RIFs at your school? Janney, Shepherd, Stoddert, others?

[Anonymous]

pp Are you serious? If you have been in DC long enough you already KNOW that the system is not fair. Some principals, teachers, parents know how to work the system. At schools like Lafayette it is not just the principal. It is also parents willing to shell out money to help cover costs if it is needed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Lynn Main, the principal at lafayette has been there a long time and is excellent at working the DC system. She knows exactly how to get the most from downtown. I know Murch has a new principal who may not be as adept yet at playing the DC game.

And yet OUR principal, who was also adept at playing the DC game was one of those fired by Rhee because our principal represented the school to "downtown" v. representing "downtown" to our school.

As a PP stated, I guess some kids are more equal than others..........

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Lynn Main, the principal at lafayette has been there a long time and is excellent at working the DC system. She knows exactly how to get the most from downtown. I know Murch has a new principal who may not be as adept yet at playing the DC game.

Well this is just great! Just great. More DCPS bullshit. It's just crap

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Lynn Main, the principal at lafayette has been there a long time and is excellent at working the DC system. She knows exactly how to get the most from downtown. I know Murch has a new principal who may not be as adept yet at playing the DC game.

Well this is just great! Just great. More DCPS bullshit. It's just crap

Is it crap that a principal anticipates what is coming and can work with it to get what she needs? Or is it crap that not all principals are as adept? I see nothing wrong with a principal doing what she can within the bounds of the rules to get the most for her school and students, that is her job. I think it is a sorry state of affairs that not all principals are good a budgeting and understanding the best that can be done with the money they have.

I do not see any evidence of special treatment for Lafayette v. Murch, we do not have the actual numbers (projected or actual) or how those schools budgeted in front of us. It sounds to me as if the Lafayette principal planned to make do with less and then got more students and was able to accommodate them.

FWIW, I am not a Lafayette parent, current or future. I just appreciate her skill.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So far I have learned that LANGDON lost one PreK teacher...(so we now the school has only 1 PreK class with 20 students instead of 2 classes with 10 kids)

20 kids in pre-k has been the norm at Lafayette for some time now. Any school that is significantly over its enrollment projections will not feel the impact of these budget cuts as much as other schools. And some of the schools with active PTA's will raise the $$$ to fill the gaps.

Langdon is a Title 1 school - do you really think the PTA for Langdon can raise money to fill the gaps? Seriously - get a grip on how things are in the city outside of upper NW.

[Anonymous]

I think this is one of the dirtiest little not-so-secrets in DC. West of the Park there is fund raising per school that ranges from a quarter of a million to a half a million dollars annually

As a Title I school parent, all I can say is, we're totally screwed.

Thanks Chancellor Rhee for sticking it to my school one more time!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So far I have learned that LANGDON lost one PreK teacher...(so we now the school has only 1 PreK class with 20 students instead of 2 classes with 10 kids)

20 kids in pre-k has been the norm at Lafayette for some time now. Any school that is significantly over its enrollment projections will not feel the impact of these budget cuts as much as other schools. And some of the schools with active PTA's will raise the $$$ to fill the gaps.

Langdon is a Title 1 school - do you really think the PTA for Langdon can raise money to fill the gaps? Seriously - get a grip on how things are in the city outside of upper NW.

I have more of a grip on what goes on in schools in other wards than you could ever know.

I wasn't suggesting that this is an approach for Langdon.

Just making the point that this is what happens at other schools and have seen for myself that that things are not equal.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So far I have learned that LANGDON lost one PreK teacher...(so we now the school has only 1 PreK class with 20 students instead of 2 classes with 10 kids)

20 kids in pre-k has been the norm at Lafayette for some time now. Any school that is significantly over its enrollment projections will not feel the impact of these budget cuts as much as other schools. And some of the schools with active PTA's will raise the $$$ to fill the gaps.

Langdon is a Title 1 school - do you really think the PTA for Langdon can raise money to fill the gaps? Seriously - get a grip on how things are in the city outside of upper NW.

I have more of a grip on what goes on in schools in other wards than you could ever know.

I wasn't suggesting that this is an approach for Langdon.

Just making the point that this is what happens at other schools and have seen for myself that that things are not equal.

sorry for the attack

I get frustrated when it appears that people forget that we live in a city where 1/3 of the children live in poverty.

So everyone who is unhappy that DCPS is cutting money from their school, here is a question from a previous thread - if you know a child who is attending school in DC and not a resident would you report the family? The school collecting $10K per child in tuition could make a difference.

[Anonymous]

we talk a lot about policy in these threads, about Rhee, Fenty and various other personalities and/or entities. but it seems to me that the problem is simple--there is not enough money to adequately support the system and all of its schools. i am not sure how much good or bad one person can do with such a limited equation.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:we talk a lot about policy in these threads, about Rhee, Fenty and various other personalities and/or entities. but it seems to me that the problem is simple--there is not enough money to adequately support the system and all of its schools. i am not sure how much good or bad one person can do with such a limited equation.

It simply isn't true that there isn't enough money. DC spends more per child than any other state in the country. The problem is not that there isn't enough money. The problem is that the money is mis-managed and the system is riddled with corruptions and patronage jobs. Throwing more money at the problem only means that more people who don't deserve it and mis-manage it will get it.

[Anonymous]

Has anyone considered that this might be a good way to remove teachers who are not the best for our kids??

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Has anyone considered that this might be a good way to remove teachers who are not the best for our kids??

I think it's pretty clear that's exactly what's going on. Or at least, that's exactly what Rhee's intention is. The union isn't willing to let its members vote on her proposed two-track contract, so she's trying to give principals the tools to hack some dead wood out of the system.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:So everyone who is unhappy that DCPS is cutting money from their school, here is a question from a previous thread - if you know a child who is attending school in DC and not a resident would you report the family? The school collecting $10K per child in tuition could make a difference.

Isn't the more likely outcome that the kid gets pulled from the school?

[Anonymous]

So everyone who is unhappy that DCPS is cutting money from their school, here is a question from a previous thread - if you know a child who is attending school in DC and not a resident would you report the family? The school collecting $10K per child in tuition could make a difference.

Slight tangent to the topic at hand: The individual school that the out-of-state, tuition-paying student attends does not receive the out-of-state tuition (~$10K)... it goes downtown...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

So everyone who is unhappy that DCPS is cutting money from their school, here is a question from a previous thread - if you know a child who is attending school in DC and not a resident would you report the family? The school collecting $10K per child in tuition could make a difference.

Slight tangent to the topic at hand: The individual school that the out-of-state, tuition-paying student attends does not receive the out-of-state tuition (~$10K)... it goes downtown...

OK - so it goes downtown - into the budget - that gets allocated to the schools. Bottom line is - there would be more money in the bucket to distribute to the schools.

It appeared from the thread earlier that the people commenting on the post could easily identify 10-20 students / families doing this. DCPS really could use any additional funding it found.