DCI Parent Petition

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Non-DCI parent here, but my son is in a feeder school and I hope he will attend middle and high school there in a few years. In DCI, I want:
- High quality and stable teachers and leaders who run an academically rigorous school that will prepare my child to achieve to his potential
- A safe school with a strong culture, where students who want to learn aren't constantly disrupted by students who don't
- The continuation of a rigorous foreign language program
- Strong, hands-on science classes with labs. Rigorous history courses. Reasonably good extra-curriculars

I also want my child to go to a diverse school where he will be expected to be kind to others and leave the world a bit better than he found it. But a school that teaches to a high standard and also sets a high standard for student behavior (and has strong accountability systems to ensure both) are my top two priorities. Why doesx this seem so hard for middle and high schools to get right?

SOME staff are ideologically opposed to sacrificing “equity” for rigor- it’s not purely an either or thing at all, but when the equity goals conflict with what we know produces good academic outcomes (eg, streaming based on test scores might lead some groups to be underrepresented in advanced classes)- many many staff and admin choose equity over rigor.

Actually, DCI has shown you can have equity and rigor.

What’s destroying rigor at DCI right now isn’t an ideology. It’s losing both IB coordinators, cutting staff development 41%, and driving out 125 staff in two years.

That’s a leadership problem. Not an equity problem.

This is absolutely it. New leadership and possibly even a new Board is what is needed.

[Anonymous]

School newspaper just dropped a special edition expose. Amazing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:School newspaper just dropped a special edition expose. Amazing.

Is that online? Link?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:School newspaper just dropped a special edition expose. Amazing.

Is that online? Link?

https://www.instagram.com/dci_newspaper/

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1tFezsBJ2KJM2uDW37Gq0kZQyf7Fcqi5fVEjUbl5m_jU/edit?tab=t.0#heading=h.4z2kyyema2et

[Anonymous]

Any new update on this situation? School seems to have gone silent.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:School newspaper just dropped a special edition expose. Amazing.

Is that online? Link?

https://www.instagram.com/dci_newspaper/

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1tFezsBJ2KJM2uDW37Gq0kZQyf7Fcqi5fVEjUbl5m_jU/edit?tab=t.0#heading=h.4z2kyyema2et

With all the drama, I was expecting worse. Basically they don’t like being accountable to show up a on time and DCI released an at will employee without telling all the staff and students the reason.

Sounds like the biggest issue is with the union. “Salaries have also been a central facet of the complaints made by teachers and staff. Last year, DCI teachers unionized in the hope of getting higher pay, but some of them say they have not seen the changes that they were promised.”

Who promised them higher pay? Sounds like they should be hammering the Mayor and Council for funding parity like the law requires so they could get paid more.

[Anonymous]

The latest Board meeting was a debacle. I cannot believe the Board continues to support retaining a leader who is so clearly unfit to lead DCI. The Board at this point may be an even bigger barrier to restoring the DCI community than Rosskam himself. So disappointing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:School newspaper just dropped a special edition expose. Amazing.

Is that online? Link?

https://www.instagram.com/dci_newspaper/

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1tFezsBJ2KJM2uDW37Gq0kZQyf7Fcqi5fVEjUbl5m_jU/edit?tab=t.0#heading=h.4z2kyyema2et

With all the drama, I was expecting worse. Basically they don’t like being accountable to show up a on time and DCI released an at will employee without telling all the staff and students the reason.

Sounds like the biggest issue is with the union. “Salaries have also been a central facet of the complaints made by teachers and staff. Last year, DCI teachers unionized in the hope of getting higher pay, but some of them say they have not seen the changes that they were promised.”

Who promised them higher pay? Sounds like they should be hammering the Mayor and Council for funding parity like the law requires so they could get paid more.

I support the unionization drive but I thought it was messy and poorly led. I am not very surprised that the teachers are learning the hard way that collective bargaining involves bargaining. Best case scenario with a union at a charter school is you have fewer permanent staff making more money, and worst case is you still get people fired and churn increases because admin starts doing things like auditing card punches and firing troublemakers who might have a problem with the concept of linear time.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The latest Board meeting was a debacle. I cannot believe the Board continues to support retaining a leader who is so clearly unfit to lead DCI. The Board at this point may be an even bigger barrier to restoring the DCI community than Rosskam himself. So disappointing.

It’s become increasingly clear that the anti Rosskam faction is a bunch of equity whiners who are delusional about what most parents at the school want, and the board understands they shouldn’t capitulate to a bunch of loud malcontents from a low performing Montessori school who caused drama there as well.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Non-DCI parent here, but my son is in a feeder school and I hope he will attend middle and high school there in a few years. In DCI, I want:
- High quality and stable teachers and leaders who run an academically rigorous school that will prepare my child to achieve to his potential
- A safe school with a strong culture, where students who want to learn aren't constantly disrupted by students who don't
- The continuation of a rigorous foreign language program
- Strong, hands-on science classes with labs. Rigorous history courses. Reasonably good extra-curriculars

I also want my child to go to a diverse school where he will be expected to be kind to others and leave the world a bit better than he found it. But a school that teaches to a high standard and also sets a high standard for student behavior (and has strong accountability systems to ensure both) are my top two priorities. Why doesx this seem so hard for middle and high schools to get right?

SOME staff are ideologically opposed to sacrificing “equity” for rigor- it’s not purely an either or thing at all, but when the equity goals conflict with what we know produces good academic outcomes (eg, streaming based on test scores might lead some groups to be underrepresented in advanced classes)- many many staff and admin choose equity over rigor.

Actually, DCI has shown you can have equity and rigor.

What’s destroying rigor at DCI right now isn’t an ideology. It’s losing both IB coordinators, cutting staff development 41%, and driving out 125 staff in two years.

That’s a leadership problem. Not an equity problem.

By what standard does DCI have rigor? I think DCI is actually a pretty good school by DC standards but by national standards the test scores we have are not particularly good.

Just offering the classes is not “rigor.”

There definitely is rigor, and there are definitely remedial classes for those who need them. I think the mixed nature is pushing down test scores but the kids at the top are doing very well. I say this as a parent of a child who is a high performer who spoke to college counselors and the school admin about this. My biggest issue is that if you are a high performer at DCI, you are essentially stuck there because there is no other school in dc that offers the ultra challenging math courses, science courses, and language courses that my kiddo is taking. Banneker and Eastern are both IB but don’t offer that level of math or those science courses. And the AP offered at walls are those they took as a sophomore. I think that’s very disappointing.

There's rigor at DCI but not nearly enough choice for full IBD track students given the breadth of the curriculum internationally. For example, all DCI IBD students need to take Higher Level English to earn the Diploma. Standard Level English isn't an option which is punitive to students who don't excel in English. Nobody's forced to take HL English in the longstanding suburban IBD programs. And there are just a few Individuals and Societies offerings at DCI while some of the suburban IBD public high school programs offer 8 or 9. Banneker and Eastern offer lame IBD. DCI offers good but far from great IBD.

Do look a gift horse in the mouth. The reality is that DCI offers a pared down version of IBD compared to the burbs, and the HS parents are passive in the face of narrow range of course offerings. Choices are limited to an unreasonable extent. No, DCI college admissions aren't phenomenal, not give the potential.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The latest Board meeting was a debacle. I cannot believe the Board continues to support retaining a leader who is so clearly unfit to lead DCI. The Board at this point may be an even bigger barrier to restoring the DCI community than Rosskam himself. So disappointing.

It’s become increasingly clear that the anti Rosskam faction is a bunch of equity whiners who are delusional about what most parents at the school want, and the board understands they shouldn’t capitulate to a bunch of loud malcontents from a low performing Montessori school who caused drama there as well.

The fact that some people can watch months of staff warnings, student walkouts, family concerns, public testimony, and formal complaints and conclude that the problem is "a bunch of whiners" says a lot.

I'd encourage everyone to watch the May 21 testimony and the Board's response. The issue isn't whether every criticism is valid. The issue is whether the Board is providing the independent oversight and accountability that DCI deserves.

Based on what I've seen, that's the real leadership crisis.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:School newspaper just dropped a special edition expose. Amazing.

Is that online? Link?

https://www.instagram.com/dci_newspaper/

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1tFezsBJ2KJM2uDW37Gq0kZQyf7Fcqi5fVEjUbl5m_jU/edit?tab=t.0#heading=h.4z2kyyema2et

With all the drama, I was expecting worse. Basically they don’t like being accountable to show up a on time and DCI released an at will employee without telling all the staff and students the reason.

Sounds like the biggest issue is with the union. “Salaries have also been a central facet of the complaints made by teachers and staff. Last year, DCI teachers unionized in the hope of getting higher pay, but some of them say they have not seen the changes that they were promised.”

Who promised them higher pay? Sounds like they should be hammering the Mayor and Council for funding parity like the law requires so they could get paid more.

I support the unionization drive but I thought it was messy and poorly led. I am not very surprised that the teachers are learning the hard way that collective bargaining involves bargaining. Best case scenario with a union at a charter school is you have fewer permanent staff making more money, and worst case is you still get people fired and churn increases because admin starts doing things like auditing card punches and firing troublemakers who might have a problem with the concept of linear time.

This part is very sad. There’s a limited amount of funding going to each charter and raising salaries most often means cutting elsewhere. It’s too bad when those cuts have to come from reducing staff instead of other kinds of expenses. But like the previous poster said earlier that’s why the teachers and their union reps should be livid that charters are being shorted in the budget. And it’s only going to get worse if the current budget proposal passes - less than half of the teacher pay amount previously provided to charters is reflected in the upcoming year’s budget.

On top of that, this seems like a contract that was badly negotiated from the teacher/staff’s side and they are trying to make the admin the fall guy for contract issues.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:School newspaper just dropped a special edition expose. Amazing.

Is that online? Link?

https://www.instagram.com/dci_newspaper/

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1tFezsBJ2KJM2uDW37Gq0kZQyf7Fcqi5fVEjUbl5m_jU/edit?tab=t.0#heading=h.4z2kyyema2et

With all the drama, I was expecting worse. Basically they don’t like being accountable to show up a on time and DCI released an at will employee without telling all the staff and students the reason.

Sounds like the biggest issue is with the union. “Salaries have also been a central facet of the complaints made by teachers and staff. Last year, DCI teachers unionized in the hope of getting higher pay, but some of them say they have not seen the changes that they were promised.”

Who promised them higher pay? Sounds like they should be hammering the Mayor and Council for funding parity like the law requires so they could get paid more.

I support the unionization drive but I thought it was messy and poorly led. I am not very surprised that the teachers are learning the hard way that collective bargaining involves bargaining. Best case scenario with a union at a charter school is you have fewer permanent staff making more money, and worst case is you still get people fired and churn increases because admin starts doing things like auditing card punches and firing troublemakers who might have a problem with the concept of linear time.

This part is very sad. There’s a limited amount of funding going to each charter and raising salaries most often means cutting elsewhere. It’s too bad when those cuts have to come from reducing staff instead of other kinds of expenses. But like the previous poster said earlier that’s why the teachers and their union reps should be livid that charters are being shorted in the budget. And it’s only going to get worse if the current budget proposal passes - less than half of the teacher pay amount previously provided to charters is reflected in the upcoming year’s budget.

On top of that, this seems like a contract that was badly negotiated from the teacher/staff’s side and they are trying to make the admin the fall guy for contract issues.

You’re assuming the dispute is only about money.

The concern many people have is that when this many stakeholders lose confidence in leadership, the Board’s response seems to be explaining away the concerns rather than asking why they’re occurring in the first place.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:School newspaper just dropped a special edition expose. Amazing.

Is that online? Link?

https://www.instagram.com/dci_newspaper/

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1tFezsBJ2KJM2uDW37Gq0kZQyf7Fcqi5fVEjUbl5m_jU/edit?tab=t.0#heading=h.4z2kyyema2et

With all the drama, I was expecting worse. Basically they don’t like being accountable to show up a on time and DCI released an at will employee without telling all the staff and students the reason.

Sounds like the biggest issue is with the union. “Salaries have also been a central facet of the complaints made by teachers and staff. Last year, DCI teachers unionized in the hope of getting higher pay, but some of them say they have not seen the changes that they were promised.”

Who promised them higher pay? Sounds like they should be hammering the Mayor and Council for funding parity like the law requires so they could get paid more.

I support the unionization drive but I thought it was messy and poorly led. I am not very surprised that the teachers are learning the hard way that collective bargaining involves bargaining. Best case scenario with a union at a charter school is you have fewer permanent staff making more money, and worst case is you still get people fired and churn increases because admin starts doing things like auditing card punches and firing troublemakers who might have a problem with the concept of linear time.

This part is very sad. There’s a limited amount of funding going to each charter and raising salaries most often means cutting elsewhere. It’s too bad when those cuts have to come from reducing staff instead of other kinds of expenses. But like the previous poster said earlier that’s why the teachers and their union reps should be livid that charters are being shorted in the budget. And it’s only going to get worse if the current budget proposal passes - less than half of the teacher pay amount previously provided to charters is reflected in the upcoming year’s budget.

On top of that, this seems like a contract that was badly negotiated from the teacher/staff’s side and they are trying to make the admin the fall guy for contract issues.

You’re assuming the dispute is only about money.

The concern many people have is that when this many stakeholders lose confidence in leadership, the Board’s response seems to be explaining away the concerns rather than asking why they’re occurring in the first place.

The board and most parents appear to realize that the faction that has lost confidence is a small group of people who seem unable to realize that the board and administration cannot comment on personnel matters.

Once they realized that there was no explanation that they could put out there that would both satisfy this loud but small group AND keep litigation risk low, they moved on.

That this group seems to be entirely composed of a set of parents who seem bound to Montessori nonsense, caused drama at their previous school, AND are unable to craft a coherent argument even using every LLM available is coincidental, I’m sure.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:School newspaper just dropped a special edition expose. Amazing.

Is that online? Link?

https://www.instagram.com/dci_newspaper/

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1tFezsBJ2KJM2uDW37Gq0kZQyf7Fcqi5fVEjUbl5m_jU/edit?tab=t.0#heading=h.4z2kyyema2et

Holy sh*t! This is bad.

DCI is really sinking.