Why is BPS so bad and what should be done to improve it? (Boston: living, bus)

[mdovell]

It meant there was a problem we would have seen it by now. The fact that they were many wealthy communities that have open arms and accept the students is evidence of this. If it was truly a bad program than none of these districts would be accepting students. I worked with one of the school districts in the 128 about that gladly accepted metco students. The only issue is that they would pick them up as early as 6 a.m. and they would spend probably hours each day on the school bus. If anything that shows how much they are willing to go through in order to spend time in a different District. I'm as far from a liberal or Progressive as you can get but there are some government programs that honest to God and do work

[msRB311]

There would be an uproar if the metco program were ever to shut down.

[WestieWhitie]

Ironic thing is METCO really hurts BPS - it carts the best and the brightest black students the rest of the BPS kids could look up to out to the suburbs and leaves Laquan Da Killas and Jaquan Da Slingas for role models. And what’s even more ironic is the fact that many of the “activists” screeching for the destruction of exam schools are the ones who load their kids onto METCO buses every morning.

[maclel]

Originally Posted by mdovell

It meant there was a problem we would have seen it by now. The fact that they were many wealthy communities that have open arms and accept the students is evidence of this. If it was truly a bad program than none of these districts would be accepting students. I worked with one of the school districts in the 128 about that gladly accepted metco students. The only issue is that they would pick them up as early as 6 a.m. and they would spend probably hours each day on the school bus. If anything that shows how much they are willing to go through in order to spend time in a different District. I'm as far from a liberal or Progressive as you can get but there are some government programs that honest to God and do work

There isn’t an open debate about METCO in these towns because if you raise your voice you get automatically canceled. Privately parents grumble about METCO kids lowering standards and bullying their kids while the community progressives get a kick out of their virtue signaling.

[msRB311]

I wen to a private school and there were inner city black and Hispanic kids there who were given scholarships. They were nice kids though, they weren’t bullying or giving anyone a hard time. They seemed happy to be there. I’m surprised to hear the metco kids bully the other kids ? Aren’t they selected based on grades and good behavior? I would also think they could be kicked out of the program if they didn’t behave.

I think metco probably does hurt bps in the long run and it rubs people the wrong way. People of color get to stay living in the city and use metco but white families have to move or use private school. A friend of mine was living in the city and they moved to the south shore for better schools. Her black neighbor whose kids go to a suburban school through metco wanted to know why she was moving. She explained why in terms of the schools and was kind of annoyed to be asked the question. the woman was like oh ok. Do people expect metco to be a program that will last forever?

[maclel]

Originally Posted by msRB311

I wen to a private school and there were inner city black and Hispanic kids there who were given scholarships. They were nice kids though, they weren’t bullying or giving anyone a hard time. They seemed happy to be there. I’m surprised to hear the metco kids bully the other kids ? Aren’t they selected based on grades and good behavior? I would also think they could be kicked out of the program if they didn’t behave.

I think metco probably does hurt bps in the long run and it rubs people the wrong way. People of color get to stay living in the city and use metco but white families have to move or use private school. A friend of mine was living in the city and they moved to the south shore for better schools. Her black neighbor whose kids go to a suburban school through metco wanted to know why she was moving. She explained why in terms of the schools and was kind of annoyed to be asked the question. the woman was like oh ok. Do people expect metco to be a program that will last forever?

Children don’t test into Metco, it is a lottery that is only open to children of color. No reason to think the average Metco student is all that different from BPS. Kicking a kid out of Metco is like kicking a kid out of his district school: incredibly difficult. The schools in 21st century Massachusetts are not really empowered to deal with kids who consistently misbehave. The assumption is that by talking about values everything will be fine but it’s clear that doesn’t work.

Metco was supposed to be a relative short remedial program but it’s been going on for 55 years and no reason to think it will stop other than the US Supreme Court striking down racial affirmative action in education.

[Boston Shudra]

Originally Posted by WestieWhitie

Laquan Da Killas and Jaquan Da Slingas for role models.

Relatives of D-Money, Smoothie, and Shifty?

[msRB311]

Unfortunately there isn’t a whole lot that can be done about kids who misbehave in public schools especially if the parents aren’t interested.

[dazzleman]

Originally Posted by msRB311

Unfortunately there isn’t a whole lot that can be done about kids who misbehave in public schools especially if the parents aren’t interested.

And that's why we can't improve education. Until we change this, we can't expect any improvement in schools no matter how much money we spend.

[WestieWhitie]

Originally Posted by dazzleman

And that's why we can't improve education. Until we change this, we can't expect any improvement in schools no matter how much money we spend.

Two words - charter schools.