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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I wasn't alone.  I was part of two different groups of parents asking admins for a little funding for extra curriculars parents were financing to the tune of hundreds, even thousands of dollars.  The kids involved were representing BASIS at competitions out of state.  We weren't given the time of day.  Current school is a private.[/quote]

FWIW this was true at my NYC public magnet as well. (One that one poster frequently mentions as a school BASIS can’t hope to live up to!:)) Fabulous academic extracurricular options which the school did not contribute to the cost of other than providing a room & allowing them to count towards a teacher’s clubs/extracurricular supervision quota. We fundraised some and applied for grants some and got some fee waivers for individual FARMS-eligible students, but primarily, our parents paid a ton. With limited public school budgets, I don’t think that is that unusual.[/quote]

Limited public school budgets? DCPS has been pouring vast resources into one Taj Mahal HS and MS building renovation after another since Michelle Rhee, for facilities that sit more than half empty years after they were gutted and redone (Dunbar, Cardozo, Eliot-Hine etc.). What's more, DCPS per capita outlays are among the highest in the country. Meanwhile, charters like BASIS are cash-strapped, yet stakeholders don't organize to push back, don't vote out DC city council members and mayor who don't give a darn.

I'm not letting the BASIS franchise off the hook on the issue of weak financial support for ECs like you are. AZ doesn't encourage parents to organize and fundraise to support ECs or apply for grants. There are no BASIS PTAs, teachers can't unionize and that's how franchise leaders want it. The current BASIS HOS is particularly adept at shooting down nascent parent initiatives (I think I know which EC the poster above is referring to). The program is little more than a test prep factory, particularly in DC, without the ambition to be more. If that's what you want for your teens in a HS experience because your alternatives are worse, go for it.[/quote]

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