City Paper - Neighborhood Schooled by Jonetta Rose Barras

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:9:07, super snappy response but it doesn't really address the issues at hand.

What constitues "good" in DCPS is very, very weak (Stuart-Hobson is the perfect example) and all three of the elementary schools mentioned above lose kids in the upper grades for the burbs and privates.

If it's good enough for you, congratulations. Great for you that you think Brent has reached self-actualization via making AYP through safe harbor this past year.

Just know it's going to be you and a very small handful of parents who make that leap to "Jefferson Academy."

Right now, I'd like to see Brent focus on ES issues instead of where your kid is going in 2 years.

Brent IS focussed on Brent issues. But the city needs to focus on middle schools. NOW.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:you are truely heartless if you think their is too much focus on eliot hine and jefferson. there are REAL children attending these schools that deserve REAL education. Just compare the DC CAS scores of Brent to JEfferson and ask which school needs a turn around? My kids love Brent and have received excellent educations there thus far (eldest entering 3rd grade). But I am so happy that their older freinds from Brent who have moved up to middle school are going into schools like Jefferson Academy Middle School-- a newly created "School Within a School" at JEfferson. I really hope it works out for those kids because the city has certainly not done right by those middle schoolers that came before them at JEfferson. Schools like Brent do NOT "have a long way to go"-- they are right on track. It's middle school that is worrisome.

Fact checking: Jefferson Academy is not a school within a school. It was designed as a way to reconstitut( new leadership, teachers, academic program ) the school one grade at a time. Every 6th grader who would have entered a regular Jefferson program is entering the Jefferson Academy. This year it is only 6th grade, next year it will be.6th and 7th grades , the year after that the entire school will be the Jefferson Academy. Don't be fooled by the hype. Jefferson was a good school a ways back because the principal basically recruited good students and thenseparated them off from everyone else with tracking. With this re constitution the Rhee/Henderson people want to do it with excellent leadership and magic teachers. Make sure you verify that plan is working.

[Anonymous]

Just add a sprinkling of IB dust and there will be unicorns grazing in Jefferson's field. I know my family can hardly wait!

[Anonymous]

9:22 super snappy response but it doesn't really address the issues at hand.

Response: I will try to respond more sedately.

9:22 What constitues "good" in DCPS is very, very weak (Stuart-Hobson is the perfect example) and all three of the elementary schools mentioned above lose kids in the upper grades for the burbs and privates.

Response: I guess I am more of a “Good Enough” parent, and Stuart Hobson is pretty good. It isn’t perfect, and its future is unknown, but for a long time SH has been cranking out relatively well prepared students. Maybe you are a “Tiger Parent,” in which case your affinity for privates comes honestly to you.

9:22 If it's good enough for you, congratulations. Great for you that you think Brent has reached self-actualization via making AYP through safe harbor this past year.

Response: I think the last time I reached self actualization was at a Widespread Panic concert at the Nation in the early nineties. Sigh of relief with Brent making AYP. It’s no fun to hear “if Brent is so good, then why doesn’t the data reflect it?” It’s a legitimate question and in 2011 it is off the table.

9:22 Just know it's going to be you and a very small handful of parents who make that leap to "Jefferson Academy."

Response: I am not banking on Jefferson Academy alone, and I think Jefferson can be strong again like it was 12 years ago. Six Brent families enrolled in Jefferson in ‘11. My family will also consider Eliot Hine, Latin, BASIS, Deal (via feeder ES), and whatever else pops up.

9:22 Right now, I'd like to see Brent focus on ES issues instead of where your kid is going in 2 years.

Response: I have been active at Brent for six years and have six more till we’re finished. Taking the long look, the pig picture, the tortoise and the hare . . .

[Anonymous]

I haven't posted yet on this thread. I'm another Brent parent. This is our 4th year. In preschool, I remember certain parents talking about taking it one year at a time. One family who said this went private in K, the other has stopped saying that and is very happy at Brent. I haven't heard anyone in the Brent community say that in 3 years. Brent is great and I have high standards.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/articles/41381/dc-neighborhood-schooled/

Neighborhood Schooled by Jonetta Rose Barras - Aug. 26, 2011

Ugh. More race-baiting by Barras. Instead of chastising African-american parents in wards 5, 7 and 8 for not enrolling in their neighborhood schools, we should chastize the city for not doing more to ensure economic diversity through the wards. (This builds on what Daniel holt says in the article-- the key to improving schools is economic integration.) Regardless, parents in wards 5, 7 and 8 that do not decide to send their kids to their neighborhood school are likely making the right decision for their families and who is Ms. Barras to sneer at them? Easy for her-- I don't think she even has kids! Ward 6 parents want to send their kids to the neighborhood school-- awesome! Of course, the fact that ward 6 has a much higher median HHI than ward 7 and 8 and a bit higher than 5 (which has awesome private and charter school serving it, so what is the problem if parents dis the neighborhood school as long as the kids are getting a great education?) so it much easier and faster to make turn arounds at ward 6. I don't mean to take away from Suzanne Wells, but if she were a ward 7 and 8 parent, she would have had a much more difficult time getting the neighborhood schools to improve than in ward 6, and not because the "black folks in ward 7 and 8 are too worshipful of their teachers to try to rock the status quo." It would have been because parents in wards 7 and 8 are much poorer than in ward 6 so getting that benefical economic integration in the school that Mr. holt referred to just is not going to happen.

Stop expecting the government to do everything for you. Jesus.

I think the poster is agreeing that government cannot do everything, that every community needs smart honorable citizens to stand up and organize things - even if they also need additional resources to make it happen.

Yes, every community needs citizens to stand up but the reality is that the upper middle classes have much more in the way of resources along with a sense of entitlement that makes it more likely that they will a) get involved and b) have an impact. I tutor a kid from a poor family and her parents are great in that they make sure the kids go to school and they keep the children involved in extra programs. But challenge the school's administration and way of doing things? They would never do that. That's not a matter of expecting the government to do everything for you. That's a matter of not knowing/understanding when you have the right to criticize the way things are done and to insist they change.

[Anonymous]

Weird. A Brent parent said "one year at a time" to me just yesterday morning...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/articles/41381/dc-neighborhood-schooled/

Neighborhood Schooled by Jonetta Rose Barras - Aug. 26, 2011

Ugh. More race-baiting by Barras. Instead of chastising African-american parents in wards 5, 7 and 8 for not enrolling in their neighborhood schools, we should chastize the city for not doing more to ensure economic diversity through the wards. (This builds on what Daniel holt says in the article-- the key to improving schools is economic integration.) Regardless, parents in wards 5, 7 and 8 that do not decide to send their kids to their neighborhood school are likely making the right decision for their families and who is Ms. Barras to sneer at them? Easy for her-- I don't think she even has kids! Ward 6 parents want to send their kids to the neighborhood school-- awesome! Of course, the fact that ward 6 has a much higher median HHI than ward 7 and 8 and a bit higher than 5 (which has awesome private and charter school serving it, so what is the problem if parents dis the neighborhood school as long as the kids are getting a great education?) so it much easier and faster to make turn arounds at ward 6. I don't mean to take away from Suzanne Wells, but if she were a ward 7 and 8 parent, she would have had a much more difficult time getting the neighborhood schools to improve than in ward 6, and not because the "black folks in ward 7 and 8 are too worshipful of their teachers to try to rock the status quo." It would have been because parents in wards 7 and 8 are much poorer than in ward 6 so getting that benefical economic integration in the school that Mr. holt referred to just is not going to happen.

Stop expecting the government to do everything for you. Jesus.

I think the poster is agreeing that government cannot do everything, that every community needs smart honorable citizens to stand up and organize things - even if they also need additional resources to make it happen.

Yes, every community needs citizens to stand up but the reality is that the upper middle classes have much more in the way of resources along with a sense of entitlement that makes it more likely that they will a) get involved and b) have an impact. I tutor a kid from a poor family and her parents are great in that they make sure the kids go to school and they keep the children involved in extra programs. But challenge the school's administration and way of doing things? They would never do that. That's not a matter of expecting the government to do everything for you. That's a matter of not knowing/understanding when you have the right to criticize the way things are done and to insist they change.

And let's not forget that the more money and connections you have, the more likely it is that someone in the government/school system will address your complaints.

I thought that the article was particularly off-base in criticizing Ward 5, 7, and 8 parents for not raising a ton of money to fix their libraries like some Ward 6 parents had. Isn't it a basic responsibility of a school system to provide half-way decent libraries? Isn't the point of public education to provide a good foundation for all students regardless of their parents' ability to pay?

[Anonymous]

The list below are middle schools ranked by their budgeted per pupil expenditure. The strongest schools have the lowest per pupil expenditure.

1. Deal MS - $8,400
2. Hardy MS - $8,400
3. Stuart Hobson - $8,876
4. Souza - $10,839
5. Hart - $11,161
6. Miller - $12,048
7. Johnson - $12,464
8. Eliot Hine - $12,791
9. Kramer - $ 12,921
10. Jefferson – $13,441
11. Brown - $14,839
12. MacFarland - $15,184

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote: The strongest schools have the lowest per pupil expenditure.

Of those schools listed,the "strongest schools" also happen to have greater percentage of HHI kids. Maybe schools in low income neighborhoods actually need more resources?

[Anonymous]

But this does show that schools full of middle class kids aren't sucking resources from poor schools. So you all can just stop with the inequity thing

[Anonymous]

The dollar figures above don't include the facility renovation costs, which have been high at Deal & Hardy, not sure about the others.

Oh, and don't forget Mary Cheh's proposal for another Ward 3 Middle School $25 million

[Anonymous]

SH is one of the top three middle schools in DC.

That's like saying someone is the best hockey player in Ecuador.

Re one year at a time - is there a parent who DOESN'T have this philosophy, regardless of where their kid goes? How could you think any differently? If you see a school going in the toilet, woudl you really say, "Well, I said I was in for the long haul, so I'll stay - never mind that it's not good for my kid and I have other options." That's just not responsible parenting.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The dollar figures above don't include the facility renovation costs, which have been high at Deal & Hardy, not sure about the others.

Per student funding is no higher in NW than SE. NW has more densely filled facilities, and thus the cost per square foot cost is higher than SE. NW schools are over-enrolled. East of the river is at about 60% of capacity. Comparing square footage and per student yields different results.

Strong students do not drain valuable resources. Schools in a position of strength are funded under the average and subsidize at risk students. Struggling schools need more resources (as it should be) and these schools benefit from DCPS being a larger and more functional system with better options for everyone.

[Anonymous]

my comment about facilities was with regard to the recent expansive renovations of Hardy and Deal which were quite costly renovations. I don't know the renovation status of the other schools on the list but Stuart-Hobson looks pretty basic from the outside, not unlike Hardy prior to renovation