Mann and Janney PTAs called out in NYTs op-ed for perpetuating segregation in cities

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This does not take into account that schools EOTP have free PK3, more funding per child, free meals, and many other resources that are not given to WOTP schools. And no one is complaining about that.

The reality is that WOTP schools are overcrowded and the parents have to make up the difference between what DCPS provides and what is needed.

I'll give you some examples of what our PTA funds are used for in our WOTP school: field trip costs because DCPS charges us for the bus, smartboard repairs because they break and we need them repaired, classroom supplies for teachers so they don't have to spend their own money, etc.

As parents, we are expected to bring a huge box of supplies for the school at the beginning of the year because IT IS NOT COVERED BY THE DCPS BUDGET. Clorox wipes, paper towels, tissues, dry erase markers, pencils, crayons, paper, and so on.

We still have the same DCPS curriculum as everyone else. We have overcrowded classrooms. Not sure what folks are up in arms about.

My EOTP school is also overcrowded (27 kids in our classes last year, no aide). We've cut positions elsewhere in the school to add classroom teachers and reduce class sizes, so we also don't have full specials blocks because there aren't enough specials teachers.

I'll give you some examples of what our PTA funds can't cover: field trips because DCPS doesn't provide buses (and our kids don't have SmartTrip cards), SmartBoard repairs because they break (but we don't have money to repair them so we don't), classroom supplies (so I spend my own money).

Our parents aren't expected to bring any supplies because they can't. Also not covered by our DCPS budget: Clorox wipes, paper towels, tissues, dry erase markers, pencils, crayons, paper, and so on.

We still have the same DCPS curriculum as everyone else. We have overcrowded classrooms.

I think you need a principal who is better at management.

Classic DCUM. Weird how the WOTP school that has all the same gaps but parents that can pay to cover them doesn't need a new principal. Let's give PP's EOTP principal an extra $500k this year and see if she magically becomes as good of a "manager" as the WOTP principal in the original PP.

[Anonymous]

DCPS spends more per pupil than almost any public school system in the US. The problem is, its abysmally managed and the pupils never even see that money. Thus throwing more money at the system is likely not the main answer to the problem of equity here.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:DCPS spends more per pupil than almost any public school system in the US. The problem is, its abysmally managed and the pupils never even see that money. Thus throwing more money at the system is likely not the main answer to the problem of equity here.

It's the answer being used by Mann and Janney parents. Why would they be doing something so foolish if they didn't think it was working?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DCPS spends more per pupil than almost any public school system in the US. The problem is, its abysmally managed and the pupils never even see that money. Thus throwing more money at the system is likely not the main answer to the problem of equity here.

It's the answer being used by Mann and Janney parents. Why would they be doing something so foolish if they didn't think it was working?

They aren’t throwing money at it — they ate spending it very carefully. That’s the whole point.

[Anonymous]

This is misleading. They have no way of knowing if these parents vote for elected officials who underfund schools. Why is ward 3 to blame if parents in poorer schools don't even attempt to form a parent group. You don't need money to advocate for your school. Title 1 schools get more funding than other schools. The trust is that there is no substitute for involved parenting.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Harshburger!

Even in cities where the rich and poor continue to live under the same local government, economic segregation saps political support for common, egalitarian infrastructure. Rich New Yorkers donate generously to beautify Central Park while resisting the taxation necessary to maintain parks in neighborhoods they never visit. In Washington, D.C., parents in wealthier neighborhoods contribute lavishly to parent-teacher organizations that provide extra money to public schools in their neighborhoods, but they do not vote for a similar level of funding for all city schools. Two schools in northwest Washington each raised more than half a million dollars in 2017, while several schools in southeast Washington don’t even have parent-teacher organizations. Last year, for the third time since 1970, the residents of Gwinnett County, Ga., which sits on the edge of Atlanta, refused to fund an expansion of the regional transit system into their suburban county.

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/11/opinion/coronavirus-us-cities-inequality.html

We've paid our taxes. It's up to the government to figure out how to spend it, equitably (however you define it) or otherwise. If you don't like it, vote them out. Stop shaming people for not voting for an extra special assessment. It's just a way for politicians to divide and conquer.

I'll stop thinking that these inequitable PTA budgets are shameful if you promise not to object if the D.C. Council proposes raising your taxes to add $500,000 in funds to every elementary school in the city besides Janney and Mann. That way, everybody wins!

I have zero issue with that. DC already has low property taxes.

no it doesnt

Yes it does. Look at tax rate, not your million dollar assessment. DC is very low.

DC = 0.85%
MoCo = 0.7166%
Falls Church City (the highest in Virginia) = 0.8%

stop lying. you aren't comparing like to like

Virginians also pay a car tax every year, and arlington county is much higher than DC. Also in DC we get the homestead deduction that other jurisdictions don't get AND our taxes are capped at 10% increase per year which is unheard of in other places. So yes, DC taxes are extremely low when it comes to property.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Harshburger!

Even in cities where the rich and poor continue to live under the same local government, economic segregation saps political support for common, egalitarian infrastructure. Rich New Yorkers donate generously to beautify Central Park while resisting the taxation necessary to maintain parks in neighborhoods they never visit. In Washington, D.C., parents in wealthier neighborhoods contribute lavishly to parent-teacher organizations that provide extra money to public schools in their neighborhoods, but they do not vote for a similar level of funding for all city schools. Two schools in northwest Washington each raised more than half a million dollars in 2017, while several schools in southeast Washington don’t even have parent-teacher organizations. Last year, for the third time since 1970, the residents of Gwinnett County, Ga., which sits on the edge of Atlanta, refused to fund an expansion of the regional transit system into their suburban county.

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/11/opinion/coronavirus-us-cities-inequality.html

We've paid our taxes. It's up to the government to figure out how to spend it, equitably (however you define it) or otherwise. If you don't like it, vote them out. Stop shaming people for not voting for an extra special assessment. It's just a way for politicians to divide and conquer.

I'll stop thinking that these inequitable PTA budgets are shameful if you promise not to object if the D.C. Council proposes raising your taxes to add $500,000 in funds to every elementary school in the city besides Janney and Mann. That way, everybody wins!

I have zero issue with that. DC already has low property taxes.

no it doesnt

Yes it does. Look at tax rate, not your million dollar assessment. DC is very low.

DC = 0.85%
MoCo = 0.7166%
Falls Church City (the highest in Virginia) = 0.8%

stop lying. you aren't comparing like to like

Virginians also pay a car tax every year, and arlington county is much higher than DC. Also in DC we get the homestead deduction that other jurisdictions don't get AND our taxes are capped at 10% increase per year which is unheard of in other places. So yes, DC taxes are extremely low when it comes to property.

the 10% increase cap and homestead deduction are both pretty normal. we also have a much higher personal income tax than Virginia. we can go round and round but the bottom line is that you tried to spin a lie about property taxes and the overall tax burden in DC by cherry picking and not comparing like to like.

[Anonymous]

What a useless and pathetically researched article.

Money is not the issue. Dcps spends more money per pupil than any Almost other school district in the country. Double the national average. It doesn’t help low performing schools. You cannot throw money at these problems.

In Cambridge, MA, all schools are required to have 20-30% (the city average) low SES kids. All other kids are waitlisted until the target is met. This is the best way to diversify all the dc schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

I'll give you some examples of what our PTA funds can't cover: field trips because DCPS doesn't provide buses (and our kids don't have SmartTrip cards),

I can't speak to the lack of other resources at your school, but the Kids Ride Free program (https://ddot.dc.gov/page/school-transit-subsidy-program) gives every DCPS student free rides on MetroBus and MetroRail; the cards are given to the schools to distribute to students, so if your school doesn't use this program, then that's on your school administration for not getting the cards from DDOT and giving them out to the kids. Furthermore, there are a ton of programs around DC that provide free transportation to the schools that participate in their events (for example, the Kennedy Center.) It sounds like the teachers and admins at your school are perhaps not cognizant of these things?

[Anonymous]

What drivel! All these comments denying that structural and institutional racism exists and is perpetuated daily is ridiculous. Stop placing all the blame on principals and the central office. Let's focus on rebuilding a just society that works for everyone. This is more than Clorox wipes!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What a useless and pathetically researched article.

Money is not the issue. Dcps spends more money per pupil than any Almost other school district in the country. Double the national average. It doesn’t help low performing schools. You cannot throw money at these problems.

In Cambridge, MA, all schools are required to have 20-30% (the city average) low SES kids. All other kids are waitlisted until the target is met. This is the best way to diversify all the dc schools.

So do kids in Cambridge not go to their local elementary school? What if you are not low SES; do they bus you to another school in Cambridge?

Seems like this would incentivize all sorts of games for parents to hide income. Are they seriously looking at a parent's HHI on tax forms before they decide if there's "enough room?"

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What drivel! All these comments denying that structural and institutional racism exists and is perpetuated daily is ridiculous. Stop placing all the blame on principals and the central office. Let's focus on rebuilding a just society that works for everyone. This is more than Clorox wipes!

No one is pretending that there are not socioeconomic structural problems with education in the city. people are questioning whether your favored policy solution and pointing out that it seems designed to pu[code]nish more than anything else.

If the budget provides no money for field trips then the problem is with the system wide budget not PTA's.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What drivel! All these comments denying that structural and institutional racism exists and is perpetuated daily is ridiculous. Stop placing all the blame on principals and the central office. Let's focus on rebuilding a just society that works for everyone. This is more than Clorox wipes!

No one is denying that structural injustice exists. The problem is over-simplification (like your comment here) and the op-ed's inaccuracy and knee-jerk shaming. Also, sound-bites about a just society is great (like your comment here), and no one disagrees with that, but the devil is in the details. One detail is not alienating potential partners.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What a useless and pathetically researched article.

Money is not the issue. Dcps spends more money per pupil than any Almost other school district in the country. Double the national average. It doesn’t help low performing schools. You cannot throw money at these problems.

In Cambridge, MA, all schools are required to have 20-30% (the city average) low SES kids. All other kids are waitlisted until the target is met. This is the best way to diversify all the dc schools.

So do kids in Cambridge not go to their local elementary school? What if you are not low SES; do they bus you to another school in Cambridge?

Seems like this would incentivize all sorts of games for parents to hide income. Are they seriously looking at a parent's HHI on tax forms before they decide if there's "enough room?"

Not the PP you're responding to, but I'm from MA, and have cousins and friends with kids in Boston and Cambridge public schools, so I can answer this Q.

In MA, parents aren't entitled to send kids to a certain ES by buying or renting real estate, like in DC. They're only entitled to send their kids to a school in a cluster of 3-5 local elementary schools, which generally run through 6th grade. Very little busing involved.

Boston runs several "exam" middle schools which start in 7th grade. Almost all the UMC Boston kids we know either tested into one of the three elite middle schools (Boston Latin, Boston Academy, Bryant STEM), or the family moved to the burbs or went private if their kids failed to clear the bar. Boston and Cambridge schools are only nicely desegregated at the ES level, and the state mandates GT services in ES for students who qualify. The great majority of the GT students are white and high SES. Better than here, but not much.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This does not take into account that schools EOTP have free PK3, more funding per child, free meals, and many other resources that are not given to WOTP schools. And no one is complaining about that.

The reality is that WOTP schools are overcrowded and the parents have to make up the difference between what DCPS provides and what is needed.

I'll give you some examples of what our PTA funds are used for in our WOTP school: field trip costs because DCPS charges us for the bus, smartboard repairs because they break and we need them repaired, classroom supplies for teachers so they don't have to spend their own money, etc.

As parents, we are expected to bring a huge box of supplies for the school at the beginning of the year because IT IS NOT COVERED BY THE DCPS BUDGET. Clorox wipes, paper towels, tissues, dry erase markers, pencils, crayons, paper, and so on.

We still have the same DCPS curriculum as everyone else. We have overcrowded classrooms. Not sure what folks are up in arms about.

Oh yes, rich white people have it hard too! Boohoo I weep for your plight. I hope they make a documentary of your hardship of sharing crayons in a class of 50 children.


honestly, you should be ashamed of this post.