Study: "Discussions of D.C. public school options in an online forum" (yes, this one)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Thanks. Long PP Banneker poster. Glad to see I’m not on an island. Look, I get that it can be scary to be a first. But it’s done all the time. I get the sense that once a DC school gets to about 10% white, it seems ripe for gentrifying for white folk. They usually do this in an concerted, planned effort. (See CH schools and most recently Hardy middle school). Recent parents that have begun to gentrify Hardy are not your typical “racist”, sure. They wouldn’t even consider any DC schools if that were the case, yet alone one that is 80% black. But there is still something inherently racist about not considering one of the top schools in the country. Especially Banneker. I mean it’s not a Lean On Me type school. You’re DC is not going to be jumped for wearing the wrong colors.

Seriously, why haven’t a group of 10-20 families joined together to commit to Banneker the same way they did to Hardy 5 years ago?

Does Banneker want that?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m sorry but I just can’t with this thread.

Until someone can give me a solid reason white folks in DC don’t flock to Banneker, I will not just swallow that we all want what is best for our children even if it happens to mean keeping our children segregated in schools that are 5% black.

1.) The most recent narrative that Banneker is just too precious of a school for the black community for white folks to mess up a good thing is bulls$&@. 20 years ago, Walls was 13% white and 73% black. Today it’s 50% white and 25% black. White folk had zero problems gentrifying Walls but won’t touch Banneker with a 10 foot pole.

2.) The other BS excuse that Banneker SAT scores are merely right above average don’t take into account that Banneker is an all black school. So its 1120 SAT scores should be measured against national averages for black students (946). Let’s not even get into income inequality. Did you know the average white student with family below poverty scores 130 points higher than the average black student? Anyone that has even the most basic understanding of statistics knows not to measure the SATs at Banneker to nationwide but they continue to site this as an excuse of not being interested in Banneker.

Banneker is top 100 high schools in the nation and is is tied for first in the nation for Math and Reading Performance Rank (How aggregated scores on state assessments compare to U.S. News' expectations given the proportions of students who are black, Hispanic and from low-income households). Imagine how your brilliant white student can excel there.

3.) Banneker is just too hard of a school - See Basis, TJ

4.) I plan to “look” at Banneker when my 1st grader is old enough - yeah we’ve heard that before.

5.) I don’t want my child to be an only - what did white patents 20 years ago think when they gentrified Walls, Deal, Wilson and are doing now on the Hill and at Shepherd?

6.) My child wants to play X sport - recent Banneker grad played football (and maybe track) at Roosevelt and was a super star gaining admissions to various Ivy League schools

Sure, Banneker is not for everyone. But certainly it’s a good fit for more than the 2 white kids that attend every year.

Supporting arguments: see Creative Minds popularity vs nearby Whittier, Barnard, Truesdell etc.

Dude, I am glad there is somebody else here who agrees with me. Granted this site is anonymous so this makes no sense, but I hope to see you around. A whole lot of picking apart a so-so study so that its core truths don't have to be considered by people who don't want to "be the change they supposedly want to see."

I am one of the people who don't like the shoddy scholarship and I actually agree with the larger point about talking about selections made by white parents. That discussion should happen. My concern is that the scholarship is so weak here that it significantly undermines the discussion. I am worried that by doing such terrible analysis, the authors have handed a tool to racists, essentially. It is very uncommon to see academics united in agreement that methodology is flawed, and that's a huge red flag.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’m sorry but I just can’t with this thread.

Until someone can give me a solid reason white folks in DC don’t flock to Banneker, I will not just swallow that we all want what is best for our children even if it happens to mean keeping our children segregated in schools that are 5% black.

1.) The most recent narrative that Banneker is just too precious of a school for the black community for white folks to mess up a good thing is bulls$&@. 20 years ago, Walls was 13% white and 73% black. Today it’s 50% white and 25% black. White folk had zero problems gentrifying Walls but won’t touch Banneker with a 10 foot pole.

2.) The other BS excuse that Banneker SAT scores are merely right above average don’t take into account that Banneker is an all black school. So its 1120 SAT scores should be measured against national averages for black students (946). Let’s not even get into income inequality. Did you know the average white student with family below poverty scores 130 points higher than the average black student? Anyone that has even the most basic understanding of statistics knows not to measure the SATs at Banneker to nationwide but they continue to site this as an excuse of not being interested in Banneker.

Banneker is top 100 high schools in the nation and is is tied for first in the nation for Math and Reading Performance Rank (How aggregated scores on state assessments compare to U.S. News' expectations given the proportions of students who are black, Hispanic and from low-income households). Imagine how your brilliant white student can excel there.

3.) Banneker is just too hard of a school - See Basis, TJ

4.) I plan to “look” at Banneker when my 1st grader is old enough - yeah we’ve heard that before.

5.) I don’t want my child to be an only - what did white patents 20 years ago think when they gentrified Walls, Deal, Wilson and are doing now on the Hill and at Shepherd?

6.) My child wants to play X sport - recent Banneker grad played football (and maybe track) at Roosevelt and was a super star gaining admissions to various Ivy League schools

Sure, Banneker is not for everyone. But certainly it’s a good fit for more than the 2 white kids that attend every year.

Supporting arguments: see Creative Minds popularity vs nearby Whittier, Barnard, Truesdell etc.

I was curious about the Banneker course offerings but can't find anything. Specifically, does anyone know which AP courses they offer?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m sorry but I just can’t with this thread.

Until someone can give me a solid reason white folks in DC don’t flock to Banneker, I will not just swallow that we all want what is best for our children even if it happens to mean keeping our children segregated in schools that are 5% black.

1.) The most recent narrative that Banneker is just too precious of a school for the black community for white folks to mess up a good thing is bulls$&@. 20 years ago, Walls was 13% white and 73% black. Today it’s 50% white and 25% black. White folk had zero problems gentrifying Walls but won’t touch Banneker with a 10 foot pole.

2.) The other BS excuse that Banneker SAT scores are merely right above average don’t take into account that Banneker is an all black school. So its 1120 SAT scores should be measured against national averages for black students (946). Let’s not even get into income inequality. Did you know the average white student with family below poverty scores 130 points higher than the average black student? Anyone that has even the most basic understanding of statistics knows not to measure the SATs at Banneker to nationwide but they continue to site this as an excuse of not being interested in Banneker.

Banneker is top 100 high schools in the nation and is is tied for first in the nation for Math and Reading Performance Rank (How aggregated scores on state assessments compare to U.S. News' expectations given the proportions of students who are black, Hispanic and from low-income households). Imagine how your brilliant white student can excel there.

3.) Banneker is just too hard of a school - See Basis, TJ

4.) I plan to “look” at Banneker when my 1st grader is old enough - yeah we’ve heard that before.

5.) I don’t want my child to be an only - what did white patents 20 years ago think when they gentrified Walls, Deal, Wilson and are doing now on the Hill and at Shepherd?

6.) My child wants to play X sport - recent Banneker grad played football (and maybe track) at Roosevelt and was a super star gaining admissions to various Ivy League schools

Sure, Banneker is not for everyone. But certainly it’s a good fit for more than the 2 white kids that attend every year.

Supporting arguments: see Creative Minds popularity vs nearby Whittier, Barnard, Truesdell etc.

I would love for my kids to go there. It's a peer group I'd be thrilled to put my kids in. I don't know why this isn't a more popular viewpoint. Maybe people are willing to be an only when they don't have other options, and by the time you make it through middle school and to high school, you have other options.

I will file you under excuse #4. Not sure I buy your second part of having other options for high school being as though there are kids that don’t get into Walls and settle for Wilson (and not because they’re athletes).

Next?!

I don't know anyone who thinks Wilson is settling.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m sorry but I just can’t with this thread.

Until someone can give me a solid reason white folks in DC don’t flock to Banneker, I will not just swallow that we all want what is best for our children even if it happens to mean keeping our children segregated in schools that are 5% black.

1.) The most recent narrative that Banneker is just too precious of a school for the black community for white folks to mess up a good thing is bulls$&@. 20 years ago, Walls was 13% white and 73% black. Today it’s 50% white and 25% black. White folk had zero problems gentrifying Walls but won’t touch Banneker with a 10 foot pole.

2.) The other BS excuse that Banneker SAT scores are merely right above average don’t take into account that Banneker is an all black school. So its 1120 SAT scores should be measured against national averages for black students (946). Let’s not even get into income inequality. Did you know the average white student with family below poverty scores 130 points higher than the average black student? Anyone that has even the most basic understanding of statistics knows not to measure the SATs at Banneker to nationwide but they continue to site this as an excuse of not being interested in Banneker.

Banneker is top 100 high schools in the nation and is is tied for first in the nation for Math and Reading Performance Rank (How aggregated scores on state assessments compare to U.S. News' expectations given the proportions of students who are black, Hispanic and from low-income households). Imagine how your brilliant white student can excel there.

3.) Banneker is just too hard of a school - See Basis, TJ

4.) I plan to “look” at Banneker when my 1st grader is old enough - yeah we’ve heard that before.

5.) I don’t want my child to be an only - what did white patents 20 years ago think when they gentrified Walls, Deal, Wilson and are doing now on the Hill and at Shepherd?

6.) My child wants to play X sport - recent Banneker grad played football (and maybe track) at Roosevelt and was a super star gaining admissions to various Ivy League schools

Sure, Banneker is not for everyone. But certainly it’s a good fit for more than the 2 white kids that attend every year.

Supporting arguments: see Creative Minds popularity vs nearby Whittier, Barnard, Truesdell etc.

I was curious about the Banneker course offerings but can't find anything. Specifically, does anyone know which AP courses they offer?

Walls and Banneker are both humanities focused. Banneker has a pretty good selection of APs but there science APs are weak, even weaker than Walls. Wilson is probably the best choice for a STEM focused kid

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Thanks. Long PP Banneker poster. Glad to see I’m not on an island. Look, I get that it can be scary to be a first. But it’s done all the time. I get the sense that once a DC school gets to about 10% white, it seems ripe for gentrifying for white folk. They usually do this in an concerted, planned effort. (See CH schools and most recently Hardy middle school). Recent parents that have begun to gentrify Hardy are not your typical “racist”, sure. They wouldn’t even consider any DC schools if that were the case, yet alone one that is 80% black. But there is still something inherently racist about not considering one of the top schools in the country. Especially Banneker. I mean it’s not a Lean On Me type school. You’re DC is not going to be jumped for wearing the wrong colors.

Seriously, why haven’t a group of 10-20 families joined together to commit to Banneker the same way they did to Hardy 5 years ago?

Ok, so basically you're making sweeping judgments about all of DC school choice and racism based on ONE school which remains unpopular with white kids?

Let me concede that many families do not want to be able to count the other kids of their race on one hand at their school. Does this apply only to white children? In a prior post, another report was quoted which indicated that "same-group" preference was stronger among all races in middle and high school; in elementary school, only white families showed strong same group preferences. However, I do not think this is the end of the story. I think you need to look more carefully at what choices are being made by who and why.

I personally admit, we did not list our in-bound or another local charter (ward 5) partly because the percentage of white children was so very low, that our child would have been the only one. But, that was one of many considerations, and we did put her in a daycare and summer camp with similar proportions. I actually am now sad that her current school has fewer Black and Hispanic kids each year thanks to growing popularity among white families.

I think that most on here would love to have a great mix of several races, and income levels, at their child's school. A few schools more or less do achieve this balance. They may not be in Ward 3 (which should be studied separately, IMHO, due to its essentially suburban nature), but they ARE the schools most discussed here outside of W3.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Thanks. Long PP Banneker poster. Glad to see I’m not on an island. Look, I get that it can be scary to be a first. But it’s done all the time. I get the sense that once a DC school gets to about 10% white, it seems ripe for gentrifying for white folk. They usually do this in an concerted, planned effort. (See CH schools and most recently Hardy middle school). Recent parents that have begun to gentrify Hardy are not your typical “racist”, sure. They wouldn’t even consider any DC schools if that were the case, yet alone one that is 80% black. But there is still something inherently racist about not considering one of the top schools in the country. Especially Banneker. I mean it’s not a Lean On Me type school. You’re DC is not going to be jumped for wearing the wrong colors.

Seriously, why haven’t a group of 10-20 families joined together to commit to Banneker the same way they did to Hardy 5 years ago?

Banneker is majority girls. There is a reason for that. They pile on the HW starting in 9th grade. A lot of boys struggle with the workload especially in 9th and 10th grade when boys are developmentally behind girls. Also, Banneker does not hesitate to push kids out which scares a lot of parents away

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Thanks. Long PP Banneker poster. Glad to see I’m not on an island. Look, I get that it can be scary to be a first. But it’s done all the time. I get the sense that once a DC school gets to about 10% white, it seems ripe for gentrifying for white folk. They usually do this in an concerted, planned effort. (See CH schools and most recently Hardy middle school). Recent parents that have begun to gentrify Hardy are not your typical “racist”, sure. They wouldn’t even consider any DC schools if that were the case, yet alone one that is 80% black. But there is still something inherently racist about not considering one of the top schools in the country. Especially Banneker. I mean it’s not a Lean On Me type school. You’re DC is not going to be jumped for wearing the wrong colors.

Seriously, why haven’t a group of 10-20 families joined together to commit to Banneker the same way they did to Hardy 5 years ago?

Banneker is majority girls. There is a reason for that. They pile on the HW starting in 9th grade. A lot of boys struggle with the workload especially in 9th and 10th grade when boys are developmentally behind girls. Also, Banneker does not hesitate to push kids out which scares a lot of parents away

So all white kids in DC are boys. Got it. Excuse #7.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Thanks. Long PP Banneker poster. Glad to see I’m not on an island. Look, I get that it can be scary to be a first. But it’s done all the time. I get the sense that once a DC school gets to about 10% white, it seems ripe for gentrifying for white folk. They usually do this in an concerted, planned effort. (See CH schools and most recently Hardy middle school). Recent parents that have begun to gentrify Hardy are not your typical “racist”, sure. They wouldn’t even consider any DC schools if that were the case, yet alone one that is 80% black. But there is still something inherently racist about not considering one of the top schools in the country. Especially Banneker. I mean it’s not a Lean On Me type school. You’re DC is not going to be jumped for wearing the wrong colors.

Seriously, why haven’t a group of 10-20 families joined together to commit to Banneker the same way they did to Hardy 5 years ago?

Does Banneker want that?

Do white folks moving into Anacostia seriously consider if their black neighbors “want” them to move in at such rapid rates? What about the white families opting into Shepherd (including OOB). This is a new one to me but also, still somewhat falls into #1.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Thanks. Long PP Banneker poster. Glad to see I’m not on an island. Look, I get that it can be scary to be a first. But it’s done all the time. I get the sense that once a DC school gets to about 10% white, it seems ripe for gentrifying for white folk. They usually do this in an concerted, planned effort. (See CH schools and most recently Hardy middle school). Recent parents that have begun to gentrify Hardy are not your typical “racist”, sure. They wouldn’t even consider any DC schools if that were the case, yet alone one that is 80% black. But there is still something inherently racist about not considering one of the top schools in the country. Especially Banneker. I mean it’s not a Lean On Me type school. You’re DC is not going to be jumped for wearing the wrong colors.

Seriously, why haven’t a group of 10-20 families joined together to commit to Banneker the same way they did to Hardy 5 years ago?

Ok, so basically you're making sweeping judgments about all of DC school choice and racism based on ONE school which remains unpopular with white kids?

Let me concede that many families do not want to be able to count the other kids of their race on one hand at their school. Does this apply only to white children? In a prior post, another report was quoted which indicated that "same-group" preference was stronger among all races in middle and high school; in elementary school, only white families showed strong same group preferences. However, I do not think this is the end of the story. I think you need to look more carefully at what choices are being made by who and why.

I personally admit, we did not list our in-bound or another local charter (ward 5) partly because the percentage of white children was so very low, that our child would have been the only one. But, that was one of many considerations, and we did put her in a daycare and summer camp with similar proportions. I actually am now sad that her current school has fewer Black and Hispanic kids each year thanks to growing popularity among white families.

I think that most on here would love to have a great mix of several races, and income levels, at their child's school. A few schools more or less do achieve this balance. They may not be in Ward 3 (which should be studied separately, IMHO, due to its essentially suburban nature), but they ARE the schools most discussed here outside of W3.

DP. You're essentially saying, "well no one wants to be the lonely only" to absolve yourself while ignoring that this is a different issue for black kids in white schools, due to institutional racism throughout the history of our country.

[Anonymous]

All the Banneker poster is pointing out is that in DC's successful process of getting more white students to stay in DC public high schools, Banneker is next on the agenda. Parents who chose Wilson and Walls are not segregating, they were integrating Wilson and Walls, and have done so, and DC will work to sustain that presence. Now, instead of those schools shifting to majority white (SWW has tipped, Wilson is far off yet), the next schools to increase the share of the very small pool of white high school students are Banneker, DE, and McKinley, and to encourage that, Banneker, at least, has made some changes by adding more APs, focusing on their problem keeping boys in the school, allowing kids to play sports at other high schools, etc. It's the next step in the process. DC is moving in the right direction.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Thanks. Long PP Banneker poster. Glad to see I’m not on an island. Look, I get that it can be scary to be a first. But it’s done all the time. I get the sense that once a DC school gets to about 10% white, it seems ripe for gentrifying for white folk. They usually do this in an concerted, planned effort. (See CH schools and most recently Hardy middle school). Recent parents that have begun to gentrify Hardy are not your typical “racist”, sure. They wouldn’t even consider any DC schools if that were the case, yet alone one that is 80% black. But there is still something inherently racist about not considering one of the top schools in the country. Especially Banneker. I mean it’s not a Lean On Me type school. You’re DC is not going to be jumped for wearing the wrong colors.

Seriously, why haven’t a group of 10-20 families joined together to commit to Banneker the same way they did to Hardy 5 years ago?

Does Banneker want that?

Do white folks moving into Anacostia seriously consider if their black neighbors “want” them to move in at such rapid rates? What about the white families opting into Shepherd (including OOB). This is a new one to me but also, still somewhat falls into #1.

From the gentrification conversation, it seems gentrifiers are bad and should stay away.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Thanks. Long PP Banneker poster. Glad to see I’m not on an island. Look, I get that it can be scary to be a first. But it’s done all the time. I get the sense that once a DC school gets to about 10% white, it seems ripe for gentrifying for white folk. They usually do this in an concerted, planned effort. (See CH schools and most recently Hardy middle school). Recent parents that have begun to gentrify Hardy are not your typical “racist”, sure. They wouldn’t even consider any DC schools if that were the case, yet alone one that is 80% black. But there is still something inherently racist about not considering one of the top schools in the country. Especially Banneker. I mean it’s not a Lean On Me type school. You’re DC is not going to be jumped for wearing the wrong colors.

Seriously, why haven’t a group of 10-20 families joined together to commit to Banneker the same way they did to Hardy 5 years ago?

Does Banneker want that?

Do white folks moving into Anacostia seriously consider if their black neighbors “want” them to move in at such rapid rates? What about the white families opting into Shepherd (including OOB). This is a new one to me but also, still somewhat falls into #1.

From the gentrification conversation, it seems gentrifiers are bad and should stay away.

If you stay away it's because you're racist, if you don't stay away you're a gentrifier. It's very simple and easy to understand

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’m sorry but I just can’t with this thread.

Until someone can give me a solid reason white folks in DC don’t flock to Banneker, I will not just swallow that we all want what is best for our children even if it happens to mean keeping our children segregated in schools that are 5% black.

1.) The most recent narrative that Banneker is just too precious of a school for the black community for white folks to mess up a good thing is bulls$&@. 20 years ago, Walls was 13% white and 73% black. Today it’s 50% white and 25% black. White folk had zero problems gentrifying Walls but won’t touch Banneker with a 10 foot pole.

2.) The other BS excuse that Banneker SAT scores are merely right above average don’t take into account that Banneker is an all black school. So its 1120 SAT scores should be measured against national averages for black students (946). Let’s not even get into income inequality. Did you know the average white student with family below poverty scores 130 points higher than the average black student? Anyone that has even the most basic understanding of statistics knows not to measure the SATs at Banneker to nationwide but they continue to site this as an excuse of not being interested in Banneker.

Banneker is top 100 high schools in the nation and is is tied for first in the nation for Math and Reading Performance Rank (How aggregated scores on state assessments compare to U.S. News' expectations given the proportions of students who are black, Hispanic and from low-income households). Imagine how your brilliant white student can excel there.

3.) Banneker is just too hard of a school - See Basis, TJ

4.) I plan to “look” at Banneker when my 1st grader is old enough - yeah we’ve heard that before.

5.) I don’t want my child to be an only - what did white patents 20 years ago think when they gentrified Walls, Deal, Wilson and are doing now on the Hill and at Shepherd?

6.) My child wants to play X sport - recent Banneker grad played football (and maybe track) at Roosevelt and was a super star gaining admissions to various Ivy League schools

Sure, Banneker is not for everyone. But certainly it’s a good fit for more than the 2 white kids that attend every year.

Supporting arguments: see Creative Minds popularity vs nearby Whittier, Barnard, Truesdell etc.

I have heard it has a “more traditional” approach to discipline (strict! Not looking into causes - a no excuse model), and admin is not receptive to feedback. Don’t know if it’s true but just to add two more arguments to your list.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Thanks. Long PP Banneker poster. Glad to see I’m not on an island. Look, I get that it can be scary to be a first. But it’s done all the time. I get the sense that once a DC school gets to about 10% white, it seems ripe for gentrifying for white folk. They usually do this in an concerted, planned effort. (See CH schools and most recently Hardy middle school). Recent parents that have begun to gentrify Hardy are not your typical “racist”, sure. They wouldn’t even consider any DC schools if that were the case, yet alone one that is 80% black. But there is still something inherently racist about not considering one of the top schools in the country. Especially Banneker. I mean it’s not a Lean On Me type school. You’re DC is not going to be jumped for wearing the wrong colors.

Seriously, why haven’t a group of 10-20 families joined together to commit to Banneker the same way they did to Hardy 5 years ago?

Does Banneker want that?

Do white folks moving into Anacostia seriously consider if their black neighbors “want” them to move in at such rapid rates? What about the white families opting into Shepherd (including OOB). This is a new one to me but also, still somewhat falls into #1.

From the gentrification conversation, it seems gentrifiers are bad and should stay away.

If you stay away it's because you're racist, if you don't stay away you're a gentrifier. It's very simple and easy to understand

Main rule of thumb is "don't act in real life like you do on DCUM, and people won't think you're an A$$shole." If you can keep from letting your judginess out when you're talking to your neighbors, you can get by anywhere. It's the people who get all high and mighty instead of living among their neighbors - the dudes who move next to the cookout lot and complain about the cookout - who end up with problems.