Calling all charter school parents, teachers, and staff to go to the DC Council legislative meeting on June 2

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:NP who is more neutral on this conversation. Except with Basis- Basis actively removes students who cannot keep up with their program and does not backfill. I’m not against the program, but they should not get as much funding as the schools those students who they effectively kick out end up at.

Schools get money per student, dumbsh*t.

But the money doesn’t follow kids after count day dumba*s. So when DCPS takes those kids, Basis pockets the money and doesn’t have to educate the kid they pushed out.

DCPS: Some kids quit BASIS and some of them transfer to public schools, so the city has to give us an extra $1 billion and also we want swimming pools that are made of solid gold.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:NP who is more neutral on this conversation. Except with Basis- Basis actively removes students who cannot keep up with their program and does not backfill. I’m not against the program, but they should not get as much funding as the schools those students who they effectively kick out end up at.

Schools get money per student, dumbsh*t.

But the money doesn’t follow kids after count day dumba*s. So when DCPS takes those kids, Basis pockets the money and doesn’t have to educate the kid they pushed out.

You truly are an idiot.

Kids aren’t leaving mid year.

Maybe sit this one out.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:NP who is more neutral on this conversation. Except with Basis- Basis actively removes students who cannot keep up with their program and does not backfill. I’m not against the program, but they should not get as much funding as the schools those students who they effectively kick out end up at.

Schools get money per student, dumbsh*t.

But the money doesn’t follow kids after count day dumba*s. So when DCPS takes those kids, Basis pockets the money and doesn’t have to educate the kid they pushed out.

You truly are an idiot.

Kids aren’t leaving mid year.

Maybe sit this one out.

Yes. Kids leave schools mid-year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:NP who is more neutral on this conversation. Except with Basis- Basis actively removes students who cannot keep up with their program and does not backfill. I’m not against the program, but they should not get as much funding as the schools those students who they effectively kick out end up at.

Schools get money per student, dumbsh*t.

But the money doesn’t follow kids after count day dumba*s. So when DCPS takes those kids, Basis pockets the money and doesn’t have to educate the kid they pushed out.

You truly are an idiot.

Kids aren’t leaving mid year.

Maybe sit this one out.

Are you a teacher at Basis? Otherwise you know nothing. Calling people idiots when you obviously know nothing about students leaving charter schools doesn’t help your argument. But sure no kids leave charters after October count. Any other brilliant claims you’d like to make?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:NP who is more neutral on this conversation. Except with Basis- Basis actively removes students who cannot keep up with their program and does not backfill. I’m not against the program, but they should not get as much funding as the schools those students who they effectively kick out end up at.

It’s false to say that Basis actively removes students who can’t keep up. Those students aren’t kicked out of the school. If they don’t pass their classes, they don’t get promoted to the next grade. They’ll have a chance to retake final tests and do summer school. And if they still don’t pass, they repeat the grade at Basis. They are not asked to leave.

Socially promoting kids each year who get failing grades is how we ended up with charter schools to begin with. Why should more money be allocated to DCPS schools with truancy problems and kids who can barely read?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DC will spend $100 million renovating a single school, even if it only has a few hundred students, but only if it's DCPS. Sorry charters! A sampling of the cost recent school renovations. Notice a pattern?

Duke Ellington -- $180 million
Coolidge -- $160 million
Jackson-Reid -- $130 million
Dunbar -- $125 million
Roosevelt -- $125 million
Woodson -- $100 million
Tubman -- $100 million
Deal -- $100 million
JO Wilson -- $91 million
Cardozo -- $90 million
Deal -- $90 million
Ballou -- $90 million
Jefferson -- $90 million
Burrville -- $85 million
Truesdell -- $80 million
Oyster Adams -- $79 million
Burroughs -- $75 million
Janney -- $70 million
MLK -- $65 million
Dorothy Height -- $63 million
Garfield -- $60.5 million
Anacostia -- $60 million

So exhausting. The big items on the list are from 15 years ago.

The BS of presenting your case with this list was discussed extensively in the other thread.

It doesn't help your pitch to argue against data points that aren't relevant, nor does it help to argue that two wrongs make a right.

Uh, you can drive by Tubman and see it's not finished. They're spending $100 million to renovate a school that has barely 400 students. That's more than twice as much as it cost to build DCI, which was built out of an old military dormitory and has 1,700 students.

DP and DCI built both a middle and high school so really 2 schools and cost less than all the schools above.

It’s ridiculous how much money was wasted and unnecessary with all these renovations with no budget constraints or accountability. As taxpayers, we should all be upset about this.

Agree there needs to be a better process. Disagree that charters should be part of it. That’s the price of independence. If you want more money, backfill your seats and stop returning the kids you don’t want to their neighborhood schools.

This is a strange myth DCPS people tell themselves. There was never any trade where charters got less money in exchange for independence. Charters were created because people felt that DCPS was doing a *terrible* job. The city couldn't exactly close all DCPS schools, so they created a second school system to compete with DPCS. It would be like if your employer hired someone else to do your job, but didn't fire you. Everyone is free to choose from the two systems and they're supposed to be funded equally. Instead DC has retaliated by systematically shortchanged charters while lavishing money on DCPS. The funny thing is people still choose charters.

Well, even though they are shortchanged by DC, some charters in DC still offer great educational options, including BASIS DC, Latin, and DCI.

Why should BASIS DC, Latin, and DCI receive less money per student than, say, any random DCPS school? As a principled matter, that is unfair.

It is also doubly ridiculous because these charter schools are doing an outstanding job educating kids. In contrast, many DCPS schools are a complete failure and waste of money. For example, over 90 percent of kids at Anacostia, Ballou, and Cardozo high schools are functionally illiterate. Those schools are doing a terrible job with the money they already receive. Why are they receiving MORE money per student than successful charters such as BASIS DC, Latin, and DCI?

Worse, DCPS has spent over $340 million completing modernizing and renovating just Anacostia, Ballou, and Cardozo high schools, even though most of the kids there can't read or do basic math, and billions more modernizing and renovating other DCPS schools. Meanwhile, successful charters who send many kids to Top 20 colleges every year operate in crumbling buildings and have to pay for their own renovations.

Utter stupidity.

Some of these DCPS schools the city spends all these millions renovating have been all-but-abandoned by families who live in boundary. There's a grand total of 246 students at Anacostia High School.

Say what? Wow!

The city is spending $85 million to renovate Burrville Elementary. It has 232 students. It's spending $60 million on Garfield, which has 250 students. $75 million for Burroughs, with 300 students.

The renovation for Garfield has been completed for two years now.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:NP who is more neutral on this conversation. Except with Basis- Basis actively removes students who cannot keep up with their program and does not backfill. I’m not against the program, but they should not get as much funding as the schools those students who they effectively kick out end up at.

It’s false to say that Basis actively removes students who can’t keep up. Those students aren’t kicked out of the school. If they don’t pass their classes, they don’t get promoted to the next grade. They’ll have a chance to retake final tests and do summer school. And if they still don’t pass, they repeat the grade at Basis. They are not asked to leave.

Socially promoting kids each year who get failing grades is how we ended up with charter schools to begin with. Why should more money be allocated to DCPS schools with truancy problems and kids who can barely read?

Cool, I wish we could do that at my DCPS middle school. But we can’t.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:NP who is more neutral on this conversation. Except with Basis- Basis actively removes students who cannot keep up with their program and does not backfill. I’m not against the program, but they should not get as much funding as the schools those students who they effectively kick out end up at.

It’s false to say that Basis actively removes students who can’t keep up. Those students aren’t kicked out of the school. If they don’t pass their classes, they don’t get promoted to the next grade. They’ll have a chance to retake final tests and do summer school. And if they still don’t pass, they repeat the grade at Basis. They are not asked to leave.

Socially promoting kids each year who get failing grades is how we ended up with charter schools to begin with. Why should more money be allocated to DCPS schools with truancy problems and kids who can barely read?

Cool, I wish we could do that at my DCPS middle school. But we can’t.

Elect different people. DC's love of social promotion, and fear of the supposedly devastating consequences of flunking kids, is bananas.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Oh I get it. Latin does amazing things, while Ballou fails kids. So charters should get more support.

Now let's compare Walls to any of the *80* charter schools that have closed since 1996.

Until this year, kids at Latin's Cooper campus had to play and have gym class in the parking lot, among the teachers' cars, because there was nowhere else for them to do it.

Here's Ballou: https://perkinswill.com/project/ballou-senior-high-school/

There's an inverse correlation in DC between how nice a school's campus is, and the quality of education it provides.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Oh I get it. Latin does amazing things, while Ballou fails kids. So charters should get more support.

Now let's compare Walls to any of the *80* charter schools that have closed since 1996.

Until this year, kids at Latin's Cooper campus had to play and have gym class in the parking lot, among the teachers' cars, because there was nowhere else for them to do it.

Here's Ballou: https://perkinswill.com/project/ballou-senior-high-school/

There's an inverse correlation in DC between how nice a school's campus is, and the quality of education it provides.

Yeah, it’s both comic and tragic at the same time. Of course, the Ballou kids are still getting the short end of the stick.

[Anonymous]

There’s no issue. Entitlement makes fools of us all.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:NP who is more neutral on this conversation. Except with Basis- Basis actively removes students who cannot keep up with their program and does not backfill. I’m not against the program, but they should not get as much funding as the schools those students who they effectively kick out end up at.

Schools get money per student, dumbsh*t.

But the money doesn’t follow kids after count day dumba*s. So when DCPS takes those kids, Basis pockets the money and doesn’t have to educate the kid they pushed out.

You truly are an idiot.

Kids aren’t leaving mid year.

Maybe sit this one out.

Uhm, my school picked up 15 kids this year. 11 left other schools. You are totally wrong.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:NP who is more neutral on this conversation. Except with Basis- Basis actively removes students who cannot keep up with their program and does not backfill. I’m not against the program, but they should not get as much funding as the schools those students who they effectively kick out end up at.

It’s false to say that Basis actively removes students who can’t keep up. Those students aren’t kicked out of the school. If they don’t pass their classes, they don’t get promoted to the next grade. They’ll have a chance to retake final tests and do summer school. And if they still don’t pass, they repeat the grade at Basis. They are not asked to leave.

Socially promoting kids each year who get failing grades is how we ended up with charter schools to begin with. Why should more money be allocated to DCPS schools with truancy problems and kids who can barely read?

Cool, I wish we could do that at my DCPS middle school. But we can’t.

It's too bad, isn't it? Honestly, I don't know why schools stopped holding kids back. It used to happen. It's not like it benefits the student to keep letting them pass year after year when they don't meet the minimum requirements.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:NP who is more neutral on this conversation. Except with Basis- Basis actively removes students who cannot keep up with their program and does not backfill. I’m not against the program, but they should not get as much funding as the schools those students who they effectively kick out end up at.

Schools get money per student, dumbsh*t.

But the money doesn’t follow kids after count day dumba*s. So when DCPS takes those kids, Basis pockets the money and doesn’t have to educate the kid they pushed out.

You truly are an idiot.

Kids aren’t leaving mid year.

Maybe sit this one out.

Yes. Kids leave schools mid-year.

News flash - they leave DCPS mid-year as well.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:NP who is more neutral on this conversation. Except with Basis- Basis actively removes students who cannot keep up with their program and does not backfill. I’m not against the program, but they should not get as much funding as the schools those students who they effectively kick out end up at.

It’s false to say that Basis actively removes students who can’t keep up. Those students aren’t kicked out of the school. If they don’t pass their classes, they don’t get promoted to the next grade. They’ll have a chance to retake final tests and do summer school. And if they still don’t pass, they repeat the grade at Basis. They are not asked to leave.

Socially promoting kids each year who get failing grades is how we ended up with charter schools to begin with. Why should more money be allocated to DCPS schools with truancy problems and kids who can barely read?

Cool, I wish we could do that at my DCPS middle school. But we can’t.

It's too bad, isn't it? Honestly, I don't know why schools stopped holding kids back. It used to happen. It's not like it benefits the student to keep letting them pass year after year when they don't meet the minimum requirements.

Our leaders believe it hurts the kid more to hold them back than to have them “graduate” without being able to read.