Letter from Cancellor re moving schools - opps - I got caught moving my kid?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m late to this thread but here goes:
(1) I would never want to live WOTP with the utter lack of diversity and a culture that is, well, just different. Brookland is a much nicer option IMO and he got a nicer house for his money. If he thought his kids were in good situations school wise via the lottery, then it would make sense to move where you want to live rather than where the schools are supposedly good. And he bought in June after school decisions were in place.
(2) You can absolutely change schools as a safety transfer—. These happen all the time. Except that under Wilson’s policy established in June 2017, no DC official can receive a discretionary transfer. Here’s the policy https://dcps.dc.gov/sites/default/files/dc/sites/dcps/publication/attachments/Discretionary%20Out-of-Boundary%20Transfers%20Policy.pdf

His kid was probably being bullied and his wife was freaking out and as I would do, she was like, “Somethings gotta be done!!!” So, like Adam, the first man, he was stupid and did whatever to resolve the situation which was patently prohibited only in this situation a woman, Jenny Niles, took the fall because the Mayor is not bright, leads by inertia, and makes questionable decisions. And we’ve got a loser, weak Council oversight in Grosso.
(3) look at the Mayor’s pick for leaders and their problematic tenures: Snowden and Rashad Young, the City Administrator who got the first favors. Recall how Christopher Weaver was forced out of DGS by Bowser and Young for not awarding campaign contracts to her donors, note the ineptness of new DGS Head, Greer Johnson Gillis; recall the hiring and dismissal of the former head of St Elizabeth’s hospital; and the recent scandal involving the ouster at BEGA. People this has a lot more screwed up than just the schools—I could name other agencies but that would out me. You should be very afraid and seriously question this mayor’s leadership. The problem is someone needs to run against her and so far no one has stepped up.

Yes. You are far behind. Like others have pointed out, if it was a safety transfer then Niles would not have been forced to resigned because a safety transfer would not be politically damaging to the mayor and chancellor.

If you read the rule at the link I posted you will see that a DC official cannot request a move for any reason. A non DC official could have gotten a safety transfer. Furthermore, kids can be bullied at any school. Just because it is Ellington does not mean the kid could not have been bullied. And I can imagine her being the chancellor’s daughter may have made her an attractive target. No one knows what it was about at the end of the day. But it is NOT beyond reason to think it was bullying. Ian any event, he broke the rules as they relate tonDC officials.

So if rules governing transfers for DC govt officials are even more restrictive than those for regular residents, why would he put his family in a position of buying in a school zone he is not willing to attend with three children? As the chancellor!!

These are the rules *he* put into place. The new discretionary transfer policy not allowing government officials a transfer was put into place to make up for Henderson’s screw up.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m late to this thread but here goes:
(1) I would never want to live WOTP with the utter lack of diversity and a culture that is, well, just different. Brookland is a much nicer option IMO and he got a nicer house for his money. If he thought his kids were in good situations school wise via the lottery, then it would make sense to move where you want to live rather than where the schools are supposedly good. And he bought in June after school decisions were in place.
(2) You can absolutely change schools as a safety transfer—. These happen all the time. Except that under Wilson’s policy established in June 2017, no DC official can receive a discretionary transfer. Here’s the policy https://dcps.dc.gov/sites/default/files/dc/sites/dcps/publication/attachments/Discretionary%20Out-of-Boundary%20Transfers%20Policy.pdf

His kid was probably being bullied and his wife was freaking out and as I would do, she was like, “Somethings gotta be done!!!” So, like Adam, the first man, he was stupid and did whatever to resolve the situation which was patently prohibited only in this situation a woman, Jenny Niles, took the fall because the Mayor is not bright, leads by inertia, and makes questionable decisions. And we’ve got a loser, weak Council oversight in Grosso.
(3) look at the Mayor’s pick for leaders and their problematic tenures: Snowden and Rashad Young, the City Administrator who got the first favors. Recall how Christopher Weaver was forced out of DGS by Bowser and Young for not awarding campaign contracts to her donors, note the ineptness of new DGS Head, Greer Johnson Gillis; recall the hiring and dismissal of the former head of St Elizabeth’s hospital; and the recent scandal involving the ouster at BEGA. People this has a lot more screwed up than just the schools—I could name other agencies but that would out me. You should be very afraid and seriously question this mayor’s leadership. The problem is someone needs to run against her and so far no one has stepped up.

Yes. You are far behind. Like others have pointed out, if it was a safety transfer then Niles would not have been forced to resigned because a safety transfer would not be politically damaging to the mayor and chancellor.

If you read the rule at the link I posted you will see that a DC official cannot request a move for any reason. A non DC official could have gotten a safety transfer. Furthermore, kids can be bullied at any school. Just because it is Ellington does not mean the kid could not have been bullied. And I can imagine her being the chancellor’s daughter may have made her an attractive target. No one knows what it was about at the end of the day. But it is NOT beyond reason to think it was bullying. Ian any event, he broke the rules as they relate tonDC officials.

So if rules governing transfers for DC govt officials are even more restrictive than those for regular residents, why would he put his family in a position of buying in a school zone he is not willing to attend with three children? As the chancellor!!

These are the rules *he* put into place. The new discretionary transfer policy not allowing government officials a transfer was put into place to make up for Henderson’s screw up.

According to the article here https://wamu.org/story/17/07/13/d-c-schools-chancellor-ends-discretionary-transfers-city-officials-kids/ what he put in place was far more restrictive than what the Mayor initially ordered. He could have put in something less restrictive if he'd wanted to.

[Anonymous]

If they'd talked to anybody in Oakland before they hired him, this might not have been such a surprise. He was controversial there. This letter to the editor and the article linked are an example.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/the-irresponsible-legacy-of-the-dc-schools-chancellor/2017/11/24/1b17bdae-d0bb-11e7-a87b-47f14b73162a_story.html?utm_term=.5be46620d496

[Anonymous]

>>>>These are the rules *he* put into place. The new discretionary transfer policy not allowing government officials a transfer was put into place to make up for Henderson’s screw up.

Yes. Bowser clearly still wanted some loopholes for plausible excuses cronies and to make sure that people already in place like Snowden could have an excuse to stay grandfathered in.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So where are the members of the Council?

Grosso stopped short of saying he had to resign and criticized Patterson for calling for resignation
Trayvon White says he supports the chancellor
Robert White - resign
Silverman seems to be leaning toward resignation / talking to constituents

Cheh ?
Todd ?
Mendelsohn ?
Nadeau?
Gray?
Others ?

Grosses criticism of the auditor is misplaced and pathetic.

I sincerely question Grosso's competence to lead with his passive aggressive "HMMM...I'm just questioning...I'm just playing the devil's advocate here."

People should point and laugh at him for pulling a shitty stunt like that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Another possibility Wilson wanted to leave Ellington is that the academics are hardly better than any other non-Wilson, non-Banneker DCPS school. Simply because it's excellent for arts does not mean that the students are learning a g-d thing. Like any well-educated parent, he probably wanted a supporting environment for his child's education.

"Like any well-educated parent," he had the ability to do research on the various DCPS schools before enrolling his child in one of them. There is no one in a better position to gauge the situation at the school before enrolling his child than the incoming Chancellor.

So, no, don't try to drag Duke Ellington down to build Antwan Wilson up. That's not going to fly.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Another possibility Wilson wanted to leave Ellington is that the academics are hardly better than any other non-Wilson, non-Banneker DCPS school. Simply because it's excellent for arts does not mean that the students are learning a g-d thing. Like any well-educated parent, he probably wanted a supporting environment for his child's education.

I don't see that as a reason for bugging out after a couple of weeks. Maybe not re-enrolling, or maybe after a semester.

+1 All schools spend the first weeks reviewing and assessing where students are and reviewing prior level fundamentals. One of my kids' Big 3 private started this way and our MS student (new to the school) found it tedious. Same with our older student at her new religous-focused private. And at our DCPS ES, those first weeks are all I-Ready and SRI assessments, developing classroom rules and expectation, filling out forms for extracurriculars. Our oldest had a complete culture shock into her new school and came home in tears sobbing after getting on the bus at 7:05 and walking in the front door at 4:45, missing her friends and the familiarity of her former academic structure. It was hard and as her parents, we sympathized and comforted, but she stuck it out, made a few fast friends and by the end of September she had hit her stride and by the end of the calendar year was taking a leadership role among her peers. Did we consider transferring her out? Not for a minute. You always learn with your oldest, and perhaps the Wilson family should have stuck it out at least through the first quarter.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:On Twitter yesterday, Grosso questioned Kathy Patterson's continued suitability for her position for saying Wilson has to go.


https://twitter.com/cmdgrosso/status/964977066507685888

And some guy named Jeff is first in line calling him on it. Nicely done.

[Anonymous]

Honestly, how can someone remain Chancellor when they won't even send their own kid to their IB school? Or ANY DCPS school? The Chancellor is homeshooling to avoid DCPS? It is untenable.

[Anonymous]

Dude should have stayed in Oakland. Oh wait they fired him.

[Anonymous]

I think this could have blown over if Niles had not been fired AND the original message when this broke included information that Wilson's daughter would not stay at Wilson along with a simple, direct apology from Wilson himself.

Firing Niles and keeping Wilson is just so strange that you wonder what Bowser is thinking. I would not trust her to manage an ice cream stand.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think this could have blown over if Niles had not been fired AND the original message when this broke included information that Wilson's daughter would not stay at Wilson along with a simple, direct apology from Wilson himself.

Firing Niles and keeping Wilson is just so strange that you wonder what Bowser is thinking. I would not trust her to manage an ice cream stand.

Really? I think she had no choice given the situation. Absolutely this would not have blown over.

[Anonymous]

It is absolutely not logical to fire Niles for succumbing to pressure from the Chancellor to break the rules, but not also fire the same guy who made the rules in the first place.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It is absolutely not logical to fire Niles for succumbing to pressure from the Chancellor to break the rules, but not also fire the same guy who made the rules in the first place.

Niles is a deputy mayor, is a top lieutenant for Bowser. Enabling Wilson to break the rules was wrong on its face AND created a political problem for the mayor. Niles had to go.

Add to it that she didn’t catch the attendance scandal and oversaw all the Kaya era special placements - the mayor had enough.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It is absolutely not logical to fire Niles for succumbing to pressure from the Chancellor to break the rules, but not also fire the same guy who made the rules in the first place.

Niles is a deputy mayor, is a top lieutenant for Bowser. Enabling Wilson to break the rules was wrong on its face AND created a political problem for the mayor. Niles had to go.

Add to it that she didn’t catch the attendance scandal and oversaw all the Kaya era special placements - the mayor had enough.

There's just no applicable standard where you can fire one and not the other other than "I want this to blow over and don't want to admit I effed up a major hire and have done nothing towards what I campaigned on."