By the numbers: A dispassioned evaluation of Hardy (compared to Deal and Wilson)

[Anonymous]

I think this was a valuable analysis in many ways, but denial of systemic racism is so completely idiotic that one cannot take it seriously.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think this was a valuable analysis in many ways, but denial of systemic racism is so completely idiotic that one cannot take it seriously.

Look up "idiotic" and then look in the mirror.

[Anonymous]

About racism.
Hardy 6th grade IB parent: indeed my DC was asked by IB parents how she was doing at school with so many black peers... whether of not she was comfortable etc..If she was doing playdates (now hangouts) wit them...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:About racism.
Hardy 6th grade IB parent: indeed my DC was asked by IB parents how she was doing at school with so many black peers... whether of not she was comfortable etc..If she was doing playdates (now hangouts) wit them...

I think you are being absolutely honest here...and that makes me a little sad.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:About racism.
Hardy 6th grade IB parent: indeed my DC was asked by IB parents how she was doing at school with so many black peers... whether of not she was comfortable etc..If she was doing playdates (now hangouts) wit them...

There is indeed a constant obsession with race, fueled by folks who want to win votes or sell newspapers. Witness Ferguson, a sad but simple cop-kills-criminal story turned into a farce.

That is not racism.

[Anonymous]

OP here.

I will respond to several comments here. Additionally, I will try to reply with more substance about the "advanced only" measures, but I am out of the office for the next two weeks, so my time is limited.

I think this was a valuable analysis in many ways, but denial of systemic racism is so completely idiotic that one cannot take it seriously. [\quote]

I haven't denied systemic racism in the least. But, hey, nice straw man.

OP, you actually think that systemic racism is not the reason white kids do better in DCPS? REALLY?
that level of ignorance makes it impossible to take any of your analysis seriously. [\quote]

No, I do not think systemic racism is the reason white kids do better in DCPS. Not even remotely. (Now, to be extra clear for you, I am not denying racism, even in systemic racism. I am merely saying that I think there are dozens of other reasons for the performance gap: just think of all the other confounding variables.)

You remind me of the anti-vaxxers. Educated enough to read authoritative-sounding secondary sources stating there may be connection between vaccines and autism. But not educated enough to read the primary source articles to see there is no connection between vaccines and autism.

ditto, plus knowing that he has dark hair and blue eyes raises my suspicions greatly. I'm glad that piece of info came out. But why didn't he tell us sooner? [\quote]
I fail to understand how the level of pigmentation in my skin changes the assessment of my analysis. It takes a small intellect, indeed, to assail the message because of the messenger.

I feel sorry for your children: they are being raised in a house that (systemically) cannot critically evaluate arguments. With some luck, they'll see the shackles you've placed upon them and break free.

(Again, to be extra clear: racism is alive and well. But it is not the explanation for every grievance one may confront.)

Systematic racism against Tom Cruise types. [\quote]
Tom Cruise is far richer and far more attractive than me. He's also far shorter and far crazier, but that doesn't seem like enough of a compensating differential.

At any rate, who I am is irrelevant to my points (valid or invalid).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:About racism.
Hardy 6th grade IB parent: indeed my DC was asked by IB parents how she was doing at school with so many black peers... whether of not she was comfortable etc..If she was doing playdates (now hangouts) wit them...

I think you are being absolutely honest here...and that makes me a little sad.

However, many IB families who avoid Hardy happily enroll their kids in Latin (44% AA) and BASIS (48% AA). Avoiding the AA demographic must not be the top priority for those families...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here.

I will respond to several comments here. Additionally, I will try to reply with more substance about the "advanced only" measures, but I am out of the office for the next two weeks, so my time is limited.

I think this was a valuable analysis in many ways, but denial of systemic racism is so completely idiotic that one cannot take it seriously. [\quote]

I haven't denied systemic racism in the least. But, hey, nice straw man.

OP, you actually think that systemic racism is not the reason white kids do better in DCPS? REALLY?
that level of ignorance makes it impossible to take any of your analysis seriously. [\quote]

No, I do not think systemic racism is the reason white kids do better in DCPS. Not even remotely. (Now, to be extra clear for you, I am not denying racism, even in systemic racism. I am merely saying that I think there are dozens of other reasons for the performance gap: just think of all the other confounding variables.)

You remind me of the anti-vaxxers. Educated enough to read authoritative-sounding secondary sources stating there may be connection between vaccines and autism. But not educated enough to read the primary source articles to see there is no connection between vaccines and autism.

ditto, plus knowing that he has dark hair and blue eyes raises my suspicions greatly. I'm glad that piece of info came out. But why didn't he tell us sooner? [\quote]
I fail to understand how the level of pigmentation in my skin changes the assessment of my analysis. It takes a small intellect, indeed, to assail the message because of the messenger.

I feel sorry for your children: they are being raised in a house that (systemically) cannot critically evaluate arguments. With some luck, they'll see the shackles you've placed upon them and break free.

(Again, to be extra clear: racism is alive and well. But it is not the explanation for every grievance one may confront.)

Systematic racism against Tom Cruise types. [\quote]
Tom Cruise is far richer and far more attractive than me. He's also far shorter and far crazier, but that doesn't seem like enough of a compensating differential.

At any rate, who I am is irrelevant to my points (valid or invalid).

[\quote]

Good comparison with the anti-vaxxers.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:About racism.
Hardy 6th grade IB parent: indeed my DC was asked by IB parents how she was doing at school with so many black peers... whether of not she was comfortable etc..If she was doing playdates (now hangouts) wit them...

I think you are being absolutely honest here...and that makes me a little sad.

However, many IB families who avoid Hardy happily enroll their kids in Latin (44% AA) and BASIS (48% AA). Avoiding the AA demographic must not be the top priority for those families...

I get that. I believe the people who make comments like this are most likely in the minority if they live in DC.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:About racism.
Hardy 6th grade IB parent: indeed my DC was asked by IB parents how she was doing at school with so many black peers... whether of not she was comfortable etc..If she was doing playdates (now hangouts) wit them...

I think you are being absolutely honest here...and that makes me a little sad.

However, many IB families who avoid Hardy happily enroll their kids in Latin (44% AA) and BASIS (48% AA). Avoiding the AA demographic must not be the top priority for those families...

I get that. I believe the people who make comments like this are most likely in the minority if they live in DC.

Not really. PP here. I do not mean that racism is the only reason why IB parents do not send their kids to Hardy. But is certainly one of the reasons for many. They genuinely think their DCs will not be comfortable.

I mean, just ask any Hardy IB parent, they'll all confirm and elaborate. We've been talking extensively about this.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:About racism.
Hardy 6th grade IB parent: indeed my DC was asked by IB parents how she was doing at school with so many black peers... whether of not she was comfortable etc..If she was doing playdates (now hangouts) wit them...

I think you are being absolutely honest here...and that makes me a little sad.

However, many IB families who avoid Hardy happily enroll their kids in Latin (44% AA) and BASIS (48% AA). Avoiding the AA demographic must not be the top priority for those families...

Right -- The priority could be avoiding the perception of inferiority. Hardy is perceived as inferior among a certain group of IB parents and Latin and Basis are not. Hardy has baggage. The charters do not. Parents who win the lottery are willing to commute every day to avoid being perceived as being inferior. Granted, some parents prefer the academic focus of those charters and would travel long distances from any part of the city to send their kids there, but I'm betting that is not the primary motivator for many IB Hardy parents.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
ditto, plus knowing that he has dark hair and blue eyes raises my suspicions greatly. I'm glad that piece of info came out. But why didn't he tell us sooner? [\quote]


That was meant as a joke.

[Anonymous]

I think the comfort level vis a vis demographics has to do more with who is running the schools and doing the teaching. I have no idea what the educational pedigree of the admin and faculty are at Hardy, but do know that they are quite strong at Latin. That gives parents confidence.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:About racism.
Hardy 6th grade IB parent: indeed my DC was asked by IB parents how she was doing at school with so many black peers... whether of not she was comfortable etc..If she was doing playdates (now hangouts) wit them...

I think you are being absolutely honest here...and that makes me a little sad.

However, many IB families who avoid Hardy happily enroll their kids in Latin (44% AA) and BASIS (48% AA). Avoiding the AA demographic must not be the top priority for those families...

Right -- The priority could be avoiding the perception of inferiority. Hardy is perceived as inferior among a certain group of IB parents and Latin and Basis are not. Hardy has baggage. The charters do not. Parents who win the lottery are willing to commute every day to avoid being perceived as being inferior. Granted, some parents prefer the academic focus of those charters and would travel long distances from any part of the city to send their kids there, but I'm betting that is not the primary motivator for many IB Hardy parents.

Here's another possibility, PP. The IB families who choose Latin and BASIS over Hardy do so not because they fear being thought of as inferior by others, but rather because those schools do, in fact, offer better educations than Hardy does.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:About racism.
Hardy 6th grade IB parent: indeed my DC was asked by IB parents how she was doing at school with so many black peers... whether of not she was comfortable etc..If she was doing playdates (now hangouts) wit them...

I think you are being absolutely honest here...and that makes me a little sad.

However, many IB families who avoid Hardy happily enroll their kids in Latin (44% AA) and BASIS (48% AA). Avoiding the AA demographic must not be the top priority for those families...

I get that. I believe the people who make comments like this are most likely in the minority if they live in DC.

Not really. PP here. I do not mean that racism is the only reason why IB parents do not send their kids to Hardy. But is certainly one of the reasons for many. They genuinely think their DCs will not be comfortable.

I mean, just ask any Hardy IB parent, they'll all confirm and elaborate. We've been talking extensively about this.

"Racism" is just an excuse (and a ridiculous one) to explain the lack of support for Hardy among IB residents. Washington Latin is majority minority and I believe Deal is also -- and higher SES white parents push to get their kids into those schools.