Child crying over DCPS letter to cut Fillmore

[Anonymous]

The weekly trips to Fillmore are disruptive and time consuming. If later in the school day, kids are tired and often low in motivation and unhappy to get on the bus.

I have now learned that the program is costly too...

I am happy to hear that this nonsense is close to an end. Several parents of my ES share the same view and are not taking steps in support of Fillmore.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Folks like to taunt Ward 3 residents, as demonstrated by responses on this board. Frankly, I think DCPS administrators enjoy taunting them, too, as the "explanation" they've provided for killing Fillmore holds no water once you look at it. DCPS no response to the reality on the ground that the 5 Fillmore schools have no classrooms for art education.

And you have never lived outside ward 3 (maybe 4), right? Ward three has always been very well off. Deal, the likely best neighborhood middle school in the city is in ward 3. Wilson, the closest thing DCPS has to an adequate high school is in ward three. Read the list of the best elementary schools? Where are most of them? Ward 3.

Wilson and Deal both recently were renovated recently. Lafayette is currently being renovated. Murch was renovated how many times in the past ten years? At least twice Im pretty sure. In fact, you would be hard pressed to find a non-renovated school in ward 3 (I tend to lump ward four above the park in with ward three as well, as it is exactly the same).

Filmore was a program geared towards wealthy students of all races. Its not a racial thing, its a class thing. DC is likely the absolutely most segregated city Ive ever seen, and is just getting worse and worse. Live anywhere outsides wards 1-4 and you can easily see it... I hope you can at least see why some people might question funding a program that primarily serves the wealthy and comply ignoring arts education in wards across the river. I have no doubt that next year said schools will have dedicated arts classrooms, paid for by donations from parents. And said teachers who lose their jobs will have nice new jobs at swanky private organizations teaching the same kids and stimulating the economy when their students from Fillmore's parents pay them thousands a year to teach their little darlings the same shit outside of school hours.

And maybe DCPS will actually use the money saved to improve arts education in ward 7 and 8.

Though who am I kidding. They probably will just rehab Murch again. God knows it's been like a full two years since the last time they threw money around there, must be absolutely falling apart again by now.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Folks like to taunt Ward 3 residents, as demonstrated by responses on this board. Frankly, I think DCPS administrators enjoy taunting them, too, as the "explanation" they've provided for killing Fillmore holds no water once you look at it. DCPS no response to the reality on the ground that the 5 Fillmore schools have no classrooms for art education.

And you have never lived outside ward 3 (maybe 4), right? Ward three has always been very well off. Deal, the likely best neighborhood middle school in the city is in ward 3. Wilson, the closest thing DCPS has to an adequate high school is in ward three. Read the list of the best elementary schools? Where are most of them? Ward 3.

Wilson and Deal both recently were renovated recently. Lafayette is currently being renovated. Murch was renovated how many times in the past ten years? At least twice Im pretty sure. In fact, you would be hard pressed to find a non-renovated school in ward 3 (I tend to lump ward four above the park in with ward three as well, as it is exactly the same).

Filmore was a program geared towards wealthy students of all races. Its not a racial thing, its a class thing. DC is likely the absolutely most segregated city Ive ever seen, and is just getting worse and worse. Live anywhere outsides wards 1-4 and you can easily see it... I hope you can at least see why some people might question funding a program that primarily serves the wealthy and comply ignoring arts education in wards across the river. I have no doubt that next year said schools will have dedicated arts classrooms, paid for by donations from parents. And said teachers who lose their jobs will have nice new jobs at swanky private organizations teaching the same kids and stimulating the economy when their students from Fillmore's parents pay them thousands a year to teach their little darlings the same shit outside of school hours.

And maybe DCPS will actually use the money saved to improve arts education in ward 7 and 8.

Though who am I kidding. They probably will just rehab Murch again. God knows it's been like a full two years since the last time they threw money around there, must be absolutely falling apart again by now.

I'm sorry you are so cynical. The Fillmore schools are not made up of overwhelmingly rich kids, FYI. Marie Reed is probably the poorest of the bunch, while Hyde Addison and Ross also have much more income diversity than JKLM schools.

It seems you have not read the previous posts. Most of these schools have no extra rooms and cannot simply add dedicated arts classrooms, as you claim. Without Fillmore (or some other external option), the arts programs at these schools would be extremely limited.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Folks like to taunt Ward 3 residents, as demonstrated by responses on this board. Frankly, I think DCPS administrators enjoy taunting them, too, as the "explanation" they've provided for killing Fillmore holds no water once you look at it. DCPS no response to the reality on the ground that the 5 Fillmore schools have no classrooms for art education.

And you have never lived outside ward 3 (maybe 4), right? Ward three has always been very well off. Deal, the likely best neighborhood middle school in the city is in ward 3. Wilson, the closest thing DCPS has to an adequate high school is in ward three. Read the list of the best elementary schools? Where are most of them? Ward 3.

Wilson and Deal both recently were renovated recently. Lafayette is currently being renovated. Murch was renovated how many times in the past ten years? At least twice Im pretty sure. In fact, you would be hard pressed to find a non-renovated school in ward 3 (I tend to lump ward four above the park in with ward three as well, as it is exactly the same).

Filmore was a program geared towards wealthy students of all races. Its not a racial thing, its a class thing. DC is likely the absolutely most segregated city Ive ever seen, and is just getting worse and worse. Live anywhere outsides wards 1-4 and you can easily see it... I hope you can at least see why some people might question funding a program that primarily serves the wealthy and comply ignoring arts education in wards across the river. I have no doubt that next year said schools will have dedicated arts classrooms, paid for by donations from parents. And said teachers who lose their jobs will have nice new jobs at swanky private organizations teaching the same kids and stimulating the economy when their students from Fillmore's parents pay them thousands a year to teach their little darlings the same shit outside of school hours.

And maybe DCPS will actually use the money saved to improve arts education in ward 7 and 8.

Though who am I kidding. They probably will just rehab Murch again. God knows it's been like a full two years since the last time they threw money around there, must be absolutely falling apart again by now.

You would be very, very, very, wrong. Also ignorant. How did you manage to miss the 40+ page thread about how Murch has been egregiously cheated out of its renovations.

I'm not a Murch cheerleader (just ask Jeff), but this is basic and obvious. It's hard to take you seriously when you reveal that level of ignorance in your screed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Folks like to taunt Ward 3 residents, as demonstrated by responses on this board. Frankly, I think DCPS administrators enjoy taunting them, too, as the "explanation" they've provided for killing Fillmore holds no water once you look at it. DCPS no response to the reality on the ground that the 5 Fillmore schools have no classrooms for art education.

And you have never lived outside ward 3 (maybe 4), right? Ward three has always been very well off. Deal, the likely best neighborhood middle school in the city is in ward 3. Wilson, the closest thing DCPS has to an adequate high school is in ward three. Read the list of the best elementary schools? Where are most of them? Ward 3.

Wilson and Deal both recently were renovated recently. Lafayette is currently being renovated. Murch was renovated how many times in the past ten years? At least twice Im pretty sure. In fact, you would be hard pressed to find a non-renovated school in ward 3 (I tend to lump ward four above the park in with ward three as well, as it is exactly the same).

Filmore was a program geared towards wealthy students of all races. Its not a racial thing, its a class thing. DC is likely the absolutely most segregated city Ive ever seen, and is just getting worse and worse. Live anywhere outsides wards 1-4 and you can easily see it... I hope you can at least see why some people might question funding a program that primarily serves the wealthy and comply ignoring arts education in wards across the river. I have no doubt that next year said schools will have dedicated arts classrooms, paid for by donations from parents. And said teachers who lose their jobs will have nice new jobs at swanky private organizations teaching the same kids and stimulating the economy when their students from Fillmore's parents pay them thousands a year to teach their little darlings the same shit outside of school hours.

And maybe DCPS will actually use the money saved to improve arts education in ward 7 and 8.

Though who am I kidding. They probably will just rehab Murch again. God knows it's been like a full two years since the last time they threw money around there, must be absolutely falling apart again by now.

The issue of equity in DCPS is not simple.

Yes, Ward 3 has the highest-performing schools. However, they have the lowest per-pupil allotments as well. Every school in Ward 3 is over-crowded, while DCPS schools on average are about a third empty. And most of the kids who attend school in Ward 3 live in other parts of the city. None of those things are unrelated to each other. Apples and oranges all over the place.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Folks like to taunt Ward 3 residents, as demonstrated by responses on this board. Frankly, I think DCPS administrators enjoy taunting them, too, as the "explanation" they've provided for killing Fillmore holds no water once you look at it. DCPS no response to the reality on the ground that the 5 Fillmore schools have no classrooms for art education.

And you have never lived outside ward 3 (maybe 4), right? Ward three has always been very well off. Deal, the likely best neighborhood middle school in the city is in ward 3. Wilson, the closest thing DCPS has to an adequate high school is in ward three. Read the list of the best elementary schools? Where are most of them? Ward 3.

Wilson and Deal both recently were renovated recently. Lafayette is currently being renovated. Murch was renovated how many times in the past ten years? At least twice Im pretty sure. In fact, you would be hard pressed to find a non-renovated school in ward 3 (I tend to lump ward four above the park in with ward three as well, as it is exactly the same).

Filmore was a program geared towards wealthy students of all races. Its not a racial thing, its a class thing. DC is likely the absolutely most segregated city Ive ever seen, and is just getting worse and worse. Live anywhere outsides wards 1-4 and you can easily see it... I hope you can at least see why some people might question funding a program that primarily serves the wealthy and comply ignoring arts education in wards across the river. I have no doubt that next year said schools will have dedicated arts classrooms, paid for by donations from parents. And said teachers who lose their jobs will have nice new jobs at swanky private organizations teaching the same kids and stimulating the economy when their students from Fillmore's parents pay them thousands a year to teach their little darlings the same shit outside of school hours.

And maybe DCPS will actually use the money saved to improve arts education in ward 7 and 8.

Though who am I kidding. They probably will just rehab Murch again. God knows it's been like a full two years since the last time they threw money around there, must be absolutely falling apart again by now.

The issue of equity in DCPS is not simple.

Yes, Ward 3 has the highest-performing schools. However, they have the lowest per-pupil allotments as well. Every school in Ward 3 is over-crowded, while DCPS schools on average are about a third empty. And most of the kids who attend school in Ward 3 live in other parts of the city. None of those things are unrelated to each other. Apples and oranges all over the place.

You need to break this down for it to be credible. Even my dead cat knows that upper NW ES elementaries are stacked with IB students, and have long waitlists.

Don't pretend there's no difference between ES, MS, and HS. Whatever point you hoped to make is destroyed by your lack of credibility.

[Anonymous]

Many children at Hyde and Marie Reed do not live in-bounds.

[Anonymous]

At minimum, Fillmore deserved notice so the schools could plan a way to continue funding it. 42 years of history in a local community deserves that much. DCPS should at least PRETEND to respect Ward 3 families and their kids!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Many children at Hyde and Marie Reed do not live in-bounds.

Isn't Hyde Ward 2? And, isn't Marie Reed Ward 1? Regardless, Marie Reed can't be considered a desirable, high performing school. You can't lump it in with Ward 3 schools and then claim that there are majority OOB students in Ward 3 schools as though this bolsters your argument.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:At minimum, Fillmore deserved notice so the schools could plan a way to continue funding it. 42 years of history in a local community deserves that much. DCPS should at least PRETEND to respect Ward 3 families and their kids!

42 years is a long time to be allowed to get it right.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:At minimum, Fillmore deserved notice so the schools could plan a way to continue funding it. 42 years of history in a local community deserves that much. DCPS should at least PRETEND to respect Ward 3 families and their kids!

42 years is a long time to be allowed to get it right.

(So, it's more than time to go. Generations have turned over, and needs aren't being matched up.)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:At minimum, Fillmore deserved notice so the schools could plan a way to continue funding it. 42 years of history in a local community deserves that much. DCPS should at least PRETEND to respect Ward 3 families and their kids!

42 years is a long time to be allowed to get it right.

What stake do you have in this discussion? 99.9% of Fillmore families really like Fillmore, and need Fillmore. So, on its face, Fillmore is "done right." Are you a troll, or a hater, or both?

[Anonymous]

Your numbers are WAY off.

Have you noticed that a lot of people on this thread are taking the "good riddance!" approach? It's not just me, sweetie.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Your numbers are WAY off.

Have you noticed that a lot of people on this thread are taking the "good riddance!" approach? It's not just me, sweetie.

Some, if not all, of THEM are YOU. The Fillmore stakeholders are the most qualified to hold an opinion of its utility, anyhow.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Your numbers are WAY off.

Have you noticed that a lot of people on this thread are taking the "good riddance!" approach? It's not just me, sweetie.

Some, if not all, of THEM are YOU. The Fillmore stakeholders are the most qualified to hold an opinion of its utility, anyhow.

At our school, we have seen a massive outpouring of support for Fillmore, from students, parents, and teachers. The kids look forward to it every week. Besides, we really don't have any other options at this point. The school has no extra classrooms and no available storage space, so there is no way to have any kind of proper arts program unless it is external.