How many does it take

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We are getting off the subject. We have went from not letting their child attend a DCPS school, to offensive language and then someone said the DCPS is a pipeline-to-the-penitentiary.

C'mon tell us how you really feel. As you fight for diversity for your neighborhood school, I guess the question should be how many [blacks] will it take for you to leave a DCPS. Yes, there are those who say they will not let their child be the first white child to attend a DCPS school. But by chance he/she therefore how many incidents will it take for you to leave DCPS?


00:58, you do know there are two sides of SE?

Of course I know there are two sides of SE.

[Anonymous]

Overheard conversation at a recent assembly at my daughter's elementary school. The child said to her mother that performance was a "hot mess" and the mother said in the affirmative you're right.

The child couldn't have been no older than 6.

[Anonymous]

Hot mess and it's a black thing from the mouths of babes. I would have been more impressed if they would have said it in a foreign language.

[Anonymous]

For me it has never been how many XX. It's about academic accomplishment and behavior.

[Anonymous]

Agreed but in DC race and low income has historically led to low academic standards and poor behavior. Parents who want better get in OOB, charter, or move out so you have schools with deep issues that can't be fixed with token middle class students. BTDT. Your children shouldn't be guinea pigs or pawns.

Anonymous wrote:For me it has never been how many XX. It's about academic accomplishment and behavior.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Agreed but in DC race and low income has historically led to low academic standards and poor behavior. Parents who want better get in OOB, charter, or move out so you have schools with deep issues that can't be fixed with token middle class students. BTDT. Your children shouldn't be guinea pigs or pawns.

Anonymous wrote:For me it has never been how many XX. It's about academic accomplishment and behavior.

Thinking of children as "guinea pigs or pawns" is only one way of looking at it. The other way to look at it is demanding social change - demanding an end to extreme racial and economic segregation in DC. This is part of American history, and particularly the history of equality in education. It takes a few families or people so dedicated to wanting change that they take the first steps. Now, though, many people could seemingly care less about the community at large or social issues of equality and fairness, and just chalk it up to wanting what's best for their children.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:18:51, yep, I totally hear you.

It's sad and awful that children and adults say these sorts of things. Somehow it's acceptable though in DC, as has been referenced on previous threads.

Over racism (shouting racial slurs, etc...) towards Hispanics, Asians and Whites is condoned by many in DC.

I'm not sure how this is ever ok, but it's a reality of of living in this city.

Hmm. Maybe you could give us an example of someone "condoning" overt racism against whites (or hispanics or asians) in DC. Not saying it doesn't happen. Just saying I'm skeptical. In my experience, I've seen "overt racism" coming from people who are either very poor, very stupid, or mentally incapacitated--sometimes all of the above.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Agreed but in DC race and low income has historically led to low academic standards and poor behavior. Parents who want better get in OOB, charter, or move out so you have schools with deep issues that can't be fixed with token middle class students. BTDT. Your children shouldn't be guinea pigs or pawns.

Anonymous wrote:For me it has never been how many XX. It's about academic accomplishment and behavior.

Thinking of children as "guinea pigs or pawns" is only one way of looking at it. The other way to look at it is demanding social change - demanding an end to extreme racial and economic segregation in DC. This is part of American history, and particularly the history of equality in education. It takes a few families or people so dedicated to wanting change that they take the first steps. Now, though, many people could seemingly care less about the community at large or social issues of equality and fairness, and just chalk it up to wanting what's best for their children.

And using your kids as currency to obtain it. No thanks.

[Anonymous]

Agree with the posters who say it's about SES, not race (although I wouldn't want my kid to be the only white in his class, either). Let me explain.

I work for the World Bank, arguably the most diverse employer in Washington, DC and possibly in the US. We are all colors, all languages, all ethnicities. We are very diverse.

And yet we are very not. Because regardless of color or national origin, we share the following characteristics: everyone has a graduate degree, at least. Everyone speaks 2+ languages. Everyone has traveled to dozens of countries. Everyone has gone to a handful of top universities internationally. Everyone is highly literate. Most people come from solid families that cared about education. Many come from their country elites.

So our kids get along very well regardless of their color. And I wouldn't feel comfortable putting my mixed-race son into a classroom of kids from poor, uneducated, untraveled families, no matter what their skin color is. At the WB we became completely color-blind, but inferior schooling or manner of speaking or insufficient worldliness would make you an outsider just as efficiently as the wrong skin color somewhere else.

And truth be told, we give lip service to diversity, but we want diversity only of a particular kind, especially for our children, because we want them to learn only one kind of normal - highly educated, international and literate. We are OK with them getting exposed to other lifestyles, but only after they learn what normal is.

So the long answer is that it doesn't matter what the majority/minority proportion is, as long as they don't come from poor, uneducated background. As a side note, in DC diversity tends to be framed as Black/White mix, but in real life there are many other shades and colors, so sometimes neither Black nor White are majorities.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Agreed but in DC race and low income has historically led to low academic standards and poor behavior. Parents who want better get in OOB, charter, or move out so you have schools with deep issues that can't be fixed with token middle class students. BTDT. Your children shouldn't be guinea pigs or pawns.

Anonymous wrote:For me it has never been how many XX. It's about academic accomplishment and behavior.

Thinking of children as "guinea pigs or pawns" is only one way of looking at it. The other way to look at it is demanding social change - demanding an end to extreme racial and economic segregation in DC. This is part of American history, and particularly the history of equality in education. It takes a few families or people so dedicated to wanting change that they take the first steps. Now, though, many people could seemingly care less about the community at large or social issues of equality and fairness, and just chalk it up to wanting what's best for their children.

Shame on parents advocating for their children. Shame! Shame!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Agreed but in DC race and low income has historically led to low academic standards and poor behavior. Parents who want better get in OOB, charter, or move out so you have schools with deep issues that can't be fixed with token middle class students. BTDT. Your children shouldn't be guinea pigs or pawns.

Anonymous wrote:For me it has never been how many XX. It's about academic accomplishment and behavior.

Thinking of children as "guinea pigs or pawns" is only one way of looking at it. The other way to look at it is demanding social change - demanding an end to extreme racial and economic segregation in DC. This is part of American history, and particularly the history of equality in education. It takes a few families or people so dedicated to wanting change that they take the first steps. Now, though, many people could seemingly care less about the community at large or social issues of equality and fairness, and just chalk it up to wanting what's best for their children.

Shame on parents advocating for their children. Shame! Shame!

Is it not possible to advocate for your children and your community at the same time? In a school system with so much choice it is not necessary to take the harder road of trying to advocate for both, that is definitely true. Too bad for the poor and disadvantaged - all these choices were supposedly meant to help them, yet from reading these posts it seems like it just gives more advantaged families more opportunities to turn a blind eye to society's problems without actually having to move to a new community.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Agreed but in DC race and low income has historically led to low academic standards and poor behavior. Parents who want better get in OOB, charter, or move out so you have schools with deep issues that can't be fixed with token middle class students. BTDT. Your children shouldn't be guinea pigs or pawns.

Anonymous wrote:For me it has never been how many XX. It's about academic accomplishment and behavior.

Thinking of children as "guinea pigs or pawns" is only one way of looking at it. The other way to look at it is demanding social change - demanding an end to extreme racial and economic segregation in DC. This is part of American history, and particularly the history of equality in education. It takes a few families or people so dedicated to wanting change that they take the first steps. Now, though, many people could seemingly care less about the community at large or social issues of equality and fairness, and just chalk it up to wanting what's best for their children.

Shame on parents advocating for their children. Shame! Shame!

Is it not possible to advocate for your children and your community at the same time? In a school system with so much choice it is not necessary to take the harder road of trying to advocate for both, that is definitely true. Too bad for the poor and disadvantaged - all these choices were supposedly meant to help them, yet from reading these posts it seems like it just gives more advantaged families more opportunities to turn a blind eye to society's problems without actually having to move to a new community.

I have an idea, why don't you identify a bunch of middle class families and convince them to send their kids to the most struggling schools in DC - start with Garfield ES where 6% of the kids are proficient in math (less than 1 in 16 is proficient).

Tell the group they can't send their kids to a school with 40% proficient, that would be perpetuating injustice. Same thing with a school at 15% proficient - how could one deal with the guilt of enrolling their child at a school where 1 out of 6 kids is proficient?

Then get back to us on how that all worked out.

[Anonymous]

I wonder if the people who were concerned asked how many at Columbine.

[Anonymous]

Actually there is a sociological terms for all of this-

Middle Class parents practice "concerted cultivation" with an intense focus on developing our children and then significant intervention and screening of what our kids will encounter.

Working class and poorer parents practice what is called accomplishment by natural growth meaning a more relaxed less interventionist parenting.

If you want more information check out Lareau's book Unequal Childhood. It is eyeopening at least it was for me. http://www.ucpress.edu/book.php?isbn=9780520271425

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Agreed but in DC race and low income has historically led to low academic standards and poor behavior. Parents who want better get in OOB, charter, or move out so you have schools with deep issues that can't be fixed with token middle class students. BTDT. Your children shouldn't be guinea pigs or pawns.

Anonymous wrote:For me it has never been how many XX. It's about academic accomplishment and behavior.

Thinking of children as "guinea pigs or pawns" is only one way of looking at it. The other way to look at it is demanding social change - demanding an end to extreme racial and economic segregation in DC. This is part of American history, and particularly the history of equality in education. It takes a few families or people so dedicated to wanting change that they take the first steps. Now, though, many people could seemingly care less about the community at large or social issues of equality and fairness, and just chalk it up to wanting what's best for their children.

Shame on parents advocating for their children. Shame! Shame!

Is it not possible to advocate for your children and your community at the same time? In a school system with so much choice it is not necessary to take the harder road of trying to advocate for both, that is definitely true. Too bad for the poor and disadvantaged - all these choices were supposedly meant to help them, yet from reading these posts it seems like it just gives more advantaged families more opportunities to turn a blind eye to society's problems without actually having to move to a new community.

I have an idea, why don't you identify a bunch of middle class families and convince them to send their kids to the most struggling schools in DC - start with Garfield ES where 6% of the kids are proficient in math (less than 1 in 16 is proficient).

Tell the group they can't send their kids to a school with 40% proficient, that would be perpetuating injustice. Same thing with a school at 15% proficient - how could one deal with the guilt of enrolling their child at a school where 1 out of 6 kids is proficient?

Then get back to us on how that all worked out.

No, that sounds like too much work. Instead, I think we should just make the poor kids practice math and reading all day until their test scores up and the middle class families feel comfortable sending their kids to these schools. If, after all the practice, the test scores still do not go up, we should just blame the teachers. Whatever we do, we should not ask the community to help until the problem is already fixed.