Reply to Pre-K 3: Free in DC, but seems like a real lack of schools, especially in NW!

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Sending the middle schoolers at Adams to MacFarland and the middle schoolers at Francis Stevens to Cardozo would open up probably 15 more classrooms WOTP that could be used for PK, and better utilize the under-enrolled schools.

Moving art instruction in-house at the schools currently served by Fillmore would allow several more classrooms there.

Wards 2 and 3 just need to decide which they prefer and start lobbying for whatever they decide. Parents of 1 and 2 year olds would like there to be 20 more PK classrooms near them, and it can be done with minimal capital investment. Parents of older kids like Fillmore and their current assigned middle and high school. And the parents of older kids are easier to organize because they can work through existing PTAs and they aren't exhausted by taking care of babies. [b]So it's a hard fight for the parents of younger kids to win. [/b]But it could easily be done if there were the will among constituents. [/quote]

This is a dumb argument - Maybe when your kids are babies you think a year's worth of preschool is a big deal, but trust me that once your kids are actually in the school you will see that overcrowding, no lunch rooms, 27 kids in a class, no available seats in key high school classes, eating lunch at 10 a.m., overworked school counselors, classes too big for a teacher to adequately give written feedback, etc. etc. is a far far bigger deal. You want free PK3? It's all yours if you are willing to drive a couple of miles.  Save your advocacy energy for the bigger challenges to come.[/quote]

I think the research is pretty consistent that PK3 provides marginal benefits for MC/UMC kids who are already exposed to language, museums, music, etc.  It is a low priority because it doesn't provide much bang for the buck among that population.  And because the real issues WOTP are related to overcrowding.  Ward 3 has decided which it prefers--it prefers no PK3 in exchange for more space for K-5.   No one cares except parents of toddlers, and they soon become parents of not-toddlers and don't care anymore.   
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+1, from a Ward 3 parent of a middle schooler and a high schooler.  I cannot get worked up over the lack of preK 3 in upper NW.  in fact, I have always thought that preK 3 and 4 was DCPS’s secret weapon in pulling educated families into struggling schools.  [/quote]

Can’t get worked up? You realize the cost of center based private PK3 is about $24,000/year in Ward 3.  And the value of that money 15 years later is equivalent to a free year of college education.  But that does not get you worked up?[/quote]

Nope.  I paid for PK3.  So did everyone in MoCo and NoVa who needed PK3, given that neither county has free PK (outside of programs for low-income families).  Ward 3 families have options, including commuting to free PK3 or paying for preschool or daycare.  In terms of the list of where I think DC needs to devote resources, there are a million things above free PK3 for Ward 3 families.  [/quote]

Should Ward 3 families pay for private fire and EMS too?  Have about private trash removal? They have options, right. [/quote]

NP--

Oh no!  You live in Ward 3 and have to go to another part of the city to get free Pre 3?  Quelle dommage!

Ask the rest of the city where they have to go for decent DCPS middle and high school years!

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I agree DCPS resources are better used elsewhere. But why does the rest of the city deride W3 and yet sends or wants to send there kids to W3 schools?  [/quote]

We don't actually want to. It is the best of some bad options, but we want better schools EOTP.  Free preschool for high-income people is not a priority over that.

WOPT needs to sort itself out.  Free preschool or relief from crowding or reboundarying.  Take your pick.  Until you get it together you have only yourselves to blame.[/quote]

Point taken on WOTP PK3 being way down on the priority list. But asking them to get it together and having themselves to blame? Isn't that a bit word salady?[/quote]

No it is not word salad.  WOTP lacks preschool because of overcrowded school buildings.  They complain about crowding and lack of preschool simultaneously, and can't reach a consensus on what to do.  They don't want to change the boundaries either.  Additional schools will just increase the pressure on Wilson.  They could advocate for real improvements elsewhere that might help, but they don't care to.  So cry me a river.[/quote]

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