Poll for Teachers. Your top 5 reasons for metro D.C poor performing schools.

[Anonymous]

Love to hear from teachers. What are your top 5 reasons many metro D.C. schools are underperforming for so many years or have you noticed improvements?

State how many years you've been a teacher and whether it's Elementary, Middle or High School.

Parents you can share your opinion but remember to be fair and objective. You are not with the students as much as teachers.

I'm just trying to understand if this is a funding issue ( will more money fix the problem): a poor leadership issue( school level, city or state level) or it's a political issue( doesn't it matter if it's a democratic vs republican city or state) or it's a socioeconomic issue ( the rich want to stay away from the poor).

Thank you for your responses!

[Anonymous]

Not a teacher but cannot refrain from voting...although there may be some exceptions the "rule" is your last point.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Love to hear from teachers. What are your top 5 reasons many metro D.C. schools are underperforming for so many years or have you noticed improvements?

State how many years you've been a teacher and whether it's Elementary, Middle or High School.

Parents you can share your opinion but remember to be fair and objective. You are not with the students as much as teachers.

I'm just trying to understand if this is a funding issue ( will more money fix the problem): a poor leadership issue( school level, city or state level) or it's a political issue( doesn't it matter if it's a democratic vs republican city or state) or it's a socioeconomic issue ( the rich want to stay away from the poor).

Thank you for your responses!

It's a low SES issue/failure of parents to prepare their children for school issue

DC has over 70% poverty in schoolage population

When you have a school with over 40% poverty there are going to be major problems. The only schools in DC that don't suck have less than 40% poverty. PS this is true in Montgomery County Fairfax County, Arlington etc

School performance is directly related to SES

[Anonymous]

Education professor / researcher.

It's a combination of families with little social capital & politics, exacerbated by a brain drain in teaching.

[Anonymous]

It is not only poverty but the culture of poverty. I teach in a high FARMS school (not in DC). I think we are appr. 95% FARMS. Even if we gave money to the parents of the students, it probably wouldn't make a difference academically. Most years, 90% of my students have cars in their family. They never seem to go anywhere except stores and restaurants. Going on a field trip for them is eye opening. They could be visiting another planet for all they know. My students' parents believe that education happens in school. No matter how much we do to get parents to be involved (directly or indirectly) in their child's education, our efforts are mostly for naught. The only thing that gets parents into school is giveaways mostly in the form of gift cards. These students who qualify for free lunch sure do seem to have plenty of money for luxuries like cell phones (often newer versions than my own), electronics in the home like tablets, X-Box, etc. These same students often don't bring in school supplies. It is very frustrating to understand this culture when you don't come from it. But those who come from this culture don't go to college. We tout college and career readiness but I don't even know if college is what these families want for their kids. Some families in this neighborhood won't allow their high schoolers to go to magnet schools b/c the local high school is where they went and they turned out fine. Meanwhile, the local high school is near the bottom of our district. There are many fights and daily violence there. I want the best for my kids but many of the parents here seem to think the local option is good enough. Poverty is very concentrated where my school so too much poverty places a huge stress on the teachers, etc. I guess that is a districting/zoning issue. Attendance is an issue with kids not coming to school for reasons I used to laugh at when I first started here. Kids wouldn't come because 1) they overslept 2) it was raining/snowing, cold 3) their mom said they could stay home. All of our students live within walking distance except for special ed students who take a bus. None of our students go hungry (all get free breakfast and lunch and many get free dinner). We make sure all students have coats, backpacks, dental care, gloves, etc etc. I feel like the more we do, the more we are expected to do. I wish some of these students could be spread out into schools so they aren't all concentrated in one. Maybe if there were, they might meet kids who have plans for the future that involves higher education. I don't know if the solution is just one thing but I know that the teachers are tired and we just started. Back to planning.

[Anonymous]

+1. Excellent response. I have spent my career in a similar school and see the same things. I also think staff overturn can contribute. It's an exhausting situation for teachers and many leave after just a few years. A consistent, long-term, supportive administrator can help combat that, to some extent.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It is not only poverty but the culture of poverty. I teach in a high FARMS school (not in DC). I think we are appr. 95% FARMS. Even if we gave money to the parents of the students, it probably wouldn't make a difference academically. Most years, 90% of my students have cars in their family. They never seem to go anywhere except stores and restaurants. Going on a field trip for them is eye opening. They could be visiting another planet for all they know. My students' parents believe that education happens in school. No matter how much we do to get parents to be involved (directly or indirectly) in their child's education, our efforts are mostly for naught. The only thing that gets parents into school is giveaways mostly in the form of gift cards. These students who qualify for free lunch sure do seem to have plenty of money for luxuries like cell phones (often newer versions than my own), electronics in the home like tablets, X-Box, etc. These same students often don't bring in school supplies. It is very frustrating to understand this culture when you don't come from it. But those who come from this culture don't go to college. We tout college and career readiness but I don't even know if college is what these families want for their kids. Some families in this neighborhood won't allow their high schoolers to go to magnet schools b/c the local high school is where they went and they turned out fine. Meanwhile, the local high school is near the bottom of our district. There are many fights and daily violence there. I want the best for my kids but many of the parents here seem to think the local option is good enough. Poverty is very concentrated where my school so too much poverty places a huge stress on the teachers, etc. I guess that is a districting/zoning issue. Attendance is an issue with kids not coming to school for reasons I used to laugh at when I first started here. Kids wouldn't come because 1) they overslept 2) it was raining/snowing, cold 3) their mom said they could stay home. All of our students live within walking distance except for special ed students who take a bus. None of our students go hungry (all get free breakfast and lunch and many get free dinner). We make sure all students have coats, backpacks, dental care, gloves, etc etc. I feel like the more we do, the more we are expected to do. I wish some of these students could be spread out into schools so they aren't all concentrated in one. Maybe if there were, they might meet kids who have plans for the future that involves higher education. I don't know if the solution is just one thing but I know that the teachers are tired and we just started. Back to planning.

This.

[Anonymous]

They are among their peers and don't know any better. Also, when home environment is toxic, how can you expect them to be involved and do well in school. It only took my father few times to be violent to get my grades to go down.
1.) home environment
2.) school environment
3.) teachers
4.) peers
5.) don't have 5th, just pen and paper needed and a good teacher

[Anonymous]

The elephant in the room: poverty and low education level of the parents. The administrators are not willing to face it head on. The teachers are supposed to be miracle workers.

[Anonymous]

16:26 here. One of the schools in my district had a principal at a hiring fair who insisted she was only hiring teachers who were "willing to sacrifice for the students." No matter how good a teacher is, he/she cannot replace a loving parent or parent figure. I have my own kids at home and my first duty is to them. I feel like I am a very good teacher but I cannot be a parent to my students even though many of them clearly need one. In the neighboring county, "sacrificing" for the students is not a job requirement.

[Anonymous]

ECE teacher. I'd have to mull over the ranking of #2-5, but #1 without a doubt is parents who don't give a sh*t. Parents who devalue education raise kids who do the same. My school can provide all the material things you need to be a student, but we can't convince you to care.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The elephant in the room: poverty and low education level of the parents. The administrators are not willing to face it head on. The teachers are supposed to be miracle workers.

More like they can't. You can't force someone raised in generational poverty to see a way out of it. You can't make people want better for their kids. You can't make people care about education, spend money better, devote more time to their kids. They keep trying to plug the holes on their end but there HAS to be a family-community-school synergy to produce successful, motivated, high achieving (or plain old achieving) students. This is why the higher SES schools will always do better and produce better students- they have parents and communities who actively care and work WITH the school. The school CANNOT do it alone. But in places like DC, they basically have to.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Love to hear from teachers. What are your top 5 reasons many metro D.C. schools are underperforming for so many years or have you noticed improvements?

State how many years you've been a teacher and whether it's Elementary, Middle or High School.

Parents you can share your opinion but remember to be fair and objective. You are not with the students as much as teachers.

I'm just trying to understand if this is a funding issue ( will more money fix the problem): a poor leadership issue( school level, city or state level) or it's a political issue( doesn't it matter if it's a democratic vs republican city or state) or it's a socioeconomic issue ( the rich want to stay away from the poor).

Thank you for your responses!

It's a low SES issue/failure of parents to prepare their children for school issue

DC has over 70% poverty in schoolage population

When you have a school with over 40% poverty there are going to be major problems. The only schools in DC that don't suck have less than 40% poverty. PS this is true in Montgomery County Fairfax County, Arlington etc

School performance is directly related to SES

Can you be more specific? I thought universal pre-k was supposed to take care of this problem. I'm not disagreeing with you, by the way. I'm just wondering what you mean by parents not preparing their kids for school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It is not only poverty but the culture of poverty. I teach in a high FARMS school (not in DC). I think we are appr. 95% FARMS. Even if we gave money to the parents of the students, it probably wouldn't make a difference academically. Most years, 90% of my students have cars in their family. They never seem to go anywhere except stores and restaurants. Going on a field trip for them is eye opening. They could be visiting another planet for all they know. My students' parents believe that education happens in school. No matter how much we do to get parents to be involved (directly or indirectly) in their child's education, our efforts are mostly for naught. The only thing that gets parents into school is giveaways mostly in the form of gift cards. These students who qualify for free lunch sure do seem to have plenty of money for luxuries like cell phones (often newer versions than my own), electronics in the home like tablets, X-Box, etc. These same students often don't bring in school supplies. It is very frustrating to understand this culture when you don't come from it. But those who come from this culture don't go to college. We tout college and career readiness but I don't even know if college is what these families want for their kids. Some families in this neighborhood won't allow their high schoolers to go to magnet schools b/c the local high school is where they went and they turned out fine. Meanwhile, the local high school is near the bottom of our district. There are many fights and daily violence there. I want the best for my kids but many of the parents here seem to think the local option is good enough. Poverty is very concentrated where my school so too much poverty places a huge stress on the teachers, etc. I guess that is a districting/zoning issue. Attendance is an issue with kids not coming to school for reasons I used to laugh at when I first started here. Kids wouldn't come because 1) they overslept 2) it was raining/snowing, cold 3) their mom said they could stay home. All of our students live within walking distance except for special ed students who take a bus. None of our students go hungry (all get free breakfast and lunch and many get free dinner). We make sure all students have coats, backpacks, dental care, gloves, etc etc. I feel like the more we do, the more we are expected to do. I wish some of these students could be spread out into schools so they aren't all concentrated in one. Maybe if there were, they might meet kids who have plans for the future that involves higher education. I don't know if the solution is just one thing but I know that the teachers are tired and we just started. Back to planning.

This.

Yes.

But then, what's the solution?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It is not only poverty but the culture of poverty. I teach in a high FARMS school (not in DC). I think we are appr. 95% FARMS. Even if we gave money to the parents of the students, it probably wouldn't make a difference academically. Most years, 90% of my students have cars in their family. They never seem to go anywhere except stores and restaurants. Going on a field trip for them is eye opening. They could be visiting another planet for all they know. My students' parents believe that education happens in school. No matter how much we do to get parents to be involved (directly or indirectly) in their child's education, our efforts are mostly for naught. The only thing that gets parents into school is giveaways mostly in the form of gift cards. These students who qualify for free lunch sure do seem to have plenty of money for luxuries like cell phones (often newer versions than my own), electronics in the home like tablets, X-Box, etc. These same students often don't bring in school supplies. It is very frustrating to understand this culture when you don't come from it. But those who come from this culture don't go to college. We tout college and career readiness but I don't even know if college is what these families want for their kids. Some families in this neighborhood won't allow their high schoolers to go to magnet schools b/c the local high school is where they went and they turned out fine. Meanwhile, the local high school is near the bottom of our district. There are many fights and daily violence there. I want the best for my kids but many of the parents here seem to think the local option is good enough. Poverty is very concentrated where my school so too much poverty places a huge stress on the teachers, etc. I guess that is a districting/zoning issue. Attendance is an issue with kids not coming to school for reasons I used to laugh at when I first started here. Kids wouldn't come because 1) they overslept 2) it was raining/snowing, cold 3) their mom said they could stay home. All of our students live within walking distance except for special ed students who take a bus. None of our students go hungry (all get free breakfast and lunch and many get free dinner). We make sure all students have coats, backpacks, dental care, gloves, etc etc. I feel like the more we do, the more we are expected to do. I wish some of these students could be spread out into schools so they aren't all concentrated in one. Maybe if there were, they might meet kids who have plans for the future that involves higher education. I don't know if the solution is just one thing but I know that the teachers are tired and we just started. Back to planning.

This.

Yes.

But then, what's the solution?

Maybe there is no solution.