In DC: "White Parents Horrified by George Floyd Video Still Go to Great Lengths..."

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have become, and I hate to admit it, increasingly hostile to woke politics. Not because I don’t believe in racist equality, but because so many obnoxious fux are trying to shove half baked policies down my throat. Cancelling AP classes, cancelling entrance exams for rigorous schools, the shame based approach to race (“be less white!”), the increase in false accusations of racism at every turn (recent Smith college incident), claiming that “show your math work” is racist...I guess you would immediately tar me with claims of white fragility. That’s fine.

I hate it too. Our family is black. It's become about the exploiting the white fragility guilt and the black power structure that wants to engage. I don't have time for this shit.

Well said.

[Anonymous]

What I really enjoy about the white charter school people is that I don't believe that they have ever stepped foot in a low quality charter school. There is little discussion about these low quality/failing charter schools because there is limited to no charter school accountability.

[Anonymous]

The article seems so muddled. I guess he’s arguing to do away with neighborhood schools? Interesting he wants to focus on topics of in-boundary and out-of-boundary when he self-selected for his children to attend charters, which don’t necessarily have a better record with regard to race and integration. It’s still parents with more education and resources who will do the legwork, research, open house visits, and bone up on the lottery and apply for those charter school. This is for a cost-free lottery that is blind to race and SES. But you end up with BASIS with a higher percentage of white students than Wilson. Anyway, his article is silly. He seems like a guy who wants to be seen as am some sort of “thought leader” but he doesn’t have anything of real substance to offer.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is actually the key point, near the end:

“Not coincidentally, white Democrats are significantly less supportive than Black Democrats when it comes to major school integration policies, such as busing, or policies that give students access to public schools other than those their families can afford to purchase through the housing market.
D.C. isn’t unique. In almost every American community, white, middle-class progressives are unreliable allies when it comes to building affordable or public housing that might make their neighborhood schools more accessible to a wider range of diverse families.”

It’s not simply that white families choose to live in mostly white neighborhoods with mostly white schools. It’s that we actively resist any efforts to change those patterns, by opposing increased access to these schools to non-white and less affluent families.

Consider the loud, angry resistance to the Ward 3 homeless shelter by people in Cleveland Park who insisted it was going overburden Eaton ES. Think about the current negative reaction in CCDC to the idea of increasing affordable housing and density in the Connecticut Ave. corridor. Think about the complaints about out-of-boundary students whenever there’s a conversation about overcrowding at Ward 3 schools. Consider how angry parents of Walls applicants are this year because changes in the admissions process resulted in some kids they believed to be the “most deserving” not getting in.

White families don’t just avoid attending non-white schools; we hoard resources and opportunity at the mostly white schools that we do attend.

Your platitudes ignore the facts. Its like you don't even live here. Do you ?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yep. There are a whole lot of hypocrites on this website that's for sure.

+1. I find it so funny that they are so defensive about their hypocrisy. Yes, dear, you purchased a 1.2 million dollar, 1,000 sq ft home in upper NW “for the schools”. We all know what you mean. But, hey, you went to a BLM protest and have a little sign in your yard.

This is just bizarre. Most of the schools in DC are very bad. Some are HILARIOUSLY bad. Most of the schools in UNW are quite good. So what is hypocritical about wanting your kids to go to a good school?

People think that good means white. And if you mention test scores you’re racist and if you mention criminal behavior you’re really racist

The Washington Post had a very sad story about how even the valedictorians of bad high schools in DC struggled in college.

"Collier, the 2011 valedictorian at Ballou Senior High in Southeast Washington, said the first thing she noticed when she arrived at Penn State University was how intently her fellow students paid attention during class.

“It was like, ‘Wow, everyone’s on the same page and everyone wants to learn,’ ” Collier said. “At Ballou, it wasn’t like that at all. I was always trying to get the students quiet.”

https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/graduates-from-low-performing-dc-schools-face-tough-college-road/2013/06/16/e4c769a0-d49a-11e2-a73e-826d299ff459_story.html

Quoted Wilson valedictorian: Still, he was overwhelmed during his first semester at the New Hampshire Ivy League school because he was assigned two five-page writing assignments — longer than any assignments he’d completed in high school, he said.

“It was the most daunting task,” said Brown, a rising senior at Dartmouth. “I didn’t even know where to start.”

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is actually the key point, near the end:

“Not coincidentally, white Democrats are significantly less supportive than Black Democrats when it comes to major school integration policies, such as busing, or policies that give students access to public schools other than those their families can afford to purchase through the housing market.
D.C. isn’t unique. In almost every American community, white, middle-class progressives are unreliable allies when it comes to building affordable or public housing that might make their neighborhood schools more accessible to a wider range of diverse families.”

It’s not simply that white families choose to live in mostly white neighborhoods with mostly white schools. It’s that we actively resist any efforts to change those patterns, by opposing increased access to these schools to non-white and less affluent families.

Consider the loud, angry resistance to the Ward 3 homeless shelter by people in Cleveland Park who insisted it was going overburden Eaton ES. Think about the current negative reaction in CCDC to the idea of increasing affordable housing and density in the Connecticut Ave. corridor. Think about the complaints about out-of-boundary students whenever there’s a conversation about overcrowding at Ward 3 schools. Consider how angry parents of Walls applicants are this year because changes in the admissions process resulted in some kids they believed to be the “most deserving” not getting in.

White families don’t just avoid attending non-white schools; we hoard resources and opportunity at the mostly white schools that we do attend.

+1

And I don't even agree with the conclusion that the solution is charter schools. As a parent with a child at a Ward 5 Title 1 school, I would argue the actual solution is to start funneling money into the city's underserved schools. Via taxes. On wealthy people.

The whitest schools in the city are also the richest, in large part due to having wealthier parent bases which leads to well-funded PTOs. Every school in the city should have a well-funded PTO. We should use taxes on the city's most expensive residential properties to literally fund PTOs. I'm not talking per student funding. I'm talking PTO coffers that can be used the same way they are used at the city's wealthy white schools -- paying for additional para-professionals, librarians, and other staff, funding arts and science programs, buying technology for students and classrooms, etc. And let the schools spend the money how they want, and how their existing PTO wants to. None of this strings-attached Title 1 funding that comes with a short leash and the expectation that you can reverse test scores with targeted funding on programs that the Central Office has decided will solve decades fo neglect and systemic poverty and racism.

Yes yes, I know, DC's per student spending is among the highest in the nation. I'm aware. That has to do with the fact that DC has high numbers of at-risk and special needs kids, and that funding for those children is always very high. It skews the averages a lot. I'm not talking about targeted funding for specific students (though yes, we should continue that). I'm talking about actually *funding schools*. And giving them real freedom to provide what their kids need. Why can't we let DCPS schools experiment and reach the same way we let charters? Why do you need to luck into a charter via the lottery to get that kind of thing? I want it in my IB school where we struggle with truancy issues and behavioral problems, were we struggle to retain good teachers and administrators, in my neighborhood with real poverty, drug use, and safety.

Give us the money, let us figure out how to spend it. Rich white people aren't the only people who know a thing or two about educating children.

[Anonymous]

The "resources" being "hoarded" in some wards vs. others aren't things the state can fix: parental investment in children, commitment to education, a culture that promotes learning and self discipline and delayed gratification. NONE of these things are race based or even class-based (plenty of first-generation immigrant families send their kids to top-tier competitive schools in this country; plenty of families in economically challenged areas are committed to their kids' education). Some parents prioritize education and other don't. It is not the responsibility of the state or the responsibility of parents who do make this commitment to compromise for those families who don't care. It might sound harsh to say so but as someone whose kids have been told constantly by DCPS that they are oppressors and privileged and their achievements called into question because of the accident of their birth (even as they are being raised by a single mom who did NOT grow up privileged): F that. The more this school system sows racial discord in the name of "equity," the more it will deserve the whirlwind it reaps.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If the parents at low performing schools just cared more, those schools would improve. How about encouraging that? Instead, this just sounds like another rehash of "white man's burden". Seriously, woke people, this has been done, and that’s where this road will lead you.

This is not true putting the burden on families is not understanding the problem. Systematically over generations schools with children of color have lacked resources. My grandparents and parents received a subpar education. Then add in the implicit bias that teachers have against children of color this starts in PreK they have studies about this. Society has low expectations of children of color. As a POC I have to constantly monitor the way teachers treat my children and ensure that they don’t assume that education is not a priority for us. White families do not experience this and in fact if you put your child in what you call a low performing school changes are they will be challenged and benefit for stereotypes association with Whitt families valuing education.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If the parents at low performing schools just cared more, those schools would improve. How about encouraging that? Instead, this just sounds like another rehash of "white man's burden". Seriously, woke people, this has been done, and that’s where this road will lead you.

This is not true putting the burden on families is not understanding the problem. Systematically over generations schools with children of color have lacked resources. My grandparents and parents received a subpar education. Then add in the implicit bias that teachers have against children of color this starts in PreK they have studies about this. Society has low expectations of children of color. As a POC I have to constantly monitor the way teachers treat my children and ensure that they don’t assume that education is not a priority for us. White families do not experience this and in fact if you put your child in what you call a low performing school changes are they will be challenged and benefit for stereotypes association with Whitt families valuing education.

Sorry for typos I am on my phone typing

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is actually the key point, near the end:

“Not coincidentally, white Democrats are significantly less supportive than Black Democrats when it comes to major school integration policies, such as busing, or policies that give students access to public schools other than those their families can afford to purchase through the housing market.
D.C. isn’t unique. In almost every American community, white, middle-class progressives are unreliable allies when it comes to building affordable or public housing that might make their neighborhood schools more accessible to a wider range of diverse families.”

It’s not simply that white families choose to live in mostly white neighborhoods with mostly white schools. It’s that we actively resist any efforts to change those patterns, by opposing increased access to these schools to non-white and less affluent families.

Consider the loud, angry resistance to the Ward 3 homeless shelter by people in Cleveland Park who insisted it was going overburden Eaton ES. Think about the current negative reaction in CCDC to the idea of increasing affordable housing and density in the Connecticut Ave. corridor. Think about the complaints about out-of-boundary students whenever there’s a conversation about overcrowding at Ward 3 schools. Consider how angry parents of Walls applicants are this year because changes in the admissions process resulted in some kids they believed to be the “most deserving” not getting in.

White families don’t just avoid attending non-white schools; we hoard resources and opportunity at the mostly white schools that we do attend.

+1

And I don't even agree with the conclusion that the solution is charter schools. As a parent with a child at a Ward 5 Title 1 school, I would argue the actual solution is to start funneling money into the city's underserved schools. Via taxes. On wealthy people.

The whitest schools in the city are also the richest, in large part due to having wealthier parent bases which leads to well-funded PTOs. Every school in the city should have a well-funded PTO. We should use taxes on the city's most expensive residential properties to literally fund PTOs. I'm not talking per student funding. I'm talking PTO coffers that can be used the same way they are used at the city's wealthy white schools -- paying for additional para-professionals, librarians, and other staff, funding arts and science programs, buying technology for students and classrooms, etc. And let the schools spend the money how they want, and how their existing PTO wants to. None of this strings-attached Title 1 funding that comes with a short leash and the expectation that you can reverse test scores with targeted funding on programs that the Central Office has decided will solve decades fo neglect and systemic poverty and racism.

Yes yes, I know, DC's per student spending is among the highest in the nation. I'm aware. That has to do with the fact that DC has high numbers of at-risk and special needs kids, and that funding for those children is always very high. It skews the averages a lot. I'm not talking about targeted funding for specific students (though yes, we should continue that). I'm talking about actually *funding schools*. And giving them real freedom to provide what their kids need. Why can't we let DCPS schools experiment and reach the same way we let charters? Why do you need to luck into a charter via the lottery to get that kind of thing? I want it in my IB school where we struggle with truancy issues and behavioral problems, were we struggle to retain good teachers and administrators, in my neighborhood with real poverty, drug use, and safety.

Give us the money, let us figure out how to spend it. Rich white people aren't the only people who know a thing or two about educating children.

Your problem is not lack of PTO funds or even school budgets. It’s the city spending more tax dollars —effectively! — on social services. Schools are not equipped, and should not be expected, to solve the problems you identify.

[Anonymous]

Go ahead and try to create a “PTO tax” and see how that works out. DC Council flirted with the idea of taking PTO funds from NW schools and giving them to poor schools. Parents made it clear their funding of the PTO would stop immediately and contributions a would be in-kind instead. Parents who are already paying their fair share in taxes expect the money they spend to benefit their own children to do just that. Not to be used for a Robinhood effort.

[Anonymous]

Can we talk about the dangerous game this presumably white privileged man is playing? He’s trying to suggest that unless white parents conform to a specific educational policy doctrine that he deems anti-racist, any other beliefs or actions we take about racism (like condemning George Floyd’s death) are null and void. What do you think the result of this will be?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Just so we are all clear:

Wilson HS- 39% white (Racist)

Washington Latin- 35% white (Not Racist)
https://latinpcs.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/2018-10-29-Washington-Latin-PCS-%E2%80%93-Upper-School-HS-PMF.pdf

BASIS DC- 45% white (Not Racist)
https://www.myschooldc.org/schools/profile/138

Makes total sense to me.

Oh, please. All this means is that these schools are "white enough" to continue to attract white families. If they started to get less white, trust me, you'd see white flight.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have become, and I hate to admit it, increasingly hostile to woke politics. Not because I don’t believe in racist equality, but because so many obnoxious fux are trying to shove half baked policies down my throat. Cancelling AP classes, cancelling entrance exams for rigorous schools, the shame based approach to race (“be less white!”), the increase in false accusations of racism at every turn (recent Smith college incident), claiming that “show your math work” is racist...I guess you would immediately tar me with claims of white fragility. That’s fine.

I hate it too. Our family is black. It's become about the exploiting the white fragility guilt and the black power structure that wants to engage. I don't have time for this shit.

Well said.

I have a black friend, so I can't be racist . . .

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Go ahead and try to create a “PTO tax” and see how that works out. DC Council flirted with the idea of taking PTO funds from NW schools and giving them to poor schools. Parents made it clear their funding of the PTO would stop immediately and contributions a would be in-kind instead. Parents who are already paying their fair share in taxes expect the money they spend to benefit their own children to do just that. Not to be used for a Robinhood effort.

The problem with this argument is that many, many school districts prohibit this kind of fundraising by individual PTOs. Having one school raise 100k while another does not even have a PTO is clearly an issue. A redistribution of a portion of funds would make good sense. Or a program with a partner school to build long-term bonds.