Reply to Why is the overcrowding issue so complex?

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Right- like if all the gentrifiers sent their kids to whatever the IB school is for Petworth....it would probably have a similar profile to what, Murch?
There’s nothing special about WOTP schools besides that the parents are high SES.  I work with many people with the same demographic/SES profile who live EOTP, but I bought my house WOTP 10 years earlier. 
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It takes a good principal, good teachers, and engaged families to have a good school.

You can’t just say “education-focused parents, send your kids to the school” and it magically gets to be perfect.[/quote]

WOTP schools are part of the same DCPS system that assigns principals and teachers no? I actually don’t know how those choices are made but presumably people don’t apply only to work at JKLMM etc [/quote]

Principals have say in who gets hired for their schools, and the principal’s management ability matters in whether teachers accept and whether they stay for the long haul.

That’s why principals matter tremendously.  A good principal can recruit and retain good teachers.  Happy, motivated, and supported teachers make a strong school.

I don’t know how principals are assigned, though obviously you can’t make anyone stay somewhere they really don’t want to be. [/quote]

Principals are done through a process that feels like speed dating but really the central office tends to get what it wants.  Candidates can indicate interest in schools, and schools form panels of teachers and parents to interview the candidates.  If a school really dislikes someone, downtown is unlikely to force it on them.  If a school doesn't match with anyone they get an interim principal or the AP is in charge for a year.

The "it's all the same system" argument just doesn't hold water.  Downtown has a lot of discretion and tends to exercise it more generously towards the Wilson pyramid and certain other favorites.  That unfairness is part of why the system is dysfunctional, and it is the reason it doesn't seem so bad if you live in Ward 3.  See?[/quote]

So you are saying central office is racist. They very well might be although I have a good friend who works there and she says that the overall sentiment at Central is very much anti-Wilson. It is talked about disparagingly as the so-called white annoying school. In general Central likes compliant parent communities who don’t question their decisions [/quote]

If this is true, then how can it also be that the WOTP schools are being favored by DCPS?  Frankly, I think they succeed in spite of DCPS largely because the kids are largely high SES with educated families. [/quote]

The point is that WOTP schools are not being favored. DC rightly or wrongly distributes $ based on per pupil funding. Wilson has 2000 students. It is the largest HS in DC although average/small by suburban standards. Anacostia HS has around 200 students which is way too small for a HS. Wilson is able to achieve economies of scale that is just not feasible. Wilson can keep its librarian because it overall has more money to play around with. It is hard for Anacostia HS to justify paying a librarian for 200 students. Look all over MD and VA - you will not find such tiny middle and high schools. That is because it is very difficult to provide all the opportunities that kids need at these underenrolled tiny schools. Ballou and Anacostia should be combined into one bigger school but that is apparently off the table because of neighborhood gang rivalries. [/quote]

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