Why do you think the DCPS is failing?

[Anonymous]

8:56, I agree with you that the issue is not so much facilities improvement, teacher quality, or $ per student spent. The thing that makes parents stampede toward or away from certain schools is the behavior of the students. They want their child in a respectful learning environment without the daily stress of the threat of confrontation, violence, or people getting "in your face". It's just not acceptable behavior, and parents who are serious about education and the positive development of their child will do anything they can afford to avoid it. Oh, and it's not about race.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:11:14: Whatever dot com. You and I are two black chicks cut from different cloths. My MO that you describe is not that accurate. I usually don't say one word when I am back-slapping a hefford. Oooops upside the head.

Guess what our paths will cross and it will be on like popcorn. You can butter that sweetie.

And there you have the answer to " Why do you think DCPS is failing?". Too many people with this attitude spoken or hidden among parents, kids, teachers, administrators and central office.

[Anonymous]

When the demographic changes of the US have made the terms white and black obsolete except for the oldsters, what will the racism-obsessed claim as the reason some DCPS schools are bad? When they try to explain that middle class parents avoid certain schools because they are afraid of brown people? They aren't afraid of brown people, they are also brown! They are running like hell from the sick culture of bad parenting, poor impulse control, parents who don't get their kid enough sleep, decent food, parents who talk about slapping people upside the head. Or actually slap people (their own children) upside the head. Hey, parents with the chip on your shoulder, who think that the man is out to get you, the man has a plan to take over, etc etc. If you really want to show "the man" and win the war, then be the kindest, most patient and most loving parent (consistently). Be kinder and more patient than the other kids' parents. Do not cuss out your two year old on the X2.

My kid is in a high-performing DCPS. One third of his class cannot be categorized as white or black, but they can be categorized as having parent(s) with their act together.

[Anonymous]

08:56, I'm right there with you!! And I'm black as well. That ignorant (and barely literate) poster is a bit unhinged.

[Anonymous]

08:56 Amen from another sister who could have written your post as well. The unhinged poster has been all over this forum lately. I will just have to pray for her because she has the precise type of negative attitude that I have no interest in being around or having my children around. My kids go to a very diverse school for DC which no one is running away from because the parents there are fully engaged with their kids as well as the school. And for what it's worth, I don't think DCPS is failing. I think it has actually gotten better. Ten years ago there was no way I would have put my kids in DCPS. I would have surely gone private. Today, I see the system making real efforts to improve even though the wheels of change turn slowly in government. I also think there are far too many parents in DC who are failing their kids and looking at DCPS as a scape goat. My heart cries for these children. My sister is a social worker. The vast majority of DCUM posters could not imagine in their worst nightmare the environments many of these children are somehow managing to navigate through. The stories are hearbreaking--and every one of these children have a story, so be careful when you judge them. They need soooo much. Some of the brokeness is beyond DCPSs ability to fix.

[Anonymous]

IMO the failing of DCPS is a class issue. Lower income families have suffered through DC's mediocre/ failing school nightmare for years. Those with higher incomes that could afford to leave the city did. Those with HHIs that could secure a home in a neighborhood with a well performing schools did. Those stuck in the middle fought for vouchers and charters or sent their kids OOB to JKLMM schools. The uptick in revitalization that DC has seen in the past decade has seen people move into neighborhoods that have been less than desirable for quite some time and we all know that the trend for many years was to move out of the city when you started a family. Seems like folks have started to give the middle finger to that plan and are demanding functioning neighborhood schools, where they pay taxes (imagine that :lol. In my poor working student days I can remember being priced out of many neighborhoods that were deemed "the new hotness". It may have been okay for a 20 something single gal but I could have never imagined sending a child to the schools I walked past daily. While I see the value in urban revitalization I think we need to have equal parts of persistence and patience. Many neighborhoods have been devoid of adequate city services for many years and the infrastructure has not seemed to catch up with the cache. If neighborhood X has been on the rise for 10 yrs but teeming with young professionals/ singles, few families and the retired old guard, who has been around long enough to truly advocate for change and see it to the finish? Especially if everyone tucks tail and runs before middle school. I truly understand the fear of allowing your child to receive a substandard education or risking exposure to children of households with starkly different value systems. The DCPS situation makes me feel like we're on the New Frontier of education. A great deal of us want something new/ better in terms of education but we're in very unfamiliar territory trying to figure this thing out.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:IMO the failing of DCPS is a class issue. Lower income families have suffered through DC's mediocre/ failing school nightmare for years. Those with higher incomes that could afford to leave the city did. Those with HHIs that could secure a home in a neighborhood with a well performing schools did. Those stuck in the middle fought for vouchers and charters or sent their kids OOB to JKLMM schools. The uptick in revitalization that DC has seen in the past decade has seen people move into neighborhoods that have been less than desirable for quite some time and we all know that the trend for many years was to move out of the city when you started a family. Seems like folks have started to give the middle finger to that plan and are demanding functioning neighborhood schools, where they pay taxes (imagine that :lol. In my poor working student days I can remember being priced out of many neighborhoods that were deemed "the new hotness". It may have been okay for a 20 something single gal but I could have never imagined sending a child to the schools I walked past daily. While I see the value in urban revitalization I think we need to have equal parts of persistence and patience. Many neighborhoods have been devoid of adequate city services for many years and the infrastructure has not seemed to catch up with the cache. If neighborhood X has been on the rise for 10 yrs but teeming with young professionals/ singles, few families and the retired old guard, who has been around long enough to truly advocate for change and see it to the finish? Especially if everyone tucks tail and runs before middle school. I truly understand the fear of allowing your child to receive a substandard education or risking exposure to children of households with starkly different value systems. The DCPS situation makes me feel like we're on the New Frontier of education. A great deal of us want something new/ better in terms of education but we're in very unfamiliar territory trying to figure this thing out.

so sorry that the font is so large I increased the font for my aging eyes as I typed and did not change it back before posting.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:08:56 Amen from another sister who could have written your post as well. The unhinged poster has been all over this forum lately. I will just have to pray for her because she has the precise type of negative attitude that I have no interest in being around or having my children around. My kids go to a very diverse school for DC which no one is running away from because the parents there are fully engaged with their kids as well as the school. And for what it's worth, I don't think DCPS is failing. I think it has actually gotten better. Ten years ago there was no way I would have put my kids in DCPS. I would have surely gone private. Today, I see the system making real efforts to improve even though the wheels of change turn slowly in government. I also think there are far too many parents in DC who are failing their kids and looking at DCPS as a scape goat. My heart cries for these children. My sister is a social worker. The vast majority of DCUM posters could not imagine in their worst nightmare the environments many of these children are somehow managing to navigate through. The stories are hearbreaking--and every one of these children have a story, so be careful when you judge them. They need soooo much. Some of the brokeness is beyond DCPSs ability to fix.

08:56 here and I have noticed the "unhinged" poster all over DCUM. But you make an EXTREMELY valid point, actually several! So much of what gets pinned on DCPS is far outside of their sphere of influence. If children are not nutured and cared for, provided for and protected in their home environments, there is very little that the school can do for them, although we ultimately hold the schools accountable for their success. DCPS is moving in the right direction but I assume that they have been stagnant for so long that parents want to see faster progress. No one wants to here how the school once your child has left, we want to feel the progress. I often think about the children that have very few people advocating for them, the ones your sister obviously works with, but here is the kicker, while my heart breaks for them I'm anxious about their influence on my child! My child has come home from school singing songs I've never played in DC's presence, DC has been hit and pushed by other kids and REGULARLY tells me about the profanity used by other kids....AND DC IS ONLY IN PRE-K!!! Sure, kids will be kids and it's all about them learning to manage and defend themselves but where does it end? Should I not be concerned now knowing that it will only get worse as children age and it's less about hitting and more about inappropriate touching, sex and drugs?

[Anonymous]

^^The high performing schools in DCPS aren't high performing because of where they're located. They're high performing because of the families of the children who attend those schools. This isn't directed at you, but I'm puzzled at parents who think all they have to do is go to a school WoP or a charter and they'll be in a good school. If you moved every child from a failing school to Janney. Janney would then be a failing school. I've often wondered what would happen if middle class parents enrolled their kids in their local school. By virtue of having so many middle class kids, wouldn't that improve the performance at those schools?

That said, I agree with 15:45. There are some things that dcps can't fix.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:^^The high performing schools in DCPS aren't high performing because of where they're located. They're high performing because of the families of the children who attend those schools. This isn't directed at you, but I'm puzzled at parents who think all they have to do is go to a school WoP or a charter and they'll be in a good school. If you moved every child from a failing school to Janney. Janney would then be a failing school. I've often wondered what would happen if middle class parents enrolled their kids in their local school. By virtue of having so many middle class kids, wouldn't that improve the performance at those schools?

That said, I agree with 15:45. There are some things that dcps can't fix.

Meant as a response to 15:53

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:^^The high performing schools in DCPS aren't high performing because of where they're located. They're high performing because of the families of the children who attend those schools. This isn't directed at you, but I'm puzzled at parents who think all they have to do is go to a school WoP or a charter and they'll be in a good school. If you moved every child from a failing school to Janney. Janney would then be a failing school. I've often wondered what would happen if middle class parents enrolled their kids in their local school. By virtue of having so many middle class kids, wouldn't that improve the performance at those schools?

That said, I agree with 15:45. There are some things that dcps can't fix.

Meant as a response to 15:53

I agree and I see how I probably wasn't clear in that statement. This is why I believe it is more about class/ SES. People who are OOB flock to these schools because although they may not be able to afford to live in the neighborhoods zones for these schools, they can identify with the school community, the parental involvement and value system. But again, this is my opionion. I could be wrong.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:08:56 Amen from another sister who could have written your post as well. The unhinged poster has been all over this forum lately. I will just have to pray for her because she has the precise type of negative attitude that I have no interest in being around or having my children around. My kids go to a very diverse school for DC which no one is running away from because the parents there are fully engaged with their kids as well as the school. And for what it's worth, I don't think DCPS is failing. I think it has actually gotten better. Ten years ago there was no way I would have put my kids in DCPS. I would have surely gone private. Today, I see the system making real efforts to improve even though the wheels of change turn slowly in government. I also think there are far too many parents in DC who are failing their kids and looking at DCPS as a scape goat. My heart cries for these children. My sister is a social worker. The vast majority of DCUM posters could not imagine in their worst nightmare the environments many of these children are somehow managing to navigate through. The stories are hearbreaking--and every one of these children have a story, so be careful when you judge them. They need soooo much. Some of the brokeness is beyond DCPSs ability to fix.

08:56 here and I have noticed the "unhinged" poster all over DCUM. But you make an EXTREMELY valid point, actually several! So much of what gets pinned on DCPS is far outside of their sphere of influence. If children are not nutured and cared for, provided for and protected in their home environments, there is very little that the school can do for them, although we ultimately hold the schools accountable for their success. DCPS is moving in the right direction but I assume that they have been stagnant for so long that parents want to see faster progress. No one wants to here how the school once your child has left, we want to feel the progress. I often think about the children that have very few people advocating for them, the ones your sister obviously works with, but here is the kicker, while my heart breaks for them I'm anxious about their influence on my child! My child has come home from school singing songs I've never played in DC's presence, DC has been hit and pushed by other kids and REGULARLY tells me about the profanity used by other kids....AND DC IS ONLY IN PRE-K!!! Sure, kids will be kids and it's all about them learning to manage and defend themselves but where does it end? Should I not be concerned now knowing that it will only get worse as children age and it's less about hitting and more about inappropriate touching, sex and drugs?

What progress would you like to see at your school? (Not meant to be snarky or mean. I'm genuinely curious to learn what's lacking at various dcps's.)

[Anonymous]

There are some things that are class based-

-Not knowing how to modulate your voice to an appropriate situation
-Grammar
-Valuing certain cultural institutions
-Conflict resolution in a less honor of the streets kind of way

God knows well off kids can be a pain, but usually in an entitled, whining kind of way. Something many poorer/working class parents despise as much as you or I may be offended by a sista with attitude.

That said, education does not have to be a disaster in these schools for the majority of kids (Granted cases of above where the social worker is involved- but that is not 90% of a student body) Too often these schools are failing and middle class kids are not because of all the implied cultural knowledge you have to have to progress in education. Too often if you are poor you re more likely to have them read you a story about another poor kid in another ghetto or in Mexico depending on what you look like than give you the cultural knowledge that gets you a middle class education. Too often we dismiss this knowledge as imperialist or the white man or whatever leftist critique you want. These positions are attractive because you are challenging the power structure but the fact is a kid can run against the wall of the power structure until they are bloodied or they can join it. That is what is still not acknowledged in education policy and until it is these kids are screwed unless they stumble across a teacher not interested in pandering. No I am not a right-wing nut, I am a liberal that is sick of the lies we white people pander to people of color because we feel bad.

[Anonymous]

+1.

[Anonymous]

The whole argument is pointless. What is your definition of failing? If it's strictly based on test scores, then the only way to stop school failure is to cure poverty. That's a bit beyond what schools can do.

If your definition of failing is that DCPS provides sub-par educational opportunities then I would have to agree that we are failing. And we're failing because the only thing that counts is test scores. We're not introducing great (or even good) literature, we're not teaching world history (until 7th grade), we're not teaching enough science, and we're not teaching grammar or handwriting.