Ward 2 & 3 should have school district autonomy

[Anonymous]

jsteele wrote:OP, get together with some of your friends and start a charter school. You all will get founders preferences so you don't have to worry about a lottery. Then, you will get all the autonomy that you want. Moreover, with nothing more than a few posts here on DCUM, your school can be considered top ranked before it even opens.

+1000

[Anonymous]

ITA With 14:30. Maybe wards 7 & 8 schools should get autonomy or outsource to KIPP, DC Prep for in-boundary charter hybrid. I'm taxpayer at a ward 3 DCPS who would be thrilled if fewer children in the District, regardless of address(es), needed to rely on lotteries for an education. Come on, people. We're barely over half a million residents with something like a third of the students in Montgomery county. Does it really make sense to further dilute our small collective resources?

OP, I share your frustration but I find it hard to justify a zip code based school system in such a small Geographic area and many dual custody kids.

[Anonymous]

I love JSteel!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

jsteele wrote:OP, get together with some of your friends and start a charter school. You all will get founders preferences so you don't have to worry about a lottery. Then, you will get all the autonomy that you want. Moreover, with nothing more than a few posts here on DCUM, your school can be considered top ranked before it even opens.

Love this!!!

Exactly! Go BASIS!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

jsteele wrote:OP, get together with some of your friends and start a charter school. You all will get founders preferences so you don't have to worry about a lottery. Then, you will get all the autonomy that you want. Moreover, with nothing more than a few posts here on DCUM, your school can be considered top ranked before it even opens.

Love this!!!

Exactly! Go BASIS!

Yesss!!

Oh. Oh... (wait)

God dammit. Another BASIS thread. This unproven piece of pumpernickel continues to waste time and interest. Shut up already until you have some PROVEN LOCAL history. No-one gives a damn about your Tucson school filled with all the professors' kids. They could succeed anywhere.

[Anonymous]

I believe that the Basis mention was tongue in cheek.

[Anonymous]

I think founders preference doesn't put it quite right. There is no founder's preference, but if you found a school or get involved on the ground level it does make you first on the scene. I am no fan of what I've heard about BASIS pedagogically, but I do see a kind of backlash on DC Urban Mom against people who are motivated to contribute to new schools at all. Why? What's wrong with being proactive, perhaps based on wanting more for your kids (something wrong with that?) but definitely benefiting other kids if the endeavor succeeds.
People forget that all these charters -including IT right now--are a roll of the dice when they start up. Most DC families tend to hang back and wait for 'proven success' (I understand) but also complain if they then find no space for their kids. It's kind of damned if you do, damned if you don't. Again, I heartily disagree with the vision of BASIS (AP's in Middle School-UGH) but I don't consider it founders preference if the people who roll up their sleeves and contribute to a schools founding also find a space for their kids there. Makes sense to me.

[Anonymous]

Actually, the charter school law allows founders, staff, and siblings to go ahead of the general public in the lottery. That is the founder's preference -- guaranteed admission.

for some start ups, no big deal because not enough folks took a chance on the first year (YY had 135 out 150 slots filled). But for some schools it does matter (MV preS this year had a lot of interest)

[Anonymous]

Wards two and three have an affluent catchment working to their advantage. They have had a different experience than east of the park.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes! Seperate but equal school systems. Good plan OP....that has worked so well in the past.

Let's look up Brown v. Board of Education right now so we can already begin.....

THey have that in other states. The schools in McLean are run much differently than the schools in Annandale.

That's because McLean and Annandale are different municipalities. Last I looked Wards 2 and 3 were in DC along with Wards 1, 4-8. Now if Ward 2 and 3 would like to secede from the city - well, good luck with that.

[Anonymous]

That's because McLean and Annandale are different municipalities. Last I looked Wards 2 and 3 were in DC along with Wards 1, 4-8. Now if Ward 2 and 3 would like to secede from the city - well, good luck with that.

Last time you looked, McLean and Annandale were both part of Fairfax County Public Schools, subject to identical governance and implementation, and neither one was a municipality.

Oh wait, you didn't look and just started blathering out of your butt.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Wards two and three have an affluent catchment working to their advantage. They have had a different experience than east of the park.

You realize that most of Ward 2 is east of the park, right?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Actually, the charter school law allows founders, staff, and siblings to go ahead of the general public in the lottery. That is the founder's preference -- guaranteed admission.

for some start ups, no big deal because not enough folks took a chance on the first year (YY had 135 out 150 slots filled). But for some schools it does matter (MV preS this year had a lot of interest)

Seems fair enough to me. To start a school, and to retain staff, you need to get people interested.

[Anonymous]

Can we just move the District a few miles east? Subtract wards 2 and 3 and give them back to MD like Arlington was given back to VA a couple centuries ago and then pick up Ward 9? Wouldn't that just be so nice for everyone in Ward 2 and 3?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wards two and three have an affluent catchment working to their advantage. They have had a different experience than east of the park.

You realize that most of Ward 2 is east of the park, right?

Which of these neighborhoods is strapped for cash?

Burleith
Chinatown
Downtown
Dupont Circle
Foggy Bottom
Georgetown
Logan Circle
Mount Vernon Square
Penn Quarter
Shaw (Part of the neighborhood is also in Ward 1)
Sheridan Kalorama
Southwest Federal Center
West End