Reply to Mayor Bowser to Make Education Policy and Personnel Announcement

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Reply to "Mayor Bowser to Make Education Policy and Personnel Announcement - Boundary Decision?"

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=jsteele][quote=Anonymous]The pro-Crestwood/16th street heights gerrymandering looks ridiculous, and is counter-productive to school crowding at Deal/Wilson; but the deal/wilson map was always ridiculous and overcrowding has always been a problem at those schools.  The Mayor's decision simply amounts to political pandering and/or payback, and could you really have expected a principled stance from Bowser, given her record of wind-vane politics?

Improving the city's schools has always been a "long game" and her decision simply delays progress (especially around the neighborhoods of Crestwood and 16th Street Heights) for a while longer.  But progress is being made, slowly.  I DO think the residents who lobbied the Mayor to extend grandfathering should be called out for throwing their neighbors under the bus; but I blame Bowser for that cop-out more than I do Crestwood and 16th Street heights.  Maybe we'll get a more forceful, creative Mayor next time who will push for better.

Also, perhaps we'll see more positive development out of the Charters industry, to relieve pressure on Deal/Wilson and provide another viable option east of 16th Street.[/quote]

You should be aware -- and I don't thinking I'm giving away any secrets here -- that the plan that Mayor Bowser accepted regarding grandfathering was proposed by the Ward 4 Education Alliance. As far as I know, only one Crestwood family signed on in support of the plan. The 16th Street Heights folks were stronger in their support, but the bulk of those supporting the proposal were exactly those families that you think we threw under the bus. I would submit that if they don't feel thrown under the bus, you shouldn't feel like they were either.
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The Crestwood families especially were needed to either develop the quality of the proposed Unicorn public schools or push for viable charter options.  Instead, by some magical process, they got another 7 years of grandfathering, in addition to grandfathering current students were already getting, to sustain the deal/wilson gerrymandering.  The effect is to take resources away from improving schools in and around their own respective neighborhoods.[/quote]

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