RHEE-SULTS: A LITTLE RED MEAT FOR THOSE senti-MENTAL Rhee/Kaya supporters... ENJOY!! Fight Back!

[Anonymous]

The current DCPS one-size-fits-all approach is what is getting backlash, given the mass flight to suburbs, privates, charters et cetera. Many families are not having their needs met by their version of one-size-fits-all.

[Anonymous]

...so no one wants to engage (besides Mr. Steele) on the obvious subject of wrap-around-services in wards outside of 2 and 3. No wonder the DCPS is still in shambles, the outspoken middle class around here mostly only cares about their own.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:...so no one wants to engage (besides Mr. Steele) on the obvious subject of wrap-around-services in wards outside of 2 and 3. No wonder the DCPS is still in shambles, the outspoken middle class around here mostly only cares about their own.

The DCPS schools that have enjoyed the most improvement are the ones where the parents have been the most active and outspoken - and the benefit of uplift that those schools saw benefitted the poorer families and the less-outspoken ones as well.

[Anonymous]

Another $8MM for Rhee.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/wp/2013/05/01/walton-foundation-giving-8-million-to-rhees-studentsfirst-plus-2012-donations/

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It is painfully obvious that your understanding of most public policy issues is pretty sketchy. Notwithstanding such an authoritative source as Wikipedia, setting up the PADC, which could barely save the Old Post Office, and.constructing the Hoover building hardly led to revitalization. Undervalued properties, many of which were snatched up by Doug Jemal and other developers operating at the fringes, allowed commercial development to close the gap between the traditional downtown area and Union Station. Abe Pollin and the Verizon center then provided impetus for condo-residential development as infill.

It's safe to assume my understanding of "most public policy issues is pretty sketchy". Please enlighten me. What specifically were the policies that the city pursued to specifically appeal to "affluent interests"? Discounting Wikipedia is low-hanging fruit. It's tough to tell, but you seem to be making the point that most public initiatives failed, and because that area was depressed for so long, those who had the foresight to buy up property and commercial development to slowly take hold. Abe Pollin's Verizon center (which I understand was mostly funded with private money) furthered that renaissance. Today, the cost of market rate housing has skyrocketed, but that's a function of its being adjacent to the traditional downtown, and it's rebirth as a cultural and retail destination.

So again, not seeing the many policies the city pursued to court "affluent people". Seems to me the policies the city did pursue were "not interfering when changing consumer preferences led to a return of the middle-class (and the affluent) to the city."

Personally, I'm not seeing what's wrong with courting "affluent people" considering that DC spent literally decades chasing them away.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It is painfully obvious that your understanding of most public policy issues is pretty sketchy. Notwithstanding such an authoritative source as Wikipedia, setting up the PADC, which could barely save the Old Post Office, and.constructing the Hoover building hardly led to revitalization. Undervalued properties, many of which were snatched up by Doug Jemal and other developers operating at the fringes, allowed commercial development to close the gap between the traditional downtown area and Union Station. Abe Pollin and the Verizon center then provided impetus for condo-residential development as infill.

It's safe to assume my understanding of "most public policy issues is pretty sketchy". Please enlighten me. What specifically were the policies that the city pursued to specifically appeal to "affluent interests"? Discounting Wikipedia is low-hanging fruit. It's tough to tell, but you seem to be making the point that most public initiatives failed, and because that area was depressed for so long, those who had the foresight to buy up property and commercial development to slowly take hold. Abe Pollin's Verizon center (which I understand was mostly funded with private money) furthered that renaissance. Today, the cost of market rate housing has skyrocketed, but that's a function of its being adjacent to the traditional downtown, and it's rebirth as a cultural and retail destination.

So again, not seeing the many policies the city pursued to court "affluent people". Seems to me the policies the city did pursue were "not interfering when changing consumer preferences led to a return of the middle-class (and the affluent) to the city."

Personally, I'm not seeing what's wrong with courting "affluent people" considering that DC spent literally decades chasing them away.

+1

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:...so no one wants to engage (besides Mr. Steele) on the obvious subject of wrap-around-services in wards outside of 2 and 3. No wonder the DCPS is still in shambles, the outspoken middle class around here mostly only cares about their own.

Sure, I already addressed that. DCPS should be funded to provide education services. That's because it's they public school system. It can barely provide breakfast/lunch competently. Now we want it to provide a cocoon of sophisticated wrap-around services. I have zero confidence that those services will be delivered competently. If we want to implement something like that we should have a completely separate agency that loosely integrates with the schools (both public and PCS).

Instead what we've got is a growing situation where we commingle funds meant for education with social services, and schools with middle-class kids are being cannibalized so that we can throw money at DC's historic social dysfunction.

Now we have a situation where Henderson's claiming literacy resources are being placed in every school... when in fact, she's cut many schools to put literacy resources in the worst 40% of schools. And that's just librarians.

(http://wamu.org/news/13/04/30/catania_outlines_plans_for_reform_20_in_dcps)

[jsteele]

Anonymous wrote:
Now we have a situation where Henderson's claiming literacy resources are being placed in every school... when in fact, she's cut many schools to put literacy resources in the worst 40% of schools. And that's just librarians.

(http://wamu.org/news/13/04/30/catania_outlines_plans_for_reform_20_in_dcps)

That article doesn't say anything about literacy resources.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:...so no one wants to engage (besides Mr. Steele) on the obvious subject of wrap-around-services in wards outside of 2 and 3. No wonder the DCPS is still in shambles, the outspoken middle class around here mostly only cares about their own.

Different poster here. This is clearly needed and would do more than IMPACT to help poor kids succeed!

[Anonymous]

This book and talk doesn’t speak to Rhee/Henderson directly. It however gives insights into why their policy of closing failing schools, firing teachers, upending the system, and heavily focusing on charters is not the best way to create good, lasting change.

In a nutshell: real change is all encompassing, takes time, and is undramatic.

http://www.booktv.org/Watch/14421/Improbable+Scholars+The+Rebirth+of+a+Great+American+School+System+and+a+Strategy+for+Americas+Schools.aspx