By Adam Pagnucco.
After the Montgomery County Council of PTAs and the Montgomery County Education Association came out against MCPS’s proposed region model, the Black and Brown Coalition for Educational Equity and Excellence has released a statement supporting it. The aim of the region model is to assemble groups of 4-5 high schools that would each specialize in specific academic programs that would be available for application by students of any of the region’s high schools. The PTAs and the teachers are skeptical that it will work and are calling for more community input; the Black and Brown Coalition says it’s about time.
Coalition co-founder Byron Johns elaborated in remarks to Bethesda Magazine. Among other things, he told the outlet:
Johns said he believed the pushback was a disingenuous attempt to keep the status quo, saying the two advocacy groups are dominated by white voices who can’t speak to the best interests of Black and brown families, low-income Asian families and other students who live in underserved areas of the county.
“The fact that there are deserts … there are kids in parts of the county who are eligible and deserving that don’t get into these specialty programs, and a large segment of them are Black and brown kids — this has been known for decades,” Johns said. “So when you say, ‘Oh, we’re rushing this,’ this is the same crap that PTAs and the unions have said back when [former superintendent Jerry Weast] was around talking about red zone, green zone. … Never is too fast for them.”
Whatever your opinion on the region model, it’s a huge change for MCPS and will be arguably the most important legacy of Superintendent Thomas Taylor. The coalition’s full statement appears below.
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Statement by the Black and Brown Coalition for Educational Equity and Excellence in Support of MCPS’ Proposed Regional Programming Model
Recently some local organizations and individuals have announced they oppose or want to delay implementation of the school system’s proposed high school academic program changes, arguing the proposed changes have been rushed and require more input.
We strongly disagree with calls that further study is needed. MCPS’ proposed regional model, while not a perfect plan, is long overdue and represents a major improvement over the current model. It would advance the laudable goal of providing all students, including eligible Black and Brown students who have long been underserved, expanded seats and proximal access to exciting academic opportunities, no matter where they live.
The current model of high-demand magnet, lottery-based, and career-based programs fails to serve all students equitably regardless of geography. Maintaining the status quo inequitably provides some children with greater access to these programs because of their zip codes while other children attend school in communities that truly remain “quality program deserts.”
In fact, children in the under-resourced communities have the most at stake with these changes as many don’t have access to high-quality opportunities. That’s why we want to see priority placed on those areas as MCPS’ new regional model is put into effect.
There are many eligible, deserving, underserved students and their families that have waited too long to have access to opportunities comparable to what other parts of the county enjoy. To avoid “analysis paralysis,” MCPS should forge ahead with implementing its plan, making sure to prioritize traditionally disadvantaged areas before adding programs elsewhere.
The Black and Brown Coalition for Educational Equity and Excellence in Montgomery County represents more than 30 organizations, all advocating for MCPS’s Black and Brown students to have equitable access to the resources, opportunities, and supports they need to be successful in college, career and life.