Revised Boundary Recommendations to be released on or about June 13

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Can't access the link either. Anyone able to post the content or summarize the important points. Why Abigail Smith is choosing to release the information with only a few school days left --- is beyond me. It was supposed to come out in May! She should be held accountable. Now it will be much more difficult to organize and discuss. The whole thing wreaks of a f--k you patronizing attitude to the parents of this City. It is very difficult not to question her motives, I do pray she is gone w the next administration.

I have the Wilson one saved; neglected to save the Hardy one. There's nothing to post for the Wilson one because it's really just a map. The text says that Hardy, Deal, Adams feed to Wilson. The text for the Hardy one was more important because it included the feeders. But based on the Wilson map and the Hardy map, it's obvious what the Deal feeders are - process of elimination.

BTW, still nothing on the Washington Post website. DCUM beats the Post, again, by several hours!

Presumably the Post is making an interactive map, so I'd give them a few extra hours

And I'll bet the DME is holding the recommendations until the Post is ready.

[jsteele]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Well, I think when we see the DME's proposal we may very well see set-asides, so the OOB and feeder right stuff won't go away and I think it's foolish to continue fighting with abolishing the practice as a goal...that is UNTIL DCPS creates some genuinely viable options for people who don't live in Ward 3. And don't ask me to roll up my sleeves and build it. I will pay my taxes (I'll even pay a tax increase), I will volunteer (as I have my entire life)...but I will not play "education expert." I expect the experts that my tax dollars fund to develop a stellar plan (with my input! happy to provide input!) and figure out a way to create middle and high schools that higher SES families might actually consider.

So you think it was DCPS that created the viable schools in Ward 3? Oh, that's a good one.

+1. It is quite funny the way many talk without realizing that DCPS has invested way more capital and resources in schools outside NW...ignoring the parents and the invested communities would be quite stupid.

As I understand it, not long ago the WotP schools couldn't attract many inbound families. As a result, they enrolled many OOB families, many of which were extremely committed to improving the schools. It was a combination of IB and OOB families that worked together to make the schools into places more IB families would be interested in attending. If this is the case, there is some irony in the animosity toward OOB families show by some current IB families. Presumably, the current IB families are the beneficiaries of, rather than the initiators of, the school improvements. They have OOB families to thank, in part, for those improvements.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Can't access the link either. Anyone able to post the content or summarize the important points. Why Abigail Smith is choosing to release the information with only a few school days left --- is beyond me. It was supposed to come out in May! She should be held accountable. Now it will be much more difficult to organize and discuss. The whole thing wreaks of a f--k you patronizing attitude to the parents of this City. It is very difficult not to question her motives, I do pray she is gone w the next administration.

I have the Wilson one saved; neglected to save the Hardy one. There's nothing to post for the Wilson one because it's really just a map. The text says that Hardy, Deal, Adams feed to Wilson. The text for the Hardy one was more important because it included the feeders. But based on the Wilson map and the Hardy map, it's obvious what the Deal feeders are - process of elimination.

BTW, still nothing on the Washington Post website. DCUM beats the Post, again, by several hours!

Presumably the Post is making an interactive map, so I'd give them a few extra hours

And I'll bet the DME is holding the recommendations until the Post is ready.

The Post is honoring an embargo. It'll be up in a few hours.

[Anonymous]

Will Bancroft and Powell few to Deal and Wilson?

[Anonymous]

Feed not few

[Anonymous]

powell doesn't feed to deal now, does it? i thought it fed to Columbia Heights.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Will Bancroft and Powell few to Deal and Wilson?

Bancroft will, Powell won't.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Will Bancroft and Powell few to Deal and Wilson?

Yes on Bancroft. No on Powell. Yes on Shepherd.

[Anonymous]

jsteele wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Well, I think when we see the DME's proposal we may very well see set-asides, so the OOB and feeder right stuff won't go away and I think it's foolish to continue fighting with abolishing the practice as a goal...that is UNTIL DCPS creates some genuinely viable options for people who don't live in Ward 3. And don't ask me to roll up my sleeves and build it. I will pay my taxes (I'll even pay a tax increase), I will volunteer (as I have my entire life)...but I will not play "education expert." I expect the experts that my tax dollars fund to develop a stellar plan (with my input! happy to provide input!) and figure out a way to create middle and high schools that higher SES families might actually consider.

So you think it was DCPS that created the viable schools in Ward 3? Oh, that's a good one.

+1. It is quite funny the way many talk without realizing that DCPS has invested way more capital and resources in schools outside NW...ignoring the parents and the invested communities would be quite stupid.

As I understand it, not long ago the WotP schools couldn't attract many inbound families. As a result, they enrolled many OOB families, many of which were extremely committed to improving the schools. It was a combination of IB and OOB families that worked together to make the schools into places more IB families would be interested in attending. If this is the case, there is some irony in the animosity toward OOB families show by some current IB families. Presumably, the current IB families are the beneficiaries of, rather than the initiators of, the school improvements. They have OOB families to thank, in part, for those improvements.

All committed parents, no matter where they live or what they earn, deserve credit for help they provide to their kids schools. The only "animosity" I've noticed is when parents think their kid is being unfairly cut out. I blame the school system for this, not the parents.

[Anonymous]

When my DS was in an upper NW elementary school that attracted a large OOB population, there were several OOB parents who did quite a lot for the school. But the prevailing general attitude among OOB parents was to let the in-bounds parents do most of the volunteering perhaps on the theory that they lived a bit closer to the school. The same view seemed to hold on fundraising, that the upper NW parents should be looked to for the money. This was a bit galling when so many OOB students arrived daily in late-model SUVs and luxury cars with their low-numbered (politically connected) license plates. This resulted in some resentment by IB parents who felt the burden was being put on them not only for sweat equity but for cash contributions to underwrite school activities.

[Anonymous]

jsteele wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Well, I think when we see the DME's proposal we may very well see set-asides, so the OOB and feeder right stuff won't go away and I think it's foolish to continue fighting with abolishing the practice as a goal...that is UNTIL DCPS creates some genuinely viable options for people who don't live in Ward 3. And don't ask me to roll up my sleeves and build it. I will pay my taxes (I'll even pay a tax increase), I will volunteer (as I have my entire life)...but I will not play "education expert." I expect the experts that my tax dollars fund to develop a stellar plan (with my input! happy to provide input!) and figure out a way to create middle and high schools that higher SES families might actually consider.

So you think it was DCPS that created the viable schools in Ward 3? Oh, that's a good one.

+1. It is quite funny the way many talk without realizing that DCPS has invested way more capital and resources in schools outside NW...ignoring the parents and the invested communities would be quite stupid.

As I understand it, not long ago the WotP schools couldn't attract many inbound families. As a result, they enrolled many OOB families, many of which were extremely committed to improving the schools. It was a combination of IB and OOB families that worked together to make the schools into places more IB families would be interested in attending. If this is the case, there is some irony in the animosity toward OOB families show by some current IB families. Presumably, the current IB families are the beneficiaries of, rather than the initiators of, the school improvements. They have OOB families to thank, in part, for those improvements.

It's a mistake to think that anyone currently attending a school gets blame or credit for what happened at that school a generation ago. You're thinking of people as members of groups rather than individuals, which is unfair to everyone involved.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:When my DS was in an upper NW elementary school that attracted a large OOB population, there were several OOB parents who did quite a lot for the school. But the prevailing general attitude among OOB parents was to let the in-bounds parents do most of the volunteering perhaps on the theory that they lived a bit closer to the school. The same view seemed to hold on fundraising, that the upper NW parents should be looked to for the money. This was a bit galling when so many OOB students arrived daily in late-model SUVs and luxury cars with their low-numbered (politically connected) license plates. This resulted in some resentment by IB parents who felt the burden was being put on them not only for sweat equity but for cash contributions to underwrite school activities.

As a related topic, I'm constantly amazed how few families pay their PTA/PTO dues, as a percentage of the student population (my child attends a Ward 3 public school). And, in practice, relatively few families are involved in supporting the work that the PTO does. But, at the same time, the PTO does an incredible amount to raise the level of school performance. This drives home the point to me how hard it is to get families involved with supporting their schools with their time and money (hopefully they are at least doing their part at home to educate their kids). The conclusion being: if it's difficult to get large numbers of families in Ward 3 to support the PTO with time and money, I can't imagine how hard it is in areas of town with lower SES.

[Anonymous]

jsteele wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Well, I think when we see the DME's proposal we may very well see set-asides, so the OOB and feeder right stuff won't go away and I think it's foolish to continue fighting with abolishing the practice as a goal...that is UNTIL DCPS creates some genuinely viable options for people who don't live in Ward 3. And don't ask me to roll up my sleeves and build it. I will pay my taxes (I'll even pay a tax increase), I will volunteer (as I have my entire life)...but I will not play "education expert." I expect the experts that my tax dollars fund to develop a stellar plan (with my input! happy to provide input!) and figure out a way to create middle and high schools that higher SES families might actually consider.

So you think it was DCPS that created the viable schools in Ward 3? Oh, that's a good one.

+1. It is quite funny the way many talk without realizing that DCPS has invested way more capital and resources in schools outside NW...ignoring the parents and the invested communities would be quite stupid.

As I understand it, not long ago the WotP schools couldn't attract many inbound families. As a result, they enrolled many OOB families, many of which were extremely committed to improving the schools. It was a combination of IB and OOB families that worked together to make the schools into places more IB families would be interested in attending. If this is the case, there is some irony in the animosity toward OOB families show by some current IB families. Presumably, the current IB families are the beneficiaries of, rather than the initiators of, the school improvements. They have OOB families to thank, in part, for those improvements.

Why are you making this about IB vs OOB? Discussion above was about parents vs DCPS as key driver of improvement.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:"Proposed feeder pattern changes were made to...support racial/ethnic and socio-economic diversity, where possible."

They're really leaning on that "if possible" with the new Wilson boundary.

Can't say I'm surprised to see SE/SW cut out but I am pissed. Mostly at Tommy Wells, who (unlike Bowser or Graham, say what you will about them) did absolutely nothing to try and keep folks in Wilson. He is totally in the pocket of folks on Capitol Hill who want to see Eastern improved and don't care that there were kids in Ward 6 who actually had a shot at attending a good high school. Wells said at a community meeting that he'd never met any constituents who'd bought in SW because it was inbounds for Wilson. He is a moron.

Wilson was, and will continue to be, one of (if not the most) racially diverse school in DCPS.

Especially because they are retaining Hardy - the most diverse middle school in DC - as a Wilson feeder.

Hardy is not nearly as diverse as Deal.

Hardy:
Black: 64%
Hispanic/Latino: 14%
White: 11%
Asian: 8%
Pacific/Hawaiian: 0%
Native/Alaskan: 0%
Multiple races: 2%

Deal:
Black: 31%
Hispanic/Latino: 14%
White: 43%
Asian: 6%
Pacific/Hawaiian: 0%
Native/Alaskan: 0%
Multiple races: 6%

If you count EC's Francis-Stevens is more diverse than Hardy too.

[Anonymous]

I would say they are very nearly AS diverse as one another.