Stats about white students in DCPS being in top nationwide?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We have a friend who bailed on the Hill a couple years ago over schools issues. Her child has moved onto an AAP center in Fairfax, while ours, who is the same age, is at Brent. I'm not convinced that her child learns more than mine a given week. She's far from the Smithsonians now, while we walk down most weekends. Our child takes seriously good music and art classes a 5-minute walk from our house, and visit the the local library across the street almost every day. She has to drive her kid everywhere, or put him on a school bus. My kids' classmates have parents who are World Bank economists, design Mars rovers for NASA, serve as senior diplomats and military officers, and drive legislative battles in the Senate.

I'm not buying that Fairfax offers young families more overall, at least at the elementary school level.

Is the topic the actual stuff that is taught in school, or the opportunities to learn outside of school?

I'm not the poster you are addressing, but in her case as well as mine it is both. Brent is a fabulous school and the after school and neighborhood opportunities cannot be matched in fairfax.

Yes, so why both separating what a kid learns outside school for what they learn inside school when considering the kind of education they're getting? You can't argue that Brent is better academically than a Fairfax GT program; it isn't. But there's still a strong case to be made for our urban environment being far richer intellectually, and, in many ways, healthier, than the car-bound Fairfax scene. Our friends who've bailed for schools hardly seem to know their neighbors, even after living in the burbs for years, leaving them nostalgic for the Hill community. We know that the burbs aren't short of highly educated parents, but I'm still willing to hitch my start to the urban pioneering spirit, which confers its own benefits. These include my kids watching 4th of July fireworks from our roof, chatting with lawmakers in local restaurants, taking the Metro for free with their new passes, walking to CHAW lessons on their own (at age 7 or 8), getting to outdoor movies and Folger on bikes in the summer, and running into the same interesting families all over the Hill.

Only on DCUM could someone claim to be inspired by an "urban pioneering spirit" on the Hill, zoned for Brent, where a smallish family residence is $1 million plus. You are such a little trailblazer you, I bet sometimes you choke on your own fabulousness and daring.

+100. PP is by no means an "urban pioneer" and the fact that she thinks so is revolting.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Or rather, her. But I'd be happy to mock you as well, as you seem equally "self actualized."

If you have to explain your mocking, then it didn't really go well, did it? kind of like explaining jokes.

I think it went quite well. You lectured me forever about your own brilliance, and it obviously gave you some self-affirming feels that were desperately needed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wow. So why are people always claiming that MoCo and N. Arlington are so much better? Though true those are statewide scores...can we see a county breakdown

White kids in DC are overwhelmingly from wealthy educated families. They will do well anywhere. It's teaching the rest of the kids that shows how strong a school system is. Also standardized tests aren't everything. Those white kids in DC may be passing at a higher rate than their counterparts (in everywhere else in the US where there are middle class and poor white kids) but that doesn't mean they are better off in dcps.

blah blah blah blah.

These are important data to refute the very specific group of law firm-type parents who insist that their progeny need to be educated in Bannockburn, Bradley Hills, Somerset, Pyle, Key Science Focus, Williamsburg MS, etc. This data shows that those children do not, in fact, need to flee the District with their white, highly educated parents because, schools.

(this is a different analysis than, say, "name the middle school in the entire region with the best math department.")

I guess if all you care about is whether your kid can do well on a standardized test then you're correct. And I'm sure there are some schools in DC that hold up well to schools in the burbs. But if you really think that your kid is going to get the same level of education at, for example, Brent as your kid would get in Somerset or Falls Church City, you're crazy. Teachers can do so much more with a class made up entirely of wealthy suburban kids than they can with a class made up of some wealthy kids and some really poor kids.

Your last sentence is often asserted on DCUM. No citation or evidence is ever provided.

But it is absolutely true. Compare DC to somewhere like Detroit, or any other inner city. In DC students are 13% white and 76% FARMS (old stat but still true). That is why the rising tide cannot lift all boats - because in the majority of public and charter schools, there are NO white kids. Kids at Deal and Wilson are tracked, however. The whites fly above and students of color have a harder time getting into honors classes. Savvy white DC parents KNOW, and it is an absolute fact, that their kids have a better chance of getting into a great college from Wilson than from private school. It adds to the colleges public school quota, the inner city quota, all without costing them a dime because the kids are well prepared - not by Wilson (although the honors classes are segregated anyone can take an AP class) but by their parents.

Agree about the problem with really poor kids who cannot control their tempers in Ward 3 ES's. That is why ours had two teachers - one to pull the OOB AA kids out when they flipped out (paid for by parents), and one to educate those who remained. White guilt is incredible at these schools - they tolerate behavior that from a white child with a high SES and educated parents would warrant serious consequences and conferences with the principal and school psychologist. For example, a child humming during a test - the response was to kick out anyone who was bothered by it, not to tell the child to stop humming.

All that being said, their are the exceptions - OOB poor kids who thrive, and of course higher SES AA kids who fit right in.

But the folks who live in the burbs just do not want to deal with any non-white kids (unless they are Asian) whatsoever. I would put our local DC Ward 3 ES up against the burbs any day. And then I would put up BASIS (which has killed every standardized test without excluding AA students at all) and Latin (only in English) up against burb MS and HS. Rankings aren't everything (and BASIS is too young to be ranked), but it has made its mark, and I think convinced many who would otherwise go private to stay in DCPCS - at least for MS. Our admissions to Walls and private schools for HS are phenomenal.

However, if you want your child to be a National Merit Scholar, you should move to West Virginia. DC and MD have had the highest cut offs per "state" for so many years that it really is ten times harder to get that kind of award in DC (you are competing against private schools as well).

In sum, send your white kids to Deal/Wilson or BASIS and they will have an edge over the private school students here. If you want national recognition, you should probably move to West Virginia....

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Don't be angry that your husband often works late, and especially that he sometimes has to "stay in the office (wink, wink) overnight." You have only yourself to blame. Be satisfied that he's staying with you for the sake of the kid.

What kind of sexist drivel is this? No dog in this fight but this is just stupid. Fight because you disagree with their premise. This is just childish, stupid, and sexist.

[Anonymous]

It's not sexist. Replace husband with wife everywhere. Would you honestly want to come home to that man? God no. You let him knock you up, and that was the mistake, but to hear that sanctimonious bullsh!t every damn day as a result is just cruel. Nobody would blame you for shacking up with the male intern. That's the point.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wow. So why are people always claiming that MoCo and N. Arlington are so much better? Though true those are statewide scores...can we see a county breakdown

White kids in DC are overwhelmingly from wealthy educated families. They will do well anywhere. It's teaching the rest of the kids that shows how strong a school system is. Also standardized tests aren't everything. Those white kids in DC may be passing at a higher rate than their counterparts (in everywhere else in the US where there are middle class and poor white kids) but that doesn't mean they are better off in dcps.

blah blah blah blah.

These are important data to refute the very specific group of law firm-type parents who insist that their progeny need to be educated in Bannockburn, Bradley Hills, Somerset, Pyle, Key Science Focus, Williamsburg MS, etc. This data shows that those children do not, in fact, need to flee the District with their white, highly educated parents because, schools.

(this is a different analysis than, say, "name the middle school in the entire region with the best math department.")

I guess if all you care about is whether your kid can do well on a standardized test then you're correct. And I'm sure there are some schools in DC that hold up well to schools in the burbs. But if you really think that your kid is going to get the same level of education at, for example, Brent as your kid would get in Somerset or Falls Church City, you're crazy. Teachers can do so much more with a class made up entirely of wealthy suburban kids than they can with a class made up of some wealthy kids and some really poor kids.

Your last sentence is often asserted on DCUM. No citation or evidence is ever provided.

But it is absolutely true. Compare DC to somewhere like Detroit, or any other inner city. In DC students are 13% white and 76% FARMS (old stat but still true). That is why the rising tide cannot lift all boats - because in the majority of public and charter schools, there are NO white kids. Kids at Deal and Wilson are tracked, however. The whites fly above and students of color have a harder time getting into honors classes. Savvy white DC parents KNOW, and it is an absolute fact, that their kids have a better chance of getting into a great college from Wilson than from private school. It adds to the colleges public school quota, the inner city quota, all without costing them a dime because the kids are well prepared - not by Wilson (although the honors classes are segregated anyone can take an AP class) but by their parents.

Agree about the problem with really poor kids who cannot control their tempers in Ward 3 ES's. That is why ours had two teachers - one to pull the OOB AA kids out when they flipped out (paid for by parents), and one to educate those who remained. White guilt is incredible at these schools - they tolerate behavior that from a white child with a high SES and educated parents would warrant serious consequences and conferences with the principal and school psychologist. For example, a child humming during a test - the response was to kick out anyone who was bothered by it, not to tell the child to stop humming.

All that being said, their are the exceptions - OOB poor kids who thrive, and of course higher SES AA kids who fit right in.

But the folks who live in the burbs just do not want to deal with any non-white kids (unless they are Asian) whatsoever. I would put our local DC Ward 3 ES up against the burbs any day. And then I would put up BASIS (which has killed every standardized test without excluding AA students at all) and Latin (only in English) up against burb MS and HS. Rankings aren't everything (and BASIS is too young to be ranked), but it has made its mark, and I think convinced many who would otherwise go private to stay in DCPCS - at least for MS. Our admissions to Walls and private schools for HS are phenomenal.

However, if you want your child to be a National Merit Scholar, you should move to West Virginia. DC and MD have had the highest cut offs per "state" for so many years that it really is ten times harder to get that kind of award in DC (you are competing against private schools as well).

In sum, send your white kids to Deal/Wilson or BASIS and they will have an edge over the private school students here. If you want national recognition, you should probably move to West Virginia....

I don't even know where to start with you. Gross.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It's not sexist. Replace husband with wife everywhere. Would you honestly want to come home to that man? God no. You let him knock you up, and that was the mistake, but to hear that sanctimonious bullsh!t every damn day as a result is just cruel. Nobody would blame you for shacking up with the male intern. That's the point.

I think it's good you think you're so very smart. Positive affirmation is one of the keystones of any good self-actualizing practice.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Don't be angry that your husband often works late, and especially that he sometimes has to "stay in the office (wink, wink) overnight." You have only yourself to blame. Be satisfied that he's staying with you for the sake of the kid.

What kind of sexist drivel is this? No dog in this fight but this is just stupid. Fight because you disagree with their premise. This is just childish, stupid, and sexist.

+1.

Simply stupid.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Don't be angry that your husband often works late, and especially that he sometimes has to "stay in the office (wink, wink) overnight." You have only yourself to blame. Be satisfied that he's staying with you for the sake of the kid.

What kind of sexist drivel is this? No dog in this fight but this is just stupid. Fight because you disagree with their premise. This is just childish, stupid, and sexist.

+1.

Simply stupid.

Now, now. Don't call her stupid. She went to an ivy league school. So many of us are ill-educated by comparison. I am sure that her diatribe about husband's working late and a woman only having themselves to blame was actually just a Flaubertian commentary on the human condition in nineteenth century France... and the rise of the bourgeoisie and the parallel to now.

[Anonymous]

(sorry typing on phone: herself to blame and husband's)

[Anonymous]

Phone did it again. Bah. I do not care. I do not care if the ivy league or has a husband, two husbands, or was speaking in general about the rights of all husbands, which is a word my phone likes to type as husband's.