DME Kicks Off DCPS Boundary Review; Changes Expected for 2015-16 School Year

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What is the UMC set?

UMC = Upper Middle Class

Ie people who can afford a house in a pricey neighborhood but not private school

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
I'm all for diversity but if it becomes a more important mission statement than academic quality, our kids will not succeed in the 21st Century.

In any case, the schools in MoCo and Fairfax are a lot more diverse than DCPS schools, and have been for a while. When people talk about "diverse" in DC they really just mean "lots of poor non-immigrant blacks".

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:San Francisco tried the random city wide school lottery and it had the effect of driving upper middle class families out of the city. Some would say this was part of the plan, since families consume more city services than, for example, gay mem with dogs, who are higher net tax payers. A dog park is cheaper to fund than a renOvated school.

+1. If DCPS cares more about dogs than about kids, the San Francisco example would be one to emulate.

Gay men adopt kids now. Its a thing. Driving out families with the expectation that gay men will take their place is a fools errand as those gay men may also "consume more city services" by creating families.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:San Francisco tried the random city wide school lottery and it had the effect of driving upper middle class families out of the city. Some would say this was part of the plan, since families consume more city services than, for example, gay mem with dogs, who are higher net tax payers. A dog park is cheaper to fund than a renOvated school.

+1. If DCPS cares more about dogs than about kids, the San Francisco example would be one to emulate.

Gay men adopt kids now. Its a thing. Driving out families with the expectation that gay men will take their place is a fools errand as those gay men may also "consume more city services" by creating families.

This. Lots of same sex couples with kids around here. Everyone is concerned about quality schools. Yes, there will be those without, but those with is an appreciable number, adding to those for which school is a high priority. School quality matters across the board.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:San Francisco tried the random city wide school lottery and it had the effect of driving upper middle class families out of the city. Some would say this was part of the plan, since families consume more city services than, for example, gay mem with dogs, who are higher net tax payers. A dog park is cheaper to fund than a renOvated school.

+1. If DCPS cares more about dogs than about kids, the San Francisco example would be one to emulate.

Gay men adopt kids now. Its a thing. Driving out families with the expectation that gay men will take their place is a fools errand as those gay men may also "consume more city services" by creating families.

This. Lots of same sex couples with kids around here. Everyone is concerned about quality schools. Yes, there will be those without, but those with is an appreciable number, adding to those for which school is a high priority. School quality matters across the board.

Beautiful theory, without the numbers to back it up. San Francisco is a beautiful, fun, and relatively childless city because its public school system is a nightmare.

[Anonymous]

^^ Okay. Where are your numbers to disprove it?

[Anonymous]

US Census says: San Francisco, 13.5% under 18. http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/06/06075.html DC, 17.3% under 18, http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/11000.html US as a whole, 23.5% under 18. But I'm not sure that's about SF & DC having bad schools--note that Prince George's County, MD, has 23.1% under 18, http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/24/24033.html

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
I'm all for diversity but if it becomes a more important mission statement than academic quality, our kids will not succeed in the 21st Century.

In any case, the schools in MoCo and Fairfax are a lot more diverse than DCPS schools, and have been for a while. When people talk about "diverse" in DC they really just mean "lots of poor non-immigrant blacks".

I keep reading this and it is incorrect. You need to get out of the exurbs and stop voicing out of date views of the city. My neighborhood is very international.

[Anonymous]

That may be true but when DCPS talks about "diversity" it means both racial AND SES diversity---not just whether a school has a lot of World Bank/IMF/diplomat types. And when DC political types talk about preserving "diversity" at Wilson and Deal, they are talking about middle and lower SES AA and Latino kids.


---signed, cynical 19 year DC resident

[Anonymous]

The missing idea in this conversation is school quality. DCPS needs to hire strong school leaders to make school turnarounds. This conversation about boundaries is only happening because Deal is overcrowded and people's house prices have gone up because of it. Kim and others like her need to be recruited to turn around other schools. If Dr. Kim or someone else like her could go to Hardy and Stuart Hobson and make similar changes the demand on Deal would not be so great.

[Anonymous]

PP: Thank you! That has been my main concern.

The fundamental problem is that demand is outstripping supply. The only rational way to resolve that is to increase supply. Otherwise we will just be talking (and fighting) about how to determine which XX% of kids in the city can get access to good schools. That is not a tenable situation and will only lead to division and fights.

It seems like the more productive conversation is how to increase the number of high quality schools in the city, and how to convince people to give them a try. I think your point about hiring strong leaders to make school turnarounds is a great one.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
I'm all for diversity but if it becomes a more important mission statement than academic quality, our kids will not succeed in the 21st Century.

In any case, the schools in MoCo and Fairfax are a lot more diverse than DCPS schools, and have been for a while. When people talk about "diverse" in DC they really just mean "lots of poor non-immigrant blacks".

I keep reading this and it is incorrect. You need to get out of the exurbs and stop voicing out of date views of the city. My neighborhood is very international.

Fairfax County schools 2012-13 (from FCPS website)

White: 42%
Black: 10%
Hispanic: 23%
Asian: 19%
Two or more races: 5%

DC Schools 2012-13 (from DCPS website)

White: 11%
Black: 69%
Hispanic: 16%
"Other": 4%

On a racial basis, Fairfax is easily more diverse than DCPS. Frankly DCPS is even less diverse than the stats indicate, since a high percentage of the white and hispanic populations are concentrated in a small percentage of the schools.

Also see percentage of foreign-born population in area jurisdictions from the 2010 census:

DC: 13%
Montgomery: 31%
Prince George's: 20%
Arlington: 23%
Alexandria: 25%
Fairfax: 29%
Loudoun: 22%
Prince William: 21%

More immigrants-->more diverse schools, even beyond what you can already see from the racial stats.

[Anonymous]

Kids who attend OOB elementary schools should not be guaranteed entry to middle school that is also OOB. So if a kid goes to Murch and is OOB, they should not have an automatic right to go to Deal. It is ridiculous.

[Anonymous]

^^ Yes, but the OOB situation it is not the cause of the overcrowding.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:^^ Yes, but the OOB situation it is not the cause of the overcrowding.

Isn't it?