how to address the under enrollment at Brookland Middle School

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You can't fix under enrollment at Brookland so long as it feeds to Dunbar.

It's a sysiphean task.

It is a huge task but it can work. Stuart-Hobson feeds to Eastern but parents have made a lot of progress there in the last 20 years.

The key phrase is 20 years. I would imagine OP has a child who is already born, and will need a MS option she's confident in sooner than that.

I'm the OP, and have a K child. I don't think it would take 20 years to fill up the building. I think if they offer an IB program, there would be increased demand next year. Look at the incredible demand for charters that offer desirable programming. Many of them have no track record, and terrible facilities. And yet the people flock to them. This isn't that hard.

a lot of charters are self selecting-higher income SES families who can travel distances in the morning and afternoon to the school.

No. They're buying buildings that are available since they can't have access to the failing DCPS schools they surpass. It just so happens that because they have to pay market prices for large buildings (instead of being given access to the ones the law requires them to be given - like failing schools), they're less metro convenient.

You might not have noticed this, but houses, condos, businesses, retail outlets, restaurants, and just about everything else you want to visit costs more when it is metro accessible. So when you force a school to compete with a business or a development to get a building, it might not be able to afford one right on top of a metro station.

In other news, water is expected to be wet.

People forget that if a neighborhood grows or get redeveloped like Noma, Shaw, Charters are not required to take every kids that comes to them. DCPS has to and thus this is the only reason why they keep so many of their building supply. If DCPS gave up their buildings more easily to charters and the neighborhood had a growth in kids "Like some are currently" Charters can and often say "NO" to the child and they have to enroll in the DCPS school "No matter how over or under enrolled they are". I think people forget that Charters are just "Charters" meaning their not required to take everyone that applies and here's the kicker "Each charter unlike DCPS has an individual charter for their school or charter group only".[/quote]

This is NOT true. The DC charter law requires charters to take all kids and the data do not support your assertion.

Two large charter operators are being watched regarding their suspension rates, as they should be. But the data doesn't support your assertion that they can or do refuse to enroll or counsel out kids.

NP - Charters limit the number of students and class sizes, for example Latin limits its lass size to 90 students, period. Neighborhood schools must take every kid inbound who wants admission. It it's 110 students with a capacity of 90, too bad. If the population continues its projected growth spurt where do these kids attend school? There's no room at the charters.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:No.

Charters are open to all. They run lotteries to allocate spaces to fill the capacity they are approved for. A school that is only authorized by the city to serve 35 kindergarten students can't be made to take 43 kindergarteners.

You are making it sounds as if it's a college or university that can pick and choose who it wants to admit. They cannot and do not erect that sort of barriers.

However, DCPS must take all 43 of those inbound kindergarteners

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:No.

Charters are open to all. They run lotteries to allocate spaces to fill the capacity they are approved for. A school that is only authorized by the city to serve 35 kindergarten students can't be made to take 43 kindergarteners.

You are making it sounds as if it's a college or university that can pick and choose who it wants to admit. They cannot and do not erect that sort of barriers.

Sure they do. Many charters (obviously not all) just pick and choose after enrollment.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No.

Charters are open to all. They run lotteries to allocate spaces to fill the capacity they are approved for. A school that is only authorized by the city to serve 35 kindergarten students can't be made to take 43 kindergarteners.

You are making it sounds as if it's a college or university that can pick and choose who it wants to admit. They cannot and do not erect that sort of barriers.

Sure they do. Many charters (obviously not all) just pick and choose after enrollment.

What is your evidence for that allegation? Which DC charters are doing this?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No.

Charters are open to all. They run lotteries to allocate spaces to fill the capacity they are approved for. A school that is only authorized by the city to serve 35 kindergarten students can't be made to take 43 kindergarteners.

You are making it sounds as if it's a college or university that can pick and choose who it wants to admit. They cannot and do not erect that sort of barriers.

Sure they do. Many charters (obviously not all) just pick and choose after enrollment.

What is your evidence for that allegation? Which DC charters are doing this?

Rates are reducing but it's still true. This has been one of the arguments against charter schools since the beginning of time.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.washingtonpost.com/amphtml/news/powerpost/wp/2017/02/14/feds-cite-d-c-charters-for-high-suspension-rates-particularly-for-black-students/

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.washingtonpost.com/amphtml/local/education/suspensions-and-expulsions-in-dc-schools-decrease-but-racial-disparities-persist/2017/02/02/aa007274-e965-11e6-bf6f-301b6b443624_story.html

"OSSE’s report also found 99 expulsions last school year, down from 134 in 2014-2015. Most were in charter schools, which often have higher expulsion rates than traditional schools. When charters expel students, they often end up in traditional schools, which are required to take them."

http://mobile.edweek.org/c.jsp?cid=25920011&item=http%3A%2F%2Fapi.edweek.org%2Fv1%2Fblogs%2F129%2F%3Fuuid%3D64989


"Despite improvements over the last few years, the District of Columbia's charter schools are still suspending and expelling students at significantly higher rates than the national average, according to a report from the U.S. Government Accountability Office.

And, echoing trends seen nationwide, black students and students with disabilities were also disciplined at disproportionately high rates."