Of course the existence of charters has had an effect on the success or lack thereof of neighborhood schools. And we are not just talking about a couple of charters. Over forty percent of DC public school kids go to charters. We all know (or actually are) people who really, really wanted to stay at their neighborhood school, send their kids to the school down the street with other kids nearby, bring that school up with donations of time and resources, etc. but the. One family peels off to a charter and then another and another until only a few were left. And they didn't feel they could bring up that school by themselves. So they went charter - if they were lucky - or moved out or went OOB - again if they got lucky. They did not stay at their neighborhood school. So that school didn't benefit from the energy and resources of those parents - the charters or privates or a school in a new neighborhood got that.

Yes, DCPS must, must improve the quality of under-performing neighborhood schools. But it is disingenuous at best to pretend that the rise of charters schools in DC is not part of the overall education picture in this city. The availability of charters has affected the neighborhood schools.

I spent a lot of time investigating my very close, neighborhood school before I made a decision for my child. In the three years in which I was paying a lot of attention (pregnancy until age 2.5), I saw DCPS change the plans for the school multiple times. Every time parents got onboard for one plan, they would change it again. Then they replaced the principal a couple times and ruined every bit of enthusiasm in the community. I think it might be again on the upswing, but after paying attention to this, and to so many other DCPS fiascos, I truly support my charter and intend to be there for the long haul.

Without standardized testing how would anyone know what is being taught in schools? Reading and math?

http://www.dcpcsb.org/data/files/fast%20facts%20-%20october%202013%5B1%5D.pdf

On page 4 is a comparison of % proficient and advanced:
MathCPS -53 Charter -58.6
ReadingCPS-49.5 Charter-53

That DCPS number includes all the elementary schools like Mann etc with high in boundary participation rates. Wilson etc. Ward 3 plus Ellington, etc. Remove those and the charters serving 72% low income students I assume would be dramatically higher than DCPS.

43% of students attend charters. In boundary for Drew attending is 19%. Some wards have higher percentages attending charters than attending DCPS-ie 63% in Ward 1.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/despite-dc-public-school-gains-system-trails-behind-large-city-average/2013/12/18/481bb332-67e2-11e3-a0b9-249bbb34602c_story.html

"Charter schools, which enroll 44 percent of the city’s students, outperformed the school system by significant, double-digit margins in eighth-grade math and reading.

But the two sectors posted virtually the same average scores in fourth-grade math and reading, with the school system besting charters by just one point in both subjects. "

The article above was from 2013-again the DCPS numbers include the ward 3 high inboundary attendance schools.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You've got it backwards. The charters are the problem, not DCPS. They are crowding out the options. This is how they take over in every city - they whittle away parents' ability to have good neighborhood public schools until there's nothing left, then they get it all.

This makes no sense at all. The charters don't make your inbounds bad.

They know this. They just want a way to demonize the handful of highly sought charters because they didn't get in. If the got into LAMB, MV or Yu Ying, they'd be touting the greatness of charters. Nonetheless, a couple of charters is not why DCPS is bad. Coddling a greedy cronyistic teachers union, misappropriation of per-pupil funding, a culture focused on testing, aging facilities and lack of parent investment (to name a few) are the problem. Quit scapegoating charters.

Think outside your ward......

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You've got it backwards. The charters are the problem, not DCPS. They are crowding out the options. This is how they take over in every city - they whittle away parents' ability to have good neighborhood public schools until there's nothing left, then they get it all.

This makes no sense at all. The charters don't make your inbounds bad.

They know this. They just want a way to demonize the handful of highly sought charters because they didn't get in. If the got into LAMB, MV or Yu Ying, they'd be touting the greatness of charters. Nonetheless, a couple of charters is not why DCPS is bad. Coddling a greedy cronyistic teachers union, misappropriation of per-pupil funding, a culture focused on testing, aging facilities and lack of parent investment (to name a few) are the problem. Quit scapegoating charters.

Anonymous wrote:You've got it backwards. The charters are the problem, not DCPS. They are crowding out the options. This is how they take over in every city - they whittle away parents' ability to have good neighborhood public schools until there's nothing left, then they get it all.

This makes no sense at all. The charters don't make your inbounds bad.

Anonymous wrote:You've got it backwards. The charters are the problem, not DCPS. They are crowding out the options. This is how they take over in every city - they whittle away parents' ability to have good neighborhood public schools until there's nothing left, then they get it all.

Seriously, this is the problem! The saturation of charter schools is not doing anything to improve public education in the district. Think you will have to be income verified for a voucher.

You've got it backwards. The charters are the problem, not DCPS. They are crowding out the options. This is how they take over in every city - they whittle away parents' ability to have good neighborhood public schools until there's nothing left, then they get it all.

Yeah, a lot of drama queens here. What a shocker.

These hysterical threads are quickly becoming white noise.

Why is the petition only elementary schools?

May I interest you in a petition...

http://www.davidcatania.com/neighborhood_schools?utm_campaign=schoolpetitions&utm_medium=email&utm_source=davidcatania

Join the club. And if you have to deal with judgements of others, be prepared to be pleasant.

Get over the hysteria. There is no real plan.

The boundary plans have made me realize that DCPS doesn't really care about the efforts of parents. Bring on the charters, and vouchers for those of us who don't win the charter lottery.