Reply to DCPS and “Equity”

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I was listening recently to someone argue that DCPS lacks equity because the best-performing (and most over-crowded) schools - the Wilson feeder pattern - are in the Upper NW, whereas EOTR schools fail to attract students from there own neighborhood and are routinely closed down due to low enrollment numbers.

Would DCPS be more equitable if Wilson and it’s feeders were also not good enough to attract in-boundary families and they by and large chose privates instead? Would DCPS be more equitable without a citywide lottery that allowed EOTR students to attend schools in other parts of the city?

Obviously, it would be wonderful to have better schools EOTR that could attract EOTR students. But my understanding is that it is not unlike DCPS has tried. Is there something that they haven’t tried which stands a good chance of working?[/quote]

I think you're misunderstanding the equity issue. It's not that schools EOTR are worse, it's that they don't have as affluent of a student body population to do things such as fundraise through a PTA. When the majority of students live in homes with financial insecurity, the academic performance of the students is affected. This has nothing to do with the school itself, the teaching, etc. [/quote]

Throw $100k into all of the troubled schools EOTP and you will still see the same issues.  School is only one ingredient in fostering a good student.  We all know that affluence has a lot more to do with success not just because of the resources available to you during non-school hours, but because families in higher socio-economic circles read to their kids from an early age, travel with their kids, subscribe to newspapers, hang out with educated folks...kids in affluent neighborhoods are more likely to have a lot less crime in their neighborhood, more at home supervision...

So many other factors--  people think money is the issue.  It's not.  [/quote]

I agree with this to some extent - there are broader and deeper issues with huge impacts on student performance that can't be fixed by the school system. And it's unlikely that additional money would make those schools places that more privileged families would be comfortable sending their kids.

BUT - more money could make a huge difference in the experience of the kids already there IF it was well targeted. I mean, imagine that instead of 25 kids per elementary class, all of a sudden it was 12. Much more time for individualized attention, small group learning especially in areas like reading, the ability to truly differentiate within classes, fewer discipline issues, easier classroom management. Teacher attraction and retention becomes easier.

Now, i'm not an expert, maybe that's not the best use of that money. But it's one easy example where money could make a huge difference. Are you all of a sudden going to see a ton of kids getting 4s and 5s on PARCC? No. But the children in those schools would get a dramatically better education. [/quote]

Speaking as a DCPS teacher, that would be a HUGE benefit to students, and would definitely make a difference I expect. Like you said, it's not like students would be instantaneously getting 4 and 5 on parcc, but it would make a difference. problem is, it will never happen in this city. It would require pulling money from the bloat at Central office, but that won't happen. And a significant number of upper NW parents would complain that other schools are getting more money than theirs. A number of parents already complain that EOTP schools get more money through at risk funds. Imagine if that amount went up further.[/quote]

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