DC council giving away DCPS property to Lab School

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:grosso didn't even write me back when I wrote asking for info a week ago. Anyone receive a response from him or Chen?

He never responds. He doesn't respond to phone calls or emails. I hate when these politicians get these positions for life and then dismiss their constituencies. It seems the only way to get them out is if they become overly blatant with their pilfering of public funds.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This thread is too exhausting to read every posting on, especially as I have no particular beef in this fight; nor am I steeped in the details.

That said my knee-jerk reaction is to wholeheartedly support this deal. As the mom of an autistic child in a DCPS school, I'm in favor of any effort to provide greater resources to SNs schools, private or otherwise.

Whether well-founded/fair or not, I can't help but think that the exhaustive thread about the injustice of this deal smacks of prejudice at worst/insensitivity to the plight of SN families at the least.

You shouldn't bother to post nonsensical stuff if you're too bloody lazy to READ.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:grosso didn't even write me back when I wrote asking for info a week ago. Anyone receive a response from him or Chen?

Not a surprise. Grosso is likely high and Cheh is just, well, arrogant and can't be bothered with what the little people think.

Here's what I think is funny: There were three council members who spoke in favor of this bill, Cheh, Grosso and Evans. Nobody's asking about Evans. Because people just assume that he's going to do the Jack Evans thing.

Grosso authored the bill and Cheh's unequivocal support was surprising given that she represents Ward 3 and giving away a public school property with a 50 year practically no cost lease is shocking given that Ward 3 schools have so many space constraints today. That said, Jack Evans has been in office way too long and I hope someone runs against him.

He is going to die in office.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:One quarter of Lab's students ARE DC public school students that they serve on behalf of the city. These students qualify on the basis of need.

It is not clear why a couple people feel these students aren't deserving of suitable space too. Maybe if their children struggled with a learning disability, they would be more understanding.

It's no where near that high. It's really hard to get your kid into the Lab School. Proof? I used to run that office.

This bears repeating.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:One quarter of Lab's students ARE DC public school students that they serve on behalf of the city. These students qualify on the basis of need.

It is not clear why a couple people feel these students aren't deserving of suitable space too. Maybe if their children struggled with a learning disability, they would be more understanding.

It's no where near that high. It's really hard to get your kid into the Lab School. Proof? I used to run that office.

This bears repeating.

To add detail: according to the OSSE website (http://osse.dc.gov/sites/default/files/dc/sites/osse/publication/attachments/2015%20Enrollment%20Audit%20Report.pdf) at the last audit there were exactly 45 DCPS students at Lab. According to the Lab website there are 375 students at Lab. So exactly 12% of the students are from DCPS.

[Anonymous]

Does anyone think it is strange that D.C. Sent 5 kids to sccjool in Arkansas? There was nothing better closer?

[Anonymous]

We live in VA but that document is not accurate as far as DC kids who go to school with my child, it lists 1 but I know of at least 4. Not the Lab school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We live in VA but that document is not accurate as far as DC kids who go to school with my child, it lists 1 but I know of at least 4. Not the Lab school.

The document lists kids who are being paid for by DCPS, which happens after a court finds that DCPS has failed at providing an appropriate education. Not all kids from DC go through that process.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We live in VA but that document is not accurate as far as DC kids who go to school with my child, it lists 1 but I know of at least 4. Not the Lab school.

The document lists kids who are being paid for by DCPS, which happens after a court finds that DCPS has failed at providing an appropriate education. Not all kids from DC go through that process.

They all take a DCPS bus home from VA and this isn't the kind of school with private paying students.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We live in VA but that document is not accurate as far as DC kids who go to school with my child, it lists 1 but I know of at least 4. Not the Lab school.

The document lists kids who are being paid for by DCPS, which happens after a court finds that DCPS has failed at providing an appropriate education. Not all kids from DC go through that process.

Kids don't have to sue to get private placement. The school system can offer it as a placement.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We live in VA but that document is not accurate as far as DC kids who go to school with my child, it lists 1 but I know of at least 4. Not the Lab school.

The document lists kids who are being paid for by DCPS, which happens after a court finds that DCPS has failed at providing an appropriate education. Not all kids from DC go through that process.

Kids don't have to sue to get private placement. The school system can offer it as a placement.

I don't think that's true any more as a practical matter.

In 2010, Vincent Gray ran for mayor and one of his campaign promises was to halve the number of kids in private placements, which was then 2200. He got it down to 1100 by 2014. According to OSSE it is now 821. Part of the push was to aggressively challenge parents who were seeking private placements. There's a story about it here:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/council-questions-push-for-special-ed-students-in-dc-public-schools/2013/04/22/29ac6aaa-ab85-11e2-a8b9-2a63d75b5459_story.html?utm_term=.7c88a4f02831

Lab treats kids with moderate disabilities, which is exactly where the city has been trying to take all of the kids in-house. And the number of DCPS kids at Lab has been falling. I've talked to Lab parents who've said the number of hoops they have to jump through has increased, including having to recertify annually their child's need.

That's what's weird about this whole situation: why is the city trying to bolster a private provider of special education while at the same time it is trying to de-emphasize the role of private providers in the system? This all started back in 2013, when Gray was mayor and he considered reducing private placements a signature accomplishment. And why a 50 year lease when the landscape changes so quickly?

The relationship between the city and the private schools is a strange one, it's not one of partners or client and contractor. When a parent is successful in suing the city, the court orders the city to pay, but the court and the parent get to decide which school the kid is sent to. The parent and the city are adversaries, and the school is providing a service to the parent. From a legal perspective it's very strange to be providing favors to the agent of your adversary.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We live in VA but that document is not accurate as far as DC kids who go to school with my child, it lists 1 but I know of at least 4. Not the Lab school.

The document lists kids who are being paid for by DCPS, which happens after a court finds that DCPS has failed at providing an appropriate education. Not all kids from DC go through that process.

Kids don't have to sue to get private placement. The school system can offer it as a placement.

I don't think that's true any more as a practical matter.

In 2010, Vincent Gray ran for mayor and one of his campaign promises was to halve the number of kids in private placements, which was then 2200. He got it down to 1100 by 2014. According to OSSE it is now 821. Part of the push was to aggressively challenge parents who were seeking private placements. There's a story about it here:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/council-questions-push-for-special-ed-students-in-dc-public-schools/2013/04/22/29ac6aaa-ab85-11e2-a8b9-2a63d75b5459_story.html?utm_term=.7c88a4f02831

Lab treats kids with moderate disabilities, which is exactly where the city has been trying to take all of the kids in-house. And the number of DCPS kids at Lab has been falling. I've talked to Lab parents who've said the number of hoops they have to jump through has increased, including having to recertify annually their child's need.

That's what's weird about this whole situation: why is the city trying to bolster a private provider of special education while at the same time it is trying to de-emphasize the role of private providers in the system? This all started back in 2013, when Gray was mayor and he considered reducing private placements a signature accomplishment. And why a 50 year lease when the landscape changes so quickly?

The relationship between the city and the private schools is a strange one, it's not one of partners or client and contractor. When a parent is successful in suing the city, the court orders the city to pay, but the court and the parent get to decide which school the kid is sent to. The parent and the city are adversaries, and the school is providing a service to the parent. From a legal perspective it's very strange to be providing favors to the agent of your adversary.

Yes it's bizzarre. So follow the money. Someone upthread mentioned an influential fundraiser with a kid at Lab.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If Trump Jr goes to Lab, does DC get to pay for that too?

No. He'd have to go through the placement process which includes time in a dcps school.

The buzz is that the Trumps have been sniffing out the Lab School for young Barron.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If Trump Jr goes to Lab, does DC get to pay for that too?

No. He'd have to go through the placement process which includes time in a dcps school.

The buzz is that the Trumps have been sniffing out the Lab School for young Barron.

Don't really believe it, but that would give this story some legs!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This thread is too exhausting to read every posting on, especially as I have no particular beef in this fight; nor am I steeped in the details.

That said my knee-jerk reaction is to wholeheartedly support this deal. As the mom of an autistic child in a DCPS school, I'm in favor of any effort to provide greater resources to SNs schools, private or otherwise.

Whether well-founded/fair or not, I can't help but think that the exhaustive thread about the injustice of this deal smacks of prejudice at worst/insensitivity to the plight of SN families at the least.

Because the alternative hypothesis, that people feel that public assets should be put to public purpose, is just too unbelievable?