Hell no. I'm furious that taxpayers are being billed to renovate the toilet of Takoma (Coolidge).

No more new schools without doing something with the ones we've already been highway-robbed for.

DC has a population of about 700,000. FFX pop is 1.1 million, and TJHSST gets students from Loudoun, Arlington, and Prince William as well. DC cannot support a TJHSST.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So....the plan is to create a majority white magnet because the other magnet is too, how shall we say this, urban?

No.

If it assigns slots by Ward, as suggested, then it is impossible that it could be majority white, given the demographics of DCPS.

It wouldn't solve the problem of providing an alternative neighborhood school for upper NW families, but that's not the concern of the proposal.

You have it backward. DC doesn't need an alternative high school for the Wilson neighborhood; it needs an alternative high school for the people who have to travel long distances to go to school in a different neighborhood (Wilson) because they won't go to their neighborhood school.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DC already has six application-only high schools -- Banneker, CHEC, Ellington, McKinley, Phelps and Walls. There are probably already too many for the size of the public school population.

None are test in.

Define test-in. Ellington and Walls have admissions tests, they all have admissions requirements.

Yes, but Walls uses a rather easy admissions test combined with an interview to screen candidates. In NYC, Boston, Chicago, Dallas and other US cities, affirmative action doesn't undergird admissions to the top test-in HS magnets to nearly the same extent as in DC.
The admissions tests are much tougher elsewhere, and interviews are seldom part of the process (because interviews giving screeners a tool to identify and favor minority applicants in the process).

The conversation about revamping Walls' admissions system is an awkward one the city shouldn't shy away from. I'd like to see low and moderate-income AA and Latino applicants benefit from much stronger MS academics, and support at city-run magnet test prep centers providing free test prep to all comers (as in Boston and NYC), to help them compete with more affluent applicants. To some extent, BASIS' MS has begun providing the service.

As things stand, minority applicants to Walls are sometimes given a pass to attend ahead of better prepared white applicants, an arrangement that lends itself to litigation. Sooner or later, a white family whose strong applicant failed to clear the Walls admissions bar, or a group of them, is going to sue. Once Trump gets an affirmative action-hostile justice onto the SC, the lower courts will be less likely to uphold affirmative action-based admissions at any level (public test-in ES, MS, HS, competitive admissions universities and colleges). The change won't be lost on potential DC plaintiffs and their lawyers. Better to move to address the problem than to wait for the courts to get involved.

Banneker's admissions system also leaves a lot to be desired. No test involved.

Until we switched from DC CAS to PARCC, those scores were part of the application school process. For more than one school you had to be proficient or advanced to apply.

We should do that again. But I don't see it happening.

Anonymous wrote:DC already has six application-only high schools -- Banneker, CHEC, Ellington, McKinley, Phelps and Walls. There are probably already too many for the size of the public school population.

application is different that designed for smart kids who have to prove it.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A test in magnet is a great idea and one that is constantly suggested so you're not breaking any new ground there, OP. But the idea of dismantling Wilson in order to create it is preposterous. As others have said, comparatively speaking Wilson is one of the only public high schools that is considered to be well-functioning and desirable. Why couldn't the newly renovated Roosevelt, which is very centrally located, be the site of a test in magnet? Coolidge is about to undergo a major facelift. Why not make start working on a magnet plan there? And while their at it, designate some beautifully renovated school to be a vocational hub. The whole "everyone needs to go to college" mantra is plain wrong. Many among us can find satisfying livelihoods as plumbers, HVAC pros, cosmetologist, etc.

There are vocational and career programs in all the comprehensive high schools already - except Wilson.

You can find them on the DCPS website.

That's great. How are families and students made aware of these opportunities? Just having programs buried on the DCPS website isn't particularly helpful. At the annual school fair does each vocational program at each high school have a presence? How are they trying to attract students?

Yes thy recruit. And are part of Ed Fest etc. Here's the short summary

https://dcps.dc.gov/cte

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DC already has six application-only high schools -- Banneker, CHEC, Ellington, McKinley, Phelps and Walls. There are probably already too many for the size of the public school population.

None are test in.

Define test-in. Ellington and Walls have admissions tests, they all have admissions requirements.

What we really need is a test in middle school. There are several options for high school, but not so many for middle.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A test in magnet is a great idea and one that is constantly suggested so you're not breaking any new ground there, OP. But the idea of dismantling Wilson in order to create it is preposterous. As others have said, comparatively speaking Wilson is one of the only public high schools that is considered to be well-functioning and desirable. Why couldn't the newly renovated Roosevelt, which is very centrally located, be the site of a test in magnet? Coolidge is about to undergo a major facelift. Why not make start working on a magnet plan there? And while their at it, designate some beautifully renovated school to be a vocational hub. The whole "everyone needs to go to college" mantra is plain wrong. Many among us can find satisfying livelihoods as plumbers, HVAC pros, cosmetologist, etc.

There are vocational and career programs in all the comprehensive high schools already - except Wilson.

You can find them on the DCPS website.

That's great. How are families and students made aware of these opportunities? Just having programs buried on the DCPS website isn't particularly helpful. At the annual school fair does each vocational program at each high school have a presence? How are they trying to attract students?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A test in magnet is a great idea and one that is constantly suggested so you're not breaking any new ground there, OP. But the idea of dismantling Wilson in order to create it is preposterous. As others have said, comparatively speaking Wilson is one of the only public high schools that is considered to be well-functioning and desirable. Why couldn't the newly renovated Roosevelt, which is very centrally located, be the site of a test in magnet? Coolidge is about to undergo a major facelift. Why not make start working on a magnet plan there? And while their at it, designate some beautifully renovated school to be a vocational hub. The whole "everyone needs to go to college" mantra is plain wrong. Many among us can find satisfying livelihoods as plumbers, HVAC pros, cosmetologist, etc.

There are vocational and career programs in all the comprehensive high schools already - except Wilson.

You can find them on the DCPS website.

Wilson has the Academy of Hospitality and Tourism: http://www.wilsonhs.org/apps/pages/index.jsp?uREC_ID=229320&type=d

Anonymous wrote:DC already has six application-only high schools -- Banneker, CHEC, Ellington, McKinley, Phelps and Walls. There are probably already too many for the size of the public school population.

None are test in.

Anonymous wrote:A test in magnet is a great idea and one that is constantly suggested so you're not breaking any new ground there, OP. But the idea of dismantling Wilson in order to create it is preposterous. As others have said, comparatively speaking Wilson is one of the only public high schools that is considered to be well-functioning and desirable. Why couldn't the newly renovated Roosevelt, which is very centrally located, be the site of a test in magnet? Coolidge is about to undergo a major facelift. Why not make start working on a magnet plan there? And while their at it, designate some beautifully renovated school to be a vocational hub. The whole "everyone needs to go to college" mantra is plain wrong. Many among us can find satisfying livelihoods as plumbers, HVAC pros, cosmetologist, etc.

There are vocational and career programs in all the comprehensive high schools already - except Wilson.

You can find them on the DCPS website.

DC already has six application-only high schools -- Banneker, CHEC, Ellington, McKinley, Phelps and Walls. There are probably already too many for the size of the public school population.

A test in magnet is a great idea and one that is constantly suggested so you're not breaking any new ground there, OP. But the idea of dismantling Wilson in order to create it is preposterous. As others have said, comparatively speaking Wilson is one of the only public high schools that is considered to be well-functioning and desirable. Why couldn't the newly renovated Roosevelt, which is very centrally located, be the site of a test in magnet? Coolidge is about to undergo a major facelift. Why not make start working on a magnet plan there? And while their at it, designate some beautifully renovated school to be a vocational hub. The whole "everyone needs to go to college" mantra is plain wrong. Many among us can find satisfying livelihoods as plumbers, HVAC pros, cosmetologist, etc.