How to help child succeed at BASIS

[Anonymous]

Agree.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:PP isn't wrong, but more explanation needed.

Walter Washington, Sharon Pratt and Barry ran DCPS into the ground during the first 20 years of home rule. By his own admission, Williams mostly left DCPS alone - he had bigger fish to fry in making the city function. No secret that Congress opened the door for charters in the nation’s capital when it passed the DC School Reform Act of 1995. Setting up the DC Public Charter School Board as an independent body governed by the School Reform Act was really Fenty's baby, but the most successful charters we see today mainly came in under Gray. He had the worst relationship with the WTU of the mayors and let the charter sector explode to get back at the union. Bowser has continued in this vein pretty relentlessly. Something is obviously rotten to the core in a jurisdiction where almost half of public-school students attend charters. A complete mess, really. The fact that VA and MD essentially don't bother with charters is probably all we really need to know. BASIS came out of Arizona, one of the several states with the least regulation of the charter sector.

Bottom line for today is if DCPS middle and high school had tracking and offered multiple levels of each course, like our typical suburban neighbors, you wouldn’t have 1/2 the kids attending charters that have at least the majority of kids on grade level which is not even a high bar.

Even if DCPS had tracking, I wouldn't send my kid to a DCPS middle or high school. I've seen what kind of problems dysfunctional kids can cause even if they aren't in your kid's classroom, and I don't want any more of it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:PP isn't wrong, but more explanation needed.

Walter Washington, Sharon Pratt and Barry ran DCPS into the ground during the first 20 years of home rule. By his own admission, Williams mostly left DCPS alone - he had bigger fish to fry in making the city function. No secret that Congress opened the door for charters in the nation’s capital when it passed the DC School Reform Act of 1995. Setting up the DC Public Charter School Board as an independent body governed by the School Reform Act was really Fenty's baby, but the most successful charters we see today mainly came in under Gray. He had the worst relationship with the WTU of the mayors and let the charter sector explode to get back at the union. Bowser has continued in this vein pretty relentlessly. Something is obviously rotten to the core in a jurisdiction where almost half of public-school students attend charters. A complete mess, really. The fact that VA and MD essentially don't bother with charters is probably all we really need to know. BASIS came out of Arizona, one of the several states with the least regulation of the charter sector.

Bottom line for today is if DCPS middle and high school had tracking and offered multiple levels of each course, like our typical suburban neighbors, you wouldn’t have 1/2 the kids attending charters that have at least the majority of kids on grade level which is not even a high bar.

Even if DCPS had tracking, I wouldn't send my kid to a DCPS middle or high school. I've seen what kind of problems dysfunctional kids can cause even if they aren't in your kid's classroom, and I don't want any more of it.

+1. This is also why I chose a charter like Basis over the suburban middle schools. Most of the suburban schools are enormous, like Deal. Too much chaos, too many unruly kids, etc.

[Anonymous]

All depends on the school, school district and leadership. My nephews attend a big public school in the VA burbs that seems very well-run. I'm told that classmates seldom misbehave because well-established interventions and disciplinary measures are in place. The school has had the same well-respected head for a decade. I've been to concerts there where a couple hundred kids performed with skill and aplomb. This school teaches half a dozen different languages to 6th graders and offers academics that seem almost as rigorous as BASIS for STEM and more rigorous for humanities. Every big public middle school in this area isn't chaotic like Deal.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:All depends on the school, school district and leadership. My nephews attend a big public school in the VA burbs that seems very well-run. I'm told that classmates seldom misbehave because well-established interventions and disciplinary measures are in place. The school has had the same well-respected head for a decade. I've been to concerts there where a couple hundred kids performed with skill and aplomb. This school teaches half a dozen different languages to 6th graders and offers academics that seem almost as rigorous as BASIS for STEM and more rigorous for humanities. Every big public middle school in this area isn't chaotic like Deal.

Name the school or this is nor believable

[Anonymous]

If I name the school, you'll just slam it. It's one of the six Arlington middle schools, each with between 800 and 1100 students. My nephews qualify for GT services, play in a county honors orchestra for middle school students, and on traveling school sports teams. They represent the school in science and math competitions. With public schools like that, nobody needs to run to a middle school housed in a rehabbed office building after 4th grade, to a school where the young head changes every year or two.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:All depends on the school, school district and leadership. My nephews attend a big public school in the VA burbs that seems very well-run. I'm told that classmates seldom misbehave because well-established interventions and disciplinary measures are in place. The school has had the same well-respected head for a decade. I've been to concerts there where a couple hundred kids performed with skill and aplomb. This school teaches half a dozen different languages to 6th graders and offers academics that seem almost as rigorous as BASIS for STEM and more rigorous for humanities. Every big public middle school in this area isn't chaotic like Deal.

That's right. Big doesn't have to mean unruly. DCPS is no longer on top of things at Deal.

[Anonymous]

Speaking of kids who misbehave, OP, if you're still there, prep your child to deal with such kids.

Basis attracts some students who aren't right for the curriculum. It also attracts some inexperienced teachers with weak classroom management skills.

Unless you get lucky on a cohort placement, your child will be dealing with disruptions in class.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If I name the school, you'll just slam it. It's one of the six Arlington middle schools, each with between 800 and 1100 students. My nephews qualify for GT services, play in a county honors orchestra for middle school students, and on traveling school sports teams. They represent the school in science and math competitions. With public schools like that, nobody needs to run to a middle school housed in a rehabbed office building after 4th grade, to a school where the young head changes every year or two.

So you come to a BASIS thread to slam the school, but are too afraid to name your own school for fear others will slam it??

How about taking your negative energy elsewhere.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:All depends on the school, school district and leadership. My nephews attend a big public school in the VA burbs that seems very well-run. I'm told that classmates seldom misbehave because well-established interventions and disciplinary measures are in place. The school has had the same well-respected head for a decade. I've been to concerts there where a couple hundred kids performed with skill and aplomb. This school teaches half a dozen different languages to 6th graders and offers academics that seem almost as rigorous as BASIS for STEM and more rigorous for humanities. Every big public middle school in this area isn't chaotic like Deal.

You seem like the parent of a preschool kid. Or not a parent.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:PP isn't wrong, but more explanation needed.

Walter Washington, Sharon Pratt and Barry ran DCPS into the ground during the first 20 years of home rule. By his own admission, Williams mostly left DCPS alone - he had bigger fish to fry in making the city function. No secret that Congress opened the door for charters in the nation’s capital when it passed the DC School Reform Act of 1995. Setting up the DC Public Charter School Board as an independent body governed by the School Reform Act was really Fenty's baby, but the most successful charters we see today mainly came in under Gray. He had the worst relationship with the WTU of the mayors and let the charter sector explode to get back at the union. Bowser has continued in this vein pretty relentlessly. Something is obviously rotten to the core in a jurisdiction where almost half of public-school students attend charters. A complete mess, really. The fact that VA and MD essentially don't bother with charters is probably all we really need to know. BASIS came out of Arizona, one of the several states with the least regulation of the charter sector.

I think there are a few things wrong with your premise, one of them being that DC schools as a whole have improved greatly, and charter schools are a part of why. (Not the whole why, but a part.) https://www.edweek.org/policy-politics/did-washington-d-c-s-education-overhaul-help-black-children-this-study-says-yes/2021/08

" ...The Mathematica study...results are in line with those seen in Detroit, Mich., and in New Orleans following Hurricane Katrina, when both urban districts boosted charter schools and school choice, and overhauled teacher tenure."

But the fact that other areas don't allow charters is because those school systems were doing ok before, not because they are inherently bad ideas.

Anyhow, what I don't understand is, when DCPS schools are failing plenty of studetns, why giving parents optiions is a bad thing. It has kept many more afluent taxpayers in DC and their students in DC schools. It has allowed a moducum of control for poorer families and given families options like...you guessed it...schools that focus on math and science and foreign languages. Is it a mess? Sure. But every urban school system is.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:All depends on the school, school district and leadership. My nephews attend a big public school in the VA burbs that seems very well-run. I'm told that classmates seldom misbehave because well-established interventions and disciplinary measures are in place. The school has had the same well-respected head for a decade. I've been to concerts there where a couple hundred kids performed with skill and aplomb. This school teaches half a dozen different languages to 6th graders and offers academics that seem almost as rigorous as BASIS for STEM and more rigorous for humanities. Every big public middle school in this area isn't chaotic like Deal.

You seem like the parent of a preschool kid. Or not a parent.

Yah...wander over to the FCPS section to get a clearer picture.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:PP isn't wrong, but more explanation needed.

Walter Washington, Sharon Pratt and Barry ran DCPS into the ground during the first 20 years of home rule. By his own admission, Williams mostly left DCPS alone - he had bigger fish to fry in making the city function. No secret that Congress opened the door for charters in the nation’s capital when it passed the DC School Reform Act of 1995. Setting up the DC Public Charter School Board as an independent body governed by the School Reform Act was really Fenty's baby, but the most successful charters we see today mainly came in under Gray. He had the worst relationship with the WTU of the mayors and let the charter sector explode to get back at the union. Bowser has continued in this vein pretty relentlessly. Something is obviously rotten to the core in a jurisdiction where almost half of public-school students attend charters. A complete mess, really. The fact that VA and MD essentially don't bother with charters is probably all we really need to know. BASIS came out of Arizona, one of the several states with the least regulation of the charter sector.

I love how you glossed over white flight, population decline and recession of the late 70s and 80s that decimated DC and many other cities. I'm guessing you are aware that DC was the epicenter of the crack epidemic in the US? It is disingenuous to suggest that DCPS was floundering and failing without examining in context of what was happening to DC as a whole. It is also just revisionist history and nonsense to suggest that Fenty was responsible for the charter setup. It ignores the text of the law and the pressure that DC was under to comply or risk losing congressional funding. Some of what you typed is delusional and (again) ignores how, why and in what manner the Charter system came to be.

What does it even mean to say, "He had the worst relationship with the WTU of the mayors and let the charter sector explode to get back at the union"? As you would know if you understood the text of the law, the Mayor cannot control how many charters there are.

What does it mean to say, "Something is obviously rotten to the core in a jurisdiction where almost half of public-school students attend charters"? This is a supply demand issue. If more kids chose DCPS then there would be fewer charters. We know that good DCPS schools attract students.

You are repeating the same nonsense that was stated earlier, "The fact that VA and MD essentially don't bother with charters is probably all we really need to know." There is no federal law requiring independent charters in those states. Why is that so hard for you to understand? It would be like concluding that DC is backwards because we (mostly) pump our own gas and in New Jersey all stations are full service. It ignores the laws that create that outcome.

You conclude with this nonsense: "BASIS came out of Arizona, one of the several states with the least regulation of the charter sector." Arizona did not create the DC charter system, CONGRESS DID. Charters are permitted in DC. The fact that an operator from Arizona opened one makes perfect sense since, as you say, Arizona is Charter friendly. It stands to reason that AZ is a state where charters would incubate. That's not an indictment of anything. You are employing a silly WTU talking point that seeks to discredit something with a tangential fact because the actual facts (high test scores, successful academic outcomes as measured by college acceptances, high demand) are not on your side.

You lay out some sort of conspiracy theory that suggests that the charter movement and parents choosing charters is a conspiracy against the WTU. Parents choose charters because they aren't happy with the DCPS options. It is a CHOICE, not a mandate. I think the one thing that most parents on this forum can agree on is that we want good and better options and we are all doing our best for our kids. We often disagree on how to achieve the desired outcomes but I think it is only the WTU crazies who sit around and view all of these issues through some warped prism of a conspiracy to destroy teachers.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:PP isn't wrong, but more explanation needed.

Walter Washington, Sharon Pratt and Barry ran DCPS into the ground during the first 20 years of home rule. By his own admission, Williams mostly left DCPS alone - he had bigger fish to fry in making the city function. No secret that Congress opened the door for charters in the nation’s capital when it passed the DC School Reform Act of 1995. Setting up the DC Public Charter School Board as an independent body governed by the School Reform Act was really Fenty's baby, but the most successful charters we see today mainly came in under Gray. He had the worst relationship with the WTU of the mayors and let the charter sector explode to get back at the union. Bowser has continued in this vein pretty relentlessly. Something is obviously rotten to the core in a jurisdiction where almost half of public-school students attend charters. A complete mess, really. The fact that VA and MD essentially don't bother with charters is probably all we really need to know. BASIS came out of Arizona, one of the several states with the least regulation of the charter sector.

I think there are a few things wrong with your premise, one of them being that DC schools as a whole have improved greatly, and charter schools are a part of why. (Not the whole why, but a part.) https://www.edweek.org/policy-politics/did-washington-d-c-s-education-overhaul-help-black-children-this-study-says-yes/2021/08

" ...The Mathematica study...results are in line with those seen in Detroit, Mich., and in New Orleans following Hurricane Katrina, when both urban districts boosted charter schools and school choice, and overhauled teacher tenure."

But the fact that other areas don't allow charters is because those school systems were doing ok before, not because they are inherently bad ideas.

Anyhow, what I don't understand is, when DCPS schools are failing plenty of studetns, why giving parents optiions is a bad thing. It has kept many more afluent taxpayers in DC and their students in DC schools. It has allowed a moducum of control for poorer families and given families options like...you guessed it...schools that focus on math and science and foreign languages. Is it a mess? Sure. But every urban school system is.

Give us a break. Reliance on the charter sector to educate almost half of DC public students is a declaration of catastrophic failure, an indictment of the woeful state of at least two-thirds of DCPS programs and at least half the charters, too. A bifurcated school system just isn't what Congress had in mind in 1995. This New Yorker doesn't see catastrophic failure in City schools I came through. Failures, yes, but certainly not on this scale.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Speaking of kids who misbehave, OP, if you're still there, prep your child to deal with such kids.

Basis attracts some students who aren't right for the curriculum. It also attracts some inexperienced teachers with weak classroom management skills.

Unless you get lucky on a cohort placement, your child will be dealing with disruptions in class.

No question.