Anonymous wrote:Nick, the MFP says there are 26 buildings that are District-owned. Yes, some need to stay swing space, but some could be used. I don't even know the names of them all, but re-run the numbers with the following buildings added and I think you will find a lot of problems solved.

Emery
Spingarn
Meyer
Bruce (Chavez)
Fletcher-Johnson
Marshall
Old Miner
Old Randle Highlands
Winston
1325 S St NW (small but perfect for preschool?)
Current Banneker site
Garnett-Patterson
Any others?

Any of those could be leased out to new charter schools, too. Might as well bring in some revenue on a vacant space.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So thanks to Nick for writing this story. I don't know him but I have tracked these issues for years and this all makes sense to me. The truth is there is no easy solution and it is not just a WOTP issue. He mentioned Capitol Hill elementary schools and he is right (as the Miner post confirms). A little further south, look at the growth in the Navy Yard and SW in the last 5 years and there are still cranes for additional apartment buildings.

This is a once in a generation (or a few) challenge and I'm glad it is at least being discussed.

And Eastern has plenty of capacity, assuming IB families take advantage of it. And if they don't, application school slots are plentiful and growing.

But the elementary schools are packed, which is still an issue.

But there is still capacity to the east and south (EOTR). Lines will need to be redrawn.

But to Nick's point, they would have to be re-drawn to the extent that if you lived on top of a school building, you would be assigned to another one miles away. You are kidding yourself if you think that will work.

No. Nick persists in thinking new schools cannot be created. That may be true in Ward 3 but it is not true elsewhere in the city. E.g. re-open Spingarn and Eastern's boundary can shrink or shift west. Some kids end up at Spingarn which is closer to their house than Eastern is.

Nick, the MFP says there are 26 buildings that are District-owned. Yes, some need to stay swing space, but some could be used. I don't even know the names of them all, but re-run the numbers with the following buildings added and I think you will find a lot of problems solved.

Emery
Spingarn
Meyer
Bruce (Chavez)
Fletcher-Johnson
Marshall
Old Miner
Old Randle Highlands
Winston
1325 S St NW (small but perfect for preschool?)
Current Banneker site
Garnett-Patterson
Any others?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So thanks to Nick for writing this story. I don't know him but I have tracked these issues for years and this all makes sense to me. The truth is there is no easy solution and it is not just a WOTP issue. He mentioned Capitol Hill elementary schools and he is right (as the Miner post confirms). A little further south, look at the growth in the Navy Yard and SW in the last 5 years and there are still cranes for additional apartment buildings.

This is a once in a generation (or a few) challenge and I'm glad it is at least being discussed.

And Eastern has plenty of capacity, assuming IB families take advantage of it. And if they don't, application school slots are plentiful and growing.

But the elementary schools are packed, which is still an issue.

But there is still capacity to the east and south (EOTR). Lines will need to be redrawn.

But to Nick's point, they would have to be re-drawn to the extent that if you lived on top of a school building, you would be assigned to another one miles away. You are kidding yourself if you think that will work.

Forget the capacity east and south, think about the capacity in the middle. This is where something can be done, where the high density is and the metro and many bus stops are. And where there are enough middle class families so that schools don't have to look like they are failing from the get go. But still, any middles school that has a feed to Deal or Wilson is going to scream and cry and carry on. Because at the end of the day if your kid is on a track that you like you don't care so much about improving the 'system' if it is currently working for you.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So thanks to Nick for writing this story. I don't know him but I have tracked these issues for years and this all makes sense to me. The truth is there is no easy solution and it is not just a WOTP issue. He mentioned Capitol Hill elementary schools and he is right (as the Miner post confirms). A little further south, look at the growth in the Navy Yard and SW in the last 5 years and there are still cranes for additional apartment buildings.

This is a once in a generation (or a few) challenge and I'm glad it is at least being discussed.

And Eastern has plenty of capacity, assuming IB families take advantage of it. And if they don't, application school slots are plentiful and growing.

But the elementary schools are packed, which is still an issue.

But there is still capacity to the east and south (EOTR). Lines will need to be redrawn.

But to Nick's point, they would have to be re-drawn to the extent that if you lived on top of a school building, you would be assigned to another one miles away. You are kidding yourself if you think that will work.

Well, a school-wide lottery won't work, and neither will parents consent to redistricting if they perceive it sends their child to a "bad" school. So I think this is much ado about nothing -- schools will be packed and class sizes will be large and there will be trailers. The End.

One thing that DCSP/DGA will likely change is making schools bigger when they modernize (they refused to add an additional story to Maury to preserve outdoor space - but they'll have to move off that stance when it comes to capacity, obviously).

What?

DCPS has absolutely redrawn boundaries and sent families to schools they perceived as 'bad' (see Eaton feed shifting to hardy). The parents have options -- lottery for a city-wide DCPS or a charter, enroll in a private school, or move. But DCPS has a right to shift boundaries as they see fit.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So thanks to Nick for writing this story. I don't know him but I have tracked these issues for years and this all makes sense to me. The truth is there is no easy solution and it is not just a WOTP issue. He mentioned Capitol Hill elementary schools and he is right (as the Miner post confirms). A little further south, look at the growth in the Navy Yard and SW in the last 5 years and there are still cranes for additional apartment buildings.

This is a once in a generation (or a few) challenge and I'm glad it is at least being discussed.

And Eastern has plenty of capacity, assuming IB families take advantage of it. And if they don't, application school slots are plentiful and growing.

But the elementary schools are packed, which is still an issue.

But there is still capacity to the east and south (EOTR). Lines will need to be redrawn.

But to Nick's point, they would have to be re-drawn to the extent that if you lived on top of a school building, you would be assigned to another one miles away. You are kidding yourself if you think that will work.

Well, a school-wide lottery won't work, and neither will parents consent to redistricting if they perceive it sends their child to a "bad" school. So I think this is much ado about nothing -- schools will be packed and class sizes will be large and there will be trailers. The End.

One thing that DCSP/DGA will likely change is making schools bigger when they modernize (they refused to add an additional story to Maury to preserve outdoor space - but they'll have to move off that stance when it comes to capacity, obviously).

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So thanks to Nick for writing this story. I don't know him but I have tracked these issues for years and this all makes sense to me. The truth is there is no easy solution and it is not just a WOTP issue. He mentioned Capitol Hill elementary schools and he is right (as the Miner post confirms). A little further south, look at the growth in the Navy Yard and SW in the last 5 years and there are still cranes for additional apartment buildings.

This is a once in a generation (or a few) challenge and I'm glad it is at least being discussed.

And Eastern has plenty of capacity, assuming IB families take advantage of it. And if they don't, application school slots are plentiful and growing.

But the elementary schools are packed, which is still an issue.

But there is still capacity to the east and south (EOTR). Lines will need to be redrawn.

But to Nick's point, they would have to be re-drawn to the extent that if you lived on top of a school building, you would be assigned to another one miles away. You are kidding yourself if you think that will work.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So thanks to Nick for writing this story. I don't know him but I have tracked these issues for years and this all makes sense to me. The truth is there is no easy solution and it is not just a WOTP issue. He mentioned Capitol Hill elementary schools and he is right (as the Miner post confirms). A little further south, look at the growth in the Navy Yard and SW in the last 5 years and there are still cranes for additional apartment buildings.

This is a once in a generation (or a few) challenge and I'm glad it is at least being discussed.

And Eastern has plenty of capacity, assuming IB families take advantage of it. And if they don't, application school slots are plentiful and growing.

But the elementary schools are packed, which is still an issue.

But there is still capacity to the east and south (EOTR). Lines will need to be redrawn.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So thanks to Nick for writing this story. I don't know him but I have tracked these issues for years and this all makes sense to me. The truth is there is no easy solution and it is not just a WOTP issue. He mentioned Capitol Hill elementary schools and he is right (as the Miner post confirms). A little further south, look at the growth in the Navy Yard and SW in the last 5 years and there are still cranes for additional apartment buildings.

This is a once in a generation (or a few) challenge and I'm glad it is at least being discussed.

And Eastern has plenty of capacity, assuming IB families take advantage of it. And if they don't, application school slots are plentiful and growing.

But the elementary schools are packed, which is still an issue.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:One of GGW's stated goals is to get people out of single-occupancy vehicles in DC. Someone tell me how a citywide lottery could possibly advance that goal? DC isn't about to purchase the fleet of school buses that would be needed, leaving parents in such a scenario to rely upon WMATA -- have fun with that -- or (more likely) their own cars.

It's one of a billion reasons a citywide lottery is a non-starter. Wish GGW would admit that.

Nick here.

The article is my words and doesn't reflect any "official" GGW position. Please read what I wrote. I'm not advocating for an all-lottery system. Far from it. My intent in writing the article was to ring the alarm that if the city doesn't start going in a different direction from where it is currently headed, a neighborhood-based school system may not be sustainable.

Um, but DC already doesn't have a neighborhood-based system. It seems like the quasi-free market we have here with charter schools will solve the issue. Also, you may be underestimating the degree to which parents are willing to pack into schools they consider "good" (eg Lafayette and Deal). It's pretty clear what parents' revealed preferences are: they value whiter, higher SES schools more than they value class size.

If parents *truly* prioritized class size/overcrowding, then they'd be jumping up to fight for re-districting. But we all know why they aren't, and we all know why they aren't.

And yet those same parents are embracing Hardy. But why? It can't be because they are as racist as you say.

They are embracing Hardy due to it's location. They know in just 3 short years, it will be all IB, thus majority white.

+1. A MS and a HS can shift from majority OOB to majority IB much faster than an ES, where students are enrolled for 7-8 years, depending on whether there is Pk3 or Pk4.

Anonymous wrote:So thanks to Nick for writing this story. I don't know him but I have tracked these issues for years and this all makes sense to me. The truth is there is no easy solution and it is not just a WOTP issue. He mentioned Capitol Hill elementary schools and he is right (as the Miner post confirms). A little further south, look at the growth in the Navy Yard and SW in the last 5 years and there are still cranes for additional apartment buildings.

This is a once in a generation (or a few) challenge and I'm glad it is at least being discussed.

And Eastern has plenty of capacity, assuming IB families take advantage of it. And if they don't, application school slots are plentiful and growing.

So thanks to Nick for writing this story. I don't know him but I have tracked these issues for years and this all makes sense to me. The truth is there is no easy solution and it is not just a WOTP issue. He mentioned Capitol Hill elementary schools and he is right (as the Miner post confirms). A little further south, look at the growth in the Navy Yard and SW in the last 5 years and there are still cranes for additional apartment buildings.

This is a once in a generation (or a few) challenge and I'm glad it is at least being discussed.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:One of GGW's stated goals is to get people out of single-occupancy vehicles in DC. Someone tell me how a citywide lottery could possibly advance that goal? DC isn't about to purchase the fleet of school buses that would be needed, leaving parents in such a scenario to rely upon WMATA -- have fun with that -- or (more likely) their own cars.

It's one of a billion reasons a citywide lottery is a non-starter. Wish GGW would admit that.

Nick here.

The article is my words and doesn't reflect any "official" GGW position. Please read what I wrote. I'm not advocating for an all-lottery system. Far from it. My intent in writing the article was to ring the alarm that if the city doesn't start going in a different direction from where it is currently headed, a neighborhood-based school system may not be sustainable.

Um, but DC already doesn't have a neighborhood-based system. It seems like the quasi-free market we have here with charter schools will solve the issue. Also, you may be underestimating the degree to which parents are willing to pack into schools they consider "good" (eg Lafayette and Deal). It's pretty clear what parents' revealed preferences are: they value whiter, higher SES schools more than they value class size.

If parents *truly* prioritized class size/overcrowding, then they'd be jumping up to fight for re-districting. But we all know why they aren't, and we all know why they aren't.

And yet those same parents are embracing Hardy. But why? It can't be because they are as racist as you say.

They are embracing Hardy due to it's location. They know in just 3 short years, it will be all IB, thus majority white.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:One of GGW's stated goals is to get people out of single-occupancy vehicles in DC. Someone tell me how a citywide lottery could possibly advance that goal? DC isn't about to purchase the fleet of school buses that would be needed, leaving parents in such a scenario to rely upon WMATA -- have fun with that -- or (more likely) their own cars.

It's one of a billion reasons a citywide lottery is a non-starter. Wish GGW would admit that.

Nick here.

The article is my words and doesn't reflect any "official" GGW position. Please read what I wrote. I'm not advocating for an all-lottery system. Far from it. My intent in writing the article was to ring the alarm that if the city doesn't start going in a different direction from where it is currently headed, a neighborhood-based school system may not be sustainable.

Um, but DC already doesn't have a neighborhood-based system. It seems like the quasi-free market we have here with charter schools will solve the issue. Also, you may be underestimating the degree to which parents are willing to pack into schools they consider "good" (eg Lafayette and Deal). It's pretty clear what parents' revealed preferences are: they value whiter, higher SES schools more than they value class size.

If parents *truly* prioritized class size/overcrowding, then they'd be jumping up to fight for re-districting. But we all know why they aren't, and we all know why they aren't.

And yet those same parents are embracing Hardy. But why? It can't be because they are as racist as you say.

Is it really "those same parents" though? I mean, you can't have it both ways: Cassandra about overcrowding, yet claim that there is some reason (other than racism) that people just REFUSE to consider redistricting. Put up or shut up: if you refuse to consider moving your kid to an underenrolled school, then you can't complain about overcrowding. So to the extend that Hardy parents were willing to put their money where their mouths were -- good for them. more people should do the same.

Let's say a kid live in Kent or Palisades. You really think that kid should have to travel to Ward 6 to attend HS? We have to remember that many parts of this city have essentially very limited public transportation, especially in the western half of the city. A kid in the Palisades needs to take a bus to Foggy Bottom and then take two train lines to attend Eastern or Dunbar? That's nuts.

The fact of the matter is that the west side of DC needs another HS. The Mayor won't even entertain it due to racial optics and political pandering, which is a completely irrational policy position. Sending a kid from the west side of DC to fill the empty seats at Ballou, Anacostia, or Woodson is not the solution. It's the pinnacle of insanity.

And yet how many Palisades kids would happy attend Walls or Latin? Lots, methinks. With respect to Palisades in particular, I have little sympathy - you chose to move to an area with limited public transportation. That said, if you wanted to make the case for school buses from areas with poor transit, I would be open to that.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:One of GGW's stated goals is to get people out of single-occupancy vehicles in DC. Someone tell me how a citywide lottery could possibly advance that goal? DC isn't about to purchase the fleet of school buses that would be needed, leaving parents in such a scenario to rely upon WMATA -- have fun with that -- or (more likely) their own cars.

It's one of a billion reasons a citywide lottery is a non-starter. Wish GGW would admit that.

Nick here.

The article is my words and doesn't reflect any "official" GGW position. Please read what I wrote. I'm not advocating for an all-lottery system. Far from it. My intent in writing the article was to ring the alarm that if the city doesn't start going in a different direction from where it is currently headed, a neighborhood-based school system may not be sustainable.

Um, but DC already doesn't have a neighborhood-based system. It seems like the quasi-free market we have here with charter schools will solve the issue. Also, you may be underestimating the degree to which parents are willing to pack into schools they consider "good" (eg Lafayette and Deal). It's pretty clear what parents' revealed preferences are: they value whiter, higher SES schools more than they value class size.

If parents *truly* prioritized class size/overcrowding, then they'd be jumping up to fight for re-districting. But we all know why they aren't, and we all know why they aren't.

It isn't sustainable. Parents are voting with their feet leaving their neighborhood schools (exceptions being Anacostia, Ballou, Woodson, all with less than 30% OOB). The city is opening and expanding city-wide HS options quickly (Ron Brown, Bard, Coolidge Early College and, perhaps, expansion of Banneker).

DCPS neighborhood HS (2017-18) and percent OOB at each.

Anacostia - 25% OOB
Ballou - 28% OOB
Cardozo ~61% OOB (may be skewed because there is no public data for IB/OOB at high school level only)
Coolidge 55% OOB (will no longer be a comprehensive school in 2019-20)
Dunbar 53% OOB
Eastern 62% OOB
Woodson 27% OOB
Roosevelt 38% OOB
Wilson 41% OOB

City-wide/lottery and/or application options as of SY 2019-20 (including alternative schools for purpose of inclusive and overall heacount)

Banneker
Bard
CHEC
Coolidge Early College
Ellington
Moore
Phelps
Ron Brown
SWW
Washington Met