Reply to Redshirting consequences at Lafayette

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Policies like this explains why no one ever responds DCPS has the best schools: https://www.dcurbanmom.com/jforum/posts/list/15/1279885.page

What do parents think are the goal for these kids? To start companies? Solve global warming? What education do kids need for the future?

Or yes, argue over phonics for September vs October birthdays.[/quote]

Redshirting is going to help these kids solve global warming? You're reaching.

DCPS is not trying to cater to wealthy people. So you are right that it will never be the best school district in the area as defined by wealthy people. Middle and working class people define "best schools" differently that wealthy people do.

For instance, DCPS is the only school district in the area that guarantees free PK3 and PK4 for every student in the district. And DCPS's PK program is phenomenal, with extremely high caliber of teaching across the board, including in Title 1 schools. That's a huge assist for working families, immigrant families, families who struggle to afford childcare, families where English is not their first language (guarantees early exposure to an English-language classroom for their kids), etc. That might not matter to you if you can easily afford private PK, can afford in-home childcare to facilitate part-time preschool programs, etc. But for the average DC family, it's an incredible benefit.

DCPS was also one of the first school districts in the area to recognize that the Lucy Caulkins method was BS and they needed to emphasize phonic instruction starting in K. DCPS also was also a leader in the area in diagnosing dyslexia and other learning disabilities early via in-school evaluations, to ensure kids are getting needed interventions earlier. For families who may not have the resources to supplement a lackluster reading program at home, or the knowledge or means to identify learning disabilities early, these are important offerings that you do not find in some of the "best schools" in the area as defined by rich people who may not value these assets as much.

The biggest drawbacks in DCPS are at the MS and HS level, where the vast majority of schools have serious issues both with academic performance and behavior. As a middle class family, that's where the value of DCPS sees a steep drop off, and it's when we, and many other middle and working class families, start considering other options (charters, moving to the suburbs, maybe parochial school if we can swing it). However, as a family in this boat, one of the first things you learn is that for middle class families, the "good" suburban districts aren't necessarily a solution because a middle class family cannot afford to live IB for the "best" suburban schools. In the burbs, middle and working class families are in a similar situation as they in the city -- underwhelming MS and HS options, many with major behavioral issues and a lot of kids performing poorly on academics. Some suburban districts offer lottery options like DC, but without the public transit infrastructure in DC that can make lotterying into a school across town feasible for a family on a budget with no SAH parent.

I'm not a DCPS apologist. The district has major issues and I'm one of the first to complain about them. But the idea that it's the lack of redshirting in the district that is the real problem is myopic at best. I don't have any problem with DCPS's strict limits on redshirting (at least, that's what I've experienced at my NE school, I didn't even know that schools in upper NW had worked out this exception for themselves until this Lafayette issue to publicized). I don't think there is anything wrong with DCPS that would be solved by more parental discretion in redshirting, and I could see ways in which such a policy would actually undermine the district's efforts to improve, especially at the MS and HS level. Redshirting also undermines the district's functional policies on early intervention for LDs and literacy, which I value, and can come into conflict with the district's terrific universal PK program (it is hard to design a redshirting policy that is equitable when so many families use the universal PK program, which would result in families requesting a third year of city-funded PK in order to redshirt -- it's not workable).

If that all sounds like hell on earth to you, by all means flee to a private or to Bethesda or Falls Church. For me, comparing to DCPS to suburban schools I can actually afford, it does okay, and is frankly preferable in a number of ways.[/quote]

Duh redshirting won’t help global warming but neither will a 8/1 or 9/1 birthday cutoff. This whole thing is petty. Give a kid a good school experience. Let the whole “we have to make sure all kids are the same age” go[/quote]

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