Truth about being three coughs above FARMS at a high performing Charter School

[Anonymous]

I mean seriously. Some of us have been in the trenches for years. We did this before charters, before pre-3 or pre-k4 were options, helped get these highly sought after charters started and moved on from them (due to aging out/charter middle school issues).

You people are tiresome. My snowflake is fine and yours will be too!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:WTF did I just read

You sound so stupid.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I mean seriously. Some of us have been in the trenches for years. We did this before charters, before pre-3 or pre-k4 were options, helped get these highly sought after charters started and moved on from them (due to aging out/charter middle school issues).

You people are tiresome. My snowflake is fine and yours will be too!

I love this quote. Thanks sunshine.

[Anonymous]

Knot sure what to say here. Maybe this is why people want to support good PUBLIC schools. Maybe????

[Anonymous]

I had a child in a good DCPS with a cadre of wealthy stay at home moms. The wealthy moms definitely had a disproportionate representation among the class moms and PTA, but their effect on the school was positive, imo. They organized fundraising and field trips, visits from authors and dance troupes.
I DO think there were stark differences between their lifestyles, my lifestyle, and the lifestyles of the 'near-farms and farms'...it's life
As to the observation that the wealthy kids were favored, it may be true....certainly my kids never were among the dozen invited to the white house or the Capitol building; but I wondered if the wealthy parents were the creators of the invitation to begin with.

[Anonymous]

OP here, thanks for the feedback and additional opinions. I probably could have been a bit more concise with everything. I just don't think that there are honest conversations about the day to day experience that many middle income families have at high demand charter schools. And I wish someone would have written something like this when I was starting out.

As a new parent several years ago, I've seen the charter school movement in DC go from unique pockets of primarily small, independent schools to an industry of branding and replication that many schools are today. While the remnants and impression of a diverse landscape are there, it is fading fast when one truly unpacks what happens in the classroom.

The pressure to expand, grow, and replicate many times means that the public tuition paid for middle income and lower income (above FARMS) kids are used as leverage to fund the expansion programs. Parents are pressured to keep quiet and go with the flow, especially if you want your kid's residency verification paperwork to not magically disappear when it’s time to re-apply or renew admission for the next fall.

The public tuition that is paid for each student does not vary based on income; the access and delivery of an equal education should reflect this equality. Many performance ratings of "high demand" schools ride on the academic achievement of children that pay for supplementation outside of the school, while the school itself provides a low quality, lackluster education program to a specific segment of their students within the school. And they can afford to do better.

The operative word in this conversation is "Public". I agree that many of the same issues expressed in this post are experienced at private institutions. However, if the activity and support of wealthier families at public schools grossly benefits the children of wealthier families yet marginally helps poorer families, this creates a disparate impact on the middle income and lower income families that depend on the school's existence.

[Anonymous]

can they really afford to do better? After all, charter schools are not funded at the same levels per pupil as DCPS

[Anonymous]

OP, you may not want to admit this, but the fact is that no one is treating your DC differently than any other child enrolled at her school. She's receiving the same treatment and instruction as all lf the other children.

Look, I get that you may feel your SES may be under- represented at the school and have concerns about how that may effect your child. It's true, charter schools ask for a lot, and it would get old saying no to the many fundraisers and gift-donations. I'm sure it would add to feeling stretched financially and not feeling like you connect with the community, etc. However, no on would penalize your DC for that! Can you give one concrete example of your DC being denied a service or care, or instruction? Whose problem is this, yours or your kids? Are you being told to "go elsewhere" because you've become the problem? (Which I doubt you've been told.)

Please don't conflate your personal aspirations and emotional needs with the needs of your child. Your Kindergartener doesn't NEED that calculus instruction you have somehow imagined the other parents are paying for on the side or getting after school for free.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP, you may not want to admit this, but the fact is that no one is treating your DC differently than any other child enrolled at her school. She's receiving the same treatment and instruction as all lf the other children.

Look, I get that you may feel your SES may be under- represented at the school and have concerns about how that may effect your child. It's true, charter schools ask for a lot, and it would get old saying no to the many fundraisers and gift-donations. I'm sure it would add to feeling stretched financially and not feeling like you connect with the community, etc. However, no on would penalize your DC for that! Can you give one concrete example of your DC being denied a service or care, or instruction? Whose problem is this, yours or your kids? Are you being told to "go elsewhere" because you've become the problem? (Which I doubt you've been told.)

Please don't conflate your personal aspirations and emotional needs with the needs of your child. Your Kindergartener doesn't NEED that calculus instruction you have somehow imagined the other parents are paying for on the side or getting after school for free.

+1.

OP, while schools are no paradise for children who have more needs than others, don't bite the hand that feeds you. your highly-performing charter may not be so highly-performing w/o financial assistance from those families that can afford to give.

[Anonymous]

OP, thanks for your posts. As a low-middle income parent about to enter a charter school, it's great to hear this perspective and become aware of the dynamics at play.

[Anonymous]

Look at the PTA representation of the sought after charters. I know one that was almost entirely white parents this past year. How does that fly?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP, thanks for your posts. As a low-middle income parent about to enter a charter school, it's great to hear this perspective and become aware of the dynamics at play.

There's no dynamic at play pp: give what you can, don't assume your kid's being mistreated, don't tell the teachers how to do the job and maybe you won't develop the chip OP has.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Wealthy parents are recognized as "pioneers", "friends of public education","school reformers", and "parent organization leaders". But many are really attention seekers using public education to save money and to generate their own personal relevance. Listservs are abundant at these schools coupled with a clear understanding that a large portion of the school's parents may not have regular internet or technology

A lot of what you said was interesting but for me it was almost negated by the above. Suggesting that people USE public education to SAVE money is very ugly to read. Do you think well off people should just always pay for private? Can you imagine the state of public schools if everyone who could afford private went private? This is a major problem of charter schools because more educated parents often invest more efforts in selecting a charter leaving the public schools struggling with lack of parental involvement, poverty, behavior issues, etc. it sounds like you charter school is not treating the entire student body equally. That is a big problem and I would be upset too. But you have to understand that charter schools are a breeding ground for a variety of corruption and dishonesty. Recall the recent Washington post story exposing the fact that the DC charters expel a tremendous amount of students forcing those kids back to the public schools. As soon as charters get their money they can start weeding out the undesirables.

[Anonymous]

Don't like it OP? Then move.

Seriously stop whining about your free high performing charter school education and move to the burbs.

I can recommend Alexandria City. We have shitty public schools, lots of public housing and the schools are overwhelmed with farms kids and near farms kids. Free high performing charter schools are nowhere to be found so no more imaginative ways your child will be slighted by "the man".

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Look at the PTA representation of the sought after charters. I know one that was almost entirely white parents this past year. How does that fly?

Are parents of color being turned away or something. As someone who works full time and devotes several hours a week to PTA business for my kid's school, I get sick of hearing gripes from the parents who don't do anything. I don't care what color your damn skin is...we need your hands and time and not your Monday-morning quarterback criticism after the fact.