Resentful and annoyed

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:1) all caps not needed

2) that person is not going to stay where they are, but clearly having choices was meaningful to them

3) move somewhere else if you want an IB school choice

You're completely missing the point. We shouldn't have to move to get a decent education for our kids. Education is a right not a privilege. It is incredibly unfair that ward 3 parents are able to take charter school places away from families that have no other viable option.

That is absolutely ridiculous. Why should a Ward 3 parent not have the same opportunity to send their child to a charter school that any other parent has?

Because she has the option to send her kid to a great ward 3 school. When kids from ward 5 or ward 6 or ward 8 have the RIGHT to a great school in addition to the option of lotterying in to a charter it will be fair. Right now that possibility is only available to the rich.

But she pays the same taxes for the same services. Her tax money goes into the pool that supports all the schools. If she pays in, why is she not entitled to use the services she pays for?

I pay taxes for the same services. My tax money goes into a pool that supports all the schools. Why do I not have a RIGHT to send my kid to a great school? Why is my only option the failing neighborhood school? I pay just the same taxes that someone in ward 3 pays.

You have a RIGHT to a free public education. You have the RIGHT to get involved in the school to make it great.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Hi there from Ward 3 -

We are some of the people that live in apartments on Connecticut Avenue and drag down the test scores, 'SES', English speaking abilities, and overall environment of the little snowflakes down the street in their million dollar homes.

I understand why OP is resentful and annoyed at those who win the lottery. And she would hate our family as well because we got into a highly sought after charter school in the lottery and we are zoned for a JKLM. However, I want to note that we also pay taxes in this city and we are also interested in bilingual education for our child. So, I do feel that we should have as much right to lottery for a charter school as anyone else in the city. Just because we have a decently good IB school does not mean that we should be shut out of all of the charter schools in the city. Plus, our JKLM is SO over-crowded that I am not very optimistic about its state right now.....

I agree with some of the previous posters that in an ideal world, you should not be resentful of other people for having made different life choices. But at the same time, I too am resentful and annoyed at some people for making - or having the option to make - different choices than ours. We have chosen to prioritize schools over neighborhood, space, and number of children. For a good IB school, we have chosen to live in a fairly small apartment. For a good IB school, we have chosen to have one child (b/c we need to live in a small apartment to do so!). For a good IB school, we have chosen to live in a part of the city that would not be my ideal choice - it's a bit too ritzy and pasty white for my taste.
So, I don't think you should resent me. I gave up those other things in order to have more education-oriented choices, which we now have. That makes me very happy. However, because of the tradeoffs of life, I am resentful of other things. I resent my neighbors and friends for having bigger homes. I resent OP and others for having two children or more versus my one. I resent my colleagues and friends that live in cooler, more fun parts of the city that are closer to metro or downtown.

But that resentment leaves me nowhere. In the end, we cannot have it all. Too many of us were taught to dream that we could have it all, which I think is a failure of our generation. We just have to decide what is most important to us and make choices based on those values. For OP, if you continue to be unlucky in the lotteries and if education is very important to you, join us in a small apartment in Ward 3 - or even in MoCO or VA if Ward 3 is too expensive for the size you want. Living in a small apartment is honestly not so bad. The proximity of wonderful neighbors in our building makes the loss of space a joy.

Signed,
Don't Resent Me b/c I Won the Lottery

Why are you suffering in your cramped space to have a great IB option if you just said that you DON'T want to go to your IB school and you lotteried in. Your post makes no sense.

Agree. If you moved so that you have a good school for your kids then SEND YOUR KIDS TO THAT DAMN SCHOOL AND STOP TAKING LOTTERY PLACES AWAY FROM THOSE OF US WHO NEED THEM.

Translation - if you moved so you have a good IB school, send your kids there and stop taking lottery spots from those of us who prioritized larger homes, cooler neighborhoods or convenience, and now regret it because the chickens have come home to roost.

There. Fixed it for you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:1) all caps not needed

2) that person is not going to stay where they are, but clearly having choices was meaningful to them

3) move somewhere else if you want an IB school choice

You're completely missing the point. We shouldn't have to move to get a decent education for our kids. Education is a right not a privilege. It is incredibly unfair that ward 3 parents are able to take charter school places away from families that have no other viable option.

That is absolutely ridiculous. Why should a Ward 3 parent not have the same opportunity to send their child to a charter school that any other parent has?

Because she has the option to send her kid to a great ward 3 school. When kids from ward 5 or ward 6 or ward 8 have the RIGHT to a great school in addition to the option of lotterying in to a charter it will be fair. Right now that possibility is only available to the rich.

Wait, you're saying that with money come additional choices that can make life easier and/or better for your whole family?

Getthefuckouttahere.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:1) all caps not needed

2) that person is not going to stay where they are, but clearly having choices was meaningful to them

3) move somewhere else if you want an IB school choice

You're completely missing the point. We shouldn't have to move to get a decent education for our kids. Education is a right not a privilege. It is incredibly unfair that ward 3 parents are able to take charter school places away from families that have no other viable option.

That is absolutely ridiculous. Why should a Ward 3 parent not have the same opportunity to send their child to a charter school that any other parent has?

Because she has the option to send her kid to a great ward 3 school. When kids from ward 5 or ward 6 or ward 8 have the RIGHT to a great school in addition to the option of lotterying in to a charter it will be fair. Right now that possibility is only available to the rich.

Wait, you're saying that with money come additional choices that can make life easier and/or better for your whole family?

And not only that, the government facilitates it for you -- what a deal.

Getthefuckouttahere.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
Translation - if you moved so you have a good IB school, send your kids there and stop taking lottery spots from those of us who prioritized larger homes, cooler neighborhoods or convenience, and now regret it because the chickens have come home to roost.

There. Fixed it for you.

further translation - chickens = government officials, and "come home to roost" = taking advantage of who they think they can most easily

[Anonymous]

I'm moving from IB for one of the JKLM school to IB to another JKLM school, and I'm super poor-never made over $25k.What is the problem again?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:No, I can't move. My housing costs are $1200 a month for a family of 4. Tell me where in the city I could get somewhere to live for that price and a good school? I have lived here since long before I had children so it was not a consideration when I saw single.

People who throw around "can't you move" have no understanding of the reality of normal people who don't have incomes into six figures.

Get out of the city. Move to MoCo --Gaithersburg is your best bet for $1200 a month for a 2 br. Send your children to MCPS.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:SILVER SPRING

Oh come on. OP may be desperate, but she's not dying.

Nothing at $1200 for a family of 4 in Silver Spring. Try $1600 for a 2 br.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:When I bought into my "hip" part of the city. It wasn't...we got our place for a steal with warnings about living in this horrible area. We were young and never even thought about having kids. Flash forward, and we now love our neighborhood, love the hipsters that grew around us and don't want to sacrifice.

Lucky for us, we are in a great charter, but why should my neighbors have to sacrifice because they didn't win the lottery? We should ALL have great schools. Until the time we stop fighting with each other and start asking our political "leaders" to prioritize that we are nothing more then children complaining about something they want, but won't work to get.

+1000

Opposing point. There are many of us over here in Ward 3 who have scrimped and sacrificed to live in a good school district with a good feeder pattern. A lot of us came from the "hip" areas of the city and we kind of resent that we had to move. Yes, everyone deserves good schools but we did sacrifice over here. I know I"ll get flamed and I realize that we are very lucky and not everyone has the luxury to make that sacrifice. Said very tongue in cheek.. But there are many families in cramped 2 bedroom apartments who would much rather be living in a row home in a cool part of the city. There's a reason the suburbs exist

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:When I bought into my "hip" part of the city. It wasn't...we got our place for a steal with warnings about living in this horrible area. We were young and never even thought about having kids. Flash forward, and we now love our neighborhood, love the hipsters that grew around us and don't want to sacrifice.

Lucky for us, we are in a great charter, but why should my neighbors have to sacrifice because they didn't win the lottery? We should ALL have great schools. Until the time we stop fighting with each other and start asking our political "leaders" to prioritize that we are nothing more then children complaining about something they want, but won't work to get.

+1000

Opposing point. There are many of us over here in Ward 3 who have scrimped and sacrificed to live in a good school district with a good feeder pattern. A lot of us came from the "hip" areas of the city and we kind of resent that we had to move. Yes, everyone deserves good schools but we did sacrifice over here. I know I"ll get flamed and I realize that we are very lucky and not everyone has the luxury to make that sacrifice. Said very tongue in cheek.. But there are many families in cramped 2 bedroom apartments who would much rather be living in a row home in a cool part of the city. There's a reason the suburbs exist

?????

[Anonymous]

Not sure that $1200 for family of four is realistic in downtown DC OP, I think that is the message here.

[Anonymous]

Wow - resent that you had to move. You made a choice. And that makes you are a victim? I am so tired of Ward 3 parents saying that living in a "cool part of town" is childish etc. We all make choices based on what is important to us. We also ALL want what is best for our children. That may or may not fit your model of what you did. How many times do we have to refight this war?

[Anonymous]

What's even better is that only parents who live in Ward 3 can complain about how hard they have it. If any of us in areas with less-than-stellar schools complain then we are being selfish etc and should just pick up our families and move into their part of town. Crowding their schools, making it worse, etc. etc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If you have a school filled almost entirely with families who live near or below the poverty level, how do you make it succeed?

More money?

I have to agree it is hard to imagine how it can be made into a great school. There are so few experiments outside the Harlem Children's Zone to know what can be done. Frankly, I think the reason so many of us flee poor schools is that we know that reducing poverty cannot be done on the backs of education. It has to involve better housing, wages, quality food, community supports like quality child care from birth. In the current polarized political and generational dialogue this seems impossible. After-all pensioners vote, well off people vote, poor and children do not.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Not sure that $1200 for family of four is realistic in downtown DC OP, I think that is the message here.

I live downtown rent in my neighborhood is 3,000 a month. Just sayin'