Anonymous
Post 04/19/2013 15:36     Subject: MD public schools are segregated
PP@15:25 -- "what in the world is majority minority?"

Majority minority is when the majority of people in a subgroup of the population (for example, Montgomery County, or students in Baltimore City public schools) are members of a minority group in the population as a whole (for example, people with Hispanic ethnicity in the US).
Anonymous
Post 04/19/2013 15:25     Subject: MD public schools are segregated
Anonymous wrote:From the article:
"Nearly all of the more than 400 schools in Maryland that were 99 percent or 100 percent minority were in Prince George’s or Baltimore City, according to a separate analysis by The Washington Post of federal enrollment data. A handful of schools were in Montgomery and Baltimore counties."

Well, the problem with this article is that the population of PG County and Baltimore City is majority minority. I'm not sure that you can say the schools are segregated. It's more like the schools reflect the local population.

I hate that the article implies something sinister, as if this is by design. It seems to me there is more of an issue of self-segregation on the part of all races.

I would add that I think the statistics about low-income have to do with the fact that the higher income people who live in both of those districts, PG and Baltimore City, tend to send their kids to private schools.

I would also add that I don't think it is true that the underperformance of those schools has to do with financial resources. I believe the amount per-child spent in PG County is the same, if not more, than the per-child amount spent in Montgomery County.

Basically, articles like this I think are somewhat misleading and offer no solutions to the problem of underperforming schools in PG or Baltimore.


LOL !
What in the world is MAJORITY MINORITY???
If the group is the MAJORITY...it is the MAJORITY...
Goodneessssw
Anonymous
Post 04/19/2013 14:59     Subject: MD public schools are segregated
Anonymous wrote:The Chevy Chase Elementary parent is going to make an appearance to correct the record and tell us that CCES is really, really diverse in 3 ... 2..... 1 .....

You should be ashamed for making fun of Chevy Chase parents. Chevy Chase is indeed a diverse school. We have boys..., and then girls...., 5 year olds.... 8 year olds. You name it.
Anonymous
Post 04/19/2013 14:11     Subject: Re:MD public schools are segregated
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Hilarious. Self-segregation is the ultimate goal of just about every parent in DC area. People pay insane amounts for housing and spend hours each day commuting to their jobs so that their kids can go to segregated schools. And when they succeed, someone writes an article denouncing it? Where does the author live? In Anacostia? Or does he simply avoid the issue by sending his kids to St.Albans?


At least you are acknowledging it happens. I am getting the impressions some in this thread think it just worked out that way. Just as much as minorities have continued to live in pg and Balt, non-minorities have fled those areas. This is no accident people. Also economics and the cost of housing plays a huge role.

I don't just acknowledge that "it happens." I assert that people want it that way - really badly. They demonstrate it with their feet and their wallets every day! Now, here's the question - why does the media always feel the need to criticize the choice the people here choose to make? I thought that we were a democratic country where the will of the people is respected.


Because the next question is "why people doing this?" Some will say that it's racism, but I don't necessarily agree. I think it's more complicated. It might come down to something like, "If I send DS to the local public with all those FARMS kids, I think he will get an education that teaches to the bottom and he will befriend kids who aren't aiming for college. So I move or go private." We can argue over whether these perceptions are correct, but I think the perceptions do exist.

Of course people don't want to say exactly this because it looks almost as racist as saying "minorities!" So instead they say things like "private school is more diverse than my local public" and "public school teachers are uniformly bad and only teach to the test" (both statements now playing on infinite loop in the private school forum). Sure sounds better, right? But having had kids in both private and public schools, I think both statements are comfortable self-deceptions.


Well, I agree with the "comfortable self-deception" statement. The problem I have with your first paragraph is that there are schools in PG county that aren't majority FARMS kids. And yet I see parents from those areas moving when their kids get school aged or going with private. So I wouldn't dismiss racism as a motive. And I also wouldn't suggest it's entirely class. Again, not every section of PG county is low-income. In fact, some are upper middle class but certainly solidly middle class.
Anonymous
Post 04/19/2013 14:11     Subject: Re:MD public schools are segregated
How did this become a private school vs. public school discussion?

If I live in a diverse neighborhood then my kids friends are diverse no matter what school they go to.

If I live in a neighborhood that is not diverse then the school is not diverse either. So if I send them to private it is a wash.

It's not the schools.

It is the parents and whoever they have over for dinner on a Saturday night.

You can't blame this on schools.
Anonymous
Post 04/19/2013 14:10     Subject: MD public schools are segregated
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:When we were looking for homes in MOCO - we were actually surprised at how evenly balanced some of the schools were (25% white, 25% black, 25% asian, 25% hispanic). I'm not saying they were exactly those percentages but many of the areas we looked at had pretty diverse schools with no one group being a large majority. I will admit though - that we weren't looking at the most expensive or least expensive areas. More in the middle.


75% minority school, with 50% being black and hispanic. Much, much higher percentages from when I was going to moco schools in the 70's. 50% coming from socio-economically disadvantaged families makes a huge difference for some folks. This is a class issue, not a race issue.


You're assuming that *all* of the black and hispanic students are SES disadvantaged. I am not sure that's the case in MOCO. I think there are plenty of middle class black and hispanic families in MOCO.


I agree - the areas we looked at that had a mix of races - did not appear to be disadvantaged to me. Although obviously we don't live in CC or Bethesda.
Anonymous
Post 04/19/2013 14:09     Subject: MD public schools are segregated
Anonymous wrote:This is a class issue, not a race issue.


And the fact that the poverty rate is much, much higher among some racial/ethnic groups than others is pure coincidence?
Anonymous
Post 04/19/2013 14:09     Subject: MD public schools are segregated
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:When we were looking for homes in MOCO - we were actually surprised at how evenly balanced some of the schools were (25% white, 25% black, 25% asian, 25% hispanic). I'm not saying they were exactly those percentages but many of the areas we looked at had pretty diverse schools with no one group being a large majority. I will admit though - that we weren't looking at the most expensive or least expensive areas. More in the middle.


75% minority school, with 50% being black and hispanic. Much, much higher percentages from when I was going to moco schools in the 70's. 50% coming from socio-economically disadvantaged families makes a huge difference for some folks. This is a class issue, not a race issue.


We were actually happy to see the even balance and bought accordingly. I would not say this mix of races necessarily equates to "disadvantaged" although in some areas it may.
Anonymous
Post 04/19/2013 14:06     Subject: MD public schools are segregated
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:When we were looking for homes in MOCO - we were actually surprised at how evenly balanced some of the schools were (25% white, 25% black, 25% asian, 25% hispanic). I'm not saying they were exactly those percentages but many of the areas we looked at had pretty diverse schools with no one group being a large majority. I will admit though - that we weren't looking at the most expensive or least expensive areas. More in the middle.


75% minority school, with 50% being black and hispanic. Much, much higher percentages from when I was going to moco schools in the 70's. 50% coming from socio-economically disadvantaged families makes a huge difference for some folks. This is a class issue, not a race issue.


You're assuming that *all* of the black and hispanic students are SES disadvantaged. I am not sure that's the case in MOCO. I think there are plenty of middle class black and hispanic families in MOCO.
Anonymous
Post 04/19/2013 14:05     Subject: Re:MD public schools are segregated
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Hilarious. Self-segregation is the ultimate goal of just about every parent in DC area. People pay insane amounts for housing and spend hours each day commuting to their jobs so that their kids can go to segregated schools. And when they succeed, someone writes an article denouncing it? Where does the author live? In Anacostia? Or does he simply avoid the issue by sending his kids to St.Albans?


At least you are acknowledging it happens. I am getting the impressions some in this thread think it just worked out that way. Just as much as minorities have continued to live in pg and Balt, non-minorities have fled those areas. This is no accident people. Also economics and the cost of housing plays a huge role.

I don't just acknowledge that "it happens." I assert that people want it that way - really badly. They demonstrate it with their feet and their wallets every day! Now, here's the question - why does the media always feel the need to criticize the choice the people here choose to make? I thought that we were a democratic country where the will of the people is respected.


Because the next question is "why people doing this?" Some will say that it's racism, but I don't necessarily agree. I think it's more complicated. It might come down to something like, "If I send DS to the local public with all those FARMS kids, I think he will get an education that teaches to the bottom and he will befriend kids who aren't aiming for college. So I move or go private." We can argue over whether these perceptions are correct, but I think the perceptions do exist.

Of course people don't want to say exactly this because it looks almost as racist as saying "minorities!" So instead they say things like "private school is more diverse than my local public" and "public school teachers are uniformly bad and only teach to the test" (both statements now playing on infinite loop in the private school forum). Sure sounds better, right? But having had kids in both private and public schools, I think both statements are comfortable self-deceptions.
Anonymous
Post 04/19/2013 14:03     Subject: MD public schools are segregated
Anonymous wrote:When we were looking for homes in MOCO - we were actually surprised at how evenly balanced some of the schools were (25% white, 25% black, 25% asian, 25% hispanic). I'm not saying they were exactly those percentages but many of the areas we looked at had pretty diverse schools with no one group being a large majority. I will admit though - that we weren't looking at the most expensive or least expensive areas. More in the middle.


75% minority school, with 50% being black and hispanic. Much, much higher percentages from when I was going to moco schools in the 70's. 50% coming from socio-economically disadvantaged families makes a huge difference for some folks. This is a class issue, not a race issue.
Anonymous
Post 04/19/2013 14:00     Subject: Re:MD public schools are segregated
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Hilarious. Self-segregation is the ultimate goal of just about every parent in DC area. People pay insane amounts for housing and spend hours each day commuting to their jobs so that their kids can go to segregated schools. And when they succeed, someone writes an article denouncing it? Where does the author live? In Anacostia? Or does he simply avoid the issue by sending his kids to St.Albans?


At least you are acknowledging it happens. I am getting the impressions some in this thread think it just worked out that way. Just as much as minorities have continued to live in pg and Balt, non-minorities have fled those areas. This is no accident people. Also economics and the cost of housing plays a huge role.

I don't just acknowledge that "it happens." I assert that people want it that way - really badly. They demonstrate it with their feet and their wallets every day! Now, here's the question - why does the media always feel the need to criticize the choice the people here choose to make? I thought that we were a democratic country where the will of the people is respected.


Does the media criticize? I think the media kinds of ignores it, sidesteps it, because it's uncomfortable to admit that people are racist -- and not just the usual suspects, i.e. uneducated conservatives from southern states. It seems to me the media ignores this.

I would add that I do think it is sad. I don't like that racism and racial segregation still exist to the degree they do. And I think even the people guilty of it aren't okay with it, or they wouldn't go to such great lengths to suggest that it isn't racial.
Anonymous
Post 04/19/2013 13:56     Subject: MD public schools are segregated
When we were looking for homes in MOCO - we were actually surprised at how evenly balanced some of the schools were (25% white, 25% black, 25% asian, 25% hispanic). I'm not saying they were exactly those percentages but many of the areas we looked at had pretty diverse schools with no one group being a large majority. I will admit though - that we weren't looking at the most expensive or least expensive areas. More in the middle.
Anonymous
Post 04/19/2013 13:56     Subject: MD public schools are segregated
Anonymous wrote:A news article on a study that reports data =\= denunciation or criticism.

Though I find it interesting that people are evidently feeling denounced and criticized.


No, people are criticizing a study that reports the obvious (majority minority counties/cities have majority minority schools) but fails to suggest that the issue isn't schools.
Anonymous
Post 04/19/2013 13:52     Subject: MD public schools are segregated
You can argue that a more culturally diverse school would solve the problem. It won't. The kids, especially at the high school level, will self-segregate. And a lot of what I've observed across the county is not a race issue, it's a class issue. At any rate, as long as we continue to fear being around people other than ourselves, we move nowhere with regard to getting along in this country.