"Congratulations" card from DCPS sent today - another complete waste of money!

[Anonymous]

In addition to the "register now" full color postcard that DCPS had printed and mailed to us although we had already registered (see previous thread on that), today, each of my children got a "Congratulations on finishing the school year!" card, full color glossy print, from "Your DCPS Family". It also instructed them to bring the card with them on the first day of school for a welcome prize. I can't imagine the costs for printing, mailing and fulfilling prizes for every DCPS student. And to what end?

This is another example of incredibly poor judgement by DCPS. This money could have been spent so many other ways that would enhance my childrens' education. Makes me wonder if they've got a printing company that they're throwing money at for the sake of cronyism.

Where can we complain??

[Anonymous]

OP here, i just emailed Mary Cheh, my ANC rep and our ES principal about this.

[Anonymous]

Getting kids to show up on the first day is a BIG deal for a lot of schools in DC. You'd be shocked how many families don't come until after Labor Day, and how hard that is for teachers and classmates. If a prize (which is probably like a pencil or a t-shirt or something, and may have been donated) gets kids to school from the start, then it's worth it.

I know you're in a bubble in Ward 3, but realize that the vast majority of DC students and their families lead a really different life than you, and DCPS is focused on a) the majority/average of their students and b) the ones who need the most help. So rather than getting all worked up every time DCPS does something that doesn't make sense to you and assuming you know best, maybe stop to think about why it could make sense for them to do what they did for families facing quite different situations than your own.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Getting kids to show up on the first day is a BIG deal for a lot of schools in DC. You'd be shocked how many families don't come until after Labor Day, and how hard that is for teachers and classmates. If a prize (which is probably like a pencil or a t-shirt or something, and may have been donated) gets kids to school from the start, then it's worth it.

I know you're in a bubble in Ward 3, but realize that the vast majority of DC students and their families lead a really different life than you, and DCPS is focused on a) the majority/average of their students and b) the ones who need the most help. So rather than getting all worked up every time DCPS does something that doesn't make sense to you and assuming you know best, maybe stop to think about why it could make sense for them to do what they did for families facing quite different situations than your own.

I'd rather see that money spent towards REAL assistance in that case.

[Anonymous]

what makes you think that getting kids to school from the beginning of the school year is not "REAL assistance"?

what do you think would be a more effective use of the amount of money DCPS spent on this mailing and the prizes?

And since you are an educational expert, why aren't you working for DCPS?

[Anonymous]

OP unclench.

Bulk mail doesn't actually cost that much. My rising 5th grader loved it. I bet kids across the city did. Great for DCPS to be engaged. We have been in the system for the last 14 years and it just keeps getting better.

[Anonymous]

There are about 47,000 kids in DCPS. Assume 2000 graduated this year, so 45,000 could be returning.

It costs about 4 cents for a full-color postcard at http://www.www.cactusmailing.com/. So that's $1800.

According to https://savepostage.com/bulkmail101/rates.html it could be as low as 9.9 cents to mail each postcard since DCPS is a nonprofit. Figure 10 cents each and that's another $4500.

Figure 10,000 kids actually show up with the postcard on the first day of school (that seems kinda high to me but whatever) and they spend a dollar on each prize. So $10,000 more.

I'm now up to $16,300 and let's round it up to $19,000 for printing addresses and whatever else needs to happen.

For $19,000 you could do some things that could help a small number of kids, but you can't do much. You can't hire another staff member or put a kid in a private special ed placement or renovate a playground. You could reduce aftercare by $100 a month for 19 kids. You could probably buy and install a kiln for art classes, or get the supplies for a garden. You could get a classroom set of laptops and related technology. And none of those would be terrible choices. But sending out postcards is also not a terrible choice. Getting some more kids to come to school on time is valuable, not just for them but for their teachers and classmates. And I'm not sure that the other ways of spending $19k will affect as many kids. Because I'm not an educational expert and I don't spend my career immersed in DCPS.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There are about 47,000 kids in DCPS. Assume 2000 graduated this year, so 45,000 could be returning.

It costs about 4 cents for a full-color postcard at http://www.www.cactusmailing.com/. So that's $1800.

According to https://savepostage.com/bulkmail101/rates.html it could be as low as 9.9 cents to mail each postcard since DCPS is a nonprofit. Figure 10 cents each and that's another $4500.

Figure 10,000 kids actually show up with the postcard on the first day of school (that seems kinda high to me but whatever) and they spend a dollar on each prize. So $10,000 more.

I'm now up to $16,300 and let's round it up to $19,000 for printing addresses and whatever else needs to happen.

For $19,000 you could do some things that could help a small number of kids, but you can't do much. You can't hire another staff member or put a kid in a private special ed placement or renovate a playground. You could reduce aftercare by $100 a month for 19 kids. You could probably buy and install a kiln for art classes, or get the supplies for a garden. You could get a classroom set of laptops and related technology. And none of those would be terrible choices. But sending out postcards is also not a terrible choice. Getting some more kids to come to school on time is valuable, not just for them but for their teachers and classmates. And I'm not sure that the other ways of spending $19k will affect as many kids. Because I'm not an educational expert and I don't spend my career immersed in DCPS.

But the marginal difference in attendance because of the postcard amd prize is tiny. You could pay for a part-time classroom aide with $19,000 and it would make a big difference to about the same number of kids.

[Anonymous]

If people are such a mess that they need a postcard to motivate them to show up at school, how are they going to keep track of a postcard the whole summer?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There are about 47,000 kids in DCPS. Assume 2000 graduated this year, so 45,000 could be returning.

It costs about 4 cents for a full-color postcard at http://www.www.cactusmailing.com/. So that's $1800.

According to https://savepostage.com/bulkmail101/rates.html it could be as low as 9.9 cents to mail each postcard since DCPS is a nonprofit. Figure 10 cents each and that's another $4500.

Figure 10,000 kids actually show up with the postcard on the first day of school (that seems kinda high to me but whatever) and they spend a dollar on each prize. So $10,000 more.

I'm now up to $16,300 and let's round it up to $19,000 for printing addresses and whatever else needs to happen.

For $19,000 you could do some things that could help a small number of kids, but you can't do much. You can't hire another staff member or put a kid in a private special ed placement or renovate a playground. You could reduce aftercare by $100 a month for 19 kids. You could probably buy and install a kiln for art classes, or get the supplies for a garden. You could get a classroom set of laptops and related technology. And none of those would be terrible choices. But sending out postcards is also not a terrible choice. Getting some more kids to come to school on time is valuable, not just for them but for their teachers and classmates. And I'm not sure that the other ways of spending $19k will affect as many kids. Because I'm not an educational expert and I don't spend my career immersed in DCPS.

But the marginal difference in attendance because of the postcard amd prize is tiny. You could pay for a part-time classroom aide with $19,000 and it would make a big difference to about the same number of kids.

+1. For most of the kids, the postcard makes no difference whatsoever. It is a total waste. If it is wasted on half the kids, that is $9,500 that could have been spent on almost anything else. Our school could very dearly use that money so that we can afford a full-time social worker.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There are about 47,000 kids in DCPS. Assume 2000 graduated this year, so 45,000 could be returning.

It costs about 4 cents for a full-color postcard at http://www.www.cactusmailing.com/. So that's $1800.

According to https://savepostage.com/bulkmail101/rates.html it could be as low as 9.9 cents to mail each postcard since DCPS is a nonprofit. Figure 10 cents each and that's another $4500.

Figure 10,000 kids actually show up with the postcard on the first day of school (that seems kinda high to me but whatever) and they spend a dollar on each prize. So $10,000 more.

I'm now up to $16,300 and let's round it up to $19,000 for printing addresses and whatever else needs to happen.

For $19,000 you could do some things that could help a small number of kids, but you can't do much. You can't hire another staff member or put a kid in a private special ed placement or renovate a playground. You could reduce aftercare by $100 a month for 19 kids. You could probably buy and install a kiln for art classes, or get the supplies for a garden. You could get a classroom set of laptops and related technology. And none of those would be terrible choices. But sending out postcards is also not a terrible choice. Getting some more kids to come to school on time is valuable, not just for them but for their teachers and classmates. And I'm not sure that the other ways of spending $19k will affect as many kids. Because I'm not an educational expert and I don't spend my career immersed in DCPS.

Bulk mailer here. It actually gets cheaper the more you do. Your number is way overblown. That is a 5k job nowadays since no one mails anything. No clue what the prize is but I am sure they will be donated. If you want to be outraged there are 1000 other things DCPS does that should upset you.

[Anonymous]

Do you really think that the incentive of a "prize" is going to change the behavior of someone who doesn't send their kids to school on time? Or that they'll even open the envelope and hold on to the card for the next 8 weeks??

[Anonymous]

Your post is a more concerning waste of time. You should apologize to your spouse and kids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If people are such a mess that they need a postcard to motivate them to show up at school, how are they going to keep track of a postcard the whole summer?

You got it!!! Or even open the mail, or for the mail to go to the right location - we see you MD.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Getting kids to show up on the first day is a BIG deal for a lot of schools in DC. You'd be shocked how many families don't come until after Labor Day, and how hard that is for teachers and classmates. If a prize (which is probably like a pencil or a t-shirt or something, and may have been donated) gets kids to school from the start, then it's worth it.

I know you're in a bubble in Ward 3, but realize that the vast majority of DC students and their families lead a really different life than you, and DCPS is focused on a) the majority/average of their students and b) the ones who need the most help. So rather than getting all worked up every time DCPS does something that doesn't make sense to you and assuming you know best, maybe stop to think about why it could make sense for them to do what they did for families facing quite different situations than your own.

Your rationalization makes no sense. You accuse OP of being in the bubble of Ward 3 and yet you speak of how shocked - shocked - we would be to know how many families "don't come until after Labor Day." I assume this is code for kids on the other side of the park. What are they doing, summering on the Cape?