Entitled EOTP parents

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:So let's put aside the Trix yogurt/sugar debate for a moment.

Title 1 schools have some gentrifiers who want to help. What would you have them do? They have already decided the Title 1 school is a good place for their child to go - is it possible we could all take a moment and think about that? It wasn't all that long ago that these parents were choosing suburbs over moving to areas in the City that have "up and coming" Title 1 schools. Clearly some of these new parents have irritated their fellow parents with their approaches; clearly they ought to be more sensitive to their surroundings. But what does that mean exactly? Show up, ideally add to the "up and coming" quotient, but otherwise keep your mouth shut? Doesn't sound particularly welcoming. If you want these new parents be part of the community, give them some time to figure it out. Any pre-K parent in any school in DCPS will burn out by 1st grade if they battle Trix-type issues. Or, better yet, reach out, say hello, and fill them in (if you really think they are that clueless) in a gracious way about what you think the priorities should be.

There is another thread on what title 1 parents can do to improve the school in a positive way: http://www.dcurbanmom.com/jforum/posts/list/446861.page

[Anonymous]

Well, great. Then hopefully they will read that thread instead of this one.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I miss our old Title 1 school in many ways. The kids were great, the parents were more laid back, and the admin and PTA KNEW not to constantly ask the parents for more money. It was more egalitarian in many ways. There was a lot of support from the administration. The teachers ran the aftercare. If you drove a beater car, nobody would look at you sideways. But there are plenty of nice parents and kids at the new school as well. I appeciate what the upper SES parents can bring, even if I am not one of them.

Your PTO is not asking YOU for more money, they are asking every parent to contribute SOMEthing to the PTO, for the benefit of the entire community. At my WOTP school, barely half of the parents contribute to the PTO, but at least the PTO has enough funds to provide some extras (but not enough, certainly not Janney-level). Since you appreciate the extras you are getting at your new non-Title 1 school, I hope your family is contributing something to the PTO. On other boards, it's remarkable how many EOTP parents (perhaps not you) come up with a litany of lame -- entitled? - excuses for not contributing to their WOTP PTO.

We do contribute but this is the kind of WOTP rantiness that is very off-putting. Because when you say it like that, it sounds like you think that if a family is barely getting by, and only pays what they can afford without overextending themselves, they are lame and entitled.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:So let's put aside the Trix yogurt/sugar debate for a moment.

Title 1 schools have some gentrifiers who want to help. What would you have them do? They have already decided the Title 1 school is a good place for their child to go - is it possible we could all take a moment and think about that? It wasn't all that long ago that these parents were choosing suburbs over moving to areas in the City that have "up and coming" Title 1 schools. Clearly some of these new parents have irritated their fellow parents with their approaches; clearly they ought to be more sensitive to their surroundings. But what does that mean exactly? Show up, ideally add to the "up and coming" quotient, but otherwise keep your mouth shut? Doesn't sound particularly welcoming. If you want these new parents be part of the community, give them some time to figure it out. Any pre-K parent in any school in DCPS will burn out by 1st grade if they battle Trix-type issues. Or, better yet, reach out, say hello, and fill them in (if you really think they are that clueless) in a gracious way about what you think the priorities should be.

I've posted this a couple times before in this thread, but it could stand to be said again: If you want to be helpful, ASK how you can be of help. The teachers and principal and PTA leaders will no doubt have ideas and put you to work.

[Anonymous]

Hopefully most new parents do just that. But, sometimes parents need to be reminded. I'm just suggesting maybe someone could help out those parents who are clearly overstepping. It's new for them. They are anxious and excited. People react different ways to that. Of course, there are always going to be those few who just don't get it.