JKLM School Auctions - do you really have to go?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Not a JKLM but our school does an auction. It really is an important source of fundraising so I encourage those who don't want to go to at least make a donation to the event. Whether you like the "cool moms" or not, a lot of people put a lot of work into these events so that all of the children can benefit.

This, I don't care if you go - but good god please recognize the amount of work that goes into these things and try to open your checkbook in whatever manner you can. Your kids will benefit from this too.

And as for PP who wants DCPS to "tax" it - I'm so on board with that if you actually use the money in a way kids need, but don't just toss it at a Title 1 school that doesnt offer the wrap-around services those kids need and then tell my kids their f-ed when it comes to test-in MS because you know, that's not PC.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I get it. The $ and parental involvement is an important 'secret' ingredient to these schools. Will do my part & buy a couple things online, but - I'm not one of the cool club cliquey moms and we're certainly not the richest in the neighborhood or planning to bid on a summer house -- and I REALLY do not want to go. Do I have to?

oh please, sounds like you really never left high school and you have a child in ES. do you want to go? then go. otherwise, don't, is that simple. cool club cliquey moms exist (if they exist) only for them and for people like you, everybody else could not care less. I am a JKLM mom, in my 6 years at the school so far I have been to 3 auctions. Once I did not want to spend, so I donate my sweat equity, I worked the Saturday to put it up and my DH went on Sunday to help take things down ( I also went alone so mu DH could watch the kids and we did not have to pay a babysitter). the other two times I bought something. there are plenty of things for $20 and less, not just the summer house in Europe. I also have relative with an apartment in a desirable tourist location and have them offer it to the auction. I did not spend anythying and the school gets the money. I am not sure if I go this year, but if I don't, I will volunteer to set it up. the times I went I met a lot parents of my kids' classmates, most of them working parents with little time for high school drama. as everywhere, there are people I like less and I simply do not associate with them. our school has over 600 kids so it is easy to find nice people to have a good time. whether I go or not, I am tremendously grateful to all those parents who often juggle full time jobs and family and the organization of an event that bring so much money to the school, benefiting all kids, including the kids of those we did not go and did not buy anything.

so, go if you want, stay home if you don't want to go. but please grow up and loose the attitude.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
Has DCPS thought about putting a progressive tax or administrative fee, like 40 or 50 %, on the auction proceeds from JKLM schools? Then DCPS could share the bounty with the schools that are unable to raise their own extra funds.

no, because it would be stupid. jklm school raise a few hundred thousand dollars, which are used to pay for aides, improved technology, and other things that DCPS should pay for but does not. this is just a tiny fraction of the amount of money that Title 1 schools receive. if you the amount of money JKLM school receive per pupil and the amount of money Title 1 schools receive per pupil you will see that some Title 1 school would receive millions of dollar more than JKLM if they had the same amount of student. parents' fundrasing at JKLM schools is just a small amount and does not make up for the different. and the reality is that JKLM parents are already paying a ton of money that goes to Title 1 schools through their taxes, which certainly don't come from poor areas of DC

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
Has DCPS thought about putting a progressive tax or administrative fee, like 40 or 50 %, on the auction proceeds from JKLM schools? Then DCPS could share the bounty with the schools that are unable to raise their own extra funds.

no, because it would be stupid. jklm school raise a few hundred thousand dollars, which are used to pay for aides, improved technology, and other things that DCPS should pay for but does not. this is just a tiny fraction of the amount of money that Title 1 schools receive. if you the amount of money JKLM school receive per pupil and the amount of money Title 1 schools receive per pupil you will see that some Title 1 school would receive millions of dollar more than JKLM if they had the same amount of student. parents' fundrasing at JKLM schools is just a small amount and does not make up for the different. and the reality is that JKLM parents are already paying a ton of money that goes to Title 1 schools through their taxes, which certainly don't come from poor areas of DC

So offensively patronizing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:NO---many, many parents don't go to the Janney auction. When my child was in PK we were one of 2 families who went from our child's class. A few more joined in K.

The cool cliquey moms are definitely out in force. It's one of those nights that feels like high school all over again.

You can deride the" cool, cliquey moms" all you want, but they are the ones who do the most for the school. Does the term "free rider" hit close to home?

NP here. Er, are we not talking about a PUBLIC school? PP has already paid everything she needs to, it's called taxes. And our kids have a right to a free education.

[Anonymous]

My two cents: I truly felt like an outsider mom at my kids JKLM the first year, and someone happened to ask me if I was planning to attend the auction. I was not planning on going, but wound up going. Turned out it was totally fun and as I started to get to know more parents, it made me really like the school and community. I had also perceived the involved parents as a "cool moms clique" but it turned out that they were open and friendly. It really isn't a MS or HS environment anymore -- and since you will probably be at that school for many years, and it makes sense to make an effort to get to know the other parents, and to support the school.

If you really don't want to attend the auction, then you should absolutely make a generous donation. At our school, the funds raised go a very, very long way to make the school one of the more successful ones.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:NO---many, many parents don't go to the Janney auction. When my child was in PK we were one of 2 families who went from our child's class. A few more joined in K.

The cool cliquey moms are definitely out in force. It's one of those nights that feels like high school all over again.

You can deride the" cool, cliquey moms" all you want, but they are the ones who do the most for the school. Does the term "free rider" hit close to home?

NP here. Er, are we not talking about a PUBLIC school? PP has already paid everything she needs to, it's called taxes. And our kids have a right to a free education.

Only taxes? If that's all you intend to pay, then you'll get exactly what you paid for--the basics.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
Has DCPS thought about putting a progressive tax or administrative fee, like 40 or 50 %, on the auction proceeds from JKLM schools? Then DCPS could share the bounty with the schools that are unable to raise their own extra funds.

no, because it would be stupid. jklm school raise a few hundred thousand dollars, which are used to pay for aides, improved technology, and other things that DCPS should pay for but does not. this is just a tiny fraction of the amount of money that Title 1 schools receive. if you the amount of money JKLM school receive per pupil and the amount of money Title 1 schools receive per pupil you will see that some Title 1 school would receive millions of dollar more than JKLM if they had the same amount of student. parents' fundrasing at JKLM schools is just a small amount and does not make up for the different. and the reality is that JKLM parents are already paying a ton of money that goes to Title 1 schools through their taxes, which certainly don't come from poor areas of DC

So offensively patronizing.

simply facts. Title 1 schools already get extra fund from DCPS. the idea that JKLM schools are ahead thanks to the extra funds raised by the parents is a pile of BS

[Anonymous]

Our children attend Oyster. I'm not really interested in attending the auction, but it pays for things I'd like to see at their school. As a result, we'll hire a sitter, purchase tickets (and auction items) and attend every year our children are enrolled--without complaint.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
Has DCPS thought about putting a progressive tax or administrative fee, like 40 or 50 %, on the auction proceeds from JKLM schools? Then DCPS could share the bounty with the schools that are unable to raise their own extra funds.

If they did this, I would be less likely to donate to the auction. I already pay more in taxes than those in less desirable districts and that money is allocated evenly. I don't have a choice over how much I pay in taxes, but I do in how much I donate. Same with my PTA fee--if that were shared out, I wouldn't contribute as much.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
Has DCPS thought about putting a progressive tax or administrative fee, like 40 or 50 %, on the auction proceeds from JKLM schools? Then DCPS could share the bounty with the schools that are unable to raise their own extra funds.

If they did this, I would be less likely to donate to the auction. I already pay more in taxes than those in less desirable districts and that money is allocated evenly. I don't have a choice over how much I pay in taxes, but I do in how much I donate. Same with my PTA fee--if that were shared out, I wouldn't contribute as much.

Check your privilege.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why would you *have* to go? What would happen to you if you didn't?

That said, I am not one of the "cool, cliquey moms" yet am still planning to go, and I hope others outside the clique will be there too!

There is a certain image stereotype of the in-crowd Janney mom. It's hard to describe but I know it when I see it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
Has DCPS thought about putting a progressive tax or administrative fee, like 40 or 50 %, on the auction proceeds from JKLM schools? Then DCPS could share the bounty with the schools that are unable to raise their own extra funds.

If they did this, I would be less likely to donate to the auction. I already pay more in taxes than those in less desirable districts and that money is allocated evenly. I don't have a choice over how much I pay in taxes, but I do in how much I donate. Same with my PTA fee--if that were shared out, I wouldn't contribute as much.

I highly doubt you are paying more in taxes than many of us in Columbia Heights, Shaw, Capitol Hill, Shepherd Park, Crestwood, even Brookland. It's funny how Ward 3 parents still think they are the only ones with $1M homes and $200+ HHI. Just got my new property assessment in the mail yesterday

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
Has DCPS thought about putting a progressive tax or administrative fee, like 40 or 50 %, on the auction proceeds from JKLM schools? Then DCPS could share the bounty with the schools that are unable to raise their own extra funds.

If they did this, I would be less likely to donate to the auction. I already pay more in taxes than those in less desirable districts and that money is allocated evenly. I don't have a choice over how much I pay in taxes, but I do in how much I donate. Same with my PTA fee--if that were shared out, I wouldn't contribute as much.

Check your privilege.

The privilege of growing up poor and working my a*s off to get into a good school, get a good job, and be able to afford to live in a good neighborhood? Of being the first generation in my family to go to college? Of now supporting my parents or spending my 20s crippled by student loan debt and recovering from that? Just want to make sure I'm checking the right privilege.

Not everyone who is well off had it handed to them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
Has DCPS thought about putting a progressive tax or administrative fee, like 40 or 50 %, on the auction proceeds from JKLM schools? Then DCPS could share the bounty with the schools that are unable to raise their own extra funds.

If they did this, I would be less likely to donate to the auction. I already pay more in taxes than those in less desirable districts and that money is allocated evenly. I don't have a choice over how much I pay in taxes, but I do in how much I donate. Same with my PTA fee--if that were shared out, I wouldn't contribute as much.

I highly doubt you are paying more in taxes than many of us in Columbia Heights, Shaw, Capitol Hill, Shepherd Park, Crestwood, even Brookland. It's funny how Ward 3 parents still think they are the only ones with $1M homes and $200+ HHI. Just got my new property assessment in the mail yesterday

Then you can afford to donate to the PTA and improve your school! I'm also not in Ward 3.