Washington Informer article: "School Lottery Season Starts Amid Questions about Enrollment and Equity"

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Schools can only ever do so much. Turning around learning outcomes EOTR requires nothing short of a complete economic and social transformation. This would obviously not be easy or cheap by any means, but not beyond a city leadership with vision and dedication. One of the first measures would be to either bury or completely demolish 295 and the adjacent railyards, followed by developing the riverfront and potentially building a new Commanders stadium at Poplar Point. Nothing groundbreaking (metaphorically speaking anyway) - just a replication of what has been done to revitalize depressed neighborhoods not just in other cities, but also right across the Anacostia in Navy Yard! None of this has happened or will happen though because the current city leadership really doesn’t care to do what would need to be done to make EOTR a better place to live.

I hope that the new park being built on a bridge from Navy Yard across the Anacostia River to the Anacostia NEighborhood will decrease isolation a bit. I think that over time, progress is possible and even likely for the city. I also think it's likely the city's progress will be at the expense of the residents who are pushed out by gentrification. With conscious development this is less likely.

We don’t need a park ?!! We need better schools with more rigorous instruction.

As someone noted upthread, DCPSs EOTR are funded extremely well and teachers receive substantial bonuses for teaching there. If educational funding were the solution, this thread wouldn’t exist.

I didn’t say funding. I said “rigorous instruction” which is sadly lacking even in the best funded schools.

Everyone regurgitates this "well funded" talking point I want to show them my EOTR class with 28 students, 8 of which have IEPs. And 1 SPED teacher allocated to grades 3 - 5 to try and support those students with additional needs. We may get more money in a holistic sense, but its not going where its needed.

Well where is it going? This seems like something to get to the bottom of.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Schools can only ever do so much. Turning around learning outcomes EOTR requires nothing short of a complete economic and social transformation. This would obviously not be easy or cheap by any means, but not beyond a city leadership with vision and dedication. One of the first measures would be to either bury or completely demolish 295 and the adjacent railyards, followed by developing the riverfront and potentially building a new Commanders stadium at Poplar Point. Nothing groundbreaking (metaphorically speaking anyway) - just a replication of what has been done to revitalize depressed neighborhoods not just in other cities, but also right across the Anacostia in Navy Yard! None of this has happened or will happen though because the current city leadership really doesn’t care to do what would need to be done to make EOTR a better place to live.

I hope that the new park being built on a bridge from Navy Yard across the Anacostia River to the Anacostia NEighborhood will decrease isolation a bit. I think that over time, progress is possible and even likely for the city. I also think it's likely the city's progress will be at the expense of the residents who are pushed out by gentrification. With conscious development this is less likely.

We don’t need a park ?!! We need better schools with more rigorous instruction.

As someone noted upthread, DCPSs EOTR are funded extremely well and teachers receive substantial bonuses for teaching there. If educational funding were the solution, this thread wouldn’t exist.

I didn’t say funding. I said “rigorous instruction” which is sadly lacking even in the best funded schools.

Everyone regurgitates this "well funded" talking point I want to show them my EOTR class with 28 students, 8 of which have IEPs. And 1 SPED teacher allocated to grades 3 - 5 to try and support those students with additional needs. We may get more money in a holistic sense, but its not going where its needed.

Well where is it going? This seems like something to get to the bottom of.

Before care, after care, behavior techs (plural) are three things that I know are different from my time at a WOTP non - title 1

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think in fact we SHOULD offer a lot more to Ward 7 and 8. It has to be inequitable in favor of those families to get their kids to succeed. I think anything beyond a grudging status quo is unlikely, but that's us cutting off our nose to spite our own face. An employed kid who would've been a drag on society is a double-benefit. We just don't see it that way because it's not a sure thing, and instead we with power invest in ourselves and leave the scraps for The Other.

Well, we do do a lot -- those schools get more funds. But we should do more, or at least more services for families and kids 0-3.

But that should be tax dollars (and more tax dollars; not just shifting funds away from others schools (though they can shift more funds from DCPS Central).

The idea that families using DCPS in other wards should bear the is whacked. That dynamic exists in reality, though it shows up more on DCUM, where people rail against NW DCPS schools. Really, residents using private schools, charter schools, or no schools at all -- especially affluent residents in W7/8 -- should bear an equal part of the onus.

One real-world challenge is that DC taxes are limited by those neighboring jurisdictions. With DC taxes already higher than surrounding jurisdictions, it's hard to get people to pay more to cover DC's relatively high needs. It's just too easy to move.

I live in Ward 7 and most of my neighbors use private, charter and no schools at all. Choice in the District works for us - we simply need more of it. I have not heard any of my neighbors rail against schools in NW and I doubt that any believe that a family or individual in another ward should be responsible for advocating for schools elsewhere. It's just not rational.

As another PP said above, search the threads. Whenever there is talk about ward 7 and 8 schools, people always chime in that PTA funds from wealthier school or families from other wards could send their kids there.

BTW giving more ward 7 and 8 families more choices actually further harms the DCPS schools in your ward because the schools are under-enrolled and thus get a lot less money per pupil. It’s a well known fact. You and other UMC families are not helping your ward at all and actually deprive your schools of funds in addition to family support, involvement, etc….

I get that people want to engage in "ward wars" with the idea that schools in one ward are better than schools in another because of test performance and, further, that someone is to blame for that. However, the performance of economically disadvantaged students in high schools across all wards suggests that more solutions are needed everywhere. It looks like a Ward 7 and 8 problem because of the higher concentration of poverty - so when one sees low levels of school-wide proficiency (which are directly tied to high levels of school-wide poverty), the schools are assessed as bad. But when you look at the proficiency of economically disadvantaged students in other wards, proficiency levels are also low. The application schools and BASIS are the exceptions to this.

Just like we need more gifted and talented programs in all wards, the problem of how to best serve economically disadvantaged students is not limited to Wards 7 and 8.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think in fact we SHOULD offer a lot more to Ward 7 and 8. It has to be inequitable in favor of those families to get their kids to succeed. I think anything beyond a grudging status quo is unlikely, but that's us cutting off our nose to spite our own face. An employed kid who would've been a drag on society is a double-benefit. We just don't see it that way because it's not a sure thing, and instead we with power invest in ourselves and leave the scraps for The Other.

Well, we do do a lot -- those schools get more funds. But we should do more, or at least more services for families and kids 0-3.

But that should be tax dollars (and more tax dollars; not just shifting funds away from others schools (though they can shift more funds from DCPS Central).

The idea that families using DCPS in other wards should bear the is whacked. That dynamic exists in reality, though it shows up more on DCUM, where people rail against NW DCPS schools. Really, residents using private schools, charter schools, or no schools at all -- especially affluent residents in W7/8 -- should bear an equal part of the onus.

One real-world challenge is that DC taxes are limited by those neighboring jurisdictions. With DC taxes already higher than surrounding jurisdictions, it's hard to get people to pay more to cover DC's relatively high needs. It's just too easy to move.

I live in Ward 7 and most of my neighbors use private, charter and no schools at all. Choice in the District works for us - we simply need more of it. I have not heard any of my neighbors rail against schools in NW and I doubt that any believe that a family or individual in another ward should be responsible for advocating for schools elsewhere. It's just not rational.

As another PP said above, search the threads. Whenever there is talk about ward 7 and 8 schools, people always chime in that PTA funds from wealthier school or families from other wards could send their kids there.

BTW giving more ward 7 and 8 families more choices actually further harms the DCPS schools in your ward because the schools are under-enrolled and thus get a lot less money per pupil. It’s a well known fact. You and other UMC families are not helping your ward at all and actually deprive your schools of funds in addition to family support, involvement, etc….

Wow, way to say the quiet part out loud... "your ward," "your schools." Last I checked, DC doesn't have separate school districts for each ward. They are all OUR schools.

Er DCPS is a *neighborhood* school system. Every child is zoned for school near their home, and every home is in a single ward. Your complaint is odd.

Other than the school I actually send kids to (which of course I can support more directly and maybe even have a positive influence on) and perhaps my IB (if I don't send my kids there), I am equally concerned about / invested in / "responsible for" (loaded word, I know) all public schools in the district. As a taxpayer and a citizen, if there is a problem at a school, I would like the District to do what it takes to fix it, irrespective of whether that is another school in my ward or in another ward. We are one city, one school district, one tax base.

By contrast, the previous PP is basically saying: your ward, your problem, and drawing that line right down the river. That part is usually spoken more quietly.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think in fact we SHOULD offer a lot more to Ward 7 and 8. It has to be inequitable in favor of those families to get their kids to succeed. I think anything beyond a grudging status quo is unlikely, but that's us cutting off our nose to spite our own face. An employed kid who would've been a drag on society is a double-benefit. We just don't see it that way because it's not a sure thing, and instead we with power invest in ourselves and leave the scraps for The Other.

Well, we do do a lot -- those schools get more funds. But we should do more, or at least more services for families and kids 0-3.

But that should be tax dollars (and more tax dollars; not just shifting funds away from others schools (though they can shift more funds from DCPS Central).

The idea that families using DCPS in other wards should bear the is whacked. That dynamic exists in reality, though it shows up more on DCUM, where people rail against NW DCPS schools. Really, residents using private schools, charter schools, or no schools at all -- especially affluent residents in W7/8 -- should bear an equal part of the onus.

One real-world challenge is that DC taxes are limited by those neighboring jurisdictions. With DC taxes already higher than surrounding jurisdictions, it's hard to get people to pay more to cover DC's relatively high needs. It's just too easy to move.

I live in Ward 7 and most of my neighbors use private, charter and no schools at all. Choice in the District works for us - we simply need more of it. I have not heard any of my neighbors rail against schools in NW and I doubt that any believe that a family or individual in another ward should be responsible for advocating for schools elsewhere. It's just not rational.

As another PP said above, search the threads. Whenever there is talk about ward 7 and 8 schools, people always chime in that PTA funds from wealthier school or families from other wards could send their kids there.

BTW giving more ward 7 and 8 families more choices actually further harms the DCPS schools in your ward because the schools are under-enrolled and thus get a lot less money per pupil. It’s a well known fact. You and other UMC families are not helping your ward at all and actually deprive your schools of funds in addition to family support, involvement, etc….

Wow, way to say the quiet part out loud... "your ward," "your schools." Last I checked, DC doesn't have separate school districts for each ward. They are all OUR schools.

Er DCPS is a *neighborhood* school system. Every child is zoned for school near their home, and every home is in a single ward. Your complaint is odd.

Other than the school I actually send kids to (which of course I can support more directly and maybe even have a positive influence on) and perhaps my IB (if I don't send my kids there), I am equally concerned about / invested in / "responsible for" (loaded word, I know) all public schools in the district. As a taxpayer and a citizen, if there is a problem at a school, I would like the District to do what it takes to fix it, irrespective of whether that is another school in my ward or in another ward. We are one city, one school district, one tax base.

By contrast, the previous PP is basically saying: your ward, your problem, and drawing that line right down the river. That part is usually spoken more quietly.

But in practical application, your concern and PP’s are worth exactly the same. I love how people pat themselves on the back for caring, when it means nothing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think in fact we SHOULD offer a lot more to Ward 7 and 8. It has to be inequitable in favor of those families to get their kids to succeed. I think anything beyond a grudging status quo is unlikely, but that's us cutting off our nose to spite our own face. An employed kid who would've been a drag on society is a double-benefit. We just don't see it that way because it's not a sure thing, and instead we with power invest in ourselves and leave the scraps for The Other.

Well, we do do a lot -- those schools get more funds. But we should do more, or at least more services for families and kids 0-3.

But that should be tax dollars (and more tax dollars; not just shifting funds away from others schools (though they can shift more funds from DCPS Central).

The idea that families using DCPS in other wards should bear the is whacked. That dynamic exists in reality, though it shows up more on DCUM, where people rail against NW DCPS schools. Really, residents using private schools, charter schools, or no schools at all -- especially affluent residents in W7/8 -- should bear an equal part of the onus.

One real-world challenge is that DC taxes are limited by those neighboring jurisdictions. With DC taxes already higher than surrounding jurisdictions, it's hard to get people to pay more to cover DC's relatively high needs. It's just too easy to move.

I live in Ward 7 and most of my neighbors use private, charter and no schools at all. Choice in the District works for us - we simply need more of it. I have not heard any of my neighbors rail against schools in NW and I doubt that any believe that a family or individual in another ward should be responsible for advocating for schools elsewhere. It's just not rational.

As another PP said above, search the threads. Whenever there is talk about ward 7 and 8 schools, people always chime in that PTA funds from wealthier school or families from other wards could send their kids there.

BTW giving more ward 7 and 8 families more choices actually further harms the DCPS schools in your ward because the schools are under-enrolled and thus get a lot less money per pupil. It’s a well known fact. You and other UMC families are not helping your ward at all and actually deprive your schools of funds in addition to family support, involvement, etc….

Wow, way to say the quiet part out loud... "your ward," "your schools." Last I checked, DC doesn't have separate school districts for each ward. They are all OUR schools.

Er DCPS is a *neighborhood* school system. Every child is zoned for school near their home, and every home is in a single ward. Your complaint is odd.

Other than the school I actually send kids to (which of course I can support more directly and maybe even have a positive influence on) and perhaps my IB (if I don't send my kids there), I am equally concerned about / invested in / "responsible for" (loaded word, I know) all public schools in the district. As a taxpayer and a citizen, if there is a problem at a school, I would like the District to do what it takes to fix it, irrespective of whether that is another school in my ward or in another ward. We are one city, one school district, one tax base.

By contrast, the previous PP is basically saying: your ward, your problem, and drawing that line right down the river. That part is usually spoken more quietly.

But in practical application, your concern and PP’s are worth exactly the same. I love how people pat themselves on the back for caring, when it means nothing.

You're absolutely right, neither my citywide concern nor PPs ward-based concern are going to change anything for any DCPS student. Neither is 99.9% of everything else that is posted on this website.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Schools can only ever do so much. Turning around learning outcomes EOTR requires nothing short of a complete economic and social transformation. This would obviously not be easy or cheap by any means, but not beyond a city leadership with vision and dedication. One of the first measures would be to either bury or completely demolish 295 and the adjacent railyards, followed by developing the riverfront and potentially building a new Commanders stadium at Poplar Point. Nothing groundbreaking (metaphorically speaking anyway) - just a replication of what has been done to revitalize depressed neighborhoods not just in other cities, but also right across the Anacostia in Navy Yard! None of this has happened or will happen though because the current city leadership really doesn’t care to do what would need to be done to make EOTR a better place to live.

I hope that the new park being built on a bridge from Navy Yard across the Anacostia River to the Anacostia NEighborhood will decrease isolation a bit. I think that over time, progress is possible and even likely for the city. I also think it's likely the city's progress will be at the expense of the residents who are pushed out by gentrification. With conscious development this is less likely.

We don’t need a park ?!! We need better schools with more rigorous instruction.

As someone noted upthread, DCPSs EOTR are funded extremely well and teachers receive substantial bonuses for teaching there. If educational funding were the solution, this thread wouldn’t exist.

I didn’t say funding. I said “rigorous instruction” which is sadly lacking even in the best funded schools.

Everyone regurgitates this "well funded" talking point I want to show them my EOTR class with 28 students, 8 of which have IEPs. And 1 SPED teacher allocated to grades 3 - 5 to try and support those students with additional needs. We may get more money in a holistic sense, but its not going where its needed.

Well where is it going? This seems like something to get to the bottom of.

Before care, after care, behavior techs (plural) are three things that I know are different from my time at a WOTP non - title 1

Well, so is it "not going where it is needed," or is it going to things that are needed but they still ideally need more money for other things too?

My higher-SES school has huge classrooms in 4th and 5th grade right now because DCPS won't cough up for another teacher. It's outrageous. DC spends so much money on schools. Where does it all go.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think in fact we SHOULD offer a lot more to Ward 7 and 8. It has to be inequitable in favor of those families to get their kids to succeed. I think anything beyond a grudging status quo is unlikely, but that's us cutting off our nose to spite our own face. An employed kid who would've been a drag on society is a double-benefit. We just don't see it that way because it's not a sure thing, and instead we with power invest in ourselves and leave the scraps for The Other.

Well, we do do a lot -- those schools get more funds. But we should do more, or at least more services for families and kids 0-3.

But that should be tax dollars (and more tax dollars; not just shifting funds away from others schools (though they can shift more funds from DCPS Central).

The idea that families using DCPS in other wards should bear the is whacked. That dynamic exists in reality, though it shows up more on DCUM, where people rail against NW DCPS schools. Really, residents using private schools, charter schools, or no schools at all -- especially affluent residents in W7/8 -- should bear an equal part of the onus.

One real-world challenge is that DC taxes are limited by those neighboring jurisdictions. With DC taxes already higher than surrounding jurisdictions, it's hard to get people to pay more to cover DC's relatively high needs. It's just too easy to move.

I live in Ward 7 and most of my neighbors use private, charter and no schools at all. Choice in the District works for us - we simply need more of it. I have not heard any of my neighbors rail against schools in NW and I doubt that any believe that a family or individual in another ward should be responsible for advocating for schools elsewhere. It's just not rational.

As another PP said above, search the threads. Whenever there is talk about ward 7 and 8 schools, people always chime in that PTA funds from wealthier school or families from other wards could send their kids there.

BTW giving more ward 7 and 8 families more choices actually further harms the DCPS schools in your ward because the schools are under-enrolled and thus get a lot less money per pupil. It’s a well known fact. You and other UMC families are not helping your ward at all and actually deprive your schools of funds in addition to family support, involvement, etc….

Wow, way to say the quiet part out loud... "your ward," "your schools." Last I checked, DC doesn't have separate school districts for each ward. They are all OUR schools.

Er DCPS is a *neighborhood* school system. Every child is zoned for school near their home, and every home is in a single ward. Your complaint is odd.

Other than the school I actually send kids to (which of course I can support more directly and maybe even have a positive influence on) and perhaps my IB (if I don't send my kids there), I am equally concerned about / invested in / "responsible for" (loaded word, I know) all public schools in the district. As a taxpayer and a citizen, if there is a problem at a school, I would like the District to do what it takes to fix it, irrespective of whether that is another school in my ward or in another ward. We are one city, one school district, one tax base.

By contrast, the previous PP is basically saying: your ward, your problem, and drawing that line right down the river. That part is usually spoken more quietly.

But in practical application, your concern and PP’s are worth exactly the same. I love how people pat themselves on the back for caring, when it means nothing.

You're absolutely right, neither my citywide concern nor PPs ward-based concern are going to change anything for any DCPS student. Neither is 99.9% of everything else that is posted on this website.

Whoa…saying the quiet part out loud.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think in fact we SHOULD offer a lot more to Ward 7 and 8. It has to be inequitable in favor of those families to get their kids to succeed. I think anything beyond a grudging status quo is unlikely, but that's us cutting off our nose to spite our own face. An employed kid who would've been a drag on society is a double-benefit. We just don't see it that way because it's not a sure thing, and instead we with power invest in ourselves and leave the scraps for The Other.

Well, we do do a lot -- those schools get more funds. But we should do more, or at least more services for families and kids 0-3.

But that should be tax dollars (and more tax dollars; not just shifting funds away from others schools (though they can shift more funds from DCPS Central).

The idea that families using DCPS in other wards should bear the is whacked. That dynamic exists in reality, though it shows up more on DCUM, where people rail against NW DCPS schools. Really, residents using private schools, charter schools, or no schools at all -- especially affluent residents in W7/8 -- should bear an equal part of the onus.

One real-world challenge is that DC taxes are limited by those neighboring jurisdictions. With DC taxes already higher than surrounding jurisdictions, it's hard to get people to pay more to cover DC's relatively high needs. It's just too easy to move.

I live in Ward 7 and most of my neighbors use private, charter and no schools at all. Choice in the District works for us - we simply need more of it. I have not heard any of my neighbors rail against schools in NW and I doubt that any believe that a family or individual in another ward should be responsible for advocating for schools elsewhere. It's just not rational.

As another PP said above, search the threads. Whenever there is talk about ward 7 and 8 schools, people always chime in that PTA funds from wealthier school or families from other wards could send their kids there.

BTW giving more ward 7 and 8 families more choices actually further harms the DCPS schools in your ward because the schools are under-enrolled and thus get a lot less money per pupil. It’s a well known fact. You and other UMC families are not helping your ward at all and actually deprive your schools of funds in addition to family support, involvement, etc….

Wow, way to say the quiet part out loud... "your ward," "your schools." Last I checked, DC doesn't have separate school districts for each ward. They are all OUR schools.

Er DCPS is a *neighborhood* school system. Every child is zoned for school near their home, and every home is in a single ward. Your complaint is odd.

Other than the school I actually send kids to (which of course I can support more directly and maybe even have a positive influence on) and perhaps my IB (if I don't send my kids there), I am equally concerned about / invested in / "responsible for" (loaded word, I know) all public schools in the district. As a taxpayer and a citizen, if there is a problem at a school, I would like the District to do what it takes to fix it, irrespective of whether that is another school in my ward or in another ward. We are one city, one school district, one tax base.

By contrast, the previous PP is basically saying: your ward, your problem, and drawing that line right down the river. That part is usually spoken more quietly.

But in practical application, your concern and PP’s are worth exactly the same. I love how people pat themselves on the back for caring, when it means nothing.

You're absolutely right, neither my citywide concern nor PPs ward-based concern are going to change anything for any DCPS student. Neither is 99.9% of everything else that is posted on this website.

Whoa…saying the quiet part out loud.

[Anonymous]

It's an adept analogy to compare American Education to a lottery. It is over predatory on the poor.

[Anonymous]

Whoever this guy is should run for president.

Anonymous wrote:No I’m saying that charters are well meaning and poor kids are uneducable. Any time anyone tries to explain why the children of poor people consistently fail at education, they say it’s impossible to fix, that the kids need to be surrounded by massive support in order to mitigate a lifetime of trauma. I agree. The resources? Not coming. They just aren’t. The charters aren’t offering massive trauma reduction. They are just another set of schools.

So what do you get? Uneducated kids and a second system to do it that ALSO doesn’t solve their education problems. And then schools with too few kids to get any money. Hence they close.

The tragedy im getting at is that NO ONE has found the way to teach the traumatized intergenerational poor to become good standardized test takers, which is what this board cares about, right? Those PARCC 5s?

So why try with two school systems instead of one?

And if you want to say BASIS or KIPP, tell me what you think would happen if we took the Sousa or Anacostia HS student body and just sent them there. They wouldn’t turn out much better. This sucks! Why do we have charters if the outcomes are the same? We’re just offering a pressure valve that lets parent anger flow around the problem that these kids are growing up to be dummies. Another generation that can’t get into the mainstream economy and make first world incomes.

Is there anybody that can prepare the traumatized poor for college, real college not UDC for janitorial or haircare, without basically stealing them from their families and turning them individually into brainwashed suburbanites? I haven’t seen it. And it really sucks.