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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]The race/class thing is certainly unavoidable and, in my mind, yet another factor that makes Capitol Hill a difficult place to recommend.  The socio-economic strata play out from top to bottom and people in this town simply do not join or meld together under common purpose the way they do in NYC.  Old tensions are very much alive and revived, and though as an AA I've always been cognizant of it, I continue to be shocked--no exaggeration or facetiousness--at the way it manifests around the issue of schools.  You really need to know what you're walking into at some of these schools.  Yes, it's all changing but in some cases the rapid pace is just exacerbating the problem.

You may have your idea of diversity, but here it's about the tight bond between race and class.  And one of the things that stops my heart every time I come across it is a generally-held belief that lower-income people don't care about education--which as you know couldn't be further from the truth.  On this forum (and, I assume, in conversation among white people) you'll learn that OOB (out of boundary) and "engaged parents" are factors by which to gauge the quality of a school.  Low income = low scores and parents who just don't care about their kids' education.

That's why I suggested areas like Dupont, U Street, Columbia Heights, Mt. Pleasant, Petworth. (Parts of the Hill are like this as well, I'm just less familiar with them) The lines aren't so stark, the attitudes are a little more progressive and, based on my experience of having lived in both NYC and DC, they're where you'll most likely find the same wavelength.  Just my two-cents of course, because people are going to jump all over me about how they love the diversity in their school.

You may also find what you're looking for in a charter, where diversity is built in and parents really are working together across race/class lines.

[/quote]

I am not sure where PP lives or her children attend school, but it's certainly not IB for schools like Brent or Maury which have "flipped."  While you see mosty "white" faces, there is more than a fair amount of diversity, just not in the black/white dichotomy traditionally called diversity in DC.

There may be some simmering resentment at other Hill schools such as Ludlow-Taylor or Payne (site of the infamous PTA insurrection) where the IB attendance zone has gentrified and yet the upper grades are in substantial part an OOB population not reflective of the racial and SES makeup of those living nearby.  Brent suffered through similar tensions for awhile but they have now been put to rest. [/quote]

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