Zoning Lafayette out of Deal/Wilson - is this real?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Every DCPS parent should watch today’s Council hearing on the FY20 DCPS budget. It is cause for tremendous concern. The Chancellor could not answer basic questions on their proposal. It looked like Mendelson’s head was going to explode. It’s like the Chancellor thought if he used the word “equity” 1000 times he’d skate right through. Chancellor does not appear up for the job...

"Equity" is like the "Joker" card: it can represent any number you wish it to be.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Given how well Hardy is progressing, moving Eaton to Hardy seems like the right move, in retrospect. Hearst could be moved to Hardy, next, and while parents would squawk, they'd still have access to a good school.

I think it makes little sense, given logistics of the map, to move Lafayette away from Deal. Janney, LaFayette, and Murch are the most logical schools to go to Deal because of their proximity. But it makes even LESS sense for Bancroft and Shepherd to go there, as they're even farther away. Obviously, the only reasons Bancroft and Shepherd go there are for purposes of equity and politics.

The most elegant solution would be to send Hearst to Hardy and Bancroft and Shepherd to the new Hines. But that won't happen except for Hearst, so the next best solution to the Deal/Wilson overcrowding problem would be to send the expanded Hardy to a new High School, which would also take on Francis-Stevens. But where's the real estate for it?

Where is your information on this? If we're talking proximity, Hearst's boundary is 1/2 mile from Deal.

Because Bancroft and Shepherd, which are ridiculously far away from Deal, would stay. Bowser would love this equation because her constituents would love it.

I don’t have a kid at any of these schools but I find it amusing that the same parents that advocate for Bancroft to go to Macfarland because it’s language add ignoring that Shepherd is the only IB school that feeds to IB Deal.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don’t know what the solution is but as a Lafayette family, I can tell you zoning out a bunch of rich white kids to try to integrate a school is just short sighted. The road to improvement is a one-way street. Families strive to do better with the resources they have. Trying to get a huge cohort of UNW families to accept a worse school, when they have the resources not to accept that choice is extremely strange. Particularly when most of the families live less than a mile away from a crescent ring of excellent public schools that stretch from Arlington over to North Bethesda. Or alternatively, of course, private. Right now a seat at Lafayette is worth about, what $600k? We have $600k. Do you?

There may be a $600k premium to get fat away from brown people but hardly called a “Lafayette” premium. Hence why so many Lafayette IB still go private. There is not a $600k difference between Chevy Chase and Crestwood.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Honestly, if Ward 3 parents had any sense, they would collectively all try to lottery into Hardy. Many would get in and it would give Key and some Mann parents enough assurance to go as well. The school would flip in less than a year and would be superior or equal to Deal in no time. It would cure some Deal overcrowding and, most importantly, it would close the largest pipeline of OOB going to Wilson. It’s right there for the taking, but instead Ward 3 Net tilts at windmills like the old Hardy Building that will never happen in our lifetime.

Pssss in case you didn’t hear, Hardy let in a whopping 18 kids in the lottery for 6th grade (with 242 on the waitlist), they let 0 in for 7th and 0 in for 8th with a combined 230 on the waitlist. Did you really think any ward 3 kid can lottery into Hardy now? I’m sure those 18 lucky kids that got in come from all 8 wards.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think the only clear beneficiaries in this would be the private schools. Bring on the expansion! We will happily take all your dezoned kids for the low price of $45,000/year!

They aren't offering more seats in private schools than they do now, and hundreds of kids get shut out every year. Good luck!

+1. Unless private schools expand massively, an influx of applications would mean statistically a lower likelihood of acceptance.

Also, not every family has $40K per child per year within the Lafayette boundary. A few will go private or charter, some will move in the early years of redistricting, and some will begrudgingly try it out. My crystal ball: The proportion of the latter will slowly grow year over year until a decade out, when Wells etc. is finally seen as an acceptable option.

seriously. Do you know how difficult it is to get into private for middle school in DC? The popular schools take about 5-10 kids a year for 6th grade. They leave hundreds on their waitlists. They're not going to simply absorb 100's of Lafayette kids.
It always makes me laugh when people say "we'll just go private". Right. Have you actually been through that application process and realized that your NW DC child is identical to dozens of others vying for 5 seats?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don’t know what the solution is but as a Lafayette family, I can tell you zoning out a bunch of rich white kids to try to integrate a school is just short sighted. The road to improvement is a one-way street. Families strive to do better with the resources they have. Trying to get a huge cohort of UNW families to accept a worse school, when they have the resources not to accept that choice is extremely strange. Particularly when most of the families live less than a mile away from a crescent ring of excellent public schools that stretch from Arlington over to North Bethesda. Or alternatively, of course, private. Right now a seat at Lafayette is worth about, what $600k? We have $600k. Do you?

There may be a $600k premium to get fat away from brown people but hardly called a “Lafayette” premium. Hence why so many Lafayette IB still go private. There is not a $600k difference between Chevy Chase and Crestwood.

I’m not talking about real estate. I’m talking about a JKLM seat that feeds to Wilson. That’s an adequate set of schools that means most families with pretty typical learners can use public schools instead of going to private school. That is worth $600-700k per kid. It’s extremely valuable. And DCUM seems to think that this $600k option can be removed without some kind of bruising fight with a bunch of people who have that kind of money. That’s crazy to me. Sharing opportunity is one thing. Removing it is a whole different game.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don’t know what the solution is but as a Lafayette family, I can tell you zoning out a bunch of rich white kids to try to integrate a school is just short sighted. The road to improvement is a one-way street. Families strive to do better with the resources they have. Trying to get a huge cohort of UNW families to accept a worse school, when they have the resources not to accept that choice is extremely strange. Particularly when most of the families live less than a mile away from a crescent ring of excellent public schools that stretch from Arlington over to North Bethesda. Or alternatively, of course, private. Right now a seat at Lafayette is worth about, what $600k? We have $600k. Do you?

There may be a $600k premium to get fat away from brown people but hardly called a “Lafayette” premium. Hence why so many Lafayette IB still go private. There is not a $600k difference between Chevy Chase and Crestwood.

I’m not talking about real estate. I’m talking about a JKLM seat that feeds to Wilson. That’s an adequate set of schools that means most families with pretty typical learners can use public schools instead of going to private school. That is worth $600-700k per kid. It’s extremely valuable. And DCUM seems to think that this $600k option can be removed without some kind of bruising fight with a bunch of people who have that kind of money. That’s crazy to me. Sharing opportunity is one thing. Removing it is a whole different game.

I’m not sure I follow then. It costs the same at all schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don’t know what the solution is but as a Lafayette family, I can tell you zoning out a bunch of rich white kids to try to integrate a school is just short sighted. The road to improvement is a one-way street. Families strive to do better with the resources they have. Trying to get a huge cohort of UNW families to accept a worse school, when they have the resources not to accept that choice is extremely strange. Particularly when most of the families live less than a mile away from a crescent ring of excellent public schools that stretch from Arlington over to North Bethesda. Or alternatively, of course, private. Right now a seat at Lafayette is worth about, what $600k? We have $600k. Do you?

There may be a $600k premium to get fat away from brown people but hardly called a “Lafayette” premium. Hence why so many Lafayette IB still go private. There is not a $600k difference between Chevy Chase and Crestwood.

I’m not talking about real estate. I’m talking about a JKLM seat that feeds to Wilson. That’s an adequate set of schools that means most families with pretty typical learners can use public schools instead of going to private school. That is worth $600-700k per kid. It’s extremely valuable. And DCUM seems to think that this $600k option can be removed without some kind of bruising fight with a bunch of people who have that kind of money. That’s crazy to me. Sharing opportunity is one thing. Removing it is a whole different game.

You would be right anywhere else. But this is DC. And white people with money don't have as much political power here, relatively. On Election Day, people running for Dc citywide offices are not campaigning in Ward 3. They’re in Wards 4, 7, and 8.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don’t know what the solution is but as a Lafayette family, I can tell you zoning out a bunch of rich white kids to try to integrate a school is just short sighted. The road to improvement is a one-way street. Families strive to do better with the resources they have. Trying to get a huge cohort of UNW families to accept a worse school, when they have the resources not to accept that choice is extremely strange. Particularly when most of the families live less than a mile away from a crescent ring of excellent public schools that stretch from Arlington over to North Bethesda. Or alternatively, of course, private. Right now a seat at Lafayette is worth about, what $600k? We have $600k. Do you?

There may be a $600k premium to get fat away from brown people but hardly called a “Lafayette” premium. Hence why so many Lafayette IB still go private. There is not a $600k difference between Chevy Chase and Crestwood.

I’m not talking about real estate. I’m talking about a JKLM seat that feeds to Wilson. That’s an adequate set of schools that means most families with pretty typical learners can use public schools instead of going to private school. That is worth $600-700k per kid. It’s extremely valuable. And DCUM seems to think that this $600k option can be removed without some kind of bruising fight with a bunch of people who have that kind of money. That’s crazy to me. Sharing opportunity is one thing. Removing it is a whole different game.

I’m not sure I follow then. It costs the same at all schools.

Really? JKLM seats are valuable because they are a viable replacement for private schools from K-12 among a community of families who can afford private. You could rezone parts of NE all day long and no one would ever notice. There aren’t that many schools that stand out and even if there were, families couldn’t afford an alternative. WOTP it’s completely different. It’s going to be a bruising fight to try to remove anything that valuable from families that have come to expect it. There is a reason entitlement reform never happens.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don’t know what the solution is but as a Lafayette family, I can tell you zoning out a bunch of rich white kids to try to integrate a school is just short sighted. The road to improvement is a one-way street. Families strive to do better with the resources they have. Trying to get a huge cohort of UNW families to accept a worse school, when they have the resources not to accept that choice is extremely strange. Particularly when most of the families live less than a mile away from a crescent ring of excellent public schools that stretch from Arlington over to North Bethesda. Or alternatively, of course, private. Right now a seat at Lafayette is worth about, what $600k? We have $600k. Do you?

There may be a $600k premium to get fat away from brown people but hardly called a “Lafayette” premium. Hence why so many Lafayette IB still go private. There is not a $600k difference between Chevy Chase and Crestwood.

I’m not talking about real estate. I’m talking about a JKLM seat that feeds to Wilson. That’s an adequate set of schools that means most families with pretty typical learners can use public schools instead of going to private school. That is worth $600-700k per kid. It’s extremely valuable. And DCUM seems to think that this $600k option can be removed without some kind of bruising fight with a bunch of people who have that kind of money. That’s crazy to me. Sharing opportunity is one thing. Removing it is a whole different game.

I’m not sure I follow then. It costs the same at all schools.

Really? JKLM seats are valuable because they are a viable replacement for private schools from K-12 among a community of families who can afford private. You could rezone parts of NE all day long and no one would ever notice. There aren’t that many schools that stand out and even if there were, families couldn’t afford an alternative. WOTP it’s completely different. It’s going to be a bruising fight to try to remove anything that valuable from families that have come to expect it. There is a reason entitlement reform never happens.

Go to a Ward 7 Democrats meeting or a Ward 5 ANC meeting and stand up and say that. I'm sure people will tell you just how wrong you are.

[Anonymous]

You would be right anywhere else. But this is DC. And white people with money don't have as much political power here, relatively. On Election Day, people running for Dc citywide offices are not campaigning in Ward 3. They’re in Wards 4, 7, and 8.

I don’t disagree but Lafayette is in Ward 4 (its doors literally open on Ward 3, but that’s a different story). Wards 7 and 8 have much much bigger problems and will only care if their OOB seats are removed. Ward 3 will likely stay neutral since part of Lafayette is in-bounds. Ward 5-6 couldn’t care less. So now anyone proposing redistributing has to content with a bunch of extremely well-connected, massively pissed off families who are likely to drum up some kind of anti-discrimination lawsuit. Meanwhile, DC gets whiter every year and the political leverage of the African American community is getting increasingly concentrated in 7-8, see above re: bigger problems.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don’t know what the solution is but as a Lafayette family, I can tell you zoning out a bunch of rich white kids to try to integrate a school is just short sighted. The road to improvement is a one-way street. Families strive to do better with the resources they have. Trying to get a huge cohort of UNW families to accept a worse school, when they have the resources not to accept that choice is extremely strange. Particularly when most of the families live less than a mile away from a crescent ring of excellent public schools that stretch from Arlington over to North Bethesda. Or alternatively, of course, private. Right now a seat at Lafayette is worth about, what $600k? We have $600k. Do you?

There may be a $600k premium to get fat away from brown people but hardly called a “Lafayette” premium. Hence why so many Lafayette IB still go private. There is not a $600k difference between Chevy Chase and Crestwood.

I’m not talking about real estate. I’m talking about a JKLM seat that feeds to Wilson. That’s an adequate set of schools that means most families with pretty typical learners can use public schools instead of going to private school. That is worth $600-700k per kid. It’s extremely valuable. And DCUM seems to think that this $600k option can be removed without some kind of bruising fight with a bunch of people who have that kind of money. That’s crazy to me. Sharing opportunity is one thing. Removing it is a whole different game.

I’m not sure I follow then. It costs the same at all schools.

Really? JKLM seats are valuable because they are a viable replacement for private schools from K-12 among a community of families who can afford private. You could rezone parts of NE all day long and no one would ever notice. There aren’t that many schools that stand out and even if there were, families couldn’t afford an alternative. WOTP it’s completely different. It’s going to be a bruising fight to try to remove anything that valuable from families that have come to expect it. There is a reason entitlement reform never happens.

Go to a Ward 7 Democrats meeting or a Ward 5 ANC meeting and stand up and say that. I'm sure people will tell you just how wrong you are.

Why on earth would I do that? Are they talking about rezoning Lafayette in any kind of meaningful way during the Ward 7 meetings?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don’t know what the solution is but as a Lafayette family, I can tell you zoning out a bunch of rich white kids to try to integrate a school is just short sighted. The road to improvement is a one-way street. Families strive to do better with the resources they have. Trying to get a huge cohort of UNW families to accept a worse school, when they have the resources not to accept that choice is extremely strange. Particularly when most of the families live less than a mile away from a crescent ring of excellent public schools that stretch from Arlington over to North Bethesda. Or alternatively, of course, private. Right now a seat at Lafayette is worth about, what $600k? We have $600k. Do you?

There may be a $600k premium to get fat away from brown people but hardly called a “Lafayette” premium. Hence why so many Lafayette IB still go private. There is not a $600k difference between Chevy Chase and Crestwood.

I’m not talking about real estate. I’m talking about a JKLM seat that feeds to Wilson. That’s an adequate set of schools that means most families with pretty typical learners can use public schools instead of going to private school. That is worth $600-700k per kid. It’s extremely valuable. And DCUM seems to think that this $600k option can be removed without some kind of bruising fight with a bunch of people who have that kind of money. That’s crazy to me. Sharing opportunity is one thing. Removing it is a whole different game.

I’m not sure I follow then. It costs the same at all schools.

Really? JKLM seats are valuable because they are a viable replacement for private schools from K-12 among a community of families who can afford private. You could rezone parts of NE all day long and no one would ever notice. There aren’t that many schools that stand out and even if there were, families couldn’t afford an alternative. WOTP it’s completely different. It’s going to be a bruising fight to try to remove anything that valuable from families that have come to expect it. There is a reason entitlement reform never happens.

Oh you think DC cares about WOTP? Ha! Like PPs have said, what exactly are you you going to do? Move? DC would love that. You gonna physically overthrow the govt? You don’t have enough power. Sorry. It’s ludicrous to fight a move with a middle school on pace to hit 2000 students.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Given how well Hardy is progressing, moving Eaton to Hardy seems like the right move, in retrospect. Hearst could be moved to Hardy, next, and while parents would squawk, they'd still have access to a good school.

I think it makes little sense, given logistics of the map, to move Lafayette away from Deal. Janney, LaFayette, and Murch are the most logical schools to go to Deal because of their proximity. But it makes even LESS sense for Bancroft and Shepherd to go there, as they're even farther away. Obviously, the only reasons Bancroft and Shepherd go there are for purposes of equity and politics.

The most elegant solution would be to send Hearst to Hardy and Bancroft and Shepherd to the new Hines. But that won't happen except for Hearst, so the next best solution to the Deal/Wilson overcrowding problem would be to send the expanded Hardy to a new High School, which would also take on Francis-Stevens. But where's the real estate for it?

The old Duke Ellington track on Reservoir Road. It's still owned by DCPS and the site is actually bigger than the block DESA is currently located.

Unfortunately, I think this Mayor has firmly put her foot down against any new by-right schools opening in Ward 3 and western parts of Ward 2. Her constituency won't stand for it, due to the racial optics and equity arguments. She has said in community meetings that she wants to focus on opening more all-city application schools. I think this is the only type of new school you will WoTP.

Still, your proposal is an interesting one. There would definitely be a strong cohort for Hardy to feed to a brand new high school, if they included Hearst and Francis Stevens. However, the Hardy site is very small without much room at all for expansion. It's way smaller than Deal. I believe projections show that Hardy will hit their capacity in the next 2-3 years. So including any other elementary schools would require an expansion to Hardy. They could cannibalize the tennis courts with a couple trailers, but that's about it.

-Burleith Family

Or you could convert Duke Ellington to a normal school. Problem solved.

Honestly? This suggestion is not helpful. It represents a pie-in-the-sky fantasy and an old way of thinking. My elderly neighbors mention this suggestion and city officials roll their eyes and shake their heads. The city already overspent on DESA; they are not going to spend another $20-30m to convert the school. Converting it would require major construction.

When you say something like this, you’re immediately rejected as clueless by the city. DESA is the crown jewel and won’t let you touch. WoTP families (not elderly retirees) need to get serious about a viable option to Wilson HS. Hardy will be bursting at the seams by the time my baby is ready for MS, I’m scared to see what Wilson looks like. Families need to get organized and act before DCPS/The Mayor try to sell off the DESA track to Georgetown Univ, a developer, or a charter.

-Burleith Family

[Anonymous]

I think the key to reducing overcrowding in Deal/Wilson, and creating a very good middle school in the new Wells middle right of the bat, is the cohort of students at Lafayette, Bancroft, and Shepherd. Those three schools make a very well performing cohort (in terms of academics) of students. Push them over to Wells, and you've got a compelling new school. Take them out of Deal/Wilson, and the overcrowding problem is solved. I think it's a pretty good deal, from an outsider's perspective.