People who ruin neighborhoods (like tkpk) by putting their kids in private school

[Anonymous]

We sent our kids to public and it didn't work out well due to various special needs that are likely not apparent to our neighbors. Now they go to private schools and are still the best of friends with their neighborhood buds. Needs change, goals shift. Your way is the best way only for you. And PS, we aren't afraid of the diversity in public schools. We are a neurodiverse, POC family.

[Anonymous]

OP I pay far more in local, state & federal income taxes and property taxes than the vast majority of people do. I am very fortunate and am happy to pay them. I never vote no on a tax increase.

I put very little strain on public services. I choose to have private garbage pickup (even though our town has pickup included), my kids go to private school, I handle snow near our home, my go to a private swim club, my kids are in private extracurriculars & classes, I don’t take public transportation (I mostly walk) and so on.

That said, I do expect to be “left alone” in multiple ways, including with where I send my children to school. And if some politician ever tried to interfere with such decisions of mine, I’d move somewhere else. I would then be paying taxes in that “somewhere else” instead of to the municipality I live in now.

[Anonymous]

I went to schools rated 2/10 on GS from pk3 through 12th.

I won’t be guilt-tripped by people like OP.

[Anonymous]

OP where did you go to school?

[Anonymous]

I bet OP went to private school (either k-12 or college). I assume she’s never attended a high-poverty public school.

[Anonymous]

You fleed to the suburbs. You should’ve sent your kid to your local DCPS. Traitor.

[Anonymous]

I grew up in Bethesda and I understand what OP is saying. People have the right to send their kids to whatever school they want to, but at the end of the day, white and affluent families enrolling in privates and abandoning the public school system *is* what causes the downfall of public schools. Everyone knows that, otherwise people wouldn’t be speculating how “good” of a school Woodward will be based on its potential demographics. It’s a problem that needs to be solved, but that problem won’t be solved by demonizing families who send their kids to private schools.

I wasn’t under the impression that schools serving Takoma Park suffered from this though. Home prices in Takoma Park are high, and I know a lot of MC and UMC families there who happily send their kids to public schools. Jamie Raskin sent his kids to the publics there! The schools that serve that area are one of the very few in MoCo that aren’t segregated with mostly white high-income white/Asian kids or mostly low-income Black/Hispanic kids. Montgomery Blair’s pyramid is one of the few racially and economically integrated pyramids in the state and possibly the country. They’re schools that people of all income levels like.

There’s plenty of people who send their kids to private schools in Chevy Chase and Bethesda as well, especially if they’re really wealthy. Once you get to the $3M+ home listings in Bethesda, the agents don’t even bother advertising the schools in the listings anymore because they’ve probably figured that there’s a 90% chance someone living in a $3M+ home is sending their kids to private school, even if their house is zoned for Whitman.

Some people definitely send their kids to private school to avoid diversity, and that’s wrong. However, plenty of kids go to private schools because their needs cannot be fulfilled by public schools, and parents have a right to make that decision for their kids. Instead of automatically assuming everyone sends their kids to private schools for malicious reasons, why don’t you ask them what they/their kids like about their private schools and get insight from them about what makes private schools attractive to them. Maybe also ask them what they think of the local public schools. I can guarantee you that a good number of folks in Takoma Park were going to send their kids to private schools regardless of where they lived, even if it was Bethesda. They probably just thought to themselves “there’s no need to pay $200k extra for a house in the Whitman cluster when I don’t even plan on using Whitman or any public schools anyways.”

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You fleed to the suburbs. You should’ve sent your kid to your local DCPS. Traitor.

Ha. That's fair. Although I never lived in DC but had i first moved to DC you are right that i would probably have moved out to the suburbs and betrayed the local school. I guess that's why i see the potential impact here as so depressing.

But I got it out of my system, vent over. I can see absolutely noone agrees with me. I am still sad over this situation and still wished more people cared about public schools. But I will try to not come back to this thread.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:More of a vent, but i am uttterly frustrated by people with money who move into nice MC neighborhoods like tkpk or silver spring with relatively good schools to get bigger houses and then choose to put their precious kids in private schools.

We are trying to build a community and bring the schools up and these people create a bad trend of pulling a whole group of UMC kids out of the public schools because they cannot handle the diversity and challenges of public schools. All while claiming to be left leaning and to have a social compass. But that is pure white flight. It is depressing. And they dont even seem to see how political and impactful their choice is.

I really wish they stayed out of my city and went to live next to the private schools they send their kids to.

Well aren't you entitled. Sorry but don't own the city so you can't keep people out and people have the right to spend their money how they want to.

MYOB

You are correct, I dont own it and i cant do anything about but i will resent your ethics and your political choices and your lack of interest in supporting public schools for the greater good of the community.

I’m a liberal and you are one of the people who give us a bad name.. I’ll bet you have one of those signs in your yard “No matter where you are from we welcome you - in English, Spanish and Arabic…

[Anonymous]

OP not sure how you feel about the kids & stepkids of Obama, Biden & Kamala Harris attended private school their entire lives. Ayanna Presley attended a $45,000/year private school. Nancy Pelosi went to private school while her dad was mayor of Baltimore; if I were a Baltimore voter & resident at the time I wouldn’t have been happy to find that out.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I grew up in Bethesda and I understand what OP is saying. People have the right to send their kids to whatever school they want to, but at the end of the day, white and affluent families enrolling in privates and abandoning the public school system *is* what causes the downfall of public schools. Everyone knows that, otherwise people wouldn’t be speculating how “good” of a school Woodward will be based on its potential demographics. It’s a problem that needs to be solved, but that problem won’t be solved by demonizing families who send their kids to private schools.

I wasn’t under the impression that schools serving Takoma Park suffered from this though. Home prices in Takoma Park are high, and I know a lot of MC and UMC families there who happily send their kids to public schools. Jamie Raskin sent his kids to the publics there! The schools that serve that area are one of the very few in MoCo that aren’t segregated with mostly white high-income white/Asian kids or mostly low-income Black/Hispanic kids. Montgomery Blair’s pyramid is one of the few racially and economically integrated pyramids in the state and possibly the country. They’re schools that people of all income levels like.

There’s plenty of people who send their kids to private schools in Chevy Chase and Bethesda as well, especially if they’re really wealthy. Once you get to the $3M+ home listings in Bethesda, the agents don’t even bother advertising the schools in the listings anymore because they’ve probably figured that there’s a 90% chance someone living in a $3M+ home is sending their kids to private school, even if their house is zoned for Whitman.

Some people definitely send their kids to private school to avoid diversity, and that’s wrong. However, plenty of kids go to private schools because their needs cannot be fulfilled by public schools, and parents have a right to make that decision for their kids. Instead of automatically assuming everyone sends their kids to private schools for malicious reasons, why don’t you ask them what they/their kids like about their private schools and get insight from them about what makes private schools attractive to them. Maybe also ask them what they think of the local public schools. I can guarantee you that a good number of folks in Takoma Park were going to send their kids to private schools regardless of where they lived, even if it was Bethesda. They probably just thought to themselves “there’s no need to pay $200k extra for a house in the Whitman cluster when I don’t even plan on using Whitman or any public schools anyways.”

OP here. Thanks for this post. You articulate it better than me.

For the record, when i speak about diversity i mean economic diversity. I dont think my left leaning neighbors are trying to avoid POC (and some of them are POC). I think they are trying to avoid classes with kids who are not performing well, who can be disturbing etc... WHich i understand. But by doing that they contribute to the problem of having classes with a higher % of kids who need help. And there is a tipping point you want to avoid to maintain a good academic atmosphere.

I agree that currenlty Tkpk schools are fine. But i disagree with you that there is no threat. In the past 3 years, because of the covid impulse, I see a change and i find it very scary.

I do not have any issue with people who send their kids to private school because they need to. Lots of kids have special needs, anxiety, behavioral and temperamental issues that will be better served in private school and smaller classes. And if parents can afford it they should do the best they could for their kids. But that is not the case for a majority of kids who end up in private school around me.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I grew up in Bethesda and I understand what OP is saying. People have the right to send their kids to whatever school they want to, but at the end of the day, white and affluent families enrolling in privates and abandoning the public school system *is* what causes the downfall of public schools. Everyone knows that, otherwise people wouldn’t be speculating how “good” of a school Woodward will be based on its potential demographics. It’s a problem that needs to be solved, but that problem won’t be solved by demonizing families who send their kids to private schools.

I wasn’t under the impression that schools serving Takoma Park suffered from this though. Home prices in Takoma Park are high, and I know a lot of MC and UMC families there who happily send their kids to public schools. Jamie Raskin sent his kids to the publics there! The schools that serve that area are one of the very few in MoCo that aren’t segregated with mostly white high-income white/Asian kids or mostly low-income Black/Hispanic kids. Montgomery Blair’s pyramid is one of the few racially and economically integrated pyramids in the state and possibly the country. They’re schools that people of all income levels like.

There’s plenty of people who send their kids to private schools in Chevy Chase and Bethesda as well, especially if they’re really wealthy. Once you get to the $3M+ home listings in Bethesda, the agents don’t even bother advertising the schools in the listings anymore because they’ve probably figured that there’s a 90% chance someone living in a $3M+ home is sending their kids to private school, even if their house is zoned for Whitman.

Some people definitely send their kids to private school to avoid diversity, and that’s wrong. However, plenty of kids go to private schools because their needs cannot be fulfilled by public schools, and parents have a right to make that decision for their kids. Instead of automatically assuming everyone sends their kids to private schools for malicious reasons, why don’t you ask them what they/their kids like about their private schools and get insight from them about what makes private schools attractive to them. Maybe also ask them what they think of the local public schools. I can guarantee you that a good number of folks in Takoma Park were going to send their kids to private schools regardless of where they lived, even if it was Bethesda. They probably just thought to themselves “there’s no need to pay $200k extra for a house in the Whitman cluster when I don’t even plan on using Whitman or any public schools anyways.”

OP here. Thanks for this post. You articulate it better than me.

For the record, when i speak about diversity i mean economic diversity. I dont think my left leaning neighbors are trying to avoid POC (and some of them are POC). I think they are trying to avoid classes with kids who are not performing well, who can be disturbing etc... WHich i understand. But by doing that they contribute to the problem of having classes with a higher % of kids who need help. And there is a tipping point you want to avoid to maintain a good academic atmosphere.

I agree that currenlty Tkpk schools are fine. But i disagree with you that there is no threat. In the past 3 years, because of the covid impulse, I see a change and i find it very scary.

I do not have any issue with people who send their kids to private school because they need to. Lots of kids have special needs, anxiety, behavioral and temperamental issues that will be better served in private school and smaller classes. And if parents can afford it they should do the best they could for their kids. But that is not the case for a majority of kids who end up in private school around me.

Tell us about your educational background. Did you attend any title 1 schools growing up?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I grew up in Bethesda and I understand what OP is saying. People have the right to send their kids to whatever school they want to, but at the end of the day, white and affluent families enrolling in privates and abandoning the public school system *is* what causes the downfall of public schools. Everyone knows that, otherwise people wouldn’t be speculating how “good” of a school Woodward will be based on its potential demographics. It’s a problem that needs to be solved, but that problem won’t be solved by demonizing families who send their kids to private schools.

I wasn’t under the impression that schools serving Takoma Park suffered from this though. Home prices in Takoma Park are high, and I know a lot of MC and UMC families there who happily send their kids to public schools. Jamie Raskin sent his kids to the publics there! The schools that serve that area are one of the very few in MoCo that aren’t segregated with mostly white high-income white/Asian kids or mostly low-income Black/Hispanic kids. Montgomery Blair’s pyramid is one of the few racially and economically integrated pyramids in the state and possibly the country. They’re schools that people of all income levels like.

There’s plenty of people who send their kids to private schools in Chevy Chase and Bethesda as well, especially if they’re really wealthy. Once you get to the $3M+ home listings in Bethesda, the agents don’t even bother advertising the schools in the listings anymore because they’ve probably figured that there’s a 90% chance someone living in a $3M+ home is sending their kids to private school, even if their house is zoned for Whitman.

Some people definitely send their kids to private school to avoid diversity, and that’s wrong. However, plenty of kids go to private schools because their needs cannot be fulfilled by public schools, and parents have a right to make that decision for their kids. Instead of automatically assuming everyone sends their kids to private schools for malicious reasons, why don’t you ask them what they/their kids like about their private schools and get insight from them about what makes private schools attractive to them. Maybe also ask them what they think of the local public schools. I can guarantee you that a good number of folks in Takoma Park were going to send their kids to private schools regardless of where they lived, even if it was Bethesda. They probably just thought to themselves “there’s no need to pay $200k extra for a house in the Whitman cluster when I don’t even plan on using Whitman or any public schools anyways.”

OP here. Thanks for this post. You articulate it better than me.

For the record, when i speak about diversity i mean economic diversity. I dont think my left leaning neighbors are trying to avoid POC (and some of them are POC). I think they are trying to avoid classes with kids who are not performing well, who can be disturbing etc... WHich i understand. But by doing that they contribute to the problem of having classes with a higher % of kids who need help. And there is a tipping point you want to avoid to maintain a good academic atmosphere.

I agree that currenlty Tkpk schools are fine. But i disagree with you that there is no threat. In the past 3 years, because of the covid impulse, I see a change and i find it very scary.

I do not have any issue with people who send their kids to private school because they need to. Lots of kids have special needs, anxiety, behavioral and temperamental issues that will be better served in private school and smaller classes. And if parents can afford it they should do the best they could for their kids. But that is not the case for a majority of kids who end up in private school around me.

Tell us about your educational background. Did you attend any title 1 schools growing up?

Is takoma park ES a title 1 school?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You fleed to the suburbs. You should’ve sent your kid to your local DCPS. Traitor.

Ha. That's fair. Although I never lived in DC but had i first moved to DC you are right that i would probably have moved out to the suburbs and betrayed the local school. I guess that's why i see the potential impact here as so depressing.

But I got it out of my system, vent over. I can see absolutely noone agrees with me. I am still sad over this situation and still wished more people cared about public schools. But I will try to not come back to this thread.

My kids are in private and I live near you.

I do care about public schools, if for no other reason than to maintain house value when I sell. But, until there is a change in the loonies that currently run MOCO schools, my kids will not set foot there. I'm not interested in their indoctrinations.

[Anonymous]

Why am I, a mere UMC worker bee, expected to sacrifice my kid to the wolves when all the politicians & business leaders send their kids to private?