Our Gain, DCPS Suckers
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Anonymous
I'll have to see the stats on DeKalb Co. From what I can tell the schools with very little poverty do well; the one's with lots of poverty are the worst in Georgia. As you say, the middle-class doesn't have enough babies, that means we need to either bus poor kids into the suburbs, or gradually reduce the number of poor kids living in the city. Ideally you'd do this by busing poor kids in the city out to better performing middle-class schools in the suburbs. Obviously in the US in 2012, that's a non-starter. Which leaves us helping the poor folks who live in DC to get jobs--which will overwhelmingly be in the suburbs. And letting housing prices rise to gradually shrink the number of DC's poor through attrition. |
Anonymous
Obviously there are different motivations that different people have. But I think there's a very strong emotional component among some people who felt they were forced to the suburbs (against their will) once they had children, and are resentful that others weren't forced to do the same. Obviously that's not everyone, and many people prefer to live in a cul-de-sac in the exurbs, but if you listen to the large number of DCUMs who preface their argument with "Oh, yeah! You're in DC now because your kid is only 9 months old! Just you wait!!!" their posts fairly drip with such resentment. |
Anonymous
And I could counter that there's obviously a "very strong emotional component" among the DCPS apologists on this board who either work for DCPS, or who are underwater on their homes and thus are continuously trying to "boost" the pathetic, corrupt, poor performing, and broken system that is DCPS. Unfortunately, we know many such boosters who are underwater on their homes in DC and who would flee to better school systems in a heartbeat if they were able to. |
Anonymous
Wrong. Instead of cherry picking your stats, why don't you cite the chart for Washington, DC as a whole: http://www.zillow.com/local-info/DC-Washington/r_41568/ It's not just the "greater Dumfries-Manassass metropolitan area" that is underwater, but Washington, DC as well. |
Anonymous
blah blah blah. Could it possibly that the lifestyle in DC is worlds better than anywhere else? Could that be the reason families stay in DC despite the kooky school situation? And guess what? It is only getting better by the day. With new development, invigorated neighborhoods, art and culture galore. AND NO COMMUTE. Tell me about your lifestyle in your affordable house ( excuse me, mcMansion ) and quick dash into the museums. Tell me the last time you WALKED your kid somewhere. Tell me the last time you were at the shopping mall. |
Anonymous
This post is so arrogant and blatantly incorrect on so many levels that it is laughable (although you are right about the "kooky school situation" in DC). DC is not the center of the universe, and life there isn't "worlds better than anywhere else". We have lived in many different places, including DC proper, and DC is hardly at the top of our list of desirable places to live. Getting better by the day? With all of the recent robberies and the completely dysfunctional DCPS that will only get worse with the new round of massive budget cuts? And as far as commuting goes, here is a newsflash: not everyone works in DC. In fact, Tysons Corner is a bigger job center than DC is now, and that disparity is only growing. Also, not everyone in the suburbs lives in a "McMansion", and you have only revealed yourself as a trashy person for using such a pejorative term and haphazardly applying it to everyone who doesn't live in your DC fantasyland. And here is another newsflash: there are many suburban areas that are walkable and close to Metro (Bethesda, Old Town, Falls Church City, Arlington, etc.) and many parts of DC that are not very walkable and/or not close to Metro (parts of Palisades and other parts of Upper Northwest, among many other areas). I could go on about how lacking DC is in urban amenities compared to real cities like New York, Chicago, London, and about how "suburban" DC itself feels compared to those cities, but that would take too long. |
Anonymous
Almost everyone who lives in DC still has to commute. If you think DC is so wonderful, then you have drunk the koolaid too long and you send your kids to a private or charter. Oh yeah, I live in DC. Blah blah blah. Where do YOU send your child to wchool?
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Anonymous
You'll probably want to dig a bit further into that chart. The areas that were hard-hit by the suburban housing bubble are a) the well-heeled areas of DC where households are likely to be both wealthy, and have access to the good public schools (JKLM), or b) the ungentrified areas of DC east of the river, and in the far NE. The middle-class parents who bought homes in places like Capitol Hill and elsewhere even in the "bubble years" are unlikely to be seriously underwater. That's because most of the (relatively small decrease) in home values in DC proper have taken place in ungentrified neighborhoods where new residents with children are unlikely to have settled. Even in your cherry-picked example of Petworth, someone is unlikely to be underwater unless they bought between late 2005 and mid 2009. The strong neighborhoods like Capitol Hill have only increased in value since the peak of the peak. Pretty much anyone who bought at any time other than a six month period in 2006 has made money. And the rents have gone up sufficiently that those people could rent their houses tomorrow and cover their mortgage and maintenance. You're fantasies of nervous "underwater" parents wishing they could leave is just wishful thinking. Which, come to think of it, is a bit sad. |
Anonymous
| Let's see what DCPS enrollment is next year, minus free PS and PK. The numbers don't lie. |
Anonymous
| I have a spouse who is career changing into elementary ed. We've discussed whether it would be wise to accept a position in DCPS. This article has tipped me over the edge. Teaching in DC is a bad idea. If you can't get or keep good teachers, the kids are doomed. |
Anonymous
Lower DCPS enrollment does not mean people have left the city. |
Anonymous
I think I hit a nerve. |
Anonymous
For example. We live in a house in DC that has doubled in value. Not exactly underwater. |
Anonymous
DCPS and a Charter ( which is public and free, you know ) |
Anonymous
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An earlier post said that what DCPS needed was more middle-class (professional) families. Of course, this is true, but many middle-class, professional families have tried to improve their neighborhood public schools. Some have succeeded, at least so far (Brent on Capitol Hill--don't know how they did it) and some have not (Francis-Stevens in Foggy Bottom/West End--dud of a principal; bullying goes unchecked; horrible language by students and staff tolerated by all). Don't blame middle class families for leaving DCPS when they can, especially if they have tried. Hard.
And this teacher, dismissed from DCPS, will thrive in almost any other school system. |