Ignorant questions about DCPS!

[Anonymous]

Hi all,

I am originally from the UK and am struggling to figure out the DCPS system.

I am wondering why so many people are so negative about the public schools in DC. What is the problem? The teachers?

Also, if you are in boundary does that mean that you are absolutely guaranteed a spot at a school?

Elementary school is a couple of years away for us but we are considering moving to the Woodley Park area for Oyster.

Thank you very much!

[Anonymous]

Welcome to DC! Easiest answers first:

1) Being in boundary for a school means that you definitely get a spot for K-12, but not for Pre-K, which still has a lottery. Charter schools are an exception-- you could live next door to Haynes and still need to do the lottery;
2) If you can move to Woodley for Oyster, go for it! We just bought there for Oyster. Great school, great opportunity to learn Spanish, the only top-tier/excellent NW school that has a very diverse student body, and it's going to be K-8;
3) DC schools have problems for many of the same reasons as other big-city U.S. schools, magnified because of DC's unique problems. In the U.S., school financing is local, meaning that poorer areas and cities do not benefit from the tax bases of wealthier areas. DC, like many big cities, has a concentration of students with needs that are expensive and challenging to deal with: English language learners; kids getting subsidized lunches; chidren of parents who work too many hours to read to them/ supervise homework; kids in neighborhoods where violence occurs; kids who have to work or care for younger siblings after school; children of parents who do not have a lot of education. DC also has a very old set of buildings. SOme people think that DC's high per-student expenditure shows waste; actually DC has to spend for things like rat extermination and roof repair on buildings that are 50+ years old, and when suburbs use bond issues to build new schools, those are not counted toward per-student expenditure. In short, DC has high expenses and challenging educational needs. DC is even more disadvantaged than other cities because (a) there is no "state" to provide additional financing; (b) the federal gov't payment to DC does not make up for what DC loses in revenues to exempt federal properties; and (c) there is a huge disparity in wealth between the leafy NW neighborhoods and much of DC. DC's schools have performed poorly-- even relative to their extremely disadvantaged circumstances-- for many years, but the "top" schools in NW have thrived. I believe that Chancellor Rhee will make a difference in the years ahead.

I like Oyster best, but hear good things about Hyde, Janney, Murch, Mann, and Lafayette, as well as Haynes charter school.

[Anonymous]

Great answer from PP.
To understand the staffing issues----during the entirety of Marion Barry's reign as mayor, the DC government (including the schools) was one vast patronage system---where the terms "job" and "work" were not synonymous. Consequently, the DC government bureaucracy is rife with attitudinal bureaucrats who could not care less about public service---and because of the significant civil service protections (again, thank Marion Barry), it is exceedingly difficult for those folks to get fired. Which is not to say that there are not courteous, competent people to be found in any DC agency. There are, and when you find them----hang onto their phone numbers, as they are likely to be the only ones capable of getting anything accomplished.

In terms of the student body of most DCPS public schools---in the 1960s, "white flight" from DC meant that most middle class white people moved to the suburbs. In the 1980s and 90s, the black middle class did the same---mostly to Prince George's, which is the most affluent majority-minority jurisdiction in the U.S. In the US (and probably everywhere else in the world), it is a demanding middle class with involved parents that will produce good public schools. Consequently, except for a select group of public elementaries located in the most affluent parts of DC, the student bodies of most DCPS schools (following the middle class exodus) became comprised of the very lowest socio-economic groups---with the host of issues described so articulately above.

[Anonymous]

PPs gave excellent analyses of DC system!
Also want to add that DCPS is in an unfortunate situation where if there are not special education facilities for a specific child, DCPS must pay for that child to go to private school or school in the suburbs. Therefore about a quarter of the budget (at least that's what I heard -- correct me if I'm wrong) supports 2000 children who are attending private school. To my knowledge there has not been a breakdown of the socioeconomic status of these kids but I'm guessing that there is a higher than normal percentage of middle class families who know how to work the system who are taking advantage of this benefit. Drives me crazy because a learning disabled child that I tutor needs extra help badly but her uneducated and impoverished parents haven't learned to work the system. (Not to mention that my own child in DCPS could have benefited from that funding going to her school instead of a private school for someone else.)

And working the system is what it's all about. Schools with engaged parents like Oyster are a good place to be.

FYI, I see more and more young people staying put in the city and working with their local elementary schools so they don't have to move to the suburbs when they have children. I moved to eastern Capitol Hill in 2002 and back then the only elementary school the middle class was interested in was Peabody. Now I hear good things about Brent, Maury, and Tyler, too.

Just wanted you to know that if you want a sure thing, move within the Oyster boundaries but there are other places where middle class young people and others are committing to the schools.


And now that my child has been diagnosed with a mild case of ADHD, makes me want to get a lawyer and see if I can get DCPS to pay private school tuition. (not really)

[Anonymous]

OP, ditto on quality and thoroughness of previous posts. Spot on. (Well done DCUMs!) And to add complexity to the school process, DC has a public charter school system which in public in the US meaning of no tuition, but are run under specific charters and open to residents of the city regardless of address.

However, getting into your charter school of your choice typically requires participating in a lottery at the pre-k/age 4 level. But once you're in, you're in as long as you like. And there are pluses and minuses of these schools as well. (As to pp with ADHD child, you might want to check out Bridges PCS.)

Note on Oyster, before you buy anything, be sure to double check that the address is in-boundary for Oyster. We almost bought a house in Woodley that was on the "wrong" side of the street because we (and the listing realtor) had mis-read a map of the bounday. Thankfully the DCPS website has a feature that allows you to plug in the exact address to show schools in boundary.

Also, Oyster is a popular, well-performing school. However, it does operate on a dual-immersion model that will apparently increase it's focus on the use of Spanish. For our bilingual family this is exactly what we need. As great as Oyster is, not all children thrive in the dual-immersion model. So that is something to consider. Not a major issue for most, but just bear that in mind.

Don't be discouraged by the confusing nature of the system. It drives everyone crazy.

Welcome!

[Anonymous]

Let me ask a related question... what if a family moves to DC, their child goes to the neighborhood school, and then a yr or two later they move out of boundary. Can the child stay in the original neighborhood school?

[Anonymous]

Usually yes. Unless there are disciplinary or other issues.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Let me ask a related question... what if a family moves to DC, their child goes to the neighborhood school, and then a yr or two later they move out of boundary. Can the child stay in the original neighborhood school?

Yes, that's what happened with my dd. And she was also able to get into the middle school that her elementary school fed into. But I don't know if there is any guarantee that that will happen.

[Anonymous]

the only top-tier/excellent NW school that has a very diverse student body

Not sure what this means? There are a handful of schools in NW that put up the same kind of numbers and have student bodies equally as diverse. Not identically as diverse, but with a plurality of races, incomes and countries of origin.