Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There are in DC now more students in families that qualify for TANF/SNAP benefits post-pandemic than there were pre-pandemic.

Has the qualification process for TANF/SNAP tightened up? Ten years ago if was pretty easy to game. (A professional, full employed neighbor signed up by showing an empty bank account). If not, maybe it's a backdoor to the school lottery

The asset test has been removed from some programs, but there was always an income test. Unless your neighbor worked under the table and didn't pay taxes, there are data matches that should find this. And it would be dumb to do... setting aside the possible criminal penalties, what you gain in these benefits is probably less than you'd lose in eventual social security benefits.

Anonymous wrote:It's not income, it's:
 Students experiencing homelessness
 Students in the Districts foster care system
 Students who qualify for Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) or the
Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP)
 High school students that are one year older, or more, than the expected age for the
grade in which the students are enrolled

Take heart, if you redshirt your kid for K they'll qualify for this preference in high school.

Anonymous wrote:There are in DC now more students in families that qualify for TANF/SNAP benefits post-pandemic than there were pre-pandemic.

Has the qualification process for TANF/SNAP tightened up? Ten years ago if was pretty easy to game. (A professional, full employed neighbor signed up by showing an empty bank account). If not, maybe it's a backdoor to the school lottery

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There are in DC now more students in families that qualify for TANF/SNAP benefits post-pandemic than there were pre-pandemic.

that would be strange, if true. is there any job in dc now that pays less than $20 an hour? if you work full time making $20 per hour, you're grossing $3200 per month. for a typical family, that's too much to qualify for snap.

Most minimum wage jobs schedule you for 20ish hours a week and the hours change (usually you get a few days notice of the schedule for the following week) so you can't fit two jobs together...

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There are in DC now more students in families that qualify for TANF/SNAP benefits post-pandemic than there were pre-pandemic.

that would be strange, if true. is there any job in dc now that pays less than $20 an hour? if you work full time making $20 per hour, you're grossing $3200 per month. for a typical family, that's too much to qualify for snap.

For one, DC minimum wage is $17, not $20. But you can live in DC and work outside the city, Maryland is $15/hour, Virginia is $12

Then you have to factor in deductions for dependents, child support, and shelter costs: "Excess shelter costs that are more than half of the household’s income after all other deductions have been applied. The excess shelter deduction is capped at $672 unless one person in the household is elderly or disabled. Each household receives a standard utility allowance deduction of $360, which is updated every October 1, to account for utility costs such as fuel, electricity, and water. In addition to the standard, a household can claim the following allowable shelter costs:"

https://dhs.dc.gov/service/snap-eligibility-general-requirements

Anonymous wrote:BASIS classes are going to be even smaller. No way at-risk kids make it through that system.

They are 7.76% at risk now, so that means around 51 at-risk kids are enrolled. I wouldn't be surprised if they already enroll 10 at-risk kids every year as part of the 100% lottery system, even with no EA advantage.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:??? i assume they audit it. yes about half of the students in the system qualify as at-risk due to low income. first year for basis.

Poverty has fallen significantly in DC over the past couple years thanks to very low unemployment, a big increase in wages at the bottom and a torrent of covid related assistance. There's no way half of the kids in DC are at risk. I think people are gaming the rules.

Most kids in the US are eligible for WIC and Medicaid. In DC, a significant percentage of kids qualify for these and/or SNAP, TANF, or other ways to get the EA preferences. You might not encounter those kids in your neighborhood or at your school, but there are parts of DC where just about everyone qualifies.

The point here is that incomes at the bottom have risen dramatically in recent years, faster in inflation adjusted terms than for almost anyone else. So there should be a lot fewer people qualifying....

The folks whose income rose as they earned more often got their kids out of DC or into private schools with vouchers and scholarships or moved in bounds for a school they liked. Different group from kids whose guardians live off of tanf or social security. The latter is more likely to be in the lottery, though often for schools that already have a lot of at-risk students.

Anonymous wrote:BASIS classes are going to be even smaller. No way at-risk kids make it through that system.

+1. Economically disadvantaged kids make up more than half of all PARCC-taking fourth graders but less than 20% of the kids testing proficient in math and about 5% of the kids getting 5s. If they were paired with an entrance exam, that would be great, because those are the kids who need something like BASIS the most. But without that...that school is not going to serve those kids well. And BASIS has their own numbers and knows this already.

it is true. Basis should fill the 10 seats. 10 seats is not very many. Basis is a lot easier to get to from most of the city than Latin.

If someone is EA-eligible and also has sibling preference, how does that show up in the data?

Anonymous wrote:There are in DC now more students in families that qualify for TANF/SNAP benefits post-pandemic than there were pre-pandemic.

that would be strange, if true. is there any job in dc now that pays less than $20 an hour? if you work full time making $20 per hour, you're grossing $3200 per month. for a typical family, that's too much to qualify for snap.

Anonymous wrote:It is the second time.

They offered 20 seats at the original Latin campus and 22 seats at Cooper last year.
Latin I had 15 the year before and 12 at Cooper.

First year for BASIS, so with 150 seats, I would expect at least 20, if not more, spaces.

Nope. It is 10 EA seats for BASIS for 135 seats. Sometimes, BASIS does 150 admits at the beginning with the expectation that at least 15 will turn down the slot but they only enroll 135.

Given that OG Latin can't fill their EA seats, it seems doubtful that BASIS will. However, we will see.

There are in DC now more students in families that qualify for TANF/SNAP benefits post-pandemic than there were pre-pandemic.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:??? i assume they audit it. yes about half of the students in the system qualify as at-risk due to low income. first year for basis.

Poverty has fallen significantly in DC over the past couple years thanks to very low unemployment, a big increase in wages at the bottom and a torrent of covid related assistance. There's no way half of the kids in DC are at risk. I think people are gaming the rules.

Most kids in the US are eligible for WIC and Medicaid. In DC, a significant percentage of kids qualify for these and/or SNAP, TANF, or other ways to get the EA preferences. You might not encounter those kids in your neighborhood or at your school, but there are parts of DC where just about everyone qualifies.

The point here is that incomes at the bottom have risen dramatically in recent years, faster in inflation adjusted terms than for almost anyone else. So there should be a lot fewer people qualifying....

Anonymous wrote:The DCPS lottery will automatically skew toward lower income because high income families will either do private (including being able to afford private preschool), can afford to live in an area where they don't need to do the lottery as their in-bound school is sufficient, etc.

DCPS lottery absolutely does not represent all DC kids

Sure, but the lottery definitely represents the vast majority of kids in this city.