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.

Check your prejudice.

Anonymous wrote:A lot of criticism here, but so far no real evidence to support any of it.

Yep.

A lot of criticism here, but so far no real evidence to support any of it.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

Yes, I think they're privileged. Don't you? Do you think that your kids would be better off if they didn't have those things?

Listen to yourself. So if I become a drug dealing, stripper, hooker with many baby daddies, my kids have a better chance to get into magnet schools? Or do I still have to be a certain race?

This is so ugly, PP. You are trafficking in ugly racial and class stereotypes. Let me tell you this. I know several kids who were admitted to the TPMS and Eastern magnets this year. Yes, from the "wrong" side of the county. Maybe even kids who got a boost based on geography. They are fantastic kids. They are also well-loved and well-supported. They do not have all of the advantages listed above. Some have a single parent, or a disabled parent, or arrived in the United States as refugees within the past five years.

You slander them when you suggest they don't deserve this chance, but you also make yourself look petty and small.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

it's affirmative action, that's all. plus a sprinkle of trying to get silver spring land values up by promising easier access to magnet seats.

Affirmative action based on not living in Potomac or Bethesda.

Correct, if you live anywhere else, you get the affirmative action score boost.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Guess we'll just monitor the wash out rate, GPA & SATs, and quality of the colleges the lower-scoring affirmative action candidates generate.
I'm optimistic that zero will wash out, GPAs high, SATs high and Top 25 colleges. Just like the URMs do at the privates.

Of course, because the Ivys will take them over Asian American Students even if their SAT is 300 points lower.

Which will really make MCPS look like a heroic, well-managed, super curriculum school district!
But then those kids will major in Gender Studies or Racial History and return to work for MCPS.

Anonymous wrote:

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.

it's affirmative action, that's all. plus a sprinkle of trying to get silver spring land values up by promising easier access to magnet seats.

Affirmative action based on not living in Potomac or Bethesda.

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.

it's affirmative action, that's all. plus a sprinkle of trying to get silver spring land values up by promising easier access to magnet seats.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

Yes, I think they're privileged. Don't you? Do you think that your kids would be better off if they didn't have those things?

Listen to yourself. So if I become a drug dealing, stripper, hooker with many baby daddies, my kids have a better chance to get into magnet schools? Or do I still have to be a certain race?

Yep only kids of drug dealers are getting into magnets. Listen to yourself. LOL!!!!

Anonymous wrote:

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.

Seriously - how are you "penalized"??? This is WAY overboard.

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.

I've sent a kid to Dr. Li, so I know about his program. He does not prep kids by getting the admissions tests. He preps kids by convincing their parents to send him their every summer for many summers in a row. While there, he provides them instruction that they are not getting in public school. These kids are being taught math concepts far more than 1 grade level ahead. They are explicitly being taught reading, writing, vocabulary building strategies, again, far above grade level. By contrast, MCPS teaches math at most 1 grade level ahead. MCPS has terrible explicit reading and writing instruction. It should come as no surprise that, on a test with questions on above grade level material, Dr. Li will have many kids who perform better than MCPS kids who didn't go to his "prep". I'm sure also there are many kids in his program who don't score well, but we don't hear about them.

I don't think that Dr. Li alum are "whining". They have a legitimate gripe, IMO. They already know all the on grade level material and much of the above grade level material. Why should a kid who is a hard worker and performing well academically be denied access to a program simply because they have hardworking peers? Especially, since at the time of complaining, it is entirely unclear if they will have any comparable magnet instruction at their home school. Although the peer concept seems geographic, it is not unreasonable to wonder if it is also motivated by racism, since in our society, for a variety of historical reasons, geography and race are overlapping. In fact, since being prohibited from using race as an explicit admissions factor by the Supreme Court in the Eisenberg v. MCPS case, MCPS itself has used other (legal) criteria such as race and SES status as proxies to ensure racial diversity in admissions. So, when MCPS uses geography to keep certain students out and many of those students happen to be of a similar ethnicity, it's no surprise if the parents wonder if there is an aspect of racial bias.

BTW, I say this as a non-Asian parent, whose non-Asian child didn't get into the HS magnet despite having attended a MS magnet and being very bright. So, I don't have a personal gripe about Dr. Li.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

Yes, I think they're privileged. Don't you? Do you think that your kids would be better off if they didn't have those things?

Listen to yourself. So if I become a drug dealing, stripper, hooker with many baby daddies, my kids have a better chance to get into magnet schools? Or do I still have to be a certain race?

It is amazing how you love to make every one of your responses here about you. It is not about you, the adult. It is about the kids.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

Yes, I think they're privileged. Don't you? Do you think that your kids would be better off if they didn't have those things?

Listen to yourself. So if I become a drug dealing, stripper, hooker with many baby daddies, my kids have a better chance to get into magnet schools? Or do I still have to be a certain race?

No, I think that's unlikely.

Do you think that the kids who are getting into the magnet program are the children of drug-dealing sex workers?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

Yes, I think they're privileged. Don't you? Do you think that your kids would be better off if they didn't have those things?

Listen to yourself. So if I become a drug dealing, stripper, hooker with many baby daddies, my kids have a better chance to get into magnet schools? Or do I still have to be a certain race?

Anonymous wrote:

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.

Yes, I think they're privileged. Don't you? Do you think that your kids would be better off if they didn't have those things?