Chancellor's Brown v Board message to parents

[Anonymous]

While most OOB kid in my Ward 3 ES are from just EoP or Downtown, i.e. come from socio-economic background similar to the average IB family, there's also a few kids who commute from very disadvantaged neighborhoods.
I am very familiar with one, a boy, who has been in my younger kid's class for the past two years (1st, 2nd grades).
Despite the nice, inclusive (and unaware) attitude of his classmate, as a mother I can clearly see that this kid feels dis-integrated with the rest of the community: at bake sales, he's always the one who arrives at school without the pocket money for the cakes; at a school where 90% of kids bring food from home, he's the one served with school meals; at the class-parent reading day, this boy was the only kid with no parents attending. He never comes to birthday parties (I can ensure that he is indeed invited) nor has ever celebrated his birthday at school (normally kids bring cupcakes and juices on their birthday). He was the only missing kids at the school recital (which was held at 6:00 pm); none of his parents ever came as a "surprise morning reader". I have the impression that he irregularly submits homework and I see that he often arrives at school late, running from the bus stop.
This boy is very unhappy in my school. This boy belongs to a community which is miles away and hours away from our school. He belongs to there, where maybe his parents or other relatives could be a bit more involved and present in his activities, where he could be picked up , maybe once a week, by a parent or have a playdate after school, rather than being picked up by an old lady, who runs away with him soon after dismissal.
I found KH's message irritating. If the new ways to pursue integration she's referring to are OOB spots, than she's being naive and writing in bad faith.
Parents in those Wards can compile lists of DCPS failures in local ES, which include , as we know, corruption and direct contracting of educational social services to friends and relatives without the necessary qualifications.
OOB rights, not only do nothing to solve those problems. They offer an escape route to a few kids and active parents to run away , and leave the local schools for the most marginal kids and families. But the landing of these kids to Upper NW schools is not always a soft landing or a happy ending story, as for the young boy in our class.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:While most OOB kid in my Ward 3 ES are from just EoP or Downtown, i.e. come from socio-economic background similar to the average IB family, there's also a few kids who commute from very disadvantaged neighborhoods.
I am very familiar with one, a boy, who has been in my younger kid's class for the past two years (1st, 2nd grades).
Despite the nice, inclusive (and unaware) attitude of his classmate, as a mother I can clearly see that this kid feels dis-integrated with the rest of the community: at bake sales, he's always the one who arrives at school without the pocket money for the cakes; at a school where 90% of kids bring food from home, he's the one served with school meals; at the class-parent reading day, this boy was the only kid with no parents attending. He never comes to birthday parties (I can ensure that he is indeed invited) nor has ever celebrated his birthday at school (normally kids bring cupcakes and juices on their birthday). He was the only missing kids at the school recital (which was held at 6:00 pm); none of his parents ever came as a "surprise morning reader". I have the impression that he irregularly submits homework and I see that he often arrives at school late, running from the bus stop.
This boy is very unhappy in my school. This boy belongs to a community which is miles away and hours away from our school. He belongs to there, where maybe his parents or other relatives could be a bit more involved and present in his activities, where he could be picked up , maybe once a week, by a parent or have a playdate after school, rather than being picked up by an old lady, who runs away with him soon after dismissal.
I found KH's message irritating. If the new ways to pursue integration she's referring to are OOB spots, than she's being naive and writing in bad faith.
Parents in those Wards can compile lists of DCPS failures in local ES, which include , as we know, corruption and direct contracting of educational social services to friends and relatives without the necessary qualifications.
OOB rights, not only do nothing to solve those problems. They offer an escape route to a few kids and active parents to run away , and leave the local schools for the most marginal kids and families. But the landing of these kids to Upper NW schools is not always a soft landing or a happy ending story, as for the young boy in our class.

I have seen the same -- the main point being, for the most part, the parents of commuting (OOB) kids are very involved with their kids, and their kids score well on proficiency tests. What if those parents were encouraged to stay in their neighborhood schools, so that most of them are no longer parachuting out of their own communities, for the sake of their kids? What if those parents were offered special programming for their kids, somewhat similar to what this board discusses as necessary to improve a school like Roosevelt? Wouldn't many of the horribly under-performing schools in DCPS start to improve? There is a lot of student talent in every D.C. neighborhood, but most of it leaves to go elsewhere in the City.

And Henderson doesn't see it that way. Instead, it's the fault of "segregation." Yeeesh.

[Anonymous]

Yeah, it is always easier to deflect attention than to do the hard work.

Who's really to blame about the poor state of so many DCPS schools? The British, of course. Life here was pristine and beautiful before they came.

[Anonymous]

Thank God. At least someone said the message was irritating. I also jumped in my office chair when I read it. How does she dare to mix and dishonor the Brown v Board heroes with poor public school management issues?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Thank God. At least someone said the message was irritating. I also jumped in my office chair when I read it. How does she dare to mix and dishonor the Brown v Board heroes with poor public school management issues?

The beauty of it, from a pass-the-buck perspective, is that DCPS can blame its failures on white people ("segregation") as the reason why they need to hard-wire many OOB spots into the better-performing schools. It's NOT because DCPS has failed to do anything to encourage engaged kids and their parents to risk staying in their own neighborhoods in order to improve their neighborhood schools, right? It couldn't be because there's nothing there for them, could it? And, if you DO talk about initializing specialized programming in poorly-performing schools, it has to be tooled to the lowest-common-denominator, or else white people might be interested in attending those schools, too. And then, heaven forbid MORE gentrification (read: reverse segregation) might actually occur, and we can't have that. Segregation is good for DCPS. All the while, the local families with engaged, proficient kids are left out of the equation. I can't blame them for "traversing" across the city, either.

[Anonymous]

Did any of you who receive Kaya's email opt in to receive her personal musings about matters unrelated to your kids' education? Wasn't this pure spam?

[jsteele]

Has it really escaped the notice of all of you that a large number of DCPS schools are either almost all white or almost all black? That's segregation. If every neighborhood school were improved to be world class, the schools would almost all still be segregated. This has less to do with DCPS than does with housing patterns. As long people of different races don't live in the same neighborhoods, neighborhood schools won't be racially integrated. With socio-economic boundaries roughly mirroring racial boundaries, the same is true for socio-economic integration.

From what I've observed (including in this thread), folks in both neighborhoods with the highest performing schools and neighborhoods with the lowest performing schools dread diversity. At the high-performing end because of concern that diversity will result in lower quality of schools and at the lower-performing end due to fear that the gentrification that accompanies diversity will have a negative impact. (For an example of the second case -- though not at one of the lowest performing schools -- see posts by our resident Eastern booster who frequently harangues on the "stroller brigade").

Charter schools have been much more successful in creating diverse schools by providing educational opportunities that attract residents from across the racial and socio-economic spectrum. However, in most circumstances, attending a charter involves leaving your neighborhood.

So, obviously, there is no perfect solution to addressing the segregated situation in which we now find ourselves. Right now, it appears that you can have good schools, you can have diverse schools, and you can have diverse schools. You just can't have a good, diverse, neighborhood school. That's not something a decision by Kaya Henderson will easily change.

[Anonymous]

Hey, Jeff, you obviously mean well, but you're wrong on the facts, at least with respect to your implication that black people and white people "dread diversity."

Go back and take a look at the stats for Deal and Wilson. You think they are not "diverse," at least as a matter of race? Do you think in-boundary families begging for different programming at Hardy are afraid of diversity? No, man, not at all.

Furthermore: most of DC -- OK, a lot of DC, if not most -- is either not segregated or becoming much less segregated as a matter of race. The problem is, as you rightly point out, that the SCHOOLS have segregated populations. That is a distinct issue from the neighborhoods themselves, which have changed a ton in the past 20 years, and are continuing to change. What we are grappling with is the failure of DCPS to create attractive schools, not with inherent race bias ingrained in the hearts of our city's citizens.

[jsteele]

Anonymous wrote:Hey, Jeff, you obviously mean well, but you're wrong on the facts, at least with respect to your implication that black people and white people "dread diversity."

Go back and take a look at the stats for Deal and Wilson. You think they are not "diverse," at least as a matter of race? Do you think in-boundary families begging for different programming at Hardy are afraid of diversity? No, man, not at all.

Furthermore: most of DC -- OK, a lot of DC, if not most -- is either not segregated or becoming much less segregated as a matter of race. The problem is, as you rightly point out, that the SCHOOLS have segregated populations. That is a distinct issue from the neighborhoods themselves, which have changed a ton in the past 20 years, and are continuing to change. What we are grappling with is the failure of DCPS to create attractive schools, not with inherent race bias ingrained in the hearts of our city's citizens.

Deal and Wilson are only diverse because their boundaries extend beyond the schools' immediate neighborhoods. It is pretty hard to argue that Wilson is a neighborhood school for Southwest. Moreover, almost every proposal to address overcrowding would make both Deal and Wilson less diverse. Just read a few of the threads about Hardy here if you don't believe that turning it into a "neighborhood" school doesn't pre-suppose decreasing, if not eliminating, OOB enrollment. This is not to say that everyone in those neighborhoods -- or even a large number -- is a racist. That's not the case. But, there is no doubt that large numbers of the residents don't put a high priority on diversity and would easily sacrifice diversity before tolerating any real or perceived quality decrease.

I agree that DCPS could do more to improve schools in neighborhoods that have historically been or increasingly are diverse. Some of that is actually happening. But, such neighborhoods -- while well-known on DCUM -- are still not a huge part of DC. Just look at any map that shows the racial distribution of DC residents.

[Anonymous]

What you are describing are demographics. Not segregation. Segregation = Apartheid, which is not the City government's policy.

It is true that humans self-select where they want to live, as restricted by income and personal preference. Those selections have changed a ton over time in this city, and will continue over time. They are not immutable.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The end of her message made me roll my eyes.

The problem with DCPS schools is not lack of diversity, the problem is that most of them are subpar. I am pretty sure most parents, whatever their race or economic status, would prefer a school that provides a good eductation for their children over a bad school that is diverse. Fix the education issues first, then work on diversity - making a school more diverse without any emphasis on fixing a non-working education model won't magically fix anything (especially since if you force people into a less desirable school, those with means to go elsewhere will do so).

The city has tried that with application schools and the whites still would not come because they don't want their children in the minority.

[Anonymous]

^^^ whatever. Keep singing your tired old tune. White children are the majority at many schools including two rivers middle school and Washington Latin high school and Hardy middle school and perfectly fine with it.

Get in done the road with your idiotic generalizations

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:While most OOB kid in my Ward 3 ES are from just EoP or Downtown, i.e. come from socio-economic background similar to the average IB family, there's also a few kids who commute from very disadvantaged neighborhoods.
I am very familiar with one, a boy, who has been in my younger kid's class for the past two years (1st, 2nd grades).
Despite the nice, inclusive (and unaware) attitude of his classmate, as a mother I can clearly see that this kid feels dis-integrated with the rest of the community: at bake sales, he's always the one who arrives at school without the pocket money for the cakes; at a school where 90% of kids bring food from home, he's the one served with school meals; at the class-parent reading day, this boy was the only kid with no parents attending. He never comes to birthday parties (I can ensure that he is indeed invited) nor has ever celebrated his birthday at school (normally kids bring cupcakes and juices on their birthday). He was the only missing kids at the school recital (which was held at 6:00 pm); none of his parents ever came as a "surprise morning reader". I have the impression that he irregularly submits homework and I see that he often arrives at school late, running from the bus stop.
[b]This boy is very unhappy in my school. This boy belongs to a community which is miles away and hours away from our school. He belongs to there, where maybe his parents or other relatives could be a bit more involved and present in his activities, where he could be picked up , maybe once a week, by a parent or have a playdate after school, rather than being picked up by an old lady, who runs away with him soon after dismissal.
I found KH's message irritating. If the new ways to pursue integration she's referring to are OOB spots, than she's being naive and writing in bad faith.
Parents in those Wards can compile lists of DCPS failures in local ES, which include , as we know, corruption and direct contracting of educational social services to friends and relatives without the necessary qualifications.
OOB rights, not only do nothing to solve those problems. They offer an escape route to a few kids and active parents to run away , and leave the local schools for the most marginal kids and families. But the landing of these kids to Upper NW schools is not always a soft landing or a happy ending story, as for the young boy in our class.

did the boy tell you that, or is this what you assume? If he were in his 'home community' you've got no bona fide reason to believe he would attend birthday parties or stay on the playgrund after school...maybe granma would still whisk him away for his african drumming or salsa or t-ball league... and if you, as a non-parent or school employee can accurately track his homework completion, you are excessively inquisitive AND the school is failing to maintain his confidentiality


fwiw, my own kids rarely had playdates etc after school, because that would have made them late for piano or gymnastics...it's not an exclusion from school but an inclusion in extracurriculars at play

[Anonymous]

Oops. white children are the MINORITY at many schools...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:While most OOB kid in my Ward 3 ES are from just EoP or Downtown, i.e. come from socio-economic background similar to the average IB family, there's also a few kids who commute from very disadvantaged neighborhoods.
I am very familiar with one, a boy, who has been in my younger kid's class for the past two years (1st, 2nd grades).
Despite the nice, inclusive (and unaware) attitude of his classmate, as a mother I can clearly see that this kid feels dis-integrated with the rest of the community: at bake sales, he's always the one who arrives at school without the pocket money for the cakes; at a school where 90% of kids bring food from home, he's the one served with school meals; at the class-parent reading day, this boy was the only kid with no parents attending. He never comes to birthday parties (I can ensure that he is indeed invited) nor has ever celebrated his birthday at school (normally kids bring cupcakes and juices on their birthday). He was the only missing kids at the school recital (which was held at 6:00 pm); none of his parents ever came as a "surprise morning reader". I have the impression that he irregularly submits homework and I see that he often arrives at school late, running from the bus stop.
This boy is very unhappy in my school. This boy belongs to a community which is miles away and hours away from our school. He belongs to there, where maybe his parents or other relatives could be a bit more involved and present in his activities, where he could be picked up , maybe once a week, by a parent or have a playdate after school, rather than being picked up by an old lady, who runs away with him soon after dismissal.
I found KH's message irritating. If the new ways to pursue integration she's referring to are OOB spots, than she's being naive and writing in bad faith.
Parents in those Wards can compile lists of DCPS failures in local ES, which include , as we know, corruption and direct contracting of educational social services to friends and relatives without the necessary qualifications.
OOB rights, not only do nothing to solve those problems. They offer an escape route to a few kids and active parents to run away , and leave the local schools for the most marginal kids and families. But the landing of these kids to Upper NW schools is not always a soft landing or a happy ending story, as for the young boy in our class.

It's odd that you perceive the child's home address to be an issue; I hear of kids commuting in to Sidwell from PG county and Fairfax...this child is simply crossing town...