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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Not sure that $1200 for family of four is realistic in downtown DC OP, I think that is the message here.[/quote]

It's what I currently pay, hence I am not moving (and other reasons too, which are no-one else's business but are very valid).  But really, it's beside the point.  What's at issue here is a system that lets down the majority of the kids in the city and provides for those whose parents are rich enough to be IB for a good school and/or lucky enough to win a lottery.  [/quote]

The metrics that we use to determine a "good" school track very closely with SES. I would argue that it's not so much that DCPS is actively providing for rich kids. Rather, it is a system that hasn't been able to figure out what to do with poor students. In that respect it is not alone.

Given that you live in a "poor" part of town, you're probably not familiar with DCPS's historic relationship with Ward 3 schools. In as much as there was any, it was benign neglect. DCPS left these schools to their own devices and the parents and community members picked up the slack. They volunteered, raised money and generally minded the hen house to keep DCPS dysfunction at bay. DCPS, in turn, exploited the willingness of Ward 3 communities to do DCPS's job for itself through its use of the OOB system as an escape valve for pent up demand for quality education in other parts of the city. This system worked very well as long as there was excess space in Ward 3 schools. However, as Ward 3 schools have become increasingly popular with new parents seeking to stay in the city, DCPS's abrogation of its responsibility to provide quality education has been exposed. This is really not an issue of Ward 3 parents' selfishness. Rather, it is an expression of their desire to retain what they built through hard work and determination in the face of a system that historically didn't give a damn about them.

[/quote]

I don't really live in a "poor" part of town.  Houses in my neighborhood are now selling for in excess of $700k (some over $1 million).  That's not poor in my book.

I am aware of some of what you talk about.  I am also aware that at several of the JKLM schools parents are solicited for "optional" (which really are anything but optional) donations to the PTA by professional fundraisers in excess of $1500 a year (or perhaps semester?)  And the funds from these "optional" donations pay salaries of full time teachers.  This is crazy.  It's certainly beyond reach of most kids' parents at my neighborhood school, and what's more we all pay our taxes.  Those taxes should be sufficient to provide a quality education without supplementation from other sources.  [/quote]

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