Reply to Will Janney eventually reduce or eliminate PK4

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]PP here -- Funny I grew up in Forest Hills too.  Big house, definitely not Head Start eligible and went to Murch prek in 1977. DC was one of the first school district implemented it.  Your parents may have decdied it wasn't for you or perhaps you went to a private preschool which is what two of my older siblings did since it wasn't available to them.

Here you go:  http://fcd-us.org/sites/default/files/Pre-K%20for%20All%20DC%20Case%20Study.pdf[/quote]

I'm the person you are trying to educate.  You have succeeded, somewhat, in that I didn't know that DC's Head Stsrt preschool program was not means tested and instead was available (at least one classroom in every school building) to any family that was willing to wait in line overnight to secure a spot.

But the point still stands that your family sent you to a Head Start program as envisioned and implemented by DC.  This program, created for disadvantaged children as part of LBJ's Great Society plan, was used by your family living in the big house in Forest Hills.

DC's approach to Head Stsrt eligibility when it rolled out was no doubt due to the realities of the city's demographics in the very late 60s and early 70s.  As you'll recall, there weren't a lot of kids in this city at that time who -weren't- poor, in absolute numbers.   Administratively, I'm sure it made sense to make the seats to kids not-at-risk, too,  since as you'll recall, there just weren't that many of us attending public school in the early 1970s.

[/quote]

I am really not sure what your agenda is or if you are making all of this up or perhaps didn't attend DCPS during the 70s.  The schools were packed.  The enrollments numbers during the 70s were over 100,000 and then steadily dropped through the 80s (crack epidemic).  For your review:  https://data.dcpcsb.org/dataset/Historical-Enrollment-for-PCS-and-DCPS/hknn-uqwp

DCPS actually implemented a NON Head Start program in 1972.  We can get into more detail if you would like but the AA demographics of DC were completely different back then.  You had a large number of affluent AA families in the city with children and a very progressive approach to education happening in DC to satisfy the demands of the parents who saw how well Head Start was implemented and wanted a similar program non income/need based.  Those were the families who were able to leave during DC's crack epidemic in the 1980s -- leaving behind a poorer demographic.  It is really fascinating to read about our city and how it has changed over the years.  You should really take some time to do it.

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I think the PP's agenda is to prove that PK is and should be for poor kids only, that everybody else should fend for themselves, or else they are stealing from the taxpayer (or her 3rd grader whose class she thinks is too crowded).[/quote]

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