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Reply to "Deal is tremendously overcrowded - something is to give"

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]So - - - Petworth parents "not having Wilson as an option" does not mean those parents should go to Georgetown, or Palisades or Glover Park.  They should be in Petworth, because the things you want in Georgetown should be in Petworth or Columbia Heights instead.[/quote]

Those things already ARE in those neighborhoods. They are just woefully under-utilized by the UMC white Petworth and Columbia Heights contingent:
Cardozo
CHEC
Roosevelt
Coolidge

Four large facilities are not bursting at the seams, unlike Wilson.

I guarantee that another WOTP high school will be at full capacity the first day it opens. And hence why it should be built - it relieves overcrowding at Wilson, it provides a 2nd viable option for a large cohort of great students, and it opens up more options for OOB folks all over the city (freeing up seats at Banneker, SWW, etc).

The city has already built so much EOTP and the high SES families simply are not showing up. I don't know how this can be any clearer.[/quote]

But what's the reason why they would come to your second high school west of Rock Creek Park?[/quote]

Why do well-to-do, politically connected families in Hillcrest shlep their kids to Wilson and Duke Ellington everyday? Because they want their kids surrounded by a similar UMC cohort. They seem willing to make the sacrifice and drive across the city. In fact, we know many parents across the city are willing to make the drive because JKLMM and Deal/Wilson waitlists are so incredibly long.

UMC parents want an UMC cohort for their kids. Those in lower SES groups also wanted their kids surrounded by a higher SES cohort because they know it translates into more resources and better results for their own kid. There's an insane amount of demand for a rapidly shrinking amount of supply of WOTP seats. So our two options are: increase supply WOTP or block access to WOTP schools for families in other areas of the city.  It's a binary choice. I'm of the opinion that people respond better to carrots than sticks, so I advocate building more WOTP in addition to building magnets or other specialized programs in other areas of the city. [/quote]

Yes this is all true.

But the UMC cohort is growing in DC.  And many of those folks don't live WOTP.

I know you can't create an UMC only cohort school but Wilson/Deal are not that today.  Surely there is a creative and legal way to draw an EOTP boundary that incorporates the many neighborhoods with growing UMC numbers and simultaneously transition some of the lower middle class kids from those same neighborhoods to Deal/Wilson by changing who gets OOB slots?

This should be getting easier, not harder, to pull off.

But as the OP stated something has to give and it has to give soon because Wilson high school cannot handle 3200 students and that is the reality we are barreling towards.[/quote]

If I understand you, you want to creat an UMC cohort EOTP and move the lower and middle class kids to Wilson rather than have them enjoy the benefits of that UMC cohort in their neighborhood school?  Did I get that right?[/quote]

Well there would still be an UMC cohort at at Wilson.  The point was if it helps to get the SES mix right at the new EOTP school (and we are really talking about a new MS) then you continue to have access at Wilson/Deal.  This should make such a change more politically palatable and allows Deal/Wilson to continue to be diverse.  Optimally everyone will prefer to attend their neighborhood school, at least eventually.  But until that happens make sure the kids who most benefit still have access to Deal/Wilson even if they are OOB.[/quote]

No.  DC can't afford K-12 feeder rights anymore.  The WOTP schools are too crowded already.  End feeder rights after grade 5 altogether or at least cull those performing below grade average, the lazy and the discipline problems from going on to Deal and Wilson.[/quote]

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