Our DC Schools app for boundary change feedback

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04/22/2014 21:31

Subject: Re:Our DC Schools app for boundary change feedback

quote

Anonymous

I greatly respect the time and effort. But there are more than 3,000 children in bilingual Spanish-English DCPS and more if you add in charters. How are we supposed to provide feedback on an app that's only in English when Hispanics have the highest rates of internet use via mobile phone? I'm a fluent English speaker and proficient reader who follows education and it took me about 10 minutes just to read through the questions, let alone answer them in a thoughtful way with smiley faces.

I'm not an expert on surveys, but this seems to be what's called preaching to the choir. Collecting additional emotion-related data from customers who match your own profile who have already given you qualitative feedback creates an echo chamber of sorts.

As an IB parent for Oyster-Adams, it's really hard to take any of this seriously. But with more than 660 students with more than 60% Hispanics, the fastest growing demographic in DC, shouldn't the options be at least somewhat realistic? Even our principal, whether you like her or not, has said the Cardozo proposal is not an option and not just because of scores.

The status and viability of Oyster-Adams as the only K-8 dual immersion school and dual language only elementary schools like Bancroft and Powell need to be addressed even if nothing happens in the rest of the city. Oyster-Adams is an anomaly on several levels. Two buildings in two wards, 3rd and 4th grade a mile apart, middle school grades in an elementary designed building, and no bilingual elementary schools like Marie Reed a block from Adams feeding into the under-enrolled middle school grades. Add to that the fact that most teachers and administrators have clearly and repeatedly stated they want one building for a K-8 dual language immersion and special education inclusion school that they imagine. But neither location on it's own could support the 650+ students needed to be a viable K-8.

Other families may be facing similar challenges with understanding the logic, and lack thereof, of the process. But here are a few examples if you are IB for O-A.

Elementary Choice Set-
the O-A boundary would extend SOUTH but the choice set would move NORTH

Eaton ES
Hearst ES
Oyster Adams Bilingual School* (no explanation of asterisk)

Middle School Choice Set-
"The Advisory Committee has not provided a separate middle school choice set for your boundary." WHAT IF MY 6TH GRADER CAN'T SPEAK AND READ SPANISH?

MS closest schools-
"The two middle schools closest to your home are Oyster Adams Bilingual School and School Without Walls at Francis Stevens." WRONG - CHEC MS (LINCOLN) IS CLOSEST AND CARDOZO ALSO HAS MIDDLE SCHOOL. WHY GO TO SWW/FS FOR JUST MIDDLE?

Citywide HS lottery -
"The high school that you would or would not have guaranteed access to is Cardozo EC." WOULD OR WOULD NOT? HOW IS THAT A PROPOSAL?

Seeing the options explained this way has convinced me the whole effort needs to be put on ice for a while until some of the "inconsistencies," huge discrepancies in performance, and grandfathering options can be addressed. Meanwhile, at current charter growth levels, more than half of DC students will be out of the neighborhood game anyway.

To paraphrase Kaya Henderson just after her promotion, "we've gone data crazy."

Too bad the mayoral election isn't until November. I know who I'd vote for today and it wouldn't be a Democrat even though that's my registered party.

Genuine thank you to Code for DC. Please let us know when the Spanish version is available or when there is a video/audio format that is more concise and accessible to those with limited ability to speed read on an iPhone 5 screen.