Reply to Kaya Leaving; John Davis in as interim

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Original PP here.

I think that the Deal example illustrates perfectly how personally people take this. I don't think it's appropriate. No one is looking at Family X and saying, "Let's kick Family X to the curb so that it's less crowded for Family Y." Rationally, one would look at the physical capacities of schools and adjust the boundaries in order to make sure that no school is over-enrolled. It's not personal!

I am sympathetic to everyone trying to find solid education options for their kids, but I'm also sympathetic to the macro issue at play, which is that many individuals are not willing to invest in the collective, wherever or however that's defined. [/quote]

I'm the poster you responded to, and I think we agree on the general problem and on the need to make decisions without letting personal or neighborhood bias control.  But I still don't think it's so easy.  Here's one really concrete example ...

Deal is overcrowded despite the boundary changes, and is projected to get significantly more overcrowded in the coming years.  Some say the Deal boundaries should shrink further, which likely means at least one of the feeder elementary schools gets removed from Deal.  Rationally, one would say Shepherd or Bancroft is the logical choice for removal, because they're farthest away from Deal and closest to other middle school options.  But many parents in those neighborhoods will believe - just as fervently - that the rational choice is just an excuse to benefit other neighborhoods and block their children from attending Deal.  They will offer various rational reasons for their position, such as claiming that DCPS needs to keep those elementary schools in the Deal feeder pattern to add to diversity, or by claiming there aren't very many students coming to Deal from those neighborhoods anyway.

So how do you decide which side is more rational?[/quote]

of course everyone believes the solution that benefits them the most is the most rational. again, that is the point: these decisions should be made on a macro level, not based on special pleading from small groups. 
[/quote]

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