Modest Proposal: Moratorium on New DCPS/DC Public Charter Seats
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Anonymous
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Why? The DCPS + DC Charter school system is:
1. Not operating at capacity - there are plenty of empty seats. See e.g., http://www.myschooldc.org/sites/default/files/dc/sites/myschooldc/page/SY17_18_L_applications_seats_offered.pdf 2. PARCC test scores are still lackluster and the achievement gap still exists. See e.g., https://dcps.dc.gov/sites/default/files/dc/sites/dcps/publication/attachments/2016%20PARCC%20FINAL%20Results%20Press%20Deck%20FINAL.pdf 3. DC plans on spending over $17k per student! https://cfo.dc.gov/sites/default/files/dc/sites/ocfo/publication/attachments/DCOCFO_FY17_Budget_vol_3.pdf 4. Someone's kid somewhere is having a negative experience with teacher retention, poor administration, whatever. No more new schools and no more need for expansion! We need to just focus on the schools and seats we got! We Mundo Verde parents are bravely leading the vanguard, calling MV and the DCPCSB to account! DC doesn't need new schools, just needs to focus on the schools it has! Live in Ward 5 and can't find a DCPS or charter with good performance metrics? Ummm I hear there's lots of great schools just a hop skip and jump away in Wards 7 and 8! To paraphrase our great president, we need a "total and complete ban" on new school seats in DC until we figure out why half of the students in the system are testing BELOW AVERAGE on the PARCC. No more expansion until every student in DC is testing WAY ABOVE AVERAGE!! Unless and until then, I plan on voting AGAINST any politician that supports more schools, more seats, etc! Are you listening DCPCSB!??? If expansion is to occur, just don't let it involve Mundo Verde since that would mean my little snowflake might not get as much attention as he/she deserves! 1000%!! -MV Parent |
Anonymous
| This seems like a troll post. |
Anonymous
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No. Shut low quality / failing charters down faster. But no reason to choke off those who are doing well.
And high need students in charters (as a sector) are doing slightly better at a lower cost to the city. Why would you shut that down? |
Anonymous
OP does have a point. Why are we expanding when there is so much to improve with the schools we got? |
Anonymous
| The original modest proposal made more sense imo. |
Anonymous
Can we shut down some of the failing schools while we're at it? Like Coolidge? That would save about $200 million right there. |
Anonymous
| How about giving the Coolidge building to schools that are doing well, like Appletree and BASIS? |
Anonymous
Coolidge building is needed for a middle school for its feeder schools (Takoma, Brightwood, Whittier). They are actually growing and need the space. BASIS would never agree to the DC terms - which is a very long-term lease, like what was done for Latin and Cap City. They want to own their buildings outright. |
Anonymous
| Give it to <u>anybody</u> who can get scores over 50% on the PARCC! |
Anonymous
ELA or Math? Elementary or Middle or High school? |
Anonymous
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I disagree.
Allow the successful schools to expand, and close the least successful charters and DCPS. This is "creative destruction" at its best. It increases the amount of higher quality seats available, and provides incentives for all schools to do better. That being said, I think Mundo Verde's expansion is happening too soon. How could they possibly manage so much change all at once and still be effective? |
Anonymous
| Middle absolutely. DCPS has given up on middle schools. Any high quality charter that can demonstrate results at the middle level should get priority. |
Anonymous
| A moratorium would reveal that the emperor has no clothes - city leaders need to keep up the bait and switch and ambiguity of churn to disguise the fact that ed reform is a failure. |
Anonymous
"Despite D.C.’s pledges, hundreds of families a year bypass city’s public middle schools The Washington Post By Alejandra Matos May 20, 2017 Every year hundreds of D.C. parents with children in traditional elementary schools yank them out of the system before they can reach their neighborhood middle schools, preferring to hunt for other educational options. City records show that more sixth- and seventh-graders now enroll in charter schools — privately operated but publicly funded — than in traditional public schools. D.C. Public Schools holds a numerical edge in all other grades, from kindergarten through high school. Middle schools pose such a challenge for DCPS that when Mayor Muriel E. Bowser (D) ran for office in 2014, she pledged to strengthen them throughout the city, ensuring that every campus in the system offered high-powered academics, clubs and athletics." https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/despite-dcs-pledges-hundreds-of-families-a-year-bypass-citys-public-middle-schools/2017/05/20/b1ed6944-2b71-11e7-b605-33413c691853_story.html?utm_term=.619d86a32362 |
Anonymous
 At least the last line made it clear it was a troll post.
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