Anonymous
01/26/2012 16:52
Subject: is "forcing" middle class families into DCPS basically the recovery strategy?
also, aren't Deal, Hardy and SH also either at or beyond capacity already?
Anonymous
01/26/2012 16:51
Subject: is "forcing" middle class families into DCPS basically the recovery strategy?
Brent is elementary school, so of the 3 charter school you listed only one competes. and as a Brent parent, I'm thrilled that Yu Ying is available to parents that want Chinese immersion as Brent is already packed with high achieving families. If yu Ying didn't exist, Brent could be seriously oversrowded. It's already difficult for in-bound families without older siblings to get in in Pre-K.
Anonymous
01/26/2012 14:46
Subject: is "forcing" middle class families into DCPS basically the recovery strategy?
Anonymous wrote:But aren't Charters just another type of public school?
Yes, but they choose their own curricula and make their own staffing decisions. So, Washington Latin was able to decide that all students would begin studying Latin in 5th grade. BASIS can decide that middle school kids take AP Algebra. Yu Ying can decide that students will spend half their time speaking Chinese.
Those are decisions that Brent or Stuart Hobson or Lafayette or Deal can't make. In the cases of Lafayette and Deal, it doesn't matter so much because they've always had good reputations. In the cases of Brent and Stuart Hobson though, it means losing families to schools with more ambitious programs.
Anonymous
01/26/2012 14:40
Subject: is "forcing" middle class families into DCPS basically the recovery strategy?
Anonymous wrote:But aren't Charters just another type of public school?
Two big differences:
* they're not run by DCPS
* they're not tied to geography in any way--charters aren't permitted to give any geographic preference in admissions
Anonymous
01/26/2012 14:35
Subject: is "forcing" middle class families into DCPS basically the recovery strategy?
But aren't Charters just another type of public school?
Anonymous
01/26/2012 14:23
Subject: Re:is "forcing" middle class families into DCPS basically the recovery strategy?
jsteele wrote:I think that it is likely that you are giving DCPS too much credit in suggesting that there is a realistic long term plan at all. I suspect that rather than a long term strategy, DCPS is implementing short term tactics aimed at putting out today's fire.
At one time, improvement of the schools was supposed to be the carrot that attracted families to the city (or motivated those already here to stay). You are suggesting that this relationship is reversed and new and current families will drive school improvement. The flaw in this theory is -- as the previous poster suggests -- the existence of Charter Schools. The new and existing families are more likely to enter Charter lotteries than be agents of change in their local DCPS (with some notable exceptions).
As the number of successful charters increases, I think the poorly performing schools will only get worse as any motivated parents send their kids elsewhere. These schools will likely be closed before too long. Someone else in these forums has predicted that DCPS will shrink to Wards 2 and 3 and a few other outposts. Charters will serve the rest. I think that may be a correct prediction.
This.
Bill Turque has a relevant article about it in today's Post:
"Many public schools in D.C.’s poorest area should be transformed or shut, study says; more charters recommended"
http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/2012/01/24/gIQAXI9sRQ_story.html
Anonymous
01/26/2012 14:20
Subject: is "forcing" middle class families into DCPS basically the recovery strategy?
Anonymous wrote:Forget actually improving DC's schools and smartening up the children of longtime residents. We know how that's gone for the past 30 years.
Is the current strategy for improvement of DC schools basically as follows?
*as higher income households with young children East of the Park grow -
* the number of known "good" school choices will not grow at a similar rate -
* not all of those households will want to move or put their kids in expensive private schools -
* new kids from high-success households will eventually translate into greater success in the testing grades and greater diversity (that's right, middle-income people of all races) -
* thus finally making incoming parents no longer afraid of -
* their kid(s) being the "lonely only" kid that supposed to desegregate DC schools based on race, class, etc. (and of course in the process get the shit kicked out of them all the time) -
* putting their kids in schools that fail to educate and seeing their kids dragged down too -
* And once the higher economic status families get a toehold in these schools, we will start to see increased success -
Is that basically the unwritten plan DCPS is going with right now? Inflammatory subject. But is it true?
As cynical as it sounds, that was part of Michelle Rhee's plan. She made no secret of her efforts to court middle-class parents and coax them into the system.
I agree with the PP who said that charters make it less likely to succeed. You can be sure that a lot of Hill parents send their students across town to Latin rather than enroll them in SH - which is easily the best DCPS MS east of the park. It's really difficult to get past the poor reputation of the DCPS choices, whereas it's comparatively easy to be intrigued by the ambitious goals that the nimbler charter schools can set. Even unproven charter schools (a la BASIS) look good when they can persuade you based on a marketing strategy instead of results. They don't have the legacy of disappointment that saddles DCPS.
Anonymous
01/26/2012 14:15
Subject: is "forcing" middle class families into DCPS basically the recovery strategy?
Yeah, OP - there's nothing in your litany of steps that remotely looks like part of a DCPS plan, much less anything that suggests forcing parents to do anything.
Anonymous
01/26/2012 14:12
Subject: is "forcing" middle class families into DCPS basically the recovery strategy?
Anonymous wrote:Forget actually improving DC's schools and smartening up the children of longtime residents. We know how that's gone for the past 30 years.
Is the current strategy for improvement of DC schools basically as follows?
*as higher income households with young children East of the Park grow -
* the number of known "good" school choices will not grow at a similar rate -
* not all of those households will want to move or put their kids in expensive private schools -
* new kids from high-success households will eventually translate into greater success in the testing grades and greater diversity (that's right, middle-income people of all races) -
* thus finally making incoming parents no longer afraid of -
* their kid(s) being the "lonely only" kid that supposed to desegregate DC schools based on race, class, etc. (and of course in the process get the shit kicked out of them all the time) -
* putting their kids in schools that fail to educate and seeing their kids dragged down too -
* And once the higher economic status families get a toehold in these schools, we will start to see increased success -
Is that basically the unwritten plan DCPS is going with right now? Inflammatory subject. But is it true?
No middle class families are being "forced" anywhere. They are choosing what they want. And if DCPS doesn't look good, they will choose private or Charters.
jsteele
01/26/2012 14:10
Subject: Re:is "forcing" middle class families into DCPS basically the recovery strategy?
I think that it is likely that you are giving DCPS too much credit in suggesting that there is a realistic long term plan at all. I suspect that rather than a long term strategy, DCPS is implementing short term tactics aimed at putting out today's fire.
At one time, improvement of the schools was supposed to be the carrot that attracted families to the city (or motivated those already here to stay). You are suggesting that this relationship is reversed and new and current families will drive school improvement. The flaw in this theory is -- as the previous poster suggests -- the existence of Charter Schools. The new and existing families are more likely to enter Charter lotteries than be agents of change in their local DCPS (with some notable exceptions).
As the number of successful charters increases, I think the poorly performing schools will only get worse as any motivated parents send their kids elsewhere. These schools will likely be closed before too long. Someone else in these forums has predicted that DCPS will shrink to Wards 2 and 3 and a few other outposts. Charters will serve the rest. I think that may be a correct prediction.
At one time, improvement of the schools was supposed to be the carrot that attracted families to the city (or motivated those already here to stay). You are suggesting that this relationship is reversed and new and current families will drive school improvement. The flaw in this theory is -- as the previous poster suggests -- the existence of Charter Schools. The new and existing families are more likely to enter Charter lotteries than be agents of change in their local DCPS (with some notable exceptions).
As the number of successful charters increases, I think the poorly performing schools will only get worse as any motivated parents send their kids elsewhere. These schools will likely be closed before too long. Someone else in these forums has predicted that DCPS will shrink to Wards 2 and 3 and a few other outposts. Charters will serve the rest. I think that may be a correct prediction.
Anonymous
01/26/2012 14:10
Subject: is "forcing" middle class families into DCPS basically the recovery strategy?
Anonymous wrote:I've watched this exact trend happen with elementary and middle schools. When I moved to the Hill in 1996, white children were unheard of. Then the families moved in, and everyone said they would move to the burbs before their kids started school. Many did, some didn't -- and the ES got better. Now their kids are entering MS and the same thing is happening.
I think it's a good thing.
White lady here. I attended Capitol Hill elementary schools in the 80s and I'd say about 5% was white kids (not that you have to be white to be middle class). Just saying.
Anyway, charters make the "forcing" almost impossible.
Anonymous
01/26/2012 14:10
Subject: is "forcing" middle class families into DCPS basically the recovery strategy?
You are wrong on one point, pp. These kids are not entering the neighborhood middle schools. Maybe at some point in the future, but certainly not now. They go to Deal, Hardy or Charter Schools for middle school.
Anonymous
01/26/2012 14:01
Subject: is "forcing" middle class families into DCPS basically the recovery strategy?
I've watched this exact trend happen with elementary and middle schools. When I moved to the Hill in 1996, white children were unheard of. Then the families moved in, and everyone said they would move to the burbs before their kids started school. Many did, some didn't -- and the ES got better. Now their kids are entering MS and the same thing is happening.
I think it's a good thing.
I think it's a good thing.
Anonymous
01/26/2012 13:53
Subject: is "forcing" middle class families into DCPS basically the recovery strategy?
My initial reaction is that whether or not it's true, charters mean that it won't work--the number of known "good" school choices will increase, whether DCPS likes it or not.
Anonymous
01/26/2012 13:47
Subject: is "forcing" middle class families into DCPS basically the recovery strategy?
Forget actually improving DC's schools and smartening up the children of longtime residents. We know how that's gone for the past 30 years.
Is the current strategy for improvement of DC schools basically as follows?
*as higher income households with young children East of the Park grow -
* the number of known "good" school choices will not grow at a similar rate -
* not all of those households will want to move or put their kids in expensive private schools -
* new kids from high-success households will eventually translate into greater success in the testing grades and greater diversity (that's right, middle-income people of all races) -
* thus finally making incoming parents no longer afraid of -
* their kid(s) being the "lonely only" kid that supposed to desegregate DC schools based on race, class, etc. (and of course in the process get the shit kicked out of them all the time) -
* putting their kids in schools that fail to educate and seeing their kids dragged down too -
* And once the higher economic status families get a toehold in these schools, we will start to see increased success -
Is that basically the unwritten plan DCPS is going with right now? Inflammatory subject. But is it true?
Is the current strategy for improvement of DC schools basically as follows?
*as higher income households with young children East of the Park grow -
* the number of known "good" school choices will not grow at a similar rate -
* not all of those households will want to move or put their kids in expensive private schools -
* new kids from high-success households will eventually translate into greater success in the testing grades and greater diversity (that's right, middle-income people of all races) -
* thus finally making incoming parents no longer afraid of -
* their kid(s) being the "lonely only" kid that supposed to desegregate DC schools based on race, class, etc. (and of course in the process get the shit kicked out of them all the time) -
* putting their kids in schools that fail to educate and seeing their kids dragged down too -
* And once the higher economic status families get a toehold in these schools, we will start to see increased success -
Is that basically the unwritten plan DCPS is going with right now? Inflammatory subject. But is it true?