The Flogging of Basis

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Because it’s a public school that costs all taxpayers money. I get some people like it, but the method has a lot of genuine and legitimate critiques - most kids do not work in the system and it’s not a solution for most dcps kids… but we all pay for it.

Most DCPS middle and high schools are failing kids every day and with a ton more resources than Basis consumes $ for $. My tax money goes to support plenty of ed matters (SPED, last chance, adult education, etc) not relevant to my family, but that’s ok precisely because it works for DC families. DC works for a a critical mass of DC families too.

*Basis works

No, most kids who start at basis do not finish at basis.

If regular DCPS schools could send away the kids who don't make the testing grade, test scores would dramatically improve and you could say they serve the kids who attend very well, but you couldn't say they serve all kids well.

BASIS is a very specific style of learning that serves some kids well... you could convince me that BASIS-like curriculum should be incorporated into DCPS curriculum for high-performing or math-oriented kids, and of course we could have a disheartening conversation about the inflexibility of DCPS and the failure of DCPS to implement, etc., but that doesn't mean BASIS is a good solution for the vast majority of DCPS kids.

And it's far from the only high-performing charter alternative. Walls seems to successfully serve a wider range of students, outside of the DCPS failed system. (I'm not interested in a Walls vs. Basis debate, my only point is that charters are not inherently bad).

If BASIS didn't have that attrition rate, and was able to lift all students up to high levels of accomplishment that would genuinely be impressive. The extremely high attrition rate just seems to negate the legitimacy of most of BASIS' selling points, and the absolutely heartbreaking trauma that, anecdotally, I've witnessed from close family friends, which appears to be a feature of the system, not a one-off mistake, it just doesn't seem worthy of my taxpayer dollars. If parents make the decision they want BASIS style teaching, seems like the BASIS in VA should be your option.

Walls is not a charter. It is an explicitly selective school operated by DCPS.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Because it’s a public school that costs all taxpayers money. I get some people like it, but the method has a lot of genuine and legitimate critiques - most kids do not work in the system and it’s not a solution for most dcps kids… but we all pay for it.

Most DCPS middle and high schools are failing kids every day and with a ton more resources than Basis consumes $ for $. My tax money goes to support plenty of ed matters (SPED, last chance, adult education, etc) not relevant to my family, but that’s ok precisely because it works for DC families. DC works for a a critical mass of DC families too.

*Basis works

No, most kids who start at basis do not finish at basis.

If regular DCPS schools could send away the kids who don't make the testing grade, test scores would dramatically improve and you could say they serve the kids who attend very well, but you couldn't say they serve all kids well.

BASIS is a very specific style of learning that serves some kids well... you could convince me that BASIS-like curriculum should be incorporated into DCPS curriculum for high-performing or math-oriented kids, and of course we could have a disheartening conversation about the inflexibility of DCPS and the failure of DCPS to implement, etc., but that doesn't mean BASIS is a good solution for the vast majority of DCPS kids.

And it's far from the only high-performing charter alternative. Walls seems to successfully serve a wider range of students, outside of the DCPS failed system. (I'm not interested in a Walls vs. Basis debate, my only point is that charters are not inherently bad).

If BASIS didn't have that attrition rate, and was able to lift all students up to high levels of accomplishment that would genuinely be impressive. The extremely high attrition rate just seems to negate the legitimacy of most of BASIS' selling points, and the absolutely heartbreaking trauma that, anecdotally, I've witnessed from close family friends, which appears to be a feature of the system, not a one-off mistake, it just doesn't seem worthy of my taxpayer dollars. If parents make the decision they want BASIS style teaching, seems like the BASIS in VA should be your option.

Walls is not a charter. It is an explicitly selective school operated by DCPS.

So, no investors in Arizona?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Because it’s a public school that costs all taxpayers money. I get some people like it, but the method has a lot of genuine and legitimate critiques - most kids do not work in the system and it’s not a solution for most dcps kids… but we all pay for it.

Most DCPS middle and high schools are failing kids every day and with a ton more resources than Basis consumes $ for $. My tax money goes to support plenty of ed matters (SPED, last chance, adult education, etc) not relevant to my family, but that’s ok precisely because it works for DC families. DC works for a a critical mass of DC families too.

*Basis works

No, most kids who start at basis do not finish at basis.

If regular DCPS schools could send away the kids who don't make the testing grade, test scores would dramatically improve and you could say they serve the kids who attend very well, but you couldn't say they serve all kids well.

BASIS is a very specific style of learning that serves some kids well... you could convince me that BASIS-like curriculum should be incorporated into DCPS curriculum for high-performing or math-oriented kids, and of course we could have a disheartening conversation about the inflexibility of DCPS and the failure of DCPS to implement, etc., but that doesn't mean BASIS is a good solution for the vast majority of DCPS kids.

And it's far from the only high-performing charter alternative. Walls seems to successfully serve a wider range of students, outside of the DCPS failed system. (I'm not interested in a Walls vs. Basis debate, my only point is that charters are not inherently bad).

If BASIS didn't have that attrition rate, and was able to lift all students up to high levels of accomplishment that would genuinely be impressive. The extremely high attrition rate just seems to negate the legitimacy of most of BASIS' selling points, and the absolutely heartbreaking trauma that, anecdotally, I've witnessed from close family friends, which appears to be a feature of the system, not a one-off mistake, it just doesn't seem worthy of my taxpayer dollars. If parents make the decision they want BASIS style teaching, seems like the BASIS in VA should be your option.

You seem to not understand that Walls selects its students, rejecting over 85 percent.

Given that Walls cherry picks straight A students for its student body, whatever success it has is not particularly impressive.

[Anonymous]

Here is another question: If BASIS were a private school operating under its exact current model and with its current facilities, would families pay for it?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Because it’s a public school that costs all taxpayers money. I get some people like it, but the method has a lot of genuine and legitimate critiques - most kids do not work in the system and it’s not a solution for most dcps kids… but we all pay for it.

Most DCPS middle and high schools are failing kids every day and with a ton more resources than Basis consumes $ for $. My tax money goes to support plenty of ed matters (SPED, last chance, adult education, etc) not relevant to my family, but that’s ok precisely because it works for DC families. DC works for a a critical mass of DC families too.

*Basis works

No, most kids who start at basis do not finish at basis.

If regular DCPS schools could send away the kids who don't make the testing grade, test scores would dramatically improve and you could say they serve the kids who attend very well, but you couldn't say they serve all kids well.

BASIS is a very specific style of learning that serves some kids well... you could convince me that BASIS-like curriculum should be incorporated into DCPS curriculum for high-performing or math-oriented kids, and of course we could have a disheartening conversation about the inflexibility of DCPS and the failure of DCPS to implement, etc., but that doesn't mean BASIS is a good solution for the vast majority of DCPS kids.

And it's far from the only high-performing charter alternative. Walls seems to successfully serve a wider range of students, outside of the DCPS failed system. (I'm not interested in a Walls vs. Basis debate, my only point is that charters are not inherently bad).

If BASIS didn't have that attrition rate, and was able to lift all students up to high levels of accomplishment that would genuinely be impressive. The extremely high attrition rate just seems to negate the legitimacy of most of BASIS' selling points, and the absolutely heartbreaking trauma that, anecdotally, I've witnessed from close family friends, which appears to be a feature of the system, not a one-off mistake, it just doesn't seem worthy of my taxpayer dollars. If parents make the decision they want BASIS style teaching, seems like the BASIS in VA should be your option.

You seem to not understand that Walls selects its students, rejecting over 85 percent.

Given that Walls cherry picks straight A students for its student body, whatever success it has is not particularly impressive.

+1. The stupidity of some of these comments is really breathtaking.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Because it’s a public school that costs all taxpayers money. I get some people like it, but the method has a lot of genuine and legitimate critiques - most kids do not work in the system and it’s not a solution for most dcps kids… but we all pay for it.

Most DCPS middle and high schools are failing kids every day and with a ton more resources than Basis consumes $ for $. My tax money goes to support plenty of ed matters (SPED, last chance, adult education, etc) not relevant to my family, but that’s ok precisely because it works for DC families. DC works for a a critical mass of DC families too.

*Basis works

No, most kids who start at basis do not finish at basis.

If regular DCPS schools could send away the kids who don't make the testing grade, test scores would dramatically improve and you could say they serve the kids who attend very well, but you couldn't say they serve all kids well.

BASIS is a very specific style of learning that serves some kids well... you could convince me that BASIS-like curriculum should be incorporated into DCPS curriculum for high-performing or math-oriented kids, and of course we could have a disheartening conversation about the inflexibility of DCPS and the failure of DCPS to implement, etc., but that doesn't mean BASIS is a good solution for the vast majority of DCPS kids.

And it's far from the only high-performing charter alternative. Walls seems to successfully serve a wider range of students, outside of the DCPS failed system. (I'm not interested in a Walls vs. Basis debate, my only point is that charters are not inherently bad).

If BASIS didn't have that attrition rate, and was able to lift all students up to high levels of accomplishment that would genuinely be impressive. The extremely high attrition rate just seems to negate the legitimacy of most of BASIS' selling points, and the absolutely heartbreaking trauma that, anecdotally, I've witnessed from close family friends, which appears to be a feature of the system, not a one-off mistake, it just doesn't seem worthy of my taxpayer dollars. If parents make the decision they want BASIS style teaching, seems like the BASIS in VA should be your option.

It seems that BASIS does well by the kids who leave early for Walls, Banneker, or private schools. They may not have loved the BASIS experience—or at least felt they’d had their fill—but they generally land in strong positions and have built solid academic records during their time there, however challenging it may have been.

When you combine that with the roughly one-third of students who make it all the way through, it’s likely that BASIS serves a strong majority of its students well.

While the school can’t exactly market or “sell” itself based on its middle- and high-school “exit” pathways, those outcomes do matter for families trying to weigh their options.

And as DC taxpayers, such families should not be selectively deprived of a Basis-like option, especially when DCPS has no intention of broadly filling the gap with similar programming at its middle schools…unless of course there is something particularly undeserving about those families versus all others.

[Anonymous]

The fact that OP randomly started a fresh thread to complain about "flogging" is a great example of the defensive persecution complex that some BASIS parents have. The little secret is, BASIS is mid. And they know it. They don't want to move or go private so they argue about this, but it's mid. The tradeoffs might be worth it for some kids, but for many kids they aren't. And that's why so many kids bail at 9th

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Here is another question: If BASIS were a private school operating under its exact current model and with its current facilities, would families pay for it?

Well, in fact BASIS DC has the same curriculum and standards of BASIS McLean, and the parents at BASIS McLean pay for that school. Same is true for the BASIS private schools in Manhattan, Brooklyn, Silicon Valley, etc.

So, the kids at BASIS DC are essentially getting a private school education for free!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The fact that OP randomly started a fresh thread to complain about "flogging" is a great example of the defensive persecution complex that some BASIS parents have. The little secret is, BASIS is mid. And they know it. They don't want to move or go private so they argue about this, but it's mid. The tradeoffs might be worth it for some kids, but for many kids they aren't. And that's why so many kids bail at 9th

Or they bail at 9th because they have better high school exit options than they did at middle school. That’s not a bad result.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Here is another question: If BASIS were a private school operating under its exact current model and with its current facilities, would families pay for it?

There's one in VA that seems to be doing well -- investors are pleased, just sold it for a pretty penny.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Here is another question: If BASIS were a private school operating under its exact current model and with its current facilities, would families pay for it?

Well, in fact BASIS DC has the same curriculum and standards of BASIS McLean, and the parents at BASIS McLean pay for that school. Same is true for the BASIS private schools in Manhattan, Brooklyn, Silicon Valley, etc.

So, the kids at BASIS DC are essentially getting a private school education for free!

And when anyone challenges them on why our taxpayer dollars should pay for it, the response is "well dcps sucks!"

yes, so, if you're not interested in improving it, go to a private school. On your own dime.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The fact that OP randomly started a fresh thread to complain about "flogging" is a great example of the defensive persecution complex that some BASIS parents have. The little secret is, BASIS is mid. And they know it. They don't want to move or go private so they argue about this, but it's mid. The tradeoffs might be worth it for some kids, but for many kids they aren't. And that's why so many kids bail at 9th

Or they bail at 9th because they have better high school exit options than they did at middle school four years earlier. Basis may have been preferable to their in-bound middle, but Walls, Banneker, or private are perhaps preferable to high school at Basis. This isn’t rocket science.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The fact that OP randomly started a fresh thread to complain about "flogging" is a great example of the defensive persecution complex that some BASIS parents have. The little secret is, BASIS is mid. And they know it. They don't want to move or go private so they argue about this, but it's mid. The tradeoffs might be worth it for some kids, but for many kids they aren't. And that's why so many kids bail at 9th

Or they bail at 9th because they have better high school exit options than they did at middle school. That’s not a bad result.

It's too bad BASIS's high school isn't appealing to its own students, though. You would think that having experienced the super high quality of BASIS for four years they would be wanting more, rather than having to leave their friends and transition. Because BASIS is totally so awesome right?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The fact that OP randomly started a fresh thread to complain about "flogging" is a great example of the defensive persecution complex that some BASIS parents have. The little secret is, BASIS is mid. And they know it. They don't want to move or go private so they argue about this, but it's mid. The tradeoffs might be worth it for some kids, but for many kids they aren't. And that's why so many kids bail at 9th

Or they bail at 9th because they have better high school exit options than they did at middle school. That’s not a bad result.

It's too bad BASIS's high school isn't appealing to its own students, though. You would think that having experienced the super high quality of BASIS for four years they would be wanting more, rather than having to leave their friends and transition. Because BASIS is totally so awesome right?

IF i follow the argument, it's "basis is better than a bad middle school, but it's still not very good"

Well, I'm sold on sending more money to dudes in Arizona who want more money.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Here is another question: If BASIS were a private school operating under its exact current model and with its current facilities, would families pay for it?

Well, in fact BASIS DC has the same curriculum and standards of BASIS McLean, and the parents at BASIS McLean pay for that school. Same is true for the BASIS private schools in Manhattan, Brooklyn, Silicon Valley, etc.

So, the kids at BASIS DC are essentially getting a private school education for free!

And when anyone challenges them on why our taxpayer dollars should pay for it, the response is "well dcps sucks!"

yes, so, if you're not interested in improving it, go to a private school. On your own dime.

Yes - if you are not wealthy enough to afford private school you must take on the burden of “improving” DCPS even though doing so is clearly impossible within any time horizon relevant to families with kids entering middle school. This is a complete joke.