WCP article on Watkins

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Oh my. That raised my blood pressure just to read it. It's very light on actual details, but as a Hill parent (different school) it really makes me wonder if these parents know the damage they are doing. It also confirms that my IB principal is very saavy: kiss up to white parents; ignore acheivement gap.

You sell a lot of principals short if you think this is just a political game and they're not committed as educators. I think a lot of principals DO care about the achievement gap but they just don't know how to effectively address it. This is a problem far beyond DC public ed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I will send them $100 cash (no way to be taxed if not claimed) if they keep their child in dcps past 5th grade.

I would ignore them if I was the principal, too.

I hope that DCPS, the mayor and the Council continue to ignore these folks.

um - did you actually read the article -- Chancellor Wilson already met privately with them. Not exactly ignoring

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Oh my. That raised my blood pressure just to read it. It's very light on actual details, but as a Hill parent (different school) it really makes me wonder if these parents know the damage they are doing. It also confirms that my IB principal is very saavy: kiss up to white parents; ignore acheivement gap.

You sell a lot of principals short if you think this is just a political game and they're not committed as educators. I think a lot of principals DO care about the achievement gap but they just don't know how to effectively address it. This is a problem far beyond DC public ed.

Maybe. But look what happens if they ATTEMPT to address in in the microclimate that is the Hill: they get reamed by white parents who think it's a zero-sum game where their "advanced learners" don't get their due.

[Anonymous]

Anyone from CC who knows why so many 2nd grade seats were offered this year? I know the political winds drove some families to move but that figure and general lottery seats offered were nearly 3x higher in sy17-18 than sy16-17. 5th grade was the only exception.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Oh my. That raised my blood pressure just to read it. It's very light on actual details, but as a Hill parent (different school) it really makes me wonder if these parents know the damage they are doing. It also confirms that my IB principal is very saavy: kiss up to white parents; ignore acheivement gap.

You sell a lot of principals short if you think this is just a political game and they're not committed as educators. I think a lot of principals DO care about the achievement gap but they just don't know how to effectively address it. This is a problem far beyond DC public ed.

Maybe. But look what happens if they ATTEMPT to address in in the microclimate that is the Hill: they get reamed by white parents who think it's a zero-sum game where their "advanced learners" don't get their due.

I agree with your point but disagree with parents holding that view. I have an advanced learner and still want to see everyone succeed. It's not a zero sum game.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I will send them $100 cash (no way to be taxed if not claimed) if they keep their child in dcps past 5th grade.

I would ignore them if I was the principal, too.

I hope that DCPS, the mayor and the Council continue to ignore these folks.

um - did you actually read the article -- Chancellor Wilson already met privately with them. Not exactly ignoring

You can meet and do nothing that they ask you to. Lip service only. I agree they shouldn't have gotten that much special attention.

[Anonymous]

I sense [detractors] think that somehow those [achievement gap] efforts harm the outcomes for white students or other students,” says one parent who supports Bell. “Maybe they think if you’re focusing efforts on the achievement gap, you can’t achieve for all students.”

I think that this is a real concern. Do Watkins families feel that children doing above grade level work are pushed to reach even farther? That is not the sense I have come away with after speaking with Watkins parents.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

I sense [detractors] think that somehow those [achievement gap] efforts harm the outcomes for white students or other students,” says one parent who supports Bell. “Maybe they think if you’re focusing efforts on the achievement gap, you can’t achieve for all students.”

I think that this is a real concern. Do Watkins families feel that children doing above grade level work are pushed to reach even farther? That is not the sense I have come away with after speaking with Watkins parents.

That's a commonly held but flawed belief. Elementary school is only going to push students so far. Even in the where modest tracking occurs - informal and an exception - it's not going to meet every student's needs. The parents with the means and ability to lobby their interests also have the means and ability to supplement outside school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

I sense [detractors] think that somehow those [achievement gap] efforts harm the outcomes for white students or other students,” says one parent who supports Bell. “Maybe they think if you’re focusing efforts on the achievement gap, you can’t achieve for all students.”

I think that this is a real concern. Do Watkins families feel that children doing above grade level work are pushed to reach even farther? That is not the sense I have come away with after speaking with Watkins parents.

And yet they still score highly on rigorous common core testing which shows them on track or ahead for college prep.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

I sense [detractors] think that somehow those [achievement gap] efforts harm the outcomes for white students or other students,” says one parent who supports Bell. “Maybe they think if you’re focusing efforts on the achievement gap, you can’t achieve for all students.”

I think that this is a real concern. Do Watkins families feel that children doing above grade level work are pushed to reach even farther? That is not the sense I have come away with after speaking with Watkins parents.

Do Watkins family think their kids are MORE important than some other Watkins family kids? The reasonable, community-minded approach would be to work to serve both sets of students, particularly since you chose to live in a city and neighborhood that you know is beset by income inequality. Not to take over the school for your own personal benefit.l

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

I sense [detractors] think that somehow those [achievement gap] efforts harm the outcomes for white students or other students,” says one parent who supports Bell. “Maybe they think if you’re focusing efforts on the achievement gap, you can’t achieve for all students.”

I think that this is a real concern. Do Watkins families feel that children doing above grade level work are pushed to reach even farther? That is not the sense I have come away with after speaking with Watkins parents.

That's a commonly held but flawed belief. Elementary school is only going to push students so far. Even in the where modest tracking occurs - informal and an exception - it's not going to meet every student's needs. The parents with the means and ability to lobby their interests also have the means and ability to supplement outside school.

Well that's just not true. I have a relative who teaches in Fairfax in the AAP program and the students in that program are doing some really amazing stuff starting in third grade.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

I sense [detractors] think that somehow those [achievement gap] efforts harm the outcomes for white students or other students,” says one parent who supports Bell. “Maybe they think if you’re focusing efforts on the achievement gap, you can’t achieve for all students.”

I think that this is a real concern. Do Watkins families feel that children doing above grade level work are pushed to reach even farther? That is not the sense I have come away with after speaking with Watkins parents.

That's a commonly held but flawed belief. Elementary school is only going to push students so far. Even in the where modest tracking occurs - informal and an exception - it's not going to meet every student's needs. The parents with the means and ability to lobby their interests also have the means and ability to supplement outside school.

Well that's just not true. I have a relative who teaches in Fairfax in the AAP program and the students in that program are doing some really amazing stuff starting in third grade.

AAP is a separate program -- not the regular neighborhood elementary school (Fairfax has those too).

Advocate for something similar across DC. But doing it one-off at your local school makes no sense.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

I sense [detractors] think that somehow those [achievement gap] efforts harm the outcomes for white students or other students,” says one parent who supports Bell. “Maybe they think if you’re focusing efforts on the achievement gap, you can’t achieve for all students.”

I think that this is a real concern. Do Watkins families feel that children doing above grade level work are pushed to reach even farther? That is not the sense I have come away with after speaking with Watkins parents.

Do Watkins family think their kids are MORE important than some other Watkins family kids? The reasonable, community-minded approach would be to work to serve both sets of students, particularly since you chose to live in a city and neighborhood that you know is beset by income inequality. Not to take over the school for your own personal benefit.l

No, but they certainly think their children are equally important.

By the way the Watkins neighborhood is not beset with income equality. The income equality comes from OOB. Doesn't make the kids any less important, but you should get your facts right.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

I sense [detractors] think that somehow those [achievement gap] efforts harm the outcomes for white students or other students,” says one parent who supports Bell. “Maybe they think if you’re focusing efforts on the achievement gap, you can’t achieve for all students.”

I think that this is a real concern. Do Watkins families feel that children doing above grade level work are pushed to reach even farther? That is not the sense I have come away with after speaking with Watkins parents.

That's a commonly held but flawed belief. Elementary school is only going to push students so far. Even in the where modest tracking occurs - informal and an exception - it's not going to meet every student's needs. The parents with the means and ability to lobby their interests also have the means and ability to supplement outside school.

Well that's just not true. I have a relative who teaches in Fairfax in the AAP program and the students in that program are doing some really amazing stuff starting in third grade.

AAP is a separate program -- not the regular neighborhood elementary school (Fairfax has those too).

Advocate for something similar across DC. But doing it one-off at your local school makes no sense.

Actually is a separate class in the same elementary school, usually, although there are some AAP centers. Not that it matters. You claimed advanced elementary kids couldn't be pushed to excel much. That's just not true.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

I sense [detractors] think that somehow those [achievement gap] efforts harm the outcomes for white students or other students,” says one parent who supports Bell. “Maybe they think if you’re focusing efforts on the achievement gap, you can’t achieve for all students.”

I think that this is a real concern. Do Watkins families feel that children doing above grade level work are pushed to reach even farther? That is not the sense I have come away with after speaking with Watkins parents.

Do Watkins family think their kids are MORE important than some other Watkins family kids? The reasonable, community-minded approach would be to work to serve both sets of students, particularly since you chose to live in a city and neighborhood that you know is beset by income inequality. Not to take over the school for your own personal benefit.l

No, but they certainly think their children are equally important.

By the way the Watkins neighborhood is not beset with income equality. The income equality comes from OOB. Doesn't make the kids any less important, but you should get your facts right.

The idea that the UMC kids at Watkins are somehow being harmed by attempts to address income inequality is just ludicrous.