I'm pretty sure I won't send my child to Basis, BUT....

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:How is that so many people who presume to be so well-informed have no idea how charter law works?

There is NO preference for language ability, there is NO preference for academic ability. By law, charters cannot give preference to anyone other than founders or siblings.

Dear sanctimonious cretan. We've read the law, know exaclty how it works, know that the charter board debates these issues all the time, and think the current arrangement is sheer, unmitigated idiocy that the thoughtful taxpayer and voter can and should challenge. No preference for language ability is only the most obtuse aspect - we're Chinese speakers who left YY in 2010 because we were sick of the commute while our kid was the only bilingual kid in his entire grade. There is NO logic in DC embracing policy that helps it remain one of the several lowest-performing school districts in our great nation, including charter schools.

So taking your child out of Yu Ying will help their Chinese? I've known bilingual kids from other countries, those born in other countries, who could read and read well who lost their language completely within two yrs. If your child is under 8, it's a possibility since they won't get to use much Chinese anywhere else except home. Maybe they'll keep their "home" or "baby" Chinese but it won't get more sophisticated and they certainly will not be bilingual adults. As much as you can complain about Yu Ying, it is the only school in DC where your child will be kept exposed to Mandarin and not only speaking but reading at age level.

[Anonymous]

So taking your child out of Yu Ying will help their Chinese? I've known bilingual kids from other countries, those born in other countries, who could read and read well who lost their language completely within two yrs. If your child is under 8, it's a possibility since they won't get to use much Chinese anywhere else except home. Maybe they'll keep their "home" or "baby" Chinese but it won't get more sophisticated and they certainly will not be bilingual adults. As much as you can complain about Yu Ying, it is the only school in DC where your child will be kept exposed to Mandarin and not only speaking but reading at age level.

There are YY posts addressing these issues. But, in a nutshell, Mandarin instruction isn't the only issue for a Chinese parent at YY; it's a strange scene for us. As for the Mandarin spoken by YY kids, whose families tend to have/build no connection to China or Chinese outside the school, it isn't as "sophisticated" as an outsider might think. In this day and age, technonology, travel and social networks are on your side in developing your kid's language skills- we have Skype, DVDs, Direct TV, summer visits with family in China etc. When your child grows up with a firm grounding in a dialect, as mine does (all we speak at home) you're in a different boat than the YY parents - no rush for your kid to learn Mandarin. My sister only learned it in college/grad school and scored a 4 (of 5) on the State Dept. exam on joining the Foreign Service. The charter law, as written, doesn't serve bilingual families well, maybe it is set in stone, but the DC ABC community will march on anyway. We have reason to doubt that most of the YY kids will keep up their Chinese later.

[Anonymous]

The charter law, as written, doesn't serve bilingual families well

It doesn't serve a whole lot of other families well either. I hate the way DC parents tend to act like Soviet citizens when it comes to the charter law, doing as their told, playing along, letting VIPs make the big decisions.

If DC charters were a stunning success across the board, leaving no room to tweak the law, we'd hardly be living in a city that's 1/3 white with a HS population that's around 2%. One halfway decent charter HS, Latin, isn't much to brag about. Contact your city council members folks, make noise if you don't like points in the law, if it isn't working well for your family, neighbors, DC friends.

Maybe I don't know my DC education politics, partly because my kid is too young for school, but it strikes me as a form a madness that charters can't pick suitable kids for any programs under any circumstances, unlike in some states. I'm tired of reading complaints about those snotty Chinese parents with the nerve to point out that positive disrimmination for their kids in admissions at YY would be constructive and sane. Dare I suggest that the Chinese know their own language and culture better than the non-Chinese YY administrators and PA members? Heresy. We're in Emperor's New Clothes quagmire on some of these charter law issues.

[Anonymous]

+1. We are indeed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

The charter law, as written, doesn't serve bilingual families well

It doesn't serve a whole lot of other families well either. I hate the way DC parents tend to act like Soviet citizens when it comes to the charter law, doing as their told, playing along, letting VIPs make the big decisions.

If DC charters were a stunning success across the board, leaving no room to tweak the law, we'd hardly be living in a city that's 1/3 white with a HS population that's around 2%. One halfway decent charter HS, Latin, isn't much to brag about. Contact your city council members folks, make noise if you don't like points in the law, if it isn't working well for your family, neighbors, DC friends.

Maybe I don't know my DC education politics, partly because my kid is too young for school, but it strikes me as a form a madness that charters can't pick suitable kids for any programs under any circumstances, unlike in some states. I'm tired of reading complaints about those snotty Chinese parents with the nerve to point out that positive disrimmination for their kids in admissions at YY would be constructive and sane. Dare I suggest that the Chinese know their own language and culture better than the non-Chinese YY administrators and PA members? Heresy. We're in Emperor's New Clothes quagmire on some of these charter law issues.



Has your child attended Latin? Our child is in Latin HS and we're happy to brag about it. Do you have any specific questions? I don't feel like we are 'settling' there. Why would we? We were lucky to have had all the other options. I feel like our child is getting something special. Thanks.

[Anonymous]

You know there are lot of folks out there who feel we're doing our children a disservice if we send them to any school other than a private or BASIS. I mean we've already been told in some other threads that our children are doomed and will never be attractive to an Ivy, MIT or Stanford if we don't send them to Blair (or TJ). Basically, the consensus is that even Banneker and Walls are inferior. Wilson? Forgetaboutit.

It's a good thing we're all anonymous here or these fine upstanding citizens would call CFS on us for educational neglect.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You know there are lot of folks out there who feel we're doing our children a disservice if we send them to any school other than a private or BASIS. I mean we've already been told in some other threads that our children are doomed and will never be attractive to an Ivy, MIT or Stanford if we don't send them to Blair (or TJ). Basically, the consensus is that even Banneker and Walls are inferior. Wilson? Forgetaboutit.

It's a good thing we're all anonymous here or these fine upstanding citizens would call CFS on us for educational neglect.

Any other school but a private or Basis? I haven't heard that here - the threads here talk about lots of good schools in DC. It's just that preferences vary from one parent to the next. Some want more of a focus on athletics or other aspects. Maybe Basis is a good choice for one kid, maybe Banneker or Walls is a good choice for the next kid. Not all kids are the same, not all parents' desires for their children are the same. The only "disservice" would be in sending kids through a system where they can graduate illiterate. That is less likely to happen in the charters and better DCPS schools.

[Anonymous]

PP, you sound like a reasonable person. I was referring to the tone of many, many posters in these here threads who are suggesting that if you send your children to any of the schools we mentioned - Deal, Walls, Wilson, Banneker, Ellington, Latin, etc. that our children will not be well prepared. That tone was just evident in the post made at 05:12, "One halfway decent charter HS, Latin, isn't much to brag about."

I could spend a day compiling the others. I don't even have children at any of these schools, but I find this attitude extremely negative, unhelpful and counterproductive. We need to stop pitting people against each and find ways to lift up all of our students.

Segregation is a huge reason that our schools are the way they are. Those parents who have the wherewithal to play the school game do. I get it. I am a parent too. Let's just put a moratorium on the trashing of schools that are in large measure effective, work to expand options for families and become a model for urban education.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You know there are lot of folks out there who feel we're doing our children a disservice if we send them to any school other than a private or BASIS. I mean we've already been told in some other threads that our children are doomed and will never be attractive to an Ivy, MIT or Stanford if we don't send them to Blair (or TJ). Basically, the consensus is that even Banneker and Walls are inferior. Wilson? Forgetaboutit.

It's a good thing we're all anonymous here or these fine upstanding citizens would call CFS on us for educational neglect.

That's a doozy - absolutely laugh-out-loud hilarious! Nobody thinks privates and BASIS have anything in common! Trust me, as a private school parent that's most ridiculous comparison that's been made on this thread so far!

Could you be more delusional? That's just precious!

[Anonymous]

Hey Boo, It's not me. It's the delusional out there who think they have the secret sauce whether it is private, charter or the neighborhood school. Everyone on this board needs to take a big pill and stop with the superiority complex.

If you do private, I know you'd be thrashed if your DC is not at Big 3 over at the private school forum. That's just how insecure we all are.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You know there are lot of folks out there who feel we're doing our children a disservice if we send them to any school other than a private or BASIS. I mean we've already been told in some other threads that our children are doomed and will never be attractive to an Ivy, MIT or Stanford if we don't send them to Blair (or TJ). Basically, the consensus is that even Banneker and Walls are inferior. Wilson? Forgetaboutit.

It's a good thing we're all anonymous here or these fine upstanding citizens would call CFS on us for educational neglect.

That's a doozy - absolutely laugh-out-loud hilarious! Nobody thinks privates and BASIS have anything in common! Trust me, as a private school parent that's most ridiculous comparison that's been made on this thread so far!

Could you be more delusional? That's just precious!

Which private school, PP?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:PP, you sound like a reasonable person. I was referring to the tone of many, many posters in these here threads who are suggesting that if you send your children to any of the schools we mentioned - Deal, Walls, Wilson, Banneker, Ellington, Latin, etc. that our children will not be well prepared. That tone was just evident in the post made at 05:12, "One halfway decent charter HS, Latin, isn't much to brag about."

I could spend a day compiling the others. I don't even have children at any of these schools, but I find this attitude extremely negative, unhelpful and counterproductive. We need to stop pitting people against each and find ways to lift up all of our students.

Segregation is a huge reason that our schools are the way they are. Those parents who have the wherewithal to play the school game do. I get it. I am a parent too. Let's just put a moratorium on the trashing of schools that are in large measure effective, work to expand options for families and become a model for urban education.

+1 PP. I have been reading the, "Your child has no hope if not at Blair or TJ" threads as well. It seems that person chose to move out of the city for educational reasons, and is making the case in order to validate that decision. I don't mind a discussion of the relative merits, but I hope that person would listen to those of us with firsthand experience (kids in DC high schools) just as I have listened with interest to the description of Blair. I'm pretty sure both scenarios have their ups and downs; that's what choice is. I'm also not sure, from what I've heard, that Blair would be for us. However--whoever that person is, can we get your friend the MIT recruiter's number? Our kid will be happy to call him or her in a few years. Thnx!