I don't want my kid to be the only white student . . .

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

You're right, PP. Your post makes me think about the all-AA teaching staff and K+ voting out all the white officers of the new PTA at Payne ES on Capitol Hill almost a year ago. The PTA has only been up and running for a year at the time. The group was rolling with white and biracial leadership, parents of kids in the first racially diverse PreS3 group, which AA stakeholders so resented that they staged a take-over. The PTA hasn't met since, and every former white officer will be gone by the summer (no whites staying for K, let alone elementary grades). The school remains almost entirely AA (a touch Latino) above PreK4, and failing, with awful test scores. So darn depressing, and predictable.

Wow, there are so many problems with your post. A group of parents join a school, and even though they only have kids at one grade level, they stage a take over of the PTA. They describe a parent organization that only serves 1/8 of the grades in the school as "rolling". These same parents clearly don't value the students currently in the school, given that they refer to the demographic in the older grades as "darn depressing". They seem to think that raising test scores, not by actually helping students, or serving them better, but by swapping out kids for demographics more likely to succeed is the same thing as "improving" the school.

When the parents of kids in the older grades, as well as the teachers who love and serve them, respond by trying to take on leadership roles in the program they are described as staging a "take-over" and accused of racism. The irony is enormous. Thank god the racist white parents left!

But apparently the PTA is no longer functioning and does not meet. So how has this AA coup helped the school exactly?

A PTA that serves a small minority of students, is a far bigger problem for a school than a non-existent PTA.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
However, I'm not surprised by this at all. I grew up in a multiracial family and I attended DCPS. I've experienced lots of racism from black students. My parents transfered me to a predominately white Catholic school. I never had any racial problems at my Catholic school. It was a great fit for me. The problem is that DC is still a very segregated city. Unfortunately, behind closed doors some blacks in DC do resent whites and teach that hate to their children. Even though the city paints itself as being liberal, I find some of the folks in DC to be extremely close-minded. Now that I'm an adult I notice how open whites in DC are to my biracial children and how hostile some of the black people are. So, your daughter's situation is one of the many incidents against diversity and change in this city. There is a level of resistance in DC towards racial integration and diversity that I can't seem to fathom. Hopefully, things will get better and people will be more open to accepting others.

By the way, I wish your daughter lots of luck at her new school.

You're right, PP. Your post makes me think about the all-AA teaching staff and K+ voting out all the white officers of the new PTA at Payne ES on Capitol Hill almost a year ago. The PTA has only been up and running for a year at the time. The group was rolling with white and biracial leadership, parents of kids in the first racially diverse PreS3 group, which AA stakeholders so resented that they staged a take-over. The PTA hasn't met since, and every former white officer will be gone by the summer (no whites staying for K, let alone elementary grades). The school remains almost entirely AA (a touch Latino) above PreK4, and failing, with awful test scores. So darn depressing, and predictable.

Whoa - this is some SERIOUS dirt!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kid was the only white student in her class last year. We blithely assumed she would be fine, because kids are color blind, right? She ate alone every day. She told me (and the teacher confirmed) that she tried to join the other children at recess but was rebuffed. More than once, she came home crying because another elementary school child told her to take her "white ass" and get lost. (Well, the first time, she asked me what "ass" meant, because she had never heard it before.) We stuck it out through the rest of the year, but changed schools this past fall. Her new classroom has a good mix of kids, and a great inclusive vibe; she has many friends in her class, not just white kids. Any kind of homogeny is bad for the "only".

But you might not be aware of that tendency, because there are lots of stupid bitches around, so you've always been in good company.

I disagree that any kind of homogeny is bad for the only. Frankly, I think being the only black kid at an otherwise all-white schools is probably easier, since no white child would dare tell a black child to "take your black ass and get lost." White children, frankly, do not speak that way.

Yeah, really what would they say???? Excuse me go back to where you come from n****r

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

You're right, PP. Your post makes me think about the all-AA teaching staff and K+ voting out all the white officers of the new PTA at Payne ES on Capitol Hill almost a year ago. The PTA has only been up and running for a year at the time. The group was rolling with white and biracial leadership, parents of kids in the first racially diverse PreS3 group, which AA stakeholders so resented that they staged a take-over. The PTA hasn't met since, and every former white officer will be gone by the summer (no whites staying for K, let alone elementary grades). The school remains almost entirely AA (a touch Latino) above PreK4, and failing, with awful test scores. So darn depressing, and predictable.

Wow, there are so many problems with your post. A group of parents join a school, and even though they only have kids at one grade level, they stage a take over of the PTA. They describe a parent organization that only serves 1/8 of the grades in the school as "rolling". These same parents clearly don't value the students currently in the school, given that they refer to the demographic in the older grades as "darn depressing". They seem to think that raising test scores, not by actually helping students, or serving them better, but by swapping out kids for demographics more likely to succeed is the same thing as "improving" the school.

When the parents of kids in the older grades, as well as the teachers who love and serve them, respond by trying to take on leadership roles in the program they are described as staging a "take-over" and accused of racism. The irony is enormous. Thank god the racist white parents left!

Uh yeah, but what about the statement that "the PTA hasn't met since"? Thank god the AA stakeholders took over and turned that PTA around!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

You're right, PP. Your post makes me think about the all-AA teaching staff and K+ voting out all the white officers of the new PTA at Payne ES on Capitol Hill almost a year ago. The PTA has only been up and running for a year at the time. The group was rolling with white and biracial leadership, parents of kids in the first racially diverse PreS3 group, which AA stakeholders so resented that they staged a take-over. The PTA hasn't met since, and every former white officer will be gone by the summer (no whites staying for K, let alone elementary grades). The school remains almost entirely AA (a touch Latino) above PreK4, and failing, with awful test scores. So darn depressing, and predictable.

Wow, there are so many problems with your post. A group of parents join a school, and even though they only have kids at one grade level, they stage a take over of the PTA. They describe a parent organization that only serves 1/8 of the grades in the school as "rolling". These same parents clearly don't value the students currently in the school, given that they refer to the demographic in the older grades as "darn depressing". They seem to think that raising test scores, not by actually helping students, or serving them better, but by swapping out kids for demographics more likely to succeed is the same thing as "improving" the school.

When the parents of kids in the older grades, as well as the teachers who love and serve them, respond by trying to take on leadership roles in the program they are described as staging a "take-over" and accused of racism. The irony is enormous. Thank god the racist white parents left!

But apparently the PTA is no longer functioning and does not meet. So how has this AA coup helped the school exactly?

A PTA that serves a small minority of students, is a far bigger problem for a school than a non-existent PTA.

REALLY??? Wow.

[Anonymous]

I wasn't an "only," but one of a handful of white kids at my DCPS. It didn't really become an issue until 2nd grade. Then it got harder to make friends. Black kids who were friends with white kids got made fun of. There was name-calling, etc. I would hope things are somewhat less tense 30 years later, but I don't know. My kid's school is pretty diverse, but it's too soon to tell how cross-racial friendships will play out as my child gets older.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

You're right, PP. Your post makes me think about the all-AA teaching staff and K+ voting out all the white officers of the new PTA at Payne ES on Capitol Hill almost a year ago. The PTA has only been up and running for a year at the time. The group was rolling with white and biracial leadership, parents of kids in the first racially diverse PreS3 group, which AA stakeholders so resented that they staged a take-over. The PTA hasn't met since, and every former white officer will be gone by the summer (no whites staying for K, let alone elementary grades). The school remains almost entirely AA (a touch Latino) above PreK4, and failing, with awful test scores. So darn depressing, and predictable.

Wow, there are so many problems with your post. A group of parents join a school, and even though they only have kids at one grade level, they stage a take over of the PTA. They describe a parent organization that only serves 1/8 of the grades in the school as "rolling". These same parents clearly don't value the students currently in the school, given that they refer to the demographic in the older grades as "darn depressing". They seem to think that raising test scores, not by actually helping students, or serving them better, but by swapping out kids for demographics more likely to succeed is the same thing as "improving" the school.

When the parents of kids in the older grades, as well as the teachers who love and serve them, respond by trying to take on leadership roles in the program they are described as staging a "take-over" and accused of racism. The irony is enormous. Thank god the racist white parents left!

But apparently the PTA is no longer functioning and does not meet. So how has this AA coup helped the school exactly?

A PTA that serves a small minority of students, is a far bigger problem for a school than a non-existent PTA.

REALLY??? Wow.

+1. Can see why everyone who could leave, left. So everything is still the status quo with scores in the toilet? Hurray for the winners in the now non-existent PTA wars!

[Anonymous]

^^ yes, those teachers and parnts are loving and serving those older grade children right into high school dropouts. Congrats, really well done, myopic parents and WTU.

[Anonymous]

To the entrenched AA parents and teachers at Tyler who are determined to ensure that their children's futures are bleak: Well, at least you have your point. Good for you. Too bad for your kids. You're right, it sure would suck to have a PTA that can raise interest and funds and maybe augment the curriculum like PTAs at well run schools do. It sure would stink to have a PTA that can host events that will build the school's community and create a little buzz. Instead, you have no PTA, nothing beyond the bare minimum that DCPS provides and the sort of negative buzz that will take a generation to change. Brava!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

You're right, PP. Your post makes me think about the all-AA teaching staff and K+ voting out all the white officers of the new PTA at Payne ES on Capitol Hill almost a year ago. The PTA has only been up and running for a year at the time. The group was rolling with white and biracial leadership, parents of kids in the first racially diverse PreS3 group, which AA stakeholders so resented that they staged a take-over. The PTA hasn't met since, and every former white officer will be gone by the summer (no whites staying for K, let alone elementary grades). The school remains almost entirely AA (a touch Latino) above PreK4, and failing, with awful test scores. So darn depressing, and predictable.

Wow, there are so many problems with your post. A group of parents join a school, and even though they only have kids at one grade level, they stage a take over of the PTA. They describe a parent organization that only serves 1/8 of the grades in the school as "rolling". These same parents clearly don't value the students currently in the school, given that they refer to the demographic in the older grades as "darn depressing". They seem to think that raising test scores, not by actually helping students, or serving them better, but by swapping out kids for demographics more likely to succeed is the same thing as "improving" the school.

When the parents of kids in the older grades, as well as the teachers who love and serve them, respond by trying to take on leadership roles in the program they are described as staging a "take-over" and accused of racism. The irony is enormous. Thank god the racist white parents left!

But apparently the PTA is no longer functioning and does not meet. So how has this AA coup helped the school exactly?

A PTA that serves a small minority of students, is a far bigger problem for a school than a non-existent PTA.

REALLY??? Wow.

+1. Can see why everyone who could leave, left. So everything is still the status quo with scores in the toilet? Hurray for the winners in the now non-existent PTA wars!

You do realize that the solution to low test scores, isn't to replace or dilute the low scoring kids with affluent white kids. The only solution that counts is one where the same kids, or their little siblings, actually improve their performance.

That isn't to say, that increasing the socio-economic diversity at a school can't be part of the solution. If affluent families join a school, with the aim of really joining the community, making friends, volunteering and supporting all the students in the class, and advocating for and financially supporting changes that support all students, it can be a good thing.

But that begins with forming relationships, respecting the existing community, and coming to the table ready to learn and not just assuming your role is to teach. Without these things, the result is simply that kids who desperately need PS and PK spaces will lose them to affluent outsiders, and a white PTA that's out of touch with the community the school serves will advocate for policies that serve a tiny sliver of the population.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:To the entrenched AA parents and teachers at Tyler who are determined to ensure that their children's futures are bleak: Well, at least you have your point. Good for you. Too bad for your kids. You're right, it sure would suck to have a PTA that can raise interest and funds and maybe augment the curriculum like PTAs at well run schools do. It sure would stink to have a PTA that can host events that will build the school's community and create a little buzz. Instead, you have no PTA, nothing beyond the bare minimum that DCPS provides and the sort of negative buzz that will take a generation to change. Brava!

Pp, the story was about Payne, not Tyler.

[Anonymous]

What about asians

[Anonymous]

The booted Payne PTA members were elected. They lived in the neighborhood. There are a lot of Maryland families at that school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The booted Payne PTA members were elected. They lived in the neighborhood. There are a lot of Maryland families at that school.

Elected by who? Was the forum that elected them representative of the school in any way? Did the people who called the election take the time to build relationships and make sure the meeting was well attended?

[Anonymous]

Yes, were these "affluent outsiders" actually neighborhood families who were trying to attend their in-bounds school? It sure sounds like starting/joining the PTA is a great way to join the community, volunteer and support the whole school.

What are the policies that these white PTA members were trying to advocate for that only served white students? This is new to me. Our PTA at an overwhelmingly AA school welcomes the few white and Latino parents who join and does pretty boring stuff, like plan calendar fundraisers and gardening days and playground cleanups. What kind of PTA is setting policy and trying to hurt the rest of the school?