Reply to So how many IB are going to really be at Hardy?

Forum Index » DC Public and Public Charter Schools

Reply to "So how many IB are going to really be at Hardy? "

Subject:

Emoticons





More smilies

Text Color: Font: Close Marks

[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I think most are concerned with academic proficiency, but is it so wrong to want your child to go to school with at least some kids -- whatever race -- who live in your neighborhood?  For me, part of the reason for opting public school over private is the benefit of going to a neighborhood school.  OOB kids can certainly fit into that picture, but if a school is largely OOB, then you completely lose the benefits of a neighborhood school.  My DC LOVED walking to Eaton with neighborhood friends and also having playdates with IB and OOB friends, but without an IB cohort, it just would not have been the same.  I don't think it makes me a racist to want to send my child to a school with some neighborhood connection.[/quote]

Most of the city agrees, looking at the reaction to the DME proposal.[/quote]

I completely agree. I am not denying that racism exists in this city/country. But it is ridiculous to suggest that people are racist because they want to see more truly IB kids in the school. People who want a neighborhood school, want a school where their neighbors' kids go. They don't want to attend a school that happens to be in their neighborhood but whose student body comes from all 8 wards. If they wanted that, then they would attend charters. I have nothing against charters - glad they are there as options. But for those of us who want neighborhood schools, this means not only that the school is in the neighborhood, but also that most of the neighborhood kids go there.

I don't know why this is so hard for some people to understand, or why some people impute the worst motives for this. It's almost as if the charter movement has made people forget the neighbrohood schools of our childhoods or something, I don't know. Again, nothing against charters, but I am a big believer in neighborhood schools.

[/quote]

You're mostly right, but I'll point out the inconvenient fact that more kids who are in-boundary for Hardy attend Basis and Latin than Hardy. School quality matters too. [/quote]

Exactly, PP.  I'll make the obvious point that those families are not attracted to Latin and BASIS because of the low OOB numbers or low AA population.

I'll add that Pride's plan for improving the quality of Hardy is to increase the IB percentage.  It's a good plan.  Once Hardy is 70% IB or higher, it will give Latin, BASIS and perhaps Deal a run for their money.

However, the plan poses chicken-or-egg dilemma.  The grass-roots campaign to boost IB enrollment that is underway is admirable and will eventually succeed.  However, its seems unnecessarily drawn-out.

[b]I've been lambasted for making this point before, but here it is:  The fastest way to turn Hardy back into a neighborhood school is to cut it's enrollment significantly, e.g., 100 kids.
[/b]
[/quote]

You're going to be lambasted again, and deservingly so.  The self-serving "take care of my snowflake and screw the city in the process" of your POV is breath-taking.

Apparently this is tough for people like you to understand, but when the majority of DCPS's students are below grade level, then shutting off an escape valve (such as Hardy) is educational malpractice.  If your snowflake is too good to share a school with the refugees, then:

A) move
B) go private
C) apply to the charters which are already better than Hardy anyway

but in any case:

for the love of your child SHUT UP and don't ever talk in public like you do on DCUM.  [b]You racist, douchebag prick.[/b]  [/quote]

Putting aside the incendiary, uncouth race-baiting for a moment, perhaps you should look at what else you wrote to explain the reluctance of so many parents in Hardy’s surrounding neighborhoods to send their kids to the school.  You said that Hardy is an escape valve for some of the majority of DCPS students who are below grade level.  [b]What concerns prospective parents then, is that because Hardy is pretty small and so many kids are below grade level, significant educational resources need to go to bring those students (“refugees” as you describe them) closer to the level where they need to be.  This probably comes at the expense of curricular programs, activities and other offerings that really challenge and enable children performing at and above grade level to advance further, as the best middle schools in the area provide in abundance.  This may sound insensitive, but few parents want their children held back in this manner.[/b]

The last refuge of someone in DC who has no valid argument to make is to hurl the “racist” accusation.  But if there’s an undertone anywhere it is when some current parents begrudgingly  appear willing to welcome more in-bounds (presumably whiter) students, so long as Hardy’s culture (presumably majority OB, African-American, distinctly urban in character) remains, new parents don’t demand too much change and they open their wallets.  That sounds a lot like the strained atmosphere when Michelle Rhee tried to make changes at Hardy several years ago.
[/quote]

Except this assumption is not correct.  Smart, well-prepared, and engaged students with families (white or AA) that are involved in their education do great at Hardy.   They learn a lot, have access to great educational opportunities, and are accepted at and attend DCPS magnets like Walls, Banneker, and Duke Ellington, and prestigious privates.    As a Hardy parent, I know this firsthand and have seen it happen for several years.  Drives me crazy how many people refuse to acknowledge this fact, so I'll repeat it:  [b]Smart, well-prepared, and engaged students with families (white or AA) that are involved in their education do great at Hardy.[/b][u][i][/quote]

Options

	Disable HTML in this message
	Disable BB Code in this message
	Disable smilies in this message

Review message

Search Recent Topics Hottest Topics