If you could move anywhere in DC for elementary…

[Anonymous]

In addition to Ross and Eaton, great suggestions, I’d throw in A/B: Oyster via some of the older rental stock that sits the school boundary zone in Woodley Park.

[Anonymous]

Hearst is a great option for B. DD went from PK4-5 and had a terrific experience. The small size and warm, close-knit community makes a huge difference. I was really impressed by how inclusive the atmosphere was. There are lots of apartment housing options in the Hearst zone - including many of the buildings around Van Ness and Conn. DD had several friends in those buildings (pool, good Metro and bus connections, and close to playgrounds and Rock Creek Park).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I just wouldn't. And I say that as someone with a kid in DCPS who is doing fine.

But if I had to do it again, I'd have pushed my spouse MUCH harder to move out of DC before our our kid was old enough that it would be hard to do. It's not even that I think schools are so much better elsewhere, it's more that I think DC's public school system is highly dysfunctional and stressful to navigate, and I think I personally would prefer to parent in a district where you just live in the best pyramid you can and then make do. That has it's drawbacks too, but I think I'm better suited to them.

Do you mean another district in the DMV or leave the area entirely?

What dysfunctions stand out?

The demographics of DC combined with the government culture and the lottery create very dysfunctional public school systems. Everyone works at cross purposes. Schools, parents, administrators, teachers, and the district. Plus charters. The lottery is great on a micro level (can help families get access to better schools) but toxic on a macro level (creates a sense of instability in the system and schools, creates a lot of churn, disincentivizes people to have a "make it work" attitude even with more minor challenges).

I think some people have no issues with this and navigate it well. I find it stressful and unsettling. My kid is in middle elementary and we are now figuring out middle school. I thought nothing could ever be as stressful and annoying as PK lotteries. I was incorrect. Stakes are much higher for MS and there are simply not enough spots at decent schools to go around. There's this weird intensity among parents, especially where I am (Capital Hill) but this is countered by an almost apathetic or aggressively neutral attitude among schools, likely just as a self-protective measure because some of the parents are so intense. I simply cannot have another conversation about math tracking. I'm tired of all of it.

I think I'd find a lot of this in the burbs as well which is why I'd rather leave the area altogether, but I think I personally am better suited to deal with the way suburban districts handle these issues better than I deal with DC public schools.

I think the fundamental issue is that voters in DC are liberal Democrats and they reflexively vote for very liberal candidates, without realizing that very liberal Democratic politicians are extremely opposed to raising academic standards and tracking and gifted and talented programs. They think all of that is racist and they will never, ever support it. They think the purpose of schools is to fight inequality. If you voted for different people, you'd get a different result and schools would look different than they do today.

Of course NYC is also very progressive and has tracking and true test-in high schools. It is possible to be both. Personnaly, I would take the NYC model over the 50% chance you can get into Basis or having an opaque entry system at Walls and Banneker.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I just wouldn't. And I say that as someone with a kid in DCPS who is doing fine.

But if I had to do it again, I'd have pushed my spouse MUCH harder to move out of DC before our our kid was old enough that it would be hard to do. It's not even that I think schools are so much better elsewhere, it's more that I think DC's public school system is highly dysfunctional and stressful to navigate, and I think I personally would prefer to parent in a district where you just live in the best pyramid you can and then make do. That has it's drawbacks too, but I think I'm better suited to them.

+1. Definite jealous over the stability of those good pyramids. Never pictured myself living out there, but if I had to do it again I would have moved to Eaton/Deal/Wilson or maybe something in Arlington (but that comes with pre-k costs).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I just wouldn't. And I say that as someone with a kid in DCPS who is doing fine.

But if I had to do it again, I'd have pushed my spouse MUCH harder to move out of DC before our our kid was old enough that it would be hard to do. It's not even that I think schools are so much better elsewhere, it's more that I think DC's public school system is highly dysfunctional and stressful to navigate, and I think I personally would prefer to parent in a district where you just live in the best pyramid you can and then make do. That has it's drawbacks too, but I think I'm better suited to them.

Do you mean another district in the DMV or leave the area entirely?

What dysfunctions stand out?

The demographics of DC combined with the government culture and the lottery create very dysfunctional public school systems. Everyone works at cross purposes. Schools, parents, administrators, teachers, and the district. Plus charters. The lottery is great on a micro level (can help families get access to better schools) but toxic on a macro level (creates a sense of instability in the system and schools, creates a lot of churn, disincentivizes people to have a "make it work" attitude even with more minor challenges).

I think some people have no issues with this and navigate it well. I find it stressful and unsettling. My kid is in middle elementary and we are now figuring out middle school. I thought nothing could ever be as stressful and annoying as PK lotteries. I was incorrect. Stakes are much higher for MS and there are simply not enough spots at decent schools to go around. There's this weird intensity among parents, especially where I am (Capital Hill) but this is countered by an almost apathetic or aggressively neutral attitude among schools, likely just as a self-protective measure because some of the parents are so intense. I simply cannot have another conversation about math tracking. I'm tired of all of it.

I think I'd find a lot of this in the burbs as well which is why I'd rather leave the area altogether, but I think I personally am better suited to deal with the way suburban districts handle these issues better than I deal with DC public schools.

I think the fundamental issue is that voters in DC are liberal Democrats and they reflexively vote for very liberal candidates, without realizing that very liberal Democratic politicians are extremely opposed to raising academic standards and tracking and gifted and talented programs. They think all of that is racist and they will never, ever support it. They think the purpose of schools is to fight inequality. If you voted for different people, you'd get a different result and schools would look different than they do today.

This isn't correct because, just as a for instance, Muriel Bowser is not a far left mayor (definitely to the right of the more leftist council on many issues). And since we don't have a school board, Bowser effectively runs DC schools.

Also Adrian Fenty was a liberal mayor but his education policies were controversial specifically because they don't align with far-left ideology -- his reforms created a lot more school choice in DC and have often really angered the teacher's union.

The real reason for the problems described above is actually described above -- you have a bunch of different factions within the school system itself, and they have really different agendas, and they can't agree on anything. The people who push for equity in DC schools are NOT generally then politicians -- DC has a large, vocal, and very active constituency that who will oppose any educational reform that isn't aimed at equity. That's why a lot of the things that happen in DCPS to help upper income families are done quietly and unofficially, like MS tracking. If you make it official or make it DCPS policy, you will instantly get a bunch of people screaming at you that it's inequitable. And that's coming from parents and families, not some super liberal politician forcing it on people. This is how many people in DC genuinely feel.

Then you also have the teacher's union, which also has its own agenda. Sometimes it aligns with what parents want, sometimes it doesn't. See, e.g., Covid. DC's liberal politics does influence how the teacher's union is handled, because a lot of people in DC don't feel comfortable opposing the teacher's union as they are generally pro union. But that leads to weird crap like during Covid when the union was officially opposed to schools reopening in 2021 and many parents paid lip service to supporting this position so as not to be seen as "MAGA" but then privately would rant about how ridiculous it was that their kid wasn't in a classroom. None of that has anything to do with liberal politicians. It's about real politics and constituencies and individual preferences and how they collide.

And all of this floats above the reality of public education in DC, which is that we are educating a diverse population with a lot of very disparate needs, and it's hard to do it all at once. There are lots of poor kids in the system who absolutely do need extra services, remedial education opportunities, tutoring, social services, etc., and school *must* provide that stuff. It's bare minimum. But for middle class and above families, this often comes at the cost of a lot of opportunities and services that would be considered standard in a suburban district without as many poor kids. That's just the reality.

I genuinely wish we could solve all this by just voting a little different. I don't think we can. A lot of this dysfunction is baked into the system. You either learn to navigate it or you find a way out. If you're rich, maybe that's private school. For everyone else, the lottery and charters offer a bandaid but leaving the city is the only way to truly escape it.

DC is run by the city council, not the mayor. Bowser is an extraordinarily weak mayor. The city council overrides her vetoes all the time (including one yesterday on a non-school issue). The city council is as far left as any city council in the country.

You don't understand DC government. The council as virtually no control over schools. DC schools are run by a chancellor who is appointed by the mayor. The council has other power in DC but schools are an area where the mayor has an outsize amount of power, because DC does not have an independent school board as you find in other districts.

The non-school issue you are talking about was the decision the council made not to extend the youth curfews. Yes, the council has a lot more power over crime and safety issues in DC. But not schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I just wouldn't. And I say that as someone with a kid in DCPS who is doing fine.

But if I had to do it again, I'd have pushed my spouse MUCH harder to move out of DC before our our kid was old enough that it would be hard to do. It's not even that I think schools are so much better elsewhere, it's more that I think DC's public school system is highly dysfunctional and stressful to navigate, and I think I personally would prefer to parent in a district where you just live in the best pyramid you can and then make do. That has it's drawbacks too, but I think I'm better suited to them.

Do you mean another district in the DMV or leave the area entirely?

What dysfunctions stand out?

The demographics of DC combined with the government culture and the lottery create very dysfunctional public school systems. Everyone works at cross purposes. Schools, parents, administrators, teachers, and the district. Plus charters. The lottery is great on a micro level (can help families get access to better schools) but toxic on a macro level (creates a sense of instability in the system and schools, creates a lot of churn, disincentivizes people to have a "make it work" attitude even with more minor challenges).

I think some people have no issues with this and navigate it well. I find it stressful and unsettling. My kid is in middle elementary and we are now figuring out middle school. I thought nothing could ever be as stressful and annoying as PK lotteries. I was incorrect. Stakes are much higher for MS and there are simply not enough spots at decent schools to go around. There's this weird intensity among parents, especially where I am (Capital Hill) but this is countered by an almost apathetic or aggressively neutral attitude among schools, likely just as a self-protective measure because some of the parents are so intense. I simply cannot have another conversation about math tracking. I'm tired of all of it.

I think I'd find a lot of this in the burbs as well which is why I'd rather leave the area altogether, but I think I personally am better suited to deal with the way suburban districts handle these issues better than I deal with DC public schools.

I think the fundamental issue is that voters in DC are liberal Democrats and they reflexively vote for very liberal candidates, without realizing that very liberal Democratic politicians are extremely opposed to raising academic standards and tracking and gifted and talented programs. They think all of that is racist and they will never, ever support it. They think the purpose of schools is to fight inequality. If you voted for different people, you'd get a different result and schools would look different than they do today.

Of course NYC is also very progressive and has tracking and true test-in high schools. It is possible to be both. Personnaly, I would take the NYC model over the 50% chance you can get into Basis or having an opaque entry system at Walls and Banneker.

Agree, NYC is liberal and has a less dysfunctional school system. Boston too.

The issues in DC has to do with activist factions and government corruption. It's not a left-right issue. It's cultural.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I just wouldn't. And I say that as someone with a kid in DCPS who is doing fine.

But if I had to do it again, I'd have pushed my spouse MUCH harder to move out of DC before our our kid was old enough that it would be hard to do. It's not even that I think schools are so much better elsewhere, it's more that I think DC's public school system is highly dysfunctional and stressful to navigate, and I think I personally would prefer to parent in a district where you just live in the best pyramid you can and then make do. That has it's drawbacks too, but I think I'm better suited to them.

Do you mean another district in the DMV or leave the area entirely?

What dysfunctions stand out?

The demographics of DC combined with the government culture and the lottery create very dysfunctional public school systems. Everyone works at cross purposes. Schools, parents, administrators, teachers, and the district. Plus charters. The lottery is great on a micro level (can help families get access to better schools) but toxic on a macro level (creates a sense of instability in the system and schools, creates a lot of churn, disincentivizes people to have a "make it work" attitude even with more minor challenges).

I think some people have no issues with this and navigate it well. I find it stressful and unsettling. My kid is in middle elementary and we are now figuring out middle school. I thought nothing could ever be as stressful and annoying as PK lotteries. I was incorrect. Stakes are much higher for MS and there are simply not enough spots at decent schools to go around. There's this weird intensity among parents, especially where I am (Capital Hill) but this is countered by an almost apathetic or aggressively neutral attitude among schools, likely just as a self-protective measure because some of the parents are so intense. I simply cannot have another conversation about math tracking. I'm tired of all of it.

I think I'd find a lot of this in the burbs as well which is why I'd rather leave the area altogether, but I think I personally am better suited to deal with the way suburban districts handle these issues better than I deal with DC public schools.

I think the fundamental issue is that voters in DC are liberal Democrats and they reflexively vote for very liberal candidates, without realizing that very liberal Democratic politicians are extremely opposed to raising academic standards and tracking and gifted and talented programs. They think all of that is racist and they will never, ever support it. They think the purpose of schools is to fight inequality. If you voted for different people, you'd get a different result and schools would look different than they do today.

Of course NYC is also very progressive and has tracking and true test-in high schools. It is possible to be both. Personnaly, I would take the NYC model over the 50% chance you can get into Basis or having an opaque entry system at Walls and Banneker.

DC is far, far more liberal than NYC.

[Anonymous]

Yes, DC is much more liberal and more prone to making decisions about schools based on identity politics.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I just wouldn't. And I say that as someone with a kid in DCPS who is doing fine.

But if I had to do it again, I'd have pushed my spouse MUCH harder to move out of DC before our our kid was old enough that it would be hard to do. It's not even that I think schools are so much better elsewhere, it's more that I think DC's public school system is highly dysfunctional and stressful to navigate, and I think I personally would prefer to parent in a district where you just live in the best pyramid you can and then make do. That has it's drawbacks too, but I think I'm better suited to them.

Do you mean another district in the DMV or leave the area entirely?

What dysfunctions stand out?

The demographics of DC combined with the government culture and the lottery create very dysfunctional public school systems. Everyone works at cross purposes. Schools, parents, administrators, teachers, and the district. Plus charters. The lottery is great on a micro level (can help families get access to better schools) but toxic on a macro level (creates a sense of instability in the system and schools, creates a lot of churn, disincentivizes people to have a "make it work" attitude even with more minor challenges).

I think some people have no issues with this and navigate it well. I find it stressful and unsettling. My kid is in middle elementary and we are now figuring out middle school. I thought nothing could ever be as stressful and annoying as PK lotteries. I was incorrect. Stakes are much higher for MS and there are simply not enough spots at decent schools to go around. There's this weird intensity among parents, especially where I am (Capital Hill) but this is countered by an almost apathetic or aggressively neutral attitude among schools, likely just as a self-protective measure because some of the parents are so intense. I simply cannot have another conversation about math tracking. I'm tired of all of it.

I think I'd find a lot of this in the burbs as well which is why I'd rather leave the area altogether, but I think I personally am better suited to deal with the way suburban districts handle these issues better than I deal with DC public schools.

I think the fundamental issue is that voters in DC are liberal Democrats and they reflexively vote for very liberal candidates, without realizing that very liberal Democratic politicians are extremely opposed to raising academic standards and tracking and gifted and talented programs. They think all of that is racist and they will never, ever support it. They think the purpose of schools is to fight inequality. If you voted for different people, you'd get a different result and schools would look different than they do today.

This isn't correct because, just as a for instance, Muriel Bowser is not a far left mayor (definitely to the right of the more leftist council on many issues). And since we don't have a school board, Bowser effectively runs DC schools.

Also Adrian Fenty was a liberal mayor but his education policies were controversial specifically because they don't align with far-left ideology -- his reforms created a lot more school choice in DC and have often really angered the teacher's union.

The real reason for the problems described above is actually described above -- you have a bunch of different factions within the school system itself, and they have really different agendas, and they can't agree on anything. The people who push for equity in DC schools are NOT generally then politicians -- DC has a large, vocal, and very active constituency that who will oppose any educational reform that isn't aimed at equity. That's why a lot of the things that happen in DCPS to help upper income families are done quietly and unofficially, like MS tracking. If you make it official or make it DCPS policy, you will instantly get a bunch of people screaming at you that it's inequitable. And that's coming from parents and families, not some super liberal politician forcing it on people. This is how many people in DC genuinely feel.

Then you also have the teacher's union, which also has its own agenda. Sometimes it aligns with what parents want, sometimes it doesn't. See, e.g., Covid. DC's liberal politics does influence how the teacher's union is handled, because a lot of people in DC don't feel comfortable opposing the teacher's union as they are generally pro union. But that leads to weird crap like during Covid when the union was officially opposed to schools reopening in 2021 and many parents paid lip service to supporting this position so as not to be seen as "MAGA" but then privately would rant about how ridiculous it was that their kid wasn't in a classroom. None of that has anything to do with liberal politicians. It's about real politics and constituencies and individual preferences and how they collide.

And all of this floats above the reality of public education in DC, which is that we are educating a diverse population with a lot of very disparate needs, and it's hard to do it all at once. There are lots of poor kids in the system who absolutely do need extra services, remedial education opportunities, tutoring, social services, etc., and school *must* provide that stuff. It's bare minimum. But for middle class and above families, this often comes at the cost of a lot of opportunities and services that would be considered standard in a suburban district without as many poor kids. That's just the reality.

I genuinely wish we could solve all this by just voting a little different. I don't think we can. A lot of this dysfunction is baked into the system. You either learn to navigate it or you find a way out. If you're rich, maybe that's private school. For everyone else, the lottery and charters offer a bandaid but leaving the city is the only way to truly escape it.

DC is run by the city council, not the mayor. Bowser is an extraordinarily weak mayor. The city council overrides her vetoes all the time (including one yesterday on a non-school issue). The city council is as far left as any city council in the country.

You don't understand DC government. The council as virtually no control over schools. DC schools are run by a chancellor who is appointed by the mayor. The council has other power in DC but schools are an area where the mayor has an outsize amount of power, because DC does not have an independent school board as you find in other districts.

The non-school issue you are talking about was the decision the council made not to extend the youth curfews. Yes, the council has a lot more power over crime and safety issues in DC. But not schools.

Is this the same Washington DC where the mayor announced in July 2020 that she wanted schools to open that August, and the city council told her to F off? And schools didn't reopen for another year?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I just wouldn't. And I say that as someone with a kid in DCPS who is doing fine.

But if I had to do it again, I'd have pushed my spouse MUCH harder to move out of DC before our our kid was old enough that it would be hard to do. It's not even that I think schools are so much better elsewhere, it's more that I think DC's public school system is highly dysfunctional and stressful to navigate, and I think I personally would prefer to parent in a district where you just live in the best pyramid you can and then make do. That has it's drawbacks too, but I think I'm better suited to them.

Do you mean another district in the DMV or leave the area entirely?

What dysfunctions stand out?

The demographics of DC combined with the government culture and the lottery create very dysfunctional public school systems. Everyone works at cross purposes. Schools, parents, administrators, teachers, and the district. Plus charters. The lottery is great on a micro level (can help families get access to better schools) but toxic on a macro level (creates a sense of instability in the system and schools, creates a lot of churn, disincentivizes people to have a "make it work" attitude even with more minor challenges).

I think some people have no issues with this and navigate it well. I find it stressful and unsettling. My kid is in middle elementary and we are now figuring out middle school. I thought nothing could ever be as stressful and annoying as PK lotteries. I was incorrect. Stakes are much higher for MS and there are simply not enough spots at decent schools to go around. There's this weird intensity among parents, especially where I am (Capital Hill) but this is countered by an almost apathetic or aggressively neutral attitude among schools, likely just as a self-protective measure because some of the parents are so intense. I simply cannot have another conversation about math tracking. I'm tired of all of it.

I think I'd find a lot of this in the burbs as well which is why I'd rather leave the area altogether, but I think I personally am better suited to deal with the way suburban districts handle these issues better than I deal with DC public schools.

I think the fundamental issue is that voters in DC are liberal Democrats and they reflexively vote for very liberal candidates, without realizing that very liberal Democratic politicians are extremely opposed to raising academic standards and tracking and gifted and talented programs. They think all of that is racist and they will never, ever support it. They think the purpose of schools is to fight inequality. If you voted for different people, you'd get a different result and schools would look different than they do today.

Of course NYC is also very progressive and has tracking and true test-in high schools. It is possible to be both. Personnaly, I would take the NYC model over the 50% chance you can get into Basis or having an opaque entry system at Walls and Banneker.

Agree, NYC is liberal and has a less dysfunctional school system. Boston too.

The issues in DC has to do with activist factions and government corruption. It's not a left-right issue. It's cultural.

You sound unacquainted with how the left views education policy. Ask JLG if she supports tracking or test-in schools or flunking kids who don't show up for school or punishing kids who assault teachers.

[Anonymous]

Scenario 1: Oyster followed by Bancroft. Both are long standing programs with a history of success and because they are considered to have good feeder patterns, you don't lose as many classmates to lottery. Test scores etc are mostly going to tell you about their demographics vs other immersion DCPS schools. Oyster is a much smaller environment - Bancroft is one of the largest ES in the district and Deal is enormous. That means lots of resources and also larger, more hectic environments.

On tech- all DCPS schools use smart screens and have a 1:1 tech to kid ratio. How much screen your kid is actually exposed to will depend on the teacher, not the school. I suspect this will change significantly in the next few years.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:In addition to Ross and Eaton, great suggestions, I’d throw in A/B: Oyster via some of the older rental stock that sits the school boundary zone in Woodley Park.

If you can share, would love more specifics on decent rental options to consider or cross-streets.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I just wouldn't. And I say that as someone with a kid in DCPS who is doing fine.

But if I had to do it again, I'd have pushed my spouse MUCH harder to move out of DC before our our kid was old enough that it would be hard to do. It's not even that I think schools are so much better elsewhere, it's more that I think DC's public school system is highly dysfunctional and stressful to navigate, and I think I personally would prefer to parent in a district where you just live in the best pyramid you can and then make do. That has it's drawbacks too, but I think I'm better suited to them.

Agree with this 100 percent - including I had a kid who went to a JKLMM, Deal and is now at Walls, so hard to do better in DCPS. But still the system stinks.

[Anonymous]

Bumping this thread up, as we have to make a decision on where to move this summer!

Really interested to hear people’s responses for Option B.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I just wouldn't. And I say that as someone with a kid in DCPS who is doing fine.

But if I had to do it again, I'd have pushed my spouse MUCH harder to move out of DC before our our kid was old enough that it would be hard to do. It's not even that I think schools are so much better elsewhere, it's more that I think DC's public school system is highly dysfunctional and stressful to navigate, and I think I personally would prefer to parent in a district where you just live in the best pyramid you can and then make do. That has it's drawbacks too, but I think I'm better suited to them.

Do you mean another district in the DMV or leave the area entirely?

What dysfunctions stand out?

The demographics of DC combined with the government culture and the lottery create very dysfunctional public school systems. Everyone works at cross purposes. Schools, parents, administrators, teachers, and the district. Plus charters. The lottery is great on a micro level (can help families get access to better schools) but toxic on a macro level (creates a sense of instability in the system and schools, creates a lot of churn, disincentivizes people to have a "make it work" attitude even with more minor challenges).

I think some people have no issues with this and navigate it well. I find it stressful and unsettling. My kid is in middle elementary and we are now figuring out middle school. I thought nothing could ever be as stressful and annoying as PK lotteries. I was incorrect. Stakes are much higher for MS and there are simply not enough spots at decent schools to go around. There's this weird intensity among parents, especially where I am (Capital Hill) but this is countered by an almost apathetic or aggressively neutral attitude among schools, likely just as a self-protective measure because some of the parents are so intense. I simply cannot have another conversation about math tracking. I'm tired of all of it.

I think I'd find a lot of this in the burbs as well which is why I'd rather leave the area altogether, but I think I personally am better suited to deal with the way suburban districts handle these issues better than I deal with DC public schools.

I think the fundamental issue is that voters in DC are liberal Democrats and they reflexively vote for very liberal candidates, without realizing that very liberal Democratic politicians are extremely opposed to raising academic standards and tracking and gifted and talented programs. They think all of that is racist and they will never, ever support it. They think the purpose of schools is to fight inequality. If you voted for different people, you'd get a different result and schools would look different than they do today.

Of course NYC is also very progressive and has tracking and true test-in high schools. It is possible to be both. Personnaly, I would take the NYC model over the 50% chance you can get into Basis or having an opaque entry system at Walls and Banneker.

Agree, NYC is liberal and has a less dysfunctional school system. Boston too.

The issues in DC has to do with activist factions and government corruption. It's not a left-right issue. It's cultural.

You sound unacquainted with how the left views education policy. Ask JLG if she supports tracking or test-in schools or flunking kids who don't show up for school or punishing kids who assault teachers.

I think there’s less room for this kind of squishiness in NYC. Mamdani started out campaigning to get rid of the admissions test at Stuy and tech and immediately had to back off. Same with Wu and Latin, same with the previous mayor in SF with Lowell.