Complain and report class disruptions. Sit in on your kids’ class. Demand accountability from your teacher and principal. Know where your tax dollars are going. Get to know other parents. Raise your expectations. Demand tracking for high performers. Be noisy at the school, not on DCUM. Look how noisy Casa de Maryland is for all the Hispanics, legal or illegal. Get going!!!

Seriously, if you pay federal, Maryland state and MoCo county income tax, property tax, gas tax, sales tax then YOU fund the MCPS, state and county budget. Demand a well-functioning neighborhood school.

Because I have a job and doing this would take all of my spare time and then some. Much easier to move and pay taxes that get me a school that doesn't need me to rebuild it from the ground up. MCPS is generally resistant to any change that it does not self-initiate and I don't have the energy to fight those kinds of battles.

People like you are the problem. "Let the SAHM do it". Guess what, there aren't many out there. Working moms AND dads need to help out too. Don't wait for someone else to do something. That is a huge issuees with schools. They need help, support, money, teachers that know that parents have their back. But wow, people are just so effing LAZY. Treat school like daycare. Always bitching they are too busy. Too busy to care, support and stay involved in their children's education. Sad, very sad.

Anonymous wrote:Instead of suggestions about 2 hour bus commutes a day, razing neighborhoods inside the Beltway in order to build subsidized middle class housing, forcing school integration by income, and attacking educated white collar families, how about focusing on something easier, more likely to happen and that can have a real impact: IMPROVING YOUR OWN SCHOOL. Get involved. Work from within. Complain and report class disruptions. Sit in on your kids’ class. Demand accountability from your teacher and principal. Know where your tax dollars are going. Get to know other parents. Raise your expectations. Demand tracking for high performers. Be noisy at the school, not on DCUM. Look how noisy Casa de Maryland is for all the Hispanics, legal or illegal. Get going!!!

Seriously, if you pay federal, Maryland state and MoCo county income tax, property tax, gas tax, sales tax then YOU fund the MCPS, state and county budget. Demand a well-functioning neighborhood school.

Because I have a job and doing this would take all of my spare time and then some. Much easier to move and pay taxes that get me a school that doesn't need me to rebuild it from the ground up. MCPS is generally resistant to any change that it does not self-initiate and I don't have the energy to fight those kinds of battles.

Instead of suggestions about 2 hour bus commutes a day, razing neighborhoods inside the Beltway in order to build subsidized middle class housing, forcing school integration by income, and attacking educated white collar families, how about focusing on something easier, more likely to happen and that can have a real impact: IMPROVING YOUR OWN SCHOOL. Get involved. Work from within. Complain and report class disruptions. Sit in on your kids’ class. Demand accountability from your teacher and principal. Know where your tax dollars are going. Get to know other parents. Raise your expectations. Demand tracking for high performers. Be noisy at the school, not on DCUM. Look how noisy Casa de Maryland is for all the Hispanics, legal or illegal. Get going!!!

Seriously, if you pay federal, Maryland state and MoCo county income tax, property tax, gas tax, sales tax then YOU fund the MCPS, state and county budget. Demand a well-functioning neighborhood school.

+1

I come from a lower SES background, and one thing you don't find, and that is often echoed by other poster who come from a similar background is that higher SES parents are moe involved in their schools. Often ridiculously so.

If everyone that was of a lower SES started demanding more of their schools more would happen.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm new to the thread, and my kids attend a school that is over 70% white. People always think of our school as fairly homogenous, but it really isn't. When I started up a little PTA gig to promote diversity and inclusion and for things like international night, I did a little survey to figure out who's who and we have 34 home languages in a school of 700, and 17 different religions, and that is without splitting protestants. That's pretty mindblowing, and cool. I think it's important to look beyond skin color and realize that diversity can be much more.

Your school sounds lovely and truly diverse. Diverse does not mean that only people who are AA or Hispanic can be counted. If that's what people want to count, than say so. Using a euphemism such as " diverse" because it sounds nicer than saying we're only interested in counting the number of AA or Hispanics is a load of political crap.

+1

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't give a rat's ass about diversity, to be honest. I was brought up in a dual-culture household. That's enough for me.

I want my kids to be in classrooms with kids who are focused and on or above level. I am not about to use my kids as guinea pigs to prove that I'm a super hip liberal.

We moved b/c our local schools were awful. My kids are happy and doing well in their calm environment.

But here's the thing; we now have the extremes in Mo Co. Schools are either high performing and "safe" or low performing and dangerous.

So what choice do parents have? If you have the means, you move.

sorry - But that's the truth.

Agree with you. First and foremost I am going to look out for my children's best interests. That means giving them the best education I can afford for them. I can afford the education by living in a relatively cheap house and paying for private or moving to a school zone where the average kid performs above the county average. Either way it will cost me.

Yes - either way you'll pay.

But we do what's best for our children. That's the bottom line.

"Instead of suggestions about 2 hour bus commutes a day, razing neighborhoods inside the Beltway in order to build subsidized middle class housing, forcing school integration by income, and attacking educated white collar families, how about focusing on something easier, more likely to happen and that can have a real impact: IMPROVING YOUR OWN SCHOOL. Get involved. Work from within. Complain and report class disruptions. Sit in on your kids’ class. Demand accountability from your teacher and principal. Know where your tax dollars are going. Get to know other parents. Raise your expectations. Demand tracking for high performers. Be noisy at the school, not on DCUM. Look how noisy Casa de Maryland is for all the Hispanics, legal or illegal. Get going!!!

Seriously, if you pay federal, Maryland state and MoCo county income tax, property tax, gas tax, sales tax then YOU fund the MCPS, state and county budget. Demand a well-functioning neighborhood school. "

Agree that that is part of the solution. But you need a bit of a critical mass for that to work - one parent alone will just be written off.

Anonymous wrote:Instead of suggestions about 2 hour bus commutes a day, razing neighborhoods inside the Beltway in order to build subsidized middle class housing, forcing school integration by income, and attacking educated white collar families, how about focusing on something easier, more likely to happen and that can have a real impact: IMPROVING YOUR OWN SCHOOL. Get involved. Work from within. Complain and report class disruptions. Sit in on your kids’ class. Demand accountability from your teacher and principal. Know where your tax dollars are going. Get to know other parents. Raise your expectations. Demand tracking for high performers. Be noisy at the school, not on DCUM. Look how noisy Casa de Maryland is for all the Hispanics, legal or illegal. Get going!!!

Seriously, if you pay federal, Maryland state and MoCo county income tax, property tax, gas tax, sales tax then YOU fund the MCPS, state and county budget. Demand a well-functioning neighborhood school.

Love this!

Instead of suggestions about 2 hour bus commutes a day, razing neighborhoods inside the Beltway in order to build subsidized middle class housing, forcing school integration by income, and attacking educated white collar families, how about focusing on something easier, more likely to happen and that can have a real impact: IMPROVING YOUR OWN SCHOOL. Get involved. Work from within. Complain and report class disruptions. Sit in on your kids’ class. Demand accountability from your teacher and principal. Know where your tax dollars are going. Get to know other parents. Raise your expectations. Demand tracking for high performers. Be noisy at the school, not on DCUM. Look how noisy Casa de Maryland is for all the Hispanics, legal or illegal. Get going!!!

Seriously, if you pay federal, Maryland state and MoCo county income tax, property tax, gas tax, sales tax then YOU fund the MCPS, state and county budget. Demand a well-functioning neighborhood school.

Anonymous wrote:I don't give a rat's ass about diversity, to be honest. I was brought up in a dual-culture household. That's enough for me.

I want my kids to be in classrooms with kids who are focused and on or above level. I am not about to use my kids as guinea pigs to prove that I'm a super hip liberal.

We moved b/c our local schools were awful. My kids are happy and doing well in their calm environment.

But here's the thing; we now have the extremes in Mo Co. Schools are either high performing and "safe" or low performing and dangerous.

So what choice do parents have? If you have the means, you move.

sorry - But that's the truth.

+1

Anonymous wrote:Where are the caps on class size 12 kids in the red zone? Our title one school last year had about 18 or 19 kids per 1 teacher (no in-class aide that I saw). Although class size is much bigger in the west I think they also have aides and generally the kids come better prepared so do not need as much hand holding as the title 1 schools' kids.

My daughter is in K with 25 kids and no aide. My friend in a title 1 school was 16 kids and an aide to share between 2 classes. That is a huge difference for K students.

Anonymous wrote:I don't give a rat's ass about diversity, to be honest. I was brought up in a dual-culture household. That's enough for me.

I want my kids to be in classrooms with kids who are focused and on or above level. I am not about to use my kids as guinea pigs to prove that I'm a super hip liberal.

We moved b/c our local schools were awful. My kids are happy and doing well in their calm environment.

But here's the thing; we now have the extremes in Mo Co. Schools are either high performing and "safe" or low performing and dangerous.

So what choice do parents have? If you have the means, you move.

sorry - But that's the truth.

Agree with you. First and foremost I am going to look out for my children's best interests. That means giving them the best education I can afford for them. I can afford the education by living in a relatively cheap house and paying for private or moving to a school zone where the average kid performs above the county average. Either way it will cost me.