Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I just read about this, and it frustrates me. I can't say I'm surprised, it goes hand in hand with an article not too long ago about how MoCo HS kids are failing their math exams, but that the problem persists, and is in fact getting worse, is upsetting. I wish I knew what the solution is.

I don't know what the solution is, either. But I know that MCPS didn't cause the problem, so MCPS alone can't solve it. Montgomery County schools are segregated (poor kids here, rich kids there) because Montgomery County is segregated. And Montgomery County is segregated because the affluent people in Montgomery County want it that way.

And that segregation is not solely a Montgomery County problem either. Unless you live in a small town where there is only 1 high school, you will always have some type of financial segregation.

Alexandria City only has one high school and has these problems.

What do upper income parents do if they are unhappy with the curriculum or see areas that their child struggles with? Hire a tutor to focus on skills that will make their child ready for college.

What do lower income families do? They have to rely exclusively on the public school system to teach their children.

Let's face it. MCPS is doing a bad job.

One key to a student's overall educational success is how involved are the parents in the educational process.

How easy is it for parents to know how their child is doing and if there is a problem, how easy is it for them to talk with staff to find out how they can help their child at home? What are the only times available for meetings at school?

In my opinion, MCPS fails at encourage parent participation. Many school assessments are labeled "secured" documents so parents have to make appointments during the work day if they want to see their child's tests and exams. Hard for families of single parents or families where both parents are working outside the home. Especially hard to do if you have a long commute to get to your job and/or if you have to rely on public transportation.

Anonymous wrote:If mcps is pooling and then redistributing resources, then won't the money eventually just flood Nec and DCC schools to meet the needs of high need population and deprive the private publics out west of something. I mean PTA fundraising can do only so much! I think DCC and NEC may never catch up with the Ws but mcps is more focused on their upliftment right now.

Yep, it already has.
That's the only way to get fed funds for implementing a Common Core. Uplift of average scores. Focus on the bottom, only.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If mcps is too large, do we think having the Wheaton school system and the Chevy Chase school systems would improve things for the county?

It would improve things for the Chevy Chase school system...

The county needs to stay the same huge size. Bethesda and Potomac do not just subsidize all 200 Montgomery county schools, they also subsidize all other county functions. They must keep enabling the rest of the county in its noble endeavors.

Anonymous wrote:I'm not surprised, but it's still sad, especially when you're in the Downcounty Consortium and can't really afford to move elsewhere (nor do I really want to). I just want my DC to have classes where the students are more engaged and want to learn and fewer resources must diverted to fights, ESOL and just trying to get the kids to pay attention. My DC will graduate in 2 years with a decent enough education, but it probably would have been far different in a W school or another with higher SES.


http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/report-montgomery-gaps-grow-between-high-poverty-and-low-poverty-high-schools/2014/04/08/3820e18a-be97-11e3-bcec-b71ee10e9bc3_story.html?hpid=z2

MoCo is too bleeding heart liberal to do anything sensical. Look for further tax increases and bussing kids all over to force segregation of income (or should we say govt aid recipients). Nevermind that chapter 220 failed miserably, Starr will give it a shot. Thanks to all those in the county that (a) work and (b) pay taxes. Keep it up! Kumbaya!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
I agree with the need for mixed housing. Not everyone wants or needs to live in a huge house. I'd be happy with a small apartment that fed into Churchill. Instead I am down county and in a small apartment to close the gap between FA and tuition at DD's private. Still cheaper than our second choice public after finding out we'd pay as much for an apartment in WJ's catchment as we were paying for a SFH in the DCC.

But the people who live in Potomac do not want apartments in their neighborhoods.

I purposely moved here because I want to live in a residential area with single family homes. I like how open it is, lots of parks and no congestion. There are plenty of places in Bethesda or Rockville if you need an apartment. They looked into putting condos/apartments above Cabin John and that got squashed. Closest is Park Potomac which feeds into Richard Montgomery. Those condos go for $400K min though.

And Rockvile Town Center tried to do something like this and it was an epic failure. I am curious how well North Bethesda development will do

As I said -- there are no apartments in Potomac because the people in Potomac do not want apartments in their neighborhoods. Not to mention apartment-dwellers. People who can't afford a single-family house in Potomac should go live somewhere else. Now, what were we saying about residential segregation by income in Montgomery County?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
I agree with the need for mixed housing. Not everyone wants or needs to live in a huge house. I'd be happy with a small apartment that fed into Churchill. Instead I am down county and in a small apartment to close the gap between FA and tuition at DD's private. Still cheaper than our second choice public after finding out we'd pay as much for an apartment in WJ's catchment as we were paying for a SFH in the DCC.

But the people who live in Potomac do not want apartments in their neighborhoods.

I purposely moved here because I want to live in a residential area with single family homes. I like how open it is, lots of parks and no congestion. There are plenty of places in Bethesda or Rockville if you need an apartment. They looked into putting condos/apartments above Cabin John and that got squashed. Closest is Park Potomac which feeds into Richard Montgomery. Those condos go for $400K min though.

And Rockvile Town Center tried to do something like this and it was an epic failure. I am curious how well North Bethesda development will do

Anonymous wrote:If mcps is too large, do we think having the Wheaton school system and the Chevy Chase school systems would improve things for the county?

It would improve things for the Chevy Chase school system...

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There is poor and moderate income that feeds into Churchill. Townhouse communities. Moderate single family. Not every Churchill kid comes from a River Road mansion.

The percent of students on FARMS at Churchill is 5.3%. (So it's more diverse than Whitman, where the percent of students on FARMS is <5.0%.) The percent of students on FARMS MCPS-wide is 35%. The percent of students on FARMS at Wheaton is 59%. To qualify for FARMS, a household of four people must have an annual income of $43,568 or less.

(And yes, there is a poor community that feeds into Churchill -- Scotland, one of Montgomery County's historically black communities, founded by freed slaves. Scotland was there before Potomac.)

Again, the cheapest available apartment that we found for Churchill was more than we were paying for a SFH in the DCC. Maybe no one showed us any properties in Scotland because of stereotypes?

Again, the cheapest available apartment that you found for Churchill cost more than you were paying for a SFH in the DCC because the residents of Potomac do not allow apartments to get built. If there were more apartments in Potomac, they would be cheaper.

As for Scotland, here are two articles to read if you want to know more:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/06/17/AR2005061700588.html
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/13/AR2007011301255.html

If mcps is too large, do we think having the Wheaton school system and the Chevy Chase school systems would improve things for the county?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There is poor and moderate income that feeds into Churchill. Townhouse communities. Moderate single family. Not every Churchill kid comes from a River Road mansion.

The percent of students on FARMS at Churchill is 5.3%. (So it's more diverse than Whitman, where the percent of students on FARMS is <5.0%.) The percent of students on FARMS MCPS-wide is 35%. The percent of students on FARMS at Wheaton is 59%. To qualify for FARMS, a household of four people must have an annual income of $43,568 or less.

(And yes, there is a poor community that feeds into Churchill -- Scotland, one of Montgomery County's historically black communities, founded by freed slaves. Scotland was there before Potomac.)

Again, the cheapest available apartment that we found for Churchill was more than we were paying for a SFH in the DCC. Maybe no one showed us any properties in Scotland because of stereotypes?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We are not really all in the same school system. Make no mistake, MCPS is very much a system of haves and have-nots. If this were not so, we would not see all these people on this forum dissing eastern MoCo schools and lauding W schools.

I am one of the PPs who noted that in a small town-based school system, economic diversity is very achievable and indeed, was my experience. My dad was a lawyer and I went to high school with doctors' kids, first-generation immigrant kids, kids whose mom worked in the school cafeteria. All in ONE high school.

If the county split, and if there were more mixed housing available throughout the resulting smaller counties, mixing poor and rich would be feasible.

If the county didn't split, and there were more mixed housing available throughout the county, mixing poor and rich would be feasible.

Or, of course, the county might split into a rich county and a poor county...

And yes, we are really all in the same school system. MCPS. One operating budget, one administration, one transportation system, one capital improvement plan, one...well, you get the idea.

I don't really get the consortia in MCPS. The various specialty programs don't seem all that attractive for academically motivated kids, and it keeps people from quickly identifying the assigned schools. You can check real estate listings in Potomac, Bethesda, Arlington or Fairfax and immediately find out the school assignments. But the schools may not even be identified on the real estate listings if you're part of the DCC, and it makes those areas seem like PG, where the listings virtually never bother to identify the schools. You do hear good things about Blair and Einstein, but that seems to be despite the fact they're part of the DCC, and not because they are part of it.

Anonymous wrote:There is poor and moderate income that feeds into Churchill. Townhouse communities. Moderate single family. Not every Churchill kid comes from a River Road mansion.

The percent of students on FARMS at Churchill is 5.3%. (So it's more diverse than Whitman, where the percent of students on FARMS is <5.0%.) The percent of students on FARMS MCPS-wide is 35%. The percent of students on FARMS at Wheaton is 59%. To qualify for FARMS, a household of four people must have an annual income of $43,568 or less.

(And yes, there is a poor community that feeds into Churchill -- Scotland, one of Montgomery County's historically black communities, founded by freed slaves. Scotland was there before Potomac.)

Anonymous wrote:
I agree with the need for mixed housing. Not everyone wants or needs to live in a huge house. I'd be happy with a small apartment that fed into Churchill. Instead I am down county and in a small apartment to close the gap between FA and tuition at DD's private. Still cheaper than our second choice public after finding out we'd pay as much for an apartment in WJ's catchment as we were paying for a SFH in the DCC.

But the people who live in Potomac do not want apartments in their neighborhoods.