Anonymous
Post 05/24/2021 11:44     Subject: Re:Thousands of kids attend charters without in person option
Anonymous wrote:The article really points to the parents at the schools, however. School leadership is claiming they're all on board, and quotes show the same.

The parents quoted are not only afraid of Covid but afraid of the vaccine! A school which is 1/3 homeless kids cannot possibly be educating well virtually, but they think they are.

I also take offense to the claim that charters provided "high quality" virtual instead of going in person. High quality according to who, exactly? They are just deciding that themselves, there is absolutely no evidence (in fact, evidence is to the contrary).



We are at a school that touts their high quality virtual instruction often. Wednesdays the kids watch 1 or 2 youtube videos and that's the entire day of high quality learning. Hearing these leaders both defend themselves and then congratulate themselves is beyond upsetting.

I was a supporter of school choice because I thought it meant needed innovation. But, no longer.
Anonymous
Post 05/24/2021 11:44     Subject: Thousands of kids attend charters without in person option
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Most of the charters in DC don’t serve students any better than traditional public schools. They are a drain on our tax dollars and I wish the city would put a moratorium on new ones opening.


This.

Charters refuse to serve students with all but the mildest disabilities. How is it fair for them to do that with public funds?


Agree completely. We were at a charter and now I am ashamed we were ever foolish enough to make that choice.
Anonymous
Post 05/24/2021 11:39     Subject: Thousands of kids attend charters without in person option
Anonymous wrote:Most of the charters in DC don’t serve students any better than traditional public schools. They are a drain on our tax dollars and I wish the city would put a moratorium on new ones opening.


This.

Charters refuse to serve students with all but the mildest disabilities. How is it fair for them to do that with public funds?
Anonymous
Post 05/24/2021 11:38     Subject: Thousands of kids attend charters without in person option
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:The apple tree examples kill me. These are the preschoolers! There are so few instances of Covid in this age group that it's insane. Appletree should be ashamed.


+10000. It makes you question every other thing about them.


I honestly wonder, did they try to get more kids back in person? Did parents refuse, or did teachers refuse? Whose idea was this?

PK kids are NOT getting "high quality virtual" education, that's for damn sure.


Our DCPS did an awesome job with remote PK3. Age-appropriate time limits and lessons. The teacher build a bond with my daughter and checked in on the family. All that and I still would not call it a “high quality virtual education.” I just don’t think it’s possible at that age. I’m shocked Appletree has not done more to get kids back.
Anonymous
Post 05/24/2021 11:38     Subject: Thousands of kids attend charters without in person option
Thousands of kids also attend DCPS schools with no in person option. So tired of seeing these articles suggesting that DCPS is open. My kids attend Deal and Wilson and have accepted every option given them to be in a school building and they are not getting in person instruction. Between the two of them they have 28 instructional periods a week and exactly ONE is taught by a teacher in the room. But somehow everyone is celebrating how DCPS is now open for business.
Anonymous
Post 05/24/2021 11:36     Subject: Re:Thousands of kids attend charters without in person option
Education begins at home...and apparently ends there too.
Anonymous
Post 05/24/2021 11:33     Subject: Re:Thousands of kids attend charters without in person option
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:A lot of these parents who don't want to send their kids to school are also anti-vaxxers. Maybe we should stop caring what they want because they are idiots.



+1


not if your school is remaining closed because of them.
Anonymous
Post 05/24/2021 11:31     Subject: Re:Thousands of kids attend charters without in person option
Anonymous wrote:A lot of these parents who don't want to send their kids to school are also anti-vaxxers. Maybe we should stop caring what they want because they are idiots.



+1
Anonymous
Post 05/24/2021 11:30     Subject: Re:Thousands of kids attend charters without in person option
DCPS is nearly as bad as these charters


"Currently about 15,000 of the school system’s 52,000 students are learning in school buildings at least one day a week."
Anonymous
Post 05/24/2021 11:30     Subject: Thousands of kids attend charters without in person option
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Overall this article is not well written. It raises a lot of complex issues, but it does not answer them well. It seems like a bit of a hack job where she emailed a bunch of schools, interviewed 2 parents, and called it a day.

We need an in depth investigation of the travesty of keeping schools shut all year in the charter sector with zero oversight. I am pro-charter, but not if they can't be regulated whatsoever.


Agree. Where is the balance? They found no parents who are frustrated by the lack of effort and oversight? They apparently didn't look very hard.


I bet you anything Perry Stein did not actually report the story. She was likely given the names of a handful of parents by the charter association or the schools. She likely made zero effort to put in any work to find out what was actually going on at the schools.
Anonymous
Post 05/24/2021 11:30     Subject: Thousands of kids attend charters without in person option
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:The apple tree examples kill me. These are the preschoolers! There are so few instances of Covid in this age group that it's insane. Appletree should be ashamed.


+10000. It makes you question every other thing about them.


I honestly wonder, did they try to get more kids back in person? Did parents refuse, or did teachers refuse? Whose idea was this?

PK kids are NOT getting "high quality virtual" education, that's for damn sure.
Anonymous
Post 05/24/2021 11:28     Subject: Thousands of kids attend charters without in person option
Anonymous wrote:The apple tree examples kill me. These are the preschoolers! There are so few instances of Covid in this age group that it's insane. Appletree should be ashamed.


+10000. It makes you question every other thing about them.
Anonymous
Post 05/24/2021 11:28     Subject: Thousands of kids attend charters without in person option
Anonymous wrote:Overall this article is not well written. It raises a lot of complex issues, but it does not answer them well. It seems like a bit of a hack job where she emailed a bunch of schools, interviewed 2 parents, and called it a day.

We need an in depth investigation of the travesty of keeping schools shut all year in the charter sector with zero oversight. I am pro-charter, but not if they can't be regulated whatsoever.


welcome to the world of education reporting.
Anonymous
Post 05/24/2021 11:28     Subject: Re:Thousands of kids attend charters without in person option
Anonymous wrote:Only two percent of kids in the entire country attend virtual only schools. Guess they all live in DC. This is what happens when politicians refuse to lead.

https://info.burbio.com/school-tracker-update-may-24/



+1
Anonymous
Post 05/24/2021 11:27     Subject: Thousands of kids attend charters without in person option
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:I think the underlying assumption in this article is that in these schools neither the staff nor the families want their kids back in person. While I would argue that is the wrong point of view to take, I think it's hard to expect schools to go against everyone and force reopening.


But they are lying. I am a parent at one of these schools. Parents overwhelmingly want in person learning. Once the admin started getting responses to that effect, they stopped asking for feedback.


And even if it’s true parents are hesitant- it’s the school’s job to provide education in person. the Roots situation is totally appalling, with 30% homeless students and no in person. They are hurting those kids. Schools are *safer* for kids to be in during the day than homeless situations.