Why don't DC parents fix their schools?

[Anonymous]

I get the impression that DC parents are put off by the public schools to the extent that they are willing t take a fortune to educate their kids. Why not make aggressive changes to fix the public schools?

[Anonymous]

Excuse me?? Who are you to judge? And you obviously know nothing about DC public schools because there are quite a few with intense parental involvement - yes, parents have fixed schools in DC. Key, Hyde, Murch, Mann, Oyster, Stoddert, Eaton, Janney, Lafayette, Hearst. And a few up and comers, such as Ross and Thompson. There is a growing number of families staying in the city to raise their families. All of the above mentioned schools are filled to the brim - and in a lot of cases overflowing with kids. the PTAs all raise a ton of money, have a say in ciriculum choices and run after school programs. We have shared values and work as a community - unlike the suburban schools where parents don't even know one another's names and have no stake in their child's education.
So - in short - a lot of us are staying, keeping an open mind and fighting for our schools.

[Anonymous]

Not OP here- but I do kind of get the question- how could the schools have gotten so out of hand bad? If everything is as PP said- then there is no way these schools would have been even teetering on needing severe help.

[Anonymous]

OP said: "Why not make aggressive changes to fix the public schools?"

Well, what do you suggest?

I don't like the fact that I hear consistently that DC curriculum is below grade level, even at one of the good schools listed above. But how should I help "fix" that particular situation?

I don't like that there has been no gifted education program in DC for many years or that the proposed "fix" by Rhees would require busing my child way across town. How should I "make aggressive changes" about that particular situation?

Like many, we will end up leaving the district because we can't afford private school for our two kids. That will be our particular sacrifice for the kids' education...

[Anonymous]

And talk about judging 21:53 - sheesh. Why do you say that suburban school parents aren't stakeholders in their children's education and aren't involved? Just because they live in the (gasp!) suburbs?
Sorry - DC native here and on balance, the school system in the District is in crises. A sort of perpetual crises actually. You are correct in saying that there are standout elementary schools in the wealthier parts of town (where the parents can afford to close the gaps), but what about the middle school piece? Or the high school piece? What happens to all those invested parents?

[Anonymous]

It is the families from the wealthier areas with the better schools that flock to the privates.

[Anonymous]

True - but the majority of the schools that the poster listed are in upper NW. Not too many in Ward 8.
And many of those wealthy families (who may or may not populate the public elementary schools) are sending their kids to private for middle and high school.

[Anonymous]

I was going to aggressively fix DC's public schools last month, but then both my kids got that virus that has been going around, the one with the faux pink eye.

Thanks for the reminder, though. I'll get right on that, I'll fix the DC public schools. Aggressively.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I was going to aggressively fix DC's public schools last month, but then both my kids got that virus that has been going around, the one with the faux pink eye.

Thanks for the reminder, though. I'll get right on that, I'll fix the DC public schools. Aggressively.

PP, I'm soooooo lucky that DD hasn't fallen victim to faux pink eye. (fingers crossed). Myself, I'm too busy working on world peace and supervising my assistant's efforts on hunger, poverty and AIDS (she's REALLY good at multi-tasking). But as soon as those complex, political, institutionalized, global crises are solved (we have a mid-March deadline that we likely will meet), and I get the invisible plane and bullet-proof bracelets out of hock, we'll jump right on the DC public schools. Our estimated date for delivery of perfect DC school system is mid-summer.

Anyone out there with us? We've got a tight budget, so you have to bring your own super power, cape and tights. And competent, motivated, accountable administrators, teachers and staff, you'll need to bring those too. And buildings that aren't falling down. And an accross-the-board well-educated middle to upper-midde class population that doesn't have baggage born of generations of poverty.

I think you can get all of this stuff at the Home Depot in Seven Corners, right? Maybe the one near Rockville? You know, like, if political accountability is out of stock in Seven Corners or something?

[Anonymous]

Crap! The schools....with this pregnancy brain I knew I forgot something...PP, I have some time late spring. We'll get this knocked out on time and never have to utter the letters WPPSI again. What a relief...

[Anonymous]

In terms of actual tuition dollars it is not that much money going to DC private schools.

[Anonymous]

I don't live in DC but I have been reading about all of the charter school options in DC.

It seeks that the charter schools provide an opportunity for parents to become really involved in shaping the particular charter schools and that lots of the charter schools have a strong sense of community.

[Anonymous]

The problems go beyond parents "fixing" the schools. In wealthier neighborhoods, the elementary schools are very good (Murch, Mann, Lafayette, etc.) The parents are motivated and involved and make sure the schools have everything they need. In the poorer neighborhoods, parents who can navigate the system and who understand the difference between a good and bad school send their kids to local parochial schools (which are inexpensive) or to charters or out of boundary. That leaves a lot of elementary schools in poor neighborhoods with kids who aren't getting proper rest, nutrition, or structure at home, and teachers who would never cut the mustard in the better neighborhood schools. So they fall behind. Then, by middle school, there's a large exodus of middle and upper-middle class kids, either to private school or to the suburbs. Parents aren't willing to send their kids to large, unruly, underperforming middle and high schools. And it's a lot easier to "fix" a small neighborhood school. The ugly reality is that urban school systems usually improve when middle and upper-middle class families (of all races) stay in the system. If you can't give these families a compelling reason to stay, then it's going to be harder to improve the schools. The only schools that have made real progress with high-poverty school populations are schools like SEED and Kipp, which keep the kids in school from morning to night, and I don't think that model is reproducible on a large scale. Believe me, we agonized over moving our children from public to private school, but in the end it was obvious how much better an education our kids would be getting than in the public middle school.

[Anonymous]

I am curious about where the 21:53 poster plans on sending his/her children for middle and high school. How comfortable are you outside the Key, Hyde, Murch, Mann et al bubble?

[Anonymous]

I am - working on opening a charter school. want to help?