so if rhee is sending her older kid to deal

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Of course it's teachers and scale and the facility. The teachers were great the first year. (We left for Seventh --my child wanted a change after being in the same school for over six years.) Who's done the hiring for Years 2 & 3?

12:12 True some private schools are smaller than other and some students want something bigger.

If all the teachers were of the quality and enthusiasm of seventh grade science and spanish, I wouldn't have moved my child...scale is not everything, nor the facility

[Anonymous]

Rhee is a mom. If she is making the decision for her daughter, shame on us to judge.

Would you want to be publicly criticized for the decisions you make for your child?

Come on.

[Anonymous]

Rhee is a public figure accepting a gigantic salary who allows the types of real concerns so many parents are venting about on this board go unheeded. Rather than do a real unbiased evaluation of her pal who she put in charge at Oyster she just opts to go where the grass is greener. Frankly, she's proven to be better at being a fellow mom just doing what's best for her kid than being a school leader. I guess that's our cue...Deal for 6th! Thanks, Ms. Rhee, for the tip off

[Anonymous]

Rhee's former husband and father to her DCs at Oyster lives within Oyster's boundaries.

[Anonymous]

He also lives in Deal's boundary.

I agree that it might not be the best political move to move her child to Deal, but making the move even with those considerations makes me think better of her. Obama sends his kids to private school and so do most of the politicians - - including Fenty until this year.

Why do we expect Rhee to make decisions for her child in the best interest of her career instead of in the best interest of the kid?

[Anonymous]

Also as I posted earlier her daughter may be pining to go to Deal! So many of the Oyster kids did after they went and spent a day there.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Rhee is a mom. If she is making the decision for her daughter, shame on us to judge.

Would you want to be publicly criticized for the decisions you make for your child?

Come on.

It's a package deal when you are directly in charge of the schools...so yes, judgement is in order
If Warren Buffet stopped investing in one of his own funds, wouldn't eyebrows be raised?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Look the fact is dcps is one of the worse (if not the worst) school systems in the nation. Either it is the teachers or principals responsable for educating these kids that are not doing their job. That said, all I hear are complaints when teachers and principals are fired.

How does one improve a system without getting rid of those not acheiving results?

Maybe a few teachers that perhaps should not have get let go, but really it is better than risking the education of 20-30 kids a school year (class size per teacher).

DC is one of the "worst" school systems in the country b/c it has been used as years as a political cookie jar by the D.C. political elite -- lots and lots of no-show admin jobs for chronies and supporters, lots of over-priced contracts for school "maintenance", lunch, etc. to other political pals. The school systems was used as a jobs program for people who were not qualified for the jobs. The teachers and principals might generally be fine, but the bloated administration and horrible infrastructure lack of support doomed the system. On top of that, the racial segregation in the city has ensured that most of the schools are filled with low income minority student who generally do much worse in school (I'm making no comment on the reason for that b/c I really don't know the reason, but it is more than just "bad teacher not teaching them").

Two things are necessary to fix the schools. End the use the school system as a jobs program (and I do think that is being dealt with) and integrate the schools by bringing back middle class and upper class parents (white, black and other). The only way that is going to happen is for the school buildings to be state of the art and there have to be top-drawer magnet programs in non-JKLM schools that will attract middle class parents back to those schools (whether IB or OOB). We need TAG programs that serve the entire city, and they SHOULD NOT be located in upper northwest.

[Anonymous]

10:10 Please on Warren Buffet! Rhee still has to do her daughter right. Deal's a great school. Oyster's Middle School is a potentially great school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Look the fact is dcps is one of the worse (if not the worst) school systems in the nation. Either it is the teachers or principals responsable for educating these kids that are not doing their job. That said, all I hear are complaints when teachers and principals are fired.

How does one improve a system without getting rid of those not acheiving results?

Maybe a few teachers that perhaps should not have get let go, but really it is better than risking the education of 20-30 kids a school year (class size per teacher).

DC is one of the "worst" school systems in the country b/c it has been used as years as a political cookie jar by the D.C. political elite -- lots and lots of no-show admin jobs for chronies and supporters, lots of over-priced contracts for school "maintenance", lunch, etc. to other political pals. The school systems was used as a jobs program for people who were not qualified for the jobs. The teachers and principals might generally be fine, but the bloated administration and horrible infrastructure lack of support doomed the system. On top of that, the racial segregation in the city has ensured that most of the schools are filled with low income minority student who generally do much worse in school (I'm making no comment on the reason for that b/c I really don't know the reason, but it is more than just "bad teacher not teaching them").

Two things are necessary to fix the schools. End the use the school system as a jobs program (and I do think that is being dealt with) and integrate the schools by bringing back middle class and upper class parents (white, black and other). The only way that is going to happen is for the school buildings to be state of the art and there have to be top-drawer magnet programs in non-JKLM schools that will attract middle class parents back to those schools (whether IB or OOB). We need TAG programs that serve the entire city, and they SHOULD NOT be located in upper northwest.

Stop saying "JKLM". No one East of the park knows what the hell that is or cares.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Two things are necessary to fix the schools. End the use the school system as a jobs program (and I do think that is being dealt with) and integrate the schools by bringing back middle class and upper class parents (white, black and other). The only way that is going to happen is for the school buildings to be state of the art and there have to be top-drawer magnet programs in non-JKLM schools that will attract middle class parents back to those schools (whether IB or OOB). We need TAG programs that serve the entire city, and they SHOULD NOT be located in upper northwest.

Huh? From where exactly will the Talented 10th be returning? MoCo? FFX? Getting people to leave their larger houses and lower taxes for a shiny school building is a tall order. I think there's a myth that somewhere in 202 there is lurking a large number of "upper/middle class" families that would flood the schools if they were only good enough.

The reason DCPS schools are underpopulated is because 40% of the acutal DC public population goes to charterschools which are mostly low income. There is nothing stopping upper/mc families from sending kids to KIPP other than waitlists and the fact that they are fortunate enough in income or residential location to have alternatives.

As to Rhee, she's damned if she does switch to Deal (a sell out) and damned if she doesn't (a bad mother).

Wait, what was the original question?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If Warren Buffet stopped investing in one of his own funds, wouldn't eyebrows be raised?

Not only is this an uniformed assessment of investment strategy, the analogy makes no sense. Buffet is a product of DCPS btw.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Look the fact is dcps is one of the worse (if not the worst) school systems in the nation. Either it is the teachers or principals responsable for educating these kids that are not doing their job. That said, all I hear are complaints when teachers and principals are fired.

How does one improve a system without getting rid of those not acheiving results?

Maybe a few teachers that perhaps should not have get let go, but really it is better than risking the education of 20-30 kids a school year (class size per teacher).

I understand your motivation here -- get rid of the people who aren't doing their job. But if Rhee gets rid of people who are doing their job and/or if she creates a lot of upheaval while she's making changes, it sends a message to possible new recruits that they may not get the support they need if they come to this school system. If you're a principal in MoCo or Ffx and you see that good people (eg, Patrick Pope at Hardy) are getting forced out along with the slackers, why would you take the risk to come into this system?

I knew someone who came to DC to take an assistant principal position as part of a principal training program. Her family stayed behind in her home state. At some point, I asked her if she would make a permanent move to DC. She said that there were more development opportunities here than back home but that she was concerned about finding herself in a difficult situation with not enough support so she wasn't sure if she would stay after the program was over. She eventually changed jobs and left DCPS. Now it may be that administration was not her thing. Maybe she wasn't that good at it or maybe she didn't like it. I didn't really know her that well but I was struck by the fact that she wasn't sure about whether she would find the support she needed in DCPS.

Yes, we want to get rid of the slackers but we need good people to replace them and good teachers with a proven track record won't come here if they think they may be treated unfairly or put in an impossible situation.

[Anonymous]

Kids are pining to go to deal b/cause Melissa Kim has done a great job of building the program. She is a pre- Rhee appointee who somehow escaped firing. In the same period of time that Rhee has dismantled Oyster, kim has built out a great program. Parents were not always storming the gates of Deal ( I will also give credit to the renovations which always seem to act as a siren to dc parents- ironically, Oyster elementary got it's boost when it got the 'new building')

[Anonymous]

I agree Melissa Kim has built a great program. Deal was going down hill before she arrived. She made some major changes and people started to see progress right away. She came in with a vision. The construction is only a small part of the school's success.