for data wonks: charts on DC public vs. private enrollment trends

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'd be curious to see their data calculations. Many of those numbers look unlikely to me.

completely agree. I don't believe for a second that there are only 805 kids in the entire city who attend private schools, catholic schools, boarding schools and special ed schools like ivymount.

As PP said, they could be VA or MD residents.

The numbers still don't make any sense.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'd be curious to see their data calculations. Many of those numbers look unlikely to me.

completely agree. I don't believe for a second that there are only 805 kids in the entire city who attend private schools, catholic schools, boarding schools and special ed schools like ivymount.

As PP said, they could be VA or MD residents.

Look, if I personally know approx 75 random kids at DSs private, blessed sacrament, holy trinity, gonzaga, st anselms, kingsbury, McLean school, holy child, etc etc etc., AND I'm the opposite of "connected" or outgoing, then there's just no way. Those 75 people I know are all from a 6-block area ....

[Anonymous]

We're moving our DC from a private to a public DC school this year. Many of her current private classmates are from Maryland.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's a bit misleading since charters are basically private schools that get taxpayer funding.

Omg no they aren't. Mandatory standardized tests, for starters.

. . . And having to take all children regardless of ability or preparedness. . .

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'd be curious to see their data calculations. Many of those numbers look unlikely to me.

completely agree. I don't believe for a second that there are only 805 kids in the entire city who attend private schools, catholic schools, boarding schools and special ed schools like ivymount.

As PP said, they could be VA or MD residents.

Look, if I personally know approx 75 random kids at DSs private, blessed sacrament, holy trinity, gonzaga, st anselms, kingsbury, McLean school, holy child, etc etc etc., AND I'm the opposite of "connected" or outgoing, then there's just no way. Those 75 people I know are all from a 6-block area ....

Do you live in Spring Valley, PP. My take on the maps is that 700 of the 800 live in Spring Valley, and the rest are scattered around A.U. Park.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'd be curious to see their data calculations. Many of those numbers look unlikely to me.

completely agree. I don't believe for a second that there are only 805 kids in the entire city who attend private schools, catholic schools, boarding schools and special ed schools like ivymount.

As PP said, they could be VA or MD residents.

Look, if I personally know approx 75 random kids at DSs private, blessed sacrament, holy trinity, gonzaga, st anselms, kingsbury, McLean school, holy child, etc etc etc., AND I'm the opposite of "connected" or outgoing, then there's just no way. Those 75 people I know are all from a 6-block area ....

Similar here...and the 50-75 kids I know go to private school go to 5-6 different schools than those you list...the 805 number is a massive fluke.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's a bit misleading since charters are basically private schools that get taxpayer funding.

Omg no they aren't. Mandatory standardized tests, for starters.

. . . And having to take all children regardless of ability or preparedness. . .

Very naive response. Charters by and large find ways to admit kids they want and boot out or exclude the ones they don't.

[Anonymous]

According to the first chart in the post, there were an estimated 40,846 elementary-aged DC children enrolled in school (private, DCPS and charter) in 2001 and 33,125 in 2012, a 19% drop in the number kids in this category overall (notably DCPS+charters experienced a 10% drop in total numbers at the elementary level.) Total 6th-8th numbers dropped off as well, by about 18%. Has the city lost almost 20% of its school-aged children in the past 10 years? If not, then we should be very suspicious of the raw numbers used here.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:According to the first chart in the post, there were an estimated 40,846 elementary-aged DC children enrolled in school (private, DCPS and charter) in 2001 and 33,125 in 2012, a 19% drop in the number kids in this category overall (notably DCPS+charters experienced a 10% drop in total numbers at the elementary level.) Total 6th-8th numbers dropped off as well, by about 18%. Has the city lost almost 20% of its school-aged children in the past 10 years? If not, then we should be very suspicious of the raw numbers used here.

Yes. They lived in the parts of town that are being redeveloped. Now they live in Maryland.

[Anonymous]

Interesting graphs.

These data put into question the notion of some on these boards that charters are "eviscerating" DCPS. DCPS enrollment has been relatively flat or grown slightly for the past several years, while charters have continued to grow.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's a bit misleading since charters are basically private schools that get taxpayer funding.

Omg no they aren't. Mandatory standardized tests, for starters.

. . . And having to take all children regardless of ability or preparedness. . .

Very naive response. Charters by and large find ways to admit kids they want and boot out or exclude the ones they don't.

Do you have evidence of this happening in DC? Are you suggesting that schools are rigging the My School DC application and lottery process -- how would they even do that?

In terms of kicking kids out, you can find data from DCPS/PCSB about suspension, expulsion, and mid-year withdrawal here: http://www.dcpcsb.org/News-Room.aspx?id=396

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Interesting graphs.

These data put into question the notion of some on these boards that charters are "eviscerating" DCPS. DCPS enrollment has been relatively flat or grown slightly for the past several years, while charters have continued to grow.

It's just more anti-charter nonsense. If a new charter raises DCCAS scores, they must be "counseling out" the difficult cases.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:According to the first chart in the post, there were an estimated 40,846 elementary-aged DC children enrolled in school (private, DCPS and charter) in 2001 and 33,125 in 2012, a 19% drop in the number kids in this category overall (notably DCPS+charters experienced a 10% drop in total numbers at the elementary level.) Total 6th-8th numbers dropped off as well, by about 18%. Has the city lost almost 20% of its school-aged children in the past 10 years? If not, then we should be very suspicious of the raw numbers used here.

Yes. They lived in the parts of town that are being redeveloped. Now they live in Maryland.

I posted the above numbers and had to look this up on the census website. There was a significant drop in the school-age population from 2000 to 2010 (interestingly not so for under 5 or over 14). Re: the dropping private school numbers, 800 in K-5 seems really low as has been previously stated. If correct it may be that some of these potential private school kids went to public instead, but I wonder if the bulk of them just moved to the suburbs like a lot of other kids in the city. Rents and mortgages in DC during that time (and now) out-priced a lot of families.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Interesting graphs.

These data put into question the notion of some on these boards that charters are "eviscerating" DCPS. DCPS enrollment has been relatively flat or grown slightly for the past several years, while charters have continued to grow.

Not really. How many neighborhood dcps schools have been shut down, stunting what might be actual growth in the public schools? And if population is growing, but the playing field has been tilted to ensure the charters grow at the expense of public schools.

With all the gentrification and demographics shifts, this should be the rebirth of neighborhood schools across the city, which make each neighborhood even stronger and more stable. But the charters are preventing that from happening.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Interesting graphs.

These data put into question the notion of some on these boards that charters are "eviscerating" DCPS. DCPS enrollment has been relatively flat or grown slightly for the past several years, while charters have continued to grow.

Not really. How many neighborhood dcps schools have been shut down, stunting what might be actual growth in the public schools? And if population is growing, but the playing field has been tilted to ensure the charters grow at the expense of public schools.

With all the gentrification and demographics shifts, this should be the rebirth of neighborhood schools across the city, which make each neighborhood even stronger and more stable. But the charters are preventing that from happening.

Yes, it's the charters fault that parents don't send their kids to crappy schools to help improve them. If it weren't for charters, all these gentrifiers will..... Have move to MoCo and....