Reply to New Ward 3 Middle School ???

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[quote=jsteele][quote=Anonymous][quote=jsteele]
frankly, it is quite clear from that article that the school is aimed at Palisades 
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Then, frankly, it should be quite easy for you to provide a quote to support your position. I'll wait.
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Obviously, a quote is not needed because you make the same point yourself below.

[quote=Anonymous]
[quote=jsteele]

It's all about replacing Hardy.
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I can't say I know what you mean by that. It's more about recognizing the facts on the ground. Isn't Cheh giving the Hardy parents exactly what they've been asking for over the past year? If you make Hardy a magnet school, you have to provide somewhere else for the kids who were in-boundary to go. Saying "they all go private anyway" is just wishing the problem away.
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That boat sailed. The Key parents wanted Hardy to be a neighborhood school and now its a neighborhood school. Pope is gone. It's a little late to start showing concern for what the Hardy parents wanted. But, if you do suddenly care, I am sure that what they want is the new magnet school they were promised. A new school in Palisades is not likely at the top of their list of priorities.

[quote=Anonymous]Here's what's really happening. Ward 3 draws kids from the whole city. In 2010-11 there were 5,759 kids who attended DCPS schools in ward 3, and 2,675 of them lived in Ward 3. This isn't new, it's been going on for a while. What is new is that suddenly these schools have become real crowded. Total capacity of the Ward 3 schools is 5,340 so overall they're over 400 kids over capacity. In 2008-9 total enrollment in Ward 3 schools was 5,103 -- a 13% increase in two years. People look back on that as the good old days. Almost every school was below capacity, it was pretty easy to get in out-of-boundary.  In spring 2009 the Deal principal was visiting OOB elementary schools trying to drum up students to hit her enrollment number.  People in Ward 3 weren't happy that Hardy wasn't a real neighborhood school, but it wasn't a big deal because pretty much everyone could go to Deal if they wanted to

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If the idea for a new school were about adding capacity, the school would be in addition to Hardy, not a replacement. Any inbound student that wants to go to Hardy can go. The problem is that they do not want to go. Cheh was very clear that she thinks they might attend a new school. So, instead of creating additional seats, this is about creating seats that are more attractive than Hardy's. In other words, the goal is to add additional students to the system, not resolve an overcrowding issue. Here is what the Examiner article says:

"She is hoping a new middle school in the heart of Ward 3 would prevent some of the flight from D.C. Public Schools that occurs when students age out of elementary school."

That flight is not happening because there is no room at Hardy. It is happening because those parents don't want to go to Hardy.

The Key parents made their bed at Hardy. Now they should sleep in it. Hardy is their neighborhood school. Other parts of the city need new schools far more urgently than Palisades. Giving those parts of the city better options will lower the need for OOB slots west of the park.

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