Reply to Why do people hate Yu Ying and Basis so much?

Forum Index » DC Public and Public Charter Schools

Reply to "Why do people hate Yu Ying and Basis so much?"

Subject:

Emoticons





More smilies

Text Color: Font: Close Marks

[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=jsteele][quote=Anonymous]PP, first of all, I don't think anyone is seriously pursuing replacing the entire system - though if DCPS cannot get its act together, I would not be surprised if someone does propose a new model at some point.  As for where they would go, there already are charters that specialize in things like disciplinary problems, special needs and so on - the things that kids might otherwise be "counseled out" for.[/quote]

I guess that it doesn't count as serious, but the poster at 22:45 did write:

"Hopefully, the successful charters will ultimately expand to the point that DCPS is swept out..."

Don't fool yourself. There is a group in DC that I call "Charter fundamentalists" that fervently wants DCPS to be replaced entirely by Charter schools.

Personally, I think the disappearance of the neighborhood school would be a big loss.
[/quote]

I'm a charter supporter (not fundamentalist) and I agree with you that the loss of quality neighborhood schools would be a big loss.  The operative word however is quality.  Replacing the high performing schools - almost exclusively west of the park - with charters for no reason other than a policy agenda would be beyond foolish.  Charter supporters would do well to acknowledge and respect the valuable ingredient successful schools bring to their neighborhoods.  By the same token, poor performing neighborhood schools are one more institution that helps to ossify the dysfunctional dynamics in many of the lower SES, high crime neighborhoods, of which this city has all too many.  The value of some of those schools is largely historical, and the fact that new charters can come in to the same neighborhoods and educate the same students with superior outcomes is is powerful evidence of the need for an alternate path.[/quote]
So am I reading right that you support neighborhood preferences for charter school admissions?[/quote]

Not necessarily.  I'm just willing to keep an open mind to good arguments on either side.

For example, if several circumstances applied such as: A) no good school (defined by performance data) within a certain radius of child's home; and B) good charter is within a certain radius of child's home; then possibly a weighted formula that would increase the child's odds would have merit.  I'm thinking specifically of the many schools that have been closed east of the river.  There are a lot of young children whose neighborhood school is being closed or has been closed; meanwhile there is a high concentration of charters in Wards 7 & 8.  Some of them (at least a couple of KIPP schools, I believe) have good track records.  Depending on the specifics, I might be able to support some sort of weighting or preference system that would increase the opportunities for such children to attend a school that's not on the other side of town.

OTOH, if we're talking about a school like Latin, which attracts students from all over the city and is not very from the best DCPS MS in the city, then no.  I'm highly sceptical that neighborhood preference would be in the best interests of any but a select few, and in fact would actually work to the detriment of many.
[/quote]

Options

	Disable HTML in this message
	Disable BB Code in this message
	Disable smilies in this message

Review message

Search Recent Topics Hottest Topics