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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Right, Asians and whites with strong students in 8th grade could elect to send their kids to Banneker for 9th. How about a even-handed, incisive academic study on why they don't?

OK, so the PARCC scores are wonderful. Why aren't white and Asians moved? I'd actually like to know. Simple racism can't explain the whole story.  [/quote]

I think racism is a part of it, but I think fear of the unknown is a really big part of it.  And I also think parents want the 'best' for their kids and for many whites/Asians, Banneker isn't the 'best.'

Look at how Brent, Maury, etc started attracting non-black families.  There was a very small group of white families that were 'brave' enough to look beyond the surface and see something that they thought could work for their kids.  Once you had some non-black families that neighbors knew and trusted their assessment to some degree, those schools saw more and more families willing to give them a chance.  A decade or so ago, when those very first families gave it a go, there were plenty of families that thought they were crazy and sacrificing their children.  Gladwell's Tipping Point helps to explain why some Capitol Hill schools became attractive to non-black families faster than others.

I think there's far fewer families that are able to 'brave' in this way at the middle school and high school levels.[/quote]

Good points. A few things to consider, IMO, Banneker is the best. It's certainly better than Wilson and Latin and whites have no problem sending their kids there. Then I'm reminded about a guy in the real estate forum her a few weeks ago. He and his wife recently moved from Shaw to Arlington and he was hating his new suburban life. He said he was trying to convince his wife that they should move back to D.C. and even if they didn't luck out in lottery tgarvit would be ok to send their kid to their IB for the early years. He said the peers wouldn't be that bad "before puberty, right?" At that moment, after I picked my mouth off the floor I made the Banneker connection. Comments like that truly make me want to cry. I feel so helpless raising a black son in this world. I thought raising him in DC was the best experience we can give him. We have black judges, professors, doctors that live on our street. But it really is two different worlds here. [/quote]

So sorry you have to deal with this.  I am white with a DS and would totally consider Banneker and would be happy for my son to go to school with yours, but I'm actually not sure he'll be able to hack it!  He doesn't seem to be on track to be the most studious fellow, although he is bright  ... and that's the other part of this discussion -- a lot of privileged parents actually don't want "rigor" for their kids.  [/quote]

Thanks you PP. People like you and friends we have at our school now make me hopeful that the Shaw/Arlington poster is the minority around here. PS, sorry for typos, I'm typing from phone and not proofreading. Xo[/quote]

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