Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:School choice because if you lived in VA or MoCo your school would have been decided for you - at kindergarten, earliest - based on your address. At least you have a *chance* for something other than your address-based school. Some win, some don't.

OP here: Frankly we'd be okay going to school with our neighbors (middle class, working and poor), but the most motivated of them leave for charters, leaving us with one choice: an Struggling IB that people like me leave ASAP.

Well before charters the most motivated left for WOTP or private schools or moved.

The more things change ...

Actually this is exactly how charters are supposed to work. Smaller, niche schools alongside the traditional system.

Agree with PPs on the financial and logistical hurdles to opening new ones.

Anonymous wrote:School choice because if you lived in VA or MoCo your school would have been decided for you - at kindergarten, earliest - based on your address. At least you have a *chance* for something other than your address-based school. Some win, some don't.

OP here: Frankly we'd be okay going to school with our neighbors (middle class, working and poor), but the most motivated of them leave for charters, leaving us with one choice: an Struggling IB that people like me leave ASAP.

Anonymous wrote: Totally disheartened by a system that gives you the impression of great choices but then dangles them in front of you like candy you can never reach.

This is not how charters are supposed to work, is it? Why can't they expand to absorb the crazy demand?

Sorry, but you sound like a two-year-old

Your taxes (in particular, property taxes, which I assume you're referring to) are likely much lower than they would be in any surrounding jurisdiction. There is this myth that DC taxes are high, but it's just not true.

Anonymous wrote: Totally disheartened by a system that gives you the impression of great choices but then dangles them in front of you like candy you can never reach.

This is not how charters are supposed to work, is it? Why can't they expand to absorb the crazy demand?

Schools can't necessarily maintain quality if they expand. More kids means more administrators, more delegating etc.

Immersion schools are also having trouble finding qualified teachers who are fluent in the language. Charters pay less than DCPS, which pays less than MoCo.

It's a lot of work to open a standalone school and comply with all of the mandates: meals, IEPs, playground space. Most new charter applications come from the giant operators like KIPP, wFriendship, DCPrep, etc. who have economies of scale for all of the administrative stuff.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Agree but that's because I got shut out too. If I had gotten in of course I would fee different. So now I can watch my neighbors take their kids to a beautiful space with lots of kids with involved parents, lots of fundraising, awesome after school activities and organic lunches while I drag my kid to our shitty IB, trying to avoid the high sugar free breakfast and crap DCPS contract lunches, with the kids yelling the N word at each other on the playground (I see this daily). I know I sound like a bitch but I'm really pissed.

You have every right to be pissed given the tax dollars DC sucks from us!

+1. My taxes just went up again this year, too. Yet my IB school is just as bad as it was when I moved here 9 years ago pre-kids.

School choice because if you lived in VA or MoCo your school would have been decided for you - at kindergarten, earliest - based on your address. At least you have a *chance* for something other than your address-based school. Some win, some don't.

There is a part of me that finds the whole process really unjust, especially for something as important as a child's education. It's left completely to chance. We didn't get shut out completely -- got into our IB school -- but it wasn't one of our top choices because it isn't a viable long term option. So my choices now are either to play this totally random lottery again next year and hope my kid gets lucky, pay for private school, or move. It sucks.

Anonymous wrote:Agree but that's because I got shut out too. If I had gotten in of course I would fee different. So now I can watch my neighbors take their kids to a beautiful space with lots of kids with involved parents, lots of fundraising, awesome after school activities and organic lunches while I drag my kid to our shitty IB, trying to avoid the high sugar free breakfast and crap DCPS contract lunches, with the kids yelling the N word at each other on the playground (I see this daily). I know I sound like a bitch but I'm really pissed.

You have every right to be pissed given the tax dollars DC sucks from us!

Not enough schools. Charters that exist have a hard time finding permanent space and/or can't expand due to existing space. No enough funding, etc. Sorry to hear you are out of luck. Waitlists do move however, so long as you aren't in the hundreds you'll probably get in somewhere.

You could set your watch to a post like this every year. It's when I know Spring has really arrived.

Agree but that's because I got shut out too. If I had gotten in of course I would fee different. So now I can watch my neighbors take their kids to a beautiful space with lots of kids with involved parents, lots of fundraising, awesome after school activities and organic lunches while I drag my kid to our shitty IB, trying to avoid the high sugar free breakfast and crap DCPS contract lunches, with the kids yelling the N word at each other on the playground (I see this daily). I know I sound like a bitch but I'm really pissed.

Isn't that part of the luster?

Totally disheartened by a system that gives you the impression of great choices but then dangles them in front of you like candy you can never reach.

This is not how charters are supposed to work, is it? Why can't they expand to absorb the crazy demand?