New Jackson-Reed HS (Wilson HS) School Principal - Sah Brown from Eastern High School

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:72% of eastern kids are at risk but only 37% of them actually live in boundary.

DP but now you want to carve out the Wilson IB kids that go private, and also carve out the at-risk Eastern kids that aren't IB? You have to realize every time you make a stretch like this you're proving PP's point, right? The enrolled populations are not similar.

I'm not sure if its been messaged earlier on this thread but 24% of Jackson Reed students are considered economically disadvantaged compared to 100% of Eastern students per DCPS web site.

It’s not 100% at Eastern. It’s over some lower threshold level.

https://ggwash.org/view/34337/why-are-so-many-dcps-schools-listed-as-99-low-income-its-not-necessarily-because-they-are

These are DCPS own numbers.

https://profiles.dcps.dc.gov/Eastern+High+School

I gave you the answer in the link. You don’t understand what you are talking about.

It is actually 72.31% at-risk (in last reported year, 20-21).

https://stossepublicdocsprod.blob.core.windows.net/public-docs/dc-school-report-card/2020-21/profiles/001-0457(Eastern%20High%20School).pdf

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:72% of eastern kids are at risk but only 37% of them actually live in boundary.

DP but now you want to carve out the Wilson IB kids that go private, and also carve out the at-risk Eastern kids that aren't IB? You have to realize every time you make a stretch like this you're proving PP's point, right? The enrolled populations are not similar.

I'm not sure if its been messaged earlier on this thread but 24% of Jackson Reed students are considered economically disadvantaged compared to 100% of Eastern students per DCPS web site.

It’s not 100% at Eastern. It’s over some lower threshold level.

https://ggwash.org/view/34337/why-are-so-many-dcps-schools-listed-as-99-low-income-its-not-necessarily-because-they-are

These are DCPS own numbers.

https://profiles.dcps.dc.gov/Eastern+High+School

I gave you the answer in the link. You don’t understand what you are talking about.

It is actually 72.31% at-risk (in last reported year, 20-21).

https://stossepublicdocsprod.blob.core.windows.net/public-docs/dc-school-report-card/2020-21/profiles/001-0457(Eastern%20High%20School).pdf

So at least 3x as many at risk students

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:72% of eastern kids are at risk but only 37% of them actually live in boundary.

DP but now you want to carve out the Wilson IB kids that go private, and also carve out the at-risk Eastern kids that aren't IB? You have to realize every time you make a stretch like this you're proving PP's point, right? The enrolled populations are not similar.

I'm not sure if its been messaged earlier on this thread but 24% of Jackson Reed students are considered economically disadvantaged compared to 100% of Eastern students per DCPS web site.

It’s not 100% at Eastern. It’s over some lower threshold level.

https://ggwash.org/view/34337/why-are-so-many-dcps-schools-listed-as-99-low-income-its-not-necessarily-because-they-are

These are DCPS own numbers.

https://profiles.dcps.dc.gov/Eastern+High+School

I gave you the answer in the link. You don’t understand what you are talking about.

It is actually 72.31% at-risk (in last reported year, 20-21).

https://stossepublicdocsprod.blob.core.windows.net/public-docs/dc-school-report-card/2020-21/profiles/001-0457(Eastern%20High%20School).pdf

So at least 3x as many at risk students

Yes, and?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:That principal?!

We live on Capitol Hill. My spouse and I met with Brown when when we were looking into the IB Diploma program at Eastern for our oldest in early 2020, before the pandemic began.

Brown seemed clueless about what it would take to attract high SES in-boundary families like ours to Eastern, without any real interest in doing so. He claimed that the program offered "real rigor and challenge to all" repeatedly, and wouldn't answer our questions about Eastern's average IBD points totals. He also wouldn't talk about how many of the "full Diploma" students at Eastern actually earn the Diploma.

Later on, we learned that Eastern's average points total has been mired in the mid 20s, on a 24-45 points pass scale, since the program's inception a decade ago. We also learned that most of the Eastern students who try to earn the Diploma have failed since the get go. We left the meeting unimpressed with Brown and Eastern's IBD program and didn't enroll our child.

So, let me get this right. You walked into this man’s office with your white hood on, took it off, handed it to him and asked him to put it on. He rebuffed your offer and you decided you didn’t like him. Eastern HS kids test poorly due to various reasons (poverty, trauma, inequality, etc). He does not have to explain any of that to you. Your child could have obtained a good education there, but your classism and racism prevented you from entertaining the thought of your child in that school.

You totally pwned that poster! And that’s what matters.it’s not whether there’s any merit to what the original poster wrote, but in whether you sounding cool, and regurgitating social justice buzzwords, which in actuality, just distract from the real issues that Eastern sucks. It sucks because parents are not involved enough with their kids, because of the soft bigotry of low expectations, because of bad teachers, and generally it’s an intractable issue until the wealthy surrounding families decide to send their precious jewels there, who are well behaved and care about learning and there’s enough to form a crucial mass.

That’s the truth. I don’t care about your slam dunking comments. The truth to anyone not afraid to say it is that yes High SES parents are the only reason these types of schools turn around. You can’t deny it and you’d be wrong if you did. I’m sorry we’re in some post truth era where everyone is offended by eve everything. It only hurts more to have to be honest, because truth hurts.

+100

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Having lived in both places, yes, the families of school aged kids in ward 3 tend to be much wealthier than on the hill. That said, a much higher percentage of the kids also attend privates. And wilson has its fair share of kids who live out of bounds, although probably not as many as eastern, as a percentage of the population.

I agree that if the Higher SES hill population on the hill sent their kids to eastern at the same rate that the higher SES population in ward 3 send their kids to wilson, the demographics could be much more similar. I understand the hesitance of hill parents who aren’t receiving assurance that eastern would offer the same advanced coursework as wilson, even if kids capable of that work enroll at the school. I also understand the worry of ward 3 parents who hear that he did not try to attract hill parents to eastern, and think that he might also not seek to maintain the higher SES IB population at wilson. That said, ward 3 has status quo on its side.

I assume that the bolded is an effort to argue that the enrolled populations are not materially dissimilar when one considers OOB kid enrolled at Wilson and those who self-select out of Ward 3 to private schools. The data does not align with your hypothesis. 72+% of Eastern kids are "at-risk". That's 22% for Wilson.

But the larger point that you and others seem to be arguing is that the IB demographics of Eastern and Ward 3 are similar (if not identical). No matter how many times you repeat the claim and try to condescendingly dismiss away facts because, for instance, "you have lived in both places" the data is what it is. You all remind me of Trump supporters who say that they "know" the election was stolen and no data or facts anyone shows you will change your minds. But let's try an exercise in actual data, not your perceptions, shall we?

I am starting on the premise that what many of you are calling "the Hill" is the extended hill for purposes of this exercise. The Eastern HS IB population on CH can be approximated to zip codes 20002 and 20003. I am ignoring 20024 because it is very small and has even lower median income, etc. than 20002 and 20003. Trust me when I tell you including that does not help make your case. This is the actual data.

Population
Ward 3: 81,883
20002: 70,788
20003: 35,731

Median Income
Ward 3: $155,813
20002: $112,496
20003: $154,466

Families Below Poverty With Children
Ward 3: 0.7%
20002: 4.76%
20003: 4.27%

% with Bachelors Degree or Higher
Ward 3: 87%
20002: 64%
20003: 83%

Take a look at the % of families with kids below the poverty line. Those are the IB people sending kids to school. Even if we cherry pick just 20003, the data doesn't match Ward 3 and that's ignoring the fact that 20003 is much smaller than Ward 3 and that 20002 (IB for Eastern) is much larger and has even less favorable comparables to Ward 3.

I am not arguing that 20003 and 20002 UMC families don't have a right to send their kids to a school providing an excellent education. I am not arguing that sending your kids elsewhere is racist or that anyone should be condemned for doing so. My response here is a direct retort to those of you on this thread that think that just because everyone you know is UMC that must necessarily mean that the Hill's demographics are the same as your friends in Ward 3. They. Are. Not.

Good day, all.

You can’t compare 20002 and 20003 as an amorphous block when comparing Eastern to Wilson. Much of 20002 and 20003 are served by different much larger high schools. The Eastern catchment is small and much higher income.

It also includes 20024. You want to include 20024 too? OK.

Your belief that demographics of catchments for Eastern and Wilson are the same is not supported by data. I said it before I will say it again; you and your friends are in many ways no different than the Trump people who "know" the election was stolen and they are unwilling to listen to logic, reason or data that clearly disproves their belief.

Population
Ward 3: 81,883
20002: 70,788
20003: 35,731
20024: 13,138

Median Income
Ward 3: $155,813
20002: $112,496
20003: $154,466
20024: $103,925

Families Below Poverty With Children
Ward 3: 0.7%
20002: 4.76%
20003: 4.27%
20024: 4.88%

% with Bachelors Degree or Higher
Ward 3: 87%
20002: 64%
20003: 83%
20024: 82%

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:72% of eastern kids are at risk but only 37% of them actually live in boundary.

DP but now you want to carve out the Wilson IB kids that go private, and also carve out the at-risk Eastern kids that aren't IB? You have to realize every time you make a stretch like this you're proving PP's point, right? The enrolled populations are not similar.

Nobody said they enrolled populations are similar. The IB populations are similar! That’s the whole point! DCPS, and by extension Mr. Brown, didn’t/don’t care that so many people on the Hill find their IB HS so subpar as to not attend it.

This. I don’t give a hoot about Ward 3 having a marginally higher average income than Ward 6, the fact is that both school/IB populations are comprised of the very rich and the very poor. This principal has a demonstrated track record of not understand or not caring about one of those populations.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Having lived in both places, yes, the families of school aged kids in ward 3 tend to be much wealthier than on the hill. That said, a much higher percentage of the kids also attend privates. And wilson has its fair share of kids who live out of bounds, although probably not as many as eastern, as a percentage of the population.

I agree that if the Higher SES hill population on the hill sent their kids to eastern at the same rate that the higher SES population in ward 3 send their kids to wilson, the demographics could be much more similar. I understand the hesitance of hill parents who aren’t receiving assurance that eastern would offer the same advanced coursework as wilson, even if kids capable of that work enroll at the school. I also understand the worry of ward 3 parents who hear that he did not try to attract hill parents to eastern, and think that he might also not seek to maintain the higher SES IB population at wilson. That said, ward 3 has status quo on its side.

I assume that the bolded is an effort to argue that the enrolled populations are not materially dissimilar when one considers OOB kid enrolled at Wilson and those who self-select out of Ward 3 to private schools. The data does not align with your hypothesis. 72+% of Eastern kids are "at-risk". That's 22% for Wilson.

But the larger point that you and others seem to be arguing is that the IB demographics of Eastern and Ward 3 are similar (if not identical). No matter how many times you repeat the claim and try to condescendingly dismiss away facts because, for instance, "you have lived in both places" the data is what it is. You all remind me of Trump supporters who say that they "know" the election was stolen and no data or facts anyone shows you will change your minds. But let's try an exercise in actual data, not your perceptions, shall we?

I am starting on the premise that what many of you are calling "the Hill" is the extended hill for purposes of this exercise. The Eastern HS IB population on CH can be approximated to zip codes 20002 and 20003. I am ignoring 20024 because it is very small and has even lower median income, etc. than 20002 and 20003. Trust me when I tell you including that does not help make your case. This is the actual data.

Population
Ward 3: 81,883
20002: 70,788
20003: 35,731

Median Income
Ward 3: $155,813
20002: $112,496
20003: $154,466

Families Below Poverty With Children
Ward 3: 0.7%
20002: 4.76%
20003: 4.27%

% with Bachelors Degree or Higher
Ward 3: 87%
20002: 64%
20003: 83%

Take a look at the % of families with kids below the poverty line. Those are the IB people sending kids to school. Even if we cherry pick just 20003, the data doesn't match Ward 3 and that's ignoring the fact that 20003 is much smaller than Ward 3 and that 20002 (IB for Eastern) is much larger and has even less favorable comparables to Ward 3.

I am not arguing that 20003 and 20002 UMC families don't have a right to send their kids to a school providing an excellent education. I am not arguing that sending your kids elsewhere is racist or that anyone should be condemned for doing so. My response here is a direct retort to those of you on this thread that think that just because everyone you know is UMC that must necessarily mean that the Hill's demographics are the same as your friends in Ward 3. They. Are. Not.

Good day, all.

You can’t compare 20002 and 20003 as an amorphous block when comparing Eastern to Wilson. Much of 20002 and 20003 are served by different much larger high schools. The Eastern catchment is small and much higher income.

Plus, Wilson =\= Ward 3. Wilson’s IB area includes parts of Ward 1 and Ward 4.

My post was in response to those people who stated categorically that the Hill demo and Ward 3 demos were the same. They are not. Now that the data is in front of you all some of you are moving the goalposts. We can talk about an entirely different topic if you'd like. I understand it makes many of you uncomfortable to realize that you don't live in the equivalent of Ward 3 (by Demo measurements).

What's funny/odd is that the reason I live on the Hill is because it ISN'T Ward 3. I like the economic and social diversity. Until now it never occurred to me how many people around me wish they lived in Ward 3 and tolerate the diversity some of us sought out.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:72% of eastern kids are at risk but only 37% of them actually live in boundary.

DP but now you want to carve out the Wilson IB kids that go private, and also carve out the at-risk Eastern kids that aren't IB? You have to realize every time you make a stretch like this you're proving PP's point, right? The enrolled populations are not similar.

Nobody said they enrolled populations are similar. The IB populations are similar! That’s the whole point! DCPS, and by extension Mr. Brown, didn’t/don’t care that so many people on the Hill find their IB HS so subpar as to not attend it.

This. I don’t give a hoot about Ward 3 having a marginally higher average income than Ward 6, the fact is that both school/IB populations are comprised of the very rich and the very poor. This principal has a demonstrated track record of not understand or not caring about one of those populations.

What exactly is this "demonstrated track record"? A couple of parents (who almost certainly weren't going to go to Eastern anyway) who got brushed off?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:72% of eastern kids are at risk but only 37% of them actually live in boundary.

DP but now you want to carve out the Wilson IB kids that go private, and also carve out the at-risk Eastern kids that aren't IB? You have to realize every time you make a stretch like this you're proving PP's point, right? The enrolled populations are not similar.

Nobody said they enrolled populations are similar. The IB populations are similar! That’s the whole point! DCPS, and by extension Mr. Brown, didn’t/don’t care that so many people on the Hill find their IB HS so subpar as to not attend it.

This. I don’t give a hoot about Ward 3 having a marginally higher average income than Ward 6, the fact is that both school/IB populations are comprised of the very rich and the very poor. This principal has a demonstrated track record of not understand or not caring about one of those populations.

That's one way to put it. I mean, it is intellectually dishonest, but it is one way to put it. In framing it that way you ignore that the IB populations don't mirror the enrolled populations and he's catering to the kids actually enrolled.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:72% of eastern kids are at risk but only 37% of them actually live in boundary.

DP but now you want to carve out the Wilson IB kids that go private, and also carve out the at-risk Eastern kids that aren't IB? You have to realize every time you make a stretch like this you're proving PP's point, right? The enrolled populations are not similar.

Nobody said they enrolled populations are similar. The IB populations are similar! That’s the whole point! DCPS, and by extension Mr. Brown, didn’t/don’t care that so many people on the Hill find their IB HS so subpar as to not attend it.

This. I don’t give a hoot about Ward 3 having a marginally higher average income than Ward 6, the fact is that both school/IB populations are comprised of the very rich and the very poor. This principal has a demonstrated track record of not understand or not caring about one of those populations.

That's one way to put it. I mean, it is intellectually dishonest, but it is one way to put it. In framing it that way you ignore that the IB populations don't mirror the enrolled populations and he's catering to the kids actually enrolled.

Those kids are also enrolled in Wilson, friend. That’s the whole point of the concern.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Having lived in both places, yes, the families of school aged kids in ward 3 tend to be much wealthier than on the hill. That said, a much higher percentage of the kids also attend privates. And wilson has its fair share of kids who live out of bounds, although probably not as many as eastern, as a percentage of the population.

I agree that if the Higher SES hill population on the hill sent their kids to eastern at the same rate that the higher SES population in ward 3 send their kids to wilson, the demographics could be much more similar. I understand the hesitance of hill parents who aren’t receiving assurance that eastern would offer the same advanced coursework as wilson, even if kids capable of that work enroll at the school. I also understand the worry of ward 3 parents who hear that he did not try to attract hill parents to eastern, and think that he might also not seek to maintain the higher SES IB population at wilson. That said, ward 3 has status quo on its side.

I assume that the bolded is an effort to argue that the enrolled populations are not materially dissimilar when one considers OOB kid enrolled at Wilson and those who self-select out of Ward 3 to private schools. The data does not align with your hypothesis. 72+% of Eastern kids are "at-risk". That's 22% for Wilson.

But the larger point that you and others seem to be arguing is that the IB demographics of Eastern and Ward 3 are similar (if not identical). No matter how many times you repeat the claim and try to condescendingly dismiss away facts because, for instance, "you have lived in both places" the data is what it is. You all remind me of Trump supporters who say that they "know" the election was stolen and no data or facts anyone shows you will change your minds. But let's try an exercise in actual data, not your perceptions, shall we?

I am starting on the premise that what many of you are calling "the Hill" is the extended hill for purposes of this exercise. The Eastern HS IB population on CH can be approximated to zip codes 20002 and 20003. I am ignoring 20024 because it is very small and has even lower median income, etc. than 20002 and 20003. Trust me when I tell you including that does not help make your case. This is the actual data.

Population
Ward 3: 81,883
20002: 70,788
20003: 35,731

Median Income
Ward 3: $155,813
20002: $112,496
20003: $154,466

Families Below Poverty With Children
Ward 3: 0.7%
20002: 4.76%
20003: 4.27%

% with Bachelors Degree or Higher
Ward 3: 87%
20002: 64%
20003: 83%

Take a look at the % of families with kids below the poverty line. Those are the IB people sending kids to school. Even if we cherry pick just 20003, the data doesn't match Ward 3 and that's ignoring the fact that 20003 is much smaller than Ward 3 and that 20002 (IB for Eastern) is much larger and has even less favorable comparables to Ward 3.

I am not arguing that 20003 and 20002 UMC families don't have a right to send their kids to a school providing an excellent education. I am not arguing that sending your kids elsewhere is racist or that anyone should be condemned for doing so. My response here is a direct retort to those of you on this thread that think that just because everyone you know is UMC that must necessarily mean that the Hill's demographics are the same as your friends in Ward 3. They. Are. Not.

Good day, all.

You can’t compare 20002 and 20003 as an amorphous block when comparing Eastern to Wilson. Much of 20002 and 20003 are served by different much larger high schools. The Eastern catchment is small and much higher income.

Plus, Wilson =\= Ward 3. Wilson’s IB area includes parts of Ward 1 and Ward 4.

My post was in response to those people who stated categorically that the Hill demo and Ward 3 demos were the same. They are not. Now that the data is in front of you all some of you are moving the goalposts. We can talk about an entirely different topic if you'd like. I understand it makes many of you uncomfortable to realize that you don't live in the equivalent of Ward 3 (by Demo measurements).

What's funny/odd is that the reason I live on the Hill is because it ISN'T Ward 3. I like the economic and social diversity. Until now it never occurred to me how many people around me wish they lived in Ward 3 and tolerate the diversity some of us sought out.

You are literally the only person weirdly obsessed with the comparison.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:72% of eastern kids are at risk but only 37% of them actually live in boundary.

DP but now you want to carve out the Wilson IB kids that go private, and also carve out the at-risk Eastern kids that aren't IB? You have to realize every time you make a stretch like this you're proving PP's point, right? The enrolled populations are not similar.

Nobody said they enrolled populations are similar. The IB populations are similar! That’s the whole point! DCPS, and by extension Mr. Brown, didn’t/don’t care that so many people on the Hill find their IB HS so subpar as to not attend it.

This. I don’t give a hoot about Ward 3 having a marginally higher average income than Ward 6, the fact is that both school/IB populations are comprised of the very rich and the very poor. This principal has a demonstrated track record of not understand or not caring about one of those populations.

That's one way to put it. I mean, it is intellectually dishonest, but it is one way to put it. In framing it that way you ignore that the IB populations don't mirror the enrolled populations and he's catering to the kids actually enrolled.

Those kids are also enrolled in Wilson, friend. That’s the whole point of the concern.

+1 and the previous poster is correct that the status quo at Wilson is actually weakening academics, implementing programs like honors for all and generally moving in the wrong direction.

So DCPS gave the new role to a principal serving a majority of underperforming population with no experience of higher performing students to do what? Reverse the above? 😉

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:


I’m very surprised that a parent wouldn’t expect the principal of a schools to focus on the students AT THE SCHOOL rather than trying to replace those students with different ones. What a bizarre expectation.


A principal should do both! If the IB students avoid the school, then the system—DCPS in this case—is not serving those students well. Same for all the schools that the OOB come from. It’s great that the system lets people lottery for different schools, but IB should be the default, or else the system has given up trying to make it’s schools not suck.

THIS. DCPS could put the effort in to create a high performing gen ed MS/HS in Capitol Hill but it hasn't. And it is always DCPS circular logic: Why should DCPS care about what IB families want when it's not the IB families at the school. Well, the IB families aren't at the school because the school doesn't care about what IB families want . . . .

I wish NPR or the NYT would do a series about this catch-22 and be able to source actual data and experiences and results. I mean, I guess it is possible that it is just this easy, but, hmmmmmmmmmm.

Oh wait. Never mind. Nice White Parents. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/23/podcasts/nice-white-parents-serial.html

Could you say more about how you think the lessons of NWP applies in this circumstance?

I know there is the basic idea of a UMC parent wanting something more from the school, but beyond that I don’t see similarities. Eastern is not under-resourced. OP is not white, is neither attracted nor put-off by Eastern’s racial composition, is not wanting new programs. OP was concerned about the lack of achievement in a program the school already has and wanted reassurance that her kid could get a good education and successfully qualify for an IB diploma. She found the principal underwhelming and unable to give her that reassurance.

So what’s the answer? OP deciding not to worry about whether her child would actually end up with an IB diploma?

The answer the NWP poster alludes to is OP not having the gall to ask questions relating to the performance of Eastern's IB Diploma program of Mr. Brown in the first place. Subsequently, she should have avoided briefly reporting on the nature of her interaction with, and professional impressions of, him so as not to open herself up to attack.

Let's say she'd stuck to a script governed by avoidance, a failure to engage. In that case, what would have been achieved?

meh. Nice White Parents *actually attend* the school and annoy people with their anti-bologna sandwich campaigns. That is much different (and better) than OP, who just wants to publicly criticize a black principal at a school she doesn’t attend, based on a single conversation.

So higher income parents get bashed if they attend their low performing school and they get bashed if they decide not to attend. What exactly would make you happy. Would you prefer they just leave DCPS and go private? It does seem like no one here has an issue with private school parents but watch out if you are high income and highly educated and want to attend your local DCPS high school.

PP here. I think the parents attending schools have every right to organize however they want.

LOL. That was the main problem in “Nice White Parents” — new families showing up and the leading change according to their interests.

I guess you are not very familiar with the series you referenced?

Just because I can summarize the argument doesn’t mean I agree with it. I think “NWP” is an illegitimate and bad-faith racialized attack on parents sending their kids to the local schools. OP deciding to put a principal on blast (when she never went to the school) due to a fundamental misunderstanding of the situation is annoying and exhausting.

I guess you’re kinda hoping that no one listened to the series so you can try to get away with your absurd characterization of Nice White Parents, huh? Of course, those of us who actually listened to the show know that it had absolutely nothing to do with an attack on parents sending their kids to local schools, but was rather a critique of generations of white parents whose kids didn’t attend the school organizing to push for changes to a local school that the people actually attending the school didn’t need or want, changes which the school board prioritized over the actual well being of the kids attending the school. Repeatedly.

DP here. I did not agree with the NWP podcast. The changes they documented are most likely real but it is divisive and disingenuous to blame the parents. Parents will always do what is best for their own kids. That is why it is stupid and ineffective for posters on here railing that wealthy parents should just enroll at Eastern for the greater good. The school board and central administration should be focused on trying to provide what all students need including upper income students. If new parents were advocating for changes that did not serve the majority of students well, then the school board should push back. I don’t blame the parents in this case. If a parent wants French at the school, they should advocate for it. However the principal and school district should be firm about not granting the request if it is not beneficial to the school as a whole or if it takes resources away from a more popular offering like Spanish

I agree. Except my specific issue here is that Hill parents need to show some agency and *organize themselves* if they want to make Eastern and Eliot Hine viable. I think it's absurd to think the principal will do it for you.

Yeah we have tried that before and we got called racists.

This happened to me from Brent in 2009 with Fenty and Rhee. Singularly miserable collective experience for well-intentioned Brent PTA parents. We ran off to a charter for MS/HS. Brown isn't going to improve matters.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:72% of eastern kids are at risk but only 37% of them actually live in boundary.

DP but now you want to carve out the Wilson IB kids that go private, and also carve out the at-risk Eastern kids that aren't IB? You have to realize every time you make a stretch like this you're proving PP's point, right? The enrolled populations are not similar.

Nobody said they enrolled populations are similar. The IB populations are similar! That’s the whole point! DCPS, and by extension Mr. Brown, didn’t/don’t care that so many people on the Hill find their IB HS so subpar as to not attend it.

This. I don’t give a hoot about Ward 3 having a marginally higher average income than Ward 6, the fact is that both school/IB populations are comprised of the very rich and the very poor. This principal has a demonstrated track record of not understand or not caring about one of those populations.

That's one way to put it. I mean, it is intellectually dishonest, but it is one way to put it. In framing it that way you ignore that the IB populations don't mirror the enrolled populations and he's catering to the kids actually enrolled.

We all understand the enrolled population differs from the IB population! But the IB population wants a solid high school to attend. But DCPS and its representative have not been responsive to them.

Sure the principal should spend much of his time on the enrolled students, but asking for a school that meets the needs of one’s kids is *not* “asking to be catered to.” DCPS is obligated to educate *all* it’s residents, but finds that too much trouble to bother.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Having lived in both places, yes, the families of school aged kids in ward 3 tend to be much wealthier than on the hill. That said, a much higher percentage of the kids also attend privates. And wilson has its fair share of kids who live out of bounds, although probably not as many as eastern, as a percentage of the population.

I agree that if the Higher SES hill population on the hill sent their kids to eastern at the same rate that the higher SES population in ward 3 send their kids to wilson, the demographics could be much more similar. I understand the hesitance of hill parents who aren’t receiving assurance that eastern would offer the same advanced coursework as wilson, even if kids capable of that work enroll at the school. I also understand the worry of ward 3 parents who hear that he did not try to attract hill parents to eastern, and think that he might also not seek to maintain the higher SES IB population at wilson. That said, ward 3 has status quo on its side.

I assume that the bolded is an effort to argue that the enrolled populations are not materially dissimilar when one considers OOB kid enrolled at Wilson and those who self-select out of Ward 3 to private schools. The data does not align with your hypothesis. 72+% of Eastern kids are "at-risk". That's 22% for Wilson.

But the larger point that you and others seem to be arguing is that the IB demographics of Eastern and Ward 3 are similar (if not identical). No matter how many times you repeat the claim and try to condescendingly dismiss away facts because, for instance, "you have lived in both places" the data is what it is. You all remind me of Trump supporters who say that they "know" the election was stolen and no data or facts anyone shows you will change your minds. But let's try an exercise in actual data, not your perceptions, shall we?

I am starting on the premise that what many of you are calling "the Hill" is the extended hill for purposes of this exercise. The Eastern HS IB population on CH can be approximated to zip codes 20002 and 20003. I am ignoring 20024 because it is very small and has even lower median income, etc. than 20002 and 20003. Trust me when I tell you including that does not help make your case. This is the actual data.

Population
Ward 3: 81,883
20002: 70,788
20003: 35,731

Median Income
Ward 3: $155,813
20002: $112,496
20003: $154,466

Families Below Poverty With Children
Ward 3: 0.7%
20002: 4.76%
20003: 4.27%

% with Bachelors Degree or Higher
Ward 3: 87%
20002: 64%
20003: 83%

Take a look at the % of families with kids below the poverty line. Those are the IB people sending kids to school. Even if we cherry pick just 20003, the data doesn't match Ward 3 and that's ignoring the fact that 20003 is much smaller than Ward 3 and that 20002 (IB for Eastern) is much larger and has even less favorable comparables to Ward 3.

I am not arguing that 20003 and 20002 UMC families don't have a right to send their kids to a school providing an excellent education. I am not arguing that sending your kids elsewhere is racist or that anyone should be condemned for doing so. My response here is a direct retort to those of you on this thread that think that just because everyone you know is UMC that must necessarily mean that the Hill's demographics are the same as your friends in Ward 3. They. Are. Not.

Good day, all.

You can’t compare 20002 and 20003 as an amorphous block when comparing Eastern to Wilson. Much of 20002 and 20003 are served by different much larger high schools. The Eastern catchment is small and much higher income.

It also includes 20024. You want to include 20024 too? OK.

Your belief that demographics of catchments for Eastern and Wilson are the same is not supported by data. I said it before I will say it again; you and your friends are in many ways no different than the Trump people who "know" the election was stolen and they are unwilling to listen to logic, reason or data that clearly disproves their belief.

Population
Ward 3: 81,883
20002: 70,788
20003: 35,731
20024: 13,138

Median Income
Ward 3: $155,813
20002: $112,496
20003: $154,466
20024: $103,925

Families Below Poverty With Children
Ward 3: 0.7%
20002: 4.76%
20003: 4.27%
20024: 4.88%

% with Bachelors Degree or Higher
Ward 3: 87%
20002: 64%
20003: 83%
20024: 82%

First, I think your stats actually show that the W3 and 20003 demographics are *incredibly* similar except that there are 4% additional families below the poverty line in 20003. Given that the median incomes are functionally identical, we don't really know what this means (are there 4% of W3ers who are like $5 above the poverty line or is the entire curve shaped differently or is just the very end of the curve differently shaped?)... but a school that is 5% below the poverty line is not going to have huge issues, so if the two schools were limited to THOSE populations, they would look the same with one extra guidance counselor at the 20002 school.

Second, 20002 extends way up into Trinidad and into lots of area that isn't zoned for Eastern (e.g., Wheatley education campus) and that whole chunk is much poorer. If you actually just took the part of 20002 that's IB for Eastern, it really would look different because of how poverty is concentrated. Not quite like 20003 and W3... though I actually think the % below the poverty line would be lower in the 20002 Eastern IB than in 20003 because of Potomac Gardens; the Eastern IB part of 20002 doesn't have that kind of concentrated poverty and the difference is only .5 to begin with.

But most importantly, the MEDIAN in all of these areas is over $100K! That means these IBs should be EASILY majority MC & UMC which is really what posters meant to begin with...