In DC: "White Parents Horrified by George Floyd Video Still Go to Great Lengths..."

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Just so we are all clear:

Wilson HS- 39% white (Racist)

Washington Latin- 35% white (Not Racist)
https://latinpcs.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/2018-10-29-Washington-Latin-PCS-%E2%80%93-Upper-School-HS-PMF.pdf

BASIS DC- 45% white (Not Racist)
https://www.myschooldc.org/schools/profile/138

Makes total sense to me.

You can’t be that dumb. What is the difference between Wilson and the other two schools? Could it be that they’re charters and charters are lottery? Wilson is by property rights. Lottery for all HS would make Wilson in the same category as charters. (Not endorsing just pointing it out.)

I don’t get a meaningful distinction. Different methods of entry, so people get there by different routes. One relies on some luck, and one requires restricting your housing search by geography (and probably settling for much smaller housing).

I don’t see some big moral difference.

Ahh it’s too obvious and you don’t want to see it. I got it.

I welcome you to explain it to me.

And another question: Two families believe a solid math and science curriculum is right for their kids. They both buy nice row houses in Petworth. They both lottery for Basis. One wins the lottery; one loses. The latter moves to a condo zoned for Wilson.

So that story tells me that one of those families is surely racist and the other not?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My guess is the people on their high horses have never set foot in a school in SE across the river, much less talked to any of the parents there.

I have, as I used to work for a non-profit that helps parents in Anacostia advocate for their kids. The number one question we got from the parents was, “How do I get my kid into a charter school?”

None of those parents wanted to have their kids in those schools, and anyone who could get their kid out did so.

Thank you. That's why I think the attack on DCUM for daring to exchange information about things like the charter lottery is so disengenous and misguided. ALL parents need BETTER information about how to navigate school choice. Not less information. For better or for worse choice is where we are, so we need to make sure that everyone has the information they need to be informed participants.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Just so we are all clear:

Wilson HS- 39% white (Racist)

Washington Latin- 35% white (Not Racist)
https://latinpcs.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/2018-10-29-Washington-Latin-PCS-%E2%80%93-Upper-School-HS-PMF.pdf

BASIS DC- 45% white (Not Racist)
https://www.myschooldc.org/schools/profile/138

Makes total sense to me.

You can’t be that dumb. What is the difference between Wilson and the other two schools? Could it be that they’re charters and charters are lottery? Wilson is by property rights. Lottery for all HS would make Wilson in the same category as charters. (Not endorsing just pointing it out.)

I don’t get a meaningful distinction. Different methods of entry, so people get there by different routes. One relies on some luck, and one requires restricting your housing search by geography (and probably settling for much smaller housing).

I don’t see some big moral difference.

Ahh it’s too obvious and you don’t want to see it. I got it.

I welcome you to explain it to me.

And another question: Two families believe a solid math and science curriculum is right for their kids. They both buy nice row houses in Petworth. They both lottery for Basis. One wins the lottery; one loses. The latter moves to a condo zoned for Wilson.

So that story tells me that one of those families is surely racist and the other not?

or two families want their child to be in a position to have a successful career. Both believe that a strong math foundation will help them succeed. One is involved enough to know what the good options are and lotteries into BASIS. The other tells their kid to study hard at Roosevelt.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Go ahead and try to create a “PTO tax” and see how that works out. DC Council flirted with the idea of taking PTO funds from NW schools and giving them to poor schools. Parents made it clear their funding of the PTO would stop immediately and contributions a would be in-kind instead. Parents who are already paying their fair share in taxes expect the money they spend to benefit their own children to do just that. Not to be used for a Robinhood effort.

The problem with this argument is that many, many school districts prohibit this kind of fundraising by individual PTOs. Having one school raise 100k while another does not even have a PTO is clearly an issue. A redistribution of a portion of funds would make good sense. Or a program with a partner school to build long-term bonds.

Having one PTO raise $100K and another does not is clearly not an issue, because $100,000 is a drop in the bucket of a school budget. DC spends $23,000 on *each* student in a school. We have the second highest school funding in the country. The money PTO's raise is a nice gesture but it ultimately doesn't a lick of difference to anything.

https://www.census.gov/library/visualizations/2020/comm/school-system-spending.html

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Go ahead and try to create a “PTO tax” and see how that works out. DC Council flirted with the idea of taking PTO funds from NW schools and giving them to poor schools. Parents made it clear their funding of the PTO would stop immediately and contributions a would be in-kind instead. Parents who are already paying their fair share in taxes expect the money they spend to benefit their own children to do just that. Not to be used for a Robinhood effort.

The problem with this argument is that many, many school districts prohibit this kind of fundraising by individual PTOs. Having one school raise 100k while another does not even have a PTO is clearly an issue. A redistribution of a portion of funds would make good sense. Or a program with a partner school to build long-term bonds.

DCPS is all one district. There's no prohibition. And "a redistribution of a portion of the funds" just means that the funds go away.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Just so we are all clear:

Wilson HS- 39% white (Racist)

Washington Latin- 35% white (Not Racist)
https://latinpcs.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/2018-10-29-Washington-Latin-PCS-%E2%80%93-Upper-School-HS-PMF.pdf

BASIS DC- 45% white (Not Racist)
https://www.myschooldc.org/schools/profile/138

Makes total sense to me.

You can’t be that dumb. What is the difference between Wilson and the other two schools? Could it be that they’re charters and charters are lottery? Wilson is by property rights. Lottery for all HS would make Wilson in the same category as charters. (Not endorsing just pointing it out.)

I don’t get a meaningful distinction. Different methods of entry, so people get there by different routes. One relies on some luck, and one requires restricting your housing search by geography (and probably settling for much smaller housing).

I don’t see some big moral difference.

Ahh it’s too obvious and you don’t want to see it. I got it.

Is it your belief that children of color are, year after year, exceedingly unlucky at the Basis and Latin lotteries? Or, perhaps, is there some other kind of selection process at issue that results in disproportionately white student bodies?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Just so we are all clear:

Wilson HS- 39% white (Racist)

Washington Latin- 35% white (Not Racist)
https://latinpcs.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/2018-10-29-Washington-Latin-PCS-%E2%80%93-Upper-School-HS-PMF.pdf

BASIS DC- 45% white (Not Racist)
https://www.myschooldc.org/schools/profile/138

Makes total sense to me.

You can’t be that dumb. What is the difference between Wilson and the other two schools? Could it be that they’re charters and charters are lottery? Wilson is by property rights. Lottery for all HS would make Wilson in the same category as charters. (Not endorsing just pointing it out.)

I don’t get a meaningful distinction. Different methods of entry, so people get there by different routes. One relies on some luck, and one requires restricting your housing search by geography (and probably settling for much smaller housing).

I don’t see some big moral difference.

+1 there is no moral difference, and I can prove it with math:

If A implies B, then not B implies not A

A = white parents are using real estate segregation to hoard resources at Wilson
B = the percentage of white students at Wilson is much higher than at lottery schools

The observed truth is "not B", therefore "A" is not true.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Go ahead and try to create a “PTO tax” and see how that works out. DC Council flirted with the idea of taking PTO funds from NW schools and giving them to poor schools. Parents made it clear their funding of the PTO would stop immediately and contributions a would be in-kind instead. Parents who are already paying their fair share in taxes expect the money they spend to benefit their own children to do just that. Not to be used for a Robinhood effort.

The problem with this argument is that many, many school districts prohibit this kind of fundraising by individual PTOs. Having one school raise 100k while another does not even have a PTO is clearly an issue. A redistribution of a portion of funds would make good sense. Or a program with a partner school to build long-term bonds.

I’m at one of the schools with active pta. The solution is not to redistribute funds. If you try to do that, people will stop donating as they won’t know how their money is being used or where it is even going. I personally don’t think the PTA funding makes a big difference but if you disagree, you can always try to cap it or get rid of PTA fundraising altogether. Many districts do that and I don’t think either way, it will make a big difference. People will still want to go to schools like Janney and Mann, with or without PTA funds.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The "resources" being "hoarded" in some wards vs. others aren't things the state can fix: parental investment in children, commitment to education, a culture that promotes learning and self discipline and delayed gratification. NONE of these things are race based or even class-based (plenty of first-generation immigrant families send their kids to top-tier competitive schools in this country; plenty of families in economically challenged areas are committed to their kids' education). Some parents prioritize education and other don't. It is not the responsibility of the state or the responsibility of parents who do make this commitment to compromise for those families who don't care. It might sound harsh to say so but as someone whose kids have been told constantly by DCPS that they are oppressors and privileged and their achievements called into question because of the accident of their birth (even as they are being raised by a single mom who did NOT grow up privileged): F that. The more this school system sows racial discord in the name of "equity," the more it will deserve the whirlwind it reaps.

Where does your child go to school that they were told they were oppressors and privileged? My kids went to a predominately AA school and were never told this. In fact, the other parents shared my outlook on parenting and education. I seriously doubt you have a kid in DCPS.

dp: A number of NW schools take the line PP describes. Wilson is an example.

I have kids at Deal and haven’t heard anything from folks at Deal or other parents with older kids at Wilson but ok.

DP here. My friend’s son told me the same thing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Just so we are all clear:

Wilson HS- 39% white (Racist)

Washington Latin- 35% white (Not Racist)
https://latinpcs.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/2018-10-29-Washington-Latin-PCS-%E2%80%93-Upper-School-HS-PMF.pdf

BASIS DC- 45% white (Not Racist)
https://www.myschooldc.org/schools/profile/138

Makes total sense to me.

You can’t be that dumb. What is the difference between Wilson and the other two schools? Could it be that they’re charters and charters are lottery? Wilson is by property rights. Lottery for all HS would make Wilson in the same category as charters. (Not endorsing just pointing it out.)

Before anyone suggests making all schools lottery, make sure you study the SF model. They did that and it has been a complete disaster. Blaming parents is easy. Finding solutions to these complex problems is incredibly hard. For starters, we need better leaders at DCPS. The mayor tries to control education but doesn’t know a damn thing about it. Schools are a marker of the society we live in. Schools cannot fix all our problems. We need an economic model that is a hybrid of capitalism and socialism. We don’t have that unfortunately.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Just so we are all clear:

Wilson HS- 39% white (Racist)

Washington Latin- 35% white (Not Racist)
https://latinpcs.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/2018-10-29-Washington-Latin-PCS-%E2%80%93-Upper-School-HS-PMF.pdf

BASIS DC- 45% white (Not Racist)
https://www.myschooldc.org/schools/profile/138

Makes total sense to me.

You can’t be that dumb. What is the difference between Wilson and the other two schools? Could it be that they’re charters and charters are lottery? Wilson is by property rights. Lottery for all HS would make Wilson in the same category as charters. (Not endorsing just pointing it out.)

Before anyone suggests making all schools lottery, make sure you study the SF model. They did that and it has been a complete disaster. Blaming parents is easy. Finding solutions to these complex problems is incredibly hard. For starters, we need better leaders at DCPS. The mayor tries to control education but doesn’t know a damn thing about it. Schools are a marker of the society we live in. Schools cannot fix all our problems. We need an economic model that is a hybrid of capitalism and socialism. We don’t have that unfortunately.

+1 the PPs data shows that both lottery and in-bound enrollment both lead to over-represented white percentages at the better schools. The difference is parents that strategize for their kids' education and those that don't. Another PP shared her experience that her grandparents and parents weren't taught to strategize. I'd love to hear more from her.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Go ahead and try to create a “PTO tax” and see how that works out. DC Council flirted with the idea of taking PTO funds from NW schools and giving them to poor schools. Parents made it clear their funding of the PTO would stop immediately and contributions a would be in-kind instead. Parents who are already paying their fair share in taxes expect the money they spend to benefit their own children to do just that. Not to be used for a Robinhood effort.

The problem with this argument is that many, many school districts prohibit this kind of fundraising by individual PTOs. Having one school raise 100k while another does not even have a PTO is clearly an issue. A redistribution of a portion of funds would make good sense. Or a program with a partner school to build long-term bonds.

Having one PTO raise $100K and another does not is clearly not an issue, because $100,000 is a drop in the bucket of a school budget. DC spends $23,000 on *each* student in a school. We have the second highest school funding in the country. The money PTO's raise is a nice gesture but it ultimately doesn't a lick of difference to anything.

https://www.census.gov/library/visualizations/2020/comm/school-system-spending.html

LOLOL. As a parent at a school whose PTA is lucky to have a budget of $8K, let me tell you that $100K in PTA funds would be game changing. No, it doesn't mean much compared to per-pupil spending but it means an incredible amount when it comes to enrichment opportunities of the sort that low-income kids don't tend to receive outside of school. With that kind of money we could have STEM programming, or a school play, or any number of other opportunities that could spark the potential and the imaginations of our young learners.

But, sure, it's a drop in the bucket for you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Just so we are all clear:

Wilson HS- 39% white (Racist)

Washington Latin- 35% white (Not Racist)
https://latinpcs.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/2018-10-29-Washington-Latin-PCS-%E2%80%93-Upper-School-HS-PMF.pdf

BASIS DC- 45% white (Not Racist)
https://www.myschooldc.org/schools/profile/138

Makes total sense to me.

You can’t be that dumb. What is the difference between Wilson and the other two schools? Could it be that they’re charters and charters are lottery? Wilson is by property rights. Lottery for all HS would make Wilson in the same category as charters. (Not endorsing just pointing it out.)

I don’t get a meaningful distinction. Different methods of entry, so people get there by different routes. One relies on some luck, and one requires restricting your housing search by geography (and probably settling for much smaller housing).

I don’t see some big moral difference.

Ahh it’s too obvious and you don’t want to see it. I got it.

Is it your belief that children of color are, year after year, exceedingly unlucky at the Basis and Latin lotteries? Or, perhaps, is there some other kind of selection process at issue that results in disproportionately white student bodies?

Exactly. It fascinates me that people say that it’s racist for someone to move within the Wilson boundary but no one that cares so much about Wilson HS is not wondering whether there may be systemic or even explicit racism at work in shaping the student bodies at Latin or especially BASIS. The idea that the two most academically prestigious charters are so white is purely an outcome of random luck is ridiculous. And yet, no curiosity at all about the mechanism at work.

[Anonymous]

Seems to me that the people most upset about Wilson are white lottery losers who cannot afford a house in NW but refuse to move into an apartment in McLean Gardens because they cherish their home equity in Petworth and their space.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Go ahead and try to create a “PTO tax” and see how that works out. DC Council flirted with the idea of taking PTO funds from NW schools and giving them to poor schools. Parents made it clear their funding of the PTO would stop immediately and contributions a would be in-kind instead. Parents who are already paying their fair share in taxes expect the money they spend to benefit their own children to do just that. Not to be used for a Robinhood effort.

The problem with this argument is that many, many school districts prohibit this kind of fundraising by individual PTOs. Having one school raise 100k while another does not even have a PTO is clearly an issue. A redistribution of a portion of funds would make good sense. Or a program with a partner school to build long-term bonds.

Having one PTO raise $100K and another does not is clearly not an issue, because $100,000 is a drop in the bucket of a school budget. DC spends $23,000 on *each* student in a school. We have the second highest school funding in the country. The money PTO's raise is a nice gesture but it ultimately doesn't a lick of difference to anything.

https://www.census.gov/library/visualizations/2020/comm/school-system-spending.html

Is that the lie you like to tell yourself?