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

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=jsteele][quote=Anonymous]
As one of the folks posting, I think that is being a little harsh, don't you think Jeff?  I am just acknowledging the reality that some folks will be cut out of options that people currently deem as being desirable.  We should be working create better options around the city and believe it or not I am.  But I have to admit to myself that whatever my small contribution helps come up with, people are more likely going to grudgingly accept rather than openly embrace.  The new ideas will be just that at the start. Ideas.  And they will require a lot of additional hard work to make them reality during which time we'll still have a lot of uncertainty.[/quote]

I think it is harsh to cavalierly expect other families to be moved around like chess pieces on a board while not expecting the same for yourself. If you start with the goal that no boundary should be shifted to a lower performing school, you may not achieve that goal. But, you will come a lot closer than you will if you don't even try.

I am not saying that everyone needs to happily embrace their new boundaries. But, if the change is not one that you would find acceptable to yourself, I'm not sure you should be recommending it for others.

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Yes indeed. And if you look at the raw data from the ourdcschools survey you will see plenty of people giving feedback to DME/DCPS along the lines of "I applaud you for moving someone else (but not me) out of my crowded school"
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I would completely agree that lots of folks who like what they have are happy if they get to keep it.  Yes indeed.  Though I might add that these folks are voters and participants too, and they can weigh in like everyone else.

But I think you are both attacking a red herring to some extent.  I am not saying and have never said that we should not try very hard to create great options so that at the end of this process, many folks most touched by the final proposal will feel like they've been treated fairly and that they have something that could be as good as they currently have.  I just don't think many people will truly feel that way, because for better or worse, if they were happy before they will want the certainty of what they had.  But if our criterion is every single person has to be happy or at least only moderately pissed off with the final proposal, then guess what?  We will never change the boundaries ever.  Even in cases where all the options are excellent, many people are pissed off at boundary changes.  Everywhere.  And many of the choices that we'll have to make here will involve constituencies that want different things and will define what is "as good as we had" differently.  We will all work hard, but knowing that honestly at the end of the day we cannot get it right even if we get it a lot closer.

But if you are looking for folks to chip in to try to make something better, limiting your set of folks who can help out to only those you think are worse off in whatever the most likely scenario is at this stage is short-sighted.  I know that is not really what you mean, but that is what it feels like.[/quote]

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