Child crying over DCPS letter to cut Fillmore

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Plenty of us understand the importance of an arts education. Some of us happen to realize Fillmore is an overblown and expensive way to provide it. Not supporting Fillmore doesn't mean we don't support arts education. There are elementary schools that don't have separate space for art or music. They provide it in the classroom. It's been done before, believe me.

You are incorrect here, at least in DC.

But you will correct once Fillmore ends for 5 schools.

2 of the 5 are about to start renovations that will resolve the arts space issue for their students. I think that parents can help their principals find creative solutions for the other three.

And 2 of the 5 have had their renovations and have trailers in the parking lot already. What sort of "creative solution" do you have in mind for them? It's always easy to propose that someone else think creatively as a way of dismissing a problem.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Plenty of us understand the importance of an arts education. Some of us happen to realize Fillmore is an overblown and expensive way to provide it. Not supporting Fillmore doesn't mean we don't support arts education. There are elementary schools that don't have separate space for art or music. They provide it in the classroom. It's been done before, believe me.

You are incorrect here, at least in DC.

But you will correct once Fillmore ends for 5 schools.

2 of the 5 are about to start renovations that will resolve the arts space issue for their students. I think that parents can help their principals find creative solutions for the other three.

I don't have children at a school that uses Fillmore, but this response annoys me to no end. "Parents can help find creative solutions" seems to be DCPS's motto. I think parents can stop accepting mediocrity (or worse) from DCPS. I think that DCPS management should just do their jobs and find a way to provide appropriate facilities, resources, and support.

[Anonymous]

I have a creative solution: re-fund Fillmore! That way, the two schools in trailers next year will continue to have their access to arts classes NOT in a trailer; and the cheaper transportation costs (next year, DCPS won't any longer be paying $600,000 on the shady, no-account bus contract) will show everyone that Fillmore doesn't cost nearly as much as DCPS wants you to believe.

If the reasons don't fit, you must aquit!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have a creative solution: re-fund Fillmore! That way, the two schools in trailers next year will continue to have their access to arts classes NOT in a trailer; and the cheaper transportation costs (next year, DCPS won't any longer be paying $600,000 on the shady, no-account bus contract) will show everyone that Fillmore doesn't cost nearly as much as DCPS wants you to believe.

If the reasons don't fit, you must aquit!

Is DCPS really paying $600,000 for buses? That's crazy. Clearly, there are ways to keep Fillmore without all the extra cost.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have a creative solution: re-fund Fillmore! That way, the two schools in trailers next year will continue to have their access to arts classes NOT in a trailer; and the cheaper transportation costs (next year, DCPS won't any longer be paying $600,000 on the shady, no-account bus contract) will show everyone that Fillmore doesn't cost nearly as much as DCPS wants you to believe.

If the reasons don't fit, you must aquit!

Is DCPS really paying $600,000 for buses? That's crazy. Clearly, there are ways to keep Fillmore without all the extra cost.

They WERE paying it. Who knows what kind of funny business back-room deals go on to over-pay a bus company THAT much dough. Who's getting a kickback? Why does it cost hundreds of millions of dollars to renovate Ellington? Why can't the City hold the initial Murch contractor to the original deal? Why are city managers such scoundrels and how do they keep getting away with feeding us B.S. reasons for their kleptocratic decisions?

[Anonymous]

A better option will be to have a dedicated space at the various schools for an art/music teacher to rotate between the 5 schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:A better option will be to have a dedicated space at the various schools for an art/music teacher to rotate between the 5 schools.

Where would that "dedicated space" be at Key, where there are already trailers in half of the teacher parking lot, the kids eat lunch in three shifts, and the hallways and the stage are already used for teaching?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A better option will be to have a dedicated space at the various schools for an art/music teacher to rotate between the 5 schools.

Where would that "dedicated space" be at Key, where there are already trailers in half of the teacher parking lot, the kids eat lunch in three shifts, and the hallways and the stage are already used for teaching?

Build an outside cottage?

[Anonymous]

I'm a parent at one of the Fillmore schools. I'm ready to let it go. I can't in good conscience say it's okay for the city to spend $1100 on my kid's arts education, while spending $450 per capita on kids in the rest of the city. Add to that the mixed reviews, the revolving door of teachers who are not trained in classroom management, and instructional time lost to transit, and I:m ready to try an in school model.

As an aside, the 600 K for busing works out to $8.80 per kid per trip (assuming 1700 kids and 40 weeks of instruction). More expensive than a city bus, but you'd expect to pay more than a city bus for the door to door service and the short term use. That would be SOP for any transit contract. Thus, you could reduce the busing costs, but not by enough.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A better option will be to have a dedicated space at the various schools for an art/music teacher to rotate between the 5 schools.

Where would that "dedicated space" be at Key, where there are already trailers in half of the teacher parking lot, the kids eat lunch in three shifts, and the hallways and the stage are already used for teaching?

Build an outside cottage?

A Zeppelin at each of the 5 schools would be really cool: the kids could climb the ladder up to the Zeppelin, and then do art in the clouds.

Or, DCPS could just re-fund Fillmore, where there is space to do art things.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm a parent at one of the Fillmore schools. I'm ready to let it go. I can't in good conscience say it's okay for the city to spend $1100 on my kid's arts education, while spending $450 per capita on kids in the rest of the city. Add to that the mixed reviews, the revolving door of teachers who are not trained in classroom management, and instructional time lost to transit, and I:m ready to try an in school model.

As an aside, the 600 K for busing works out to $8.80 per kid per trip (assuming 1700 kids and 40 weeks of instruction). More expensive than a city bus, but you'd expect to pay more than a city bus for the door to door service and the short term use. That would be SOP for any transit contract. Thus, you could reduce the busing costs, but not by enough.

So, you would rather your kid do limited art in homeroom, rather than in a proper arts classroom like every other kid in the City? Or do you think DCPS is going to build you an addition in order to keep it fair? Are you really a parent?

FYI: the bloated bus contract ends this year and would go down to around $250,000 next year, as it should have been all along.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Plenty of us understand the importance of an arts education. Some of us happen to realize Fillmore is an overblown and expensive way to provide it. Not supporting Fillmore doesn't mean we don't support arts education. There are elementary schools that don't have separate space for art or music. They provide it in the classroom. It's been done before, believe me.

You are incorrect here, at least in DC.

But you will correct once Fillmore ends for 5 schools.

2 of the 5 are about to start renovations that will resolve the arts space issue for their students. I think that parents can help their principals find creative solutions for the other three.

And 2 of the 5 have had their renovations and have trailers in the parking lot already. What sort of "creative solution" do you have in mind for them? It's always easy to propose that someone else think creatively as a way of dismissing a problem.

Not PP and I don't live in DC. When the budget constraints caused our school district to cut art and music, we developed before and after school programs for art and music. Band and choir meet before school from 7:00 to 7:45 am. We hired a teacher for the program and each family pays a reasonable fee. Art meets after school, same deal.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Plenty of us understand the importance of an arts education. Some of us happen to realize Fillmore is an overblown and expensive way to provide it. Not supporting Fillmore doesn't mean we don't support arts education. There are elementary schools that don't have separate space for art or music. They provide it in the classroom. It's been done before, believe me.

You are incorrect here, at least in DC.

But you will correct once Fillmore ends for 5 schools.

2 of the 5 are about to start renovations that will resolve the arts space issue for their students. I think that parents can help their principals find creative solutions for the other three.

And 2 of the 5 have had their renovations and have trailers in the parking lot already. What sort of "creative solution" do you have in mind for them? It's always easy to propose that someone else think creatively as a way of dismissing a problem.

Not PP and I don't live in DC. When the budget constraints caused our school district to cut art and music, we developed before and after school programs for art and music. Band and choir meet before school from 7:00 to 7:45 am. We hired a teacher for the program and each family pays a reasonable fee. Art meets after school, same deal.

Oh, and the school does daily music appreciation called "Music in the Morning." After announcements, they play some piece of important music and read some information about it and the composer over the loudspeaker. it takes about 10 minutes and helps gets the kids settled down and ready to work.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm a parent at one of the Fillmore schools. I'm ready to let it go. I can't in good conscience say it's okay for the city to spend $1100 on my kid's arts education, while spending $450 per capita on kids in the rest of the city. Add to that the mixed reviews, the revolving door of teachers who are not trained in classroom management, and instructional time lost to transit, and I:m ready to try an in school model.

As an aside, the 600 K for busing works out to $8.80 per kid per trip (assuming 1700 kids and 40 weeks of instruction). More expensive than a city bus, but you'd expect to pay more than a city bus for the door to door service and the short term use. That would be SOP for any transit contract. Thus, you could reduce the busing costs, but not by enough.

So, you would rather your kid do limited art in homeroom, rather than in a proper arts classroom like every other kid in the City? Or do you think DCPS is going to build you an addition in order to keep it fair? Are you really a parent?

FYI: the bloated bus contract ends this year and would go down to around $250,000 next year, as it should have been all along.

Serious question: what arts do you think 7 year olds are doing that is so important that they need their own dedicated art studio?

[Anonymous]

"And another serious question about that letter - where did DCOS get that arts dollar amount per child? What's the arts costs for these high school kids getting opportunities for marching band (instruments, uniforms) -- http://dcps.dc.gov/sites/default/files/dc/sites/dc...by%20School%202015-2016_0.pdf? Drawing, painting, concert choir - all offered to high school students but nothing but art on a cart for elementary students."

Not sure what you're implying here, but it's totally appropriate to spend more money for formal arts instruction for older kids, who are more developmentally ready for things like choir, band, and painting studios. An art card is probably just find for little kids.