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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]if the teachers union runs DCPS, tell that to the union. And the chancellor.

There is that slice of parents saying DCPS isn't for me because my kid won't get challenged. [b]But that's largely upper class parents not in or not satisfied with the JKLM/Deal/Wilson(JR) pyramid[/b].

That's - how many? and it's mixed motivations for most of these parents, right? Because they don't want the demographics and the "teaching down to the dumb" that they are certain is happening at the demographically different schools in their neighborhood.[/quote]

That has not been my experience. Setting aside that it ignores all of Latin and Basis that don't come from Ward 3, it is kind of offensive to black families to suggest that they (and by "they" I mean that's demographically what the rest of DCPS and HRCS are) are not seeking alternatives because their kids aren't being challenged. In point of fact, high performing black kids are MORE likely to peel off in my experience precisely because these same "good" ES and HRCS test scores tell us that the scores for black kids are markedly lower, and parents are concerned that merely "on grade level" will be good enough for their black student.

We were very happy at our HRCS but ultimately made a move in 5th because our kid was light years ahead of their grade but the school didn't test anything beyond a "4" (ahead by less than one grade level) and taught to the mean. That might have been ok, but not as the mean slid down year after year because high performing kids peeled off year after year. The ED at our school talks a good "equity" game but ignores the part of actually providing top flight education as a means to leveling the playing field. I refer to it in quiet as "Equity without Education".

In conversations with families at other DCPS ES and HRCS we found the same concerns and conversations were occurring. When we departed in 5th the school was demographically no different in 4th than it had been in 3rd or 2nd. In fact the only kids we lost to that point (other than the one who went overseas with State) were black kids who went private or in search of greener pastures. Unfortunately those kids were at the top of the class with our kid so we lost the rest of their cohort.

We are white and we left for more academic rigor and higher degree of accountability for disruptive behavior. So what's the narrative? Is this "white flight"? Does that term mean a white person leaving because there does not exist academic rigor, regardless of the demographic make-up of the school? Or does it mean a white person leaving to get away from black people? By arguing they are the same thing you are in fact making an argument that black=low performing or lowered expectations. That seems a more racist and insidious vision than allowing for the fact that all parents striving for excellent academic outcomes may and can leave for better options. It is lazy and entirely too easy to blame race and white flight. Doing so gives schools a pass for failing to provide top flight education for all enrolled students. We left. We don't suffer liberal guilt over it. If it makes DCUM or families that remain feel better to say it was racism that's fine by me. My kid is in an immeasurably improved environment at an incredibly rigorous school with a HS path. And the HRCS just lost one of the few remaining kids more than a grade level ahead. The school and community can look inward or outward at this point - no skin off my back. But continuing to just blame white flight is exacerbating the problem, lowering Tier and test scores and causing the demand for the school to plummet as against the last 6 years.  
 [/quote]

… where did you go then? Private? If not at a DCPS and no longer at your charter?[/quote]

Basis. And, post-script, the HRCS from which we came has its smallest ever waitlist (at least against common lottery published data). I really hope the BoD starts paying attention before it is too late. Sadly, I fear the ED has insulated herself from criticism by cloaking herself in an "Equity" shield that none of the Board members are willing to question. The ship may go down on their watch, but at least no one will accuse them of being racist![/quote]

I know what school this is.  My kids are also light years ahead academically and I have no expectation that the school will challenge my kids in core ELA and math. But I don't care, because we are providing that rigor outside of school, and frankly, doubt any DC public school (or G&T programs outside DC) would be on par. Further, our kids are both JHU-CTYers and we take advantage of those offerings as well.

Why do we stay? Our kids otherwise enjoy the school and (unlike other kids) suffer nothing from the lack of "rigor."  At any rate, we plan to stay through 5th grade and then jump to private for middle school onward, as we aren't really interested in any of the charter options, even if we could bank on getting in.

FWIW, we are not white. [/quote]

There are very few kids like this who aren't going to be challenged in any public school in the DMV area, and so your options are fundamentally different and nearly unique. There are many more kids who are at grade level or a year or two ahead and who don't have impossible-to-meet academic needs, they just have needs that aren't going to be met by their DCPS or charter options. I give my kids challenging work outside of school as well, but I think most parents if given the option would prefer for school to be teaching their kids. [/quote]

Yes — of course the sort of open secret is that you can’t really rely on most public schools (even the “good” ones) to get kids where they need to be, at least not to the standard that many UMC families set/expect.  All of our friend in the close in MD and VA public schools supplement like crazy, either on their own or by outsourcing to an AoPS, RSM, Kumon, etc. You’d think that these supposed “good” public schools (i.e, 9-10 on GS) full of well educated high SES families could provide an academic product sufficient obviate the need for further supplementing. But they don’t. And families understand that the kids are capable of so much more beyond the school curriculum, a curriculum, by the way, that would ostensibly satisfy the folks that find the rigor of the unmentionable HRCS to be lacking.  My take: it’s all lacking (including the elem G&T programs) and I’d likely be doing the same thing in terms of supplementing even if we were at a “good” school that got the differentiation thing right. 
[/quote]

This is spot on.

You can't both focus on remedial and accelerated learning at the same time. It's not possible (outside of perhaps lower elementary school grade levels.) So parents everwhere are all threading needles between what their current public school, other school choices, private supplementation or private schools offer. From where I sit, I think DC offers a better path because there are at least some choices in the public system that we get to make, but I get that not everyone happy with the chaotic stress that comes along with it. [/quote]

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