Basis DC and Capital City being investigated

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

REGARDLESS, once again DCPS schools have to take anybody that shows up outside their door; whereas, the Charters directly or indirectly cherry-pick and then tout how much better they are than public schools. If DCPS could self-select who shows up at their door and only have students of motivated parents, of course their scores would be better.

Yeah, it's all that math. Can't have illegal immigrants coming in and finishing the books in twenty minutes.

Conspiracy theories aside, I'd bet this really turns out to be minor. It's likely a misinterpretation of the in-boundary law, as mentioned previously, and will be corrected going forward. I can't imagine that any charter has it in for immigrants, many of whom come from far better school systems than DCPS.

That's an odd statement.

[Anonymous]

I think one issue is the documents. Maybe there was bad intent, but some of the documents are difficult for undocumented immigrants to produce

[Anonymous]

jsteele wrote:This is just an investigation. It's probably best to wait for the results of the investigation before pontificating. Given the number of legal immigrants at Cap City, I have a hard time believing the school caused much of a road block for an undocumented one, unless the long wait list was considered a barrier.

and there is a student who has been public about his undocumented immigrant status who is a recent alum of CCPCS: http://elschools.org/press-center/alumni-profile-gerson-quinteros

[jsteele]

Anonymous wrote:

jsteele wrote:This is just an investigation. It's probably best to wait for the results of the investigation before pontificating. Given the number of legal immigrants at Cap City, I have a hard time believing the school caused much of a road block for an undocumented one, unless the long wait list was considered a barrier.

and there is a student who has been public about his undocumented immigrant status who is a recent alum of CCPCS: http://elschools.org/press-center/alumni-profile-gerson-quinteros

Thanks for linking to that article. From the article:

"Gerson became a role model for other undocumented immigrants at Capital City. Last year, he worked with 15 self-reported undocumented students he met through the school’s immigration reform student group that he started and still leads. "

Just a guess, but I don't think the investigation is going to turn up many barriers.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think one issue is the documents. Maybe there was bad intent, but some of the documents are difficult for undocumented immigrants to produce

I think this is the most likely explanation.

I just registered my DC at BASIS for the first time and provided a DC driver license and registration and a birth certificate.

Providing documentation that establishes both DC residency and a parent-child relationship (or some other custodial relationship) is undoubtedly hard for people who are here illegally.

My guess is that the schools asked for documents, the parents produced questionable documentation, i.e., a letter from a distant relative attesting to DC residency and a copy of a document that the parents claimed was a birth certificate in a foreign language, and when the schools demanded additional documentation, e.g., a certified translation of the birth certificate, the parents balked and filed a complaint.

I think it's unreasonable to ask charters to stamp out residency fraud while turning a blind eye to anyone claiming to be in this country illegally.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:http://www.ksl.com/?nid=157&sid=29814823&title=2-dc-schools-investigated-on-immigrant-enrollment

2 DC schools investigated on immigrant enrollment


WASHINGTON (AP) — The Education Department says two District of Columbia charter schools are being investigated over possible barriers to enrollment by students brought to the United States illegally.

The Obama administration issued guidance Thursday reminding schools that they are obligated to enroll every student regardless of immigration status.

The Education Department said it's received 17 complaints since 2011. Two of those involved district charter schools: Basis DC and Capital City.

Before the list of schools was released late Thursday, D.C. Public Charter School Board spokeswoman Lauren Williams said she was not aware of any complaints involving schools in the system. She did not immediately respond to a request for comment about the specific schools.


Read more at http://www.ksl.com/?nid=157&sid=29814823#GCUaqYQbU70y3xyW.99

I can't help but think there's something contradictory about insisting that DC residents jump through hoops to establish their legitimate residency, only to turn a blind eye towards illegal residency and being punished for failing to turn the blind eye.

Galling.

REGARDLESS, once again DCPS schools have to take anybody that shows up outside their door; whereas, the Charters directly or indirectly cherry-pick and then tout how much better they are than public schools. If DCPS could self-select who shows up at their door and only have students of motivated parents, of course their scores would be better.

Nonsense. Just more charter bashing.

Why don't we just tell charters that they have to register anyone with a Hispanic (or Nigerian) surname who claims to be a DC resident and claims that the student to be registered is their child but cannot produce credible documentation because they are in this country illegally.

At that point, why bother to verify residency at all.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

REGARDLESS, once again DCPS schools have to take anybody that shows up outside their door; whereas, the Charters directly or indirectly cherry-pick and then tout how much better they are than public schools. If DCPS could self-select who shows up at their door and only have students of motivated parents, of course their scores would be better.

Yeah, it's all that math. Can't have illegal immigrants coming in and finishing the books in twenty minutes.

Conspiracy theories aside, I'd bet this really turns out to be minor. It's likely a misinterpretation of the in-boundary law, as mentioned previously, and will be corrected going forward. I can't imagine that any charter has it in for immigrants, many of whom come from far better school systems than DCPS.

That's an odd statement.

Why? Not all illegal immigrants are Hispanic. Not all Hispanics come from the poorest districts. Immigrants can bring very strong educational backgrounds with them.

Without statistics on immigrant charter applications by demographic, all you can do is make assumptions. One assumption is likely just as flawed as another.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Yeah, it's all that math. Can't have illegal immigrants coming in and finishing the books in twenty minutes.

Conspiracy theories aside, I'd bet this really turns out to be minor. It's likely a misinterpretation of the in-boundary law, as mentioned previously, and will be corrected going forward. I can't imagine that any charter has it in for immigrants, many of whom come from far better school systems than DCPS.

That's an odd statement.

Why? Not all illegal immigrants are Hispanic. Not all Hispanics come from the poorest districts. Immigrants can bring very strong educational backgrounds with them.

Without statistics on immigrant charter applications by demographic, all you can do is make assumptions. One assumption is likely just as flawed as another.

Actually, some estimates show that up to 20% of the illegal immigrants in the area come from Asia and Europe, regions known to have very strong schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:http://www.ksl.com/?nid=157&sid=29814823&title=2-dc-schools-investigated-on-immigrant-enrollment

2 DC schools investigated on immigrant enrollment


WASHINGTON (AP) — The Education Department says two District of Columbia charter schools are being investigated over possible barriers to enrollment by students brought to the United States illegally.

The Obama administration issued guidance Thursday reminding schools that they are obligated to enroll every student regardless of immigration status.

The Education Department said it's received 17 complaints since 2011. Two of those involved district charter schools: Basis DC and Capital City.

Before the list of schools was released late Thursday, D.C. Public Charter School Board spokeswoman Lauren Williams said she was not aware of any complaints involving schools in the system. She did not immediately respond to a request for comment about the specific schools.


Read more at http://www.ksl.com/?nid=157&sid=29814823#GCUaqYQbU70y3xyW.99

I can't help but think there's something contradictory about insisting that DC residents jump through hoops to establish their legitimate residency, only to turn a blind eye towards illegal residency and being punished for failing to turn the blind eye.

Galling.

dc residency (based on an electric bill ect) needs to be proved and has NOTHING to do with being in the US legally or not. As a society, we want all kids in our borders in school. We want this for the good of us as a society. These two schools weren't letting them in because they would drag down scores. That is what is galling.

I can't tell from the article, but I agree with PP if they were simply requiring the parents to prove DC residency. If everyone else is required to prove DC residency, why should an illegal immigrant living in VA NE exempt from proving DC residency.

[Anonymous]

You all realize the same information is required at DCPS. Before I enrolled at my charter school, my title 1 DCPS required a (gasp) birth certificate and proof of residency.

[Anonymous]

When we briefly registered at Marie Reed they were insisting on a birth certificate and I refused to provide it. I told them it was not on the required documents list. Considering English is the only language I speak, they seemed to back down, but it left me with a bad taste and switched to another school when our number came up.

[jsteele]

Capital City's Head of School just emailed parents saying that the school is not under investigation and that the news story is wrong.

[Anonymous]

Look at this- wow, there's an article on it so it's true! This is BS, and the article sucks, no details, no supporting evidence. Mrs. Karen Dresden, the head of school at Cap City just emailed the parents to let us know that they are NOT under investigation and that they've contacted the Dept. of Education and the media about this false accusation.
I would paste it here, but I don't think it's right.

[Anonymous]

Similar message from BASIS DC leadership. "This allegation has never been made against our school and we are not under investigation by the Department of Education."

[Anonymous]

Could be another Eric Holder thing.