ludlow-taylor

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If there were suspicious erasure rates and test scores at Brent or Maury and if very very few inboundary parents felt confident enough to stay beyond kindergarten, it would also cause concern. Regardless of race.

You seem to be playing the race card because it is the easiest thing to do.

This is the PP accused of "playing the race card" (and FWIW, I'm white). I'm honestly just trying to figure out what is generating all the hate (or if hate is too strong a word, perhaps doubt?). Race seems like the obvious, unspoken justification for the perception that L-T is not a good school. The other possible option is SES given that the FARMs rate is higher than other schools. However, based on your response, maybe the problem is the erasure rates from whenever that happened. Is that it? If the concern is that people think the principal condones cheating, that seems valid, although I don't think the alleged cheating was ever proven (correct me if I'm wrong...if it's proven, how did Cobbs keep her job?) One way or another, that's not generally the rationale people are spouting when they say L-T is not a good school. Instead, it's that Cobbs is "not welcoming" to IB parents and therefore IB parents don't want to stay, or (similarly) that IB parents don't want to stay because there aren't enough other IB parents staying, so that must indicate that Cobbs is not welcoming. I'm trying to figure out if there is any rational reason why people don't think Cobbs is welcoming and if there is any rational reason why IB parents are not staying beyond K.

Just to be clear, I'm in no way arguing that Brent and Maury aren't great...they seem to be really good schools. I'm just not clear on why L-T has the reputation of being "worse" in the eyes of Capitol Hill parents.

[Anonymous]

My very limited dealings with Cobbs were a real turn-off.

Last year, at an open house, when I asked her how many kids of Asian descent are at LT (was it really 0%, as on the school's data page on the DCPS web site) she was obnoxious to me and my spouse in front of other prospective parents. In so many words, she accused me of being a bigot simply for having asked.

I didn't give up after encounter #1, but went to another open house. This time around, she gave a speech in which she expressed a desire to "draw in more of my own kind, African Americans" (direct quote). Sounds like I wasn't the only PP who heard that right - there were at least 50 of us there.

It seems that 90 plus % AA in a highly diverse neighborhood isn't enough for Cobbs. When lottery season rolled around, we didn't put in for LT, although we would almost certainly have been offered a preschool spot.

We're at an AppleTree campus (love it), hoping for a long-term option after PreK. We'll try for every quality public ES program within a couple miles of Stanton Park for as many years as it takes to find an option likely to get us to 4th or 5th grade, peacefully.

[Anonymous]

Pp: you seem like you are really trying to figure this out. I will just point out that Brent and Maury were both entirely AA when IB families became invested with their 3 year olds and that made no different whatsoever in their commitment and desire to work with the school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Pp: you seem like you are really trying to figure this out. I will just point out that Brent and Maury were both entirely AA when IB families became invested with their 3 year olds and that made no different whatsoever in their commitment and desire to work with the school.

I don't know about Maury, but Brent has never been "entirely AA" -- there's been a non-negligible white minority there since the 1970s.

[Anonymous]

Having been there when Brent Neighbors formed, I can note that there were maybe 5 non-AA students there who were bused in from Bolling Airforce base. There were no white inboundary students there.

But the point is, it didn't matter. This leads me to believe that whatever is deterring LT inboundary families from commiting to the school ( or rating less successful than brent or Maury ) probably has little to nothing to do with race.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Having been there when Brent Neighbors formed, I can note that there were maybe 5 non-AA students there who were bused in from Bolling Airforce base. There were no white inboundary students there.

But the point is, it didn't matter. This leads me to believe that whatever is deterring LT inboundary families from commiting to the school ( or rating less successful than brent or Maury ) probably has little to nothing to do with race.

It has an awful lot to do with SES, nothing much for advanced learners in the elementary grades, and Cobbs of course.

[Anonymous]

^^that sounds much more likely, honest and nuanced. People can pipe down with the race stuff already. Not helpful, not intelligent and not true.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Having been there when Brent Neighbors formed, I can note that there were maybe 5 non-AA students there who were bused in from Bolling Airforce base. There were no white inboundary students there.

But the point is, it didn't matter. This leads me to believe that whatever is deterring LT inboundary families from commiting to the school ( or rating less successful than brent or Maury ) probably has little to nothing to do with race.

If the principal is really saying the things attributed to her up thread several comments, the principal is making it about race. So, it has everything to do with race if she says it does.

[Anonymous]

Right. In that case, it is not about people staying away because they are uncomfortable with the race of children there, or else forming unfavorable opinions of the school based on race of the children there. In that case, it is about the principal giving preferential treatment to one race or another which is an entirely different thing.

[Anonymous]

I have friends who went to Brent in the '70's, early '80's. Both black and white. The white students talk about being in a very distinct minority. They and their parents were very aware that they were doing something unusual and it worked out, but there was not a non-negligible white population at the school during those years, at least.

[Anonymous]

LOL to all of this.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have friends who went to Brent in the '70's, early '80's. Both black and white. The white students talk about being in a very distinct minority. They and their parents were very aware that they were doing something unusual and it worked out, but there was not a non-negligible white population at the school during those years, at least.

We may be using different definitions of non-negligible; I would say 4-6% white counts, but 1-2% doesn't. I'll grant you those students/parents might've thought of themselves as "pioneers."

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have friends who went to Brent in the '70's, early '80's. Both black and white. The white students talk about being in a very distinct minority. They and their parents were very aware that they were doing something unusual and it worked out, but there was not a non-negligible white population at the school during those years, at least.

Thanks for the history lesson. But we are talking about the years 2005 - 2008. I also know some of those same families tried to go to Hine middle school and were told " this place is not for you".

[Anonymous]

If we are talking about history, I have seen photos that show when Brent was 100% white, like maybe in the 50s or 60s. Again my point is that when inboundary families at Brent and Maury worked decided to use their neighborhood schools again in the mid-2000s, it was also about racially reintegrating the schools and, while it caused/s friction, it was not a deterrent. So looking at difficulties doing the same at LT, it seems there is something beyond race at play in the inboundary families hesitation

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Having been there when Brent Neighbors formed, I can note that there were maybe 5 non-AA students there who were bused in from Bolling Airforce base. There were no white inboundary students there.

But the point is, it didn't matter. This leads me to believe that whatever is deterring LT inboundary families from commiting to the school ( or rating less successful than brent or Maury ) probably has little to nothing to do with race.

If the principal is really saying the things attributed to her up thread several comments, the principal is making it about race. So, it has everything to do with race if she says it does.

My white husband will be picking our kindergarten daughter up later than usual today. He stopped by LT to ask someone to let her know, so she won't worry (late pick-ups really throw her), and he wound up chatting with Principal Cobbs, who said she'll tell our daughter herself. The contrast between the positive experiences we've had with her in real life and the negative way she's depicted on DCUM makes my head spin.