Today's Post OpEd from DCPS consultants

[Anonymous]

I dislike much in this article but there is one truth here/plus what everyone is dredging up from Petrilli's inane writing - we east of Park but west of River must come up with solutions of our own. If diversity matters at all then it's within those lines because we aren't going east for school and the westbound seats are bwejng foreclosed. So 'regional solutions' are a reality to face.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I dislike much in this article but there is one truth here/plus what everyone is dredging up from Petrilli's inane writing - we east of Park but west of River must come up with solutions of our own. If diversity matters at all then it's within those lines because we aren't going east for school and the westbound seats are bwejng foreclosed. So 'regional solutions' are a reality to face.

Yes, something has to give. There are simply too few seats available in the coveted schools EoP, WoR, so families unhappy with their neighborhood schools will have to attend anyway, move elsewhere, or enroll in a private school.

http://www.edexcellence.net/cities-are-for-strivers

[Anonymous]

Pushing the families of professionals out of the city is simply unacceptable. For many of us, whether feds, contractors, policy people, NGO folks - our work is here in DC. It's not in Dayton Ohio or Pocatello Idaho. If something has to give, that can't be it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Pushing the families of professionals out of the city is simply unacceptable. For many of us, whether feds, contractors, policy people, NGO folks - our work is here in DC. It's not in Dayton Ohio or Pocatello Idaho. If something has to give, that can't be it.

So, you'll either be 1) enrolling in your IB school (as we have done, with its 99% FARMS rate); 2) enroll in private; or 3) start your own charter school (good luck with this one). None of these options involve DCPS doing anything, unless through #1 you're able to exercise enough leadership to secure resources and engage the school in meaningful improvement which accrue to the benefit of all students.

[Anonymous]

Well, #1 is exactly what is fucked up about DCPS. They already get millions in taxpayer dollars a year to put toward leadership and resources and staff and fancy expensive consultants, so that we as parents as unpaid volunteer amateur hacks shouldn't even have to be in the mix to tell them what's needed and what's right and wrong.

But sadly it just speaks to millions of dollars wasted and some fundamental problems in the system, while parents and students alike are stuck trying to push the boulder up the mountain like Sisyphus. Why should we give a damn if those running the school system don't seem to listen or give a damn?

This is why DCPS still has a huge credibility problem with many families. It's a major liability to the city.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Well, #1 is exactly what is fucked up about DCPS. They already get millions in taxpayer dollars a year to put toward leadership and resources and staff and fancy expensive consultants, so that we as parents as unpaid volunteer amateur hacks shouldn't even have to be in the mix to tell them what's needed and what's right and wrong.

But sadly it just speaks to millions of dollars wasted and some fundamental problems in the system, while parents and students alike are stuck trying to push the boulder up the mountain like Sisyphus. Why should we give a damn if those running the school system don't seem to listen or give a damn?

This is why DCPS still has a huge credibility problem with many families. It's a major liability to the city.

You sound like a supporter for #3. If only facilities (or space within existing buildings) opened up/DCPS consolidated some schools. Question: since Paul converted back in the 90s have any DC parents tried to convert their neighborhood school? Seems like it should be tested.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Pushing the families of professionals out of the city is simply unacceptable. For many of us, whether feds, contractors, policy people, NGO folks - our work is here in DC. It's not in Dayton Ohio or Pocatello Idaho. If something has to give, that can't be it.

So, you'll either be 1) enrolling in your IB school (as we have done, with its 99% FARMS rate); 2) enroll in private; or 3) start your own charter school (good luck with this one). None of these options involve DCPS doing anything, unless through #1 you're able to exercise enough leadership to secure resources and engage the school in meaningful improvement which accrue to the benefit of all students.

It's not truly 99% FARM, that is a data point given once they've already crossed the threshold

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Pushing the families of professionals out of the city is simply unacceptable. For many of us, whether feds, contractors, policy people, NGO folks - our work is here in DC. It's not in Dayton Ohio or Pocatello Idaho. If something has to give, that can't be it.

So, you'll either be 1) enrolling in your IB school (as we have done, with its 99% FARMS rate); 2) enroll in private; or 3) start your own charter school (good luck with this one). None of these options involve DCPS doing anything, unless through #1 you're able to exercise enough leadership to secure resources and engage the school in meaningful improvement which accrue to the benefit of all students.

It's not truly 99% FARM, that is a data point given once they've already crossed the threshold

Fair enough, but DCPS' own data shows it's only 1% white, and I know my neighbors who attend use food stamps and housing vouchers, which seems pretty representative of the school. So if not literally 99%, I suspect it's pretty close.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Well, #1 is exactly what is fucked up about DCPS. They already get millions in taxpayer dollars a year to put toward leadership and resources and staff and fancy expensive consultants, so that we as parents as unpaid volunteer amateur hacks shouldn't even have to be in the mix to tell them what's needed and what's right and wrong.

But sadly it just speaks to millions of dollars wasted and some fundamental problems in the system, while parents and students alike are stuck trying to push the boulder up the mountain like Sisyphus. Why should we give a damn if those running the school system don't seem to listen or give a damn?

This is why DCPS still has a huge credibility problem with many families. It's a major liability to the city.

But it's not really. There are plenty of DINK couples and wealthy singles who don't care about school quality that are ready to move in and replace us. We all bought into a school system that has been broken for years, it's really up to the parents if we want to see improvement in schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Well, #1 is exactly what is fucked up about DCPS. They already get millions in taxpayer dollars a year to put toward leadership and resources and staff and fancy expensive consultants, so that we as parents as unpaid volunteer amateur hacks shouldn't even have to be in the mix to tell them what's needed and what's right and wrong.

But sadly it just speaks to millions of dollars wasted and some fundamental problems in the system, while parents and students alike are stuck trying to push the boulder up the mountain like Sisyphus. Why should we give a damn if those running the school system don't seem to listen or give a damn?

This is why DCPS still has a huge credibility problem with many families. It's a major liability to the city.

But it's not really. There are plenty of DINK couples and wealthy singles who don't care about school quality that are ready to move in and replace us. We all bought into a school system that has been broken for years, it's really up to the parents if we want to see improvement in schools.

Yeah, but it doesn't necessarily have to mean working individually, school by school - we can also try and vote for new city leaders, we can campaign and expose the BS around here.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why does these men get any say-so at all? It seems if you just write and write and opinionate you get invited on a talk show or two and then get to do more of it. They are no better than realty tv stars. I am done listening to these three on any education issues.

I feel you. You have to employ the "Just don't look" strategy:

http://kottke.org/08/07/just-dont-look

[Anonymous]

Or the parent trigger: http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parent_trigger

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:so, exclude in-boundary families in order to accomplish this PP? where do those children go to school?

Put another school in upper NWDC to make room for the 25% Farms space in JKLM. The AU law school across from the Crate & Barrel is moving (or at least I think I read that), put a new elementary school there and call it Janney West. A 75% in-boundary population for WOTP schools should be plenty to keep the in-boundary families interested, active, and engaged in their neighborhood schools. In fact, put another school in any neighborhood that has an overcrowded elementary (eg, Brent). Also, DC should provide bussing to any kids who have to go across the park. At 7:00 am there isn't that much traffic in DC proper and at 3:00 pm it is still before the rush hour and there can be designated pick up/drop off spots like a community center where there can be after care as well. As one PP notes, most working parents have neither the time or the resources to bring their elementary school kids across the city for school every day. Adding a 25% Farms to high performing schools all across the city and not just EOTP would make the "cluster" proposal more fair -- even the authors of the article apparently realize that a 50% Farms at WOTP schools won't work and would result in parents pulling their kids out. But having 25% Farms at the handful of WOTP and other successful schools will be great news for some lucky families it still won't solve the bigger problem by any means. That would be what, maybe 600-800 kids that get spots?

You are obviously a visionary who should seek elective office or employ at OSSE or DCPS. Fork out millions of dollars to buy property from AU for "Janney West." Then "put" another school in the Brent District because it is "overcrowded"! Maybe you can get together with some of the experts to figure out where this school would be "put" and perhaps after doing this you can then try to figure out whether Brent is actually overcrowded and the potential impact of Van Ness. Oh, and as for those who would support Brent and Ross "quotas," as long as you are pulling numbers out of your assses, why not 26.2 or 37.4 percent. And where exactly would those Brent students be bused to while WoTP is treated as sacrosanct. Seems like a sound basis for public policy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Or the parent trigger: http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parent_trigger

I was wondering about that yesterday! Has there been any talk of a parent trigger in DC?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why does these men get any say-so at all? It seems if you just write and write and opinionate you get invited on a talk show or two and then get to do more of it. They are no better than realty tv stars. I am done listening to these three on any education issues.

I feel you. You have to employ the "Just don't look" strategy:

http://kottke.org/08/07/just-dont-look

Yes. We have officially been trolled.