The whole "best public schools" in the nation is such a farce

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
5) Unruly kids from families that run the gamut create unstable learning environments. Even in places like Bethesda you have the relatively lower income kids in these schools that slow the class down.

At my Bethesda public, one of the most badly-behaved kids I know is from an extremely wealthy family. So there goes that theory.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
5) Unruly kids from families that run the gamut create unstable learning environments. Even in places like Bethesda you have the relatively lower income kids in these schools that slow the class down.

At my Bethesda public, one of the most badly-behaved kids I know is from an extremely wealthy family. So there goes that theory.

Plus she must have missed the thread from earlier this week on the private school forum, where tons of parents are complaining about the badly behaved kids at their private schools.

[Anonymous]

I'll be moving to the area soon and all I can say is I am horrified by this thread. I went to a midwestern state school. I don't know if it was second tier or not cuz I don't give a shit about rankings, but I made out OK with a PhD, like many of my friends who are doctors, lawyers, excellent school teachers, CEO's (not that I consider business something to aspire to), professors, musicians, writers, media execs, famous TV personalities, etc., etc. Get your heads out of your asses and have a look at how the world actually works and what is important in life. All I can think about after reading this is how to protect my child from the rabid achievement obsession that apparently runs rampant out there. I feel sorry for you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'll be moving to the area soon and all I can say is I am horrified by this thread. I went to a midwestern state school. I don't know if it was second tier or not cuz I don't give a shit about rankings, but I made out OK with a PhD, like many of my friends who are doctors, lawyers, excellent school teachers, CEO's (not that I consider business something to aspire to), professors, musicians, writers, media execs, famous TV personalities, etc., etc. Get your heads out of your asses and have a look at how the world actually works and what is important in life. All I can think about after reading this is how to protect my child from the rabid achievement obsession that apparently runs rampant out there. I feel sorry for you.

You sound like a world-class name-dropper yourself. You'll fit right in. Check back with us in a year when you want the inside skinny on Sidwell.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'll be moving to the area soon and all I can say is I am horrified by this thread. I went to a midwestern state school. I don't know if it was second tier or not cuz I don't give a shit about rankings, but I made out OK with a PhD, like many of my friends who are doctors, lawyers, excellent school teachers, CEO's (not that I consider business something to aspire to), professors, musicians, writers, media execs, famous TV personalities, etc., etc. Get your heads out of your asses and have a look at how the world actually works and what is important in life. All I can think about after reading this is how to protect my child from the rabid achievement obsession that apparently runs rampant out there. I feel sorry for you.

Is this like a "meta-troll?" A troll within a troll thread? Leading us all to deep philosophical (well actually not) questions about trolldom?

[Anonymous]

Wow three days later and you poor public school parents are still hurt by my last post. You sound like the kind of people who love the death tax and government redistribution because you haven't created any thing yourselves. The I used to hate people like this in college. Always complaining about how the they came from such lowly backgtounds This whole I can afford private but choose not too is such BS. Maybe you should take time reflecting on poor life choices (saving the polar bears doesn't pay well) and pass that on to your state school offspring. A Phd from Ohio State isn't a Phd from Columbia.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Wow three days later and you poor public school parents are still hurt by my last post. You sound like the kind of people who love the death tax and government redistribution because you haven't created any thing yourselves. The I used to hate people like this in college. Always complaining about how the they came from such lowly backgtounds This whole I can afford private but choose not too is such BS. Maybe you should take time reflecting on poor life choices (saving the polar bears doesn't pay well) and pass that on to your state school offspring. A Phd from Ohio State isn't a Phd from Columbia.

And what do you create and contribute to society, princess? Or do you just like to complain?

[Anonymous]

"A Phd from Ohio State isn't a Phd from Columbia."

Meta-troll here: Really?? Doesn't it depend on what you do with it??

Did I drop any names? My point is that all of the achievement obsession--or perhaps I should rephrase this as achievement-centered anxiety--that I pick up as I learn about the area isn't really necessary: You can go to public school and get a college degree from a state school and do just fine in life and be a leader or a doer or a culture-maker or just a decent person. And you can go on to grad school, if you so choose, at a highly ranked private school (such as Columbia and the like) after attending a state school for undergrad, which is what I did, and what others I know did. I think some people don't know that that is possible. Laters.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Wow three days later and you poor public school parents are still hurt by my last post. You sound like the kind of people who love the death tax and government redistribution because you haven't created any thing yourselves. The I used to hate people like this in college. Always complaining about how the they came from such lowly backgtounds This whole I can afford private but choose not too is such BS. Maybe you should take time reflecting on poor life choices (saving the polar bears doesn't pay well) and pass that on to your state school offspring. A Phd from Ohio State isn't a Phd from Columbia.

Well, actually ... you're the one that seems hurt! You complained about being called a troll.... Then you came on again to post some (lame) reasons for your position, in response to being asked to do so ....

How about this: Ayn Rand SUX!!!!

I can hear you weeping now....

[Anonymous]

LOL

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Sure the schools in the suburbs are better than those in Alabama or some other fly over state but those of you who flock to the burbs just for the schools are really getting the wool pulled over your eyes. Even though I spend roughly 95k a year to educate my 3 kids in a DC private I'll do with a huge smile as I write the check rather than send my kids to an overcrowded, understaffed, budget crunched, problem ridden school out in the burbs. That's why I don't have to move out to the burbs and a lot of DC families feel the same way they just wont say it. Your kids aren't getting a great education, they are being taught to test, and moved along like assembly line widgets and while one or 2 of them will be a gold standard the majority will end up in a large Tier II state school with all the other public school kids. So stop the "best schools" in the nation nonsense.

OK, the $95K is BS. The only type of person who would mention this is somebody who's really insecure -- and therefore doesn't actually do it. Otherwise, absolutely no need to mention it because it's understood when 3 kids are involved. Not to mention, what kind of nitwit, who never sent her kids to public schools in "the burbs" because she says she doesn't live in "the burbs" herself, would write a post slamming schools her kids never attended, and which she evidently knows nothing about? A troll, that's who.

I second the bit about teaching to the test in private schools. My kid did SSAT prep at a private K-8, and there was a lot of prep for the annual ERB exams.

I think the dollars-per-kid expenditure figures have been shown to be fairly useless in predicting academic success. There seems to be a consensus that just throwing money at schools doesn't improve anything (at least until somebody finds that miracle solution that is a terrific investment). It's also probably not very meaningful to compare dollars-per-kid numbers across schools with very different SES, where you may be talking about ESOL, or when the schools have programs for LD kids.

Well, I work at one of the Big 3 and I can tell you I do not and my colleagues do not teach to the ERB test. I've also taught in MoCo and I would never go back to that demoralizing pit.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'll be moving to the area soon and all I can say is I am horrified by this thread. I went to a midwestern state school. I don't know if it was second tier or not cuz I don't give a shit about rankings, but I made out OK with a PhD, like many of my friends who are doctors, lawyers, excellent school teachers, CEO's (not that I consider business something to aspire to), professors, musicians, writers, media execs, famous TV personalities, etc., etc. Get your heads out of your asses and have a look at how the world actually works and what is important in life. All I can think about after reading this is how to protect my child from the rabid achievement obsession that apparently runs rampant out there. I feel sorry for you.

Is this like a "meta-troll?" A troll within a troll thread? Leading us all to deep philosophical (well actually not) questions about trolldom?

I used to have a troll. He had orange hair.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
I used to have a troll. He had orange hair.

And probably melted in the washer-dryer one day after Jimmy didn't empty his pockets.

We should be so lucky here.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Sure the schools in the suburbs are better than those in Alabama or some other fly over state but those of you who flock to the burbs just for the schools are really getting the wool pulled over your eyes. Even though I spend roughly 95k a year to educate my 3 kids in a DC private I'll do with a huge smile as I write the check rather than send my kids to an overcrowded, understaffed, budget crunched, problem ridden school out in the burbs. That's why I don't have to move out to the burbs and a lot of DC families feel the same way they just wont say it. Your kids aren't getting a great education, they are being taught to test, and moved along like assembly line widgets and while one or 2 of them will be a gold standard the majority will end up in a large Tier II state school with all the other public school kids. So stop the "best schools" in the nation nonsense.

OK, the $95K is BS. The only type of person who would mention this is somebody who's really insecure -- and therefore doesn't actually do it. Otherwise, absolutely no need to mention it because it's understood when 3 kids are involved. Not to mention, what kind of nitwit, who never sent her kids to public schools in "the burbs" because she says she doesn't live in "the burbs" herself, would write a post slamming schools her kids never attended, and which she evidently knows nothing about? A troll, that's who.

I second the bit about teaching to the test in private schools. My kid did SSAT prep at a private K-8, and there was a lot of prep for the annual ERB exams.

I think the dollars-per-kid expenditure figures have been shown to be fairly useless in predicting academic success. There seems to be a consensus that just throwing money at schools doesn't improve anything (at least until somebody finds that miracle solution that is a terrific investment). It's also probably not very meaningful to compare dollars-per-kid numbers across schools with very different SES, where you may be talking about ESOL, or when the schools have programs for LD kids.

Well, I work at one of the Big 3 and I can tell you I do not and my colleagues do not teach to the ERB test. I've also taught in MoCo and I would never go back to that demoralizing pit.

Oh gawd -- a THIRD poster with her own huge, special chip on her shoulder. I'm shaking my head and laughing now.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wow three days later and you poor public school parents are still hurt by my last post. You sound like the kind of people who love the death tax and government redistribution because you haven't created any thing yourselves. The I used to hate people like this in college. Always complaining about how the they came from such lowly backgtounds This whole I can afford private but choose not too is such BS. Maybe you should take time reflecting on poor life choices (saving the polar bears doesn't pay well) and pass that on to your state school offspring. A Phd from Ohio State isn't a Phd from Columbia.

And what do you create and contribute to society, princess? Or do you just like to complain?

Apparently her big accomplishment in life is marrying a rich guy, who can afford tuition for 3 kids while she SAHMs. If you even believe her, which I don't. Because really, is anybody this obnoxious in real life?