DC CAS popular schools summary

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Don't forget the 100 million spent on Dunbar's new campus. It's gorgeous! Too bad fewer than 1 in 5 students there are at grade level for reading and math in high school Would anyone who has a choice send their kid to Dunbar no matter how gorgeous the facilities. Doubt it.

Lets assume the total loaded cost of the average teacher is $100,000...with $100 million you can hire 100 new teachers for the next 10 years! I wonder if this might be of more help to Dunbar students.

[Anonymous]

Or give each Dunbar student their own teacher! The teacher can go to the kid's home and privately tutor them. They won't even need a building and most/all can graduate from high school being able to read, write and do math.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Or give each Dunbar student their own teacher! The teacher can go to the kid's home and privately tutor them. They won't even need a building and most/all can graduate from high school being able to read, write and do math.

Good idea. It would create jobs too.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Or give each Dunbar student their own teacher! The teacher can go to the kid's home and privately tutor them. They won't even need a building and most/all can graduate from high school being able to read, write and do math.

Good idea. It would create jobs too.

And cut down on truancy which is a huge problem at Dunbar.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DCPS spends 35k per student system wide not only at Oyster but at Amidon too. However, that includes money spent on sp Ed and all the admins at headquarters and facilities costs. 19k for charters includes their sp Ed costs, facilities, etc. too. Yes, charters have sp ed kids which they have to provide FAPE just like DCPS but have to do it with less money.

Despite the inherent unfairness in funding, charters are doing well including Kipp.

I looked it up. Oyster has $11,391 per student - this data point comes straight from the budget:
http://dc.gov/DCPS/Files/downloads/ABOUT%20DCPS/Budget%20-%20Finance/FY13%20documents/Final%20School%20Allocations-FY13/DCPS-OYSTERADAMS-Allocation-FY13.pdf

That factsheet appears to only list key staff funding. Note the absence of all of the other things that Oyster Adams is provided via DCPS, such things like textbooks and materials, the building, utilities and other infrastructure (huge expenses). Charters have to provide and pay for all those things on their own. The cost shown in the factsheet is just a small percentage of the overall cost of Oyster Adams.

Many of you are laboring under the wrong impression that Oyster is the recipient of endless DCPS cash. The school has to maintain two buildings with the funding it receives for only one building. The two teachers per class? Gone for most grades due to budget cuts. Oyster has to do a lot with a little, just like many other urban schools. Although there is always room for improvement, Oyster does a fantastic job, and that should be applauded. I'm not trying to dump on charters, but many of you never miss an opportunity to denigrate DCPS when it's in the charters' favor. Oyster is a shining example of a DCPS success, despite the many people who have tried to destroy it (both within and without) over the years. Just acknowledge its accomplishments without trying to explain it away with false statements (I.e., ...but it receives more funding...but it has complete control over admissions...but its been around longer and you know older means better...but, but, but).

The point is that Oyster gets much more funding and has more resources than any of the immersion charters. Plus they are allowed to give preferences (for Spanish speakers) and are in-bounds in a high SES area. It's the only EoP equivalent to the JKLMM schools. Oyster has higher DC CAS scores than any of the immersion charters. So.... Oyster should have high scores considering all the advantages they have.

No Oyster doesn't get much more funding (read the link above). It just produces better results with it's resources. Oyster has no control over the large influx of English speakers in k, which throws its balance off and makes it harder to teach the target language. Plus, Oyster isn't full immersion in PK and k like most charters. Btw, LAMB is notorious for providing an admissions preference for Spanish speakers--they just do it from the waitlist. And one more thing, Oyster is WoP, Adams is east--get your geography straight.

The link above was already addressed - the budget figures cited are just a small part of their overall budget, it did not include facilities budget, textbooks or anything else, it was just for staffing alone. It costs a lot more to maintain and run a school than just staff salaries. DCPS is still spending almost twice as much per student through Oyster and other DCPS schools than what the charters get. And, by the way, charters cannot at all count on outside funding - many get none, and there is no stability in grants and foundation money.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Banneker is for Blacks and SWW is for whites. Did anyone notice that Eastern has the second highest test scores for the comprehensive schools. Wilson is number one but they have triple the tenth grade population in comparison to Eastern. Eastern came on strong and looks good on paper and that's nothing to sneeze at.

My niece is doing great at Banneker. Go Banneker!

Is a Banneker college acceptance list available?

It says it has 100% college acceptance rate on its website, http://benjaminbanneker.k12.dc.us/about_bbahs.html, but I'm still looking for a list.

Thank you. I would love to see that list.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Don't forget the 100 million spent on Dunbar's new campus. It's gorgeous! Too bad fewer than 1 in 5 students there are at grade level for reading and math in high school Would anyone who has a choice send their kid to Dunbar no matter how gorgeous the facilities. Doubt it.

Only those hoping for sports scholarships.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Don't forget the 100 million spent on Dunbar's new campus. It's gorgeous! Too bad fewer than 1 in 5 students there are at grade level for reading and math in high school Would anyone who has a choice send their kid to Dunbar no matter how gorgeous the facilities. Doubt it.

Only those hoping for sports scholarships.

Just have to make sure they are not Maryland residents...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Banneker is for Blacks and SWW is for whites. Did anyone notice that Eastern has the second highest test scores for the comprehensive schools. Wilson is number one but they have triple the tenth grade population in comparison to Eastern. Eastern came on strong and looks good on paper and that's nothing to sneeze at.

My niece is doing great at Banneker. Go Banneker!

Is a Banneker college acceptance list available?

It says it has 100% college acceptance rate on its website, http://benjaminbanneker.k12.dc.us/about_bbahs.html, but I'm still looking for a list.

Thank you. I would love to see that list.

Have you tried to call the school?

[Anonymous]

Let's see we have a new facility in SWW and it is pretty diverse. Their test scores ranks among second and third respectively. Banneker in an old facility and it is predominantly AA and it is ranking first.

It debunks so many unnecessary arguments out there about DCPS education.

As for comparing the facility of new Dunbar to the outcome of students shows the true attitude of our gentrifiers

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Here's the sad part: The number being reported is the percentage scoring "proficient" or above. The cut-off for proficient on the DC-CAS puts you at the 16th percentile nationwide. Basically, if your school isn't scoring 84% proficient or higher, it's below average for a US school. I count ten schools that meet that level.

I'm so sick of hearing these kinds of comments. To be honest, what matters to my family is our child's personal experience. Can someone name one major urban city that does well system wide? Lastly, I have a friend who's sister just graduated top VA high school (with high 90s) scoring and is struggling in college with basic stuff...oh yeah she graduated top 10% of her class from IB program.

The obsession with testing is a huge distraction, because these types of tests don't and can't measure real learning. Even China (despite high test scores) is moving away from so much standardized testing: http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/wp/2013/06/25/chinas-new-education-reform-reducing-importance-of-test-scores/

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Let's see we have a new facility in SWW and it is pretty diverse. Their test scores ranks among second and third respectively. Banneker in an old facility and it is predominantly AA and it is ranking first.

It debunks so many unnecessary arguments out there about DCPS education.

As for comparing the facility of new Dunbar to the outcome of students shows the true attitude of our gentrifiers

Huh?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DCPS spends 35k per student system wide not only at Oyster but at Amidon too. However, that includes money spent on sp Ed and all the admins at headquarters and facilities costs. 19k for charters includes their sp Ed costs, facilities, etc. too. Yes, charters have sp ed kids which they have to provide FAPE just like DCPS but have to do it with less money.

Despite the inherent unfairness in funding, charters are doing well including Kipp.

I looked it up. Oyster has $11,391 per student - this data point comes straight from the budget:
http://dc.gov/DCPS/Files/downloads/ABOUT%20DCPS/Budget%20-%20Finance/FY13%20documents/Final%20School%20Allocations-FY13/DCPS-OYSTERADAMS-Allocation-FY13.pdf

That factsheet appears to only list key staff funding. Note the absence of all of the other things that Oyster Adams is provided via DCPS, such things like textbooks and materials, the building, utilities and other infrastructure (huge expenses). Charters have to provide and pay for all those things on their own. The cost shown in the factsheet is just a small percentage of the overall cost of Oyster Adams.

Many of you are laboring under the wrong impression that Oyster is the recipient of endless DCPS cash. The school has to maintain two buildings with the funding it receives for only one building. The two teachers per class? Gone for most grades due to budget cuts. Oyster has to do a lot with a little, just like many other urban schools. Although there is always room for improvement, Oyster does a fantastic job, and that should be applauded. I'm not trying to dump on charters, but many of you never miss an opportunity to denigrate DCPS when it's in the charters' favor. Oyster is a shining example of a DCPS success, despite the many people who have tried to destroy it (both within and without) over the years. Just acknowledge its accomplishments without trying to explain it away with false statements (I.e., ...but it receives more funding...but it has complete control over admissions...but its been around longer and you know older means better...but, but, but).

The point is that Oyster gets much more funding and has more resources than any of the immersion charters. Plus they are allowed to give preferences (for Spanish speakers) and are in-bounds in a high SES area. It's the only EoP equivalent to the JKLMM schools. Oyster has higher DC CAS scores than any of the immersion charters. So.... Oyster should have high scores considering all the advantages they have.

No Oyster doesn't get much more funding (read the link above). It just produces better results with it's resources. Oyster has no control over the large influx of English speakers in k, which throws its balance off and makes it harder to teach the target language. Plus, Oyster isn't full immersion in PK and k like most charters. Btw, LAMB is notorious for providing an admissions preference for Spanish speakers--they just do it from the waitlist. And one more thing, Oyster is WoP, Adams is east--get your geography straight.

The link above was already addressed - the budget figures cited are just a small part of their overall budget, it did not include facilities budget, textbooks or anything else, it was just for staffing alone. It costs a lot more to maintain and run a school than just staff salaries. DCPS is still spending almost twice as much per student through Oyster and other DCPS schools than what the charters get. And, by the way, charters cannot at all count on outside funding - many get none, and there is no stability in grants and foundation money.

I have no dog in this fight other than an interest in school finance. I went to the DC PCSB and found out that between DC and federal allocations LAMB received $20,391 in per pupil funding for FY2012. That is substantially more than Oyster Adams, even accounting for costs that DCPS covers such as facilities maintenance. Also just as a point of clarification, DCPS does not pick up the tab for school textbooks, materials or equipment. Payment for those items comes out of a school's discretionary budget.

Link to DC PCBS audit of charter school funding here: http://www.livebinders.com/play/play?id=930672

It's an interesting read (at least for edu dorks like me).

[Anonymous]

The link above was already addressed - the budget figures cited are just a small part of their overall budget, it did not include facilities budget, textbooks or anything else, it was just for staffing alone. It costs a lot more to maintain and run a school than just staff salaries. DCPS is still spending almost twice as much per student through Oyster and other DCPS schools than what the charters get. And, by the way, charters cannot at all count on outside funding - many get none, and there is no stability in grants and foundation money.

If the link above was already addressed, why don’t you seem to comprehend it? It’s clear: Oyster spent $11,391 per pupil. The staffing figure includes custodial services/salaries which is a facilities expenditure. There is also $500,000 allocated for “Specialty Funds,” and $209,291 set aside for “Non Personnel Services.” How do you know that $709,291 isn’t used to pay for textbooks, facilities or “anything else”? Oh, that’s right, you don’t know. You’re just grasping at straws and trying to belittle Oyster’s success…a popular pastime on DCUM. You have no evidence to prove that DCPS is spending “almost twice as much per student” on Oyster as compared to other charters. I have facts and figures. All you have is your worthless opinion. As far as I’m concerned, Oyster spends less per pupil to educate its students than immersion charters (11K vs. 19k), and with better results. If you have links showing that more than $11,391 per pupil is spent at Oyster, then post them. Until then, please be quiet and have a seat.
Btw, there is no stability in DCPS funding either.

[Anonymous]

If the link above was already addressed, why don’t you seem to comprehend it? It’s clear: Oyster spent $11,391 per pupil. The staffing figure includes custodial services/salaries which is a facilities expenditure. There is also $500,000 allocated for “Specialty Funds,” and $209,291 set aside for “Non Personnel Services.” How do you know that $709,291 isn’t used to pay for textbooks, facilities or “anything else”? Oh, that’s right, you don’t know. You’re just grasping at straws and trying to belittle Oyster’s success…a popular pastime on DCUM. You have no evidence to prove that DCPS is spending “almost twice as much per student” on Oyster as compared to other charters. I have facts and figures. All you have is your worthless opinion. As far as I’m concerned, Oyster spends less per pupil to educate its students than immersion charters (11K vs. 19k), and with better results. If you have links showing that more than $11,391 per pupil is spent at Oyster, then post them. Until then, please be quiet and have a seat.
Btw, there is no stability in DCPS funding either.