Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

These PTAs absolutely do this. Many schools collect books at book fairs to help fill shelves in poorer parts of the city and coat drives to fill sister-school requests. There are organizations who's sole purpose is to make the connection between rich and poor PTOs and many of these school participate in this.

Lafayette, for example, has an entire program called Lafayette Gives back, sponsored by the HSA, whose sole purpose is to give, and to teach kids to give, to others. This includes packing backpacks for foster kids, making care packages for first-responders and collecting baby carriers for refugees.

Do you not see how forcing poor kids to rely on the noblesse oblige of the .01% is an enormously fucked up way to fund basic social services such as education?

Huh? People have spent the last 4 pages complaining that rich PTAs should help poor schools. Now, when it comes to light that they do, in fact, help poorer school, it's fucked up? No one is relying on anything or forcing anyone to do anything.

Poor school kids get often X2 the funding as rich school kids.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:And are people proposing that we tax funds raised by private schools and charters as well, and redistribute those? Not sure why one type of family giving is bad and should be shared but others shouldn't.

DCPS is one LEA, and parent resources should be pooled across it. There's already a DCPS foundation -- the same one that funds the study abroad program, and has brought things like the bicycle initiative to elementary schools. Just direct the parent raised funds there, in addition to the corporate and nonprofit funds DCPS collects.

Each charter is its own LEA. Multi-school charters like KIPP already redistribute funds they raise across their network.

Private schools are private.

All are tax-deductible contributions.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:And are people proposing that we tax funds raised by private schools and charters as well, and redistribute those? Not sure why one type of family giving is bad and should be shared but others shouldn't.

DCPS is one LEA, and parent resources should be pooled across it. There's already a DCPS foundation -- the same one that funds the study abroad program, and has brought things like the bicycle initiative to elementary schools. Just direct the parent raised funds there, in addition to the corporate and nonprofit funds DCPS collects.

Each charter is its own LEA. Multi-school charters like KIPP already redistribute funds they raise across their network.

Private schools are private.

All are tax-deductible contributions.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:PP here-- on that WP link about funding...

Jesus Christ Mississippi!

Such bad reporting.

Anonymous wrote:PP here-- on that WP link about funding...

Jesus Christ Mississippi!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:And are people proposing that we tax funds raised by private schools and charters as well, and redistribute those? Not sure why one type of family giving is bad and should be shared but others shouldn't.

DCPS is one LEA, and parent resources should be pooled across it. There's already a DCPS foundation -- the same one that funds the study abroad program, and has brought things like the bicycle initiative to elementary schools. Just direct the parent raised funds there, in addition to the corporate and nonprofit funds DCPS collects.

Each charter is its own LEA. Multi-school charters like KIPP already redistribute funds they raise across their network.

Private schools are private.

All are tax-deductible contributions.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Parents are letting DCPS off the hook by funding the schools through the PTA. If you want something for your kids, it's a better use of your resources to cut a check to the PTA than to lobby DCPS. DCPS makes it that way.

I come from Massachusetts. There, state law bans PTA's from paying for school expenses. State law also requires equality in funding. So if parents in a rich district want something for their kids, they can't pay for it themselves, and they can't lobby for extra resources for their school district. They have to lobby for extra resources for the entire state education system.

Coincidentally, Massachusetts has the nation's highest average SAT score. (DC is 47th out of 51).

How did the state law get this way? Massachusetts has very powerful teachers unions. The unions pushed for them as a way of increasing school spending.

Massachusetts, the state, doesn't come anywhere close to the poverty of DC. That's the issue- we don't have wealthy suburbs to draw from. Apples to oranges.

Median household income, 2014:
District of Columbia $65,124
Massachusetts $64,859

Per Capita income, 2014:
District of Columbia $45,877ts
Massachusetts $36,593

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_U.S._states_by_income

Interesting!

No, it's not. You can compare Boston to DC, but not DC to Massachusetts this way. Again, apples to oranges.

It is apples to apples -- income vs. income, SAT scores vs. SAT scores.

If you were to compare DC vs. Boston, income vs. income, SAT scores vs. SAT scores, it would be even more damning for DC.

Fine, but at least it would be apples to apples. Poor cities in MA get STATE funding from rich ones. DC doesn't have any rich suburbs to pull from. You simply cannot compare 68 square miles of urban terrain with 11,000 of a state with rich suburbs as well as poor cities.

But DC gets additional funding from the federal government that other states don't get.

Should we compare what DCPS and the Boston School district spend per pupil. From 2015:

DC $17,983
Boston $20,502

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/local/wp/2015/06/02/the-states-that-spend-the-most-and-the-least-on-education-in-one-map/?utm_term=.38cba74d75a7

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Parents are letting DCPS off the hook by funding the schools through the PTA. If you want something for your kids, it's a better use of your resources to cut a check to the PTA than to lobby DCPS. DCPS makes it that way.

I come from Massachusetts. There, state law bans PTA's from paying for school expenses. State law also requires equality in funding. So if parents in a rich district want something for their kids, they can't pay for it themselves, and they can't lobby for extra resources for their school district. They have to lobby for extra resources for the entire state education system.

Coincidentally, Massachusetts has the nation's highest average SAT score. (DC is 47th out of 51).

How did the state law get this way? Massachusetts has very powerful teachers unions. The unions pushed for them as a way of increasing school spending.

Massachusetts, the state, doesn't come anywhere close to the poverty of DC. That's the issue- we don't have wealthy suburbs to draw from. Apples to oranges.

Median household income, 2014:
District of Columbia $65,124
Massachusetts $64,859

Per Capita income, 2014:
District of Columbia $45,877ts
Massachusetts $36,593

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_U.S._states_by_income

Interesting!

No, it's not. You can compare Boston to DC, but not DC to Massachusetts this way. Again, apples to oranges.

It is apples to apples -- income vs. income, SAT scores vs. SAT scores.

If you were to compare DC vs. Boston, income vs. income, SAT scores vs. SAT scores, it would be even more damning for DC.

Fine, but at least it would be apples to apples. Poor cities in MA get STATE funding from rich ones. DC doesn't have any rich suburbs to pull from. You simply cannot compare 68 square miles of urban terrain with 11,000 of a state with rich suburbs as well as poor cities.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Parents are letting DCPS off the hook by funding the schools through the PTA. If you want something for your kids, it's a better use of your resources to cut a check to the PTA than to lobby DCPS. DCPS makes it that way.

I come from Massachusetts. There, state law bans PTA's from paying for school expenses. State law also requires equality in funding. So if parents in a rich district want something for their kids, they can't pay for it themselves, and they can't lobby for extra resources for their school district. They have to lobby for extra resources for the entire state education system.

Coincidentally, Massachusetts has the nation's highest average SAT score. (DC is 47th out of 51).

How did the state law get this way? Massachusetts has very powerful teachers unions. The unions pushed for them as a way of increasing school spending.

Massachusetts, the state, doesn't come anywhere close to the poverty of DC. That's the issue- we don't have wealthy suburbs to draw from. Apples to oranges.

Median household income, 2014:
District of Columbia $65,124
Massachusetts $64,859

Per Capita income, 2014:
District of Columbia $45,877ts
Massachusetts $36,593

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_U.S._states_by_income

Interesting!

No, it's not. You can compare Boston to DC, but not DC to Massachusetts this way. Again, apples to oranges.

It is apples to apples -- income vs. income, SAT scores vs. SAT scores.

If you were to compare DC vs. Boston, income vs. income, SAT scores vs. SAT scores, it would be even more damning for DC.

This is false once you control for demographics. The high-end of DCPS performs better than the comparable group in every other major school district.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Parents are letting DCPS off the hook by funding the schools through the PTA. If you want something for your kids, it's a better use of your resources to cut a check to the PTA than to lobby DCPS. DCPS makes it that way.

I come from Massachusetts. There, state law bans PTA's from paying for school expenses. State law also requires equality in funding. So if parents in a rich district want something for their kids, they can't pay for it themselves, and they can't lobby for extra resources for their school district. They have to lobby for extra resources for the entire state education system.

Coincidentally, Massachusetts has the nation's highest average SAT score. (DC is 47th out of 51).

How did the state law get this way? Massachusetts has very powerful teachers unions. The unions pushed for them as a way of increasing school spending.

Massachusetts, the state, doesn't come anywhere close to the poverty of DC. That's the issue- we don't have wealthy suburbs to draw from. Apples to oranges.

Median household income, 2014:
District of Columbia $65,124
Massachusetts $64,859

Per Capita income, 2014:
District of Columbia $45,877ts
Massachusetts $36,593

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_U.S._states_by_income

Interesting!

No, it's not. You can compare Boston to DC, but not DC to Massachusetts this way. Again, apples to oranges.

It is apples to apples -- income vs. income, SAT scores vs. SAT scores.

If you were to compare DC vs. Boston, income vs. income, SAT scores vs. SAT scores, it would be even more damning for DC.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Parents are letting DCPS off the hook by funding the schools through the PTA. If you want something for your kids, it's a better use of your resources to cut a check to the PTA than to lobby DCPS. DCPS makes it that way.

I come from Massachusetts. There, state law bans PTA's from paying for school expenses. State law also requires equality in funding. So if parents in a rich district want something for their kids, they can't pay for it themselves, and they can't lobby for extra resources for their school district. They have to lobby for extra resources for the entire state education system.

Coincidentally, Massachusetts has the nation's highest average SAT score. (DC is 47th out of 51).

How did the state law get this way? Massachusetts has very powerful teachers unions. The unions pushed for them as a way of increasing school spending.

Massachusetts, the state, doesn't come anywhere close to the poverty of DC. That's the issue- we don't have wealthy suburbs to draw from. Apples to oranges.

Median household income, 2014:
District of Columbia $65,124
Massachusetts $64,859

Per Capita income, 2014:
District of Columbia $45,877ts
Massachusetts $36,593

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_U.S._states_by_income

Interesting!

No, it's not. You can compare Boston to DC, but not DC to Massachusetts this way. Again, apples to oranges.

It is apples to apples -- income vs. income, SAT scores vs. SAT scores.

If you were to compare DC vs. Boston, income vs. income, SAT scores vs. SAT scores, it would be even more damning for DC.

This is false once you control for demographics. The high-end of DCPS performs better than the comparable group in every other major school district.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Parents are letting DCPS off the hook by funding the schools through the PTA. If you want something for your kids, it's a better use of your resources to cut a check to the PTA than to lobby DCPS. DCPS makes it that way.

I come from Massachusetts. There, state law bans PTA's from paying for school expenses. State law also requires equality in funding. So if parents in a rich district want something for their kids, they can't pay for it themselves, and they can't lobby for extra resources for their school district. They have to lobby for extra resources for the entire state education system.

Coincidentally, Massachusetts has the nation's highest average SAT score. (DC is 47th out of 51).

How did the state law get this way? Massachusetts has very powerful teachers unions. The unions pushed for them as a way of increasing school spending.

Massachusetts, the state, doesn't come anywhere close to the poverty of DC. That's the issue- we don't have wealthy suburbs to draw from. Apples to oranges.

Median household income, 2014:
District of Columbia $65,124
Massachusetts $64,859

Per Capita income, 2014:
District of Columbia $45,877ts
Massachusetts $36,593

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_U.S._states_by_income

Interesting!

No, it's not. You can compare Boston to DC, but not DC to Massachusetts this way. Again, apples to oranges.

It is apples to apples -- income vs. income, SAT scores vs. SAT scores.

If you were to compare DC vs. Boston, income vs. income, SAT scores vs. SAT scores, it would be even more damning for DC.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

These PTAs absolutely do this. Many schools collect books at book fairs to help fill shelves in poorer parts of the city and coat drives to fill sister-school requests. There are organizations who's sole purpose is to make the connection between rich and poor PTOs and many of these school participate in this.

Lafayette, for example, has an entire program called Lafayette Gives back, sponsored by the HSA, whose sole purpose is to give, and to teach kids to give, to others. This includes packing backpacks for foster kids, making care packages for first-responders and collecting baby carriers for refugees.

Do you not see how forcing poor kids to rely on the noblesse oblige of the .01% is an enormously fucked up way to fund basic social services such as education?

Huh? People have spent the last 4 pages complaining that rich PTAs should help poor schools. Now, when it comes to light that they do, in fact, help poorer school, it's fucked up? No one is relying on anything or forcing anyone to do anything.

Poor school kids get often X2 the funding as rich school kids.

No, the rich PTAs should help ALL kids. The money should go in a pot and be distributed equally to public schools in the city (not charters). What I object to is using poor (Black and Latino) kids as a "lesson" for rich kids. The poor don't exist to teach a lesson to rich kids, and using them as character building is grotesque. Just fund the schools. Barring that, pool the PTA funds.

I've observed DC politics for over two decades, and there is a persistent theme that I'll call "DC Exceptionalism." It's the opposite of American Exceptionalism, it's the belief that things that work in other places can't work in DC because, well, thing are different here.

If you look at the list of income by state, not only does DC have higher per-capita income than Massachusetts, it has higher per-capita income than every one of the fifty states. We're number one. Yet somehow forty-six states that are poorer than us manage to turn out kids with higher SAT scores. Only Louisiana, Maine, Alabama and West Virginia have lower scores. And somehow, people cling to the belief that the reason is that our city is poor. Our city isn't poor. We have lots of poor people, but we have lots of rich people too. Overall, we're the richest jurisdiction in the country.