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DC Public and Public Charter Schools
i've never seen rhee look so flummoxed
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Anonymous
| I do not get the Gray-bashing. Have you listened to him in debates and on radio shows since the election. I voted for Fenty, but think Gray is a respectable alternative. Let's give the man a chance. |
Anonymous
| PP: agreed. I voted for Gray but would have been ok with either outcome. Rhee, on the other hand, has demonstrated behaviour that would surely fail an IMPACT evaluation. |
Anonymous
Personally I know at least one DCPS (not charter) parent who not only voted for Gray but campaigned for him. White, college-educated woman. |
Anonymous
| Rhee wants to be fired so she can continue the non-stop PR campaign. I hope Gray makes her live up to her contract. If she quits she loses money. But the key point here is that she's so far up the bum of the Gates Foundation that somebody will roll out the green carpet for her. |
Anonymous
There will always be cynical statistical aberrations in any voting sample. Your anecdotal example and the few white outlier DCPS(non charter) parents who vote for Gray are not statistically relevant. WaPo and other major papers have verified the racial demographic of the voters in this election based on exit polls. White voters for Gray overwhelmingly did NOT have a child enrolled in DCPS (non-charter). A vote for Gray was a vote against Rhee and against the diirection that DCPS was heading. It is intellectually dishonest of whites on this board to pretend that they voted for Gray because they care so deeply about poor black children in DCPS in Anacostia--they could not care less. What white parents in this city do care about is their own interests--Rhee did not believe in the "charter school miracle" neither do I. My reasons are rooted in the legislative history of the absurdly segregationist, racist, genesis of the whole charter school system which got its' momentum under Reagan. Can you say Bob Jones University? Hello? The legal path from that craziness has led right to the current "urban charter school movement". If you're not a lawyer or a public policy analyst, I don't have time or space to connect the dots for you here. Gray will return the city to the status quo, where anti-achievement culture will fester and grow, racial tension and suspicion while reach new lows. In that environment the city's AA population will be in chaos. The charter school becomes even more of a fake haven for kids to get a sub par education from a revolving door of reject teachers. If you are that white parent of a Washington Latin student and are busy building your own little Bob Jone University with tax payer money, well I don't agree with that whole concept so I voted for a Mayor with an anti-charter Chancellor. Gray has already shown that he will kiss WTU ASS. This is the most damning piece of evidence of all. The teachers (AND THEIR SPOUSES) on this board are completely transparent in their posting on this issue, BTW. 
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Anonymous
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12:04 - I understand the statistics of who voted for whom, and never said anything different. But I was took issue with the poster who says that without exception, "not a single person who voted for Gray wants DC's schools to improve. You know that as a fact." I know this woman wants the DC schools (especially the kids' school) to improve; she saw things deteriorate under Rhee at that school so I am sure she was looking for an alternative.
I voted for Fenty, fwiw. |
Anonymous
| 12:04, as a white, DCPS parent who voted against Rhee, I appreciate your comment. You clearly illustrate the crazed conspiracy theories of Rhee-adorers. It seems the loss of the election has pushed many of you over the edge... |
Anonymous
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jsteele
Site Admin Online
Site Admin Online
There is much that can be said about what you got wrong in this message. But, I'll stick to one point. If you think that all charter schools are the same and/or that Washington Latin has anything at all in common with Bob Jones University, you are spectacularly ignorant on the topic. There is such a variety of charters that it is nearly impossible to make even the most basic generalizations. |
Anonymous
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"It is intellectually dishonest of whites on this board to pretend that they voted for Gray because they care so deeply about poor black children in DCPS in Anacostia--they could not care less. "
Speak for yourself and spare the people of whatever race on this board with whom you are completely unacquainted. |
Anonymous
12:04, here, because I disagree with you does not mean I am "over the edge". If you don't know that the urban charter school movement is a direct out growth of the dicta http://supreme.justia.com/us/461/574/ of Bob Jones, you don't know the details. Ostensibly, an establishment clause case, the moral majority co-opted the legislative history to set up whites only colleges and secondary schools through out the south to circumvent Brown v Board of Education.They needed federal funding for these schools but the tried hide behind religious freedom to gain access to these funds.They failed at the Supreme Court level, and rebounded with a cynical Ad campaign targeting "inner city" schools touting the idea of "choice". The ads were everywhere, you may have been too young in the 80's to have been paying attention. They were able to convince the Southern Christian Coalition "read black legislators" that this "chioce in schools thing" would be good for black people too! So they got to go on having Bob Jones University (an openly racist college) get federal funding and the black folks down in the ghetto could have their little schools, too. The way things were meant to be, right? Except, uh no. The Justice Depart fought this with decreasing success throughout the 80's and 90's until even the DOJ became so politically slanted during GB44, that they no longer took the side of the Burger Court decision from 1983. The educational landscape you see in DC had it core eroded in the backlash from the Bob Jones University case; it spawned the rapid growth of charters in the city and in so doing DCPS was cannibalized and set up to fail. Just because something is complicated doesn't mean it's crazy. People don't like to be told a truth that doesn't place them in a very favorable light. This truth makes it look like Black leaders took the money out of their own system and tried to create a dual school system based on a very fuzzy idealist notion of "choice". Guess what. In the south they have all "white" charter schools promoting an education model many fair minded people of all ethnicities would find appalling. Be clear here. I'm not saying all charter schools are bad. But the the principles and logic that led us to even have charter schools in the first place are based on a slippery, slippery slope and here we are at the bottom of the ravine. Surprise! And that's just the argument against charter schools right there. I don't think Rhee walks on water. But she walks in the right direction. But go ahead. Hire back the teachers that were hitting and yelling at our black boys. And telling everyone to sit down and shut up all the time. The ones who didn't think the black kids were ever going anywhere except Lorton after they got out of school. Bring back the teachers who didn't push any of the girls to excel at math. Bring back the teachers who looked the other way when your kids didn't show up for school on time. And also bring back the administrators who filled your kids cafeterias with fatty sugary food that tasted bad. Your kids will just cut off campus down to McDonald's or ZBurger and smoke a joint on the way any way. And then, when they flunk out no. one. will. care. But hallelujah, there will be more black faces in the Mayor' s office. So, there's that. |
Anonymous
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"In the bad school districts the population is more concerned about DCPS as an employer, than as an educator of their children. This is a racial and cultural fact of life. There is a pervasive anti-intellectualism in the poorer districts and it has a direct correlation to poorer school performance. AA's who voted against Fenty were motivated by the loss of jobs by AA teachers, custodians and the like. AA's in this city have behaved like Tea Baggers and have allowed prejudice to sway them to vote against their direct interest. It is horrific."
Am I really reading this? Thanks PP for telling me why I voted for Gray. I hate black kids, even though I have 2, and they do not go to private school. I only care about AAs having jobs in education, except that I am a lawyer. Oh, and someone wrote that Gray doesn't know anything about education. That poster has clearly never seen Gray in action during committee meetings. The man is brilliant. Something Fenty was NOT! People, please stop being so incredibly ignorant! I am so sick of it. I voted against Fenty because I actually read the statistics and know many of the directors in the city. I was less than impressed. So many people on this forum speak from emotion and lack all facts. I know lots of people in central office at DCPS - her people. If that is the bar of competence, you can have it! |
Anonymous
| I moved from a southern state because I thought the people were so ignorant and narrow minded, looks like I moved from the pot to the frying pan! |
Anonymous
Thank you!! I would have gladly given my vote if any school near my house improved the way schools in other neighborhoods did. |
jsteele
Site Admin Online
Site Admin Online
I assume that you know that Rhee's husband founded a charter school and Rhee served on it's board? She is hardly walking away from charters. She may have opposed them in DC because they did not serve her interest in improving DCPS schools. But, she has a long history with charters. Also, from what I understand, Rhee is a hero of "Waiting for Superman" which considers charters to be the salvation of urban education. |