IFF findings for DCPS recommendations.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Shutting down a high school with 350 students who are not performing at an acceptable level does not solve the problem. It is not like Jeannie can all blink them away, they will go to the next available high school. Then what is the next "plan" do we just give another 5 year plan to say that by 2017 that DCPS will be on the right track for recovery.

five years into reform, DC has the same batch of failing schools. Turning them into charters isn't going to change anything except that private companies will profit from them.

Not true. Charter schools in DC (like the vast majority of charter schools) are non-profits. Even KIPP is managed through a non-profit in DC.

As long as charter schools are doing a better job, then let's concentrate on closing the DCPS schools and replacing them with something that works better.

The organizations that set up and run the charters will profit from them, plain and simple -- they will get a certain amount of taxpayer money for running the school and they can use it to pay administrators however much they want and teachers however little they can get away with.

Besides, Charter schools are NOT doing a better job and there's no reason to think a new school with no experience in a neighborhood is going to do better than a school that is already there and has ties to the community.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Shutting down a high school with 350 students who are not performing at an acceptable level does not solve the problem. It is not like Jeannie can all blink them away, they will go to the next available high school. Then what is the next "plan" do we just give another 5 year plan to say that by 2017 that DCPS will be on the right track for recovery.

five years into reform, DC has the same batch of failing schools. Turning them into charters isn't going to change anything except that private companies will profit from them.

Not true. Charter schools in DC (like the vast majority of charter schools) are non-profits. Even KIPP is managed through a non-profit in DC.

As long as charter schools are doing a better job, then let's concentrate on closing the DCPS schools and replacing them with something that works better.

The organizations that set up and run the charters will profit from them, plain and simple -- they will get a certain amount of taxpayer money for running the school and they can use it to pay administrators however much they want and teachers however little they can get away with.

Besides, Charter schools are NOT doing a better job and there's no reason to think a new school with no experience in a neighborhood is going to do better than a school that is already there and has ties to the community.

Yes, they are doing a better job. That's exactly why an outside authority recommended closing more DCPS and opening more charters. Go back and read the conclusions.

Also, many charters are started by parents and by educators, they're not here to make a profit. If they were, they wouldn't have gone into education.

[Anonymous]

^^ this is a little naive. The "outside consultants" who made the recommendations are tightly tied in to the charter school movement.

The small charters started by parents and educators are not the ones that will have the capacity to bid to take over the failing neighborhood schools. It will be the large, established charter networks that are in a position to benefit financially from the arrangement.

Not saying I disagree with the charter movement, just that we shouldn't ignore its realities.

[Anonymous]

Here is my question why can New York and Philadelphia do better even with their poorer kids than DC. I agree closing schools does not solve years of failure, but status quo is obviously not working either. Are these kids just starting that much further behind? Is the curriculum worse? Parenting or teaching practices? The key issue to me is figuring out how to pull up that bottom 25 % because the cost of that level of failure is just too high.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
The organizations that set up and run the charters will profit from them, plain and simple -- they will get a certain amount of taxpayer money for running the school and they can use it to pay administrators however much they want and teachers however little they can get away with.

Besides, Charter schools are NOT doing a better job and there's no reason to think a new school with no experience in a neighborhood is going to do better than a school that is already there and has ties to the community.

Yes, they are doing a better job. That's exactly why an outside authority recommended closing more DCPS and opening more charters. Go back and read the conclusions.

Also, many charters are started by parents and by educators, they're not here to make a profit. If they were, they wouldn't have gone into education.

Many charters are started by parents and educators?? Name them please. And even those make a profit -- dedicated educators have to make a living and opening a charter gives them more opportunity for profits, as they can set their salaries higher than the school board does. The whole point of charters is entrepreneurship and competition.

IFF is hardly an outside authority -- they are deeply tied to the charter movement.

Are you a troll?

[Anonymous]

The previous post should read like this:

"Yes, they are doing a better job. That's exactly why an outside authority recommended closing more DCPS and opening more charters. Go back and read the conclusions.

Also, many charters are started by parents and by educators, they're not here to make a profit. If they were, they wouldn't have gone into education. "

Response:
Many charters are started by parents and educators?? Name them please. And even those make a profit -- dedicated educators have to make a living and opening a charter gives them more opportunity for profits, as they can set their salaries higher than the school board does. The whole point of charters is entrepreneurship and competition.

IFF is hardly an outside authority -- they are deeply tied to the charter movement.

Are you a troll?

[Anonymous]

That troll reference is getting old real fast. Let it go.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yes, they are doing a better job. That's exactly why an outside authority recommended closing more DCPS and opening more charters. Go back and read the conclusions.

Also, many charters are started by parents and by educators, they're not here to make a profit. If they were, they wouldn't have gone into education.

That's not what the report says. It recommends encouraging high-performing charters to expand to underserved neighborhoods and be considered to take over failing DCPS schools. The report also points out several low-performing charters.

[Anonymous]

Again, why can't DCPS just duplicate the successes of their own high-performing schools. If anyone can't see that this entire report was one-sided then you must be a troll.

This comparison of charter schools versus traditional public schools is breeding contempt more than competition. Also, it is a controlled form of union busting. But I digress, it is all about educating all of the children in our Nation's Capitol and not just on the hill or west of the park.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Again, why can't DCPS just duplicate the successes of their own high-performing schools. If anyone can't see that this entire report was one-sided then you must be a troll.

This comparison of charter schools versus traditional public schools is breeding contempt more than competition. Also, it is a controlled form of union busting. But I digress, it is all about educating all of the children in our Nation's Capitol and not just on the hill or west of the park.

From what I can tell from the NALP results discussion, can't be done because the immense difference in economic privilege that exists in DC. That said our bottom is far lower than other schools bottom. That to me says that we have a problem.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The previous post should read like this:

"Yes, they are doing a better job. That's exactly why an outside authority recommended closing more DCPS and opening more charters. Go back and read the conclusions.

Also, many charters are started by parents and by educators, they're not here to make a profit. If they were, they wouldn't have gone into education. "

Response:
Many charters are started by parents and educators?? Name them please.

Mundo Verde. Inspired Teaching.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:That troll reference is getting old real fast. Let it go.

The concept of trying to discourage posters from making insightful comments that don't serve your cause is getting old real fast. Let it go.

Frankly, it sounds like something trolls would do to try to cover their tracks.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The previous post should read like this:

"Yes, they are doing a better job. That's exactly why an outside authority recommended closing more DCPS and opening more charters. Go back and read the conclusions.

Also, many charters are started by parents and by educators, they're not here to make a profit. If they were, they wouldn't have gone into education. "

Response:
Many charters are started by parents and educators?? Name them please.

Mundo Verde. Inspired Teaching.

Thanks. That's two. Two is not "many."

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Here is my question why can New York and Philadelphia do better even with their poorer kids than DC. I agree closing schools does not solve years of failure, but status quo is obviously not working either. Are these kids just starting that much further behind? Is the curriculum worse? Parenting or teaching practices? The key issue to me is figuring out how to pull up that bottom 25 % because the cost of that level of failure is just too high.

Status quo? Not in DC! The status quo has been thoroughly shaken up by Michelle Rhee, Kaya Henderson and their rack shool reform staff. Still, educational suffers in the same way it did before reform.

There's no reason to think that another shake up, this time with charter schools as the panacea, will make any difference. It's just more shuffling around for the kids and more $$ for the adults in charge.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The previous post should read like this:

"Yes, they are doing a better job. That's exactly why an outside authority recommended closing more DCPS and opening more charters. Go back and read the conclusions.

Also, many charters are started by parents and by educators, they're not here to make a profit. If they were, they wouldn't have gone into education. "

Response:
Many charters are started by parents and educators?? Name them please.

Mundo Verde. Inspired Teaching.

EL Haynes (founded by an educator, not parents).