Montgomery County proposes giving low-income students priority for programs

https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/to-increase-diversity-a-school-district-wants-to-give-preference-based-on-economic-status/2016/12/25/433e5290-c2ff-11e6-9a51-cd56ea1c2bb7_story.html?utm_term=.2db096882eb2

Jawando files Civil Rights complaint against MCPS

Former congressional candidate Will Jawando announced Wednesday he filed a federal civil rights complaint alleging inequity within Montgomery County Public Schools.

“The complaint alleges that MCPS has violated and continues to violate Title VI with respect to the manner in which it administers recruitment and selection of students for admission to its highly-popular, language immersion programs at the elementary school level,” Jawando said in a statement Wednesday.

Jawando, an attorney, announced he filed the complaint on behalf of his daughter, “and other similarly situated children.”

The case relates to the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights enforcement authority under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

Jawando did not return multiple phone calls or emails requesting comment prior to deadline. He planned to host a Thursday afternoon press conference at the Carver Educational Services Center in Rockville.

“We have much work to due to ensure true equity in our schools here and nationwide,” said Jawando in a May 17 tweet, in which he said MCPS is “no exception” to a rise in high-poverty, racially isolated schools...

http://www.thesentinel.com/mont/newsx/local/item/3704-jawando-files-civil-rights-complaint-against-mcps

Civil rights complaint alleges discrimination in MCPS language immersion programs

A former Obama administration White House aide has filed a federal civil rights complaint against the Montgomery County school system, alleging discrimination against his daughter and other children of color in the district’s highly popular language-immersion programs.
Will Jawando, who also worked for the U.S. Department of Education and recently lost a race for Congress in the Democratic primary, argues in the complaint that the high-performing Maryland school district is violating federal law in the way it recruits and selects its language immersion students.
The school system fails to publicize the opportunities in areas with high percentages of black and Hispanic students — or to “conduct meaningful outreach” — and many parents are unaware that such options exist, according to the complaint, which Jawando filed this week.
“As a result, many of the high-demand language immersion programs enroll disproportionately high numbers of white, non-poor students, while denying benefits of the program to otherwise interested and qualified students of color and those from lower-income families,” it says.
The complaint asks the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights to investigate and requests that the school system be required to enter into an agreement to expand access to, and better serve, African American and Hispanic students in elementary language immersion and other special academic programs...

...Jawando plans to gather with other affected families at a news conference Thursday outside school system offices in Rockville...

https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/civil-rights-complaint-alleges-discrimination-in-language-immersion-programs/2016/06/23/43ba2670-3864-11e6-9ccd-d6005beac8b3_story.html#comments

Guest Post: Openings at Burnt Mills ES Spanish Immersion Program

There are multiple open slots for the 4th and 5th graders in the Spanish immersion program at Burnt Mills ES (BMES), as of today (April 2013), and it is full and perfect up to the 3rd grade. BMES immersion students graduate into SSI middle school's immersion program. BMES is a Title 1 school now and especially welcomes students from low income families. Students who are not lucky enough to win lotteries for the other two Spanish immersion programs should really seek out BMES for a great education, and to save this program at the 4th and 5th grade level. 

-A BMES parent

Immersion Programs

Below is a letter written concerning the immersion programs that have been so successful in the county.  If students in Montgomery County are really being prepared for a global economy, then support for foreign language education should be at the top of the list.

Immersion Advocacy Document FINAL 2292012