just can't relate to Potomac anymore

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:And yet all of you were so completely on board with this just a few short years ago. Bragging about your school’s DEI initiative. Mocking schools that weren’t falling into lock step. And now, here you are complaining about it while your children learn what groupthink looks like.

No. I never cared about DEI. I'm also against affirmative action. I think schools can't fix every single societal problem and that they should focus on academics, and offer seats to students based on academic merit. Ethics classes, and in-depth social studies on racial and gender oppression are necessary, but seeing every interaction through those lens fosters constant resentment. The government should focus on lifting populations out of poverty, because that's the biggest driver of societal malaise. People forget that discrimination is highly correlated with economic vulnerability: so subsidized daycares that allow women to work, affordable and accessible healthcare for all, and social programs that are easier to access, particularly in rural areas, are critical to reducing discrimination. So is gun control, and more police funding to control gangs and their drug and human trafficking.

But it seems people will never understand this. The left doesn't want to crack down on crime, and the right doesn't want to develop healthcare and social programs. We're living in crazy world.

Academic merit-based private school admissions? What color is the sky in your world?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's like everything is DEI all the time --to the exclusion of everything else.

I'm all for DEI investments, but its starting to feel like that's the only focus of the school. For everything. All the time. Every call. Every event. Every newsletter. Every communication. Every survey.

The administration does not seem to talk about anything else with parents. They have 8+ people working on DEI for a 1000 student school.

How about academics, extracurriculars, clubs (which are weak vis a vis other schools), athletics-- all areas that have holes and lack of focus while everything is funneled to DEI. The administration is down a rabbit hole on this one.

Potoamc should keep up the great work on DEI-but it's one of many areas that make up school experience. Every conversation doesn't need to be about this. Parents and students do have other focus areas and interests.

That’s absurd. Having that many dedicated roles creates incentives to invent problems to justify makework jobs.

Based on this thread I don't think they need to invent anything. Plenty of racist attitudes to address. May need even more than 8...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's like everything is DEI all the time --to the exclusion of everything else.

I'm all for DEI investments, but its starting to feel like that's the only focus of the school. For everything. All the time. Every call. Every event. Every newsletter. Every communication. Every survey.

The administration does not seem to talk about anything else with parents. They have 8+ people working on DEI for a 1000 student school.

How about academics, extracurriculars, clubs (which are weak vis a vis other schools), athletics-- all areas that have holes and lack of focus while everything is funneled to DEI. The administration is down a rabbit hole on this one.

Potoamc should keep up the great work on DEI-but it's one of many areas that make up school experience. Every conversation doesn't need to be about this. Parents and students do have other focus areas and interests.

That’s absurd. Having that many dedicated roles creates incentives to invent problems to justify makework jobs.

Based on this thread I don't think they need to invent anything. Plenty of racist attitudes to address. May need even more than 8...

DEI is the source of modern racism

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:[list]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's like everything is DEI all the time --to the exclusion of everything else.

I'm all for DEI investments, but its starting to feel like that's the only focus of the school. For everything. All the time. Every call. Every event. Every newsletter. Every communication. Every survey.

The administration does not seem to talk about anything else with parents. They have 8+ people working on DEI for a 1000 student school.

How about academics, extracurriculars, clubs (which are weak vis a vis other schools), athletics-- all areas that have holes and lack of focus while everything is funneled to DEI. The administration is down a rabbit hole on this one.

Potoamc should keep up the great work on DEI-but it's one of many areas that make up school experience. Every conversation doesn't need to be about this. Parents and students do have other focus areas and interests.

That’s absurd. Having that many dedicated roles creates incentives to invent problems to justify makework jobs.

And how much is Potomac’s tuition going up next year, to fund these 8 (EIGHT???) administrators?

There are not 8 full time administrators for DEI. There is one that is arguably full time (Director of Student Diversity Recruitment and Retention). The rest all have other FT jobs for the school.

The percent of Potomac's tuition increase is one of the lowest in the DC area. (I believe it's 3.4% on average.)

"Everything" is not funneled to DEI and the administration is not "down a rabbit hole." A few years ago, people complained because Potomac wasn't diverse enough. Now people complain that they are focusing too much on ensuring the classes are more diverse.
Given the tenor of American politics and by extension society right now, investing to ensure our children are more understanding of each other seems like a positive thing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think OP means: minorities don’t belong at Potomac. Any group that threatens “whiteness” is unwelcome at the school. Anything in society that threatens “whiteness”
is also unwelcome.

OP is among the many at Potomac who believe in being "colorblind." It's quite parochial and many people like OP will use the DEI and "affirmative action" argument to complain about why students of color are able to get into better colleges than their kids. Meanwhile, nothing really is done to give students of color, or really students of any color, who may come from more underprivileged backgrounds the same opportunities that the above-average wealthy students are getting. They come in at the bottom and are left to feel less valuable throughout their time there. This played out with the gravest consequences a few years ago and nothing has changed since. Thanks to leadership and parents like OP.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's like everything is DEI all the time --to the exclusion of everything else.

I'm all for DEI investments, but its starting to feel like that's the only focus of the school. For everything. All the time. Every call. Every event. Every newsletter. Every communication. Every survey.

The administration does not seem to talk about anything else with parents. They have 8+ people working on DEI for a 1000 student school.

How about academics, extracurriculars, clubs (which are weak vis a vis other schools), athletics-- all areas that have holes and lack of focus while everything is funneled to DEI. The administration is down a rabbit hole on this one.

Potoamc should keep up the great work on DEI-but it's one of many areas that make up school experience. Every conversation doesn't need to be about this. Parents and students do have other focus areas and interests.

That’s absurd. Having that many dedicated roles creates incentives to invent problems to justify makework jobs.

Based on this thread I don't think they need to invent anything. Plenty of racist attitudes to address. May need even more than 8...

DEI is the source of modern racism

It causes the problems it aims to repair and is therefore a complete scam.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think OP means: minorities don’t belong at Potomac. Any group that threatens “whiteness” is unwelcome at the school. Anything in society that threatens “whiteness”
is also unwelcome.

OP is among the many at Potomac who believe in being "colorblind." It's quite parochial and many people like OP will use the DEI and "affirmative action" argument to complain about why students of color are able to get into better colleges than their kids. Meanwhile, nothing really is done to give students of color, or really students of any color, who may come from more underprivileged backgrounds the same opportunities that the above-average wealthy students are getting. They come in at the bottom and are left to feel less valuable throughout their time there. This played out with the gravest consequences a few years ago and nothing has changed since. Thanks to leadership and parents like OP.

Maybe you are the problem? OP has done nothing wrong.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think OP means: minorities don’t belong at Potomac. Any group that threatens “whiteness” is unwelcome at the school. Anything in society that threatens “whiteness”
is also unwelcome.

OP is among the many at Potomac who believe in being "colorblind." It's quite parochial and many people like OP will use the DEI and "affirmative action" argument to complain about why students of color are able to get into better colleges than their kids. Meanwhile, nothing really is done to give students of color, or really students of any color, who may come from more underprivileged backgrounds the same opportunities that the above-average wealthy students are getting. They come in at the bottom and are left to feel less valuable throughout their time there. This played out with the gravest consequences a few years ago and nothing has changed since. Thanks to leadership and parents like OP.

Bringing attention to the quoted post above.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think OP means: minorities don’t belong at Potomac. Any group that threatens “whiteness” is unwelcome at the school. Anything in society that threatens “whiteness”
is also unwelcome.

OP is among the many at Potomac who believe in being "colorblind." It's quite parochial and many people like OP will use the DEI and "affirmative action" argument to complain about why students of color are able to get into better colleges than their kids. Meanwhile, nothing really is done to give students of color, or really students of any color, who may come from more underprivileged backgrounds the same opportunities that the above-average wealthy students are getting. They come in at the bottom and are left to feel less valuable throughout their time there. This played out with the gravest consequences a few years ago and nothing has changed since. Thanks to leadership and parents like OP.

This is incorrect - at least currently. Children from underprivileged backgrounds who receive FA, receive the same % of aid for everything - uniforms, lunch, after school programs, etc. and not even the teachers are made aware. Potomac has done very well at providing opportunities to ensure all children feel valued.

[Anonymous]

Having been at two other schools with DEI - it's a hard thing to get right.

One school has done a great job and started over a decade ago, going slow, being thoughtful - training for teachers, tweaks in curriculum, broader sets of books in library, speakers, hiring. Not everyone buys in but it is something where much of the progress has been slowly woven into the fabric without taking over. It bugs me that there will always be "those parents" who will always see the hiring of a person of color as a DEI hire, though.

The other (more prominent) school comes up with big initiatives and actions that flame out and disappear. It all feels "for show". That school already had more diversity than the first. I don't know how parents/students feel about DEI at the school or these initiatives.

I feel like the first school has been more genuine and made more progress.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Having been at two other schools with DEI - it's a hard thing to get right.

One school has done a great job and started over a decade ago, going slow, being thoughtful - training for teachers, tweaks in curriculum, broader sets of books in library, speakers, hiring. Not everyone buys in but it is something where much of the progress has been slowly woven into the fabric without taking over. It bugs me that there will always be "those parents" who will always see the hiring of a person of color as a DEI hire, though.

The other (more prominent) school comes up with big initiatives and actions that flame out and disappear. It all feels "for show". That school already had more diversity than the first. I don't know how parents/students feel about DEI at the school or these initiatives.

I feel like the first school has been more genuine and made more progress.

My child’s elementary teacher this year was a new hire who turned out to be abysmal and by far the worst teacher in elementary. It has done real harm to a class full of students including my child. We have no other explanation for this situation besides a DEI hire. True or not, this is the perception.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Having been at two other schools with DEI - it's a hard thing to get right.

One school has done a great job and started over a decade ago, going slow, being thoughtful - training for teachers, tweaks in curriculum, broader sets of books in library, speakers, hiring. Not everyone buys in but it is something where much of the progress has been slowly woven into the fabric without taking over. It bugs me that there will always be "those parents" who will always see the hiring of a person of color as a DEI hire, though.

The other (more prominent) school comes up with big initiatives and actions that flame out and disappear. It all feels "for show". That school already had more diversity than the first. I don't know how parents/students feel about DEI at the school or these initiatives.

I feel like the first school has been more genuine and made more progress.

My child’s elementary teacher this year was a new hire who turned out to be abysmal and by far the worst teacher in elementary. It has done real harm to a class full of students including my child. We have no other explanation for this situation besides a DEI hire. True or not, this is the perception.

I hate to break it to you, but not all white teachers are good hires. My kids attend an independent Catholic school with all white teachers and some are good, some are mediocre and some are bad. Parents question how the bad ones made it through the interview process.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Having been at two other schools with DEI - it's a hard thing to get right.

One school has done a great job and started over a decade ago, going slow, being thoughtful - training for teachers, tweaks in curriculum, broader sets of books in library, speakers, hiring. Not everyone buys in but it is something where much of the progress has been slowly woven into the fabric without taking over. It bugs me that there will always be "those parents" who will always see the hiring of a person of color as a DEI hire, though.

The other (more prominent) school comes up with big initiatives and actions that flame out and disappear. It all feels "for show". That school already had more diversity than the first. I don't know how parents/students feel about DEI at the school or these initiatives.

I feel like the first school has been more genuine and made more progress.

My child’s elementary teacher this year was a new hire who turned out to be abysmal and by far the worst teacher in elementary. It has done real harm to a class full of students including my child. We have no other explanation for this situation besides a DEI hire. True or not, this is the perception.

I hate to break it to you, but not all white teachers are good hires. My kids attend an independent Catholic school with all white teachers and some are good, some are mediocre and some are bad. Parents question how the bad ones made it through the interview process.

whataboutism

[Anonymous]

Funny how schools like St. Anselms are quite diverse and inclusive without having a single mention of DEI or "diversity" writ large on their website.

They just walk that walk instead of shoving it down others' throats, which either leads to vacuous virtue-signaling efforts or the promotion of the sort of resentment (well-founded or not) that you see displayed here.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think OP means: minorities don’t belong at Potomac. Any group that threatens “whiteness” is unwelcome at the school. Anything in society that threatens “whiteness”
is also unwelcome.

OP is among the many at Potomac who believe in being "colorblind." It's quite parochial and many people like OP will use the DEI and "affirmative action" argument to complain about why students of color are able to get into better colleges than their kids. Meanwhile, nothing really is done to give students of color, or really students of any color, who may come from more underprivileged backgrounds the same opportunities that the above-average wealthy students are getting. They come in at the bottom and are left to feel less valuable throughout their time there. This played out with the gravest consequences a few years ago and nothing has changed since. Thanks to leadership and parents like OP.

I find it hard to believe that there are any underprivileged students at a school that charges over $55,000 per year for tuition. Even if someone receive financial assistance, they are still very privileged.