Tracing Historical Inequities To Today's Education Disparities
Published in Print Jan 2024
By: Hannah Brooker
Throughout history, educational opportunities have been systematically limited for people of color. Inequitable funding and discriminatory policies restricted access to quality education. This cycle of disparity continues to appear in today's enrollment trends at B-CC and beyond.
MCPS annually compiles data, accessible through the MCPS Data Dashboard, which reveals many disparities in course enrollment. Ms. Sutton, B-CC Vice Principal, expressed, “It should stand to reason that if we have a certain pie chart for what our student demographics are as a whole, then our AP and IB pie chart should look pretty similar.” However, this is not what the data shows. In MCPS, white students make up about 24.4% of general enrollment but account for 35.8% of the students enrolled in AP or IB classes, while Hispanic students make up 34.6% of the MCPS population but account for about 20% of the students enrolled in AP or IB classes. This gap widens significantly within Bethesda area schools like B-CC. At B-CC, for instance, out of the students enrolled in AP or IB courses, 65% are white, while only 11.7% are black.
These statistics aren’t merely numbers. Students are aware of these disparities as well. Mattie Weiss, Junior at B-CC, said, “I have noticed that there is a majority of white students in my classes when compared to other races.” Similarly, Junior Roxy Thompson, said, “Almost all of my IB/AP classes are predominantly white.”
Mr. Favazzo, a guidance counselor at B-CC, offered a reason for these trends, “You want to feel safe and welcome in a classroom, and sometimes that's hard to do when you’re not seeing your peers in the classroom. I think creating a welcoming space in the beginning is really important.”
Thompson added, “I think this is caused by more resources often provided for white students due to intersectional issues such as wealth. Somewhat in the sense that anyone can sign up for any class, however, more free resources should be provided for these higher level classes to improve equitable access and success.”
Efforts have been made at B-CC to create equal access for all. Dr. Mooney explained, “We are now in our second year of working with Equal Opportunity Schools (EOS). EOS is designed to take a systematic look at why students are choosing not to enroll in these courses [...] We focused on personal outreach.”
Favazzo elaborated on the personal outreach aspect, stating, “For example, last year we asked 10th grade English teachers to identify underrepresented students who they felt could succeed in AP Lang rather than continuing on the Honors English path.”
Following work with EOS, Mooney noted, “Our numbers for this current school year, for our enrollment, increased quite a bit for our underrepresented groups.” The MCPS Data Dashboard reflects those increases in enrollment for several racial/ethnic groups. For example, when comparing 2021 to 2023, the number of black students who take an AP/IB exam has increased by 15%.
However, there are still persistent barriers. Annie Block, a student at B-CC, said, “I think that it’s not B-CC as an administration stopping students, it’s the general culture that stops them from taking classes.” If, for a variety of reasons, students of color do not feel comfortable in IB/AP classes, it can impact their willingness to sign up. Ms. Young, an IB English teacher said, “One of my students yesterday said that this is the first time she’s ever had a black teacher. She is in 11th grade. It can’t just be this idea of ‘we want to enroll more students of color’ if you’re not in the position to meet these students of color. That doesn’t mean you have to have the same racial makeup, but if you are not someone that they can relate to on any level, that will be a barrier.”
