Reply to New opposition petition to the Maury-Miner boundary proposal from DME

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Reply to "New opposition petition to the Maury-Miner boundary proposal from DME"

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Annoyingly, the article doesn't get to the heart of the matter: endemic low DCPS capacity and general incompetence.  The UMC and white parents come off as selfish, elitist jerks in the WaPo when the truth is that they know that Maury is only so wonderful even without it being merged with a Title 1 school. When you've finally got a functional school in a dysfunctional system, after years of struggle on the part of neighborhood parents, don't mess with it.  The inconvenient truth is that DCPS isn't doing a great job with the high SES kids they've got. [b]There's a reason that more than a third of the Maury 4th graders (and most of the Brent 4th graders) don't return for 5th grade, and it's not because DCPS inspires great confidence in most upper grades UMC Hill parents.   Risking killing a goose laying golden eggs won't improve matters. [/b] [/quote]

The reason for this is middle school & 5th grade being the charter entry year. I don't disagree with what you're saying overall, but the 5th grade exodus is 100% driven by DCPS & DCPCSes having different MS entry years and has nothing to do with the quality of the elementary schools.[/quote]

No one is leaving a DCPS for 5th if they have the programming they want in their by right middle school. The exodus is driven by what's missing in middle school. Fix that and the charters starting MS early would fold or change. [/quote]

But this is harder for a DCPS middle school to do. A charter can come in and say "hey here's our approach to MS, if you are interested, do the lottery and grab a spot." As a new school without an existing student body, they can create this kind of offering without alienating existing families.

The problem DCPS schools face is that they have current students. EH and Eastern already have students enrolled. Many are OOB and there is a high at risk contingent. These schools struggle to say "Ok, here's how we're going to change the school to meet the needs and expectations of high SES IB families" without disregarding the needs of students who are currently enrolled.

This is actually a dynamic that also exists at Miner.

[b]DCPS schools, because they must take all IB students and because they are relied upon by at risk kids in a way charters are not[/b], do not have the same leeway as charters to create tantalizing programming for high SES kids. It's not a true education "marketplace" because DCPS has to educate the 50% of its students who are at risk and can't just focus on those that aren't.[/quote]

DCPS is 47% at-risk. Charters are 49%. Both are educating at-risk kids and non-at-risk kids.[/quote]

PP's point is that DCPS must take all kids IB, any day of the year, regardless of class sizes. Any charters stepping up to make that guarantee?[/quote]

That wasn't their point. They specifically stated that that DCPS has to educate 50% of students who are at-risk and can't just focus on those who aren't. They, and charters, have to focus on both. While you may not believe it or acknowledge it, there are actually at-risk kids who can take rigorous math courses. Those who can should have access to those courses. [/quote]

No, my point was actually about directionality. Charters choose their approach and invite students to them. So the at-risk students in any given charter are at least bought in enough (or their families are) to go with whatever they are doing. So the charters have broad ability to do what they want and to let families self-select into their program.

DCPS doesn't work this way. Even at a school where many/most families are OOB, there is an expectation that DCPS will always move to meet kids where they are at. Other than a few programs (like SWS and CHMS, which are DCPS schools but which were able to develop their own approach and attract families to it), DCPS schools cannot simply tell families "this is what we do, take it or leave it." It is very, very hard for a boundary DCPS to introduce programs that don't serve the needs of its existing student body, even if there may be interest in the IB population.[/quote]

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