is "forcing" middle class families into DCPS basically the recovery strategy?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Well, you got further than I did. I just assumed it was a "word salad".

You are funny!

[Anonymous]

I am one of those middle class white parents whose kid is not a lonely only but definitely a 2-out-of-20, attending east of the Park, and will never be able to afford a house West or shoehorn ourselves into a tiny apartment there. Our plan is simple - get into a charter or OOB middle school, or move. There are plenty of smart, nice kids at our school - maybe not 97 percent advanced, but hey. The problem is that urban middle schools are just not good enough with the low academic demands, crumbling facilities, hormones and the wanna-be gangstas.

[Anonymous]

I followed it like a rap song. Liked the beat but the words were tad bit too much.

The confusing portion of it all is about the neighborhood and school boundaries issues. A neighborhood can have an entire grouping of certain races attending the same school but the school boundaries can put a whole different spin. I do believe that Friendship Middle School has a predominantly AA school population. So, if that school did close those children would probably infiltrate Stuart-Hobson, Eliot-Hines and Jefferson.

The other rhetoric makes good laughter but at times a serious issue can come out of a joking matter.


10:44, you're right those AA's who are still referencing the plan is still waiting for Jesse Jackson to become their first black president. I just feel the white person who made that reference is clueless he/she probably thinks BET on their cable subscription is for gambling.

[Anonymous]

What is "east of the park" and "west of the park"?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What is "east of the park" and "west of the park"?

New in town?

The park is Rock creek park. West of it is mainly White and east of it is mainly not.

[Anonymous]

I'm still trying to figure out why people keep discussing DC in terms of black and white as opposed to socio economics.

To all my white sisters, black folk are not a monolithic group. I know some of you may have never come across a real, live highly educated, highly paid african-american who's kids test in the 99th percentile and therefore (in your minds) we don't exist; but we do, and may I add, there are more of us than you might imagine (particularly in the DC area). We are simply invisible to some of you who don't venture much beyond your comfort zone and whose knowledge of black folk is based on what you see on the 6 o'clock news, reality tv and music videos (oh and yeah...the black chick on the register at Safeway with the bad attitude).

Of course DC has many blacks that are on the very low end of the socio economic scale. There may be some cultural differences in how they present themselves to the outside world, but their problems and issues are really no different than their white or latino or (GASP) asian counterparts of a similar socio economic group.

I'd bet that some of you reading this post would have far more in common with me than a 300 pound, white single mom from Louisiana who shops at Walmart with food stamps.

The reality is, we are moving beyond a race based society to a class based society. It's not any better, but at least try to keep up with the times.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I followed it like a rap song. Liked the beat but the words were tad bit too much.

The confusing portion of it all is about the neighborhood and school boundaries issues. A neighborhood can have an entire grouping of certain races attending the same school but the school boundaries can put a whole different spin. I do believe that Friendship Middle School has a predominantly AA school population. So, if that school did close those children would probably infiltrate Stuart-Hobson, Eliot-Hines and Jefferson.

The other rhetoric makes good laughter but at times a serious issue can come out of a joking matter.


10:44, you're right those AA's who are still referencing the plan is still waiting for Jesse Jackson to become their first black president. I just feel the white person who made that reference is clueless he/she probably thinks BET on their cable subscription is for gambling.

Friendship has 6 or 7 campuses and goes all the way from PK to 12th. I don't think they'll be closing up shop any time soon.

[Anonymous]

The true reference is "west of the park and east of the river."

[Anonymous]

16:20, my point exactly that the campuses alone serve a majority population and therefore if they did close [hypothetically] they would return back to their neighborhood schools.

The choice was given and taken by a population that is primarily AA. It's nothing wrong with that by no means but let the record show that with the sheer numbers alone the majority of AA's who are in the charter-school movement ever selected to return to the traditional DCPS it would be a culture shock for too many too handle.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm still trying to figure out why people keep discussing DC in terms of black and white as opposed to socio economics.

To all my white sisters, black folk are not a monolithic group. I know some of you may have never come across a real, live highly educated, highly paid african-american who's kids test in the 99th percentile and therefore (in your minds) we don't exist; but we do, and may I add, there are more of us than you might imagine (particularly in the DC area). We are simply invisible to some of you who don't venture much beyond your comfort zone and whose knowledge of black folk is based on what you see on the 6 o'clock news, reality tv and music videos (oh and yeah...the black chick on the register at Safeway with the bad attitude).

Of course DC has many blacks that are on the very low end of the socio economic scale. There may be some cultural differences in how they present themselves to the outside world, but their problems and issues are really no different than their white or latino or (GASP) asian counterparts of a similar socio economic group.

I'd bet that some of you reading this post would have far more in common with me than a 300 pound, white single mom from Louisiana who shops at Walmart with food stamps.

The reality is, we are moving beyond a race based society to a class based society. It's not any better, but at least try to keep up with the times.

Excellent comment; this really nails the issue. DC is highly bifurcated by economic class. What distorts the underlying issues is that almost every very poor person in DC is black. If you were to look only DC households that are making more than $100k per year, DC's population would be much more diverse than American society at large.

[Anonymous]

Educated black folk hate DCPS's quality of education as much or more than anyone else.

[Anonymous]

16:17, stop it, you will be given the moniker of being the "angry black woman." Therefore, you unfortunately fall into the category of being a radical Michelle Obama. I know that many read your statement and while they sipped their coffee they responded with "who does this black chick, thinks she is?" Then the reflecting of how they had black friends in college and then it all begins over-again.

[Anonymous]

My child's teacher is black, educated but byfar not rich does that have any impact on the education that my child will recieve?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What is "east of the park" and "west of the park"?

New in town?

The park is Rock creek park. West of it is mainly White and east of it is mainly not.

I'm not sure this holds anymore for the general population, though it probably does for the school population.

The "line" has moved well east of the Park.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:"And that's giving DCPS entirely too much credit! African-American residents still talk about "The Plan" for white people to take back the city. Now white residents can have their own version of "The Plan"!

But really, what is so strange about this? Increased demand will lead to increased supply. At least that seems to be how it has worked on the Hill, where the middle class now want to get into schools that were entirely dominated by the poor just a few years ago. Don't be waitin' for DCPS to beg you to come to these schools. You will wait a long time. "[/u]

To the person who wrote this, are you retarded? I have been black along time and live in the city. I have NEVER heard anyone say this!

No I'm not intellectually challenged, thank you! I have heard people talk about it and apparently someone who writes for Wikipedia has as well. But, granted, perhaps I should have said that, apparently, a few African-American residents still talk about this. Or that some people in the media believe that African-American residents believe this. At any rate, it's a real concept. Read on, pp:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Plan_%28Washington,_D.C.%29

It appears that Lillian Wiggins, a columnist for the Washington Afro American newspaper, was the first to articulate the conspiracy theory. In 1979, she wrote: "Many residents believe that the Marion Barry era may be the last time Washington will have a black mayor. If negative programming and characterization of black leadership are allowed to continue in the city of Washington and especially the black community, there is a strong possibility of the 'master plan' which I have so often spoken about maturing in the 1980s." As with many conspiracy theories, The Plan has some foundation in reality: believers note that the Federal City Council, an organized group of civic and corporate leaders, mostly white, meets in secret and uses its power to influence the city's direction.[1]