Ellington Field

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The money spent on Ellington should be divided up and put into arts education at every school in the city.

Exactly. How did Ellington become some privileged but unaccountable sacred cow (and moreover, one that serves a substantial population that doesn’t even live in the District)?!

Why do you all hate the arts so much? Seriously.

That’s the question that you should answer! You want to deny any exposure to the arts to the rest of the kids in the city. It is a very unfair and privileged system DCPS has. If an 8th grader is not selected by Ellington what other options do they have to Pursue the arts?

Exactly. And to add insult to injury, Ellington takes out of state residents over DC kids (the MD and VA residents who are up front about their residence, not counting the fraudsters who illegally claim a DC address to go to Ellington).

They can take up to 10%. It hasn’t hit that level in a couple years (check the audit data yourself). Like it or not, Ellington is a private entity that has a contractual relationship with DCPS. The rules are different.

Why don’t you quit hating on the students who are there and seek to get the terms of the DCPS-Ellington contract changed (or cancelled) when it is up for renewal.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The money spent on Ellington should be divided up and put into arts education at every school in the city.

Exactly. How did Ellington become some privileged but unaccountable sacred cow (and moreover, one that serves a substantial population that doesn’t even live in the District)?!

Why do you all hate the arts so much? Seriously.

That’s the question that you should answer! You want to deny any exposure to the arts to the rest of the kids in the city. It is a very unfair and privileged system DCPS has. If an 8th grader is not selected by Ellington what other options do they have to Pursue the arts?

They can take band or art or drama at every DCPS high school in the city. They do not spend 3 hours a day doing it in addition to their academic classes, to the exclusion of every other extracurricular activity.

If your kid has some talent, and wants a career in the arts - they will

[Anonymous]

^^ almost certainly get into Ellington. Except for the vocal performance track. That one is the most popular and most competitive to enter.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The money spent on Ellington should be divided up and put into arts education at every school in the city.

Exactly. How did Ellington become some privileged but unaccountable sacred cow (and moreover, one that serves a substantial population that doesn’t even live in the District)?!

Why do you all hate the arts so much? Seriously.

That’s the question that you should answer! You want to deny any exposure to the arts to the rest of the kids in the city. It is a very unfair and privileged system DCPS has. If an 8th grader is not selected by Ellington what other options do they have to Pursue the arts?

Exactly. And to add insult to injury, Ellington takes out of state residents over DC kids (the MD and VA residents who are up front about their residence, not counting the fraudsters who illegally claim a DC address to go to Ellington).

They can take up to 10%. It hasn’t hit that level in a couple years (check the audit data yourself). Like it or not, Ellington is a private entity that has a contractual relationship with DCPS. The rules are different.

Why don’t you quit hating on the students who are there and seek to get the terms of the DCPS-Ellington contract changed (or cancelled) when it is up for renewal.

Ellington is not exactly a private entity. It’s staff and faculty are considered DC government employees. We pay for nearly all of the school’s operating expenses, all of its renovations and for the horrendous cost overruns (fraud, waste and mismanagement). It uses a public building that by rights should be the second public high school for Upper Northwest. How much does this private entity pay in annual lease payments for this public asset? A private Ellington foundation provides paltry marginal support to Ellington. What we don’t like is that Ellington apparently has no accountability through its board or otherwise. It’s sorry record of bloat, self-dealing and major mismanagement (if not criminal embezzlement in the renovation) is embarrassing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The money spent on Ellington should be divided up and put into arts education at every school in the city.

Exactly. How did Ellington become some privileged but unaccountable sacred cow (and moreover, one that serves a substantial population that doesn’t even live in the District)?!

Why do you all hate the arts so much? Seriously.

That’s the question that you should answer! You want to deny any exposure to the arts to the rest of the kids in the city. It is a very unfair and privileged system DCPS has. If an 8th grader is not selected by Ellington what other options do they have to Pursue the arts?

Exactly. And to add insult to injury, Ellington takes out of state residents over DC kids (the MD and VA residents who are up front about their residence, not counting the fraudsters who illegally claim a DC address to go to Ellington).

They can take up to 10%. It hasn’t hit that level in a couple years (check the audit data yourself). Like it or not, Ellington is a private entity that has a contractual relationship with DCPS. The rules are different.

Why don’t you quit hating on the students who are there and seek to get the terms of the DCPS-Ellington contract changed (or cancelled) when it is up for renewal.

Ellington is not exactly a private entity. It’s staff and faculty are considered DC government employees. We pay for nearly all of the school’s operating expenses, all of its renovations and for the horrendous cost overruns (fraud, waste and mismanagement). It uses a public building that by rights should be the second public high school for Upper Northwest. How much does this private entity pay in annual lease payments for this public asset? A private Ellington foundation provides paltry marginal support to Ellington. What we don’t like is that Ellington apparently has no accountability through its board or otherwise. It’s sorry record of bloat, self-dealing and major mismanagement (if not criminal embezzlement in the renovation) is embarrassing.

The things you describe are spelled out in an MOU between DESA and DCPS. Yes some resources are from the city and some are not (can you imagine letting a DCPS instructional superintendent micromanage an arts curriculum instead of having Kennedy Center Board people do that?).

It is very true that no other school in the city functions this way. Maybe after 45 years that should change. Quit railing here and go see your Council member, Paul Kign, the Mayor and see if they will force DCPS to close it or end the partnership. I think you will fail because at the end of the day they produce successful graduates.

If you think it should change — get your council member or the mayor to force DCPS to change it.

[Anonymous]

Ellington is the leading arts school for PG County.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Ellington is the leading arts school for PG County.

It is the only arts high school in the reason. Its 55 non-resident tuition paying students (18-19) are from MoCo, FFX, Arlington, and Prince George’s County.

[Anonymous]

*region. It is the only, thus leading, arts high school for all.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Ellington is the leading arts school for PG County.

It is the only arts high school in the reason. Its 55 non-resident tuition paying students (18-19) are from MoCo, FFX, Arlington, and Prince George’s County.

With at least twice that number who actually live in Maryland but fraudulently claim a DC address.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:*region. It is the only, thus leading, arts high school for all.

Why should the DC taxpayers be shoveling out millions (including for a cost overrun fueled renovation that cost over $100) to provide an arts education for PG and Arlington students? Let those jurisdictions fund their own schools!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:*region. It is the only, thus leading, arts high school for all.

Why should the DC taxpayers be shoveling out millions (including for a cost overrun fueled renovation that cost over $100) to provide an arts education for PG and Arlington students? Let those jurisdictions fund their own schools!

Because it enhances the talent pool. Because having you to 60 more kids per grade isn’t going to cost much more to the operating cost (and is defrayed by the tuition) and doesn’t add a dime to the capital costs.

Personally I would be all for the structure of DESA to be a regional arts magnet the way that TJ is based and operated by FCPS but is jointly funded and open to students from surrounding counties.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:*region. It is the only, thus leading, arts high school for all.

Why should the DC taxpayers be shoveling out millions (including for a cost overrun fueled renovation that cost over $100) to provide an arts education for PG and Arlington students? Let those jurisdictions fund their own schools!

Because it enhances the talent pool. Because having you to 60 more kids per grade isn’t going to cost much more to the operating cost (and is defrayed by the tuition) and doesn’t add a dime to the capital costs.

Personally I would be all for the structure of DESA to be a regional arts magnet the way that TJ is based and operated by FCPS but is jointly funded and open to students from surrounding counties.

I didn’t realize that TJ is a regional school open for DC students.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:*region. It is the only, thus leading, arts high school for all.

Why should the DC taxpayers be shoveling out millions (including for a cost overrun fueled renovation that cost over $100) to provide an arts education for PG and Arlington students? Let those jurisdictions fund their own schools!

Because it enhances the talent pool. Because having you to 60 more kids per grade isn’t going to cost much more to the operating cost (and is defrayed by the tuition) and doesn’t add a dime to the capital costs.

Personally I would be all for the structure of DESA to be a regional arts magnet the way that TJ is based and operated by FCPS but is jointly funded and open to students from surrounding counties.

Why buy the cow when the milk is free?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:*region. It is the only, thus leading, arts high school for all.

Why should the DC taxpayers be shoveling out millions (including for a cost overrun fueled renovation that cost over $100) to provide an arts education for PG and Arlington students? Let those jurisdictions fund their own schools!

Because it enhances the talent pool. Because having you to 60 more kids per grade isn’t going to cost much more to the operating cost (and is defrayed by the tuition) and doesn’t add a dime to the capital costs.

Personally I would be all for the structure of DESA to be a regional arts magnet the way that TJ is based and operated by FCPS but is jointly funded and open to students from surrounding counties.

I didn’t realize that TJ is a regional school open for DC students.

Sorry to be unclear. DC isn’t in the TJ consortium. It is open to students in Arlington County, FFX County, Falls Church City, Prince William Co and Loudoun Co. as a ‘governor’s school’ they can’t open to anyone outside Virginia, even if they wanted to.

[Anonymous]

So then why is Duke Ellington open to students from Ma and Va? And even when it purports to charge tuition (and it is actually paid) it covers only a portion of the per pupil costs. So with all of the District’s unmet needs (and with very high taxes at the same time), why is DC providing s huge subsidy and scarce Ellington spots to students from other states ?!?