Study: "Discussions of D.C. public school options in an online forum" (yes, this one)

[Anonymous]

jsteele wrote:This is their conclusion:

The conversations on DC Urban Moms illustrate what other research has also shown: When privileged parents choose, they tend to choose segregation

This is an extremely unfair characterization that completely misses the nuanced and complex reality. It is extremely disappointing to see such drivel presented as serious research.

I completely agree. They are knowingly confusing different types of segregation: economic and racial. Despite being strongly associated, you can’t write a decent scholarly article without defining which one you’re talking about and which one parents most care about.

It’s a deliberate attempt to attract controversy and attention, by insinuating racism into the mix.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Agree with the article being bad.


The one question I have for everyone is if wealthy white parents don’t segregate then why is there such a low number of white kids at Banneker? In all my years of living in DC and reading DCUMs, this is the one school that supports the argument.

Glad you brought this up. No doubt some students/families don’t apply to Banneker for various reasons rooted in systemic racism, overt racism, etc. but I do wonder (my kid is many, many years away from high school) if we applied would we be negatively impacting the school. I mean, this is a pretty great school that now serves mostly Black and brown students and if all of us white families started going there, we’d kind of destroy that culture, right? I’d hate to be the white family cashing in on the good thing Black and brown families built. But I’d be curious what others thought. Maybe I’m over analyzing.

It's racist to send your white kids to Banneker. It's also racist to not send your white kids to Banneker. It's even more racist if you don't have any kids to send to Banneker.

[Anonymous]

is your wife's named karen? its so so so odd how white people want to be persecuted. Karen is in no way shape or form similar to the N word.

Its not a racial slur, its calling white bigots by a nickname.

If white people refuse to look at how their actions affect BIPOC people - even their school choice in the name of doing the best for their children - then the system perpetuates.

I have no idea why people think Wilson and Deal are so great other than it has a lot of white kids.

[Anonymous]

"Nonetheless, the language on the site can be extreme. “Let the Hunger Games BEGINNNNNN!” writes one commenter in a 2015 thread, comparing the school lottery to a fictional dystopia in which children are forced to fight to the death"

That was a JOKE. They are noticing the very thing you are critiquing and making fun of it.

[jsteele]

Anonymous wrote:is your wife's named karen? its so so so odd how white people want to be persecuted. Karen is in no way shape or form similar to the N word.

Its not a racial slur, its calling white bigots by a nickname.

If white people refuse to look at how their actions affect BIPOC people - even their school choice in the name of doing the best for their children - then the system perpetuates.

I have no idea why people think Wilson and Deal are so great other than it has a lot of white kids.

We have entire threads about "Karen" and I don't wish to rehash those discussions but, simply put, the name is used in many contexts such that it is impossible to say exactly what it means. It definitely is not used only for white bigots and you did not use it that way in your earlier post. No, my wife's name is not Karen.

It is strange that not wanting to be labeled as a "white bigot" simply for being a middle-aged white woman is considered "wanting to be persecuted". I am happy to look at how my actions affect BIPOC people and I would argue that my moderation of this website reflects that I do think about that quite a bit. It is unclear to me why considering the impact of things on BIPOC people means that I shouldn't consider the impact of negative stereotypes on non-BIPOC people.

[jsteele]

Anonymous wrote:"Nonetheless, the language on the site can be extreme. “Let the Hunger Games BEGINNNNNN!” writes one commenter in a 2015 thread, comparing the school lottery to a fictional dystopia in which children are forced to fight to the death"

That was a JOKE. They are noticing the very thing you are critiquing and making fun of it.

The same thing happened when the Washington City Paper did the famous "Mommy Fight Site" article. They took a clearly sarcastic post and treated it as if it were serious.

[Anonymous]

jsteele wrote:This is their conclusion:

The conversations on DC Urban Moms illustrate what other research has also shown: When privileged parents choose, they tend to choose segregation

This is an extremely unfair characterization that completely misses the nuanced and complex reality. It is extremely disappointing to see such drivel presented as serious research.

right? especially considering that so many schools we send our kids to are so much more diverse than the average American school. It’s like they wouldn’t be happy unless parents disregarded school outcomes completely.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I haven’t read the article. But what I can share is that my friend is a very accomplished scholar in the world of education policy. She’s published a number of pieces in prestigious journals and argued sentiments similar to what’s in the Brookings excerpt. And for a good decade I heard about her strong conviction to send her kids to our IB middle school. Fast-forward, her kids now attend private.

Scholars can opine as much as they want. Parents act in the interest of their kids. And the desire to obtain the best education for our kids makes hypocrites of most DC liberals.

Does the Brookings author have kids (upper elementary or older) enrolled in DC public schools? If so, where?....

How much do you want to bet Nikole Hannah-Jones sends her daughter to private by MS?

[Anonymous]

OOf. Brookings. This line is a stinker if meant to show how out of touch DCUMers are.

"In one conversation titled 'Poll: Your Next Car,' the average sticker price of the cars named was $37,800."

Umm, cars are expensive these days. The average price of a new vehicle in 2020 was about $38,700
https://www.experian.com/blogs/ask-experian/what-is-the-average-price-for-a-new-car/

I still think that is a heck of a lot of money... but DCUM was actually suggesting LESS than the average new car price!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Agree with the article being bad.


The one question I have for everyone is if wealthy white parents don’t segregate then why is there such a low number of white kids at Banneker? In all my years of living in DC and reading DCUMs, this is the one school that supports the argument.

I agree. I have come to think that white parents are actually scared of Banneker because they think it will be too hard and their kid will have no privileges.

[Anonymous]

jsteele wrote:This is their conclusion:

The conversations on DC Urban Moms illustrate what other research has also shown: When privileged parents choose, they tend to choose segregation

This is an extremely unfair characterization that completely misses the nuanced and complex reality. It is extremely disappointing to see such drivel presented as serious research.

I think the articles conclusion is offensive. We are a Black family in NE DC... we are not choosing segregation by ranking our lottery list the way that is best for our child

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I haven’t read the article. But what I can share is that my friend is a very accomplished scholar in the world of education policy. She’s published a number of pieces in prestigious journals and argued sentiments similar to what’s in the Brookings excerpt. And for a good decade I heard about her strong conviction to send her kids to our IB middle school. Fast-forward, her kids now attend private.

Scholars can opine as much as they want. Parents act in the interest of their kids. And the desire to obtain the best education for our kids makes hypocrites of most DC liberals.

Does the Brookings author have kids (upper elementary or older) enrolled in DC public schools? If so, where?....

Right and how does your friend justify her about face???

What I can share is that she lasted far longer than me and most other high SES families in the neighborhood. It took a mental health crisis before she pulled her kids. She expressed guilt as a parent for having inflicted hardship on her kids due to ideological convictions regarding education policy.

I’ve never asked her to justify her about face. She’s a friend. And I supported her doing what was necessary to take care of her children.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Agree with the article being bad.


The one question I have for everyone is if wealthy white parents don’t segregate then why is there such a low number of white kids at Banneker? In all my years of living in DC and reading DCUMs, this is the one school that supports the argument.

I agree. I have come to think that white parents are actually scared of Banneker because they think it will be too hard and their kid will have no privileges.

Maybe. I still think there is some cultural holdovers that majority minority school are always “less than” majority white schools. Also “more strict” I have read that about Shepherd ES too, which was not even close to my experience.

[Anonymous]

Just a funny observation- shining stars comes up several times as a frequently mentioned school... but I’m pretty sure every post I’ve ever seen about it is negative

[jsteele]

Anonymous wrote:Just a funny observation- shining stars comes up several times as a frequently mentioned school... but I’m pretty sure every post I’ve ever seen about it is negative

Yes. I made this point on Twitter. Just because a school gets mentioned a lot doesn't mean that it is popular. Some schools get mentioned a lot because posters criticize them. That is a shortcoming of just doing quantitative analysis and the sort of thing that I have insight on, had they bothered to contact me.