New Report on Racial and Economic Diversity in DC public and charter schools

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wilson may be “diverse” but for the most part, the white kids and the black kids do not socialise together. There is some mixing but not as much as you would expect. I don’t think you can force this stuff. Also, the principal seems to hate that Wilson is supposedly a neighborhood school as she is always complaining about all the entitled white kids. She keeps wanting to create more on-level (not challenging) classes for the lowest performing kids and has no interest in more advanced options for kids who need more than what Wilson is offering.

This seems entirely wrong to me.

Not wrong at all. I agree with the above post and my youngest and 3rd kid is now at Wilson. The principal there is not focused on day to day running of the school. Do you even read her newsletters? Her latest mission is to change the name of the school

Why are people posting misinformation. The mission to change the name of Wilson does not come from her but from an outside group - black families that were hurt by Wilson's policies. If you knew anything about history, you'd know that Wilson decimated the upcoming black middle class in DC with his racist policies. And one of his cronies created the racist enclave of CC MD. I dont care about changing the name, but get your facts straight.

If people are offended by President Woodrow Wilson’s name on the high school, then perhaps consider a different school with a name more to their liking. That’s one way to reduce overcrowding!

+100
How about focusing on the school so that it is less chaotic and trying to get rid of some of the incompetent teachers. That would be more useful for kids than a name change.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wilson may be “diverse” but for the most part, the white kids and the black kids do not socialise together. There is some mixing but not as much as you would expect. I don’t think you can force this stuff. Also, the principal seems to hate that Wilson is supposedly a neighborhood school as she is always complaining about all the entitled white kids. She keeps wanting to create more on-level (not challenging) classes for the lowest performing kids and has no interest in more advanced options for kids who need more than what Wilson is offering.

This seems entirely wrong to me.

Not wrong at all. I agree with the above post and my youngest and 3rd kid is now at Wilson. The principal there is not focused on day to day running of the school. Do you even read her newsletters? Her latest mission is to change the name of the school

Why are people posting misinformation. The mission to change the name of Wilson does not come from her but from an outside group - black families that were hurt by Wilson's policies. If you knew anything about history, you'd know that Wilson decimated the upcoming black middle class in DC with his racist policies. And one of his cronies created the racist enclave of CC MD. I dont care about changing the name, but get your facts straight.

If people are offended by President Woodrow Wilson’s name on the high school, then perhaps consider a different school with a name more to their liking. That’s one way to reduce overcrowding!

+100
How about focusing on the school so that it is less chaotic and trying to get rid of some of the incompetent teachers. That would be more useful for kids than a name change.

As I stated I don't care about the name change - just sharing where this is coming from, she's not spearheading it. If you have an issue with it make your opinion known to the principal.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It is inevitable that DC will have to adopt a random lottery placement system for public schools, like in San Francisco. Neighborhood-based schools are inherently exclusionary. Only with a true DC-wide lottery (with diversity adjustments) will DC achieve equity.

Not equality, boosted test scores. The poor kids are still poor, rich kids still rich and they will succeeded at predictable rates. Stuff like that makes an individual difference but does nothing systematically. The benefits people conflate with progress are really just the removal of the negative weight of the community during school hours. Still have to send them home at some point.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:As a great man once said “you didn’t build that.”

Who did?

[Anonymous]

Well, the name change is certainly related the topic of the thread. Wilson was a real p.o.s. and one of our schools should not be named after him, imo. Look up his crappy legacy on race before you disagree.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Well, the name change is certainly related the topic of the thread. Wilson was a real p.o.s. and one of our schools should not be named after him, imo. Look up his crappy legacy on race before you disagree.

Not a lot of white people who don’t have some record of doing, supporting, living through or taking advantage of racist policies from about 1000BC to about the 21st cen. Should they all be shunned? That is quite the entitled opinion for a minority group with little financial or political power to feel entitled to enforce. History is filled with winner and losers but it is what it is. The winners name stuff, the losers get the scraps... if they are lucky.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Well, the name change is certainly related the topic of the thread. Wilson was a real p.o.s. and one of our schools should not be named after him, imo. Look up his crappy legacy on race before you disagree.

Not a lot of white people who don’t have some record of doing, supporting, living through or taking advantage of racist policies from about 1000BC to about the 21st cen. Should they all be shunned? That is quite the entitled opinion for a minority group with little financial or political power to feel entitled to enforce. History is filled with winner and losers but it is what it is. The winners name stuff, the losers get the scraps... if they are lucky.

NP. Disagreeing with your statement. Woodrow Wilson effectively decimated what was becoming a black middle class in DC. That discussion is very relevant. We aren't talking about what random white people did. But his atrocities were disgusting - would you agree with having a school named after Hitler? I'm not trying to convince people of changing the name but when you look at his particular history it is truly awful. Many black families in DC were hurt by it - it cut off their ability to hand down wealth to their families. This is well documented and I think at a minimum people should know the history before making stupid statements. Stop trying to move the bar of the discussion - it only reveals your own ignorance and biases.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Well, the name change is certainly related the topic of the thread. Wilson was a real p.o.s. and one of our schools should not be named after him, imo. Look up his crappy legacy on race before you disagree.

Not a lot of white people who don’t have some record of doing, supporting, living through or taking advantage of racist policies from about 1000BC to about the 21st cen. Should they all be shunned? That is quite the entitled opinion for a minority group with little financial or political power to feel entitled to enforce. History is filled with winner and losers but it is what it is. The winners name stuff, the losers get the scraps... if they are lucky.

Knowing your history also means knowing that white people do not have a monopoly on racism and slavery. Far from it. The middle east was teeming with racist slaveholders thousands of years before the Europeans built their first town.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Well, the name change is certainly related the topic of the thread. Wilson was a real p.o.s. and one of our schools should not be named after him, imo. Look up his crappy legacy on race before you disagree.

I am AA and a Wilson parent. I really don’t care about the name change. I care about my kids and all kids at Wilson receiving a quality education and I am dismayed at how uneven the quality of teaching is currently. Also, Science and art classes never seem to have the supplies they need. Class sizes are generally too big. Fix these issues before worrying about a name change. Changing the name of the school is not going to do anything to improve day to day education for the kids. Improve college counseling especially for students who cannot rely on their parents for help and cannot afford an outside private counselor. Only the so called diversity committee cares about the name change. Everyone else is just trying to get by.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Well, the name change is certainly related the topic of the thread. Wilson was a real p.o.s. and one of our schools should not be named after him, imo. Look up his crappy legacy on race before you disagree.

I am AA and a Wilson parent. I really don’t care about the name change. I care about my kids and all kids at Wilson receiving a quality education and I am dismayed at how uneven the quality of teaching is currently. Also, Science and art classes never seem to have the supplies they need. Class sizes are generally too big. Fix these issues before worrying about a name change. Changing the name of the school is not going to do anything to improve day to day education for the kids. Improve college counseling especially for students who cannot rely on their parents for help and cannot afford an outside private counselor. Only the so called diversity committee cares about the name change. Everyone else is just trying to get by.

Again, this idea is being brought forward by an outside group. Nothing wrong with listening to what they have to say.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wilson may be “diverse” but for the most part, the white kids and the black kids do not socialise together. There is some mixing but not as much as you would expect. I don’t think you can force this stuff. Also, the principal seems to hate that Wilson is supposedly a neighborhood school as she is always complaining about all the entitled white kids. She keeps wanting to create more on-level (not challenging) classes for the lowest performing kids and has no interest in more advanced options for kids who need more than what Wilson is offering.

Much of what you wrote is just not true.
Signed, current Wilson parent

Another Wilson parent here and I don’t think it is wrong at all. Principal has communicated many times that she has no issues with overcrowding as she wants Wilson to be open to students from all wards. That is not her decision to make. Wilson is supposed to be a neighborhood school. She often refers to the ward 3 parents as annoying and entitled. I don’t think that is cool.

No, Wilson is supposed to comply with feeder and boundary policies set by our elected officials, which the schools is doing. Nowhere is it written that Wilson is "supposed to be a neighborhood school."

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wilson may be “diverse” but for the most part, the white kids and the black kids do not socialise together. There is some mixing but not as much as you would expect. I don’t think you can force this stuff. Also, the principal seems to hate that Wilson is supposedly a neighborhood school as she is always complaining about all the entitled white kids. She keeps wanting to create more on-level (not challenging) classes for the lowest performing kids and has no interest in more advanced options for kids who need more than what Wilson is offering.

Much of what you wrote is just not true.
Signed, current Wilson parent

Another Wilson parent here and I don’t think it is wrong at all. Principal has communicated many times that she has no issues with overcrowding as she wants Wilson to be open to students from all wards. That is not her decision to make. Wilson is supposed to be a neighborhood school. She often refers to the ward 3 parents as annoying and entitled. I don’t think that is cool.

No, Wilson is supposed to comply with feeder and boundary policies set by our elected officials, which the schools is doing. Nowhere is it written that Wilson is "supposed to be a neighborhood school."

Also, in what context does the Wilson principal "often refer to ward 3 parents as entitled and annoying"? I've never heard that, and I can't imagine in what situation I would heard that. Did you just pull that out of your @ss?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wilson may be “diverse” but for the most part, the white kids and the black kids do not socialise together. There is some mixing but not as much as you would expect. I don’t think you can force this stuff. Also, the principal seems to hate that Wilson is supposedly a neighborhood school as she is always complaining about all the entitled white kids. She keeps wanting to create more on-level (not challenging) classes for the lowest performing kids and has no interest in more advanced options for kids who need more than what Wilson is offering.

This seems entirely wrong to me.

Not wrong at all. I agree with the above post and my youngest and 3rd kid is now at Wilson. The principal there is not focused on day to day running of the school. Do you even read her newsletters? Her latest mission is to change the name of the school

Why are people posting misinformation. The mission to change the name of Wilson does not come from her but from an outside group - black families that were hurt by Wilson's policies. If you knew anything about history, you'd know that Wilson decimated the upcoming black middle class in DC with his racist policies. And one of his cronies created the racist enclave of CC MD. I dont care about changing the name, but get your facts straight.

If people are offended by President Woodrow Wilson’s name on the high school, then perhaps consider a different school with a name more to their liking. That’s one way to reduce overcrowding!

+100
How about focusing on the school so that it is less chaotic and trying to get rid of some of the incompetent teachers. That would be more useful for kids than a name change.[/quo
As I stated I don't care about the name change - just sharing where this is coming from, she's not spearheading it. If you have an issue with it make your opinion known to the principal.

Instead of changing the name of Woodrow Wilson HS, let’s change the principal of Woodrow Wilson HS!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Well, the name change is certainly related the topic of the thread. Wilson was a real p.o.s. and one of our schools should not be named after him, imo. Look up his crappy legacy on race before you disagree.

I am AA and a Wilson parent. I really don’t care about the name change. I care about my kids and all kids at Wilson receiving a quality education and I am dismayed at how uneven the quality of teaching is currently. Also, Science and art classes never seem to have the supplies they need. Class sizes are generally too big. Fix these issues before worrying about a name change. Changing the name of the school is not going to do anything to improve day to day education for the kids. Improve college counseling especially for students who cannot rely on their parents for help and cannot afford an outside private counselor. Only the so called diversity committee cares about the name change. Everyone else is just trying to get by.

Again, this idea is being brought forward by an outside group. Nothing wrong with listening to what they have to say.

Except when what they have to say is tiresome. Did you know that Woodrow Wilson is buried right in the heart of Ward 3?

Should they remove his remains from the side of the National Cathedral?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Well, the name change is certainly related the topic of the thread. Wilson was a real p.o.s. and one of our schools should not be named after him, imo. Look up his crappy legacy on race before you disagree.

I am AA and a Wilson parent. I really don’t care about the name change. I care about my kids and all kids at Wilson receiving a quality education and I am dismayed at how uneven the quality of teaching is currently. Also, Science and art classes never seem to have the supplies they need. Class sizes are generally too big. Fix these issues before worrying about a name change. Changing the name of the school is not going to do anything to improve day to day education for the kids. Improve college counseling especially for students who cannot rely on their parents for help and cannot afford an outside private counselor. Only the so called diversity committee cares about the name change. Everyone else is just trying to get by.

Very well said.