Why don't DC parents fix their schools?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I get the impression that DC parents are put off by the public schools to the extent that they are willing t take a fortune to educate their kids. Why not make aggressive changes to fix the public schools?

Why don't non-DC residents pay for some of the roads they use when in DC via tolls, etc.? Ahhhh... because DC isn't allowed to put up tolls.
Why don't DC residents have voting rights in Congress? That would include the right of DC parents to have a say in national policies that impact education on a local level? Hummm... because apparently taxation without representation is OK in the US and congressional representation is not a right of all citizens.


Perhaps if DC residents were a bit more empowered, they would be better equipped to fix the public schools. Perhaps you, as (I assume) a resident of the metro DC area with representation in congress, could put some pressure on your senator or representative to fix some of these injustices.

And now I will step off my soapbox.

[Anonymous]

Now we're talking! Sounds like a lot of folks on this thread would be thrilled help - could you post some more information?

[Anonymous]

Sorry - my PP was referencing the charter school -

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am - working on opening a charter school. want to help?

What type of school?

[Anonymous]

It takes me 1/3 of a year to make the 30K for Sidwell, if I spent that time on creating a charter school, I would probably be ahead.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I get the impression that DC parents are put off by the public schools to the extent that they are willing t take a fortune to educate their kids. Why not make aggressive changes to fix the public schools?

Which schools? Are the schools in Northwest and Chevy Chase suffering as much as the others? Are the public charter schools making a difference?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I get the impression that DC parents are put off by the public schools to the extent that they are willing t take a fortune to educate their kids. Why not make aggressive changes to fix the public schools?

What a silly question. The parent groups with the means (financial, educational, etc.) to do so already have stellar schools -- there are half a dozen DCPS elementary schools that I'd take over any in MoCo and all but two or three in NoVA. The parent groups that, in aggregate, lack those means by definition can't fix their public schools by themselves.

[Anonymous]

We are fixing *individual* schools, i.e., starting/improving charters, running PTOs at traditional DCPS schools with huge budgets which then purchase needed teachers/programs, etc.

It's the macro level that's just daunting and seemingly beyond the abilities of parents, politicians, educators to "fix" up to this point... Maybe now things are starting to change, maybe in a decade the system will be "fixed," I don't know. But by then my kid will be graduated and out. It's not that I don't care, I do-- but I choose to put my limited time and money into the actual school environment that DD attends.

[Anonymous]

This is a simplistic question from someone who either isn't from here, or hasn't done much reading about local issues.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is a simplistic question from someone who either isn't from here, or hasn't done much reading about local issues.

ITA. Only an idiot who knows absolutely nothing about landmark court decisions vis public education (not to mention civil rights and social upheaval in the 20th century) would have asked something so patently simplistic. Get back to us when you've passed a H.S. level civics course.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am - working on opening a charter school. want to help?

PP, are you serious. Because if you are the answer is yes, I want to help. The good charter schools have huge wait lists, there is obviously demand for more good charter schools. Please post some contact information if you are serious.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am - working on opening a charter school. want to help?

PP, are you serious. Because if you are the answer is yes, I want to help. The good charter schools have huge wait lists, there is obviously demand for more good charter schools. Please post some contact information if you are serious.

That PP's message was posted on 02/20/2008, which is almost two years ago. My guess is that school opened in the fall of '09 (at least two charters opened at that time: Excel Academy and Washington Yu Ying), but I think you're pretty awesome for volunteering.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am - working on opening a charter school. want to help?

PP, are you serious. Because if you are the answer is yes, I want to help. The good charter schools have huge wait lists, there is obviously demand for more good charter schools. Please post some contact information if you are serious.

That PP's message was posted on 02/20/2008, which is almost two years ago. My guess is that school opened in the fall of '09 (at least two charters opened at that time: Excel Academy and Washington Yu Ying), but I think you're pretty awesome for volunteering.

Sorry, that should have read that two schools opened in the fall of '08 (Excel Academy and Washington Yu Ying). My bad.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The problems go beyond parents "fixing" the schools. In wealthier neighborhoods, the elementary schools are very good (Murch, Mann, Lafayette, etc.) The parents are motivated and involved and make sure the schools have everything they need. In the poorer neighborhoods, parents who can navigate the system and who understand the difference between a good and bad school send their kids to local parochial schools (which are inexpensive) or to charters or out of boundary. That leaves a lot of elementary schools in poor neighborhoods with kids who aren't getting proper rest, nutrition, or structure at home, and teachers who would never cut the mustard in the better neighborhood schools. So they fall behind. Then, by middle school, there's a large exodus of middle and upper-middle class kids, either to private school or to the suburbs. Parents aren't willing to send their kids to large, unruly, underperforming middle and high schools. And it's a lot easier to "fix" a small neighborhood school. The ugly reality is that urban school systems usually improve when middle and upper-middle class families (of all races) stay in the system. If you can't give these families a compelling reason to stay, then it's going to be harder to improve the schools. The only schools that have made real progress with high-poverty school populations are schools like SEED and Kipp, which keep the kids in school from morning to night, and I don't think that model is reproducible on a large scale. Believe me, we agonized over moving our children from public to private school, but in the end it was obvious how much better an education our kids would be getting than in the public middle school.

Really depends on what your definition of good is. In terms of curriculum, Murch, Mann, Lafayette, etc aren't any better than any other DC public school, because the DC public school curriculum is so weak. This is not something that can be solved by raising money, attending LSRT meetings, and being a good room parent. Nor can parents do much about all the nutty testing that's going on in DCPS (DIEBELS, TRC, DC-BAS, etc.)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The problems go beyond parents "fixing" the schools. In wealthier neighborhoods, the elementary schools are very good (Murch, Mann, Lafayette, etc.) The parents are motivated and involved and make sure the schools have everything they need. In the poorer neighborhoods, parents who can navigate the system and who understand the difference between a good and bad school send their kids to local parochial schools (which are inexpensive) or to charters or out of boundary. That leaves a lot of elementary schools in poor neighborhoods with kids who aren't getting proper rest, nutrition, or structure at home, and teachers who would never cut the mustard in the better neighborhood schools. So they fall behind. Then, by middle school, there's a large exodus of middle and upper-middle class kids, either to private school or to the suburbs. Parents aren't willing to send their kids to large, unruly, underperforming middle and high schools. And it's a lot easier to "fix" a small neighborhood school. The ugly reality is that urban school systems usually improve when middle and upper-middle class families (of all races) stay in the system. If you can't give these families a compelling reason to stay, then it's going to be harder to improve the schools. The only schools that have made real progress with high-poverty school populations are schools like SEED and Kipp, which keep the kids in school from morning to night, and I don't think that model is reproducible on a large scale. Believe me, we agonized over moving our children from public to private school, but in the end it was obvious how much better an education our kids would be getting than in the public middle school.

I am a teacher who taught in one of the better public schools. Have to disagree that the under-performing schools are stacked with teachers who would not cut the mustard in the better schools. Sometimes the opposite is true, but they are not enough to swing it around. Let's be fair.