84% of DC charter students are AA?

[Anonymous]

libsterdc wrote:There are a lot of charter schools east of the river, where the public schools are truly dismal and parents have lost all faith in the system.

You don't have to go east of the river to find such despair in the dcps, simply cross to the east side of rock creek and you find many parents have jumped out of dcps and into charter, parochial or private.

[Anonymous]

i am not sure why you find this shocking. People choose charters (other than the language immersion ones) mostly likely because their local elementary school are not performing and most of these non-performing schools are in areas with large black populations. Also most of the better school are in sections of NW with predominantly white population and high in-boundary enrollment.

[Anonymous]

AA parents are the reason why charter schools became so popular in the District.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:AA parents are the reason why charter schools became so popular in the District.

And oddly enough, it's Congressional Republicans we have to thank for forcing the charter option into law in uber-Democrat DC. Politics can make for strange bedfellows.

[Anonymous]

Actually, I'm surprised that that the number of AA students in charters isn't higher. I would have placed it closer to 90%.

There are really only a handful of charters in the city that attract white families. I think the good news is that that list is growing--its good news if you want schools to be integrated versus segregated.

I think that now that DC's population is growing, and getting more diverse, this trend will continue.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Actually, I'm surprised that that the number of AA students in charters isn't higher. I would have placed it closer to 90%.

There are really only a handful of charters in the city that attract white families. I think the good news is that that list is growing--its good news if you want schools to be integrated versus segregated.

I think that now that DC's population is growing, and getting more diverse, this trend will continue.

I am sorry, but I can't suppress the feeling to barf when I see these words. Why should any school have "attracting white families" as one of their goals? Should the school just be the best it can be and then see who shows up to enroll.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Actually, I'm surprised that that the number of AA students in charters isn't higher. I would have placed it closer to 90%.

There are really only a handful of charters in the city that attract white families. I think the good news is that that list is growing--its good news if you want schools to be integrated versus segregated.

I think that now that DC's population is growing, and getting more diverse, this trend will continue.

I am sorry, but I can't suppress the feeling to barf when I see these words. Why should any school have "attracting white families" as one of their goals? Should the school just be the best it can be and then see who shows up to enroll.

Go ahead and barf, but maybe diversity cuts both ways? If we see all-white non-integrated schools as an environment that would be enhanced by diversity, then doesn't it follow that all-black schools would be best viewed in the same light?

Furthermore, in a city where an enormous number of children are living below the poverty level, and race is often (though not always) conflated with economic status, isn't it in fact a good thing to have middle-class white families in the public schools? If we all generally agree that from a sociological perspective "white flight" had a lot of negative effect on inner cities, then don't we want these families to return?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

libsterdc wrote:There are a lot of charter schools east of the river, where the public schools are truly dismal and parents have lost all faith in the system.

You don't have to go east of the river to find such despair in the dcps, simply cross to the east side of rock creek and you find many parents have jumped out of dcps and into charter, parochial or private.

Just feel obliged to point out that Rock Creek is not the socio-economic dividing line it used to be, though it probably still is for public school purposes.

[Anonymous]

Lately, it has occurred to me that this is Rhee's main tactic of late. Get the white folks in with free 3 and 4 year old programs and, in time, test scores will rise.

And yes, I just threw up a little in my mouth.

[Anonymous]

There are some borderline schools east of the park (Shepherd, maybe Ross, and the Capitol Hill cluster), but most of these families have looked around and opted out of DCPS. The wealthy ones (DC's "Gold Coast") go private, and the middle class go OOB or charter.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:With the exception of KIPP, is the charter school "track record" significantly better than DCPS?

The answer to your question is yes. The Post did a regression analysis where they factored out high SES students and found that the data absolutely substantiates economically-disadvantaged and minority students getting better scores on standardized tests than their counterparts in DCPS.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Actually, I'm surprised that that the number of AA students in charters isn't higher. I would have placed it closer to 90%.

There are really only a handful of charters in the city that attract white families. I think the good news is that that list is growing--its good news if you want schools to be integrated versus segregated.

I think that now that DC's population is growing, and getting more diverse, this trend will continue.

I am sorry, but I can't suppress the feeling to barf when I see these words. Why should any school have "attracting white families" as one of their goals? Should the school just be the best it can be and then see who shows up to enroll.

Go ahead and barf, but maybe diversity cuts both ways? If we see all-white non-integrated schools as an environment that would be enhanced by diversity, then doesn't it follow that all-black schools would be best viewed in the same light?

Furthermore, in a city where an enormous number of children are living below the poverty level, and race is often (though not always) conflated with economic status, isn't it in fact a good thing to have middle-class white families in the public schools? If we all generally agree that from a sociological perspective "white flight" had a lot of negative effect on inner cities, then don't we want these families to return?

Please explain to me how having "middle class whites" in the public school will impact the economic status of the children that are already in the public schools, are you focused on the dilutive effect? A whitewashing of the problem? I am just not following your logic.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Actually, I'm surprised that that the number of AA students in charters isn't higher. I would have placed it closer to 90%.

There are really only a handful of charters in the city that attract white families. I think the good news is that that list is growing--its good news if you want schools to be integrated versus segregated.

I think that now that DC's population is growing, and getting more diverse, this trend will continue.

I am sorry, but I can't suppress the feeling to barf when I see these words. Why should any school have "attracting white families" as one of their goals? Should the school just be the best it can be and then see who shows up to enroll.

Go ahead and barf, but maybe diversity cuts both ways? If we see all-white non-integrated schools as an environment that would be enhanced by diversity, then doesn't it follow that all-black schools would be best viewed in the same light?

Furthermore, in a city where an enormous number of children are living below the poverty level, and race is often (though not always) conflated with economic status, isn't it in fact a good thing to have middle-class white families in the public schools? If we all generally agree that from a sociological perspective "white flight" had a lot of negative effect on inner cities, then don't we want these families to return?

Please explain to me how having "middle class whites" in the public school will impact the economic status of the children that are already in the public schools, are you focused on the dilutive effect? A whitewashing of the problem? I am just not following your logic.

No, clearly you're not following the logic but perhaps that's because you're willfully mis-representing what I said. No child's personal economic status is changed by the addition of any other student, regardless of their circumstances and it's silly of you to suggest that straw man.

The environment, however, is enhanced by greater diversity. This may mean racial, it may mean socio-economic, and it may mean both. You might prefer a world where the schools are all-black or all-white, however as a society we seem to have generally agreed that integration is desirable. Thus, towards that end, attracting a more diverse student body is a worthy goal. In this specific case, "more diverse" apparently means white. C'est la vie.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Lately, it has occurred to me that this is Rhee's main tactic of late. Get the white folks in with free 3 and 4 year old programs and, in time, test scores will rise.

And yes, I just threw up a little in my mouth.

you just figured this out?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:[
No, clearly you're not following the logic but perhaps that's because you're willfully mis-representing what I said. No child's personal economic status is changed by the addition of any other student, regardless of their circumstances and it's silly of you to suggest that straw man.

The environment, however, is enhanced by greater diversity. This may mean racial, it may mean socio-economic, and it may mean both. You might prefer a world where the schools are all-black or all-white, however as a society we seem to have generally agreed that integration is desirable. Thus, towards that end, attracting a more diverse student body is a worthy goal. In this specific case, "more diverse" apparently means white. C'est la vie.

Yes integration is desirable but I think that the approach that you are suggesting (and DCPS seems to be following) of 1) finding out what while middle class parents want 2) provide it so that they will enroll and 3) hope that the mean test score will go up is the wrong approach. Yes, the numbers may look better overall but the poor urban kids are still going to get a poor education. I think the schools should stop worrying about who they will attract and starting focusing on how to organically improve schools and everything else will fall into place.

BTW, I have to take issue with your general claim that greater diversity = better (learning) enviroment. Have you been to Wilson, is its "diversity" benefiting the non-AP kids who are probably ill=prepared for college?