Charter Schools giving neighborhood preferance

[Anonymous]

Would be great for the gentrifying neighborhoods with shitty DCPS options. DCPS could be forced to lease space to them in under enrolled schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Charters essentially allow, without forcing, bussing (without the bus). If not for the lack of neighborhood priority, these poverty-stricken children would have no opportunity for a good education.

My children are at charters. One of the reasons we went this route is the school make-up looks a lot more like how we hope the world will look than our IB school does. (our IB choices are very desireable).

We would not have gone the charter route if it was going to become a defacto neighborhood school for a variety of reasons.

I am sorry that families are shut out of schools that are near by and may better suit their needs. But I am also concerned that there are a lot of things that would need to be worked out and not confident that the charters or OSSE could manage them.

As based on a lot of threads on DCUM - schools can not effectively identify who lives in DC - how can they manage who lives nearby?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This would be an absolute nightmare and would bar many low income students from quality education and exposure to diversity. Only way a ward 8 kid would have at a good school would be of/when there are decent charters that move to that ward (aside from Kipp) and even then what diversity would that kid be exposed to? The city is doing toouch to bend over backwards to cater to middle class and upper middle class families. Shame on you Kwame Brown.

I think you have this wrong. I don't have an opinion at the moment, but the idea of having a neighborhood preference for some charter schools I think comes out of the school facilities report that showed exactly where there is a lack of " high quality seats" in specific areas of the city. This is where the dcps schools are failing miserably ( I.e. not the wealthier neighborhoods ). So the idea I believe is to allow charter schools with a proven track record to move into those areas and offer some high quality seats. At the same time, the special programming/record of success of the school would supposedly attract or retain middle class students at that school rather than having them travel across the city in search of a quality seat.

This proposal as I see it is not about anyone catering to the middle class, but about bringing higher quality options ( that dcps can't seem to offer ) to lower income neighborhoods

[Anonymous]

Does DCPS really WANT to empty their own classrooms? cos this sounds like a recipe for that....it also sounds like economic resegregation to me...will lamb, washington latin, mundo verde effectively be out of reach of anyone not in NW?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Does DCPS really WANT to empty their own classrooms? cos this sounds like a recipe for that....it also sounds like economic resegregation to me...will lamb, washington latin, mundo verde effectively be out of reach of anyone not in NW?

Yes - DCPS wants to do this because they have no other choice -- they are being overtaken by private interests running charter schools. If DCPS administrators fight this, they will lose their jobs and their reputations. Both are at risk, because, let's face it, "reform" isn't working. The millions that the donors invested in IMPACT and merit pay have been wasted.

If DCPS leaders go along with it, they will be eligible for positions in Charter administration. It's all about protecting adult interests at the expense of what best for children - the very thing reformers have accused teachers of doing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This would be an absolute nightmare and would bar many low income students from quality education and exposure to diversity. Only way a ward 8 kid would have at a good school would be of/when there are decent charters that move to that ward (aside from Kipp) and even then what diversity would that kid be exposed to? The city is doing toouch to bend over backwards to cater to middle class and upper middle class families. Shame on you Kwame Brown.

I think you have this wrong. I don't have an opinion at the moment, but the idea of having a neighborhood preference for some charter schools I think comes out of the school facilities report that showed exactly where there is a lack of " high quality seats" in specific areas of the city. This is where the dcps schools are failing miserably ( I.e. not the wealthier neighborhoods ). So the idea I believe is to allow charter schools with a proven track record to move into those areas and offer some high quality seats. At the same time, the special programming/record of success of the school would supposedly attract or retain middle class students at that school rather than having them travel across the city in search of a quality seat.

This proposal as I see it is not about anyone catering to the middle class, but about bringing higher quality options ( that dcps can't seem to offer ) to lower income neighborhoods

I thought so too until I read the article. The examples were Haynes in Petworth with neighboring families being shut out. I've also heard this about Brookland/Stokes. Henderson is proposing the failing DCPS/Charter part, but as a whole it's being suggested system wide. I say shame on you to Brown because anyone should be able to see that this would do nothing but segregate schools even more than today.

[Anonymous]

Today's New York Times has a big article about NY charter schools, here: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/13/education/at-explore-charter-school-a-portrait-of-segregated-education.html?hpw

It seems they have neighborhood preference for charters in NY.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

It seems they have neighborhood preference for charters in NY.

Did it say that? I read it quickly but didn't see that. Lots of charters here are almost all black, and we don't have neighborhood preference (obviously).

[Anonymous]

As with so many things, the devil is in the detail. I think the idea is a good one myself. It would depend on how many spots we are talking. My kids go to YY and I think it would be good if they opened a few spots to neighborhood kids maybe it would improve our relationship with the community. Of course I don't trust DC govt or the Charter School Board to be able to design such a system effectively.

[Anonymous]

YY is full of neighborhood kids. In some cases it's not a good thing---people are sending their kids there because it's close--not because they want the Chinese language aspect. Then they complain.....

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

It seems they have neighborhood preference for charters in NY.

Did it say that? I read it quickly but didn't see that. Lots of charters here are almost all black, and we don't have neighborhood preference (obviously).

On page 1:

The school’s enrollment is even more racially lopsided than its catchment area. Students are chosen by lottery, with preference given to District 17, its community school district, which encompasses neighborhoods like Flatbush, East Flatbush, Crown Heights and Farragut.

[Anonymous]

If they do this, I hope there is sufficient warning so I can plan my real estate investments accordingly.

[Anonymous]

I'm going to LOVE this when my daughter gets to the 5th grade. Good luck getting into BASIS bitches!

[Anonymous]

Hee - Shalom, bitches!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm going to LOVE this when my daughter gets to the 5th grade. Good luck getting into BASIS bitches!

IT WILL NEVER HAPPEN! You guys are wasting your breath!