DC Public Education Candidate Forum starting now

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
I think anyone who thinks things were better before Rhee is on the really good drugs

+1000

Yeah, it was so terrible how Rhee pushed out teachers who didn't belong in the classroom and how she gave bonuses to teachers who were really good at their jobs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Honestly Janice Lewis George is my pick -she is the only one who talked about actually structural changes.
My second is Gary Goodweather, who talks about classroom changes and training for teacher but to me it’s also a red flag. If you know Michelle Rhee, she did a number on DCPS and helped ruin it. Teachers don’t need MORE training, we need GOOD training and planning time.

I find it interesting McDuffie is ALWAYS declining debates involving education. I also recently discovered his plan is to get kids ‘AI ready.’ Just no, we don’t need more tech. The research clearly shows this is not the way and let’s be honest most dummies can utilize AI -to use it well should be an elective a kid in HS can take IF they are interested.

Thanks for this - what structural changes is JLG supporting?

Janeese is a vote for the status quo. She will slavishly do whatever the teacher's union wants (she was trying to re-close schools during the pandemic for months after they had finally opened for good). Her answer to every problem is throwing more money at it. Let's face it. These schools are extremely well funded. What they need are higher academic standards. She is the last person on Earth who will support making schools more rigorous.

I think schools need a lot of things and people can reasonable disagree on what the priorities should be. I say that probably agreeing with you on higher standards, and agreeing that DC spends more than enough on schools in a mostly equitable way (we SHOULD spend more money on students with tougher environments)

Have you ever noticed that the best schools in DC (BASIS, Latin, Walls, etc) have the worst facilities and the worst schools in the city have the best facilities?

https://perkinswill.com/project/ballou-senior-high-school/

Like, do you disagree with the core point here? People have different priorities and goals. Some people just have different definitions of achievement, some have models that are absolutely bananas, but they get to vote. They are going to disagree that those are the best schools, and some of the reasons are at a minimum reasonable and in many cases good reasons.

What we're doing isn't working. We spent more on schools than almost anywhere else, and we're getting passed by *multiple* states in the deep south. Per the New York Times:

"Louisiana ranks No. 1 in the country in recovery from pandemic losses in reading, while Alabama ranks No. 1 in math recovery.

The state with the lowest chronic absenteeism in schools is Alabama, according to a tracker with data from 40 states.

Once an educational laughingstock, Mississippi now ranks ninth in the country in fourth-grade reading levels — and after adjusting for demographics such as poverty and race, Mississippi ranks No. 1, while Louisiana ranks No. 2, according to calculations by the Urban Institute. Using the same demographic adjustment, Mississippi also ranks No. 1 in America in both fourth-grade and eighth-grade math.

Black fourth graders in Mississippi are on average better readers than those in Massachusetts, which is often thought to have the best public school system in the country (and one that spends twice as much per pupil)."

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/02/09/opinion/red-states-good-schools.html

You’re making an argument laden with assumptions that other people do not share, especially about things like the definition of “working” and assumptions about what schools can do for kids. That’s before we get into the selection problems at the heart of these improvements, and the consequences to the DCPS system if we did some of these policy implementations (accepting the selection issues, the improvements for the kids on the margin are stark).

For the sake of argument- honestly I agree with the policy- let’s say we hold back kids who score below a 3 on the ELA exams at every level. That would create massive pressure on a lot of DCPS schools where most kids don’t pass. That’s not cost free.

Just look at this forum. For every parent that is disappointed with dcps offerings there is a shrill mom screaming that they’re demanding too much. Look at the forum on selective high schools. Look at the thread on school report cards. It’s honestly depressing. If we could afford to move I would.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
I think anyone who thinks things were better before Rhee is on the really good drugs

+1000

+1000 more.

I lived in DC in 2010, and when I would tell people I hoped to one day send my kids to public school in DC people would literally laugh at me. At my DC based, progressive company, there wasn't a single person with a kid in public school in DC. Now? Tons of people at my office have kids in DCPS or DC PCS. Enrollment in DC public and public charter schools has gone from about 70k to about 100k. High school graduation rates went from just shy of 60% to just shy of 80%. Between 2010 and 2020, performance on the "nations report card" has improved significantly (we've taken a big hit from the pandemic though). The number of schools that have a cohort of kids performing on or above grade level has increased significantly.

Is DC perfect? No. Are there areas to improve? Absolutely. Are there lessons we can learn from Mississippi? Of course. But we are on a good track making steady progress every year, and trying to improve education in DC right now is like trying to get a bird to eat out of your hand. You don't want to make any big, sudden movements or the bird moves to Maryland.

So I want to keep moving forward, I want to make sure we're focusing on reading (this crap ELA curriculum has got to GO), I worry about Ed Tech, I worry about the achievement gap, I worry about lowering the bar... but I do NOT want to get rid of mayoral control. The pre-Rhee days are too close, man, and especially post pandemic where we DID lose some progress - I do not want us knocked off track.

I dunno where that leaves me for the June election.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Honestly Janice Lewis George is my pick -she is the only one who talked about actually structural changes.
My second is Gary Goodweather, who talks about classroom changes and training for teacher but to me it’s also a red flag. If you know Michelle Rhee, she did a number on DCPS and helped ruin it. Teachers don’t need MORE training, we need GOOD training and planning time.

I find it interesting McDuffie is ALWAYS declining debates involving education. I also recently discovered his plan is to get kids ‘AI ready.’ Just no, we don’t need more tech. The research clearly shows this is not the way and let’s be honest most dummies can utilize AI -to use it well should be an elective a kid in HS can take IF they are interested.

Thanks for this - what structural changes is JLG supporting?

Janeese is a vote for the status quo. She will slavishly do whatever the teacher's union wants (she was trying to re-close schools during the pandemic for months after they had finally opened for good). Her answer to every problem is throwing more money at it. Let's face it. These schools are extremely well funded. What they need are higher academic standards. She is the last person on Earth who will support making schools more rigorous.

I think schools need a lot of things and people can reasonable disagree on what the priorities should be. I say that probably agreeing with you on higher standards, and agreeing that DC spends more than enough on schools in a mostly equitable way (we SHOULD spend more money on students with tougher environments)

Have you ever noticed that the best schools in DC (BASIS, Latin, Walls, etc) have the worst facilities and the worst schools in the city have the best facilities?

https://perkinswill.com/project/ballou-senior-high-school/

Like, do you disagree with the core point here? People have different priorities and goals. Some people just have different definitions of achievement, some have models that are absolutely bananas, but they get to vote. They are going to disagree that those are the best schools, and some of the reasons are at a minimum reasonable and in many cases good reasons.

What we're doing isn't working. We spent more on schools than almost anywhere else, and we're getting passed by *multiple* states in the deep south. Per the New York Times:

"Louisiana ranks No. 1 in the country in recovery from pandemic losses in reading, while Alabama ranks No. 1 in math recovery.

The state with the lowest chronic absenteeism in schools is Alabama, according to a tracker with data from 40 states.

Once an educational laughingstock, Mississippi now ranks ninth in the country in fourth-grade reading levels — and after adjusting for demographics such as poverty and race, Mississippi ranks No. 1, while Louisiana ranks No. 2, according to calculations by the Urban Institute. Using the same demographic adjustment, Mississippi also ranks No. 1 in America in both fourth-grade and eighth-grade math.

Black fourth graders in Mississippi are on average better readers than those in Massachusetts, which is often thought to have the best public school system in the country (and one that spends twice as much per pupil)."

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/02/09/opinion/red-states-good-schools.html

You’re making an argument laden with assumptions that other people do not share, especially about things like the definition of “working” and assumptions about what schools can do for kids. That’s before we get into the selection problems at the heart of these improvements, and the consequences to the DCPS system if we did some of these policy implementations (accepting the selection issues, the improvements for the kids on the margin are stark).

For the sake of argument- honestly I agree with the policy- let’s say we hold back kids who score below a 3 on the ELA exams at every level. That would create massive pressure on a lot of DCPS schools where most kids don’t pass. That’s not cost free.

Just look at this forum. For every parent that is disappointed with dcps offerings there is a shrill mom screaming that they’re demanding too much. Look at the forum on selective high schools. Look at the thread on school report cards. It’s honestly depressing. If we could afford to move I would.

I'm amazed at parents who make excuses for DCPS or our elected leaders. It's like Stockholm Sydrome. They are screwing over your children, and you are making excuses for them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Honestly Janice Lewis George is my pick -she is the only one who talked about actually structural changes.
My second is Gary Goodweather, who talks about classroom changes and training for teacher but to me it’s also a red flag. If you know Michelle Rhee, she did a number on DCPS and helped ruin it. Teachers don’t need MORE training, we need GOOD training and planning time.

I find it interesting McDuffie is ALWAYS declining debates involving education. I also recently discovered his plan is to get kids ‘AI ready.’ Just no, we don’t need more tech. The research clearly shows this is not the way and let’s be honest most dummies can utilize AI -to use it well should be an elective a kid in HS can take IF they are interested.

Thanks for this - what structural changes is JLG supporting?

Janeese is a vote for the status quo. She will slavishly do whatever the teacher's union wants (she was trying to re-close schools during the pandemic for months after they had finally opened for good). Her answer to every problem is throwing more money at it. Let's face it. These schools are extremely well funded. What they need are higher academic standards. She is the last person on Earth who will support making schools more rigorous.

I think schools need a lot of things and people can reasonable disagree on what the priorities should be. I say that probably agreeing with you on higher standards, and agreeing that DC spends more than enough on schools in a mostly equitable way (we SHOULD spend more money on students with tougher environments)

Have you ever noticed that the best schools in DC (BASIS, Latin, Walls, etc) have the worst facilities and the worst schools in the city have the best facilities?

https://perkinswill.com/project/ballou-senior-high-school/

Like, do you disagree with the core point here? People have different priorities and goals. Some people just have different definitions of achievement, some have models that are absolutely bananas, but they get to vote. They are going to disagree that those are the best schools, and some of the reasons are at a minimum reasonable and in many cases good reasons.

What we're doing isn't working. We spent more on schools than almost anywhere else, and we're getting passed by *multiple* states in the deep south. Per the New York Times:

"Louisiana ranks No. 1 in the country in recovery from pandemic losses in reading, while Alabama ranks No. 1 in math recovery.

The state with the lowest chronic absenteeism in schools is Alabama, according to a tracker with data from 40 states.

Once an educational laughingstock, Mississippi now ranks ninth in the country in fourth-grade reading levels — and after adjusting for demographics such as poverty and race, Mississippi ranks No. 1, while Louisiana ranks No. 2, according to calculations by the Urban Institute. Using the same demographic adjustment, Mississippi also ranks No. 1 in America in both fourth-grade and eighth-grade math.

Black fourth graders in Mississippi are on average better readers than those in Massachusetts, which is often thought to have the best public school system in the country (and one that spends twice as much per pupil)."

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/02/09/opinion/red-states-good-schools.html

You’re making an argument laden with assumptions that other people do not share, especially about things like the definition of “working” and assumptions about what schools can do for kids. That’s before we get into the selection problems at the heart of these improvements, and the consequences to the DCPS system if we did some of these policy implementations (accepting the selection issues, the improvements for the kids on the margin are stark).

For the sake of argument- honestly I agree with the policy- let’s say we hold back kids who score below a 3 on the ELA exams at every level. That would create massive pressure on a lot of DCPS schools where most kids don’t pass. That’s not cost free.

This is interesting. What are the selection problems?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
I think anyone who thinks things were better before Rhee is on the really good drugs

+1000

+1000 more.

I lived in DC in 2010, and when I would tell people I hoped to one day send my kids to public school in DC people would literally laugh at me. At my DC based, progressive company, there wasn't a single person with a kid in public school in DC. Now? Tons of people at my office have kids in DCPS or DC PCS. Enrollment in DC public and public charter schools has gone from about 70k to about 100k. High school graduation rates went from just shy of 60% to just shy of 80%. Between 2010 and 2020, performance on the "nations report card" has improved significantly (we've taken a big hit from the pandemic though). The number of schools that have a cohort of kids performing on or above grade level has increased significantly.

Is DC perfect? No. Are there areas to improve? Absolutely. Are there lessons we can learn from Mississippi? Of course. But we are on a good track making steady progress every year, and trying to improve education in DC right now is like trying to get a bird to eat out of your hand. You don't want to make any big, sudden movements or the bird moves to Maryland.

So I want to keep moving forward, I want to make sure we're focusing on reading (this crap ELA curriculum has got to GO), I worry about Ed Tech, I worry about the achievement gap, I worry about lowering the bar... but I do NOT want to get rid of mayoral control. The pre-Rhee days are too close, man, and especially post pandemic where we DID lose some progress - I do not want us knocked off track.

I dunno where that leaves me for the June election.

Just to be clear, the growth in enrollment has mostly been in charter schools. Since 2010, charter enrollment is up about 20,000 kids. DCPS is up about 6,000 kids. That is a lot of people voting with their feet.

[Anonymous]

Definitely know that Janeese Lewis George cares. Let me know when you find out what McDuffie cares about on education.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Honestly Janice Lewis George is my pick -she is the only one who talked about actually structural changes.
My second is Gary Goodweather, who talks about classroom changes and training for teacher but to me it’s also a red flag. If you know Michelle Rhee, she did a number on DCPS and helped ruin it. Teachers don’t need MORE training, we need GOOD training and planning time.

I find it interesting McDuffie is ALWAYS declining debates involving education. I also recently discovered his plan is to get kids ‘AI ready.’ Just no, we don’t need more tech. The research clearly shows this is not the way and let’s be honest most dummies can utilize AI -to use it well should be an elective a kid in HS can take IF they are interested.

Thanks for this - what structural changes is JLG supporting?

Janeese is a vote for the status quo. She will slavishly do whatever the teacher's union wants (she was trying to re-close schools during the pandemic for months after they had finally opened for good). Her answer to every problem is throwing more money at it. Let's face it. These schools are extremely well funded. What they need are higher academic standards. She is the last person on Earth who will support making schools more rigorous.

I think schools need a lot of things and people can reasonable disagree on what the priorities should be. I say that probably agreeing with you on higher standards, and agreeing that DC spends more than enough on schools in a mostly equitable way (we SHOULD spend more money on students with tougher environments)

Have you ever noticed that the best schools in DC (BASIS, Latin, Walls, etc) have the worst facilities and the worst schools in the city have the best facilities?

https://perkinswill.com/project/ballou-senior-high-school/

Like, do you disagree with the core point here? People have different priorities and goals. Some people just have different definitions of achievement, some have models that are absolutely bananas, but they get to vote. They are going to disagree that those are the best schools, and some of the reasons are at a minimum reasonable and in many cases good reasons.

What we're doing isn't working. We spent more on schools than almost anywhere else, and we're getting passed by *multiple* states in the deep south. Per the New York Times:

"Louisiana ranks No. 1 in the country in recovery from pandemic losses in reading, while Alabama ranks No. 1 in math recovery.

The state with the lowest chronic absenteeism in schools is Alabama, according to a tracker with data from 40 states.

Once an educational laughingstock, Mississippi now ranks ninth in the country in fourth-grade reading levels — and after adjusting for demographics such as poverty and race, Mississippi ranks No. 1, while Louisiana ranks No. 2, according to calculations by the Urban Institute. Using the same demographic adjustment, Mississippi also ranks No. 1 in America in both fourth-grade and eighth-grade math.

Black fourth graders in Mississippi are on average better readers than those in Massachusetts, which is often thought to have the best public school system in the country (and one that spends twice as much per pupil)."

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/02/09/opinion/red-states-good-schools.html

You’re making an argument laden with assumptions that other people do not share, especially about things like the definition of “working” and assumptions about what schools can do for kids. That’s before we get into the selection problems at the heart of these improvements, and the consequences to the DCPS system if we did some of these policy implementations (accepting the selection issues, the improvements for the kids on the margin are stark).

For the sake of argument- honestly I agree with the policy- let’s say we hold back kids who score below a 3 on the ELA exams at every level. That would create massive pressure on a lot of DCPS schools where most kids don’t pass. That’s not cost free.

This is interesting. What are the selection problems?

There’s an argument- that I really haven’t vetted, so I’m stating the argument, not defending it- that the Mississippi miracle is an artifact of only testing successful kids. Like all the kids dragging the score down at T1 aren’t in there at T2.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Definitely know that Janeese Lewis George cares. Let me know when you find out what McDuffie cares about on education.

Really? I remember Janeese throwing children under the bus during the pandemic. You'll recall that schools finally reopened in August 2021, after being closed for 18 montsh, and that she was still pushing in 2022 to close schools, even after they had been open for months, because it was supposedly unsafe. I think Janeese cares very much about being elected and staying on the good side of the teachers unions. But our kids? Not so much!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Honestly Janice Lewis George is my pick -she is the only one who talked about actually structural changes.
My second is Gary Goodweather, who talks about classroom changes and training for teacher but to me it’s also a red flag. If you know Michelle Rhee, she did a number on DCPS and helped ruin it. Teachers don’t need MORE training, we need GOOD training and planning time.

I find it interesting McDuffie is ALWAYS declining debates involving education. I also recently discovered his plan is to get kids ‘AI ready.’ Just no, we don’t need more tech. The research clearly shows this is not the way and let’s be honest most dummies can utilize AI -to use it well should be an elective a kid in HS can take IF they are interested.

Thanks for this - what structural changes is JLG supporting?

Janeese is a vote for the status quo. She will slavishly do whatever the teacher's union wants (she was trying to re-close schools during the pandemic for months after they had finally opened for good). Her answer to every problem is throwing more money at it. Let's face it. These schools are extremely well funded. What they need are higher academic standards. She is the last person on Earth who will support making schools more rigorous.

I think schools need a lot of things and people can reasonable disagree on what the priorities should be. I say that probably agreeing with you on higher standards, and agreeing that DC spends more than enough on schools in a mostly equitable way (we SHOULD spend more money on students with tougher environments)

Have you ever noticed that the best schools in DC (BASIS, Latin, Walls, etc) have the worst facilities and the worst schools in the city have the best facilities?

https://perkinswill.com/project/ballou-senior-high-school/

Like, do you disagree with the core point here? People have different priorities and goals. Some people just have different definitions of achievement, some have models that are absolutely bananas, but they get to vote. They are going to disagree that those are the best schools, and some of the reasons are at a minimum reasonable and in many cases good reasons.

What we're doing isn't working. We spent more on schools than almost anywhere else, and we're getting passed by *multiple* states in the deep south. Per the New York Times:

"Louisiana ranks No. 1 in the country in recovery from pandemic losses in reading, while Alabama ranks No. 1 in math recovery.

The state with the lowest chronic absenteeism in schools is Alabama, according to a tracker with data from 40 states.

Once an educational laughingstock, Mississippi now ranks ninth in the country in fourth-grade reading levels — and after adjusting for demographics such as poverty and race, Mississippi ranks No. 1, while Louisiana ranks No. 2, according to calculations by the Urban Institute. Using the same demographic adjustment, Mississippi also ranks No. 1 in America in both fourth-grade and eighth-grade math.

Black fourth graders in Mississippi are on average better readers than those in Massachusetts, which is often thought to have the best public school system in the country (and one that spends twice as much per pupil)."

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/02/09/opinion/red-states-good-schools.html

You’re making an argument laden with assumptions that other people do not share, especially about things like the definition of “working” and assumptions about what schools can do for kids. That’s before we get into the selection problems at the heart of these improvements, and the consequences to the DCPS system if we did some of these policy implementations (accepting the selection issues, the improvements for the kids on the margin are stark).

For the sake of argument- honestly I agree with the policy- let’s say we hold back kids who score below a 3 on the ELA exams at every level. That would create massive pressure on a lot of DCPS schools where most kids don’t pass. That’s not cost free.

This is interesting. What are the selection problems?

There’s an argument- that I really haven’t vetted, so I’m stating the argument, not defending it- that the Mississippi miracle is an artifact of only testing successful kids. Like all the kids dragging the score down at T1 aren’t in there at T2.

Yes, it's all a big conspiracy. All across the deep south. Louisiana, Alabama, Mississippi. They're all lying just to embarrass DCPS.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Honestly Janice Lewis George is my pick -she is the only one who talked about actually structural changes.
My second is Gary Goodweather, who talks about classroom changes and training for teacher but to me it’s also a red flag. If you know Michelle Rhee, she did a number on DCPS and helped ruin it. Teachers don’t need MORE training, we need GOOD training and planning time.

I find it interesting McDuffie is ALWAYS declining debates involving education. I also recently discovered his plan is to get kids ‘AI ready.’ Just no, we don’t need more tech. The research clearly shows this is not the way and let’s be honest most dummies can utilize AI -to use it well should be an elective a kid in HS can take IF they are interested.

Thanks for this - what structural changes is JLG supporting?

Janeese is a vote for the status quo. She will slavishly do whatever the teacher's union wants (she was trying to re-close schools during the pandemic for months after they had finally opened for good). Her answer to every problem is throwing more money at it. Let's face it. These schools are extremely well funded. What they need are higher academic standards. She is the last person on Earth who will support making schools more rigorous.

I think schools need a lot of things and people can reasonable disagree on what the priorities should be. I say that probably agreeing with you on higher standards, and agreeing that DC spends more than enough on schools in a mostly equitable way (we SHOULD spend more money on students with tougher environments)

Have you ever noticed that the best schools in DC (BASIS, Latin, Walls, etc) have the worst facilities and the worst schools in the city have the best facilities?

https://perkinswill.com/project/ballou-senior-high-school/

Like, do you disagree with the core point here? People have different priorities and goals. Some people just have different definitions of achievement, some have models that are absolutely bananas, but they get to vote. They are going to disagree that those are the best schools, and some of the reasons are at a minimum reasonable and in many cases good reasons.

What we're doing isn't working. We spent more on schools than almost anywhere else, and we're getting passed by *multiple* states in the deep south. Per the New York Times:

"Louisiana ranks No. 1 in the country in recovery from pandemic losses in reading, while Alabama ranks No. 1 in math recovery.

The state with the lowest chronic absenteeism in schools is Alabama, according to a tracker with data from 40 states.

Once an educational laughingstock, Mississippi now ranks ninth in the country in fourth-grade reading levels — and after adjusting for demographics such as poverty and race, Mississippi ranks No. 1, while Louisiana ranks No. 2, according to calculations by the Urban Institute. Using the same demographic adjustment, Mississippi also ranks No. 1 in America in both fourth-grade and eighth-grade math.

Black fourth graders in Mississippi are on average better readers than those in Massachusetts, which is often thought to have the best public school system in the country (and one that spends twice as much per pupil)."

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/02/09/opinion/red-states-good-schools.html

You’re making an argument laden with assumptions that other people do not share, especially about things like the definition of “working” and assumptions about what schools can do for kids. That’s before we get into the selection problems at the heart of these improvements, and the consequences to the DCPS system if we did some of these policy implementations (accepting the selection issues, the improvements for the kids on the margin are stark).

For the sake of argument- honestly I agree with the policy- let’s say we hold back kids who score below a 3 on the ELA exams at every level. That would create massive pressure on a lot of DCPS schools where most kids don’t pass. That’s not cost free.

This is interesting. What are the selection problems?

There’s an argument- that I really haven’t vetted, so I’m stating the argument, not defending it- that the Mississippi miracle is an artifact of only testing successful kids. Like all the kids dragging the score down at T1 aren’t in there at T2.

Yes, it's all a big conspiracy. All across the deep south. Louisiana, Alabama, Mississippi. They're all lying just to embarrass DCPS.

If the data generating process is the same, and the bias is the same, you’ll have the same problem with the results especially if they use the same method.

I’m on team “make them pass a test to move up a grade” but still, there’s a selection argument that still holds unless it’s panel data.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Honestly Janice Lewis George is my pick -she is the only one who talked about actually structural changes.
My second is Gary Goodweather, who talks about classroom changes and training for teacher but to me it’s also a red flag. If you know Michelle Rhee, she did a number on DCPS and helped ruin it. Teachers don’t need MORE training, we need GOOD training and planning time.

I find it interesting McDuffie is ALWAYS declining debates involving education. I also recently discovered his plan is to get kids ‘AI ready.’ Just no, we don’t need more tech. The research clearly shows this is not the way and let’s be honest most dummies can utilize AI -to use it well should be an elective a kid in HS can take IF they are interested.

Thanks for this - what structural changes is JLG supporting?

Janeese is a vote for the status quo. She will slavishly do whatever the teacher's union wants (she was trying to re-close schools during the pandemic for months after they had finally opened for good). Her answer to every problem is throwing more money at it. Let's face it. These schools are extremely well funded. What they need are higher academic standards. She is the last person on Earth who will support making schools more rigorous.

I think schools need a lot of things and people can reasonable disagree on what the priorities should be. I say that probably agreeing with you on higher standards, and agreeing that DC spends more than enough on schools in a mostly equitable way (we SHOULD spend more money on students with tougher environments)

Have you ever noticed that the best schools in DC (BASIS, Latin, Walls, etc) have the worst facilities and the worst schools in the city have the best facilities?

https://perkinswill.com/project/ballou-senior-high-school/

Like, do you disagree with the core point here? People have different priorities and goals. Some people just have different definitions of achievement, some have models that are absolutely bananas, but they get to vote. They are going to disagree that those are the best schools, and some of the reasons are at a minimum reasonable and in many cases good reasons.

What we're doing isn't working. We spent more on schools than almost anywhere else, and we're getting passed by *multiple* states in the deep south. Per the New York Times:

"Louisiana ranks No. 1 in the country in recovery from pandemic losses in reading, while Alabama ranks No. 1 in math recovery.

The state with the lowest chronic absenteeism in schools is Alabama, according to a tracker with data from 40 states.

Once an educational laughingstock, Mississippi now ranks ninth in the country in fourth-grade reading levels — and after adjusting for demographics such as poverty and race, Mississippi ranks No. 1, while Louisiana ranks No. 2, according to calculations by the Urban Institute. Using the same demographic adjustment, Mississippi also ranks No. 1 in America in both fourth-grade and eighth-grade math.

Black fourth graders in Mississippi are on average better readers than those in Massachusetts, which is often thought to have the best public school system in the country (and one that spends twice as much per pupil)."

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/02/09/opinion/red-states-good-schools.html

You’re making an argument laden with assumptions that other people do not share, especially about things like the definition of “working” and assumptions about what schools can do for kids. That’s before we get into the selection problems at the heart of these improvements, and the consequences to the DCPS system if we did some of these policy implementations (accepting the selection issues, the improvements for the kids on the margin are stark).

For the sake of argument- honestly I agree with the policy- let’s say we hold back kids who score below a 3 on the ELA exams at every level. That would create massive pressure on a lot of DCPS schools where most kids don’t pass. That’s not cost free.

This is interesting. What are the selection problems?

There’s an argument- that I really haven’t vetted, so I’m stating the argument, not defending it- that the Mississippi miracle is an artifact of only testing successful kids. Like all the kids dragging the score down at T1 aren’t in there at T2.

Yes, it's all a big conspiracy. All across the deep south. Louisiana, Alabama, Mississippi. They're all lying just to embarrass DCPS.

If the data generating process is the same, and the bias is the same, you’ll have the same problem with the results especially if they use the same method.

I’m on team “make them pass a test to move up a grade” but still, there’s a selection argument that still holds unless it’s panel data.

If it was San Francisco showing huge improvements in black student outcomes, DC would immediately copy whatever they were doing. But because these are red states, people are like "oh this must somehow be wrong."

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Definitely know that Janeese Lewis George cares. Let me know when you find out what McDuffie cares about on education.

Comments like this only hurt the candidate you're trolling for, because we all remember her fight to close the schools after they'd re-opened.

[Anonymous]

This makes me so crazy. Why wouldn’t you want the best for your kids? For your city? There is an administrator from Stuart Hobson middle school on here name calling and yelling at parents when they point out that 70% of the kids at his/her school are below level on math. I can’t imagine yelling at parents who are appalled by these numbers.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
I think anyone who thinks things were better before Rhee is on the really good drugs

+1000

+1000 more.

I lived in DC in 2010, and when I would tell people I hoped to one day send my kids to public school in DC people would literally laugh at me. At my DC based, progressive company, there wasn't a single person with a kid in public school in DC. Now? Tons of people at my office have kids in DCPS or DC PCS. Enrollment in DC public and public charter schools has gone from about 70k to about 100k. High school graduation rates went from just shy of 60% to just shy of 80%. Between 2010 and 2020, performance on the "nations report card" has improved significantly (we've taken a big hit from the pandemic though). The number of schools that have a cohort of kids performing on or above grade level has increased significantly.

Is DC perfect? No. Are there areas to improve? Absolutely. Are there lessons we can learn from Mississippi? Of course. But we are on a good track making steady progress every year, and trying to improve education in DC right now is like trying to get a bird to eat out of your hand. You don't want to make any big, sudden movements or the bird moves to Maryland.

So I want to keep moving forward, I want to make sure we're focusing on reading (this crap ELA curriculum has got to GO), I worry about Ed Tech, I worry about the achievement gap, I worry about lowering the bar... but I do NOT want to get rid of mayoral control. The pre-Rhee days are too close, man, and especially post pandemic where we DID lose some progress - I do not want us knocked off track.

I dunno where that leaves me for the June election.

I agree with you about DCPS making progress since 2010 *except* I see that progress has stalled under Bowser.

DCPS under Ferebee has been, at best, stagnant.