BASIS proposal to expand to K-4--PCSB hearing today

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DP. I did review the documents and quickly saw that you are spreading false information. Basis “ is primarily a commercial real estate investment firm”? Shame on you. You are clearly a troll.

Here is the latest reporting from the Arizon Republic (which, BTW, doesn’t cover charter schools in DC):

This Arizona high school landed the top spot in national U.S. News ranking

A charter school in Peoria landed the top spot in a new ranking of the best public high schools across the nation.

BASIS Peoria was ranked first in the nation on U.S. News & World Report's 2024 rankings of best public high schools, rising from 12th place in last year's ranking.

Twelve Arizona high schools in all were included in the top 100 spots of the ranking.

They included 10 schools in the BASIS charter school network — Peoria (first), Oro Valley (24th), Scottsdale (32nd), Tucson (33rd), Ahwatukee (34th), Phoenix (45th), Mesa (56th), Prescott (75th), Chandler (84th) and Flagstaff (94th) — and two district schools: University High School in the Tucson Unified School District (81st) and University High School in the Tolleson Union High School District (83rd).

BASIS Peoria and BASIS Oro Valley were among the top five charter schools in the country, and BASIS Peoria and BASIS Chandler were among the top five STEM high schools, according to the rankings.

The 2024 rankings, which were released Tuesday, evaluated nearly 18,000 public schools across the country.

U.S. News & World Report also ranked the top schools in the metro Phoenix area. The top ten included six BASIS schools and University High School in Tolleson, along with Arizona College Prep in the Chandler Unified School District, Gilbert Classical Academy in the Gilbert Unified School District and Phoenix Union Bioscience in the Phoenix Union High School District.

That is an article abotu US news and world report rankings... it's not anything I would point to as serious.

But does it refute any of the earlier reporting?

And did you check the 990? How much debt DOES BASIS have?

Trolling.

Take off your tin foil hat and quote and cite the reporting. No one has any idea what you are taking about.

IF you send your kid there and you don't know how the school operates you're seriously in trouble.

Go look up the 990 of BASIS and see how much debt they have. Go ahead, I'll wait.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Education researcher Betsy Wolf explains why she opposes expansion:

https://betsyjwolf.substack.com/p/basiss-proposed-expansion

I don't agree with her criticism of Basis, but the data she presents is informative.

Thanks for sharing, Betsy.


FYI, Betsy Wolf is an white social justice warrior who thinks charter and magnet schools are racist.

Here is a quote she recently tweeted out:

“'White communities want neighborhood schools if their neighborhood school is white,' she says. 'If their neighborhood school is black, they want choice.' Charter schools and magnet schools spring up in place of neighborhood schools, where white students can be in the majority."

Thank goodness no one listens to her.

Betsy Wolf sucks.

She circles around the idea that public money should support schools that serve the public -- here is a quote:

"Would the DC PCSB approve their expansion if BASIS stated, we’re here to serve children of parents with advanced degrees?"

But how does that argument square with the existence of schools like Walls, Banneker and McKinley? Clearly she believes that it's ok for some public schools to serve a small sector of high achieving kids. That BASIS actually accepts everyone should be a mark in its favor.

Until DCPS offers than Deal and Hardy for parents who want academically challenging options for this kids, she should open her mind to BASIS.

Right? This is too silly:

"Whether BASIS should be allowed to expand is fundamentally a question of values. Further advantage the advantaged, or serve the common good?"

The common good surely includes helping set up the highest achieving students to achieve as much as they can.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Education researcher Betsy Wolf explains why she opposes expansion:

https://betsyjwolf.substack.com/p/basiss-proposed-expansion

I don't agree with her criticism of Basis, but the data she presents is informative.

Thanks for sharing, Betsy.


FYI, Betsy Wolf is an white social justice warrior who thinks charter and magnet schools are racist.

Here is a quote she recently tweeted out:

“'White communities want neighborhood schools if their neighborhood school is white,' she says. 'If their neighborhood school is black, they want choice.' Charter schools and magnet schools spring up in place of neighborhood schools, where white students can be in the majority."

Thank goodness no one listens to her.

Betsy Wolf sucks.

She circles around the idea that public money should support schools that serve the public -- here is a quote:

"Would the DC PCSB approve their expansion if BASIS stated, we’re here to serve children of parents with advanced degrees?"

But how does that argument square with the existence of schools like Walls, Banneker and McKinley? Clearly she believes that it's ok for some public schools to serve a small sector of high achieving kids. That BASIS actually accepts everyone should be a mark in its favor.

Until DCPS offers than Deal and Hardy for parents who want academically challenging options for this kids, she should open her mind to BASIS.

Right? This is too silly:

"Whether BASIS should be allowed to expand is fundamentally a question of values. Further advantage the advantaged, or serve the common good?"

The common good surely includes helping set up the highest achieving students to achieve as much as they can.

It does, but it also requires that the most students reap the most good. If you want your kids to get an elite education at some experimental education project with insanely high rates of failure, send your kids to private school. There are plenty of them. Don't expect the rest of us to foot the bill.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Education researcher Betsy Wolf explains why she opposes expansion:

https://betsyjwolf.substack.com/p/basiss-proposed-expansion

I don't agree with her criticism of Basis, but the data she presents is informative.

Thanks for sharing, Betsy.


FYI, Betsy Wolf is an white social justice warrior who thinks charter and magnet schools are racist.

Here is a quote she recently tweeted out:

“'White communities want neighborhood schools if their neighborhood school is white,' she says. 'If their neighborhood school is black, they want choice.' Charter schools and magnet schools spring up in place of neighborhood schools, where white students can be in the majority."

Thank goodness no one listens to her.

Betsy Wolf sucks.

She circles around the idea that public money should support schools that serve the public -- here is a quote:

"Would the DC PCSB approve their expansion if BASIS stated, we’re here to serve children of parents with advanced degrees?"

But how does that argument square with the existence of schools like Walls, Banneker and McKinley? Clearly she believes that it's ok for some public schools to serve a small sector of high achieving kids. That BASIS actually accepts everyone should be a mark in its favor.

Until DCPS offers than Deal and Hardy for parents who want academically challenging options for this kids, she should open her mind to BASIS.

Right? This is too silly:

"Whether BASIS should be allowed to expand is fundamentally a question of values. Further advantage the advantaged, or serve the common good?"

The common good surely includes helping set up the highest achieving students to achieve as much as they can.

"In a survey commissioned by BASIS gauging parental demand and interest, the best predictor of interest in BASIS was parental education attainment, specifically parents with advanced degrees “who are seeking K-12 schools that will set their children up for similar future academic success.'

Maybe I'm an uncreative thinker, but to me this is the entire point of education? I guess that must make me a bad person in the eyes of the Betsy Wolves of the world, who clearly exceed me in virtue.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Education researcher Betsy Wolf explains why she opposes expansion:

https://betsyjwolf.substack.com/p/basiss-proposed-expansion

I don't agree with her criticism of Basis, but the data she presents is informative.

Thanks for sharing, Betsy.


FYI, Betsy Wolf is an white social justice warrior who thinks charter and magnet schools are racist.

Here is a quote she recently tweeted out:

“'White communities want neighborhood schools if their neighborhood school is white,' she says. 'If their neighborhood school is black, they want choice.' Charter schools and magnet schools spring up in place of neighborhood schools, where white students can be in the majority."

Thank goodness no one listens to her.

Betsy Wolf sucks.

She circles around the idea that public money should support schools that serve the public -- here is a quote:

"Would the DC PCSB approve their expansion if BASIS stated, we’re here to serve children of parents with advanced degrees?"

But how does that argument square with the existence of schools like Walls, Banneker and McKinley? Clearly she believes that it's ok for some public schools to serve a small sector of high achieving kids. That BASIS actually accepts everyone should be a mark in its favor.

Until DCPS offers than Deal and Hardy for parents who want academically challenging options for this kids, she should open her mind to BASIS.

Right? This is too silly:

"Whether BASIS should be allowed to expand is fundamentally a question of values. Further advantage the advantaged, or serve the common good?"

The common good surely includes helping set up the highest achieving students to achieve as much as they can.

"In a survey commissioned by BASIS gauging parental demand and interest, the best predictor of interest in BASIS was parental education attainment, specifically parents with advanced degrees “who are seeking K-12 schools that will set their children up for similar future academic success.'

Maybe I'm an uncreative thinker, but to me this is the entire point of education? I guess that must make me a bad person in the eyes of the Betsy Wolves of the world, who clearly exceed me in virtue.

It was basically a survey of Brent parents only, which is a great example of what a joke this whole process is.

[Anonymous]

[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]DP. I did review the documents and quickly saw that you are spreading false information. Basis “ is primarily a commercial real estate investment firm”? Shame on you. You are clearly a troll.

Here is the latest reporting from the Arizon Republic (which, BTW, doesn’t cover charter schools in DC):

[b]This Arizona high school landed the top spot in national U.S. News ranking[/b]

A charter school in Peoria landed the top spot in a new ranking of the best public high schools across the nation.

BASIS Peoria was ranked first in the nation on U.S. News & World Report's 2024 rankings of best public high schools, rising from 12th place in last year's ranking.

Twelve Arizona high schools in all were included in the top 100 spots of the ranking.

They included 10 schools in the BASIS charter school network — Peoria (first), Oro Valley (24th), Scottsdale (32nd), Tucson (33rd), Ahwatukee (34th), Phoenix (45th), Mesa (56th), Prescott (75th), Chandler (84th) and Flagstaff (94th) — and two district schools: University High School in the Tucson Unified School District (81st) and University High School in the Tolleson Union High School District (83rd).

BASIS Peoria and BASIS Oro Valley were among the top five charter schools in the country, and BASIS Peoria and BASIS Chandler were among the top five STEM high schools, according to the rankings.

The 2024 rankings, which were released Tuesday, evaluated nearly 18,000 public schools across the country.

U.S. News & World Report also ranked the top schools in the metro Phoenix area. The top ten included six BASIS schools and University High School in Tolleson, along with Arizona College Prep in the Chandler Unified School District, Gilbert Classical Academy in the Gilbert Unified School District and Phoenix Union Bioscience in the Phoenix Union High School District.[/quote]

That is an article abotu US news and world report rankings... it's not anything I would point to as serious.

But does it refute any of the earlier reporting?

And did you check the 990? How much debt DOES BASIS have?[/quote]

Trolling.

Take off your tin foil hat and quote and cite the reporting. No one has any idea what you are taking about. [/quote]

IF you send your kid there and you don't know how the school operates you're seriously in trouble.

Go look up the 990 of BASIS and see how much debt they have. Go ahead, I'll wait.[/quote]

As suspected, you have nothing to back up your statements.

Sad.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Education researcher Betsy Wolf explains why she opposes expansion:

https://betsyjwolf.substack.com/p/basiss-proposed-expansion

I don't agree with her criticism of Basis, but the data she presents is informative.

Thanks for sharing, Betsy.


FYI, Betsy Wolf is an white social justice warrior who thinks charter and magnet schools are racist.

Here is a quote she recently tweeted out:

“'White communities want neighborhood schools if their neighborhood school is white,' she says. 'If their neighborhood school is black, they want choice.' Charter schools and magnet schools spring up in place of neighborhood schools, where white students can be in the majority."

Thank goodness no one listens to her.

Betsy Wolf sucks.

She circles around the idea that public money should support schools that serve the public -- here is a quote:

"Would the DC PCSB approve their expansion if BASIS stated, we’re here to serve children of parents with advanced degrees?"

But how does that argument square with the existence of schools like Walls, Banneker and McKinley? Clearly she believes that it's ok for some public schools to serve a small sector of high achieving kids. That BASIS actually accepts everyone should be a mark in its favor.

Until DCPS offers than Deal and Hardy for parents who want academically challenging options for this kids, she should open her mind to BASIS.

Right? This is too silly:

"Whether BASIS should be allowed to expand is fundamentally a question of values. Further advantage the advantaged, or serve the common good?"

The common good surely includes helping set up the highest achieving students to achieve as much as they can.

It does, but it also requires that the most students reap the most good. If you want your kids to get an elite education at some experimental education project with insanely high rates of failure, send your kids to private school. There are plenty of them. Don't expect the rest of us to foot the bill.

That is such a dumb argument.

DC spends $2.7 billion a year on education but most students are below grade level in math and English.

For example, DCPS spent $124 million a decade ago rebuilding Ballou High School. Yet the school has the second worst truancy of any school in DC and many kids there are illiterate and innumerate.

Yet you complain about Basis, which spends a minuscule fraction of the DC education budget every year and has the best academic results in DC.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Education researcher Betsy Wolf explains why she opposes expansion:

https://betsyjwolf.substack.com/p/basiss-proposed-expansion

I don't agree with her criticism of Basis, but the data she presents is informative.

Thanks for sharing, Betsy.


FYI, Betsy Wolf is an white social justice warrior who thinks charter and magnet schools are racist.

Here is a quote she recently tweeted out:

“'White communities want neighborhood schools if their neighborhood school is white,' she says. 'If their neighborhood school is black, they want choice.' Charter schools and magnet schools spring up in place of neighborhood schools, where white students can be in the majority."

Thank goodness no one listens to her.

Betsy Wolf sucks.

She circles around the idea that public money should support schools that serve the public -- here is a quote:

"Would the DC PCSB approve their expansion if BASIS stated, we’re here to serve children of parents with advanced degrees?"

But how does that argument square with the existence of schools like Walls, Banneker and McKinley? Clearly she believes that it's ok for some public schools to serve a small sector of high achieving kids. That BASIS actually accepts everyone should be a mark in its favor.

Until DCPS offers than Deal and Hardy for parents who want academically challenging options for this kids, she should open her mind to BASIS.

Right? This is too silly:

"Whether BASIS should be allowed to expand is fundamentally a question of values. Further advantage the advantaged, or serve the common good?"

The common good surely includes helping set up the highest achieving students to achieve as much as they can.

It does, but it also requires that the most students reap the most good. If you want your kids to get an elite education at some experimental education project with insanely high rates of failure, send your kids to private school. There are plenty of them. Don't expect the rest of us to foot the bill.

That is such a dumb argument.

DC spends $2.7 billion a year on education but most students are below grade level in math and English.

For example, DCPS spent $124 million a decade ago rebuilding Ballou High School. Yet the school has the second worst truancy of any school in DC and many kids there are illiterate and innumerate.

Yet you complain about Basis, which spends a minuscule fraction of the DC education budget every year and has the best academic results in DC.

Well, it doesn’t, we established that. At best the record is unclear.

And yeah, eff them - want your kid to go to some for profit thought experiment school, do it on your own dime.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Education researcher Betsy Wolf explains why she opposes expansion:

https://betsyjwolf.substack.com/p/basiss-proposed-expansion

I don't agree with her criticism of Basis, but the data she presents is informative.

Thanks for sharing, Betsy.


FYI, Betsy Wolf is an white social justice warrior who thinks charter and magnet schools are racist.

Here is a quote she recently tweeted out:

“'White communities want neighborhood schools if their neighborhood school is white,' she says. 'If their neighborhood school is black, they want choice.' Charter schools and magnet schools spring up in place of neighborhood schools, where white students can be in the majority."

Thank goodness no one listens to her.

Betsy Wolf sucks.

She circles around the idea that public money should support schools that serve the public -- here is a quote:

"Would the DC PCSB approve their expansion if BASIS stated, we’re here to serve children of parents with advanced degrees?"

But how does that argument square with the existence of schools like Walls, Banneker and McKinley? Clearly she believes that it's ok for some public schools to serve a small sector of high achieving kids. That BASIS actually accepts everyone should be a mark in its favor.

Until DCPS offers than Deal and Hardy for parents who want academically challenging options for this kids, she should open her mind to BASIS.

Right? This is too silly:

"Whether BASIS should be allowed to expand is fundamentally a question of values. Further advantage the advantaged, or serve the common good?"

The common good surely includes helping set up the highest achieving students to achieve as much as they can.

It does, but it also requires that the most students reap the most good. If you want your kids to get an elite education at some experimental education project with insanely high rates of failure, send your kids to private school. There are plenty of them. Don't expect the rest of us to foot the bill.

That is such a dumb argument.

DC spends $2.7 billion a year on education but most students are below grade level in math and English.

For example, DCPS spent $124 million a decade ago rebuilding Ballou High School. Yet the school has the second worst truancy of any school in DC and many kids there are illiterate and innumerate.

Yet you complain about Basis, which spends a minuscule fraction of the DC education budget every year and has the best academic results in DC.

Well, it doesn’t, we established that. At best the record is unclear.

And yeah, eff them - want your kid to go to some for profit thought experiment school, do it on your own dime.

Dumb.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Education researcher Betsy Wolf explains why she opposes expansion:

https://betsyjwolf.substack.com/p/basiss-proposed-expansion

I don't agree with her criticism of Basis, but the data she presents is informative.

Thanks for sharing, Betsy.


FYI, Betsy Wolf is an white social justice warrior who thinks charter and magnet schools are racist.

Here is a quote she recently tweeted out:

“'White communities want neighborhood schools if their neighborhood school is white,' she says. 'If their neighborhood school is black, they want choice.' Charter schools and magnet schools spring up in place of neighborhood schools, where white students can be in the majority."

Thank goodness no one listens to her.

Betsy Wolf sucks.

She circles around the idea that public money should support schools that serve the public -- here is a quote:

"Would the DC PCSB approve their expansion if BASIS stated, we’re here to serve children of parents with advanced degrees?"

But how does that argument square with the existence of schools like Walls, Banneker and McKinley? Clearly she believes that it's ok for some public schools to serve a small sector of high achieving kids. That BASIS actually accepts everyone should be a mark in its favor.

Until DCPS offers than Deal and Hardy for parents who want academically challenging options for this kids, she should open her mind to BASIS.

Right? This is too silly:

"Whether BASIS should be allowed to expand is fundamentally a question of values. Further advantage the advantaged, or serve the common good?"

The common good surely includes helping set up the highest achieving students to achieve as much as they can.

It does, but it also requires that the most students reap the most good. If you want your kids to get an elite education at some experimental education project with insanely high rates of failure, send your kids to private school. There are plenty of them. Don't expect the rest of us to foot the bill.

That is such a dumb argument.

DC spends $2.7 billion a year on education but most students are below grade level in math and English.

For example, DCPS spent $124 million a decade ago rebuilding Ballou High School. Yet the school has the second worst truancy of any school in DC and many kids there are illiterate and innumerate.

Yet you complain about Basis, which spends a minuscule fraction of the DC education budget every year and has the best academic results in DC.

Well, it doesn’t, we established that. At best the record is unclear.

And yeah, eff them - want your kid to go to some for profit thought experiment school, do it on your own dime.

What do you mean by "thought experiment school?" Basis isn't doing anything weird. They're just using tried and true educational methods from like the 1990s. They're all about taking notes by hand, some degree of rote memorization, using textbooks, doing homework, taking exams, and holding kids accountable for their performance. Nothing at all is weird or experimental. The experimental education is in the regular public schools, which latch onto the educational fad of the day and buy edu-tainment online math or reading programs that don't work.

[Anonymous]

The attrition rates before 8th grade at BASIS make it impossible to say that BASIS is actually doing a good job of educating the students it enrolls. They obviously do an excellent job of filtering out the students they don’t want to bother trying to educate. But the institution is more of a filter than a school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Education researcher Betsy Wolf explains why she opposes expansion:

https://betsyjwolf.substack.com/p/basiss-proposed-expansion

I don't agree with her criticism of Basis, but the data she presents is informative.

Thanks for sharing, Betsy.


FYI, Betsy Wolf is an white social justice warrior who thinks charter and magnet schools are racist.

Here is a quote she recently tweeted out:

“'White communities want neighborhood schools if their neighborhood school is white,' she says. 'If their neighborhood school is black, they want choice.' Charter schools and magnet schools spring up in place of neighborhood schools, where white students can be in the majority."

Thank goodness no one listens to her.

Betsy Wolf sucks.

She circles around the idea that public money should support schools that serve the public -- here is a quote:

"Would the DC PCSB approve their expansion if BASIS stated, we’re here to serve children of parents with advanced degrees?"

But how does that argument square with the existence of schools like Walls, Banneker and McKinley? Clearly she believes that it's ok for some public schools to serve a small sector of high achieving kids. That BASIS actually accepts everyone should be a mark in its favor.

Until DCPS offers than Deal and Hardy for parents who want academically challenging options for this kids, she should open her mind to BASIS.

Right? This is too silly:

"Whether BASIS should be allowed to expand is fundamentally a question of values. Further advantage the advantaged, or serve the common good?"

The common good surely includes helping set up the highest achieving students to achieve as much as they can.

It does, but it also requires that the most students reap the most good. If you want your kids to get an elite education at some experimental education project with insanely high rates of failure, send your kids to private school. There are plenty of them. Don't expect the rest of us to foot the bill.

That is such a dumb argument.

DC spends $2.7 billion a year on education but most students are below grade level in math and English.

For example, DCPS spent $124 million a decade ago rebuilding Ballou High School. Yet the school has the second worst truancy of any school in DC and many kids there are illiterate and innumerate.

Yet you complain about Basis, which spends a minuscule fraction of the DC education budget every year and has the best academic results in DC.

Well, it doesn’t, we established that. At best the record is unclear.

And yeah, eff them - want your kid to go to some for profit thought experiment school, do it on your own dime.

What do you mean by "thought experiment school?" Basis isn't doing anything weird. They're just using tried and true educational methods from like the 1990s. They're all about taking notes by hand, some degree of rote memorization, using textbooks, doing homework, taking exams, and holding kids accountable for their performance. Nothing at all is weird or experimental. The experimental education is in the regular public schools, which latch onto the educational fad of the day and buy edu-tainment online math or reading programs that don't work.

Totally agree with this, and a huge reason that we chose BASIS over our DCPS MS, where most kids on the tour were slumped over tablets, looking bored out of their mind (the exception to this was Hardy and Deal, where the kids were more engaged and active in learning). As BASIS, kids were furiously taking notes, and answering the teachers questions.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The attrition rates before 8th grade at BASIS make it impossible to say that BASIS is actually doing a good job of educating the students it enrolls. They obviously do an excellent job of filtering out the students they don’t want to bother trying to educate. But the institution is more of a filter than a school.

You're assuming that the attrition is mostly based on kids washing out of the school. This is highly unlikely from 5th-6th grade, since 5th grade does not include comp exams, and it's difficult to fail that year. The pre-8th grade attrition is likely a mix of:
1. People getting accepted in the lottery for schools they always preferred over Basis. They always intended to use Basis as a stopgap or fallback plan. This is likely a good chunk of the 5th-6th grade attrition (as well as the 8th-9th).
2. People who move out of the area
3. Kids arrive in 5th grade with such poor foundations that they can't really climb out of that academic hole.
4. The kids aren't as bright or motivated as the parents want to think they are.

#1 and #2 aren't Basis' fault. #3 is exactly what they're trying to fix by opening a K-4. For #4, Basis honestly does bend over backward to help kids succeed. Teachers hold frequent student hours where a kid can get individual attention/tutoring. The frequent exams and homework assignments mean that the kid is getting a lot of feedback throughout the year. Basis is pretty upfront that unlike every other school in the area, it is providing advanced instruction. If a kid is not at least above average and motivated, the kid will likely not succeed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The attrition rates before 8th grade at BASIS make it impossible to say that BASIS is actually doing a good job of educating the students it enrolls. They obviously do an excellent job of filtering out the students they don’t want to bother trying to educate. But the institution is more of a filter than a school.

You're assuming that the attrition is mostly based on kids washing out of the school. This is highly unlikely from 5th-6th grade, since 5th grade does not include comp exams, and it's difficult to fail that year. The pre-8th grade attrition is likely a mix of:
1. People getting accepted in the lottery for schools they always preferred over Basis. They always intended to use Basis as a stopgap or fallback plan. This is likely a good chunk of the 5th-6th grade attrition (as well as the 8th-9th).
2. People who move out of the area
3. Kids arrive in 5th grade with such poor foundations that they can't really climb out of that academic hole.
4. The kids aren't as bright or motivated as the parents want to think they are.

#1 and #2 aren't Basis' fault. #3 is exactly what they're trying to fix by opening a K-4. For #4, Basis honestly does bend over backward to help kids succeed. Teachers hold frequent student hours where a kid can get individual attention/tutoring. The frequent exams and homework assignments mean that the kid is getting a lot of feedback throughout the year. Basis is pretty upfront that unlike every other school in the area, it is providing advanced instruction. If a kid is not at least above average and motivated, the kid will likely not succeed.

You forgot 5. (which is really part of #1), people opting for their IB middle school over BASIS.

And 2. should include people moving to an IB that they like.

You can say those things "aren't BASIS's fault", and I agree different families like different types of schools, but it is also possible that some people left BASIS because of BASIS' very real disadvantages and shortcomings in various areas. I don't think attracting kids who are IB for Deal should be, or is, a priority for BASIS. But there's a very defensive vibe to PP's list and it doesn't acknowledge that BASIS does have problems and shortcomings.

[Anonymous]

All schools have problems and shortcomings.

Most, if not all, BASIS families readily recognize its shortcomings. It’s cost/benefit analysis and academics at BASIS should win most of the time if that’s something extremely important to your family. The problems at nearly every other school option is that the academics range from subpar to absolutely awful.

Again, there is nothing wrong with having a public option in DC that challenges even the brightest of students and which has goals not centered around bringing up the students behind grade level. Plenty of other schools already cover that check box.