Reply to Ward 2/3 High School proposal in the NW Current

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[quote=Anonymous][quote]Except that if the student body becomes significantly whiter as a result, then you will have a Civil Rights lawsuit over disparate impact. And DCPS will lose. Again. (For those not in the know, that's EXACTLY what happened the last time DCPS lost a lawsuit because Wilson and Deal were too white.)

http://dme.dc.gov/sites/default/files/dc/sites/dme...%20Zone%20Changes%20131026.pdf [/quote]

One thing struck me while reading these articles from the 60s-era boundary changes.  The third article says that parents were less concerned about race than they were about [u]the quality[/u] of the schools that were predominantly black.  It says, "Statistics presented to the court by civil rights leader Julius W. Hobson and his attorneys show that schools with a majority of poor Negro children have been cheated for years."

And then, as now, there's absolutely no further talk about that disparity in quality.  Then, as now, we're settled on the belief that the only way to raise quality is mixing by race and SES.

But look at the results of decades of substandard schools.  I watched Abby Smith at a meeting for Ward 4 MS and HS awhile back and kept wondering, why is it so hard to put the same programs at Deal into a new MacFarland Middle School?

Seriously - what are the barriers?

You can say that all the kids in poor areas are below grade level by the time they reach MS, so then that leads to the question, what are the barriers to quality programming in elementary schools?

One proposal in the DME policy examples calls for right to neighborhood schools at prekindergarten.  Everyone should support that, because we haven't tried it yet and if every kid is starting their learning at this crucial age they're more prepared by testing age.

And I'm not saying that mixing middle class kids with low-income won't also be a help.  This opinion article from the NYTimes on the "The Benefits of Mixing Rich and Poor" makes a strong case for broadening Head Start to include middle class:  http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/05/10/the-benefits-of-mixing-rich-and-poor/?_php=true&_type=blogs&hp&rref=opinion&_r=0.  I think the debate on Mundo Verde's aftercare offering supports the idea that middle class parents need help, too.

But it still leaves the question of what prevents stronger investment and much better programming for schools in low-income neighborhoods?  It's about time we admit there's a huge disparity in what's offered.[/quote]

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