Reply to Study: "Discussions of D.C. public school options in an online forum" (yes, this one)

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Reply to "Study: "Discussions of D.C. public school options in an online forum" (yes, this one)"

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]It is sad how this so-called report has divided parents and we are now fighting each other about who is the bigger racist when we should all unite and hold DCPS accountable for their failures. What is the chancellor being paid 350k for? He even has a government car and chauffeur. To what end? Even if all the white kids were evenly dispersed across all schools, it would not move the needle on educational quality. Who would we blame then?[/quote]

Yes. Keep your eye on the ball people! It’s so easy to win this game isn’t it. Divide people against each other then you’re off the hook.[/quote]

Double yes.

The problem is that there are too many failing schools in DCPS. The problem is political leadership that is beholden to consultants and the charter industry. The problem is that we are giving up on at-risk kids at struggling schools.

I don't agree with everything Jeff said in the OP, but one thing I 100% agree with is that you cannot blame individual parents for making individual choices that benefit their kids. That's true whether you are talking about white parents who rent in NW to get their kids IB for Deal, and it's true for black parents who leave NE for PG county or decide to send their kids to parochial schools. You cannot ask people to put their kids in bad educational situations on purpose.

So you have to improve the schools. I would argue that the biggest obstacle to improving failing schools in DC isn't racial segregation, but the related problem of segregating wealthy and middle class kids from DC's large and extremely underserved at-risk child population. And people can pretend that segregation happens because middle class white parents are racists, but let's get real. It happens because middle class parents of every race realize that there is no benefit to ANYONE if they send their kids to schools that are 95%+ at-risk kids. My middle class kid is not going to magically improve outcomes for his at-risk peers, and may actually pull resources. Meanwhile, if my child doesn't have special needs or an IEP, he is also unlikely to get much focused attention at a school where most of his classmates simply need more. Why would any parent choose that for their child when they have the option of, at a minimum, trying for a lottery spot elsewhere.

It's not that white parents (for the most part) don't want their kids going to school with black kids or latino kids. Most parents I know in DC want diverse schools and feel uncomfortable about schools that don't reflect the city's racial makeup. But everyone is nervous about sending their kids to a school where they will be the richest kid in school Especially when you are talking about families that are not wealthy by DC standards at all. Our HHI is around 115k. We're firmly middle class in DC. If we're the richest family in a school, that school is going to struggle by every metric because where is the money going to come from? And we can't afford tons of enrichment activities for our children. And we work, so it's not like we can make it all up at home. So what, pray tell, are we supposed to do?[/quote]

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