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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I just wouldn't. And I say that as someone with a kid in DCPS who is doing fine.

But if I had to do it again, I'd have pushed my spouse MUCH harder to move out of DC before our our kid was old enough that it would be hard to do. It's not even that I think schools are so much better elsewhere, it's more that I think DC's public school system is highly dysfunctional and stressful to navigate, and I think I personally would prefer to parent in a district where you just live in the best pyramid you can and then make do. That has it's drawbacks too, but I think I'm better suited to them.[/quote]

Do you mean another district in the DMV or leave the area entirely?

What dysfunctions stand out? [/quote]

The demographics of DC combined with the government culture and the lottery create very dysfunctional public school systems. Everyone works at cross purposes. Schools, parents, administrators, teachers, and the district. Plus charters. The lottery is great on a micro level (can help families get access to better schools) but toxic on a macro level (creates a sense of instability in the system and schools, creates a lot of churn, disincentivizes people to have a "make it work" attitude even with more minor challenges).

I think some people have no issues with this and navigate it well. I find it stressful and unsettling. My kid is in middle elementary and we are now figuring out middle school. I thought nothing could ever be as stressful and annoying as PK lotteries. I was incorrect. Stakes are much higher for MS and there are simply not enough spots at decent schools to go around. There's this weird intensity among parents, especially where I am (Capital Hill) but this is countered by an almost apathetic or aggressively neutral attitude among schools, likely just as a self-protective measure because some of the parents are so intense. I simply cannot have another conversation about math tracking. I'm tired of all of it.

I think I'd find a lot of this in the burbs as well which is why I'd rather leave the area altogether, but I think I personally am better suited to deal with the way suburban districts handle these issues better than I deal with DC public schools.[/quote]

I think the fundamental issue is that voters in DC are liberal Democrats and they reflexively vote for very liberal candidates, without realizing that very liberal Democratic politicians are extremely opposed to raising academic standards and tracking and gifted and talented programs. They think all of that is racist and they will never, ever support it. They think the purpose of schools is to fight inequality. If you voted for different people, you'd get a different result and schools would look different than they do today. [/quote]

Of course NYC is also very progressive and has tracking and true test-in high schools. It is possible to be both. Personnaly, I would take the NYC model over the 50% chance you can get into Basis or having an opaque entry system at Walls and Banneker. [/quote]

In my books, there's a superior model, even here in this area, in Arlington. Any MS student can enroll in 7th and 8th grade honors ("intensified") classes in all core subjects there but the curricula aren't dumbed down for stragglers. HS students at neighborhood schools need to meet academic prerequisites to take AP classes or pursue IBD at Washington-Liberty. The sky's the limit on AP exams and advanced STEM in VA. Any HS can enroll in a hands-on class at Arlington Tech, one per semester, with transportation from their school provided. At the tech school, even the most academic students can train to be this or that, a qualified welder, an EMT, a vet tech even a small plane pilot.  Everybody's challenged, everybody's included. No need to be progressive, conservative, take an entrance exam or whatever. What the most academic kids need to do in Arlington is work hard in MS HS to qualify to take the most rigorous classes up the chain.[/quote]

Yes - this is a good model. Very permissive early entry but no watering down of content/rigor + hard prerequisites for advancement. Of course, in many places this still would not mollify the equity police and Arlington demographics are a bit more suited to such model, ie, the great majority of kids are not deficient laden. [/quote]

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