blog post on DC schools and mayoral race importance for the schools

[Anonymous]

Also not a fan of that.

For the person who asked about specifics, specifics are the whole thing that worries me about McDuffie.

He has all these detailed policy plans — but I have no confidence based on his record that he’ll do ANY of them. And record matters.

Don’t overindex on policy specifics (I know we are all wonks this is DC). This race is about record, experience, and values.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
Janeese wants to slash funding for charter schools to the tune of $9,000+ per student. Half the kids in this city go to charters.



She HATES charters schools. She doesn't think they should exist.

This. Exactly this. Over half of the kids using public education in DC attend charter schools. DC has had over 20 years of trying to improve its regular public schools to compete with that statistic and lessen families' attraction to charters. This they have not done, because of DCPS' always inefficient central office coupled with the teachers' unions. If you want to destroy the charter system---which has managed to keep middle class families in the cities---then vote for JLG. (And Mamdani had virtually no education platform at all.)

The city already shortchanges charter schools in a million different ways, but we've never had a mayor who is anti-charter like Janeese is anti-charter.

What's the worst that could happen? She runs off middle-class families, DC loses population and tax base just as Downtown businesses are struggling and there's a hostile presence in the White House?

Its curious to see if she sticks to her guns or if reality provides some quick moderation.

I would love to get rid of the charter schools - if all the parents who were intelligent enough to know how to work the charter school system had sent their kids to DCPS - we would have better schools across the board. And less division of resources and less infighting. Republicans forced them on us as an experiment. However, please gut DCPS Central and start over.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
Janeese wants to slash funding for charter schools to the tune of $9,000+ per student. Half the kids in this city go to charters.



She HATES charters schools. She doesn't think they should exist.

This. Exactly this. Over half of the kids using public education in DC attend charter schools. DC has had over 20 years of trying to improve its regular public schools to compete with that statistic and lessen families' attraction to charters. This they have not done, because of DCPS' always inefficient central office coupled with the teachers' unions. If you want to destroy the charter system---which has managed to keep middle class families in the cities---then vote for JLG. (And Mamdani had virtually no education platform at all.)

The city already shortchanges charter schools in a million different ways, but we've never had a mayor who is anti-charter like Janeese is anti-charter.

What's the worst that could happen? She runs off middle-class families, DC loses population and tax base just as Downtown businesses are struggling and there's a hostile presence in the White House?

Its curious to see if she sticks to her guns or if reality provides some quick moderation.

I would love to get rid of the charter schools - if all the parents who were intelligent enough to know how to work the charter school system had sent their kids to DCPS - we would have better schools across the board. And less division of resources and less infighting. Republicans forced them on us as an experiment. However, please gut DCPS Central and start over.

The hyper testing mentality created under Fenty and Bowser is already moving kids out of public schools.


Do you know how many parents and kids tell me they are leaving for private schools without all the testing? Private schools have been marketing themselves as places without onerous testing for years.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

The coming June elections in DC are perhaps the most important decision point for the city in decades.

Bottom line: the choice is between the status quo — keeping the same policies — and change to make the city better. Based on our experience, there’s no question that Janeese Lewis George is the candidate of change, the candidate for a better and stronger city and school community.

Meanwhile a vote for the other major mayoral candidate, Kenyan McDuffie, is a vote for the status quo, and the poor governance and weak vision of the Muriel Bowser era in DC.

Many problems in DC stem from poor vision and poor leadership by the outgoing mayor
In DC, the mayor has near-complete control of DC government, and specifically control of DC Public Schools (DCPS). The mayor is responsible for running all the DC agencies.

post focusing on schools and the mayoral race.

I talk to a lot of parents in Ward 3 / EOTP public schools and in general it seems like people underrate how important the mayor is for DC schools. I still remember the Michelle Rhee and Fenty days. Those were not great. :/

https://dcpubedfacts.substack.com/p/the-dc-mayors-race-from-a-public

Wrong. I was in DC when Fenty took over the schools. The school board was so dysfunctional. I remember when so many schools opened a month late because they needed so many repairs, kids did t have any books (when they still used books). The take over is the only thing that started to push schools in a better direction and firing a whole bunch of teachers

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

The coming June elections in DC are perhaps the most important decision point for the city in decades.

Bottom line: the choice is between the status quo — keeping the same policies — and change to make the city better. Based on our experience, there’s no question that Janeese Lewis George is the candidate of change, the candidate for a better and stronger city and school community.

Meanwhile a vote for the other major mayoral candidate, Kenyan McDuffie, is a vote for the status quo, and the poor governance and weak vision of the Muriel Bowser era in DC.

Many problems in DC stem from poor vision and poor leadership by the outgoing mayor
In DC, the mayor has near-complete control of DC government, and specifically control of DC Public Schools (DCPS). The mayor is responsible for running all the DC agencies.

post focusing on schools and the mayoral race.

I talk to a lot of parents in Ward 3 / EOTP public schools and in general it seems like people underrate how important the mayor is for DC schools. I still remember the Michelle Rhee and Fenty days. Those were not great. :/

https://dcpubedfacts.substack.com/p/the-dc-mayors-race-from-a-public

JLG is the high-risk high-reward candidate. Maybe she's the next Mamdani and pleasantly surprises everyone, or maybe she's the reason we get control board 2.0. McDuffie is the political equivalent of a punt. Just waste the next 4 years and hope someone better runs.

I'm leaning towards JLG at the moment just because I think DC needs a bit of sharking up.

I agree 100% with this take. Sick of punting. High risk, high reward - I'm ready to give JLG a shot.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
Janeese wants to slash funding for charter schools to the tune of $9,000+ per student. Half the kids in this city go to charters.



She HATES charters schools. She doesn't think they should exist.

This. Exactly this. Over half of the kids using public education in DC attend charter schools. DC has had over 20 years of trying to improve its regular public schools to compete with that statistic and lessen families' attraction to charters. This they have not done, because of DCPS' always inefficient central office coupled with the teachers' unions. If you want to destroy the charter system---which has managed to keep middle class families in the cities---then vote for JLG. (And Mamdani had virtually no education platform at all.)

The city already shortchanges charter schools in a million different ways, but we've never had a mayor who is anti-charter like Janeese is anti-charter.

What's the worst that could happen? She runs off middle-class families, DC loses population and tax base just as Downtown businesses are struggling and there's a hostile presence in the White House?

Its curious to see if she sticks to her guns or if reality provides some quick moderation.

I would love to get rid of the charter schools - if all the parents who were intelligent enough to know how to work the charter school system had sent their kids to DCPS - we would have better schools across the board. And less division of resources and less infighting. Republicans forced them on us as an experiment. However, please gut DCPS Central and start over.

The hyper testing mentality created under Fenty and Bowser is already moving kids out of public schools.


Do you know how many parents and kids tell me they are leaving for private schools without all the testing? Private schools have been marketing themselves as places without onerous testing for years.

Sorry, but many people in DC can’t afford private, or don’t want to pay the money for private, or actually believe in public education and sticking with it. Are you living in some bubble of privilege?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
Janeese wants to slash funding for charter schools to the tune of $9,000+ per student. Half the kids in this city go to charters.



She HATES charters schools. She doesn't think they should exist.

This. Exactly this. Over half of the kids using public education in DC attend charter schools. DC has had over 20 years of trying to improve its regular public schools to compete with that statistic and lessen families' attraction to charters. This they have not done, because of DCPS' always inefficient central office coupled with the teachers' unions. If you want to destroy the charter system---which has managed to keep middle class families in the cities---then vote for JLG. (And Mamdani had virtually no education platform at all.)

The city already shortchanges charter schools in a million different ways, but we've never had a mayor who is anti-charter like Janeese is anti-charter.

What's the worst that could happen? She runs off middle-class families, DC loses population and tax base just as Downtown businesses are struggling and there's a hostile presence in the White House?

Its curious to see if she sticks to her guns or if reality provides some quick moderation.

I would love to get rid of the charter schools - if all the parents who were intelligent enough to know how to work the charter school system had sent their kids to DCPS - we would have better schools across the board. And less division of resources and less infighting. Republicans forced them on us as an experiment. However, please gut DCPS Central and start over.

This is a terrible idea and would blow up in your face. You get rid of charter schools, families will move to VA and MD. The city is 10 mins square - you can’t keep people in it. Without a robust charter network, people leave when they have kids and the schools (including DCPS schools) get worse. Thats what it was like in the 90s - anyone who cared about education sent their kids to private school or moved. And the schools were just awful.

You want to improve DCPS schools and decrease charters? First of all, we’re already on that path - look at the length of charter school waitlists now vs 10 years ago. Secondly - work on DCPS middle schools and do more to keep families who care about education in them, including advanced classes and more opportunities. More and more kids will stay. But you have to use a carrot not a stick or people just move.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:As is so often the case, I don't disagree with the criticism of Bowser's (and McDuffie's) approach to schools, but I do not find JLG to be a serious alternative. It sucks. I truly don't know who I'm going to vote for.

What is JLG proposing to improve schools? The only concrete proposal I agree with is to centralize truancy enforcement. The rest of it is status quo. More after school programming? I know exactly what that will look like -- some weak sauce additional programming and funds that already-good schools will make the most of and already-struggling schools will squander. The rest is just typical political pablum.

Neither of these candidates are going to meaningful improve DCPS.

DCPS needs end social promotion and enforce truancy, and to start mandating after-school and summer school programs for kids who are struggling. Reading and math academies, life skills coaching and so on. It's a shame how many kids are failing and flailing, unprepared for life, and this just leads to lifelong dysfunction. They need to stop handwaving, saying "well, they came from a dysfunctional household" and so on - that's the soft bigotry of low expectations. They aren't doing these kids any favors.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
Janeese wants to slash funding for charter schools to the tune of $9,000+ per student. Half the kids in this city go to charters.



She HATES charters schools. She doesn't think they should exist.

This. Exactly this. Over half of the kids using public education in DC attend charter schools. DC has had over 20 years of trying to improve its regular public schools to compete with that statistic and lessen families' attraction to charters. This they have not done, because of DCPS' always inefficient central office coupled with the teachers' unions. If you want to destroy the charter system---which has managed to keep middle class families in the cities---then vote for JLG. (And Mamdani had virtually no education platform at all.)

The city already shortchanges charter schools in a million different ways, but we've never had a mayor who is anti-charter like Janeese is anti-charter.

What's the worst that could happen? She runs off middle-class families, DC loses population and tax base just as Downtown businesses are struggling and there's a hostile presence in the White House?

Its curious to see if she sticks to her guns or if reality provides some quick moderation.

I would love to get rid of the charter schools - if all the parents who were intelligent enough to know how to work the charter school system had sent their kids to DCPS - we would have better schools across the board. And less division of resources and less infighting. Republicans forced them on us as an experiment. However, please gut DCPS Central and start over.

Wrong. DCPS needs to stop making excuses and work with what they have. As for resources, in the grand scheme of things, DCPS gets way more resources per student than the charters do so they don't have anything to gripe about there. Charters ARE NOT diluting their resources.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

The coming June elections in DC are perhaps the most important decision point for the city in decades.

Bottom line: the choice is between the status quo — keeping the same policies — and change to make the city better. Based on our experience, there’s no question that Janeese Lewis George is the candidate of change, the candidate for a better and stronger city and school community.

Meanwhile a vote for the other major mayoral candidate, Kenyan McDuffie, is a vote for the status quo, and the poor governance and weak vision of the Muriel Bowser era in DC.

Many problems in DC stem from poor vision and poor leadership by the outgoing mayor
In DC, the mayor has near-complete control of DC government, and specifically control of DC Public Schools (DCPS). The mayor is responsible for running all the DC agencies.

post focusing on schools and the mayoral race.

I talk to a lot of parents in Ward 3 / EOTP public schools and in general it seems like people underrate how important the mayor is for DC schools. I still remember the Michelle Rhee and Fenty days. Those were not great. :/

https://dcpubedfacts.substack.com/p/the-dc-mayors-race-from-a-public

JLG is the high-risk high-reward candidate. Maybe she's the next Mamdani and pleasantly surprises everyone, or maybe she's the reason we get control board 2.0. McDuffie is the political equivalent of a punt. Just waste the next 4 years and hope someone better runs.

I'm leaning towards JLG at the moment just because I think DC needs a bit of sharking up.

Me too. I like that progressive socialism is having a moment

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

The coming June elections in DC are perhaps the most important decision point for the city in decades.

Bottom line: the choice is between the status quo — keeping the same policies — and change to make the city better. Based on our experience, there’s no question that Janeese Lewis George is the candidate of change, the candidate for a better and stronger city and school community.

Meanwhile a vote for the other major mayoral candidate, Kenyan McDuffie, is a vote for the status quo, and the poor governance and weak vision of the Muriel Bowser era in DC.

Many problems in DC stem from poor vision and poor leadership by the outgoing mayor
In DC, the mayor has near-complete control of DC government, and specifically control of DC Public Schools (DCPS). The mayor is responsible for running all the DC agencies.

post focusing on schools and the mayoral race.

I talk to a lot of parents in Ward 3 / EOTP public schools and in general it seems like people underrate how important the mayor is for DC schools. I still remember the Michelle Rhee and Fenty days. Those were not great. :/

https://dcpubedfacts.substack.com/p/the-dc-mayors-race-from-a-public

JLG is the high-risk high-reward candidate. Maybe she's the next Mamdani and pleasantly surprises everyone, or maybe she's the reason we get control board 2.0. McDuffie is the political equivalent of a punt. Just waste the next 4 years and hope someone better runs.

I'm leaning towards JLG at the moment just because I think DC needs a bit of sharking up.

Me too. I like that progressive socialism is having a moment

I like parts of it. For example, going after billionaires and people who are hoarding wealth, that only drains the economy. Also, shoring up the social safety net. As AI and robots take more and more jobs we may need to move to Universal Basic Income or something like that as well. But at the same time, we also need to keep on top of fraud and other things that also drain the economy. By that I mean actual fraud, not "republicans hate x therefore it's fraud."

[Anonymous]

As a parent who actually has kids in public schools in DC (both charter and DCPS) I get no sense at all that either candidate will bring positive change or even really cares about our schools.