Anonymous wrote:Does the city even have that much money in reserves?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Does the city even have that much money in reserves?

No. One estimate given to the council is that it would cost more than the entire current District budget.

By providing a benefit that is unique in the area, DC will attract more people to move here for it.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes. The commentariat will flood this with negative responses, but low-income students should get into any DCPS. To me that means you get a surpassing advantage to get any lottery-accessible seat if you have [X] to indicate your low income, e.g., housing vouchers, SNAP, WIC, tax returns - whatever DC uses to do this, preferably without having to have people check a box on the lottery sign up saying "YES I AM POOR HAVE PITY."

If Janney is full of Ward 8 students, so be it.

And then you'd be fine if people who stretch for a house in Upper NW are told that their kids have been assigned to the Mayor-for-Life Marion S. Barry Educational Center in far Southeast?!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think it's a good idea. My hometown just got a private grant to try out a universal basic income. No one really knows how it'll play out but clearly things aren't getting better so why not try it?

I have worked with "the city's poorest" and I'm OK with conditional direct payments: they should be tied to a work/study or counseling requirement and financial literacy classes. All handouts in DC including 8 new homeless shelters, subsidized housing etc. should be. They're paid for by the $ of people who work after all. And if the city really has tax surplus, better yet-- invest in HIGH QUALITY daycare, then offer it subsidized and require parents who use it to work, study or get counseling. If your children are taken care of, you CAN work. And if there is no work, the city should create jobs like cleaning and snow shoveling (to be clear, my grandma was a janitor. It's honest work). To get out of the cycle of poverty, these parents need to set an example of responsibility. Period. If the city simply doles out cash without that expectation, not only will things not change--they'll probably worsen.

+1
With the caveat that some people really aren't able to work due to age or disability, and work/study requirements shouldn't be disqualifiying for them. But payments conditional on your kids attending school, or you taking classes, or working? Fine with me. And I totally agree that the city should use the money to create jobs. Even part-time jobs would help. Most people want to have a job--it's a source not just of income but of self-respect. But there have to be jobs they can do and safe and reliable child care for those who need it.

And lots of people have proposed UBI; seems like it's worth a few places trying it to see how it actually works in practice.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think it's a good idea. My hometown just got a private grant to try out a universal basic income. No one really knows how it'll play out but clearly things aren't getting better so why not try it?

I have worked with "the city's poorest" and I'm OK with conditional direct payments: they should be tied to a work/study or counseling requirement and financial literacy classes. All handouts in DC including 8 new homeless shelters, subsidized housing etc. should be. They're paid for by the $ of people who work after all. And if the city really has tax surplus, better yet-- invest in HIGH QUALITY daycare, then offer it subsidized and require parents who use it to work, study or get counseling. If your children are taken care of, you CAN work. And if there is no work, the city should create jobs like cleaning and snow shoveling (to be clear, my grandma was a janitor. It's honest work). To get out of the cycle of poverty, these parents need to set an example of responsibility. Period. If the city simply doles out cash without that expectation, not only will things not change--they'll probably worsen.

+1
With the caveat that some people really aren't able to work due to age or disability, and work/study requirements shouldn't be disqualifiying for them. But payments conditional on your kids attending school, or you taking classes, or working? Fine with me. And I totally agree that the city should use the money to create jobs. Even part-time jobs would help. Most people want to have a job--it's a source not just of income but of self-respect. But there have to be jobs they can do and safe and reliable child care for those who need it.

And lots of people have proposed UBI; seems like it's worth a few places trying it to see how it actually works in practice.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes. The commentariat will flood this with negative responses, but low-income students should get into any DCPS. To me that means you get a surpassing advantage to get any lottery-accessible seat if you have [X] to indicate your low income, e.g., housing vouchers, SNAP, WIC, tax returns - whatever DC uses to do this, preferably without having to have people check a box on the lottery sign up saying "YES I AM POOR HAVE PITY."

If Janney is full of Ward 8 students, so be it.

I like it - this is how they do it in San Francisco, where there are no by-right schools and the whole thing is a lottery -- kids who live in the poorest areas get preference. (I know this bc one of our (wealthy) friends gamed the system by moving into a poor area for the lottery year. It worked -- they got into their top choice.)

Yes, and San Francisco public schools are now more segregated than ever before.
http://sfpublicpress.org/news/2015-02/as-parents-get-more-choice-sf-schools-resegregate

Anonymous wrote:Yes. The commentariat will flood this with negative responses, but low-income students should get into any DCPS. To me that means you get a surpassing advantage to get any lottery-accessible seat if you have [X] to indicate your low income, e.g., housing vouchers, SNAP, WIC, tax returns - whatever DC uses to do this, preferably without having to have people check a box on the lottery sign up saying "YES I AM POOR HAVE PITY."

If Janney is full of Ward 8 students, so be it.

Anonymous wrote:Does the city even have that much money in reserves?