Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is Lafayette the "L" in JKLM? If so, that is scary, given the feedback on teacher quality in this thread.

You have to realize that Lafayette has about 1000 parents, that there are a couple who hate the school and principal (but not enough to send their kids elsewhere, apparently), and that they constantly voice those opinions on DCUM. I would bet $$ that all of the nasty Lafayette threads/comments on this forum are by the same few individuals ("drink the kool-aid" is a favorite phrase, and "can't wait til the witch retires" is another.) Please don't think they speak for the other 998, who have better things to do than anonymously bash people on this website.

Totally disagree. Each year more and more parents are expressing
Total dissatisfaction with the principal, Ms. Main. I can think if more parents who
Have lost confidence in her than parents who support her.

Our kids have been there for 5+ years and that "cool aid" has apparently been passed
To the masses.

Believe me, we wish we had the $$$ for private. For now, our kids
Get by with tutors to fill in the gap.

I'd also like to add that there is a tremendously bad behavioural/bullying issue at Lafayette.
These issues are NEVER resolved and spread like the plague.

At least Mr. McCoy handled some of the consistent trouble makers.
Guessing next year is same d same old.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Lafayette kids have half decent scores ( Great for DCPS's pitiful standards but horrible compared to Nationwide).

Most (over 70%) of The kids at Lafayette benefit from a stay at home parent and or tutors to supplement the pitiful academics at Lafayette.

This is true. And you will hear Lafayette parents complain about it.

YES!

Anonymous wrote:Is Lafayette the "L" in JKLM? If so, that is scary, given the feedback on teacher quality in this thread.

You have to realize that Lafayette has about 1000 parents, that there are a couple who hate the school and principal (but not enough to send their kids elsewhere, apparently), and that they constantly voice those opinions on DCUM. I would bet $$ that all of the nasty Lafayette threads/comments on this forum are by the same few individuals ("drink the kool-aid" is a favorite phrase, and "can't wait til the witch retires" is another.) Please don't think they speak for the other 998, who have better things to do than anonymously bash people on this website.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Most DCPS principals are given a fair amount of latitude in how to allocate their budgets. I'm not familiar with Lafayette, but it appears that the principal shifted more budget to classroom and core subject teachers. I'm surprised that this is causing issue with parents. More budget details can be found here...

http://dcps.dc.gov/DCPS/Files/downloads/ABOUT%20DCPS/Budget%20-%20Finance/FY14%20documents/School%20Allocation-FY14%20Final/DCPS-LAFAYETTE-Submitted-Budget-FY14.pdf

I won't comment on the specific situation or individuals, but if cuts have to be made, this is a good direction in which to go. I'd rather see schools reduce administrative positions and overhead before they cut direct instructional personnel, including specialty teachers and librarians. Large public organizations like school districts tend to have a bureaucratic bias the other way, toward prioritizing administrators.

A more complete picture would include the HSA budget, where that money goes and how it is allocated. I believe that is an additional $200K plus. Tis a mystery how it all works together and how the stewards of the funds raised decide how it is spent.

Anonymous wrote:Lafayette kids have half decent scores ( Great for DCPS's pitiful standards but horrible compared to Nationwide).

Most (over 70%) of The kids at Lafayette benefit from a stay at home parent and or tutors to supplement the pitiful academics at Lafayette.

This is true. And you will hear Lafayette parents complain about it.

Is Lafayette the "L" in JKLM? If so, that is scary, given the feedback on teacher quality in this thread.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Most DCPS principals are given a fair amount of latitude in how to allocate their budgets. I'm not familiar with Lafayette, but it appears that the principal shifted more budget to classroom and core subject teachers. I'm surprised that this is causing issue with parents. More budget details can be found here...

http://dcps.dc.gov/DCPS/Files/downloads/ABOUT%20DCPS/Budget%20-%20Finance/FY14%20documents/School%20Allocation-FY14%20Final/DCPS-LAFAYETTE-Submitted-Budget-FY14.pdf

I won't comment on the specific situation or individuals, but if cuts have to be made, this is a good direction in which to go. I'd rather see schools reduce administrative positions and overhead before they cut direct instructional personnel, including specialty teachers and librarians. Large public organizations like school districts tend to have a bureaucratic bias the other way, toward prioritizing administrators.

I tend to agree. What we're seeing in this thread is significant displeasure with Lafayette's principal, and the current AP is a buffer whom parents are upset to lose.

Anonymous wrote:Most DCPS principals are given a fair amount of latitude in how to allocate their budgets. I'm not familiar with Lafayette, but it appears that the principal shifted more budget to classroom and core subject teachers. I'm surprised that this is causing issue with parents. More budget details can be found here...

http://dcps.dc.gov/DCPS/Files/downloads/ABOUT%20DCPS/Budget%20-%20Finance/FY14%20documents/School%20Allocation-FY14%20Final/DCPS-LAFAYETTE-Submitted-Budget-FY14.pdf

I won't comment on the specific situation or individuals, but if cuts have to be made, this is a good direction in which to go. I'd rather see schools reduce administrative positions and overhead before they cut direct instructional personnel, including specialty teachers and librarians. Large public organizations like school districts tend to have a bureaucratic bias the other way, toward prioritizing administrators.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The 2013-14 budget allocation for Lafayette show 1.7 APs? So why is there now this rumor/annoncement? And for the life of me I don't understand why people are talking about cuts when 15 schools have been closed so that funds can be used to improve existing schools. I don't buy that argument. And if enrollment in DCPS is less than expected (I saw Emma Brown's article) then the per pupil amount should be bumped up a bit if necessary to ensure things like a reasonable number of administrators.

It is a place holder. There is rumor-mongering because no formal announcement has been made to parents. It was announced at the HSA meeting and the HSA has not told the parents. The principal said she is cutting the vice principal to bring in another 3rd grade teacher. However bringing in a needed teacher should not cut a critical administrative position. There are good teachers at Lafayette and there are some terrible teachers who should not be in any classroom. This has been going on for years and parents have had it. The feeling in HSA is that if you want to know what is going on then go to a meeting, otherwise shut up.

THe HSA is a booster organization and mouthpiece for the principal. There is no parent involved policy making going on at lafayette. Does anyone know what value add the LSAT has provided to the lafayette community?

Anonymous wrote:Lafayette kids have half decent scores ( Great for DCPS's pitiful standards but horrible compared to Nationwide).

This is actually *completely* untrue. White students in DCPS (concentrated overwhelmingly in about 8-10 ESs, of which Lafayette is one) perform better than any other white public school students in the country on the state-level assessment tests. You can see for yourself using this reporting tool: http://nces.ed.gov/nationsreportcard/naepdata/report.aspx

Anonymous wrote:Lafayette kids have half decent scores ( Great for DCPS's pitiful standards but horrible compared to Nationwide).

Most (over 70%) of The kids at Lafayette benefit from a stay at home parent and or tutors to supplement the pitiful academics at Lafayette.

What national statistics are you using? I was unaware that there are national statistics that could be used to make claims about a specific school.

What are Mr. Mr McCoy's job responsibilites and who will take over those duties once his position is eliminated?

Anonymous wrote:The 2013-14 budget allocation for Lafayette show 1.7 APs? So why is there now this rumor/annoncement? And for the life of me I don't understand why people are talking about cuts when 15 schools have been closed so that funds can be used to improve existing schools. I don't buy that argument. And if enrollment in DCPS is less than expected (I saw Emma Brown's article) then the per pupil amount should be bumped up a bit if necessary to ensure things like a reasonable number of administrators.

It is a place holder. There is rumor-mongering because no formal announcement has been made to parents. It was announced at the HSA meeting and the HSA has not told the parents. The principal said she is cutting the vice principal to bring in another 3rd grade teacher. However bringing in a needed teacher should not cut a critical administrative position. There are good teachers at Lafayette and there are some terrible teachers who should not be in any classroom. This has been going on for years and parents have had it. The feeling in HSA is that if you want to know what is going on then go to a meeting, otherwise shut up.

Lafayette kids have half decent scores ( Great for DCPS's pitiful standards but horrible compared to Nationwide).

Most (over 70%) of The kids at Lafayette benefit from a stay at home parent and or tutors to supplement the pitiful academics at Lafayette.

It's not just your observations, it's also school value added data and your commitment to school community.

There are definitely ways to game impact, some people can do a better job when they are being observed.

Also without any examples of what the teachers are doing wrong it's hard to say whether it would affect their impact score.