Northwest current article on school boundaries

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Eliminating feeders will never happen here - possibly for high school but for all schools.

Just curious - why do you think that's unfeasible? Given the premium on mobility with charters, isn't the feeder model outdated anyway?

[Anonymous]

Shepard ES, where is that school? It is Alexander R. Shepherd ES. Remember you DC history and spelling before you start to rant.

[Anonymous]

Feeders are important to schools. Having feeders only come from similar profile neighborhoods is completely not cool. It is segregation--economic and otherwise.
What is one factor that makes Deal and Wilson so successful is that it IS diverse --both racially and by income. The thought that Wilson should be a school serving only ward 3 students is absurd. Especially in a city as diverse as DC is.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Feeders are important to schools. Having feeders only come from similar profile neighborhoods is completely not cool. It is segregation--economic and otherwise.
What is one factor that makes Deal and Wilson so successful is that it IS diverse --both racially and by income. The thought that Wilson should be a school serving only ward 3 students is absurd. Especially in a city as diverse as DC is.

is not absurd if it comes to the point where ward 3 students are left out because there is no more space.

and while I fully agree that having diversity at Deal and Wilson is great, the schools are successful simply because of the large number of middle class and upper middle class kids attending the school. they would be successful even with less diversity

[Anonymous]

I think that is the point Wilson is successful because of the middle and upper middle class families but that is not limited to ward 3. there are plenty of ward 1, 4, 2, 6, 5 students that make up that population. these imediate changes are a band aid and wont solve real problem which is that janney alone will have so many kids in the upcoming years that the current size of wilson and deal wont be able to handle them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Feeders are important to schools. Having feeders only come from similar profile neighborhoods is completely not cool. It is segregation--economic and otherwise.
What is one factor that makes Deal and Wilson so successful is that it IS diverse --both racially and by income. The thought that Wilson should be a school serving only ward 3 students is absurd. Especially in a city as diverse as DC is.

And yet with feeder patterns the schools manage to self-segregate at lower levels, even where families have choice. Don't know where you get "similar profile neighborhoods" -- draw a map around any given school and that's its neighborhood. It should just have greater weight than using the arcane feeders to achieve a social goal. The boundaries are skewed to accomodate feeders when it should be the other way around.

Let's flip that argument around. Eastern has diversity in its catchment neighborhood yet 100% AA kids. The successful and competitive Banneker and McKinnley are test in and still essentially segregated with virtually no white kids. It's not ok for one school to be de facto segregated based purely on neighborhood demographics but not ok for others? By your logic of creating diversity, shouldn't Ward 3 kids get bussed to other Wards too?

Regardless, some of the Ward 4 Wilson feeders are going to be changed whether some people like it or not. It didn't expand enough and it's bursting at the seams. Maybe Wards 3 & 4 will get another good HS option. Some of us would settle for one.

[Anonymous]

Thank you PP. There are plenty of high income AAs in Shep Park, Colonial Village, Crestwood that will keep the diversity as well as the commitment that usually goes with higher SES.

[Anonymous]

The article does not discuss the obvious approach to relieving crowding at Deal and Wilson. Eliminate the "right" to attend Deal if you are OBB student at a feeder elementary. Eliminate the "right" to attend Wilson if you are OOB at Deal or Hardy. That will solve the overcrowding problem. Without changing boundaries.

OOB students in feeder schools will have to go to their home school or go charter.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The article does not discuss the obvious approach to relieving crowding at Deal and Wilson. Eliminate the "right" to attend Deal if you are OBB student at a feeder elementary. Eliminate the "right" to attend Wilson if you are OOB at Deal or Hardy. That will solve the overcrowding problem. Without changing boundaries.

OOB students in feeder schools will have to go to their home school or go charter.

How does that solve anything? Having cohorts of kids from the feeder schools is important to the success of the next school. Feeders are important.






.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:For what it's worth, I believe Bancroft is closer to Hardy than to Deal. (Not that I've heard anyone suggest it be moved into the Hardy boundary.)

Bancroft is closer to Lincoln/CHEC than either of the schools you are mentioning .

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Eliminating feeders will never happen here - possibly for high school but for all schools.

To be blunt about it, if DC moved to eliminate feeders and go to a lotto system for all schools, you would see White Flight II to the suburbs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Eliminating feeders will never happen here - possibly for high school but for all schools.

To be blunt about it, if DC moved to eliminate feeders and go to a lotto system for all schools, you would see White Flight II to the suburbs.

On the other hand, if the system ignored that crazy lotto idea AND tightened the attendance requirements to have some geographic logic, you'd keep loads of whites (and white-like people) IN the city. If the feeder system was scaled back or eliminated, only the white folk in Mt pleasant, Columbia hts, etc might flee if charters don't appeal. White people west of the park won't go anywhere if the feeder free for all goes away.

[Anonymous]

"white-like" people?

Seriously? I guess that would mean that being an AA, upper middle-class, double-ivy graduate makes me "white-like"?

Racist and highly-offensive, plain and simple.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Eliminating feeders will never happen here - possibly for high school but for all schools.

To be blunt about it, if DC moved to eliminate feeders and go to a lotto system for all schools, you would see White Flight II to the suburbs.

On the other hand, if the system ignored that crazy lotto idea AND tightened the attendance requirements to have some geographic logic, you'd keep loads of whites (and white-like people) IN the city. If the feeder system was scaled back or eliminated, only the white folk in Mt pleasant, Columbia hts, etc might flee if charters don't appeal. White people west of the park won't go anywhere if the feeder free for all goes away.

Best to get away from racial assumptions about neighborhoods or anyone. But the point is, in response to a PP's suggestion of having all DC schools randomly assigned by lottery is that it would prove absolutely unacceptable to many, many parents. If you, say, bought a house in AU Park in the Janney district and next year were told that your only option was to attend a failing elementary school clear across the city, you'd be selling your house and pushing your belongings across Western Avenue faster than you can say "MoCo."

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Eliminating feeders will never happen here - possibly for high school but for all schools.

To be blunt about it, if DC moved to eliminate feeders and go to a lotto system for all schools, you would see White Flight II to the suburbs.

Not really. Kill OOB feeders, retain neighborhood boundaries, and require lottery for OOB students at each school (ES, MS, HS). DCPS is so worried about cohorts, but with charter options the cohorts are scattering anyway. The feeders feel more like social engineering more than any practical solution.