Does it bother anyone else that only DCPS in Ward 1, 2, & 3 seemed to be 'taken care of'

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It's not the money, it's the student/parent population. My kids went to a well regarded Ward 3 school, and the students came from well educated families that valued and encouraged learning, both in and out of boundary. When there were problems with a teacher, you better believe the parents let the principal know. The parent were actively involved with the school, not just in raising funds, but also serving on committees, keeping the grounds spruced up, going on field trips etc. It's these things that make a good school, not just money. Schools with students from well educated families who are involved in their children's education will always be better. Not necessarily fair, but that's the way it is. The reason schools like KIPP have been able to succeed is by literally keeping their kids out of their home environments and at school. Most of the kids at KIPP only go home to sleep, and even go to school on Saturdays.

Wow. Well this is one theory but let's not mistake it for proof. There are a lot of variables here you're not accounting for. One thing that comes to mind is that if the parents were so bad, they sure made a good show of it by finding the right school for their children - so I guess I'm a little more willing to give them the benefit of the doubt than you are. Nobody disputes that children who come from a privileged background are easier to teach and have an easier road. But your statement veers into suggesting that poorer parents somehow don't want the best for the children, I'm having a hard time reading that without feeling ill.

[Anonymous]

Not the pp but wanted to add that I think that poor parents want the best for their children but sometimes they feel intimidated by school authorities, so they may not make demands on the school system. At least that has been my experience over the years in tutoring.

These caring families get their kids to KIPP or other adequately functioning schools (whether DCPS, charter or private) but that doesn't always mean they feel like they can stand up to the teacher or the principal and demand the best education for their kids.

A lawyer or well-educated SAHM might feel perfectly comfortable interacting with school authorities and volunteering in the PTA. A poor mom who didn't even finish high school is not always comfortable in that situation.

[Anonymous]

Poor parents also might not have the time to supervise homework because they work second and third jobs. They could lack the educational background to provide substantive help above the early grades. They cannot afford and/or don't have time to coordinate some of the extracurriculars that help foster children's intellectual development. Many don't have time to read to their kids early on because of job demands. Kids could be cold and hungry while trying to complete their homework, and get a bad night's sleep because of sirens, heat turned off, any number of disturbances that middle-class kids don't deal with.

Children in these families often have more responsibility for younger siblings than in wealthier families, where there is babysitting help or an at-home parent. By high school, many of these children have after-school jobs (maybe the recession will change that) so that the family can get by, and that cuts into homework, much less access to tutoring, test prep, and enrichment activities.

These parents want as much for their kids as anyone else but don't have the resources to make it happen. Don't think that they're always quiet-- the meetings about neighborhood school closures were spirited, to say the least.

Bottom line: being poor really sucks for your education.

[Anonymous]

The reason schools like KIPP have been able to succeed is by literally keeping their kids out of their home environments and at school. Most of the kids at KIPP only go home to sleep, and even go to school on Saturdays.

What exactly did you mean by this? I found this to be a pretty elitist statement, but perhaps you didn't mean it to be.

[Anonymous]

I didn't write it but what I suspect the point is that it keeps the kids away from their peers who are getting into trouble. I live by public housing and tutor in a small neighborhood program. I see how kids can get drawn into things because they're hanging out with their friends and they don't want to stand out.

Unfortunately in some of our neighborhoods, kids are safer if they are "outsiders" in their own neighborhood. Sad but true.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I didn't write it but what I suspect the point is that it keeps the kids away from their peers who are getting into trouble. I live by public housing and tutor in a small neighborhood program. I see how kids can get drawn into things because they're hanging out with their friends and they don't want to stand out.

Unfortunately in some of our neighborhoods, kids are safer if they are "outsiders" in their own neighborhood. Sad but true.

Yeah, I hate to say it but that explains how gentrifying families can move into Ward 1 and Ward 4 and try out the neighborhood schools and be okay with them. They're still teaching their children a lot at home that's like "school outside of school", but more importantly their children are "in a place but not of it." They're a part of the environment, sure, but not a product of it in the same way.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I didn't write it but what I suspect the point is that it keeps the kids away from their peers who are getting into trouble. I live by public housing and tutor in a small neighborhood program. I see how kids can get drawn into things because they're hanging out with their friends and they don't want to stand out.

Unfortunately in some of our neighborhoods, kids are safer if they are "outsiders" in their own neighborhood. Sad but true.

Yeah, I hate to say it but that explains how gentrifying families can move into Ward 1 and Ward 4 and try out the neighborhood schools and be okay with them. They're still teaching their children a lot at home that's like "school outside of school", but more importantly their children are "in a place but not of it." They're a part of the environment, sure, but not a product of it in the same way.

Exactly, pp. Well said. That's how my (gentrifying) dd has managed to grow up okay in this neighborhood because she doesn't relate to the kids in the neighborhood. She doesn't face the temptation my neighbor's kids do because she is already an outsider.

Now she has gotten into trouble with some of her friends who live in the 'burbs and upper NW - grrr, argh - which is why I worry a whole lot more about her upper-middle-class and rich friends than I do about the poor kids in the neighborhood. She had more trouble throwing off the toxic influence of a couple of entitled private school/wealthy public school kids because their approval mattered to her in a way that the approval of working class and poor kids does not.

[Anonymous]

Sorry, OP, but it does all come down to the parents. When you're talking about neighborhoods where the vast majority of kids have kids for parents; where the vast majority of fathers are in and out of prison and not involved in their kids lives (other than the pride of reproducing); when most kids don't have books in their homes and are certainly aren't being read to; where most kids have financial and other types of instability - well, those factors dictate what is happening in the schools far more than race or income.

And no, I'm not stereotyping - I've lived in this city a long time, and I have worked with and volunteered for and interacted with people from all the wards.

[jsteele]

Anonymous wrote:Sorry, OP, but it does all come down to the parents. When you're talking about neighborhoods where the vast majority of kids have kids for parents; where the vast majority of fathers are in and out of prison and not involved in their kids lives (other than the pride of reproducing); when most kids don't have books in their homes and are certainly aren't being read to; where most kids have financial and other types of instability - well, those factors dictate what is happening in the schools far more than race or income.

I hope you have some flame retardant clothing and a fire extinguisher handy because I can sense the flames coming. There are significant parts of the city that don't come close to meeting your description and still don't have adequate public schools.

[Anonymous]

So, I guess the implication is that there has to be gentrification in Wards 7 & 8 before someone takes notice that there's a problem with the schools, & something needs to be done? It takes a certain type of family to move in before it's realized the children deserve better? hmmm...