School Design and White Families

[Anonymous]

The article on Washington Latin and related issues mentions a very important point about "diversity" in DC: White students are highly concentrated:
White students, who made up 12 percent of traditional school students and 5 percent of those in charter schools, were concentrated in a relatively small number of schools: at 10 traditional schools and two charter schools, more than half of students were white. and
Less explicitly - white students are highly in demand. The article posits, like most of us do, the damaging effects of racial isolation and the benefits of diversity. In a city with such a strong majority of low-income African-American students and small minority of white, high-income families, there are only some schools that are getting that diversity.

DCPS has recently established a new middle school, is on the hook to do another one and is redoing 2, maybe 3? high schools. Charters keep popping up that are oriented toward the school yearnings of "diverse" families with the belief that serving "diverse" families well would serve "everyone" well. Let's be honest and explicit - if these schools do enough to attract white (and more broadly, "majority-culture-assimilated") families, they will be seen as successful.

So - what do you think white families are shopping for? What have the schools they attend shown about their preferences?

It seems clear white families want other white families in their schools and are only willing to send their children so far from their segregated enclaves. There is a hard chicken and egg logic to this, but it's not just this.

It doesn't seem like the academic offerings have to fit a cookie cutter like IB, though that's out there - the offerings just need to make parents think their child is taking courses at a nationwide grade level or "advanced" classes rather than being stuck in "mainstream" or "remedial" courses. This seems straightforward, but look at the NAEP and PARCC disparities across backgrounds and you'll see that what "first-time" 9th graders realistically need to progress toward graduation are probably not the things that most white students are set to tackle at the same point in their educations.

Can we really get more schools or new schools with truly integrated student bodies with joint classes and students that are the same age and moving at the same speed?

I feel like DCUM can write a lot of snark or BS about this, BUT the folks here are some of the most capable of answering these questions realistically. We are black and white, Hispanic, Asian, and all/none-of-the-above people who are opinionated, educated, thoughtful parents who are participating in DCPS and DCPCS, see the real problems, and want the system to improve.

What do you all think?

What can be done to design schools to bring in white families to schools that are not just "for" white families?

[Anonymous]

tl;dr

Dafuq, do you want to hear?

[Anonymous]

And middle class/upper class black and other ethnicity families which I think you would find represented in these schools and not in Ward8.

[Anonymous]

We were honestly attracted to Latin for the classics program and inspiring teachers . That's frankly unique. Our child class had very few white families - maybe five by graduation - fwiw.

[Anonymous]

Here are a few ideas:

1. Strong girls sports, such as soccer, swimming, softball, and volleyball, not just basketball and bowling (seriously, this is offered in DCPS)

2. English/literature classes that don't JUST focus on authors of color, which must be the new way to supposedly get students of color to read. However,an sole focus on this can become off-putting to white students, as they are always in a bad light. There should be a variety of books read and discussed.

3. No social promotion in any grade. Nothing like accountability to get all students up to speed.

4. Foreign language classes daily.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The article on Washington Latin and related issues mentions a very important point about "diversity" in DC: White students are highly concentrated:
White students, who made up 12 percent of traditional school students and 5 percent of those in charter schools, were concentrated in a relatively small number of schools: at 10 traditional schools and two charter schools, more than half of students were white. and
Less explicitly - white students are highly in demand. The article posits, like most of us do, the damaging effects of racial isolation and the benefits of diversity. In a city with such a strong majority of low-income African-American students and small minority of white, high-income families, there are only some schools that are getting that diversity.

DCPS has recently established a new middle school, is on the hook to do another one and is redoing 2, maybe 3? high schools. Charters keep popping up that are oriented toward the school yearnings of "diverse" families with the belief that serving "diverse" families well would serve "everyone" well. Let's be honest and explicit - if these schools do enough to attract white (and more broadly, "majority-culture-assimilated") families, they will be seen as successful.

So - what do you think white families are shopping for? What have the schools they attend shown about their preferences?

It seems clear white families want other white families in their schools and are only willing to send their children so far from their segregated enclaves. There is a hard chicken and egg logic to this, but it's not just this.

It doesn't seem like the academic offerings have to fit a cookie cutter like IB, though that's out there - the offerings just need to make parents think their child is taking courses at a nationwide grade level or "advanced" classes rather than being stuck in "mainstream" or "remedial" courses. This seems straightforward, but look at the NAEP and PARCC disparities across backgrounds and you'll see that what "first-time" 9th graders realistically need to progress toward graduation are probably not the things that most white students are set to tackle at the same point in their educations.

Can we really get more schools or new schools with truly integrated student bodies with joint classes and students that are the same age and moving at the same speed?

I feel like DCUM can write a lot of snark or BS about this, BUT the folks here are some of the most capable of answering these questions realistically. We are black and white, Hispanic, Asian, and all/none-of-the-above people who are opinionated, educated, thoughtful parents who are participating in DCPS and DCPCS, see the real problems, and want the system to improve.

What do you all think?

What can be done to design schools to bring in white families to schools that are not just "for" white families?

no, white families want their kids around other committed children who come from stable, middle to high SES families. Im DC that correlates with race.

[Anonymous]

We need to be able to have a frank discussion of race. There's too much crap from all directions to be able to do that, so I don't think much is going to change very quickly.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The article on Washington Latin and related issues mentions a very important point about "diversity" in DC: White students are highly concentrated:
White students, who made up 12 percent of traditional school students and 5 percent of those in charter schools, were concentrated in a relatively small number of schools: at 10 traditional schools and two charter schools, more than half of students were white. and
Less explicitly - white students are highly in demand. The article posits, like most of us do, the damaging effects of racial isolation and the benefits of diversity. In a city with such a strong majority of low-income African-American students and small minority of white, high-income families, there are only some schools that are getting that diversity.

DCPS has recently established a new middle school, is on the hook to do another one and is redoing 2, maybe 3? high schools. Charters keep popping up that are oriented toward the school yearnings of "diverse" families with the belief that serving "diverse" families well would serve "everyone" well. Let's be honest and explicit - if these schools do enough to attract white (and more broadly, "majority-culture-assimilated") families, they will be seen as successful.

So - what do you think white families are shopping for? What have the schools they attend shown about their preferences?

It seems clear white families want other white families in their schools and are only willing to send their children so far from their segregated enclaves. There is a hard chicken and egg logic to this, but it's not just this.

It doesn't seem like the academic offerings have to fit a cookie cutter like IB, though that's out there - the offerings just need to make parents think their child is taking courses at a nationwide grade level or "advanced" classes rather than being stuck in "mainstream" or "remedial" courses. This seems straightforward, but look at the NAEP and PARCC disparities across backgrounds and you'll see that what "first-time" 9th graders realistically need to progress toward graduation are probably not the things that most white students are set to tackle at the same point in their educations.

Can we really get more schools or new schools with truly integrated student bodies with joint classes and students that are the same age and moving at the same speed?

I feel like DCUM can write a lot of snark or BS about this, BUT the folks here are some of the most capable of answering these questions realistically. We are black and white, Hispanic, Asian, and all/none-of-the-above people who are opinionated, educated, thoughtful parents who are participating in DCPS and DCPCS, see the real problems, and want the system to improve.

What do you all think?

What can be done to design schools to bring in white families to schools that are not just "for" white families?

no, white families want their kids around other committed children who come from stable, middle to high SES families. Im DC that correlates with race.

Yes. One important reason is that I want my kids to go beyond the basics. I welcome corrections from people with direct experience, but my impression is that some of the high performing schools with high low SES populations (such as KIPP) need to spend a lot of time and effort on reading and writing basics, whereas many kids from higher SES homes get much of that learning outside of the formal classroom setting. (Please note my many qualifiers; I know there are exceptions all over the place.) Therefore they have less time for deeper subject matter exploration, essay and fiction writing, etc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Here are a few ideas:

1. Strong girls sports, such as soccer, swimming, softball, and volleyball, not just basketball and bowling (seriously, this is offered in DCPS)

2. English/literature classes that don't JUST focus on authors of color, which must be the new way to supposedly get students of color to read. However,an sole focus on this can become off-putting to white students, as they are always in a bad light. There should be a variety of books read and discussed.

3. No social promotion in any grade. Nothing like accountability to get all students up to speed.

4. Foreign language classes daily.

Very good ideas...

[Anonymous]

My child is one of two white kids in her class at a charter school. She is doing well and is happy. That's all I care about.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Here are a few ideas:

1. Strong girls sports, such as soccer, swimming, softball, and volleyball, not just basketball and bowling (seriously, this is offered in DCPS)

2. English/literature classes that don't JUST focus on authors of color, which must be the new way to supposedly get students of color to read. However,an sole focus on this can become off-putting to white students, as they are always in a bad light. There should be a variety of books read and discussed.

3. No social promotion in any grade. Nothing like accountability to get all students up to speed.

4. Foreign language classes daily.

Very good ideas...

+1 . In general, a very strong focus on academic preparation and accountability for bad behavior.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Here are a few ideas:

1. Strong girls sports, such as soccer, swimming, softball, and volleyball, not just basketball and bowling (seriously, this is offered in DCPS)

2. English/literature classes that don't JUST focus on authors of color, which must be the new way to supposedly get students of color to read. However,an sole focus on this can become off-putting to white students, as they are always in a bad light. There should be a variety of books read and discussed.

3. No social promotion in any grade. Nothing like accountability to get all students up to speed.

4. Foreign language classes daily.

I wanted to speak a bit to your second point.

I agree that variety is the spice of life. However, please keep in mind that it is helpful for kids to read things that they relate to. As a white parent, I am glad to see brown faces in the books my white daughter brings home. I am glad that the books she is reading in class reflect her life experiences and those of her friends. There are are more than enough books about blonde haired blue eyed girls. What books, specifically, do you believe put white students "in a bad light"? By "in a bad light" do you mean that the books address racism (a historical and contemporary reality that many students from various ethnic backgrounds experience)?

[Anonymous]

A gifted program.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

It seems clear white families want other white families in their schools and are only willing to send their children so far from their segregated enclaves. There is a hard chicken and egg logic to this, but it's not just this.

My child is at one of the charters on that chart of most diverse schools. It's not only white families who want "other white families" in their schools. Almost every middle class black and Hispanic parent I have spoken with has specifically mentioned the diversity of the school being important for their children. There's a lot of research about how richer black families live in much poorer neighborhoods than whites at the same income level. White families aren't the only ones who don't want their kids in classes dominated by children from low income homes and the problems that they bring with them (generally, of course not all).

Anonymous wrote: no, white families want their kids around other committed children who come from stable, middle to high SES families. Im DC that correlates with race.

That's actually much less true in DC than in most other big cities. DC has probably the largest number of middle and upper middle class black families of any city in the country, except maybe Atlanta. Convincing those families, who have traditionally mostly moved out of the city or gone private (discussed in another discussion) to come back to DCPS and charters would be a huge benefit for diversity of both race and income.

[Anonymous]

We want a private school education for a public school price. We want EFFECTIVE TEACHERS and administrators that support them. We want rich academic offerings including foreign language, science, history, English, advanced math, extra help in literacy and math for those who need it - because it's not just minority kids that need help sometimes! We want our kids to look forward to school, to have friends of all races that strive toward a similar goal - success and happiness in whatever form that takes. We want rich extracurriculars on campus including but not limited to sports. We want an up-to-date, inspiring facility that makes students feel cherished, not neglected. We want aftercare run by professionals with competence and love. We want a school culture that rejects violence and honors learning, encourages the students and enforces safety in school. We do NOT want teens or grown people smoking blunts, discarding liquor bottles and using the N-word, even affectionately, as our preschoolers (or any other age student) walk past them on or near school grounds. And parents that aren't screaming profanities into their cellphone or at their kids at school pickup. We want the administration to understand that if there is a shooting next door to campus and the school goes into lockdown, we want to be notified, not have the incident dismissed because the attitude is that these things happen around here all too frequently. We want to smile and feel pride and satisfaction with what our kids are getting out of the school they attend.
Would be awesome if all DC neighborhood schools offered all that, but they don't.