DC White flight - what will it mean for education?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

DCPS is a district focused primarily on the growth and success of low-income children of color. From leadership down that is the priority, and it should be.

Explain to me why a school system should focus primarily upon on one socio-economic and ethnic group. Other jurisdictions like Arlington, Alexandria, MCPS, and Fairfax somehow seem to manage to care about ALL learners.

I agree.

-- UMC white parent with kids in a Title I school

[Anonymous]

I'm curious if the numbers leaving now would have averaged out to a slower slope over the last few years. I do know several middle class white families leaving the area this summer but they all had already been thinking about it for a while. They stayed put for covid to have at least one constant.

Likewise, I know people in the same demographic who aren't moving or changing schools, but are changing careers.

All this perceived upheaval may not be related to current conditions but instead a pent-up wave of a range of personal decisions that would have happened anyway.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Crime is too high in DC now. You can't safely raise kids in most of the city. The more flight the more crime.

Exactly, it's a very unfortunate downward spiral. We haven't come near hitting bottom yet and I bet crime will quadruple before somebody (clearly not any of the current politicians) turns it around. I predict bottoming out in about 10 years.

"Many of the region’s close-in suburbs also lost White residents at a much higher rate than previously, including Montgomery County, Md. as well as Fairfax and Arlington counties and the city of Alexandria in Virginia." Is this also crime?

Really a shame when facts get in the way of a good narrative, isn’t it?

[Anonymous]

I want to know how many former DCPS students left to go to private in the last couple of years. I think that number would be striking.

[Anonymous]

In NW they are projecting 2,500 + more student vs capacity by 2027 for Jackson Reed. All the NW schools are projected to be over crowd by 2027.

White flight indeed?

[Anonymous]

Newsflash: This is likely the result of conducting a census during a pandemic.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:In NW they are projecting 2,500 + more student vs capacity by 2027 for Jackson Reed. All the NW schools are projected to be over crowd by 2027.

White flight indeed?

That projected was before COVID. With new HS for Hardy and the path of increased flight for privates, I don’t think JR will exceed 2300 for many, many years (if ever again) after new high school opens.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:In NW they are projecting 2,500 + more student vs capacity by 2027 for Jackson Reed. All the NW schools are projected to be over crowd by 2027.

White flight indeed?

That projected was before COVID. With new HS for Hardy and the path of increased flight for privates, I don’t think JR will exceed 2300 for many, many years (if ever again) after new high school opens.

Are area privates adding seats?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The people we have known who have left and moved (either to suburbs or another part of the country to be nearer to extended family)... yes, schools played into their decision, as did rising crime. But it was more about space and wanting bigger buffers in case of another Covid-like event, whether that would be nearby family or schools they knew wouldn't close, or simply a bigger home and yard for kids. It was less about not liking DC and more about worrying how their specific family would handle that happening again.

Something that is kind of amazing to me is that on the issue of school closures, DC does not have a single political who has come forward, in a HOTLY contested election cycle, to simply say "I'm super progressive [list progressive bonafides] but I will never support school closures as a longterm solution for anything because in-person school is too important to our city's families to sacrifice -- we will find a way to ensure that families can rely on open public schools, especially in times of crisis." I just think there are a lot of families who struggled over the last two years due to closures/quarantines who would have leapt at the opportunity to vote for someone who was willing to say out loud that schools were closed too long and that we didn't do enough to keep them open. I know so many families who love DC but this issue sizzles under the surface for their commitment to the city. There were many months in DC where many families had no access to in person education, but every private school in the city was offering in person learning and bars and restaurants were welcoming customers every night of the week. It's crazy to me that not a single politician has stepped forward to say "that was messed up and we can NEVER let it happen again."

I don't think this plays well politically, though. The majority of people don't really know a lot of folks in private school circles! I think there are plenty of families who viewed school closing as the lesser of two evils.

[Anonymous]

White flight is from crime. DC made the choice to defund/devalue police and encourage criminals, and now we pay the price. $20k sign on bonus to get new recruits bec no one wants to be a cop. Stop the terrible policies.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:White flight is from crime. DC made the choice to defund/devalue police and encourage criminals, and now we pay the price. $20k sign on bonus to get new recruits bec no one wants to be a cop. Stop the terrible policies.

DC did not defund the police. Check your facts. People are moving from cities here for the same reasons people are moving all over the country. More space. Schools. To be near family. And yes, crime. But not police funding.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

DCPS is a district focused primarily on the growth and success of low-income children of color. From leadership down that is the priority, and it should be.

Explain to me why a school system should focus primarily upon on one socio-economic and ethnic group. Other jurisdictions like Arlington, Alexandria, MCPS, and Fairfax somehow seem to manage to care about ALL learners.

Whoa. To even argue the point would get you canceled. Just nod enthusiastically, appear to agree, but then do what every same parent does and either move to the ritzy part of dc with a passable high school or send them to private.

I also agree this city should focus more on keeping the kids of wealthy parents in public school, but I guess I’m a selfish gentrifying piece of sht or whatever.

You are.

[Anonymous]

God, some white people have their heads in the sand. Black families are leaving too, many forced out. But oh my gosh how can we keep white families?!

No one truly cares, you are replaceable and get replaced. People live here and move all the time, regardless if they have kids.

I think some white people can feel they are not the center of the universe here and it bothers them. It bothers them that DCPS is so black and brown centric. Not that the majority of schools produce results.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

DCPS is a district focused primarily on the growth and success of low-income children of color. From leadership down that is the priority, and it should be.

Explain to me why a school system should focus primarily upon on one socio-economic and ethnic group. Other jurisdictions like Arlington, Alexandria, MCPS, and Fairfax somehow seem to manage to care about ALL learners.

Because inequality is horrible for society overall, yes even for you.

I'm a European immigrant (but not Anglo) who is disgusted with continuing segregation and imprisonment of a significant portion of the US population. I want my kids to benefit from fair competition where the brightest minds can apply their talents and efforts to better society, not a system that suppresses such talent based on random and inconsequential (to quality) attribute, such as skin color, gender, accent, religion, sexual orientation, to name a few.


Do people really not get it or just pretend not to get it? SMH

[Anonymous]

As someone pointed out upthread, the main change seems to be in the "young for DC to have kids" segment

"More than half were between 15 and 29, whereas the losses in surrounding counties were more evenly dispersed between age groups."

So while all the anecdotes here are fine, this is really something about a demographic I doubt many of us on DCUM know anything about.