DC privates educating suburban kids

[Anonymous]

D.C. has high crime, poor public schools and constant traffic congestion. While it has some nice museums, I wouldn't want to raise my precious children there.

I guess we suburbanites are in an enviable position, aren't we? We have great public schools, yet we keep on snapping up your private school spots too. I can see that you're bitter, but you really should get over it. Go do yoga or something...

Anonymous wrote:yep, the only problem is that to take advantage of any of the "vibrant ethnic communities", you have to get in the car and brave traffic; and city-dwellers can get there just about as quickly as folks who "venture all over the metro region".

You might just as well argue that Gaithersburg's better than DC because MD has beaches.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:D.C. has high crime, poor public schools and constant traffic congestion. While it has some nice museums, I wouldn't want to raise my precious children there.

I guess we suburbanites are in an enviable position, aren't we? We have great public schools, yet we keep on snapping up your private school spots too. I can see that you're bitter, but you really should get over it. Go do yoga or something...

I always find these sorts of posts entertaining. It's like folks are still stuck in 1985. Crime is at a 50 year low, and rarely touches middle-class residents; in fact, my relatives in Montgomery County seem to fear crime as much or more than my neighbors on Capitol Hill. I wouldn't know about "traffic congestion", since the only time I experience it is on one of my occasional trips out to the suburbs. I guess that would be of particular concern to you, as a suburbanite, since all those folks stuck in the gridlock have MD and DC license plates. In contrast, my commute consists of a 15 minute bike ride to work. Either that or a 20 min bus ride--door to door.

And as far as public schools go, having grown up in Montgomery County, and with relatives who still live there, I've seen what the growth of suburban poverty has done to MCPS. I think it's great that you've obviously found one of the good public school options--for the time being. But with big state budget cuts, and the well-documented demographic shift that's been taking place and acellerating, make no mistake, the suburbs are on the way down. Hold on to those private school spots--you're going to need them!

Bottom line: I don't want my kid growing up in a cul-de-sac, their sole intellectual stimulation huffing glue out behind the 7-11.

[Anonymous]

That's a good post pp

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:D.C. has high crime, poor public schools and constant traffic congestion. While it has some nice museums, I wouldn't want to raise my precious children there.

I guess we suburbanites are in an enviable position, aren't we? We have great public schools, yet we keep on snapping up your private school spots too. I can see that you're bitter, but you really should get over it. Go do yoga or something...

Anonymous wrote:yep, the only problem is that to take advantage of any of the "vibrant ethnic communities", you have to get in the car and brave traffic; and city-dwellers can get there just about as quickly as folks who "venture all over the metro region".

You might just as well argue that Gaithersburg's better than DC because MD has beaches.

Too funny! As if anyone's ever heard of DC residents bemoaning that they just LOVED the burbs, but alas had to move into the District. {Hee! Too much!}

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:D.C. has high crime, poor public schools and constant traffic congestion. While it has some nice museums, I wouldn't want to raise my precious children there.

I guess we suburbanites are in an enviable position, aren't we? We have great public schools, yet we keep on snapping up your private school spots too. I can see that you're bitter, but you really should get over it. Go do yoga or something...

Anonymous wrote:yep, the only problem is that to take advantage of any of the "vibrant ethnic communities", you have to get in the car and brave traffic; and city-dwellers can get there just about as quickly as folks who "venture all over the metro region".

You might just as well argue that Gaithersburg's better than DC because MD has beaches.

Oh please. No-one's worried about you taking up our spots, we know we've got the best right here. We just don't care for your tackiness and cheapskate ways of not paying for things that you use.

[Anonymous]

good one pp

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:D.C. has high crime, poor public schools and constant traffic congestion. While it has some nice museums, I wouldn't want to raise my precious children there.

I guess we suburbanites are in an enviable position, aren't we? We have great public schools, yet we keep on snapping up your private school spots too. I can see that you're bitter, but you really should get over it. Go do yoga or something...

Anonymous wrote:yep, the only problem is that to take advantage of any of the "vibrant ethnic communities", you have to get in the car and brave traffic; and city-dwellers can get there just about as quickly as folks who "venture all over the metro region".

You might just as well argue that Gaithersburg's better than DC because MD has beaches.

Oh please. No-one's worried about you taking up our spots, we know we've got the best right here. We just don't care for your tackiness and cheapskate ways of not paying for things that you use.

Right, but that's pretty much the historical dynamic that makes the suburbs possible: move just a little further out to escape the negative externalities of your behavior. Well, that and the history of keeping things nice and tidy by using de jure and de facto segregation to enforce a ghetto. Then blame the inmates for their condition. What's that? Infrastructure's crumbling? Time to move out another 30 miles...

[Anonymous]

OP here again. I know we’re supposed to be civil on the forums but I can hardly believe that you’re a teacher at a top private because your logic is twisted and disjointed to leads me to fear for the kids you teach, and if you really are a teacher please let me know so I don’t send my kids there.

I think a lot of you don’t seem to understand the argument I’ve been making and that’s fair since most people react emotionally rather than thinking out a planned response. I said nothing about public schools, I don’t intend to send my kids to public, and I don’t intend to ever move to the suburbs (even though Chevy Chase and Bethesda are nice). Here again is my argument in the most dumbed down version I can explain it in.

Currently we have a lot of privates in DC that have about 50% or so of their kids being out of staters (VA and MD) and about 50% in District residents. We don’t care how poor, rich, white or black etc these DC kids are, we just care about the fact that they are part of the jurisdiction. So the out of state kids, drive in (use of roads), parents might break laws (talking on cell phones while driving), GDS students getting in to altercations, trashing the neighborhood etc. which require law enforcement, park in residential zones (taking up the use of the most limited resource; land) etc, and pay nothi9ng for the use of these services. The schools being tax exempt aren’t forced to pay taxes and thus the District residents are being deprived tax dollars than can be used for anything. Doesn’t matter how much or how little.

Now on the other side, if that land, and building that school X was a non tax-exempt structure, for example a strip mall with restaurants (just an example), and it had 50% of its customers being out of state residents, District residents would still see some kind of benefit. There would be property taxes from the land, sales taxes from the goods and services sold, and income taxes from the businesses. It doesn’t matter where that money goes since that is a different argument; the fact is that we would get a net benefit.

So if these schools aren’t giving us a tangible benefit, i.e. they’re educating non-District residents and not paying for our resources then we as District residents should start to think about this seriously. I’m tired of people with Maryland plates parking in front of my driveway or almost running over my dog and I while I take a morning walk just because they’re late in dropping their kids off to school, when I know they and their institution don’t pay a cent in taxes that benefit my community.

Comprende?

[Anonymous]

I agree with you pp -- I think most people really get what you're saying -- they just don't like the sound of it or feel the need to defend themselves living out in the suburbs.

[Anonymous]

Ugh OP, I am a DC resident and your posts annoy and offend me. Just because of where a private school is located does not imply that it belongs to that community and really would you honestly prefer a 'strip mall' in the same location as a school because it brings tax dollars. Ugh. again. There is a benefit, these schools are educating DC children - no, not exclusively but the standard in my DD's class is higher because of all the super smart kids that are from MD and VA that are also admitted to the school and I am grateful for that. I am very happy for her to be surrounded by smart kids with similar interests without being labelled 'gifted'. And i know 2 private schools where their wonderful play grounds are open to the public at the weekends and another that coordinated with a nearby public school for some projects.

[Anonymous]

OP, I understood your initial post very well, thank you, and I think you’re ridiculous. A private school isn’t obligated to accept a certain percentage of students from any jurisdiction. What is it about the term “private” you don’t understand?

And how did this devolve into DC v. suburbs – again? Not the point of OP’s post, and I think the vast majority can agree that her idea is just silly.

Signed,

A DC resident who doesn’t want to move to the suburbs but thinks OP is ridiculous

[Anonymous]

I agree, PP, and I can't even believe this stupid idea even has any traction. Look, I CHOOSE to live in DC, where I've lived for 30 years. My parents and siblings live here. We sent our kids to our very good local elementary school and knew full well that we would probably go private for middle and upper school. We considered moving to the burbs but decided that, for a number of reasons, we would stay put and send our kids to private. There are MANY good private schools in DC and in Virginia and Maryland, and they are equally open to all qualified children, no matter where they live. OP, your child lost out to kids from DC as well as kids from the suburbs, and you're exhibiting a serious case of sour grapes. None of us are entitled to a spot in any private school because of where we live, and it is RIDICULOUS to suggest that DC kids should get some kind of preference. Quit your whining.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Really would you honestly prefer a 'strip mall' in the same location as a school because it brings tax dollars?

Well, actually I think the choice is between an institution that makes lots of money educating kids from DC and MD, versus an institution that makes slightly less money, pays taxes, and educates kids from DC and MD.

You make it sound as though the city's revenues are somehow a trivial thing. I'm not sure how you think roads get built, and public schools get their windows replaced, but generally it's via tax dollars. We're already do enough charity to our suburban neighbors by bearing the majority of the region's poverty.



Anything that distributes the burden more equitably is worth looking into.

[Anonymous]

yikes pp

[Anonymous]

Exactly. If the schools lose their tax exempt status, I dont care who they educate, they could have 99% of their kids from Russia for all I care, but with the tuition being taxed, then the residents get a real life benefit from the school. Now if the school is about 80% or higher DC residents, then they should keep their tax exempt status.