Accountability and Charter Schools

[Anonymous]

In talking to friends at my kids old charter I was horrified (but not surprised) at how unaccountable they were the how bad the educational offerings were. They could have been more nimble, done more teaching outside or tried other things but instead the school totally dropped the ball.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's the start of the school year and I'm overjoyed at sending my kids to their neighborhood school after a terrible pandemic year and a half. If you are considering putting your kids into EL Haynes Elementary I would tell you not to do it. The school really dropped the ball during the pandemic and has an ineffectual parent association that is essentially a public relations tool for the school. Parents have zero input and were left powerless during the pandemic. Parent teacher conferences disappeared. Teachers bailed. It was a disaster. During the early days of the pandemic, during school hours, I found my kid's teacher at the grocery store buying wine.

If you are looking for a school with a strong sense of community, I would not send my child to Haynes.

I wish more schools were judged not just on teacher abilities (very important) but also how involved are the parents, and how well the school encourages and promotes accountability. So many charter schools have zero accountability.

This is the story of every public school in DC during the pandemic. They all failed miserably.

If you look back through the depressing pandemic threads last year, you will see plenty of us who learned the hard way that charters can do whatever the f they want including not reopen. So yes OP this is an issue through the whole sector. At least DCPS had a central authority to lay down the law which didn’t exactly work, but, somehow it’s doubly painful to realize no one has the parents back at charters. They can all afford to lose you and lottery in someone else. They easily prioritize teacher feelings over parents because of this. Or their own feelings (paranoid admins). DCPS failed too but charters were overall much worse IMO.

Again, see how many kids left charters for dcps this year instead of the usual vice versa.

What’s your evidence for this? This is unsupported nonsense.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's the start of the school year and I'm overjoyed at sending my kids to their neighborhood school after a terrible pandemic year and a half. If you are considering putting your kids into EL Haynes Elementary I would tell you not to do it. The school really dropped the ball during the pandemic and has an ineffectual parent association that is essentially a public relations tool for the school. Parents have zero input and were left powerless during the pandemic. Parent teacher conferences disappeared. Teachers bailed. It was a disaster. During the early days of the pandemic, during school hours, I found my kid's teacher at the grocery store buying wine.

If you are looking for a school with a strong sense of community, I would not send my child to Haynes.

I wish more schools were judged not just on teacher abilities (very important) but also how involved are the parents, and how well the school encourages and promotes accountability. So many charter schools have zero accountability.

This is the story of every public school in DC during the pandemic. They all failed miserably.

If you look back through the depressing pandemic threads last year, you will see plenty of us who learned the hard way that charters can do whatever the f they want including not reopen. So yes OP this is an issue through the whole sector. At least DCPS had a central authority to lay down the law which didn’t exactly work, but, somehow it’s doubly painful to realize no one has the parents back at charters. They can all afford to lose you and lottery in someone else. They easily prioritize teacher feelings over parents because of this. Or their own feelings (paranoid admins). DCPS failed too but charters were overall much worse IMO.

Again, see how many kids left charters for dcps this year instead of the usual vice versa.

This. For me, the pandemic pulled the curtain back on how charters are run, and I have 100 percent lost faith in the model as a whole.

[Anonymous]

While I agree that charters DGAF about parents, and only seem vaguely accountable to their boards (if the board actually cares), to whom is DCPS accountable? The mayor? It doesn't seem like they responded to parents any better than charters.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:While I agree that charters DGAF about parents, and only seem vaguely accountable to their boards (if the board actually cares), to whom is DCPS accountable? The mayor? It doesn't seem like they responded to parents any better than charters.

Mayor, City Council, news media. Better than literally nothing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:As a UMC charter parent, I'm starting to feel like our charter does NOT listen to UMC parents AT ALL but instead focuses on the majority of the student population...which is NOT UMC. I don't approve of the mitigation strategies our charter rolled out but I'm apparently in a minority, and viewed as the privileged white parent who finds fault with everything and anything.

Majority of parents seem just fine that kids are back and in-person. Parents aren't raising any concerns over the fact that lunch is inside or that desks are touching with no distancing whatsoever.

I'm currently trying to figure out how we can quickly move. We can't afford private. We can't afford to live WOTP. I'd homeschool - and my child would be fine with that - but DC NEEDs time with peers and socialization. Am I the only parent sick to their stomach right now?

This was me about a year ago (except our charter was virtual a year ago, of course) - all the same concerns, and the same financial restraints. Once I removed my "we have to stay in the District" restraint, it was easy. We moved to Montgomery County. Love the new elementary school. Could afford a bigger house. No more concerns about learning models, middle school, high school. No more watching our charter figure it all out on the fly without the financial support or administrative power of a large central system. It's a tremendous relief. I NEVER EVER thought we'd move out of DC and into the suburbs. We are so happy. Caveat - we are both still working remotely and neither has experienced our new commute to work downtown - that may wipe some of the smile off my face. But not entirely, plus we both expect to have a lot more flexibility and WFH whenever our offices reopen.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:While I agree that charters DGAF about parents, and only seem vaguely accountable to their boards (if the board actually cares), to whom is DCPS accountable? The mayor? It doesn't seem like they responded to parents any better than charters.

Mayor, City Council, news media. Better than literally nothing.

But what's the practical difference if the mayor and city council are asleep at the wheel the way they were last school year? There was a huge leadership void surrounding the question of school reopening last year, which let the union dictate it's demand for DCPS and gave no guidance or pressure for charters.

Also, charters do have ultimate accountability to the mayor and council, because they regulate public education in the district: this year, our charter is repeatedly citing the mayor's MANDATE as the reason for offering 100% in-person with no virtual option (except medical exemption). I think the more consequential failure last year was on the mayor/council for not creating an expectation/mandate that schools be opened in a certain way by a certain date. This left individual schools without the political cover to push through a more aggressive reopening, when many of their parents were quite happy with continuing DL.

[Anonymous]

Counterpoint: a lot of parents I know who rail about charter accountability (particularly during the pandemic) did so because their charter school didn't do what they wanted. So, then when they had little recourse to make the school do what they wanted, they started to complain about accountability. I hear from several families at my kid's school who complain about it in ways that make me think they want a level of responsiveness that I would usually associate with an independent school where you are footing a significant bill. I'm not saying this is true of all people who complain about accountability, but I do see it a good deal.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As a UMC charter parent, I'm starting to feel like our charter does NOT listen to UMC parents AT ALL but instead focuses on the majority of the student population...which is NOT UMC. I don't approve of the mitigation strategies our charter rolled out but I'm apparently in a minority, and viewed as the privileged white parent who finds fault with everything and anything.

Majority of parents seem just fine that kids are back and in-person. Parents aren't raising any concerns over the fact that lunch is inside or that desks are touching with no distancing whatsoever.

I'm currently trying to figure out how we can quickly move. We can't afford private. We can't afford to live WOTP. I'd homeschool - and my child would be fine with that - but DC NEEDs time with peers and socialization. Am I the only parent sick to their stomach right now?

This was me about a year ago (except our charter was virtual a year ago, of course) - all the same concerns, and the same financial restraints. Once I removed my "we have to stay in the District" restraint, it was easy. We moved to Montgomery County. Love the new elementary school. Could afford a bigger house. No more concerns about learning models, middle school, high school. No more watching our charter figure it all out on the fly without the financial support or administrative power of a large central system. It's a tremendous relief. I NEVER EVER thought we'd move out of DC and into the suburbs. We are so happy. Caveat - we are both still working remotely and neither has experienced our new commute to work downtown - that may wipe some of the smile off my face. But not entirely, plus we both expect to have a lot more flexibility and WFH whenever our offices reopen.

Yeah, we plan to move to MCPS in upper elementary or for middle school. Will maybe do Hardy/Deal if we get an OOB spot there (without having to commute to Hyde Addison), but we're not in a great DCPS feeder pattern and I have ZERO interest in muddling through middle and high school at a charter. We'd move now, but MCPS early elementary curriculum is pretty slow and it's not really until 3rd grade or so when MCPS really pulls ahead (IMO).

[Anonymous]

This thread seems like a dumb excuse to slag charters.

The fact is that every single public school in DC -- DCPS and charters -- did a horrendous job during the pandemic. They all walked away from their responsibilities to educate children.

The only schools in DC that shouldnt be ashamed are private schools (and daycares). They did their job. Everyone else failed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's the start of the school year and I'm overjoyed at sending my kids to their neighborhood school after a terrible pandemic year and a half. If you are considering putting your kids into EL Haynes Elementary I would tell you not to do it. The school really dropped the ball during the pandemic and has an ineffectual parent association that is essentially a public relations tool for the school. Parents have zero input and were left powerless during the pandemic. Parent teacher conferences disappeared. Teachers bailed. It was a disaster. During the early days of the pandemic, during school hours, I found my kid's teacher at the grocery store buying wine.

If you are looking for a school with a strong sense of community, I would not send my child to Haynes.

I wish more schools were judged not just on teacher abilities (very important) but also how involved are the parents, and how well the school encourages and promotes accountability. So many charter schools have zero accountability.

Not sure why you are throwing the entire Charter Sector in on this. It's not really about accountability--as if DCPS central office had enough accountability to keep things going last year in most schools. Seems to me it's more about EL Haynes in particular..

The DC Charter Board actually has very stringent oversite and accountability metrics. I've been impressed. You can look up each and every charter schools and the details of their oversight, reopening plans etc, yearly evaluations, etc. here:

https://dcpcsb.org/school-profiles

I’m not a fan of Central Office by any means (I’m a DCPS parent in Ward 4), and DCPS did a mediocre job opening schools last year, but many charters barely opened or didn’t open at all. Parents had zero recourse to pressure their schools to provide more opportunities for IPL. To be quite honest, most charters don’t serve their student populations any better or worse than DCPS schools, except of course for the ones deemed acceptable by UMC parents.

Have you been paying attention? Bowser and Company ignored everyone. And unlike a charter (other than KIPP) which has a constituency of one or two schools, DCPS central is managing schools with a variety of constituencies. This whole "parent input" thing is a red herring.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's the start of the school year and I'm overjoyed at sending my kids to their neighborhood school after a terrible pandemic year and a half. If you are considering putting your kids into EL Haynes Elementary I would tell you not to do it. The school really dropped the ball during the pandemic and has an ineffectual parent association that is essentially a public relations tool for the school. Parents have zero input and were left powerless during the pandemic. Parent teacher conferences disappeared. Teachers bailed. It was a disaster. During the early days of the pandemic, during school hours, I found my kid's teacher at the grocery store buying wine.

If you are looking for a school with a strong sense of community, I would not send my child to Haynes.

I wish more schools were judged not just on teacher abilities (very important) but also how involved are the parents, and how well the school encourages and promotes accountability. So many charter schools have zero accountability.

Not sure why you are throwing the entire Charter Sector in on this. It's not really about accountability--as if DCPS central office had enough accountability to keep things going last year in most schools. Seems to me it's more about EL Haynes in particular..

The DC Charter Board actually has very stringent oversite and accountability metrics. I've been impressed. You can look up each and every charter schools and the details of their oversight, reopening plans etc, yearly evaluations, etc. here:

https://dcpcsb.org/school-profiles

A more direct link is https://osse.dc.gov/page/2021-22-lea-continuous-education-plans

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's the start of the school year and I'm overjoyed at sending my kids to their neighborhood school after a terrible pandemic year and a half. If you are considering putting your kids into EL Haynes Elementary I would tell you not to do it. The school really dropped the ball during the pandemic and has an ineffectual parent association that is essentially a public relations tool for the school. Parents have zero input and were left powerless during the pandemic. Parent teacher conferences disappeared. Teachers bailed. It was a disaster. During the early days of the pandemic, during school hours, I found my kid's teacher at the grocery store buying wine.

If you are looking for a school with a strong sense of community, I would not send my child to Haynes.

I wish more schools were judged not just on teacher abilities (very important) but also how involved are the parents, and how well the school encourages and promotes accountability. So many charter schools have zero accountability.

Not sure why you are throwing the entire Charter Sector in on this. It's not really about accountability--as if DCPS central office had enough accountability to keep things going last year in most schools. Seems to me it's more about EL Haynes in particular..

The DC Charter Board actually has very stringent oversite and accountability metrics. I've been impressed. You can look up each and every charter schools and the details of their oversight, reopening plans etc, yearly evaluations, etc. here:

https://dcpcsb.org/school-profiles

A more direct link is https://osse.dc.gov/page/2021-22-lea-continuous-education-plans

These are worthless. Check out the SSMA thread for what a charter is doing in practice. Without the Mayor saying no, charters will do whatever they want... and that means closures, closures, closures. If SSMA parents don't stamp this out now, they will have no school all year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's the start of the school year and I'm overjoyed at sending my kids to their neighborhood school after a terrible pandemic year and a half. If you are considering putting your kids into EL Haynes Elementary I would tell you not to do it. The school really dropped the ball during the pandemic and has an ineffectual parent association that is essentially a public relations tool for the school. Parents have zero input and were left powerless during the pandemic. Parent teacher conferences disappeared. Teachers bailed. It was a disaster. During the early days of the pandemic, during school hours, I found my kid's teacher at the grocery store buying wine.

If you are looking for a school with a strong sense of community, I would not send my child to Haynes.

I wish more schools were judged not just on teacher abilities (very important) but also how involved are the parents, and how well the school encourages and promotes accountability. So many charter schools have zero accountability.

Not sure why you are throwing the entire Charter Sector in on this. It's not really about accountability--as if DCPS central office had enough accountability to keep things going last year in most schools. Seems to me it's more about EL Haynes in particular..

The DC Charter Board actually has very stringent oversite and accountability metrics. I've been impressed. You can look up each and every charter schools and the details of their oversight, reopening plans etc, yearly evaluations, etc. here:

https://dcpcsb.org/school-profiles

A more direct link is https://osse.dc.gov/page/2021-22-lea-continuous-education-plans

These are worthless. Check out the SSMA thread for what a charter is doing in practice. Without the Mayor saying no, charters will do whatever they want... and that means closures, closures, closures. If SSMA parents don't stamp this out now, they will have no school all year.

I hope SSMA families will report the school to the board and OSSE then, if admin is not following their approved plan.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's the start of the school year and I'm overjoyed at sending my kids to their neighborhood school after a terrible pandemic year and a half. If you are considering putting your kids into EL Haynes Elementary I would tell you not to do it. The school really dropped the ball during the pandemic and has an ineffectual parent association that is essentially a public relations tool for the school. Parents have zero input and were left powerless during the pandemic. Parent teacher conferences disappeared. Teachers bailed. It was a disaster. During the early days of the pandemic, during school hours, I found my kid's teacher at the grocery store buying wine.

If you are looking for a school with a strong sense of community, I would not send my child to Haynes.

I wish more schools were judged not just on teacher abilities (very important) but also how involved are the parents, and how well the school encourages and promotes accountability. So many charter schools have zero accountability.

Not sure why you are throwing the entire Charter Sector in on this. It's not really about accountability--as if DCPS central office had enough accountability to keep things going last year in most schools. Seems to me it's more about EL Haynes in particular..

The DC Charter Board actually has very stringent oversite and accountability metrics. I've been impressed. You can look up each and every charter schools and the details of their oversight, reopening plans etc, yearly evaluations, etc. here:

https://dcpcsb.org/school-profiles

A more direct link is https://osse.dc.gov/page/2021-22-lea-continuous-education-plans

These are worthless. Check out the SSMA thread for what a charter is doing in practice. Without the Mayor saying no, charters will do whatever they want... and that means closures, closures, closures. If SSMA parents don't stamp this out now, they will have no school all year.

Yep. They may have metrics, but in practice there are no consequences when charters underperform and fail to meet their objectives.