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

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:I remember a public meeting with him last year. We we talking about the lack of desirable HS options in our neighborhood. We are IB for Cardozo. His response: send your kids their and work with me to build the school you want. Guess that doesn’t apply to Dunbar.

No one in DCPS Central believes that for their own kids. But yes, they'll preach it to you. Also, most of them live in the 'burbs coz they're not stupid.

So true, I used to work in DCPS central office most people live in VA or MD burbs. They see and know first hand of DCPS's foolery. For those that don't live in the burbs they go to private school.

Disagree. There are some Central Office staff who legitimately believe in the system and choose to send their children to DCPS schools. They may be few and far between... but they exist. And they are fighting hard every day to help the system. But when the situation is so corrupt it is a constant uphill battle.

This is so not true. Many central office folk are very young and don't even have kids yet. Others only have ES age kids so they are doing DCPS elementary but let's see what they decide to do when kid hits MS age. Others who do DCPS all the way usually live in the Deal and Wilson boundary or do School without Walls. Most live in the suburbs or do private school. A handful maybe use other schools but very very few people in DCPS central use the other "more troubled" schools. Many do charter schools as well.

Why should central office folks have to be sacrificial lambs for DCPS? I want good people who are working hard to improve schools; I don't really care where their kids go to school.

Most central office folks couldn't afford schools that people on this site would be willing to send their kids to. Why should they have to send their kids to crap schools to prove their commitment? What exactly are you doing to improve the system? Just by working for dcps, they are doing a lot more than the sanctimonious armchair quarterbacks here.

They are welcome to use the lottery fairly like the rest of us, but they aren’t entitled to cheat.

For the chancellor, the optics are a bit different since he makes enough to live IB and he is less effective in the job we’re paying him to do if he doesn’t show any confidence in the schools.

I didn't say anything about them being able to cheat. They can play the lottery and, if they lose, they can choose to go to the suburbs or private - just like the rest of us. I was responding to people who said they should have to send their kids to dcps to show their commitment.

Got it. I’m fine with that for most of them but still feel the chancellor is expected to show more confidence in the system (or at least appear to by moving inbounds)

[Anonymous]

I hate to say this, but those who voted for Bowser over Catania and are outraged by education issues need to think really carefully about your next mayoral vote.

The problem with mayoral control over schools is that it assumes your mayor knows something about education. Our current mayor clearly did not when she started and doesn't seem to have picked up a lot along the way.

Insiders will tell you Wilson was hired because he is a young (inexperienced) black male (optics) "ed reformer" (private $) from way out of town (not scared of history here) who was willing to take a demoted position (Kaya was not).

If you want Wilson to resign, fine. But who would take that job who doesn't have the same profile? Not anyone older, female, non-black, non-Broad, east coast big city.

Niles was right to get out. Mayoral control is a no-win situation when the mayor can't make a decent education hire.

The only thing Wilson brought that hadn't been done here was a WTU teacher contract. He might be able to gain trust that he won't personally mess up, there's no way he can gain enough credibility to get his contract renewed.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:I remember a public meeting with him last year. We we talking about the lack of desirable HS options in our neighborhood. We are IB for Cardozo. His response: send your kids their and work with me to build the school you want. Guess that doesn’t apply to Dunbar.

No one in DCPS Central believes that for their own kids. But yes, they'll preach it to you. Also, most of them live in the 'burbs coz they're not stupid.

So true, I used to work in DCPS central office most people live in VA or MD burbs. They see and know first hand of DCPS's foolery. For those that don't live in the burbs they go to private school.

Disagree. There are some Central Office staff who legitimately believe in the system and choose to send their children to DCPS schools. They may be few and far between... but they exist. And they are fighting hard every day to help the system. But when the situation is so corrupt it is a constant uphill battle.

This is so not true. Many central office folk are very young and don't even have kids yet. Others only have ES age kids so they are doing DCPS elementary but let's see what they decide to do when kid hits MS age. Others who do DCPS all the way usually live in the Deal and Wilson boundary or do School without Walls. Most live in the suburbs or do private school. A handful maybe use other schools but very very few people in DCPS central use the other "more troubled" schools. Many do charter schools as well.

Why should central office folks have to be sacrificial lambs for DCPS? I want good people who are working hard to improve schools; I don't really care where their kids go to school.

Most central office folks couldn't afford schools that people on this site would be willing to send their kids to. Why should they have to send their kids to crap schools to prove their commitment? What exactly are you doing to improve the system? Just by working for dcps, they are doing a lot more than the sanctimonious armchair quarterbacks here.

They are welcome to use the lottery fairly like the rest of us, but they aren’t entitled to cheat.

For the chancellor, the optics are a bit different since he makes enough to live IB and he is less effective in the job we’re paying him to do if he doesn’t show any confidence in the schools.

I didn't say anything about them being able to cheat. They can play the lottery and, if they lose, they can choose to go to the suburbs or private - just like the rest of us. I was responding to people who said they should have to send their kids to dcps to show their commitment.

Got it. I’m fine with that for most of them but still feel the chancellor is expected to show more confidence in the system (or at least appear to by moving inbounds)

I agree the chancellor is different, in part because he makes enough to afford a decent IB. That's harder for most front office.

[Anonymous]

[quote=Anonymous]I hate to say this, but those who voted for Bowser over Catania and are outraged by education issues need to think really carefully about your next mayoral vote.

The problem with mayoral control over schools is that it assumes your mayor knows something about education. Our current mayor clearly did not when she started and doesn't seem to have picked up a lot along the way.

Insiders will tell you Wilson was hired because he is a young (inexperienced) black male (optics) "ed reformer" (private $) from way out of town (not scared of history here) who was willing to take a demoted position (Kaya was not).

If you want Wilson to resign, fine. But who would take that job who doesn't have the same profile? Not anyone older, female, non-black, non-Broad, east coast big city.

Niles was right to get out. Mayoral control is a no-win situation when the mayor can't make a decent education hire.

The only thing Wilson brought that hadn't been done here was a WTU teacher contract. He might be able to gain trust that he won't personally mess up, there's no way he can gain enough credibility to get his contract renewed. [/quote]

The point is that even if the next one has to check those same boxes, most of us would still prefer to try whoever’s next versus keeping one who cheated. The next on could just as likely be better as worse. No one is claiming Antwan set a high bar.

[Anonymous]

He keeps talking about all students need to feel loved in schools. Really?
I don't particularly care if my kids are loved. Just make schools a friendly environment and make sure my kids actually learn something.
Is that too much too ask Chancellor Wilson? My kids have a mix of teachers right now and some are pretty darn incompetent.
Why is he always defending IMPACT when I have never heard a good teacher say they like it and it does not seem to get rid of the bad ones?

I don't care if the new Chancellor is black, white, asian or mixed race. Just hire someone competent who actually knows what they are doing.
Academic standards need to be raised all over the city. That will help all kids, poor and well-off, white and AA.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I remember a public meeting with him last year. We we talking about the lack of desirable HS options in our neighborhood. We are IB for Cardozo. His response: send your kids their and work with me to build the school you want. Guess that doesn’t apply to Dunbar.

No one in DCPS Central believes that for their own kids. But yes, they'll preach it to you. Also, most of them live in the 'burbs coz they're not stupid.

So true, I used to work in DCPS central office most people live in VA or MD burbs. They see and know first hand of DCPS's foolery. For those that don't live in the burbs they go to private school.

Disagree. There are some Central Office staff who legitimately believe in the system and choose to send their children to DCPS schools. They may be few and far between... but they exist. And they are fighting hard every day to help the system. But when the situation is so corrupt it is a constant uphill battle.

This is so not true. Many central office folk are very young and don't even have kids yet. Others only have ES age kids so they are doing DCPS elementary but let's see what they decide to do when kid hits MS age. Others who do DCPS all the way usually live in the Deal and Wilson boundary or do School without Walls. Most live in the suburbs or do private school. A handful maybe use other schools but very very few people in DCPS central use the other "more troubled" schools. Many do charter schools as well.

Why should central office folks have to be sacrificial lambs for DCPS? I want good people who are working hard to improve schools; I don't really care where their kids go to school.

Most central office folks couldn't afford schools that people on this site would be willing to send their kids to. Why should they have to send their kids to crap schools to prove their commitment? What exactly are you doing to improve the system? Just by working for dcps, they are doing a lot more than the sanctimonious armchair quarterbacks here.

What you are saying would make sense if central office folk were actually somewhat competent. But many of them don't know anything about education and are not very smart and on top of everything they are very careful not to use their own kids as guinea pigs. Last year, after the Ballou story of all the kids going to college, I remember one of the top DCPS people saying on the news how amazing Ballou is and how much progress has been made with all DCPS schools and some of them including Ballou and Phelps are just fantastic. Well, if they are that amazing, let's see you send your own kids there.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I remember a public meeting with him last year. We we talking about the lack of desirable HS options in our neighborhood. We are IB for Cardozo. His response: send your kids their and work with me to build the school you want. Guess that doesn’t apply to Dunbar.

No one in DCPS Central believes that for their own kids. But yes, they'll preach it to you. Also, most of them live in the 'burbs coz they're not stupid.

So true, I used to work in DCPS central office most people live in VA or MD burbs. They see and know first hand of DCPS's foolery. For those that don't live in the burbs they go to private school.

Disagree. There are some Central Office staff who legitimately believe in the system and choose to send their children to DCPS schools. They may be few and far between... but they exist. And they are fighting hard every day to help the system. But when the situation is so corrupt it is a constant uphill battle.

This is so not true. Many central office folk are very young and don't even have kids yet. Others only have ES age kids so they are doing DCPS elementary but let's see what they decide to do when kid hits MS age. Others who do DCPS all the way usually live in the Deal and Wilson boundary or do School without Walls. Most live in the suburbs or do private school. A handful maybe use other schools but very very few people in DCPS central use the other "more troubled" schools. Many do charter schools as well.

Why should central office folks have to be sacrificial lambs for DCPS? I want good people who are working hard to improve schools; I don't really care where their kids go to school.

Most central office folks couldn't afford schools that people on this site would be willing to send their kids to. Why should they have to send their kids to crap schools to prove their commitment? What exactly are you doing to improve the system? Just by working for dcps, they are doing a lot more than the sanctimonious armchair quarterbacks here.

What you are saying would make sense if central office folk were actually somewhat competent. But many of them don't know anything about education and are not very smart and on top of everything they are very careful not to use their own kids as guinea pigs. Last year, after the Ballou story of all the kids going to college, I remember one of the top DCPS people saying on the news how amazing Ballou is and how much progress has been made with all DCPS schools and some of them including Ballou and Phelps are just fantastic. Well, if they are that amazing, let's see you send your own kids there.

But whether they are competent is an entirely separate issue. If they aren't competent, they should be replaced for that reason, regardless of where their kids go to school. They don't become any more or less competent if their kids use dcps or not.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I remember a public meeting with him last year. We we talking about the lack of desirable HS options in our neighborhood. We are IB for Cardozo. His response: send your kids their and work with me to build the school you want. Guess that doesn’t apply to Dunbar.

No one in DCPS Central believes that for their own kids. But yes, they'll preach it to you. Also, most of them live in the 'burbs coz they're not stupid.

So true, I used to work in DCPS central office most people live in VA or MD burbs. They see and know first hand of DCPS's foolery. For those that don't live in the burbs they go to private school.

Disagree. There are some Central Office staff who legitimately believe in the system and choose to send their children to DCPS schools. They may be few and far between... but they exist. And they are fighting hard every day to help the system. But when the situation is so corrupt it is a constant uphill battle.

This is so not true. Many central office folk are very young and don't even have kids yet. Others only have ES age kids so they are doing DCPS elementary but let's see what they decide to do when kid hits MS age. Others who do DCPS all the way usually live in the Deal and Wilson boundary or do School without Walls. Most live in the suburbs or do private school. A handful maybe use other schools but very very few people in DCPS central use the other "more troubled" schools. Many do charter schools as well.

Why should central office folks have to be sacrificial lambs for DCPS? I want good people who are working hard to improve schools; I don't really care where their kids go to school.

Most central office folks couldn't afford schools that people on this site would be willing to send their kids to. Why should they have to send their kids to crap schools to prove their commitment? What exactly are you doing to improve the system? Just by working for dcps, they are doing a lot more than the sanctimonious armchair quarterbacks here.

Hello DCPS employee. You should practice what you preach and understand what the public is experiencing. You do that by partaking in the very system that employs you, as a true civil servant and not a self servant. Only when you experience what's happening to others will you know and fix what's wrong - because you actually have a vested self interest! Otherwise you're just here collecting a paycheck.

PS - Don't tell us you can't afford to live in the city; there's a neighborhood here for every salary.

[Anonymous]

Everyone knows that if you are in DCPS and your kid is a good student you want your kid to go to Banneker or School Without Walls; then you are like, okay...Mckinley Tech, then you're like, oh no, Wilson... After that there are NO High schools in DCPS worth sending your kid to unless you want them to suffer through sex, violence, drugs and mayhem. Then, you end up with maybe the top 3 students in the school who wouldn't even pull a C in the other top schools and maybe even a D in a Fairfax or Loudon School and an F at any premier private school. NONE of the charter schools are worth a damn, but DCI is trying to be something.... Face it, the school system is JACKED up, and there is nothing you can do to change it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The only reason to even consider not firing him would be if he had shown flashes of potential to be a great leader for DCPS. I don’t hear anyone putting that out there.

Without him distinguishing himself otherwise, DCPS should just roll the dice on whoever’s next while claiming the tangible benefit of demonstrating that cheating by insiders will not be tolerated.

TBF, he is great at photo ops

He must have spent at least half his time on the job doing this

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:CM Allen calls for Wilson to step aside.



On Friday evening, I issued a statement outlining my profound disappointment in learning of Chancellor Wilson’s actions, including how they broke my trust as a DCPS parent. While every parent wants what is best for his or her child, not every parent is also trusted to run our public school system.

Over the weekend, I have talked with and heard from Ward 6 parents and neighbors who are frustrated, angry, and have lost confidence in the Chancellor. However, before making any public decision regarding my thoughts for his future, I wanted to have the opportunity to speak with Chancellor Wilson directly. We spoke for nearly an hour early Sunday evening, and while I appreciate his candor, I have come to an opinion that I don’t take lightly.

To be highly effective as Chancellor, I believe that an individual needs both the vision and skills to lead the school system, and the trust and faith of the parents and families of the students enrolled. While I believe that Chancellor Wilson had demonstrated skill in leading DCPS, I also believe that he has lost -- and will be unable to regain -- the trust of so many parents that is vital to the success of DC Public Schools. Without that public trust, any Chancellor will be unable to advance a vision.

Therefore, I believe it is in the best interest of the District and DC Public Schools that Chancellor Wilson step aside and that Mayor Bowser outline a transition plan and strategy to rebuild parent and community trust as we continue to work together to improve our public schools.

Thank you to all of the parents and neighbors that reached out to me over the last several days, and I'd be happy to hear more of your thoughts and share more of my own.

Charles Allen

Very nice! CM Allen should run for Mayor!

[Anonymous]

Even Ashley carter saying he should resign!

[jsteele]

Anonymous wrote:Even Ashley carter saying he should resign!

You may want to confirm that it wasn't her intern saying that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I remember a public meeting with him last year. We we talking about the lack of desirable HS options in our neighborhood. We are IB for Cardozo. His response: send your kids their and work with me to build the school you want. Guess that doesn’t apply to Dunbar.

No one in DCPS Central believes that for their own kids. But yes, they'll preach it to you. Also, most of them live in the 'burbs coz they're not stupid.

So true, I used to work in DCPS central office most people live in VA or MD burbs. They see and know first hand of DCPS's foolery. For those that don't live in the burbs they go to private school.

Disagree. There are some Central Office staff who legitimately believe in the system and choose to send their children to DCPS schools. They may be few and far between... but they exist. And they are fighting hard every day to help the system. But when the situation is so corrupt it is a constant uphill battle.

This is so not true. Many central office folk are very young and don't even have kids yet. Others only have ES age kids so they are doing DCPS elementary but let's see what they decide to do when kid hits MS age. Others who do DCPS all the way usually live in the Deal and Wilson boundary or do School without Walls. Most live in the suburbs or do private school. A handful maybe use other schools but very very few people in DCPS central use the other "more troubled" schools. Many do charter schools as well.

Why should central office folks have to be sacrificial lambs for DCPS? I want good people who are working hard to improve schools; I don't really care where their kids go to school.

Most central office folks couldn't afford schools that people on this site would be willing to send their kids to. Why should they have to send their kids to crap schools to prove their commitment? What exactly are you doing to improve the system? Just by working for dcps, they are doing a lot more than the sanctimonious armchair quarterbacks here.

Hello DCPS employee. You should practice what you preach and understand what the public is experiencing. You do that by partaking in the very system that employs you, as a true civil servant and not a self servant. Only when you experience what's happening to others will you know and fix what's wrong - because you actually have a vested self interest! Otherwise you're just here collecting a paycheck.

PS - Don't tell us you can't afford to live in the city; there's a neighborhood here for every salary.

I am not a DCPS employee. I am just annoyed at self-righteous hypocrites like yourself.

You would never send your kids to the schools were it is true that "there is a neighborhood for every salary." In order to be a "true civil servant," they have to subject themselves to schools that you would never consider? They are collecting a paycheck for doing their jobs trying to improve the system; their paycheck doesn't require them to sacrifice their kids to prove to you that they are sufficiently devoted to the cause. They know what is happening in the schools which is why it is not unreasonable for them to choose to live in MD/VA if they can't afford the type of DC neighborhood where schools are usable.

More importantly, what the hell are you doing to improve DCPS? DCPS employees devote their professional careers to this (well, to that and 2-hour coffee breaks, but that is a separate issue); I bet you aren't doing much more than agitating on DCUM.

If you were to say that all DCPS employees had to send their kids to DCPS, you would likely drive out most of the better DCPS employees who could readily find other employment and who were most concerned about the quality of their kids education. That wouldn't actually do anything to help your kids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Pretty arrogant to think I'm going to live where I want and my kids will go to school where ever I want.
How did his daughter even get to Duke Ellington or Wilson from Langley neighborhood? It is not easy.
I know he has a DC issued driver and SUV. I wonder if that is how she went to school and back.

Maybe the same way Charter parents or EOTR parents do it everyday.

This. 2/3 or Brookland’s residents send their kids OoB or
charter. He was simply following his neighbors

His neighbors played by the lottery rules. How can someone be so dense to not grasp this?