Anonymous wrote:Magnet is what saved both schools @ Blair and RM. Truly ghe**o schools without it. They were then, they are still.

RM is in the ghetto? Wow, then why are some of the homes in that cluster so expensive, going over $750K? Why are my neighbors who are doctors, lawyers, scientists, IT professionals sending their kids to RM cluster schools?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
unfair because they are being dinged for having too many "cohorts" where they live. These are kids from educated parents. Do you really think most of these kids wouldn't score high without the prep? BTW, we live in RM cluster, the west side of the county, and my DC went to HGC without any prep whatsoever. Same for many of the kids from this area who went to HGC.

The “prep” is educated parents. The “prep” is quality childcare and nutrition. The “prep” is a relatively calm and stress free childhood. The “prep” is school time with classmates who are within ten reading levels of your child and who don’t act out because they are anxious about instability at home.

That is the prep.

? omg seriously. That is not what most people consider "prep". That would be just be a normal childhood that most people would like for their kids. Yes, many low income parents can't afford trips to museums, etc..but that's not prep.

And guess what.. I grew up lower income, parents had only ES/MS education, spoke no English. And I managed to get good grades and go to college. Home life wasn't "stress free" either.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:MCPS IMO is on the right track by rethinking how merit is gauged. It should ultimately strengthen the program by identifying better candidates, not just alumni of Dr. Li's prep academy.

Actually, 2.0 did more harm to URM students. They are worse off in their understanding and knowledge of content. But when you are riding the gravy train of affirmative action, and when MCPS itself has become less than mediocre then optics matter more than reality.

Let MCPS make public the test scores of every student who took the test, and let them show that they took the top students. MCPS cannot identify better candidates by playing the race card. Being Dr. Li's alumni is not a bad thing. What is bad is students who do not work hard at school, who are aspiring to have careers in being the dregs of the society. I hope parents and students choose academics over other things.

This is an incredibly ignorant statement. There are multiple criteria involved in this process. It's not simply a matter of one test score. Before spewing garbage it would help if you learned at least a little about the subject.

DP: I agree - it is "incredibly ignorant" and "spewing garbage" to claim that the magnet programs served "just alumni of Dr. Li's prep academy."

Anonymous wrote:I don’t think it about gaming the system so much as being in a position of privilege and finding themselves without that privilege.

Wow! My kids are privileged because their parents are married and they live in a two parent household? They are privileged that there is no substance or domestic abuse in the house? They are privileged that we save every single dime to pay for their education? They are privileged that their parents instead of watching TV with a beer in hand, spend time with them when they are doing homework? They are privileged that their mom gets up at 5 am to cook their meals before going off to work, instead of packing them junk and McDonald burger? They are so privileged that their mom does not spend money on fake nails and hair extensions and instead caters to their needs? I see URM kids who are given a lot of resources because they are "under-privileged" but they are the ones with designer clothes and I-Phones.

There is a culture of feeling that they are entitled to everything without putting in any work. I wonder where they will land up in life? There has to be some degree of personal responsibility. And others cannot continue to be penalized for doing the right thing for their children.

Anonymous wrote:Magnet is what saved both schools @ Blair and RM. Truly ghe**o schools without it. They were then, they are still.

What school are you zone for?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm personally thrilled to see MCPS rethinking this process to find the best possible candidates for these programs.

I'm also not surprised that the people who have been able to game the system for so long are upset that it's harder to do so with these changes.

The whines by the Dr. Li alumni simply show the improvements to the selection criteria are working.

How exactly did they game the system? By being born to parents who care about education? Lucky, maybe. But how did they exactly game the system? Don't say prep classes. I already told you the prep classes don't have the tests and they cannot cheat the exam just because they went to Dr. Li.

Well, what about the parents who don't want to care about their kids? This gravy train has worked out well for them so why should they care? After they graduate from the school they just have to produce more kids and the state will step in. I see no reason to work hard. Do you?

explain this gravy train and why it is so awesome.

Anonymous wrote:

Well, what about the parents who don't want to care about their kids? This gravy train has worked out well for them so why should they care? After they graduate from the school they just have to produce more kids and the state will step in. I see no reason to work hard. Do you?

I have not met many parents who don't want to care about their kids. Have you? And of the ones I have met, some did not have a lot of money, and some had plenty.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm personally thrilled to see MCPS rethinking this process to find the best possible candidates for these programs.

I'm also not surprised that the people who have been able to game the system for so long are upset that it's harder to do so with these changes.

The whines by the Dr. Li alumni simply show the improvements to the selection criteria are working.

How exactly did they game the system? By being born to parents who care about education? Lucky, maybe. But how did they exactly game the system? Don't say prep classes. I already told you the prep classes don't have the tests and they cannot cheat the exam just because they went to Dr. Li.

Well, what about the parents who don't want to care about their kids? This gravy train has worked out well for them so why should they care? After they graduate from the school they just have to produce more kids and the state will step in. I see no reason to work hard. Do you?

confused about your point and how it relates to the topic

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm personally thrilled to see MCPS rethinking this process to find the best possible candidates for these programs.

I'm also not surprised that the people who have been able to game the system for so long are upset that it's harder to do so with these changes.

The whines by the Dr. Li alumni simply show the improvements to the selection criteria are working.

How exactly did they game the system? By being born to parents who care about education? Lucky, maybe. But how did they exactly game the system? Don't say prep classes. I already told you the prep classes don't have the tests and they cannot cheat the exam just because they went to Dr. Li.

Well, what about the parents who don't want to care about their kids? This gravy train has worked out well for them so why should they care? After they graduate from the school they just have to produce more kids and the state will step in. I see no reason to work hard. Do you?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We didn't live here when this first occurred but what were the original goals of placing the high school magnet programs in the worst performing schools? Does it work or does it create a false impression of the schools, hide problems in failing schools and create bigger performance divisions in areas? Do the non-magnet kids benefit in any way from having a school within a school?

What would happen in they all shut down and everyone went back to their home school? Wouldn't those kids still do well anyway and then resources could be focused on the struggling students?

Many of the magnet kids are from local schools. My Blair magnet kid walks to school.

Mine does, too. OP why are we invisible to you?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm personally thrilled to see MCPS rethinking this process to find the best possible candidates for these programs.

I'm also not surprised that the people who have been able to game the system for so long are upset that it's harder to do so with these changes.

The whines by the Dr. Li alumni simply show the improvements to the selection criteria are working.

How exactly did they game the system? By being born to parents who care about education? Lucky, maybe. But how did they exactly game the system? Don't say prep classes. I already told you the prep classes don't have the tests and they cannot cheat the exam just because they went to Dr. Li.

Maybe they didn't game this system (this is a NP by the way) but I think they felt entitled to entry to the magnets based on where they live and past history.

I don’t think it about gaming the system so much as being in a position of privilege and finding themselves without that privilege.

Anonymous wrote:I'm personally thrilled to see MCPS rethinking this process to find the best possible candidates for these programs.

I'm also not surprised that the people who have been able to game the system for so long are upset that it's harder to do so with these changes.

The whines by the Dr. Li alumni simply show the improvements to the selection criteria are working.

How exactly did they game the system? By being born to parents who care about education? Lucky, maybe. But how did they exactly game the system? Don't say prep classes. I already told you the prep classes don't have the tests and they cannot cheat the exam just because they went to Dr. Li.

Anonymous wrote:I'm personally thrilled to see MCPS rethinking this process to find the best possible candidates for these programs.

I'm also not surprised that the people who have been able to game the system for so long are upset that it's harder to do so with these changes.

The whines by the Dr. Li alumni simply show the improvements to the selection criteria are working.

agreed

I'm personally thrilled to see MCPS rethinking this process to find the best possible candidates for these programs.

I'm also not surprised that the people who have been able to game the system for so long are upset that it's harder to do so with these changes.

The whines by the Dr. Li alumni simply show the improvements to the selection criteria are working.