Anonymous wrote:

So families who either live in the Deal/Wilson boundary or won the lottery now also get cash payments to attend schools that for other kids are their only option? This seems equitable to you?

Absolutely. People say DCPS won't "push" anyone out of Deal, and will only "pull" families out by attracting them to something they want more. So instead of just guessing what will attract those families, let's just give them cash which we know will attract most people.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:#3 is really hard to do just in one part of the city. And once you get east of 16th street and Capitol Hill -- there aren't great pairing options available.

Agree, but outside of NWDC, no pairing is really needed because it's not a capacity problem. If a real capacity problem arises somewhere else, then SCPS can figure out a partner pairing that works. The key is that it specifically funnels excess students into another school that needs to have capacity filled, rather than just scattering the excess students to the wind or encouraging the overcapacity.

Yeah but it's worth mentioning again, all the schools are trending nearly all IB. Hearst and Shepherd will no longer be "under capacity" as both of them will likely be 80% or more IB in next 4-5 years.

Anonymous wrote:Paying students to change schools is really just paying for a resource. The most important ingredient of a successful school is not extra teachers or international baccalaureate programs or extra art classes - it's motivated and high achieving students. Paying families to attend an up and coming school is just paying for the most important ingredient.

So families who either live in the Deal/Wilson boundary or won the lottery now also get cash payments to attend schools that for other kids are their only option? This seems equitable to you?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:New idea -- Let's just pay families to send their children somewhere else besides overcrowded schools like Deal and Wilson. Sounds dramatic, but hear me out ...

Right now, we're talking about spending tens or even hundreds of millions to build new schools in Northwest, just because DC doesn't want to impose rules that restrict anyone's right to attend Deal and Wilson. No politician wants to get criticized for changing boundaries, and every politician loves to give away free stuff. DCPS keeps saying it wants to generate ways to attract families into underutilized neighborhood schools, and it spends gobs of money renovating those empty schools and putting teachers and fancy education plans into those empty schools, but still parents would rather send children to overcrowded Wilson feeders.

So let's just pay people to leave Deal and Wilson. Paying $1,000 per student to 100 students costs only $100,000 total, which is by far the cheapest option of any DCPS seems to be considering. And because the money gets paid only if the student leaves the overcrowded school, we know it will be 100% effective, and the results will be immediate.

If people think it's unsavory to pay cash grants, DC could offer the money as a tax credit. That way, it's not even actual money out of the budget, but rather future collections which no one will even notice. If DCPS really wants to get the most bang for its buck, it could make the payments not just for leaving the overcrowded schools, but also for switching to a new school DCPS wants to pump up. If DCPS wants to get a cohort of students into new MacFarland MS, then just pay students $1,000 to switch from Deal to MacFarland. Not only does that reduce overcrowding at Deal, but it gets students to fill up MacFarland. DCPS could even create an application process for the payments, which allow DCPS to pick and choose whatever preferred mix of race, sex, academic achievement characteristics, and geography that it wants. That way, DCPS could get the exact right mix of equity, excellence and diversity it wants in the target school.

DCPS is wasting time trying to think up clever ways to attract students away from Alice Deal to other areas. Money talks and bullshit walks. DCPS should just pay people directly to do what it wants. That's far cheaper and more effective, and the families receiving the money will be happier.

I kind of love this. But I'd make them payment into an earmarked DC College savings account for the kids.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:New idea -- Let's just pay families to send their children somewhere else besides overcrowded schools like Deal and Wilson. Sounds dramatic, but hear me out ...

Right now, we're talking about spending tens or even hundreds of millions to build new schools in Northwest, just because DC doesn't want to impose rules that restrict anyone's right to attend Deal and Wilson. No politician wants to get criticized for changing boundaries, and every politician loves to give away free stuff. DCPS keeps saying it wants to generate ways to attract families into underutilized neighborhood schools, and it spends gobs of money renovating those empty schools and putting teachers and fancy education plans into those empty schools, but still parents would rather send children to overcrowded Wilson feeders.

So let's just pay people to leave Deal and Wilson. Paying $1,000 per student to 100 students costs only $100,000 total, which is by far the cheapest option of any DCPS seems to be considering. And because the money gets paid only if the student leaves the overcrowded school, we know it will be 100% effective, and the results will be immediate.

If people think it's unsavory to pay cash grants, DC could offer the money as a tax credit. That way, it's not even actual money out of the budget, but rather future collections which no one will even notice. If DCPS really wants to get the most bang for its buck, it could make the payments not just for leaving the overcrowded schools, but also for switching to a new school DCPS wants to pump up. If DCPS wants to get a cohort of students into new MacFarland MS, then just pay students $1,000 to switch from Deal to MacFarland. Not only does that reduce overcrowding at Deal, but it gets students to fill up MacFarland. DCPS could even create an application process for the payments, which allow DCPS to pick and choose whatever preferred mix of race, sex, academic achievement characteristics, and geography that it wants. That way, DCPS could get the exact right mix of equity, excellence and diversity it wants in the target school.

DCPS is wasting time trying to think up clever ways to attract students away from Alice Deal to other areas. Money talks and bullshit walks. DCPS should just pay people directly to do what it wants. That's far cheaper and more effective, and the families receiving the money will be happier.

I kind of love this. But I'd make them payment into an earmarked DC College savings account for the kids.

Anonymous wrote:New idea -

Create a serious application arts MS magnet program at Ellington for about 150-200 students. Those students who do well get a pref for admission to Ellington high school.

Anonymous wrote:New idea -- Let's just pay families to send their children somewhere else besides overcrowded schools like Deal and Wilson. Sounds dramatic, but hear me out ...

Right now, we're talking about spending tens or even hundreds of millions to build new schools in Northwest, just because DC doesn't want to impose rules that restrict anyone's right to attend Deal and Wilson. No politician wants to get criticized for changing boundaries, and every politician loves to give away free stuff. DCPS keeps saying it wants to generate ways to attract families into underutilized neighborhood schools, and it spends gobs of money renovating those empty schools and putting teachers and fancy education plans into those empty schools, but still parents would rather send children to overcrowded Wilson feeders.

So let's just pay people to leave Deal and Wilson. Paying $1,000 per student to 100 students costs only $100,000 total, which is by far the cheapest option of any DCPS seems to be considering. And because the money gets paid only if the student leaves the overcrowded school, we know it will be 100% effective, and the results will be immediate.

If people think it's unsavory to pay cash grants, DC could offer the money as a tax credit. That way, it's not even actual money out of the budget, but rather future collections which no one will even notice. If DCPS really wants to get the most bang for its buck, it could make the payments not just for leaving the overcrowded schools, but also for switching to a new school DCPS wants to pump up. If DCPS wants to get a cohort of students into new MacFarland MS, then just pay students $1,000 to switch from Deal to MacFarland. Not only does that reduce overcrowding at Deal, but it gets students to fill up MacFarland. DCPS could even create an application process for the payments, which allow DCPS to pick and choose whatever preferred mix of race, sex, academic achievement characteristics, and geography that it wants. That way, DCPS could get the exact right mix of equity, excellence and diversity it wants in the target school.

DCPS is wasting time trying to think up clever ways to attract students away from Alice Deal to other areas. Money talks and bullshit walks. DCPS should just pay people directly to do what it wants. That's far cheaper and more effective, and the families receiving the money will be happier.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:#3 is really hard to do just in one part of the city. And once you get east of 16th street and Capitol Hill -- there aren't great pairing options available.

Agree, but outside of NWDC, no pairing is really needed because it's not a capacity problem. If a real capacity problem arises somewhere else, then SCPS can figure out a partner pairing that works. The key is that it specifically funnels excess students into another school that needs to have capacity filled, rather than just scattering the excess students to the wind or encouraging the overcapacity.

Yeah but it's worth mentioning again, all the schools are trending nearly all IB. Hearst and Shepherd will no longer be "under capacity" as both of them will likely be 80% or more IB in next 4-5 years.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:#3 is really hard to do just in one part of the city. And once you get east of 16th street and Capitol Hill -- there aren't great pairing options available.

Agree, but outside of NWDC, no pairing is really needed because it's not a capacity problem. If a real capacity problem arises somewhere else, then SCPS can figure out a partner pairing that works. The key is that it specifically funnels excess students into another school that needs to have capacity filled, rather than just scattering the excess students to the wind or encouraging the overcapacity.