Reply to Question for Supporters of New WotP High School

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=jsteele][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Changing the status of Ellington is under discussion simply because no one currently in-bounds for Wilson would consider narrowly re-drawing Wilson's boundaries closer to Wilson's neighborhood.  Wilson's overcrowding problems would be solved, for example, if its eastern boundary ended at Connecticut Avenue.  Then, everyone east of Connecticut avenue that had formerly been bound for Wilson, would go to Roosevelt.

The effect would be grand:  [b]A lot of high-SES kids from Cleveland Park [/b]and Adams-Morgan areas would go to Roosevelt and immediately increase the overall academic achievement there.  Ellington would be left alone.  Voila.[/quote]

You must be smoking some of the ex-Mayor-for-Life's private crack stash.  There are not "a lot" of high SES from Cleveland Park or from Woodley who would stay in DCPS for high school under this scenario.  [/quote]

This is everyone's initial reaction, of course. But, give it a bit more thought. Is it completely impossible in your estimation that programs at Roosevelt could not be enhanced to the point that they could attract, if not lots, at least significant numbers across the park? What if Roosevelt provided every AP course that Wilson has, but classes were guaranteed to be half the size? What if graduating from Roosevelt gave a student a better shot at acceptance at a selective university (I don't know why this would be the case, but speaking hypothetically)?

[/quote]

What bothers me is that DCPS and DME don't even to be thinking along these lines. There seem to be only three possible solutions to crowding at Wilson:
1. Force people who want to attend Wilson to attend a lower-performing high school.
2. Force people out of DCPS and into charters, privates and suburbs.
3. Build a new high school.

No consideration seems to be given to making existing schools more attractive. DME Smith was dismissive of "throwing money at the problem" on Kojo yesterday, but that's exactly what they need to do. It's far cheaper than building a new high school. If you gave Roosevelt the mandate: "Get 150 kids who are currently attending Wilson to choose Roosevelt instead," and asked how much it would cost, what would the number be? I think for a million a year you could create something awfully tempting. Compared to the cost of building a new high school -- maybe $150 million? -- that's nothing.

I think part of the puzzle has to be giving DCPS principals what charter schools have, the ability to expel students who aren't able to learn in the environment and prevent others from learning. That doesn't mean throwing them out on the streets or into reform school, it means having a place for them to go where their needs are met. That costs money too, but it's small money when you look at the other options and how much has already been spent on modernizing schools that aren't attractive to large numbers of families.[/quote]

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