Janney PTA Guerrilla Tactics!!!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Best way to end all of this is for dcps to fully fund in the needs of their schools. And band PTAs from paying for teaching positions etc. PTA should be raining money for extras like class trips, clubs, special events not tens of thousands for major staffing and program.

DC spends more per pupil than almost any other state or district ... where is the money going that a PTA in the most affluent part of the city needs to send out that kind of message. (Coming from a title I charter ... it's really shocking, though I acknowledge we live in two different worlds.)

The money flows and flows to SE, not to NW.

Which is like flushing a lot of it into Blue Plains, for all of the impact it has.

[Anonymous]

The sad reality of fundraising is that the more you badger people, the more they give. It doesn't work on you and wouldn't for me, but I'm on the PTA Board in MCPS, and I see it working all the time. This is why I already refuse to be in charge of Fundraising - I don't have the stomach for it.


ALSO - please find it in your heart to separate the things you dislike about the PTA, and the good deeds they actually do. It bothers me that parents at my kids' school will find 1 thing the PTA has done that they don't like, and use that excuse to criticize all of us at every turn. We're 19 volunteers on the Board, plus much more in various committees, and most of us work hard for every student!!! People don't realize how much PTAs do in schools and they forget that these are volunteers giving their time and effort.

[Anonymous]

Our kids went to an Arlington elementary school with better test scores than Janney and a very involved PTA and we were never hit up for money.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Best way to end all of this is for dcps to fully fund in the needs of their schools. And band PTAs from paying for teaching positions etc. PTA should be raining money for extras like class trips, clubs, special events not tens of thousands for major staffing and program.

DC spends more per pupil than almost any other state or district ... where is the money going that a PTA in the most affluent part of the city needs to send out that kind of message. (Coming from a title I charter ... it's really shocking, though I acknowledge we live in two different worlds.)

DCPS tends to siphon off a lot of the money from classroom and enrichment needs. Instead DCPS wastes funds on sole-source crony consultants, diversity directors and “esteem specialists” - whatever that fluff is.

This is the problem. It's the city corruption and kids pay the price. I agree with the first pp too. DC should fully fund the entire school's needs, including aides in every classroom.

[Anonymous]

OP, was this email sent to only the 145 families who are not participating or to everyone on the PTA mailing list? Is it possible from the email to see who received it or is it blind? Why haven’t you told the PTA and the principal how you feel about their approach? At least they are being direct rather than passive aggressive.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Best way to end all of this is for dcps to fully fund in the needs of their schools. And band PTAs from paying for teaching positions etc. PTA should be raining money for extras like class trips, clubs, special events not tens of thousands for major staffing and program.

DC spends more per pupil than almost any other state or district ... where is the money going that a PTA in the most affluent part of the city needs to send out that kind of message. (Coming from a title I charter ... it's really shocking, though I acknowledge we live in two different worlds.)

DCPS tends to siphon off a lot of the money from classroom and enrichment needs. Instead DCPS wastes funds on sole-source crony consultants, diversity directors and “esteem specialists” - whatever that fluff is.

And those "consultants" are quite often friends of the mayor and others in DC leadership.

[Anonymous]

Did you know that the current first grade families have demanded 2 partner teacher for their grade next year? DCPS pays for 0. That’s 40$k + right there. Before you bash the PTA, look around at the entitled parents that surround you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Did you know that the current first grade families have demanded 2 partner teacher for their grade next year? DCPS pays for 0. That’s 40$k + right there. Before you bash the PTA, look around at the entitled parents that surround you.

At this point, that’s a public-private hybrid.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Our kids went to an Arlington elementary school with better test scores than Janney and a very involved PTA and we were never hit up for money.

Huh, maybe your school district funds more things that DCPS does for its highest achieving schools? Maybe they are not the same? Also, how do you know they have higher test scores, VA students do not take the same tests as DCPS students.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Our kids went to an Arlington elementary school with better test scores than Janney and a very involved PTA and we were never hit up for money.

Yeah, but you have to live in Arlington.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Did you know that the current first grade families have demanded 2 partner teacher for their grade next year? DCPS pays for 0. That’s 40$k + right there. Before you bash the PTA, look around at the entitled parents that surround you.

At this point, that’s a public-private hybrid.

EOTP parent here, but I see it as parents bridging the gap that DC government should be providing for every DC public school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Best way to end all of this is for dcps to fully fund in the needs of their schools. And band PTAs from paying for teaching positions etc. PTA should be raining money for extras like class trips, clubs, special events not tens of thousands for major staffing and program.

DC spends more per pupil than almost any other state or district ... where is the money going that a PTA in the most affluent part of the city needs to send out that kind of message. (Coming from a title I charter ... it's really shocking, though I acknowledge we live in two different worlds.)

The money flows and flows to SE, not to NW.

Which is like flushing a lot of it into Blue Plains, for all of the impact it has.

Yup.

But, let's throw more!

PP: take a look at Janney's budget per student and contrast it to most ES in SW. You'll be surprised.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Our kids went to an Arlington elementary school with better test scores than Janney and a very involved PTA and we were never hit up for money.

BS. VA doesn’t even take PARCC so you can’t compare. Janney scores in the 90s on PARCC and PARCC is much more difficult than VA tearing and there is no school in Alrington that scores 100%. Also, you have to live in Arlington.

-not a Janney parent

[Anonymous]

Per pupil funding is pretty comparable across schools. The variation comes mostly from enrollment and sped. Janney would also see a significant bump I bet if you weren’t using average salary (obvs salary tied to seniority doesn’t necessarily track with quality blah blah).

The crazy thing about that email is how openly it acknowledges that Janney is only nominally a public school, and that making it acceptable for rich kids means raising a ton of money every year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Did you know that the current first grade families have demanded 2 partner teacher for their grade next year? DCPS pays for 0. That’s 40$k + right there. Before you bash the PTA, look around at the entitled parents that surround you.

At this point, that’s a public-private hybrid.

EOTP parent here, but I see it as parents bridging the gap that DC government should be providing for every DC public school.

It is an arms race. If DCPS gave that ask money and staffing to all, Hanney would still think they need more.

However if your theory is right, Janney and the other staff hiring PTAs should stop paying for these employees and instead join with everyone else in fighting for more baseline resources everywhere.

They paper over the problem doing it this way.