On Thursday, January 22, One Montgomery, a local organization formed by parents and community members to support and improve schools, hosted an open-community discussion at the Silver Spring Civic Building regarding the growing concern over the achievement gap in Montgomery County Public Schools.

This gap refers to the disparity of academic performance in schools across the county, and how and why this difference is particularly centered on certain areas of the county, certain schools, and certain racial and ethnic groups. Included on the guest panel were three members of the board of education and two MCPS high school students.

Local parents and community members formed the One Montgomery organization in 2013 in order to raise awareness about the widening achievement gap and the downward county-wide trend of student performance. One Montgomery hosts meetings and workshops around the county in an effort to better inform parents and community members about the implications of this growing achievement gap and the downward school trends as they relate to a wide array of areas including declining property values and local economic development.

The meeting was well-attended by community members and featured a panel that included Sonja Santelises, Valerie Ervin, Dr. Maria Navarro, and Dr. Kimberly Statham as well as two student speakers, Laila Fakri of Walter Johnson High School and Skylar Mitchell of Walt Whitman High School, representing the Minority Scholars Program. The meeting opened up with an informative presentation by One Montgomery’s Dan Reed, who detailed the statistical evidence of the growing achievement gap as well as the observable consequences.

Afterwards, the members of the panel answered questions from the audience. The audience, attentive and interactive, agreed with – and occasionally questioned – responses given by the panel members. Many of the questions involved the county’s strategies for providing an encouraging environment for children of all backgrounds, at all schools – a concern for many parents around the county. Sontelises, the Vice President for K-12 Policy and Practice, stressed the importance of strong leadership at all levels of education. “Leadership really comes from the neighborhoods,” said Santelises, emphasizing the role of the community in helping to find ways to reduce the achievement gap. “Leadership takes courage and not turning a blind eye.”

Members of the audience also empathized with former council member Ervin, whose anecdotes regarding her personal experiences with her children and unfair treatment reflected the experiences shared by both girls.  The audience – as well as the presiding members of One Montgomery and the guest panel – expressed interest in the Minority Scholars Program, which is rapidly expanding to middle and high schools across the county.

After about two hours, the meeting concluded, and the audience members had an opportunity to meet and speak with some of the guest panel members before dispersing.