Good schools EoTP

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:the bolded statement reads as incredibly privileged. it should be about providing everyone at all levels with great schools. (while improving the middle schools could use more attention, my overall impression of bowser is that she does for the most part care about kids in dc.)

Incredibly privileged people like us on Capitol Hill (read many Federal employees) deserve neighborhood middle and high schools most of us are OK with for our tax dollars. Unfortunately, we're almost as far from having them as we were nearly 20 years ago, when my spouse and I bought our first property in the neighborhood.

Our overall impression is that Bowser could absolutely care less if UMC families with school-age kids, particularly whites, bail on city schools, and the District itself for that matter. Fenty cared, Gray, too. Not this short-sighted mayor.

There are plenty of options for HS?? There are charters and test in schools.

None are a sure thing. You can't bank on the test-in schools at all (I don't care how much of a genius you think your kid is). And access to charter HSs is very dependent on whether you are at a feeder charter. For instance, it's very hard to get into DCI unless you lottery into a feeder school, and since it's immersion, you kind of need to do that by K or 1st at the latest. And of course the feeders are hard to get into. Meanwhile, BASIS and Latin are far from sure bets, and you can't get into HS without lotterying into MS (in 5th grade!). A lot of people like ITS but it only goes through MS.

And so on. Most people in DC can find an elementary school they like and will serve their kids. But only some elementaries set you ups for a MS or HS that will be acceptable to most parents. On the Hill, the IB is Eastern which is just a no-go for most parents. Thus all the consternation about MS. The reason people won't "give Stuart Hobson a shot" (or Eliot Hine for that matter) is that even if they do and it's great, they are then stuck with regards to HS. This is why you see so much hand wringing over schools on the Hill. Some lucky few score spots in charters that feed to an acceptable HS, but most don't.

+1 I think this a fair assessment of the situation and considerations.

Yes. It's quite clear that DCPS does not care about retaining IB families for HS and MS. I'm not even sure that what the Hardy and Deal principles did to increase IB percentages in the past decade would even be allowed to happen now. I'm at the point where I accept this reality and don't mind it because I was pretty much on notice about it, and maybe DCPS is right to focus its energies elsewhere. But miss me with accusations about the motives for families that leave Ward 6 for the suburbs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:the bolded statement reads as incredibly privileged. it should be about providing everyone at all levels with great schools. (while improving the middle schools could use more attention, my overall impression of bowser is that she does for the most part care about kids in dc.)

Incredibly privileged people like us on Capitol Hill (read many Federal employees) deserve neighborhood middle and high schools most of us are OK with for our tax dollars. Unfortunately, we're almost as far from having them as we were nearly 20 years ago, when my spouse and I bought our first property in the neighborhood.

Our overall impression is that Bowser could absolutely care less if UMC families with school-age kids, particularly whites, bail on city schools, and the District itself for that matter. Fenty cared, Gray, too. Not this short-sighted mayor.

I won't say she doesn't care. She's a status quo type. They don't innovate or have the stomach for change, period. Plus look at her DC primary educational background-too my knowledge private schools. At least high school. In her mind, this may be the way it's supposed to work. I don't vote for anyone that doesn't have a family. You need to have a basic understanding of what the needs are. Mayoral control needs to end because it's to dependent on the skill level of the office.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:the bolded statement reads as incredibly privileged. it should be about providing everyone at all levels with great schools. (while improving the middle schools could use more attention, my overall impression of bowser is that she does for the most part care about kids in dc.)

Incredibly privileged people like us on Capitol Hill (read many Federal employees) deserve neighborhood middle and high schools most of us are OK with for our tax dollars. Unfortunately, we're almost as far from having them as we were nearly 20 years ago, when my spouse and I bought our first property in the neighborhood.

Our overall impression is that Bowser could absolutely care less if UMC families with school-age kids, particularly whites, bail on city schools, and the District itself for that matter. Fenty cared, Gray, too. Not this short-sighted mayor.

I agree, but the question seems to be what to do about it. My kids started school toward the end of the Fenty/Rhee area, and I've noticed a major turn from local public schools striving to meet the needs of their IB community (and thus, attracting families in the neighborhood) to a broader aim of "equity."

San Francisco residents recently got the Lowell admissions test re-instated by voting out some school board members. What can we in DC do that is equivalent given the way we are structured? The mayor just got another term. What authority does city council have with respect to this question?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Agree. There’s a f-Ing guess ton of “I didn’t send my kid there and I want to continue to justify that choice 10 years later.”

I suspect - have fun with this one ladies - 1/3 of users of this site are parents who live WOTP “for the schools,” 1/3 who send their kids WOTP “for the schools” but live EOTP, and 1/4 charter parents who chose “based on their child’s need to be with an academically-minded cohort.”

I think you are underestimating the Russian trolls on DCUM

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:the bolded statement reads as incredibly privileged. it should be about providing everyone at all levels with great schools. (while improving the middle schools could use more attention, my overall impression of bowser is that she does for the most part care about kids in dc.)

Incredibly privileged people like us on Capitol Hill (read many Federal employees) deserve neighborhood middle and high schools most of us are OK with for our tax dollars. Unfortunately, we're almost as far from having them as we were nearly 20 years ago, when my spouse and I bought our first property in the neighborhood.

Our overall impression is that Bowser could absolutely care less if UMC families with school-age kids, particularly whites, bail on city schools, and the District itself for that matter. Fenty cared, Gray, too. Not this short-sighted mayor.

There are plenty of options for HS?? There are charters and test in schools.

None are a sure thing. You can't bank on the test-in schools at all (I don't care how much of a genius you think your kid is). And access to charter HSs is very dependent on whether you are at a feeder charter. For instance, it's very hard to get into DCI unless you lottery into a feeder school, and since it's immersion, you kind of need to do that by K or 1st at the latest. And of course the feeders are hard to get into. Meanwhile, BASIS and Latin are far from sure bets, and you can't get into HS without lotterying into MS (in 5th grade!). A lot of people like ITS but it only goes through MS.

And so on. Most people in DC can find an elementary school they like and will serve their kids. But only some elementaries set you ups for a MS or HS that will be acceptable to most parents. On the Hill, the IB is Eastern which is just a no-go for most parents. Thus all the consternation about MS. The reason people won't "give Stuart Hobson a shot" (or Eliot Hine for that matter) is that even if they do and it's great, they are then stuck with regards to HS. This is why you see so much hand wringing over schools on the Hill. Some lucky few score spots in charters that feed to an acceptable HS, but most don't.

We got into DCI from Cap Hill SE after striking out at BASIS, Latin 1, Latin 2. Hurrah, a path to 12th grade! But we couldn't drive our kid - our commutes are in the opposite direction. We offered to pay other parents to let him join their carpool, but nobody would bite and there's no DCI bus parents pay for as with Latin. So he went up on public transportation, more than an hour each way for a school that's just so-so academically (hardly any HW). This fall, we bailed for a private and won't bother with DCI for our younger child. Be careful what you wish for.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We voted out Brandon Todd. Ward 4 views may not be same as Ward 3 or 6 views!

Good for you guys up in Ward 4. We need your spirit down here on CH, but there don't seem to be enough educational minded voters to oust Charles Allen. What can he really do about schools anyway? He's just one council member and the Mayor doesn't give a hoot.

I appreciate your energy, but would appreciate it more if you would take a few minutes to understand how the Council works and that your ire is misdirected. There used to be a Standing Committee on Education. Mendelson disbanded the Committee and moved it to the Committee of the Whole. In essence there is no direct oversight; it is "oversight by all". Which means little oversight. And what oversight exists is controlled on high by Mendelson. As long as oversight lives with the Committee of the Whole, Mendelson controls it.

Completely agree. I don't love Charles Allen on crime, but I actually think he's reasonable on schools. I also like that he walks to walk by actually having his kids enrolled in his neighborhood DCPS. I am curious to see what he does next year, as he's about to have a personal stake in the Hill's MS situation (which is more than I can say for basically anyone else on the Council). (I know White & Bowser have their kids in their DCPS, but those kids are little little IIRC. Allen has a 5th grader in his IB EOTP DCPS.)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:the bolded statement reads as incredibly privileged. it should be about providing everyone at all levels with great schools. (while improving the middle schools could use more attention, my overall impression of bowser is that she does for the most part care about kids in dc.)

Incredibly privileged people like us on Capitol Hill (read many Federal employees) deserve neighborhood middle and high schools most of us are OK with for our tax dollars. Unfortunately, we're almost as far from having them as we were nearly 20 years ago, when my spouse and I bought our first property in the neighborhood.

Our overall impression is that Bowser could absolutely care less if UMC families with school-age kids, particularly whites, bail on city schools, and the District itself for that matter. Fenty cared, Gray, too. Not this short-sighted mayor.

There are plenty of options for HS?? There are charters and test in schools.

None are a sure thing. You can't bank on the test-in schools at all (I don't care how much of a genius you think your kid is). And access to charter HSs is very dependent on whether you are at a feeder charter. For instance, it's very hard to get into DCI unless you lottery into a feeder school, and since it's immersion, you kind of need to do that by K or 1st at the latest. And of course the feeders are hard to get into. Meanwhile, BASIS and Latin are far from sure bets, and you can't get into HS without lotterying into MS (in 5th grade!). A lot of people like ITS but it only goes through MS.

And so on. Most people in DC can find an elementary school they like and will serve their kids. But only some elementaries set you ups for a MS or HS that will be acceptable to most parents. On the Hill, the IB is Eastern which is just a no-go for most parents. Thus all the consternation about MS. The reason people won't "give Stuart Hobson a shot" (or Eliot Hine for that matter) is that even if they do and it's great, they are then stuck with regards to HS. This is why you see so much hand wringing over schools on the Hill. Some lucky few score spots in charters that feed to an acceptable HS, but most don't.

We got into DCI from Cap Hill SE after striking out at BASIS, Latin 1, Latin 2. Hurrah, a path to 12th grade! But we couldn't drive our kid - our commutes are in the opposite direction. We offered to pay other parents to let him join their carpool, but nobody would bite and there's no DCI bus parents pay for as with Latin. So he went up on public transportation, more than an hour each way for a school that's just so-so academically (hardly any HW). This fall, we bailed for a private and won't bother with DCI for our younger child. Be careful what you wish for.

Yes, DCI is really inconvenient from the Hill, even the NE part of it. BASIS and Latin 2 are best commutes and neither or very good. Latin 1 at least there is the bus parents pay for.

It's' really kind of ridiculous that there are not better options for HS for the Hill. I'm not sure what it would take to make Eastern the go-to. For years people have said the issue was the the feeder MSs weren't good enough, but when you have so few other options... are people really going to continue to just move or go private at HS forever? Some small percentage get lucky lotterying into a handful of charters that are not even conveniently located, and everyone else either pays for private or moves.

It just seems absurd for a neighborhood with this many families and where people really seem to like it here.

[Anonymous]

I've been on the Hilll since the 1990s, have middle school-age children, and don't see any end in sight to the current arrangement for at least a generation, not for HS at Eastern anyway.

My bet is that a new UMC friendly 6th-12th grade charter will continue to open around every 5 years (e.g. Latin Cooper). Nothing more.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We voted out Brandon Todd. Ward 4 views may not be same as Ward 3 or 6 views!

Good for you guys up in Ward 4. We need your spirit down here on CH, but there don't seem to be enough educational minded voters to oust Charles Allen. What can he really do about schools anyway? He's just one council member and the Mayor doesn't give a hoot.

I appreciate your energy, but would appreciate it more if you would take a few minutes to understand how the Council works and that your ire is misdirected. There used to be a Standing Committee on Education. Mendelson disbanded the Committee and moved it to the Committee of the Whole. In essence there is no direct oversight; it is "oversight by all". Which means little oversight. And what oversight exists is controlled on high by Mendelson. As long as oversight lives with the Committee of the Whole, Mendelson controls it.

Completely agree. I don't love Charles Allen on crime, but I actually think he's reasonable on schools. I also like that he walks to walk by actually having his kids enrolled in his neighborhood DCPS. I am curious to see what he does next year, as he's about to have a personal stake in the Hill's MS situation (which is more than I can say for basically anyone else on the Council). (I know White & Bowser have their kids in their DCPS, but those kids are little little IIRC. Allen has a 5th grader in his IB EOTP DCPS.)

Has anyone approached him on schools and advanced options DCPS wide? It's a proposal that he can work on with parents and there is a Chancellor's Parent Advisory Board. That's where change starts.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We voted out Brandon Todd. Ward 4 views may not be same as Ward 3 or 6 views!

Good for you guys up in Ward 4. We need your spirit down here on CH, but there don't seem to be enough educational minded voters to oust Charles Allen. What can he really do about schools anyway? He's just one council member and the Mayor doesn't give a hoot.

I appreciate your energy, but would appreciate it more if you would take a few minutes to understand how the Council works and that your ire is misdirected. There used to be a Standing Committee on Education. Mendelson disbanded the Committee and moved it to the Committee of the Whole. In essence there is no direct oversight; it is "oversight by all". Which means little oversight. And what oversight exists is controlled on high by Mendelson. As long as oversight lives with the Committee of the Whole, Mendelson controls it.

Completely agree. I don't love Charles Allen on crime, but I actually think he's reasonable on schools. I also like that he walks to walk by actually having his kids enrolled in his neighborhood DCPS. I am curious to see what he does next year, as he's about to have a personal stake in the Hill's MS situation (which is more than I can say for basically anyone else on the Council). (I know White & Bowser have their kids in their DCPS, but those kids are little little IIRC. Allen has a 5th grader in his IB EOTP DCPS.)

Has anyone approached him on schools and advanced options DCPS wide? It's a proposal that he can work on with parents and there is a Chancellor's Parent Advisory Board. That's where change starts.

Would his middle schooler go to SH? If so, I think that is exactly where his child will go. He has always struck me as the type of guy who "walks the walk" by sending his kid to somewhere that many would not, and when questioned, repeats the trope that "upper middle class children surrounded by books will be fine anywhere." He might even believe it, because I know plenty of intelligent well-meaning CH parents who do. I don't see him as wanting to even acknowledge that the status quo is not ok, much less work to change it. But I'd be happy to be proven wrong!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We voted out Brandon Todd. Ward 4 views may not be same as Ward 3 or 6 views!

Good for you guys up in Ward 4. We need your spirit down here on CH, but there don't seem to be enough educational minded voters to oust Charles Allen. What can he really do about schools anyway? He's just one council member and the Mayor doesn't give a hoot.

I appreciate your energy, but would appreciate it more if you would take a few minutes to understand how the Council works and that your ire is misdirected. There used to be a Standing Committee on Education. Mendelson disbanded the Committee and moved it to the Committee of the Whole. In essence there is no direct oversight; it is "oversight by all". Which means little oversight. And what oversight exists is controlled on high by Mendelson. As long as oversight lives with the Committee of the Whole, Mendelson controls it.

Completely agree. I don't love Charles Allen on crime, but I actually think he's reasonable on schools. I also like that he walks to walk by actually having his kids enrolled in his neighborhood DCPS. I am curious to see what he does next year, as he's about to have a personal stake in the Hill's MS situation (which is more than I can say for basically anyone else on the Council). (I know White & Bowser have their kids in their DCPS, but those kids are little little IIRC. Allen has a 5th grader in his IB EOTP DCPS.)

Has anyone approached him on schools and advanced options DCPS wide? It's a proposal that he can work on with parents and there is a Chancellor's Parent Advisory Board. That's where change starts.

Would his middle schooler go to SH? If so, I think that is exactly where his child will go. He has always struck me as the type of guy who "walks the walk" by sending his kid to somewhere that many would not, and when questioned, repeats the trope that "upper middle class children surrounded by books will be fine anywhere." He might even believe it, because I know plenty of intelligent well-meaning CH parents who do. I don't see him as wanting to even acknowledge that the status quo is not ok, much less work to change it. But I'd be happy to be proven wrong!

Charles Allen has played the cap hill school game just let every other family. When he was first elected he lived in the Miner boundary but sent his kids to JO Wilson. Then he moved west (I'm assuming partially to avoid getting redistricted into Ward 7) and into the Ludlow boundary. Both schools would allow a feed into S-H. I'm not impressed by a politician who wants bonus points for sending his kids to Ludlow. We'll see if they end up at Eastern - doubtful.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:the bolded statement reads as incredibly privileged. it should be about providing everyone at all levels with great schools. (while improving the middle schools could use more attention, my overall impression of bowser is that she does for the most part care about kids in dc.)

Incredibly privileged people like us on Capitol Hill (read many Federal employees) deserve neighborhood middle and high schools most of us are OK with for our tax dollars. Unfortunately, we're almost as far from having them as we were nearly 20 years ago, when my spouse and I bought our first property in the neighborhood.

Our overall impression is that Bowser could absolutely care less if UMC families with school-age kids, particularly whites, bail on city schools, and the District itself for that matter. Fenty cared, Gray, too. Not this short-sighted mayor.

There are plenty of options for HS?? There are charters and test in schools.

None are a sure thing. You can't bank on the test-in schools at all (I don't care how much of a genius you think your kid is). And access to charter HSs is very dependent on whether you are at a feeder charter. For instance, it's very hard to get into DCI unless you lottery into a feeder school, and since it's immersion, you kind of need to do that by K or 1st at the latest. And of course the feeders are hard to get into. Meanwhile, BASIS and Latin are far from sure bets, and you can't get into HS without lotterying into MS (in 5th grade!). A lot of people like ITS but it only goes through MS.

And so on. Most people in DC can find an elementary school they like and will serve their kids. But only some elementaries set you ups for a MS or HS that will be acceptable to most parents. On the Hill, the IB is Eastern which is just a no-go for most parents. Thus all the consternation about MS. The reason people won't "give Stuart Hobson a shot" (or Eliot Hine for that matter) is that even if they do and it's great, they are then stuck with regards to HS. This is why you see so much hand wringing over schools on the Hill. Some lucky few score spots in charters that feed to an acceptable HS, but most don't.

We got into DCI from Cap Hill SE after striking out at BASIS, Latin 1, Latin 2. Hurrah, a path to 12th grade! But we couldn't drive our kid - our commutes are in the opposite direction. We offered to pay other parents to let him join their carpool, but nobody would bite and there's no DCI bus parents pay for as with Latin. So he went up on public transportation, more than an hour each way for a school that's just so-so academically (hardly any HW). This fall, we bailed for a private and won't bother with DCI for our younger child. Be careful what you wish for.

Yes, DCI is really inconvenient from the Hill, even the NE part of it. BASIS and Latin 2 are best commutes and neither or very good. Latin 1 at least there is the bus parents pay for.

It's' really kind of ridiculous that there are not better options for HS for the Hill. I'm not sure what it would take to make Eastern the go-to. For years people have said the issue was the the feeder MSs weren't good enough, but when you have so few other options... are people really going to continue to just move or go private at HS forever? Some small percentage get lucky lotterying into a handful of charters that are not even conveniently located, and everyone else either pays for private or moves.

It just seems absurd for a neighborhood with this many families and where people really seem to like it here.

There are several busses that run from CH to BASIS. One of them has so many kids (and drops off on the block) that it is referred to as the "BASIS bus".

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:the bolded statement reads as incredibly privileged. it should be about providing everyone at all levels with great schools. (while improving the middle schools could use more attention, my overall impression of bowser is that she does for the most part care about kids in dc.)

Incredibly privileged people like us on Capitol Hill (read many Federal employees) deserve neighborhood middle and high schools most of us are OK with for our tax dollars. Unfortunately, we're almost as far from having them as we were nearly 20 years ago, when my spouse and I bought our first property in the neighborhood.

Our overall impression is that Bowser could absolutely care less if UMC families with school-age kids, particularly whites, bail on city schools, and the District itself for that matter. Fenty cared, Gray, too. Not this short-sighted mayor.

Being OK with is such a BS target. You have MS and HS available to you. Attend them. They will become OK enough for you.

[Anonymous]

Is that what you do, send your UMC children to Eastern? If not, pipe down.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:the bolded statement reads as incredibly privileged. it should be about providing everyone at all levels with great schools. (while improving the middle schools could use more attention, my overall impression of bowser is that she does for the most part care about kids in dc.)

Incredibly privileged people like us on Capitol Hill (read many Federal employees) deserve neighborhood middle and high schools most of us are OK with for our tax dollars. Unfortunately, we're almost as far from having them as we were nearly 20 years ago, when my spouse and I bought our first property in the neighborhood.

Our overall impression is that Bowser could absolutely care less if UMC families with school-age kids, particularly whites, bail on city schools, and the District itself for that matter. Fenty cared, Gray, too. Not this short-sighted mayor.

Being OK with is such a BS target. You have MS and HS available to you. Attend them. They will become OK enough for you.

You first, mate.