Basis DC just withdrew its request to amend their charter and add elementary school

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Adding to 8:52 -- a charter would have to be large enough and wealthy enough that it could demonstrably serve anyone who decided showed up at their doorstep and wanted to attend at any time during the year (like DCPS) before they could even think about starting a school for advanced students. Just not practical given the funding and facilities situation.

DCPS does not even serve everyone and outsources by sending some kids to private schools. Then DCPS just blatantly ignores the needs of above average and gifted students by offering a curriculum geared towards struggling students. And of course FAPE only appears tom kids with disabilities which is unfair in my opinion since it should apply to all.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Adding to 8:52 -- a charter would have to be large enough and wealthy enough that it could demonstrably serve anyone who decided showed up at their doorstep and wanted to attend at any time during the year (like DCPS) before they could even think about starting a school for advanced students. Just not practical given the funding and facilities situation.

DCPS does not even serve everyone and outsources by sending some kids to private schools. Then DCPS just blatantly ignores the needs of above average and gifted students by offering a curriculum geared towards struggling students. And of course FAPE only appears tom kids with disabilities which is unfair in my opinion since it should apply to all.

Then work to change that. Other states have legislated additional requirements on top of the federal IDEA for gifted students, and provided additional resources to serve them (see Florida and PA for examples). The DC Council could do that too.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Adding to 8:52 -- a charter would have to be large enough and wealthy enough that it could demonstrably serve anyone who decided showed up at their doorstep and wanted to attend at any time during the year (like DCPS) before they could even think about starting a school for advanced students. Just not practical given the funding and facilities situation.

DCPS does not even serve everyone and outsources by sending some kids to private schools. Then DCPS just blatantly ignores the needs of above average and gifted students by offering a curriculum geared towards struggling students. And of course FAPE only appears tom kids with disabilities which is unfair in my opinion since it should apply to all.

This isn't true. It just isn't. The learning standards are the same as MD and VA and they are a baseline. Our DCPS teachers well beyond the standards for kids who are capable of handling more.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Adding to 8:52 -- a charter would have to be large enough and wealthy enough that it could demonstrably serve anyone who decided showed up at their doorstep and wanted to attend at any time during the year (like DCPS) before they could even think about starting a school for advanced students. Just not practical given the funding and facilities situation.

DCPS does not even serve everyone and outsources by sending some kids to private schools. Then DCPS just blatantly ignores the needs of above average and gifted students by offering a curriculum geared towards struggling students. And of course FAPE only appears tom kids with disabilities which is unfair in my opinion since it should apply to all.

FAPE is a federal requirement guaranteeing access to the curriculum. THE FEDS DO NOT SET THE CURRICULUM. It is actually a violation of federal law -- they are not supposed to interfere. The curriculum is set by local entities. You may have an issue with DCPS curriculum but please stop blaming that on special needs students. If you want a different curriculum for your student work on that locally.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Charter advocate and BASIS critic just blogged about the BASIS decision to withdraw its application to expand.

https://parentshaveschoolchoicekidswin.com/2016/11/21/basis-pcs-withdraws-application-to-expand/

One could argue that high achieving, higher income kids are left behind by the traditional school system in DCPS. Unless you can buy a million dollar house in upper NW or Cap Hill for Brent, then your kid is screwed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Charter advocate and BASIS critic just blogged about the BASIS decision to withdraw its application to expand.

https://parentshaveschoolchoicekidswin.com/2016/11/21/basis-pcs-withdraws-application-to-expand/

One could argue that high achieving, higher income kids are left behind by the traditional school system in DCPS. Unless you can buy a million dollar house in upper NW or Cap Hill for Brent, then your kid is screwed.

Right. Not a single school other than Brent or Janney that provides an education IN THE ENTIRE CITY!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

OK. IDEA means that schools including charter schools have the obligation to provide disabled students with an appropriate education and the supports needed to access the curriculum. BASIS repeatedly violated these requirements in its middle school. Not because the kids were too dumb to keep up (your extremely ignorant and insulting suggestion) but because BASIS outright ignored their IEPs (the legally binding plans stating the supports they needed due to their disabilities). Hence, the charter board was exactly right to questiom whether BASIS had a plan for special needs for their elementary schools. Special needs are identified in elementary and preschool and kids benefit greatly from early intervention. Those kids have rights and BASIS was not prepared to meet them.

I don't think I ever suggested kids who weren't a good fit for BASIS were too dumb, and I most certainly do not believe that. I'm sorry if someone has expressed that opinion to you, I agree it is wrong. I want to see every child in a school that is a great fit and for parents to have to make a hard decisions because there are so many good options available. I did suggest that the hostility towards basis extends far beyond their willingness to make reasonable accommodations to students who are otherwise a good fit. For example, there is nothing in the law that requires a school be located in particular ward and yet based on the questioning of the board, this is clearly a factor in the decision making process. It's also a particularly unfair one in this case because the options near the locations BASIS was considering are quite limited.

I also suggested that there seemed to be an excessive focus in the hearing on accommodating students who fit a particular profile to the exclusion of everything else. That doesn't mean I believe there shouldn't be reasonable accommodations, just that additional considerations seemed to be given short shrift. I hope BASIS is able to work to meet your concerns, but I also hope you are open to the idea that there should be many options for parents and not every option will be right for every child. I think supporting and working with BASIS will make the district a more attractive place for other charters to open and excessive hostility will have the opposite effect.

[Anonymous]

BASIS is controversial and criticized because a) it's a for-profit school and b) the leadership is arrogant.

[Anonymous]

Nooooooooooo! Why can't we have just one charter that serves kids (er, parents) that want / need a more rigorous academic environment? It's like having a Chinese or Spanish immersion school -- they are not for everyone, but having them benefits many students, increases socio-economic diversity of DCPS, and benefits society as a whole. BASIS's proposed rigorous curriculum is no different -- it is a kind of an immersion in and of itself. Taking this opportunity away from students, especially low income students, is a tragedy. There should be no celebrating here.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Nooooooooooo! Why can't we have just one charter that serves kids (er, parents) that want / need a more rigorous academic environment? It's like having a Chinese or Spanish immersion school -- they are not for everyone, but having them benefits many students, increases socio-economic diversity of DCPS, and benefits society as a whole. BASIS's proposed rigorous curriculum is no different -- it is a kind of an immersion in and of itself. Taking this opportunity away from students, especially low income students, is a tragedy. There should be no celebrating here.

Ask the BASIS admin why they backed off. No one really knows.

And there's still the middle and high school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

OK. IDEA means that schools including charter schools have the obligation to provide disabled students with an appropriate education and the supports needed to access the curriculum. BASIS repeatedly violated these requirements in its middle school. Not because the kids were too dumb to keep up (your extremely ignorant and insulting suggestion) but because BASIS outright ignored their IEPs (the legally binding plans stating the supports they needed due to their disabilities). Hence, the charter board was exactly right to questiom whether BASIS had a plan for special needs for their elementary schools. Special needs are identified in elementary and preschool and kids benefit greatly from early intervention. Those kids have rights and BASIS was not prepared to meet them.

I don't think I ever suggested kids who weren't a good fit for BASIS were too dumb, and I most certainly do not believe that. I'm sorry if someone has expressed that opinion to you, I agree it is wrong. I want to see every child in a school that is a great fit and for parents to have to make a hard decisions because there are so many good options available. I did suggest that the hostility towards basis extends far beyond their willingness to make reasonable accommodations to students who are otherwise a good fit. For example, there is nothing in the law that requires a school be located in particular ward and yet based on the questioning of the board, this is clearly a factor in the decision making process. It's also a particularly unfair one in this case because the options near the locations BASIS was considering are quite limited.

I also suggested that there seemed to be an excessive focus in the hearing on accommodating students who fit a particular profile to the exclusion of everything else. That doesn't mean I believe there shouldn't be reasonable accommodations, just that additional considerations seemed to be given short shrift. I hope BASIS is able to work to meet your concerns, but I also hope you are open to the idea that there should be many options for parents and not every option will be right for every child. I think supporting and working with BASIS will make the district a more attractive place for other charters to open and excessive hostility will have the opposite effect.

Charter schools are not private schools. Under the law, schools do NOT get to decide if kids with special needs who are educated in the general classroom are a fit. The school has to fit the student. That's how it works. You don't seem to have internalized that fully and I suggest you do. Maybe DC schools are not a good fit for you if you think that considering BASIS's proven record of flouting IDEA is "excessive focus."

As for ward locations -- it's right there in the charter law that the applicant has to provide a "A statement of the need for the proposed school in the geographic area of the school site."

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

OK. IDEA means that schools including charter schools have the obligation to provide disabled students with an appropriate education and the supports needed to access the curriculum. BASIS repeatedly violated these requirements in its middle school. Not because the kids were too dumb to keep up (your extremely ignorant and insulting suggestion) but because BASIS outright ignored their IEPs (the legally binding plans stating the supports they needed due to their disabilities). Hence, the charter board was exactly right to questiom whether BASIS had a plan for special needs for their elementary schools. Special needs are identified in elementary and preschool and kids benefit greatly from early intervention. Those kids have rights and BASIS was not prepared to meet them.

I don't think I ever suggested kids who weren't a good fit for BASIS were too dumb, and I most certainly do not believe that. I'm sorry if someone has expressed that opinion to you, I agree it is wrong. I want to see every child in a school that is a great fit and for parents to have to make a hard decisions because there are so many good options available. I did suggest that the hostility towards basis extends far beyond their willingness to make reasonable accommodations to students who are otherwise a good fit. For example, there is nothing in the law that requires a school be located in particular ward and yet based on the questioning of the board, this is clearly a factor in the decision making process. It's also a particularly unfair one in this case because the options near the locations BASIS was considering are quite limited.

I also suggested that there seemed to be an excessive focus in the hearing on accommodating students who fit a particular profile to the exclusion of everything else. That doesn't mean I believe there shouldn't be reasonable accommodations, just that additional considerations seemed to be given short shrift. I hope BASIS is able to work to meet your concerns, but I also hope you are open to the idea that there should be many options for parents and not every option will be right for every child. I think supporting and working with BASIS will make the district a more attractive place for other charters to open and excessive hostility will have the opposite effect.

Charter schools are not private schools. Under the law, schools do NOT get to decide if kids with special needs who are educated in the general classroom are a fit. The school has to fit the student. That's how it works. You don't seem to have internalized that fully and I suggest you do. Maybe DC schools are not a good fit for you if you think that considering BASIS's proven record of flouting IDEA is "excessive focus."

As for ward locations -- it's right there in the charter law that the applicant has to provide a "A statement of the need for the proposed school in the geographic area of the school site."

+1. And BTW the PPP can get the BASIS elementary school experience and curriculum in a lovely, building in McLean, VA for $28,000 a year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Nooooooooooo! Why can't we have just one charter that serves kids (er, parents) that want / need a more rigorous academic environment? It's like having a Chinese or Spanish immersion school -- they are not for everyone, but having them benefits many students, increases socio-economic diversity of DCPS, and benefits society as a whole. BASIS's proposed rigorous curriculum is no different -- it is a kind of an immersion in and of itself. Taking this opportunity away from students, especially low income students, is a tragedy. There should be no celebrating here.

Nobody is saying that a BASIS elementary school is a bad idea. The Charter Board just made the very responsible decision that a school wishing to expand should show that it can be fair and comply with the basic law before it expands to a large number of students. BASIS was apparently not prepared to do that. This is 100% on BASIS.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

FAPE is a federal requirement guaranteeing access to the curriculum. THE FEDS DO NOT SET THE CURRICULUM. It is actually a violation of federal law -- they are not supposed to interfere. The curriculum is set by local entities. You may have an issue with DCPS curriculum but please stop blaming that on special needs students. If you want a different curriculum for your student work on that locally.

I never said FAPE or the Feds set curriculum so stop making assumptions. What I said was that FAPE only applies to meeting the needs of special ed students and not to the rest of the students who are not special ed which I think is wrong. FAPE IMO should apply to every student.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

FAPE is a federal requirement guaranteeing access to the curriculum. THE FEDS DO NOT SET THE CURRICULUM. It is actually a violation of federal law -- they are not supposed to interfere. The curriculum is set by local entities. You may have an issue with DCPS curriculum but please stop blaming that on special needs students. If you want a different curriculum for your student work on that locally.

I never said FAPE or the Feds set curriculum so stop making assumptions. What I said was that FAPE only applies to meeting the needs of special ed students and not to the rest of the students who are not special ed which I think is wrong. FAPE IMO should apply to every student.

FAPE stands for access to 'free, appropriate, public education', not 'free, best possible public education', or 'free, most challenging public education'. Your non-special needs child already has it.