PTA and Parent Association fees -- poll

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Because if you challenge the status quo at this school, you will bring the wrath of the administration down on your family.

That's why every YY issue eventually makes it's way to DCUM. It's the only way to dissent, in an anonymous forum.

Such nonsense. There's a discussion of this very issue taking place on the YY parent listserv right now (where, incidentally, nobody is suggesting, "Hey, this makes a colorable excuse to avoid paying"; instead, folks are discussing ways to pay more in order to "sponsor" families for whom the $100 fee would present difficulty).

Yes, about the discussion on the YY listserv: To all of those who don't want/feel like they can't pay: Would you be willing to have extra volunteer hours substitute for your dues? What about the people who object to the fee in general? Something tells me you won't be willing to do this either.....But let's hear the responses to this proposal....

[Anonymous]

How about making the PA voting rights not contingent on paying the supply fee like every other DCPS and charter. Raise the supply fee to $500/child or whatever is needed and making it voluntary. Yes, I'll be more than willing to pay and even give extra for those that can't.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:How about making the PA voting rights not contingent on paying the supply fee like every other DCPS and charter. Raise the supply fee to $500/child or whatever is needed and making it voluntary. Yes, I'll be more than willing to pay and even give extra for those that can't.

In other words, No. You won't have people volunteer to cover dues but they should still have a say in how the dues are spent.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How about making the PA voting rights not contingent on paying the supply fee like every other DCPS and charter. Raise the supply fee to $500/child or whatever is needed and making it voluntary. Yes, I'll be more than willing to pay and even give extra for those that can't.

In other words, No. You won't have people volunteer to cover dues but they should still have a say in how the dues are spent.

It's a public school not a country club. All the families who have children there should have a say in the PA because it's about their education - public and free. Sad that that's a concept that's beyond you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Because if you challenge the status quo at this school, you will bring the wrath of the administration down on your family.

That's why every YY issue eventually makes it's way to DCUM. It's the only way to dissent, in an anonymous forum.

Such nonsense. There's a discussion of this very issue taking place on the YY parent listserv right now (where, incidentally, nobody is suggesting, "Hey, this makes a colorable excuse to avoid paying"; instead, folks are discussing ways to pay more in order to "sponsor" families for whom the $100 fee would present difficulty).

Yes, about the discussion on the YY listserv: To all of those who don't want/feel like they can't pay: Would you be willing to have extra volunteer hours substitute for your dues? What about the people who object to the fee in general? Something tells me you won't be willing to do this either.....But let's hear the responses to this proposal....

What kind of rock-dweller do you have to be to object to paying for your child's school supplies?

Only in DC...

[Anonymous]

No one is objecting to paying for supplies just the fact that voting in the PA is contingent on paying it. Yu Ying's PA is the only public school PA in DC that does this it looks like. Looks idiotic and elitist.

[Anonymous]

To the PP who will volunteer for the school but not the PA: do you even realize that all of the volunteer opportunities are through the PA? The room parents (and therefore the class potlucks), teacher appreciation week, the auction, the book fair, the fall fun day, the spring festival, the gardening club/ green committee, the movie nights, the dances... everything. In fact, the whole "volunteer committee" is just for this purpose. How do you expect to get your 20 hours of volunteer time if you don't do any of the volunteer activities that are run by the PA?

[Anonymous]

How about parents pay for their child's own pencils and notebooks?

The Chinese supplies are covered in the million dollar grant the school got. It's not like this school spends any money on books, so the idea that it costs $100 per student is a joke.

The schools is run like a business, solely to profit. What's playing out here is those who think Yu Ying is a business and those who think (because the school takes state funding) that it is a public school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

It's a public school not a country club. All the families who have children there should have a say in the PA because it's about their education - public and free. Sad that that's a concept that's beyond you.

All families DO have a say in the education...they can discuss issues with teachers, principals, DC Charter Board, council representatives....Joining or not joining the PA won't affect your child's attendance at the school or ability to use the new PA-financed playground or computer lab...I see no problem if the people actually paying decide whether the funds collected go for musical instruments or field trips...The basic education is not being impacted

[Anonymous]

The FLAP grant that 14:32 is talking about it is likely going away. The hundred dollars pays for normal supplies, but also the CDs for the Chinese curriculum. Unlike Spanish language materials, the school has to purchase or create two totally separate sets of materials. Nearly all curriculum suppliers have English AND Spanish for most if not all of their materials.
On the other hand, if you don't pay your supply fee you must pay a $25 non-refundable "rental fee" for the CDs which only cost that much to purchase new from the distributor in the first place. With practices like this and others that have been discussed recently I'm sure the school must have a very healthy looking bottom line that probably benefits the school as a whole. But it really adds credence to the widely-held ideas that the school's attitudes skew entirely towards the betterment of the collective with very little regard to individuals. It really is time for the founders to hire some competent people to replace themselves, have more than one administrator and move into the next phase of the organization. They need to quit hiring yes-people and those who quietly go along with bad policy and then end up quitting instead of raising anyone's ire. There is no way any organization can keep alienating and burning people (employees and end-users) indefinitely and still remain viable.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Janney is 500 per child, $1050 max per family.

No, Janney is $550 per child, $1050 for two, and $1400 for three or more. Oh, well those are the real "Student Support Fees."

And yes, there's also the $10 PTA charge which includes a directory.

What a bargain!

You're right-I was remembering it wrong.

[Anonymous]

So far to vote in the PTA/PA per family:

Brent $20
Lafayette $50
Mann $10
Janney $10
Maury Free
Shepherd Free
Kipp - Benning Campus $10
Eaton Free
Eastern $5


Yu Ying $100 per child

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:So far to vote in the PTA/PA per family:

Brent $20
Lafayette $50
Mann $10
Janney $10
Maury Free
Shepherd Free
Kipp - Benning Campus $10
Eaton Free
Eastern $5


Yu Ying $100 per child

Schools that teach Mandarin = 1 = Yu Ying.

Extra curriculum = extra curriculum materials = extra $.

Some of you are disturbingly challenged with respect to logic.

[Anonymous]

Yes, Yu Ying is extra extra extra special and unlike any other public charter or public school: So the PA can act like a elite private club and keep all the riff raff who can't pay out.

[Anonymous]

yeah- so we can get as much money together as possible to support the teachers. that is villainous, isn't it? that makes us WAY superior to the riffraff, or whatever you think,