DCPS Comes in dead last as the worst school system in America

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The site dubbed the areas with the worst school systems as Nevada, Louisiana, Alabama, Mississippi and, lastly, the District of Columbia.

CHEERS!

http://www.businessinsider.com/states-with-best-and-worst-school-systems-2014-8

Nevada, Louisiana, Alabama and Mississippi are neither an LEA nor a "school system."

[Anonymous]

We don't have recess taken away - but they do limit movement (time out) which is so stupidly counterproductive it makes me want to rip mh hair out. Reprimands should be treadmill time or something.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:that poster was concerned that the common lottery was corrupt. She was not commenting on the quality of the education in any of the schools. If you read that thread, it is pretty clear that although its OP seems excited about living in DC she does not have a lot of information about what DC is like (wants to pay $500k for a 1000+sf place close to a metro with good schools all the way through high school that does not have/need bars on the window and is in an area that never gets car breakins or has litter).

Honestly, all of her questions seem pretty reasonable for someone who may be moving here from a smaller city or a suburb. People who been here a while can sometimes forget that most of the country sees bars on windows as a bad sign. When I explained the school lottery to my parents, they thought I was making it up because it struck them as so ridiculous. I never told them how much I paid for my house. I'm still not used to the litter or crime. City folk develop a tolerance for things that the majority of people would find unacceptable.

Just like suburban and rural people develop a tolerance for things that city folk find unacceptable.

Like good customer service? Yards? Super Target? I don't get it...

Super Target, ain't that awesome! Have you seen Duggar there?

Meanwhile, we have Costco and Amazon deliver same day. No need for customer service. Do please continue to visit DC as a tourist destination every weekend and complain that you get speed and parking tickets because you can't follow the rules. Btw, I have a great yard and garden.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:that poster was concerned that the common lottery was corrupt. She was not commenting on the quality of the education in any of the schools. If you read that thread, it is pretty clear that although its OP seems excited about living in DC she does not have a lot of information about what DC is like (wants to pay $500k for a 1000+sf place close to a metro with good schools all the way through high school that does not have/need bars on the window and is in an area that never gets car breakins or has litter).

Honestly, all of her questions seem pretty reasonable for someone who may be moving here from a smaller city or a suburb. People who been here a while can sometimes forget that most of the country sees bars on windows as a bad sign. When I explained the school lottery to my parents, they thought I was making it up because it struck them as so ridiculous. I never told them how much I paid for my house. I'm still not used to the litter or crime. City folk develop a tolerance for things that the majority of people would find unacceptable.

Just like suburban and rural people develop a tolerance for things that city folk find unacceptable.

PP, the only thing I know that rural people and suburbanites tolerate more that city folk are guns and septic systems or leech fields.

They tolerate intolerance.

And generally: longer commutes, less public transport, longer drives to resources like groceries etc, fewer cultural resources, fewer restaurants, less walkability...to name a few

Longer drives to groceries? Hahaha, DC is just now leaving its food desert phase. And many parts of SE and NE have a bodego for 'groceries' and that's it. Suburbarn grocery shopping is way way better.

Name a neighborhood that doesn't have full service grocery within 1-1.5 miles.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It really gets old to have to say the same thing over and over. When ranked with other urban school systems, DC is around the national average. NAEP’s 2013 ranking of 4th grade reading scores for urban school systems showed that DC scored worse than NYC, Atlanta, and Boston, but better than Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, Dallas, Milwaukee, Baltimore, Philadelphia, Fresno, Cleveland, and Detroit. The rankings also showed that DC's high SES students outscore the rest of the nation and that DC's overall concentration of high-scoring students is above the national average. 8 percent of DC students have advanced reading scores, compared to only 7 percent for NYC and 6 percent for Boston. Indeed, DC’s percentage of advanced scoring students put it in the same company with some of the highest scoring urban school systems in the country, including Hillsborough County FL (10 percent), San Diego (8 percent), Austin, Texas (11 percent), and Charlotte NC (11 percent). http://www.nationsreportcard.gov/reading_math_tuda_2013/#/tuda-performance

People really need to ignore this false advertising slogan about DC as “the worst school system in the county”. Again and again, DC gets inappropriately ranked “51st” among states – when it’s idiotic to compare one single school system to 50 averages of scores of school systems (plural) in other states. This not only matches up two entirely different data sets, but allows every other urban school system in the country the unfair advantage of hiding behind the artificially high test scores of rural and affluent suburban school systems. The closest measure of DC “as a state” would involve lumping it in with MD or VA, which would put DC somewhere between 3rd (Maryland’s ranking) and 7th (Virginia’s ranking). But how useful is that comparison, really?

Thanks PP. I wonder if we can flag this particular post to top of thread so we don't have to always search for the data whenever some VA/MD poster wants to invade our thread and post a whack article to validate their choice for living in suburbia. Must be really sad. I have never looked in MD or VA school thread. Haters gonna hate.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yeah, but as has been said on these board many times before, it's not apples to apples. These are whole states - - so, let's run the numbers of DC v. Jersey City or Camden or Newark (all in #1 ranked NJ). . . that seems like a truer comparison to me.

DC has more people than several states. Additionally, DC spends more than any other state per student and therefore has more resources than any other state so I think the comparison is valid.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yeah, but as has been said on these board many times before, it's not apples to apples. These are whole states - - so, let's run the numbers of DC v. Jersey City or Camden or Newark (all in #1 ranked NJ). . . that seems like a truer comparison to me.

DC has more people than several states. Additionally, DC spends more than any other state per student and therefore has more resources than any other state so I think the comparison is valid.

Your an more than Vermont and Wyoming? Neither of which have a single urban area or a single school district. Even if you don't agree there is no way you can find the methodology valid.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:that poster was concerned that the common lottery was corrupt. She was not commenting on the quality of the education in any of the schools. If you read that thread, it is pretty clear that although its OP seems excited about living in DC she does not have a lot of information about what DC is like (wants to pay $500k for a 1000+sf place close to a metro with good schools all the way through high school that does not have/need bars on the window and is in an area that never gets car breakins or has litter).

Honestly, all of her questions seem pretty reasonable for someone who may be moving here from a smaller city or a suburb. People who been here a while can sometimes forget that most of the country sees bars on windows as a bad sign. When I explained the school lottery to my parents, they thought I was making it up because it struck them as so ridiculous. I never told them how much I paid for my house. I'm still not used to the litter or crime. City folk develop a tolerance for things that the majority of people would find unacceptable.

Just like suburban and rural people develop a tolerance for things that city folk find unacceptable.

Like good customer service? Yards? Super Target? I don't get it...

Super Target, ain't that awesome! Have you seen Duggar there?

Meanwhile, we have Costco and Amazon deliver same day. No need for customer service. Do please continue to visit DC as a tourist destination every weekend and complain that you get speed and parking tickets because you can't follow the rules. Btw, I have a great yard and garden.

You're defensive. It was a joke. Amazon should same-day deliver a sense of humor. BTW, I've lived and worked in the in the city proper for ten years. With a big-ass yard. Don't park in the city, too much trouble when other options are available. My only speeding tickets occur when I'm returning from the suburbs, because sometimes a lady needs a Wegman's, Toys R' Us, and a Trader Joe's that isn't obscenely crowded.

I will never understand why people get so defensive about their address. Nobody gives a flying f*ck where you live or what you think of where others live. Do what suits you.

[Anonymous]

This thread is marginally less annoying and tired than the working mom vs. stay at home mom threads!

[Anonymous]

I love that the retort to this data is "BUT, we're on par with the shitty schools in other cities!!!"

Congrats!!!!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I love that the retort to this data is "BUT, we're on par with the shitty schools in other cities!!!"

Congrats!!!!

No, the argument is that there is no data about the other cities and that the data from other states is completely irrelevant.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I love that the retort to this data is "BUT, we're on par with the shitty schools in other cities!!!"

Congrats!!!!

No, the argument is that there is no data about the other cities and that the data from other states is completely irrelevant.

Actually that's not the argument that was made. For example:

Anonymous wrote:It really gets old to have to say the same thing over and over. When ranked with other urban school systems, DC is around the national average.

But if your argument is, we don't even know how shitty DCPS is compared to other cities, that might be worse.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The site dubbed the areas with the worst school systems as Nevada, Louisiana, Alabama, Mississippi and, lastly, the District of Columbia.

CHEERS!

http://www.businessinsider.com/states-with-best-and-worst-school-systems-2014-8

Nevada, Louisiana, Alabama and Mississippi are neither an LEA nor a "school system."

Looks like Nevada got smart and will give EVERYONE a voucher to attend a private/parochial if they choose. So if the system is bad, at least your tax dollars can be useful to find a proper alternative.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The site dubbed the areas with the worst school systems as Nevada, Louisiana, Alabama, Mississippi and, lastly, the District of Columbia.

CHEERS!

http://www.businessinsider.com/states-with-best-and-worst-school-systems-2014-8

Nevada, Louisiana, Alabama and Mississippi are neither an LEA nor a "school system."

Looks like Nevada got smart and will give EVERYONE a voucher to attend a private/parochial if they choose. So if the system is bad, at least your tax dollars can be useful to find a proper alternative.

AKA the "Tax break for Rich families". $5300 is not going to buy a family very much education, but I'm sure some madrassas will pop up that will be happy to take the cash.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The site dubbed the areas with the worst school systems as Nevada, Louisiana, Alabama, Mississippi and, lastly, the District of Columbia.

CHEERS!

http://www.businessinsider.com/states-with-best-and-worst-school-systems-2014-8

Nevada, Louisiana, Alabama and Mississippi are neither an LEA nor a "school system."

Looks like Nevada got smart and will give EVERYONE a voucher to attend a private/parochial if they choose. So if the system is bad, at least your tax dollars can be useful to find a proper alternative.

It is going to be quite interesting to observe how that works (or doesn't). If it improves academic performance overall, I'm all for it. Better for parents to be able to send kids to good established schools than to fully new ones (many, not all, charters) or to disastrous ones (some public schools in poor neighborhoods).