Please don't just take a spot at a charter school because you want free care.

[Anonymous]

Dcps is free daycare vs learning for those people.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I would talk to the principal about it, see if something can be done about this.

How exactly would that conversation go?

You: "Principal, I overheard Jimmy's father saying this school wasn;t his first choice, and he's grumpy about being here. Also, I think they're playing the lottery again, hoping to leave for a better option. Can you please kick them out?"

Principal: <I really have to get better security, or let the assistant principal have a turn dealing with the crazies.> "Thank you for pointing this out, I'll look into it."

PP, if you have two brain cells to rub together, please try to use them before posting.

[Anonymous]

So fine, I'll bite OP. What, in your view, constitutes "care and nurture" of the school? I work 8 hours a day, commute for 2, and spend the other 5-6 that I am awake taking care of my home, my family, etc. I volunteer as I am able, have donated money, and frequently ask the teacher if she needs anything for her classroom. Is that enough for you, or is there something else I should be doing? We are not at our #1 school but are making the best of it even though yes, at times, we have grumbled, too. Seems to me you've taken one comment and conflated it into something it probably isn't.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Dcps is free daycare vs learning for those people.

That may be but guess what? While some parents may not value the educational piece the way we'd like, guess what their kids are doing while they're there? LEARNING, learning SOCIAL SKILLS, DISCIPLINE, flexing and stimulating their brains and hearts maybe a ton more than they would be if preschool/pre-k wasn't an option.

And that's the whole damn point actually. Educating kids who either their parents don't value education or whose parents value it a ton but can't afford it if it's fee-based. Where I work a lot of kids mainly come to summer camp just because they get breakfast and lunch - otherwise they might not eat more than one small Mel a day. But while there... They get to learn and have fun as well.

So you can talk about "those people" all you want, but shame on any of you who would begrudge that child the education that public schools were implemented to provide, regardless of how their parent views it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What about families who really need free care? Aren't they more deserving than you, who have many options because of your income?

If you view school as just daycare, you're part of the problem. A large part, actually.

I believe the point was that public PS3 and PK4 programs were created specifically to provide decent early childhood education for children of low-income parents who can't or won't read to their kids or expose them to other early learning activities/opportunities. It's called Head Start - you might want to do some quick research. The whole idea was for the programs to be a social benefit - children who have engaged in early childhood are likely to do better in school, more likely to graduate, and more likely to become self-sufficient adults, which should be the goal of any humane, advanced society. Bitch all you want about low-income parents (or any parents, really) viewing school as daycare. I don't care how they view it, I would simply prefer that their children grow up to be able to contribute to society as opposed to taking from it.

So which do you want? A system that says screw those poor kids, who then grow up to be under or unemployed and more likely to engage in crime, have children of their own that they can't take care of, etc etc or one that says ok, these kids are here, let's deal with reality and help them to become productive members of society? The cost-benefit analysis is pretty brainless to parse out, PP.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:NP here - the "free care" gripe that I would have is that the charters don't have as much funding as DCPS schools do toward freebies. If people want to get more freebies from their schools, they should either be lobbying their politicians to get the mismanagement sorted out at DCPS schools, or if not to shift more funding over to charters so that they CAN offer them. Otherwise, it's boosters who are often shouldering a lot of that burden for the extras. Money for a lot of this stuff doesn't just fall out of the trees, and people should be aware and considerate of that.

Secondly, the other gripe I would have is that some parents just seem to apply to whatever charter they can get, as opposed to parents who are specifically interested in just one charter, for example for language or other specialized offerings. If you aren't interested in the specialized offerings, then please don't clog the process unnecessarily for those who are.

Yup, we sure did! I applied to every charter that was a reasonable distance from our home, and a few that were farther away. I also played the DCPS lottery, putting down our mediocre IB school as our first choice. We got into our IB school, and wait-listed at EVERY charter we applied to. The week before school started, we got a call from a highly regarded language immersion school, and accepted the spot immediately. Since then, we have gotten behind this school's language and are doing are best to be engaged parents and support our child's education. But I would have just as easily gotten behind a different langauge or "specialized offering" if our kid had been accepted at a different school. My alternative to "clogging the process" was to enroll my kid in a school that would MAYBE been ok until MAYBE 3rd grade...then what? Can't afford private school. While I empathize with the families who may have loved a spot at our kids' school because of an affinity for special attributes of the curriculum, they do not deserve a spot any more than any other child in this PUBLIC charter school. Becoming involved in the new language and culture of my child's school has enriched not only his educational experience, but our whole family as well.

OP Here - Yes, then you are a great example of what families SHOULD be doing! I hope others will follow your example and support

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Even though you want it to feel like private school, charters are still just public school.

Oh, how I love to see this in writing! I agree. Public school teacher and advocate here. I love how SOME charter parents want to forget that a charter is still public, and has to deal with the real DC community. Yup, it stinks having parents who do not care about education. And if you want to figure out how to engage parents- take a stroll on over to a DC public school and figure out how we do it.mis it perfect, no of course not. But we are dealing with the community you, OP, are trying to escape.
Also, why would you think of punishing a child for a parents lack of school commitment? Sure the parents may want 'free care' but their child is entitled to education, just like your kiddos are. Do not forget that education is first and foremost about kids.

OP here - yes, this is my point exactly. The parents' attitudes and commitment to a school are extremely important for the success of not only the school but of their children. If a parent takes their child to a school they don't give a damn about the that does AFFECT their children. How does a child feel if they know (either directly or indirectly) that their parent doesn't like their child's school? No matter which school a fmaily enters into they should support it! If parents come to a school on a daily basis upset about the fact that this is not their first choice, then how does that help the school community - how does that help their child's education? On the other hand if a parent/family comes to a school thinking positively - "well, this was not my first choice but I will be positive coming into the school on a daily basis" - then this will help the school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What about families who really need free care? Aren't they more deserving than you, who have many options because of your income?

If you view school as just daycare, you're part of the problem. A large part, actually.

+ 1 million.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:So fine, I'll bite OP. What, in your view, constitutes "care and nurture" of the school? I work 8 hours a day, commute for 2, and spend the other 5-6 that I am awake taking care of my home, my family, etc. I volunteer as I am able, have donated money, and frequently ask the teacher if she needs anything for her classroom. Is that enough for you, or is there something else I should be doing? We are not at our #1 school but are making the best of it even though yes, at times, we have grumbled, too. Seems to me you've taken one comment and conflated it into something it probably isn't.

OP Here - You asked, so I am answering: I think you are caring and nuturing for school! You are a great example. Also, there's nothing wrong with having constructive criticism of a school AND asking the school or giving suggestions to a school to make improvements (i.e. "grumbled).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Even though you want it to feel like private school, charters are still just public school.

Oh, how I love to see this in writing! I agree. Public school teacher and advocate here. I love how SOME charter parents want to forget that a charter is still public, and has to deal with the real DC community. Yup, it stinks having parents who do not care about education. And if you want to figure out how to engage parents- take a stroll on over to a DC public school and figure out how we do it.mis it perfect, no of course not. But we are dealing with the community you, OP, are trying to escape.
Also, why would you think of punishing a child for a parents lack of school commitment? Sure the parents may want 'free care' but their child is entitled to education, just like your kiddos are. Do not forget that education is first and foremost about kids.

OP here - yes, this is my point exactly. The parents' attitudes and commitment to a school are extremely important for the success of not only the school but of their children. If a parent takes their child to a school they don't give a damn about the that does AFFECT their children. How does a child feel if they know (either directly or indirectly) that their parent doesn't like their child's school? No matter which school a fmaily enters into they should support it! If parents come to a school on a daily basis upset about the fact that this is not their first choice, then how does that help the school community - how does that help their child's education? On the other hand if a parent/family comes to a school thinking positively - "well, this was not my first choice but I will be positive coming into the school on a daily basis" - then this will help the school.

OP, you are making a HUGE assumption that one parent's offhand comment means that they "don't give a damn." Give me a break.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So fine, I'll bite OP. What, in your view, constitutes "care and nurture" of the school? I work 8 hours a day, commute for 2, and spend the other 5-6 that I am awake taking care of my home, my family, etc. I volunteer as I am able, have donated money, and frequently ask the teacher if she needs anything for her classroom. Is that enough for you, or is there something else I should be doing? We are not at our #1 school but are making the best of it even though yes, at times, we have grumbled, too. Seems to me you've taken one comment and conflated it into something it probably isn't.

OP Here - You asked, so I am answering: I think you are caring and nuturing for school! You are a great example. Also, there's nothing wrong with having constructive criticism of a school AND asking the school or giving suggestions to a school to make improvements (i.e. "grumbled).

Well, I still agree with the poster above that you are making BIG assumptions on the basis of an off-hand comment. In a free society you just don't get to dictate what other people care about or how they express themselves. Vent away - but if this is really eating at you, then you really need to let it go. Focus on what you can impact (your child, your classroom, etc) and leave the rest behind.

[Anonymous]

OP has moved from "don't take a spot at a charter school if you're not excited about it" to "don't be publicly grumpy about you school if it's not what your first choice. A modern-day Bobby McFerrin.

[Anonymous]

Why should I have to "be involved" in some crappy school I'm forced to go to because I didn't win the lottery to get my kid into a "top tier" charter? My kids deserve a great school, but I'm not an educator or a school administrator. I chose a different career. It's my right to complain if I don't like the school, and it's the school's job to be better. This whole mantra of parent involvement is ridiculous -- why not leave running the school to the people who have chosen running a school as their job? Do your jobs!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What about families who really need free care? Aren't they more deserving than you, who have many options because of your income?

If you view school as just daycare, you're part of the problem. A large part, actually.

I believe the point was that public PS3 and PK4 programs were created specifically to provide decent early childhood education for children of low-income parents who can't or won't read to their kids or expose them to other early learning activities/opportunities. It's called Head Start - you might want to do some quick research. The whole idea was for the programs to be a social benefit - children who have engaged in early childhood are likely to do better in school, more likely to graduate, and more likely to become self-sufficient adults, which should be the goal of any humane, advanced society. Bitch all you want about low-income parents (or any parents, really) viewing school as daycare. I don't care how they view it, I would simply prefer that their children grow up to be able to contribute to society as opposed to taking from it.

So which do you want? A system that says screw those poor kids, who then grow up to be under or unemployed and more likely to engage in crime, have children of their own that they can't take care of, etc etc or one that says ok, these kids are here, let's deal with reality and help them to become productive members of society? The cost-benefit analysis is pretty brainless to parse out, PP.

ABSOLUTELY. Perfectly stated.

[Anonymous]

+1. Believe it or not, the teachers want all of you helicopter parents to back off and let them do their job. Just drop off and pick up, so I can get prepared for the next school day.

Anonymous wrote:Why should I have to "be involved" in some crappy school I'm forced to go to because I didn't win the lottery to get my kid into a "top tier" charter? My kids deserve a great school, but I'm not an educator or a school administrator. I chose a different career. It's my right to complain if I don't like the school, and it's the school's job to be better. This whole mantra of parent involvement is ridiculous -- why not leave running the school to the people who have chosen running a school as their job? Do your jobs!