A solution for military families in dc?
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Anonymous
The only school where they will get a preference is at the charter they are founding. The lottery timeline does NOT align in any way shape or form with when the military decides to move families around. DCPS can only give them access to any school without a waiting list, or Leckie. Also even at this charter -- which hasn't been approved yet -- 50% of the seats will go to non-military families. But military families, up to the 50% of seats, could enroll whenever they arrive in DC As for your issue with military families and whether they should have a lottery preference, you are too late. The Council already created that option a couple years back and this school has been in the works for a while. I support it wholeheartedly; these families have unique needs, are not paid nearly enough. -DC resident who is not a military family and whose kids are too old to attend |
Anonymous
This is laughable because I guarantee you wouldn’t send your child to a charter right off of base in ward 8. |
Anonymous
Totally. We are a military family and wouldn't do that. We have jumped through 1,000 hoops for our children's education, but not all military families are in our position and the inconsistent quality of schools their children are "designated" to, added to the consequences of frequent moves, unaligned curricula and state requirements, and parental separation and stress is something that should be looked at nationwide. Even where there are base schools (DOD) the quality is so middling it's shocking. The fact that these children outperform their peers nationwide (they do) is testimony to them and their families, not the support or attantion we as a nation offer them. I'm glad this is being looked at, and not shocked that charter is the best mechanism to do so. DC government is pretty obtuse to military families ( you should see the mess they make of our taxes every year, as if military is an alien status to them) - but glad education is being addressed this creatively. |
Anonymous
| Nah, none of the military families I know want to live in DC. No thanks. |
Anonymous
Why do you think your lack of knowledge of military families is interesting or relevant? |
Anonymous
We're not a military family but I have no issue with military families getting special preference in both the OOB and charter lotteries. None. In my view, those who make the commitment to work in the service of our national defense, accepting a challenging itinerant lifestyle in the process, deserve special consideration in the lottery, period. The families will make do without a special preference in the lottery, but we should do better for them as a city and a nation, a lot better. |
Anonymous
What? There is a wait list for Bolling housing. |
Anonymous
The reason it would be feasible for Leckie is the military families. There is enough socioeconomic diversity to make it successful. And military spouses are pushy enough ( in a positive way) to advocate for their children and make changes if they wanted to. I'm not trying to make you feel bad or knock your choices, but I would not want my child bused across town for school, especially for elementary. I just think it's a waste of organizational talent and so much more work to spread your efforts amongst the city when you could have a viable option right outside the gates. I could be wrong though. Bravo to you for trying it out and I hope you find a school that works better for you. |
Anonymous
| I wish they would just build DoD schools. I went to DoD schools in Hawaii, Kansas, and Germany. They were fantastic schools, on post, with kids who shared the same type of life I did. It was wonderful! My kids went to a few DoD elementary schools, but obviously not here. |
Anonymous
Those days are over. My understanding is school districts complained about not getting the tax revenue. So the DOD kids, rather than have a seamless experience (and I'm glad you had a good experience - but not all remaining DOD schools are to rave about IMO, though they may be better) are basically subject to wherever their parents are stationed. Very rarely are military bases co-located in highly functioning school districts, so to heck with the kiddies. As to fearing brown people-that's laughable. Obviously PP has zero familiarity with our multi-hued, many walks of life military. These people simply want consistent, quality education for their kids. They are not in a place long enough (2 years maybe) to "make a difference by throwing bake sales etc" though they will no doubt volunteer as able. And that's not their job. Defending the Constitution is. If Leckie is a quality school, which is the District of Columbia's job, then it would easily attract military families on its own merits. |
Anonymous
| And to add to PP, I am surprised the other PP said military families in DC are scared of brown people. Have they not seen the racial make up of the military, especially enlisted families who are more than likely going to live on base in this area because it's what they can afford? |
Anonymous
It's just a knee-jerk reaction from a certain kind of white person at this point. No one listens to them but they get that dopamine rush from calling someone else a racist. |
Anonymous
| I think Ward 8 families would love a military-family-focused charter at JBAB they could also attend. Set it up to take all the military kids as inbound and others on a space available basis and it would always be oversubscribed. |
Anonymous
That's basically the idea, half of the seats will be reserved for military kids and the other half will be open enrollment. They're planning for mostly Ward 8 students and seem to have been very successful in Chicago with a mix of military and local low-income families. |
Anonymous
How would this be different from the JBAB population attending Leckie? If it's half military and half local families? Why does it have to be a charter? |