Washington Informer article: "School Lottery Season Starts Amid Questions about Enrollment and Equity"

[Anonymous]

https://www.washingtoninformer.com/school-lottery-season-starts-amid-questions-about-enrollment-and-equity/

There probably isn't anything surprising to people familiar with DC schools, but still interesting. It focusses on the low enrollment in neighborhood schools in Wards 7 and 8.

[Anonymous]

I would suggest that it is a unique view such that it focuses on W7 and W8 concerns that don't see a lot of daylight on DCUM.

[Anonymous]

Interesting. As a Ward 6 family with many Ward 7 and 8 families in our school community, this was a good read. Most parents just want a good environment for their kids and it's frustrating how many East of the River families have to travel great distances to find that.

[Anonymous]

Thanks for sharing - I appreciate the conversation about the larger citywide conversation about school choice, program options, and the boundary study. Too many folks are caught up in their own school bubble, it is important to see/think about how the city works as a whole.

[Anonymous]

A LOT of W7 and 8 families would stay put in ES if DC offered gifted or accelerated classes for the kids at grade level and above …

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:A LOT of W7 and 8 families would stay put in ES if DC offered gifted or accelerated classes for the kids at grade level and above …

Some, but you look at the schools that, say, families IB for Sousa are going to, and it's includes a lot of schools whose promise is not gifted/accelerated education. Like, the families going to Digital Pioneers, KIPP, or Kelly Miller are overwhelmingly not families that tried and failed to get into Latin or BASIS, they're families with different preferences. If they aren't looking for that in middle school, it probably wasn't a concern for elementary school, either.

[Anonymous]

What I think people need to really realize here is that the death of schools East of the Anacostia is about the charter sector eating DCPS' lunch over there. My take is that parents aren't seeing their children succeed in DCPS and want an alternative, which means the charter sector over there.

The unkind reality is that children of poor people who can't give extra to their kids, don't read to them, experience trauma, have little education themselves, etc., are going to have poor educational outcomes. I don't fault people for wanting better for their kids even if - because education is JUST NOT a game-changer for poorly-performing students - they are not likely to do better just because of these schools.

At some point, I really hope there are game-changing educational possibilities for poor and disadvantaged children, actually, I want it generations ago, but it appears we can only change the future. However, if there was truly such a thing, DCPS would do it too! DCPS totally would! Even a bureaucracy in America would eventually do what works.

But instead because no one can fix kids' outcomes, they say "well, let's go to a different service provider who promises better things!" And then the different outcomes are not one-to-one matched to the same kids. The mirage of different outcomes we perceive is really about sorting those who are more likely to succeed away from those who are less likely to. And it sucks. And it leads to crap like this - normal schools with minimal budgets able to do little to support kids who need A LOT because they can't get enough butts in seats.

Our effort to "offer alternatives" that don't do better has led predictably to the starvation of normal DCPS, from Sousa to Anacostia.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What I think people need to really realize here is that the death of schools East of the Anacostia is about the charter sector eating DCPS' lunch over there. My take is that parents aren't seeing their children succeed in DCPS and want an alternative, which means the charter sector over there.

The unkind reality is that children of poor people who can't give extra to their kids, don't read to them, experience trauma, have little education themselves, etc., are going to have poor educational outcomes. I don't fault people for wanting better for their kids even if - because education is JUST NOT a game-changer for poorly-performing students - they are not likely to do better just because of these schools.

At some point, I really hope there are game-changing educational possibilities for poor and disadvantaged children, actually, I want it generations ago, but it appears we can only change the future. However, if there was truly such a thing, DCPS would do it too! DCPS totally would! Even a bureaucracy in America would eventually do what works.

But instead because no one can fix kids' outcomes, they say "well, let's go to a different service provider who promises better things!" And then the different outcomes are not one-to-one matched to the same kids. The mirage of different outcomes we perceive is really about sorting those who are more likely to succeed away from those who are less likely to. And it sucks. And it leads to crap like this - normal schools with minimal budgets able to do little to support kids who need A LOT because they can't get enough butts in seats.

Our effort to "offer alternatives" that don't do better has led predictably to the starvation of normal DCPS, from Sousa to Anacostia.

Every SJW who rails against charters and the damage they do to poor black folk (whom they don't know or go to school with) would rather W7 and W8 residents not have choices. They want them to stay in their terrible ES because that is "more fair".

The people against charters don't give a damn about the people in W7 and W8 who use them as a path to escape poverty.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What I think people need to really realize here is that the death of schools East of the Anacostia is about the charter sector eating DCPS' lunch over there. My take is that parents aren't seeing their children succeed in DCPS and want an alternative, which means the charter sector over there.

The unkind reality is that children of poor people who can't give extra to their kids, don't read to them, experience trauma, have little education themselves, etc., are going to have poor educational outcomes. I don't fault people for wanting better for their kids even if - because education is JUST NOT a game-changer for poorly-performing students - they are not likely to do better just because of these schools.

At some point, I really hope there are game-changing educational possibilities for poor and disadvantaged children, actually, I want it generations ago, but it appears we can only change the future. However, if there was truly such a thing, DCPS would do it too! DCPS totally would! Even a bureaucracy in America would eventually do what works.

But instead because no one can fix kids' outcomes, they say "well, let's go to a different service provider who promises better things!" And then the different outcomes are not one-to-one matched to the same kids. The mirage of different outcomes we perceive is really about sorting those who are more likely to succeed away from those who are less likely to. And it sucks. And it leads to crap like this - normal schools with minimal budgets able to do little to support kids who need A LOT because they can't get enough butts in seats.

Our effort to "offer alternatives" that don't do better has led predictably to the starvation of normal DCPS, from Sousa to Anacostia.

wow. so basically you’re saying charters are evil and it’s impossible to educate poor kids?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What I think people need to really realize here is that the death of schools East of the Anacostia is about the charter sector eating DCPS' lunch over there. My take is that parents aren't seeing their children succeed in DCPS and want an alternative, which means the charter sector over there.

The unkind reality is that children of poor people who can't give extra to their kids, don't read to them, experience trauma, have little education themselves, etc., are going to have poor educational outcomes. I don't fault people for wanting better for their kids even if - because education is JUST NOT a game-changer for poorly-performing students - they are not likely to do better just because of these schools.

At some point, I really hope there are game-changing educational possibilities for poor and disadvantaged children, actually, I want it generations ago, but it appears we can only change the future. However, if there was truly such a thing, DCPS would do it too! DCPS totally would! Even a bureaucracy in America would eventually do what works.

But instead because no one can fix kids' outcomes, they say "well, let's go to a different service provider who promises better things!" And then the different outcomes are not one-to-one matched to the same kids. The mirage of different outcomes we perceive is really about sorting those who are more likely to succeed away from those who are less likely to. And it sucks. And it leads to crap like this - normal schools with minimal budgets able to do little to support kids who need A LOT because they can't get enough butts in seats.

Our effort to "offer alternatives" that don't do better has led predictably to the starvation of normal DCPS, from Sousa to Anacostia.

Every SJW who rails against charters and the damage they do to poor black folk (whom they don't know or go to school with) would rather W7 and W8 residents not have choices. They want them to stay in their terrible ES because that is "more fair".

The people against charters don't give a damn about the people in W7 and W8 who use them as a path to escape poverty.

+1000. I saw the names of a lot of these white anti-charter zealots on the DME zooms. Not coincidentally they were also the loudest voices who wanted to keep DCPS closed forever for covid.

[Anonymous]

The only big difference I can tell as a parent east of the river is that schools on the other side are more diverse. The curricular offerings are pretty much the same.

[Anonymous]

No I’m saying that charters are well meaning and poor kids are uneducable. Any time anyone tries to explain why the children of poor people consistently fail at education, they say it’s impossible to fix, that the kids need to be surrounded by massive support in order to mitigate a lifetime of trauma. I agree. The resources? Not coming. They just aren’t. The charters aren’t offering massive trauma reduction. They are just another set of schools.

So what do you get? Uneducated kids and a second system to do it that ALSO doesn’t solve their education problems. And then schools with too few kids to get any money. Hence they close.

The tragedy im getting at is that NO ONE has found the way to teach the traumatized intergenerational poor to become good standardized test takers, which is what this board cares about, right? Those PARCC 5s?

So why try with two school systems instead of one?

And if you want to say BASIS or KIPP, tell me what you think would happen if we took the Sousa or Anacostia HS student body and just sent them there. They wouldn’t turn out much better. This sucks! Why do we have charters if the outcomes are the same? We’re just offering a pressure valve that lets parent anger flow around the problem that these kids are growing up to be dummies. Another generation that can’t get into the mainstream economy and make first world incomes.

Is there anybody that can prepare the traumatized poor for college, real college not UDC for janitorial or haircare, without basically stealing them from their families and turning them individually into brainwashed suburbanites? I haven’t seen it. And it really sucks.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The only big difference I can tell as a parent east of the river is that schools on the other side are more diverse. The curricular offerings are pretty much the same.

This is not true. DCPS sort of forces math to be the same, but they allow ELA to be modified to classroom level. 3rd grade class on the Hill is reading Holes; 3rd grade class in SE is reading a 4 page summary of Holes using 1st grade level vocabulary. This is an actual example from this year and not a hypothetical.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:No I’m saying that charters are well meaning and poor kids are uneducable. Any time anyone tries to explain why the children of poor people consistently fail at education, they say it’s impossible to fix, that the kids need to be surrounded by massive support in order to mitigate a lifetime of trauma. I agree. The resources? Not coming. They just aren’t. The charters aren’t offering massive trauma reduction. They are just another set of schools.

So what do you get? Uneducated kids and a second system to do it that ALSO doesn’t solve their education problems. And then schools with too few kids to get any money. Hence they close.

The tragedy im getting at is that NO ONE has found the way to teach the traumatized intergenerational poor to become good standardized test takers, which is what this board cares about, right? Those PARCC 5s?

So why try with two school systems instead of one?

And if you want to say BASIS or KIPP, tell me what you think would happen if we took the Sousa or Anacostia HS student body and just sent them there. They wouldn’t turn out much better. This sucks! Why do we have charters if the outcomes are the same? We’re just offering a pressure valve that lets parent anger flow around the problem that these kids are growing up to be dummies. Another generation that can’t get into the mainstream economy and make first world incomes.

Is there anybody that can prepare the traumatized poor for college, real college not UDC for janitorial or haircare, without basically stealing them from their families and turning them individually into brainwashed suburbanites? I haven’t seen it. And it really sucks.

Wrong. There are charters that help kids do better like KIPP with the same SES students that are at Sousa and Anacostia. The data is out there.

These charters are not crimpled by the damn inefficient bureaucracy that is DCPS. They also place more demands on students than the low expectations of DCPS. They also don’t tolerate the behavior crap that happens in DCPS and have consequences for such misbehavior.

There were no charters back in the day 25-30 years ago and DCPS was the lowest and worst performing school district in the country. Charters offers some families who care options and a way out. Charters have absolutely improved the overall educational landscape in this city and have kept more families here who otherwise would move.

I suggest you talk to the old timers who were here before charters became a thing.

[Anonymous]

But the KIPP kids all fail once they have to fledge.

The data all show when they aren't surrounded by the KIPP environment, they all regress back to the mean.

So it's the same as the tutors for the athletes in college. If somebody is in your face prompting you to think about every goddam step on the way to every Fing answer, you can get through the work, side by side.

Then without the side by side support, everything falls away.