Deciding whether to try for latin

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I was pro-DCPS all through elementary school and up until April of the month we did the middle school charter lottery, got a spot at BASIS, and had a candid conversation with a DCPS middle school teacher who told me straight-up to take the BASIS spot because her DCPS did not meet the needs of advanced students. she wanted to, but the structure of the curriculum, her inabiity to fail students, her principal all kept her from adding enrichment and appropriate instruction for advanced students.

She was really unequivocal and I made my decision immediately after that conversation. She also said getting a seat at BASIS is like getting a prep school education for free, which I think it true about Latin as well. I'm very, very glad we took the spot.

I'm sure I trash talked charters when my kids were young. But the middle school ecosystem in DC is very different than elementary. I recommend doing some research and allowing yourself some grace to change your mind.

It is absolutely true that dcps cannot meet the needs of an advanced child. I don’t think Latin can either, but it is better than the best dcps.

Yep. The parents of all those Ivy League admits must be kicking themselves for sending their kids to Latin. Latin obviously didn’t meet their needs.

I don’t have enough information about what kind of degree they were seeking, whether the parents supplemented at all, and what they did. All I know is looking at the curriculum, it could be stronger. I’m super happy there are so many Ivy League admissions- that’s amazing!!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I was pro-DCPS all through elementary school and up until April of the month we did the middle school charter lottery, got a spot at BASIS, and had a candid conversation with a DCPS middle school teacher who told me straight-up to take the BASIS spot because her DCPS did not meet the needs of advanced students. she wanted to, but the structure of the curriculum, her inabiity to fail students, her principal all kept her from adding enrichment and appropriate instruction for advanced students.

She was really unequivocal and I made my decision immediately after that conversation. She also said getting a seat at BASIS is like getting a prep school education for free, which I think it true about Latin as well. I'm very, very glad we took the spot.

I'm sure I trash talked charters when my kids were young. But the middle school ecosystem in DC is very different than elementary. I recommend doing some research and allowing yourself some grace to change your mind.

Truly appreciate this candor. The trash talking charters and "down with charters" mentality has created an environment in DC where politicians feel comfortable openly under-resourcing charters. It's not a little bit of money - it's estimated at $1,800 per student and that's money that a charter school doesn't have to improve teacher salaries, increase benefits, offer more athletics and clubs or fix sub-par facilities. Ask your charter school principal what they could do with that much more per kid.

Why don't you tell us what the city got in return for all the money it spent on Eagle Academy. I'll wait. Forensic accounting takes a while.

Why don't you tell us what the city got in return for spending a quarter BILLION dollars on Roosevelt High School? Aside from training the next generation of drug dealers?

They got a school that is performing about how demographics would predict, very similar to Girls Global and KIPP Legacy. Roosevelt serves 1000 students who have other options but choose Roosevelt. If you're referring to the renovation, the city got a nice renovation that alleviates overcrowding and maintains safety and functionality. And I believe the modernization cost about $125-$136 million so not sure where you're getting your cost figure.

Please do tell us all about Eagle Academy. How much did this elementary school pay its director? How was its academic performance? What is the lawsuit about? Yaaaay, charters!

I've never even heard of Eagle Academy but I have heard of Roosevelt High School and Ballou and Woodson and Coolidge and Dunbar and Eastern and Anacostia, and I've also read about how poor black kids in a number of states in the deep south are kicking so much ass on standardized tests....

Well then you're not informed enough to have an intelligent discussion. Eagle is bad enough that the council had an oversight hearing about it. https://dccouncil.gov/event/committee-of-the-whole-public-oversight-hearing-19/

If you haven't heard of Eagle, why don't you fill us in on why Rocketship has lost so much enrollment and their test scores are so terrible? Or why KIPP's performance is so poor that one of their schools was nearly closed just recently? Or if you'd like to talk about high schools, tell us all about this one's sudden collapse. https://washingtoncitypaper.com/article/186259/the-dc-public-charter-school-board-didnt-intervene-in-a-financially-troubled-school/

I dunno. It seems a little silly when charter haters obsess over tiny, obscure charters that hardly anyone even attends (or attended, because the schools they cite closed years ago) when so much of DCPS looks like a well funded dumper fire. It's quite a trick how DCPS has managed to simultaneously be one of the best funded public school systems in the United States and also one of the worst. The list of schools in this city where teachers are very well paid, the buildings are gorgeous and the number of students working at grade level rounds down to zero percent is embarrassingly long.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:PP - what’s science actually like at Latin?

It’s enough to get you into the Ivy league

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I was pro-DCPS all through elementary school and up until April of the month we did the middle school charter lottery, got a spot at BASIS, and had a candid conversation with a DCPS middle school teacher who told me straight-up to take the BASIS spot because her DCPS did not meet the needs of advanced students. she wanted to, but the structure of the curriculum, her inabiity to fail students, her principal all kept her from adding enrichment and appropriate instruction for advanced students.

She was really unequivocal and I made my decision immediately after that conversation. She also said getting a seat at BASIS is like getting a prep school education for free, which I think it true about Latin as well. I'm very, very glad we took the spot.

I'm sure I trash talked charters when my kids were young. But the middle school ecosystem in DC is very different than elementary. I recommend doing some research and allowing yourself some grace to change your mind.

Truly appreciate this candor. The trash talking charters and "down with charters" mentality has created an environment in DC where politicians feel comfortable openly under-resourcing charters. It's not a little bit of money - it's estimated at $1,800 per student and that's money that a charter school doesn't have to improve teacher salaries, increase benefits, offer more athletics and clubs or fix sub-par facilities. Ask your charter school principal what they could do with that much more per kid.

Why don't you tell us what the city got in return for all the money it spent on Eagle Academy. I'll wait. Forensic accounting takes a while.

Why don't you tell us what the city got in return for spending a quarter BILLION dollars on Roosevelt High School? Aside from training the next generation of drug dealers?

They got a school that is performing about how demographics would predict, very similar to Girls Global and KIPP Legacy. Roosevelt serves 1000 students who have other options but choose Roosevelt. If you're referring to the renovation, the city got a nice renovation that alleviates overcrowding and maintains safety and functionality. And I believe the modernization cost about $125-$136 million so not sure where you're getting your cost figure.

Please do tell us all about Eagle Academy. How much did this elementary school pay its director? How was its academic performance? What is the lawsuit about? Yaaaay, charters!

I've never even heard of Eagle Academy but I have heard of Roosevelt High School and Ballou and Woodson and Coolidge and Dunbar and Eastern and Anacostia, and I've also read about how poor black kids in a number of states in the deep south are kicking so much ass on standardized tests....

Well then you're not informed enough to have an intelligent discussion. Eagle is bad enough that the council had an oversight hearing about it. https://dccouncil.gov/event/committee-of-the-whole-public-oversight-hearing-19/

If you haven't heard of Eagle, why don't you fill us in on why Rocketship has lost so much enrollment and their test scores are so terrible? Or why KIPP's performance is so poor that one of their schools was nearly closed just recently? Or if you'd like to talk about high schools, tell us all about this one's sudden collapse. https://washingtoncitypaper.com/article/186259/the-dc-public-charter-school-board-didnt-intervene-in-a-financially-troubled-school/

I dunno. It seems a little silly when charter haters obsess over tiny, obscure charters that hardly anyone even attends (or attended, because the schools they cite closed years ago) when so much of DCPS looks like a well funded dumper fire. It's quite a trick how DCPS has managed to simultaneously be one of the best funded public school systems in the United States and also one of the worst. The list of schools in this city where teachers are very well paid, the buildings are gorgeous and the number of students working at grade level rounds down to zero percent is embarrassingly long.

Oh FFS. If you want to talk about small charters that failed, let's talk about Eagle, Hope Tolson, I Dream, and Capital Village. That's just the failures in the past few years. But it's not just about the small charters! Let's talk about KIPP, one of the largest LEAs, which has some good performance and some really terrible performance, including one school that is so bad it received high stakes conditions at a meeting almost half the PCSB didn't even show up to. Or we could talk about Rocketship, another example of a large, multi-state charter operator that is egregiously failing DC kids and underperforming DCPS.

Now, I'm no defender of DCPS and make no apologies for its performance. But I'm not just a hater obsessing over a few bad apples. The performance problem in charters in this city is pervasive, it is serious, it is affecting many thousands of students, and the PCSB is letting it go on and on for years when they should be holding schools to a higher standard. Then maybe we'd see some improvement.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I was pro-DCPS all through elementary school and up until April of the month we did the middle school charter lottery, got a spot at BASIS, and had a candid conversation with a DCPS middle school teacher who told me straight-up to take the BASIS spot because her DCPS did not meet the needs of advanced students. she wanted to, but the structure of the curriculum, her inabiity to fail students, her principal all kept her from adding enrichment and appropriate instruction for advanced students.

She was really unequivocal and I made my decision immediately after that conversation. She also said getting a seat at BASIS is like getting a prep school education for free, which I think it true about Latin as well. I'm very, very glad we took the spot.

I'm sure I trash talked charters when my kids were young. But the middle school ecosystem in DC is very different than elementary. I recommend doing some research and allowing yourself some grace to change your mind.

Truly appreciate this candor. The trash talking charters and "down with charters" mentality has created an environment in DC where politicians feel comfortable openly under-resourcing charters. It's not a little bit of money - it's estimated at $1,800 per student and that's money that a charter school doesn't have to improve teacher salaries, increase benefits, offer more athletics and clubs or fix sub-par facilities. Ask your charter school principal what they could do with that much more per kid.

Why don't you tell us what the city got in return for all the money it spent on Eagle Academy. I'll wait. Forensic accounting takes a while.

Why don't you tell us what the city got in return for spending a quarter BILLION dollars on Roosevelt High School? Aside from training the next generation of drug dealers?

They got a school that is performing about how demographics would predict, very similar to Girls Global and KIPP Legacy. Roosevelt serves 1000 students who have other options but choose Roosevelt. If you're referring to the renovation, the city got a nice renovation that alleviates overcrowding and maintains safety and functionality. And I believe the modernization cost about $125-$136 million so not sure where you're getting your cost figure.

Please do tell us all about Eagle Academy. How much did this elementary school pay its director? How was its academic performance? What is the lawsuit about? Yaaaay, charters!

I've never even heard of Eagle Academy but I have heard of Roosevelt High School and Ballou and Woodson and Coolidge and Dunbar and Eastern and Anacostia, and I've also read about how poor black kids in a number of states in the deep south are kicking so much ass on standardized tests....

Well then you're not informed enough to have an intelligent discussion. Eagle is bad enough that the council had an oversight hearing about it. https://dccouncil.gov/event/committee-of-the-whole-public-oversight-hearing-19/

If you haven't heard of Eagle, why don't you fill us in on why Rocketship has lost so much enrollment and their test scores are so terrible? Or why KIPP's performance is so poor that one of their schools was nearly closed just recently? Or if you'd like to talk about high schools, tell us all about this one's sudden collapse. https://washingtoncitypaper.com/article/186259/the-dc-public-charter-school-board-didnt-intervene-in-a-financially-troubled-school/

I dunno. It seems a little silly when charter haters obsess over tiny, obscure charters that hardly anyone even attends (or attended, because the schools they cite closed years ago) when so much of DCPS looks like a well funded dumper fire. It's quite a trick how DCPS has managed to simultaneously be one of the best funded public school systems in the United States and also one of the worst. The list of schools in this city where teachers are very well paid, the buildings are gorgeous and the number of students working at grade level rounds down to zero percent is embarrassingly long.

Oh FFS. If you want to talk about small charters that failed, let's talk about Eagle, Hope Tolson, I Dream, and Capital Village. That's just the failures in the past few years. But it's not just about the small charters! Let's talk about KIPP, one of the largest LEAs, which has some good performance and some really terrible performance, including one school that is so bad it received high stakes conditions at a meeting almost half the PCSB didn't even show up to. Or we could talk about Rocketship, another example of a large, multi-state charter operator that is egregiously failing DC kids and underperforming DCPS.

Now, I'm no defender of DCPS and make no apologies for its performance. But I'm not just a hater obsessing over a few bad apples. The performance problem in charters in this city is pervasive, it is serious, it is affecting many thousands of students, and the PCSB is letting it go on and on for years when they should be holding schools to a higher standard. Then maybe we'd see some improvement.

Bad charters mostly impact at risk kids so people on this board don't care as much about their failures. They want their UMC charters to fall back on.

If you really want and support charters you'd support significantly more oversight. But that might also impact the seemingly higher achieving ones and that's bad for people too.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I was pro-DCPS all through elementary school and up until April of the month we did the middle school charter lottery, got a spot at BASIS, and had a candid conversation with a DCPS middle school teacher who told me straight-up to take the BASIS spot because her DCPS did not meet the needs of advanced students. she wanted to, but the structure of the curriculum, her inabiity to fail students, her principal all kept her from adding enrichment and appropriate instruction for advanced students.

She was really unequivocal and I made my decision immediately after that conversation. She also said getting a seat at BASIS is like getting a prep school education for free, which I think it true about Latin as well. I'm very, very glad we took the spot.

I'm sure I trash talked charters when my kids were young. But the middle school ecosystem in DC is very different than elementary. I recommend doing some research and allowing yourself some grace to change your mind.

Truly appreciate this candor. The trash talking charters and "down with charters" mentality has created an environment in DC where politicians feel comfortable openly under-resourcing charters. It's not a little bit of money - it's estimated at $1,800 per student and that's money that a charter school doesn't have to improve teacher salaries, increase benefits, offer more athletics and clubs or fix sub-par facilities. Ask your charter school principal what they could do with that much more per kid.

Why don't you tell us what the city got in return for all the money it spent on Eagle Academy. I'll wait. Forensic accounting takes a while.

Why don't you tell us what the city got in return for spending a quarter BILLION dollars on Roosevelt High School? Aside from training the next generation of drug dealers?

They got a school that is performing about how demographics would predict, very similar to Girls Global and KIPP Legacy. Roosevelt serves 1000 students who have other options but choose Roosevelt. If you're referring to the renovation, the city got a nice renovation that alleviates overcrowding and maintains safety and functionality. And I believe the modernization cost about $125-$136 million so not sure where you're getting your cost figure.

Please do tell us all about Eagle Academy. How much did this elementary school pay its director? How was its academic performance? What is the lawsuit about? Yaaaay, charters!

I've never even heard of Eagle Academy but I have heard of Roosevelt High School and Ballou and Woodson and Coolidge and Dunbar and Eastern and Anacostia, and I've also read about how poor black kids in a number of states in the deep south are kicking so much ass on standardized tests....

Well then you're not informed enough to have an intelligent discussion. Eagle is bad enough that the council had an oversight hearing about it. https://dccouncil.gov/event/committee-of-the-whole-public-oversight-hearing-19/

If you haven't heard of Eagle, why don't you fill us in on why Rocketship has lost so much enrollment and their test scores are so terrible? Or why KIPP's performance is so poor that one of their schools was nearly closed just recently? Or if you'd like to talk about high schools, tell us all about this one's sudden collapse. https://washingtoncitypaper.com/article/186259/the-dc-public-charter-school-board-didnt-intervene-in-a-financially-troubled-school/

I dunno. It seems a little silly when charter haters obsess over tiny, obscure charters that hardly anyone even attends (or attended, because the schools they cite closed years ago) when so much of DCPS looks like a well funded dumper fire. It's quite a trick how DCPS has managed to simultaneously be one of the best funded public school systems in the United States and also one of the worst. The list of schools in this city where teachers are very well paid, the buildings are gorgeous and the number of students working at grade level rounds down to zero percent is embarrassingly long.

Oh FFS. If you want to talk about small charters that failed, let's talk about Eagle, Hope Tolson, I Dream, and Capital Village. That's just the failures in the past few years. But it's not just about the small charters! Let's talk about KIPP, one of the largest LEAs, which has some good performance and some really terrible performance, including one school that is so bad it received high stakes conditions at a meeting almost half the PCSB didn't even show up to. Or we could talk about Rocketship, another example of a large, multi-state charter operator that is egregiously failing DC kids and underperforming DCPS.

Now, I'm no defender of DCPS and make no apologies for its performance. But I'm not just a hater obsessing over a few bad apples. The performance problem in charters in this city is pervasive, it is serious, it is affecting many thousands of students, and the PCSB is letting it go on and on for years when they should be holding schools to a higher standard. Then maybe we'd see some improvement.

Bad charters mostly impact at risk kids so people on this board don't care as much about their failures. They want their UMC charters to fall back on.

If you really want and support charters you'd support significantly more oversight. But that might also impact the seemingly higher achieving ones and that's bad for people too.

I definitely do support more oversight. But here's the thing-- bad charters mostly impact at-risk kids because the non-at-risk kids tend to leave the bad charters before closure is imminent. I'm old enough to remember, for example, when high-income folks sent their kids to SSMA over the nearby DCPS. When they chose Two Rivers and CMI with high hopes for what they thought would be a great middle school experience.

[Anonymous]

I definitely support charters and I also want WAY more oversight. The PSCB is useless.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I was pro-DCPS all through elementary school and up until April of the month we did the middle school charter lottery, got a spot at BASIS, and had a candid conversation with a DCPS middle school teacher who told me straight-up to take the BASIS spot because her DCPS did not meet the needs of advanced students. she wanted to, but the structure of the curriculum, her inabiity to fail students, her principal all kept her from adding enrichment and appropriate instruction for advanced students.

She was really unequivocal and I made my decision immediately after that conversation. She also said getting a seat at BASIS is like getting a prep school education for free, which I think it true about Latin as well. I'm very, very glad we took the spot.

I'm sure I trash talked charters when my kids were young. But the middle school ecosystem in DC is very different than elementary. I recommend doing some research and allowing yourself some grace to change your mind.

Truly appreciate this candor. The trash talking charters and "down with charters" mentality has created an environment in DC where politicians feel comfortable openly under-resourcing charters. It's not a little bit of money - it's estimated at $1,800 per student and that's money that a charter school doesn't have to improve teacher salaries, increase benefits, offer more athletics and clubs or fix sub-par facilities. Ask your charter school principal what they could do with that much more per kid.

Why don't you tell us what the city got in return for all the money it spent on Eagle Academy. I'll wait. Forensic accounting takes a while.

Why don't you tell us what the city got in return for spending a quarter BILLION dollars on Roosevelt High School? Aside from training the next generation of drug dealers?

They got a school that is performing about how demographics would predict, very similar to Girls Global and KIPP Legacy. Roosevelt serves 1000 students who have other options but choose Roosevelt. If you're referring to the renovation, the city got a nice renovation that alleviates overcrowding and maintains safety and functionality. And I believe the modernization cost about $125-$136 million so not sure where you're getting your cost figure.

Please do tell us all about Eagle Academy. How much did this elementary school pay its director? How was its academic performance? What is the lawsuit about? Yaaaay, charters!

I've never even heard of Eagle Academy but I have heard of Roosevelt High School and Ballou and Woodson and Coolidge and Dunbar and Eastern and Anacostia, and I've also read about how poor black kids in a number of states in the deep south are kicking so much ass on standardized tests....

Well then you're not informed enough to have an intelligent discussion. Eagle is bad enough that the council had an oversight hearing about it. https://dccouncil.gov/event/committee-of-the-whole-public-oversight-hearing-19/

If you haven't heard of Eagle, why don't you fill us in on why Rocketship has lost so much enrollment and their test scores are so terrible? Or why KIPP's performance is so poor that one of their schools was nearly closed just recently? Or if you'd like to talk about high schools, tell us all about this one's sudden collapse. https://washingtoncitypaper.com/article/186259/the-dc-public-charter-school-board-didnt-intervene-in-a-financially-troubled-school/

I dunno. It seems a little silly when charter haters obsess over tiny, obscure charters that hardly anyone even attends (or attended, because the schools they cite closed years ago) when so much of DCPS looks like a well funded dumper fire. It's quite a trick how DCPS has managed to simultaneously be one of the best funded public school systems in the United States and also one of the worst. The list of schools in this city where teachers are very well paid, the buildings are gorgeous and the number of students working at grade level rounds down to zero percent is embarrassingly long.

Oh FFS. If you want to talk about small charters that failed, let's talk about Eagle, Hope Tolson, I Dream, and Capital Village. That's just the failures in the past few years. But it's not just about the small charters! Let's talk about KIPP, one of the largest LEAs, which has some good performance and some really terrible performance, including one school that is so bad it received high stakes conditions at a meeting almost half the PCSB didn't even show up to. Or we could talk about Rocketship, another example of a large, multi-state charter operator that is egregiously failing DC kids and underperforming DCPS.

Now, I'm no defender of DCPS and make no apologies for its performance. But I'm not just a hater obsessing over a few bad apples. The performance problem in charters in this city is pervasive, it is serious, it is affecting many thousands of students, and the PCSB is letting it go on and on for years when they should be holding schools to a higher standard. Then maybe we'd see some improvement.

Bad charters mostly impact at risk kids so people on this board don't care as much about their failures. They want their UMC charters to fall back on.

If you really want and support charters you'd support significantly more oversight. But that might also impact the seemingly higher achieving ones and that's bad for people too.

Hard disagree. I think more oversight would make all charters better. However I would rather roll the dice with a good charter than the best dcps. Sorry. Dcps of known poor quality.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I was pro-DCPS all through elementary school and up until April of the month we did the middle school charter lottery, got a spot at BASIS, and had a candid conversation with a DCPS middle school teacher who told me straight-up to take the BASIS spot because her DCPS did not meet the needs of advanced students. she wanted to, but the structure of the curriculum, her inabiity to fail students, her principal all kept her from adding enrichment and appropriate instruction for advanced students.

She was really unequivocal and I made my decision immediately after that conversation. She also said getting a seat at BASIS is like getting a prep school education for free, which I think it true about Latin as well. I'm very, very glad we took the spot.

I'm sure I trash talked charters when my kids were young. But the middle school ecosystem in DC is very different than elementary. I recommend doing some research and allowing yourself some grace to change your mind.

Truly appreciate this candor. The trash talking charters and "down with charters" mentality has created an environment in DC where politicians feel comfortable openly under-resourcing charters. It's not a little bit of money - it's estimated at $1,800 per student and that's money that a charter school doesn't have to improve teacher salaries, increase benefits, offer more athletics and clubs or fix sub-par facilities. Ask your charter school principal what they could do with that much more per kid.

Why don't you tell us what the city got in return for all the money it spent on Eagle Academy. I'll wait. Forensic accounting takes a while.

I actually met parents who were at Eagle who felt their kids were getting a better education there even with the turmoil than they could get at their neighborhood school. That's why most of those parents wound up at another charter school if they could get a seat. Perhaps your ward 8 experience in neighborhood schools is vastly different than what those parents experienced or perceived. I'll wait for your answer on the educational quality and funds spent on schools that have traditionally failed on all academic and other measures but are allowed to continue year after year after year. That said, you don't have to wait for the forensic accounting for DCPS personnel convicted of financial crimes, including bribery, wire fraud, and embezzlement because those stories are easily searchable in any local newspaper. There can be bad actors anywhere that doesn't mean that all DCPS or all charters are bad.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I was pro-DCPS all through elementary school and up until April of the month we did the middle school charter lottery, got a spot at BASIS, and had a candid conversation with a DCPS middle school teacher who told me straight-up to take the BASIS spot because her DCPS did not meet the needs of advanced students. she wanted to, but the structure of the curriculum, her inabiity to fail students, her principal all kept her from adding enrichment and appropriate instruction for advanced students.

She was really unequivocal and I made my decision immediately after that conversation. She also said getting a seat at BASIS is like getting a prep school education for free, which I think it true about Latin as well. I'm very, very glad we took the spot.

I'm sure I trash talked charters when my kids were young. But the middle school ecosystem in DC is very different than elementary. I recommend doing some research and allowing yourself some grace to change your mind.

Truly appreciate this candor. The trash talking charters and "down with charters" mentality has created an environment in DC where politicians feel comfortable openly under-resourcing charters. It's not a little bit of money - it's estimated at $1,800 per student and that's money that a charter school doesn't have to improve teacher salaries, increase benefits, offer more athletics and clubs or fix sub-par facilities. Ask your charter school principal what they could do with that much more per kid.

Why don't you tell us what the city got in return for all the money it spent on Eagle Academy. I'll wait. Forensic accounting takes a while.

I actually met parents who were at Eagle who felt their kids were getting a better education there even with the turmoil than they could get at their neighborhood school. That's why most of those parents wound up at another charter school if they could get a seat. Perhaps your ward 8 experience in neighborhood schools is vastly different than what those parents experienced or perceived. I'll wait for your answer on the educational quality and funds spent on schools that have traditionally failed on all academic and other measures but are allowed to continue year after year after year. That said, you don't have to wait for the forensic accounting for DCPS personnel convicted of financial crimes, including bribery, wire fraud, and embezzlement because those stories are easily searchable in any local newspaper. There can be bad actors anywhere that doesn't mean that all DCPS or all charters are bad.

Well said. I agree wholeheartedly.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I was pro-DCPS all through elementary school and up until April of the month we did the middle school charter lottery, got a spot at BASIS, and had a candid conversation with a DCPS middle school teacher who told me straight-up to take the BASIS spot because her DCPS did not meet the needs of advanced students. she wanted to, but the structure of the curriculum, her inabiity to fail students, her principal all kept her from adding enrichment and appropriate instruction for advanced students.

She was really unequivocal and I made my decision immediately after that conversation. She also said getting a seat at BASIS is like getting a prep school education for free, which I think it true about Latin as well. I'm very, very glad we took the spot.

I'm sure I trash talked charters when my kids were young. But the middle school ecosystem in DC is very different than elementary. I recommend doing some research and allowing yourself some grace to change your mind.

Truly appreciate this candor. The trash talking charters and "down with charters" mentality has created an environment in DC where politicians feel comfortable openly under-resourcing charters. It's not a little bit of money - it's estimated at $1,800 per student and that's money that a charter school doesn't have to improve teacher salaries, increase benefits, offer more athletics and clubs or fix sub-par facilities. Ask your charter school principal what they could do with that much more per kid.

Why don't you tell us what the city got in return for all the money it spent on Eagle Academy. I'll wait. Forensic accounting takes a while.

Why don't you tell us what the city got in return for spending a quarter BILLION dollars on Roosevelt High School? Aside from training the next generation of drug dealers?

They got a school that is performing about how demographics would predict, very similar to Girls Global and KIPP Legacy. Roosevelt serves 1000 students who have other options but choose Roosevelt. If you're referring to the renovation, the city got a nice renovation that alleviates overcrowding and maintains safety and functionality. And I believe the modernization cost about $125-$136 million so not sure where you're getting your cost figure.

Please do tell us all about Eagle Academy. How much did this elementary school pay its director? How was its academic performance? What is the lawsuit about? Yaaaay, charters!

I've never even heard of Eagle Academy but I have heard of Roosevelt High School and Ballou and Woodson and Coolidge and Dunbar and Eastern and Anacostia, and I've also read about how poor black kids in a number of states in the deep south are kicking so much ass on standardized tests....

Well then you're not informed enough to have an intelligent discussion. Eagle is bad enough that the council had an oversight hearing about it. https://dccouncil.gov/event/committee-of-the-whole-public-oversight-hearing-19/

If you haven't heard of Eagle, why don't you fill us in on why Rocketship has lost so much enrollment and their test scores are so terrible? Or why KIPP's performance is so poor that one of their schools was nearly closed just recently? Or if you'd like to talk about high schools, tell us all about this one's sudden collapse. https://washingtoncitypaper.com/article/186259/the-dc-public-charter-school-board-didnt-intervene-in-a-financially-troubled-school/

I dunno. It seems a little silly when charter haters obsess over tiny, obscure charters that hardly anyone even attends (or attended, because the schools they cite closed years ago) when so much of DCPS looks like a well funded dumper fire. It's quite a trick how DCPS has managed to simultaneously be one of the best funded public school systems in the United States and also one of the worst. The list of schools in this city where teachers are very well paid, the buildings are gorgeous and the number of students working at grade level rounds down to zero percent is embarrassingly long.

Oh FFS. If you want to talk about small charters that failed, let's talk about Eagle, Hope Tolson, I Dream, and Capital Village. That's just the failures in the past few years. But it's not just about the small charters! Let's talk about KIPP, one of the largest LEAs, which has some good performance and some really terrible performance, including one school that is so bad it received high stakes conditions at a meeting almost half the PCSB didn't even show up to. Or we could talk about Rocketship, another example of a large, multi-state charter operator that is egregiously failing DC kids and underperforming DCPS.

Now, I'm no defender of DCPS and make no apologies for its performance. But I'm not just a hater obsessing over a few bad apples. The performance problem in charters in this city is pervasive, it is serious, it is affecting many thousands of students, and the PCSB is letting it go on and on for years when they should be holding schools to a higher standard. Then maybe we'd see some improvement.

Samesies for DCPS? The performance problem in DCPS is pervasive, it is serious, it is affecting many thousands of students, and the city is letting it go on and on for years when they should be holding schools to a higher standard. Then maybe we'd see some improvement.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I was pro-DCPS all through elementary school and up until April of the month we did the middle school charter lottery, got a spot at BASIS, and had a candid conversation with a DCPS middle school teacher who told me straight-up to take the BASIS spot because her DCPS did not meet the needs of advanced students. she wanted to, but the structure of the curriculum, her inabiity to fail students, her principal all kept her from adding enrichment and appropriate instruction for advanced students.

She was really unequivocal and I made my decision immediately after that conversation. She also said getting a seat at BASIS is like getting a prep school education for free, which I think it true about Latin as well. I'm very, very glad we took the spot.

I'm sure I trash talked charters when my kids were young. But the middle school ecosystem in DC is very different than elementary. I recommend doing some research and allowing yourself some grace to change your mind.

Truly appreciate this candor. The trash talking charters and "down with charters" mentality has created an environment in DC where politicians feel comfortable openly under-resourcing charters. It's not a little bit of money - it's estimated at $1,800 per student and that's money that a charter school doesn't have to improve teacher salaries, increase benefits, offer more athletics and clubs or fix sub-par facilities. Ask your charter school principal what they could do with that much more per kid.

Why don't you tell us what the city got in return for all the money it spent on Eagle Academy. I'll wait. Forensic accounting takes a while.

Why don't you tell us what the city got in return for spending a quarter BILLION dollars on Roosevelt High School? Aside from training the next generation of drug dealers?

They got a school that is performing about how demographics would predict, very similar to Girls Global and KIPP Legacy. Roosevelt serves 1000 students who have other options but choose Roosevelt. If you're referring to the renovation, the city got a nice renovation that alleviates overcrowding and maintains safety and functionality. And I believe the modernization cost about $125-$136 million so not sure where you're getting your cost figure.

Please do tell us all about Eagle Academy. How much did this elementary school pay its director? How was its academic performance? What is the lawsuit about? Yaaaay, charters!

I've never even heard of Eagle Academy but I have heard of Roosevelt High School and Ballou and Woodson and Coolidge and Dunbar and Eastern and Anacostia, and I've also read about how poor black kids in a number of states in the deep south are kicking so much ass on standardized tests....

Well then you're not informed enough to have an intelligent discussion. Eagle is bad enough that the council had an oversight hearing about it. https://dccouncil.gov/event/committee-of-the-whole-public-oversight-hearing-19/

If you haven't heard of Eagle, why don't you fill us in on why Rocketship has lost so much enrollment and their test scores are so terrible? Or why KIPP's performance is so poor that one of their schools was nearly closed just recently? Or if you'd like to talk about high schools, tell us all about this one's sudden collapse. https://washingtoncitypaper.com/article/186259/the-dc-public-charter-school-board-didnt-intervene-in-a-financially-troubled-school/

I dunno. It seems a little silly when charter haters obsess over tiny, obscure charters that hardly anyone even attends (or attended, because the schools they cite closed years ago) when so much of DCPS looks like a well funded dumper fire. It's quite a trick how DCPS has managed to simultaneously be one of the best funded public school systems in the United States and also one of the worst. The list of schools in this city where teachers are very well paid, the buildings are gorgeous and the number of students working at grade level rounds down to zero percent is embarrassingly long.

Oh FFS. If you want to talk about small charters that failed, let's talk about Eagle, Hope Tolson, I Dream, and Capital Village. That's just the failures in the past few years. But it's not just about the small charters! Let's talk about KIPP, one of the largest LEAs, which has some good performance and some really terrible performance, including one school that is so bad it received high stakes conditions at a meeting almost half the PCSB didn't even show up to. Or we could talk about Rocketship, another example of a large, multi-state charter operator that is egregiously failing DC kids and underperforming DCPS.

Now, I'm no defender of DCPS and make no apologies for its performance. But I'm not just a hater obsessing over a few bad apples. The performance problem in charters in this city is pervasive, it is serious, it is affecting many thousands of students, and the PCSB is letting it go on and on for years when they should be holding schools to a higher standard. Then maybe we'd see some improvement.

Samesies for DCPS? The performance problem in DCPS is pervasive, it is serious, it is affecting many thousands of students, and the city is letting it go on and on for years when they should be holding schools to a higher standard. Then maybe we'd see some improvement.

DCPS looks to some of us less like a system for educating the city's children than a jobs program that mostly exists for the benefit for the people it employs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I was pro-DCPS all through elementary school and up until April of the month we did the middle school charter lottery, got a spot at BASIS, and had a candid conversation with a DCPS middle school teacher who told me straight-up to take the BASIS spot because her DCPS did not meet the needs of advanced students. she wanted to, but the structure of the curriculum, her inabiity to fail students, her principal all kept her from adding enrichment and appropriate instruction for advanced students.

She was really unequivocal and I made my decision immediately after that conversation. She also said getting a seat at BASIS is like getting a prep school education for free, which I think it true about Latin as well. I'm very, very glad we took the spot.

I'm sure I trash talked charters when my kids were young. But the middle school ecosystem in DC is very different than elementary. I recommend doing some research and allowing yourself some grace to change your mind.

Truly appreciate this candor. The trash talking charters and "down with charters" mentality has created an environment in DC where politicians feel comfortable openly under-resourcing charters. It's not a little bit of money - it's estimated at $1,800 per student and that's money that a charter school doesn't have to improve teacher salaries, increase benefits, offer more athletics and clubs or fix sub-par facilities. Ask your charter school principal what they could do with that much more per kid.

Why don't you tell us what the city got in return for all the money it spent on Eagle Academy. I'll wait. Forensic accounting takes a while.

Why don't you tell us what the city got in return for spending a quarter BILLION dollars on Roosevelt High School? Aside from training the next generation of drug dealers?

They got a school that is performing about how demographics would predict, very similar to Girls Global and KIPP Legacy. Roosevelt serves 1000 students who have other options but choose Roosevelt. If you're referring to the renovation, the city got a nice renovation that alleviates overcrowding and maintains safety and functionality. And I believe the modernization cost about $125-$136 million so not sure where you're getting your cost figure.

Please do tell us all about Eagle Academy. How much did this elementary school pay its director? How was its academic performance? What is the lawsuit about? Yaaaay, charters!

I've never even heard of Eagle Academy but I have heard of Roosevelt High School and Ballou and Woodson and Coolidge and Dunbar and Eastern and Anacostia, and I've also read about how poor black kids in a number of states in the deep south are kicking so much ass on standardized tests....

Well then you're not informed enough to have an intelligent discussion. Eagle is bad enough that the council had an oversight hearing about it. https://dccouncil.gov/event/committee-of-the-whole-public-oversight-hearing-19/

If you haven't heard of Eagle, why don't you fill us in on why Rocketship has lost so much enrollment and their test scores are so terrible? Or why KIPP's performance is so poor that one of their schools was nearly closed just recently? Or if you'd like to talk about high schools, tell us all about this one's sudden collapse. https://washingtoncitypaper.com/article/186259/the-dc-public-charter-school-board-didnt-intervene-in-a-financially-troubled-school/

I dunno. It seems a little silly when charter haters obsess over tiny, obscure charters that hardly anyone even attends (or attended, because the schools they cite closed years ago) when so much of DCPS looks like a well funded dumper fire. It's quite a trick how DCPS has managed to simultaneously be one of the best funded public school systems in the United States and also one of the worst. The list of schools in this city where teachers are very well paid, the buildings are gorgeous and the number of students working at grade level rounds down to zero percent is embarrassingly long.

Oh FFS. If you want to talk about small charters that failed, let's talk about Eagle, Hope Tolson, I Dream, and Capital Village. That's just the failures in the past few years. But it's not just about the small charters! Let's talk about KIPP, one of the largest LEAs, which has some good performance and some really terrible performance, including one school that is so bad it received high stakes conditions at a meeting almost half the PCSB didn't even show up to. Or we could talk about Rocketship, another example of a large, multi-state charter operator that is egregiously failing DC kids and underperforming DCPS.

Now, I'm no defender of DCPS and make no apologies for its performance. But I'm not just a hater obsessing over a few bad apples. The performance problem in charters in this city is pervasive, it is serious, it is affecting many thousands of students, and the PCSB is letting it go on and on for years when they should be holding schools to a higher standard. Then maybe we'd see some improvement.

Samesies for DCPS? The performance problem in DCPS is pervasive, it is serious, it is affecting many thousands of students, and the city is letting it go on and on for years when they should be holding schools to a higher standard. Then maybe we'd see some improvement.

Indeed it is. But the city cannot simply shut down a school system. It still has the legal obligation to educate every single child who wants to attend a DCPS school. So DCPS does various things to try to improve, and does sometimes close schools, but can only do so with a clear plan to continue meeting its legal obligation to every student. Unlike charters which can suddenly collapse in late August and it's just too bad for the kids. Yaaaay, charter flexibility!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I was pro-DCPS all through elementary school and up until April of the month we did the middle school charter lottery, got a spot at BASIS, and had a candid conversation with a DCPS middle school teacher who told me straight-up to take the BASIS spot because her DCPS did not meet the needs of advanced students. she wanted to, but the structure of the curriculum, her inabiity to fail students, her principal all kept her from adding enrichment and appropriate instruction for advanced students.

She was really unequivocal and I made my decision immediately after that conversation. She also said getting a seat at BASIS is like getting a prep school education for free, which I think it true about Latin as well. I'm very, very glad we took the spot.

I'm sure I trash talked charters when my kids were young. But the middle school ecosystem in DC is very different than elementary. I recommend doing some research and allowing yourself some grace to change your mind.

Truly appreciate this candor. The trash talking charters and "down with charters" mentality has created an environment in DC where politicians feel comfortable openly under-resourcing charters. It's not a little bit of money - it's estimated at $1,800 per student and that's money that a charter school doesn't have to improve teacher salaries, increase benefits, offer more athletics and clubs or fix sub-par facilities. Ask your charter school principal what they could do with that much more per kid.

Why don't you tell us what the city got in return for all the money it spent on Eagle Academy. I'll wait. Forensic accounting takes a while.

Why don't you tell us what the city got in return for spending a quarter BILLION dollars on Roosevelt High School? Aside from training the next generation of drug dealers?

They got a school that is performing about how demographics would predict, very similar to Girls Global and KIPP Legacy. Roosevelt serves 1000 students who have other options but choose Roosevelt. If you're referring to the renovation, the city got a nice renovation that alleviates overcrowding and maintains safety and functionality. And I believe the modernization cost about $125-$136 million so not sure where you're getting your cost figure.

Please do tell us all about Eagle Academy. How much did this elementary school pay its director? How was its academic performance? What is the lawsuit about? Yaaaay, charters!

I've never even heard of Eagle Academy but I have heard of Roosevelt High School and Ballou and Woodson and Coolidge and Dunbar and Eastern and Anacostia, and I've also read about how poor black kids in a number of states in the deep south are kicking so much ass on standardized tests....

Well then you're not informed enough to have an intelligent discussion. Eagle is bad enough that the council had an oversight hearing about it. https://dccouncil.gov/event/committee-of-the-whole-public-oversight-hearing-19/

If you haven't heard of Eagle, why don't you fill us in on why Rocketship has lost so much enrollment and their test scores are so terrible? Or why KIPP's performance is so poor that one of their schools was nearly closed just recently? Or if you'd like to talk about high schools, tell us all about this one's sudden collapse. https://washingtoncitypaper.com/article/186259/the-dc-public-charter-school-board-didnt-intervene-in-a-financially-troubled-school/

I dunno. It seems a little silly when charter haters obsess over tiny, obscure charters that hardly anyone even attends (or attended, because the schools they cite closed years ago) when so much of DCPS looks like a well funded dumper fire. It's quite a trick how DCPS has managed to simultaneously be one of the best funded public school systems in the United States and also one of the worst. The list of schools in this city where teachers are very well paid, the buildings are gorgeous and the number of students working at grade level rounds down to zero percent is embarrassingly long.

Oh FFS. If you want to talk about small charters that failed, let's talk about Eagle, Hope Tolson, I Dream, and Capital Village. That's just the failures in the past few years. But it's not just about the small charters! Let's talk about KIPP, one of the largest LEAs, which has some good performance and some really terrible performance, including one school that is so bad it received high stakes conditions at a meeting almost half the PCSB didn't even show up to. Or we could talk about Rocketship, another example of a large, multi-state charter operator that is egregiously failing DC kids and underperforming DCPS.

Now, I'm no defender of DCPS and make no apologies for its performance. But I'm not just a hater obsessing over a few bad apples. The performance problem in charters in this city is pervasive, it is serious, it is affecting many thousands of students, and the PCSB is letting it go on and on for years when they should be holding schools to a higher standard. Then maybe we'd see some improvement.

Samesies for DCPS? The performance problem in DCPS is pervasive, it is serious, it is affecting many thousands of students, and the city is letting it go on and on for years when they should be holding schools to a higher standard. Then maybe we'd see some improvement.

Indeed it is. But the city cannot simply shut down a school system. It still has the legal obligation to educate every single child who wants to attend a DCPS school. So DCPS does various things to try to improve, and does sometimes close schools, but can only do so with a clear plan to continue meeting its legal obligation to every student. Unlike charters which can suddenly collapse in late August and it's just too bad for the kids. Yaaaay, charter flexibility!

DCPS doesn't care if kids even come to school, let alone ensure they get an education. I see large groups of kids standing right outside the school near me smoking pot in the middle of the school day. DCPS will just pass them along, regardless of how little they learn or if they even go to class, all the while claiming they can't afford to spend their time educating higher SES kids because they're so focused on those at the bottom.

[Anonymous]

Agree with this. Not going to out myself but I have so many examples of dcps not caring at all. Not to say there aren’t great teachers, because they are, but as a whole it fails everyone.