Reply to tired of "diversity for Deal and Wilson" as an argument

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Reply to "tired of "diversity for Deal and Wilson" as an argument"

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]^^^^I think this is where the gaping hole is in the city's and DCPSs' educational policy and planning.  For political reasons around race and SES, they try to push educationally ambitious parents into scenarios that will help less fortunate/less involved families  RATHER THAN doing what it takes to entice those families into the situation. [/quote]

I agree 100% that enticements are crucial. There can be some restrictions and limits, absolutely.  Boundaries for who is in-bounds being a main one.  But the main thrust has to be toward enticing people and allowing them to realize they have options.

Can you create a gifted and talented program in Petworth, Columbia Heights, or Shaw?  Can you offer a chance to continue dual-language education? Can an IB Middle Years program be set up in an existing school that has space to grow at grades 6-8?  Can DCPS offer Chinese to people who can't drive their kids out to a school way up off North Capitol?  Can there be academies that start at 6th or 9th and continue as small cohorts in larger schools?  Can Montessori method schools go past elementary grades?  Could you have certain DCPS programs have a preference to feed into certain charter programs at middle or high school based on the skills they come with, like language?  Application-only middle school?

I mean, there is a grab bag of ideas out there for enticements - the idea now is to take them and start offering them up.  Clearly, charters show that people respond to choices.  They also respond to the idea that their child will be able to learn without being dragged down by existing negative culture.

And the truth is, if DCPS gets these people in the door, they can work with them to shape the system.  The worst they can do is just demand that people just take seats in whatever their neighborhood school is, regardless of lack of current demand.

DCPS can step up its game, and they'll be rewarded with interest and buy-in in many parts of the city, and it will create momentum within the system.

Like others have said before, I would focus on two areas.  The string of neighborhoods just east of the Park and on Capitol Hill.[/quote]

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