Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm confused. I read DCUM and I thought the prevailing narrative was that charters were bad because "they aren't accountable" to anyone but a private board. Seems like the parents have been making noise about persistent failures of the principal at Hardy and DCPS Central has ignored those entreaties. That is shocking since I was led to believe that parents had a direct voice in leadership hiring and retention at DCPS schools.

Sincerely,
SHOCKED BY THIS DEVELOPMENT

Well, we’re about to find out . . .

The broader question (my sarcasm aside) is how is it any different to lobby DCPS Central than the Board of a charter school? Answer: It isn't. The idea of "accountability" is laughable. DCPS Central is insulated from all criticism and accountability. The IS forced out, discriminated against cost the city $$$$ in a lawsuit at JOW and the solution was...move JOW out of her division. Hundreds of millions in improper contracting dollars are spent and the answer is some low level, unnamed people are disciplined. No report and no higher ups lose their jobs.

Sure, but the stakes for Ferrebee are high on this one. They are pouring tens of millions into a new HS to relieve J-R that will be fed by Hardy. That new HS will never get anywhere if Hardy continues to go down the shitter. A good chunk of the high-performing ESs could go too. We don’t need to get into the fallout from any future security incidents. And a letter that strong, drafted by the entire parent engagement team for all three grades, is not an everyday event.

You think that because it impacts your school and your community and you think W3 schools and your community are the most important. You would be wrong. But points for being as self centered as the W3 cliche would suggest.

My hope was on Robert. I'd been following him on the Council and was really excited for his candidacy. Alas, he ran a terrible campaign, at least in Ward 3. We can critique what went wrong all night, but there's no real reason anymore.

Christina Henderson is my next hope.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm confused. I read DCUM and I thought the prevailing narrative was that charters were bad because "they aren't accountable" to anyone but a private board. Seems like the parents have been making noise about persistent failures of the principal at Hardy and DCPS Central has ignored those entreaties. That is shocking since I was led to believe that parents had a direct voice in leadership hiring and retention at DCPS schools.

Sincerely,
SHOCKED BY THIS DEVELOPMENT

Well, we’re about to find out . . .

The broader question (my sarcasm aside) is how is it any different to lobby DCPS Central than the Board of a charter school? Answer: It isn't. The idea of "accountability" is laughable. DCPS Central is insulated from all criticism and accountability. The IS forced out, discriminated against cost the city $$$$ in a lawsuit at JOW and the solution was...move JOW out of her division. Hundreds of millions in improper contracting dollars are spent and the answer is some low level, unnamed people are disciplined. No report and no higher ups lose their jobs.

Sure, but the stakes for Ferrebee are high on this one. They are pouring tens of millions into a new HS to relieve J-R that will be fed by Hardy. That new HS will never get anywhere if Hardy continues to go down the shitter. A good chunk of the high-performing ESs could go too. We don’t need to get into the fallout from any future security incidents. And a letter that strong, drafted by the entire parent engagement team for all three grades, is not an everyday event.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Hate to say I told you so but those of us who were skeptical of the new principal was right. Just look at past threads on here about Hardy and the new principal before he came on.

But lots of Hardy boosters on here who fails to acknowledge publicly the many issues and enable the status quo.

I think and other "I complained from day one" poster were not taken seriously precisely because you have been jumping and screaming since the first day of school or even before the school started. it's hard to take somebody seriously in a situation like that. after 2-3 months of school it's another story.

No. I started complaining when the 6th grade gym teacher situation started. It was absurd.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm confused. I read DCUM and I thought the prevailing narrative was that charters were bad because "they aren't accountable" to anyone but a private board. Seems like the parents have been making noise about persistent failures of the principal at Hardy and DCPS Central has ignored those entreaties. That is shocking since I was led to believe that parents had a direct voice in leadership hiring and retention at DCPS schools.

Sincerely,
SHOCKED BY THIS DEVELOPMENT

Well, we’re about to find out . . .

The broader question (my sarcasm aside) is how is it any different to lobby DCPS Central than the Board of a charter school? Answer: It isn't. The idea of "accountability" is laughable. DCPS Central is insulated from all criticism and accountability. The IS forced out, discriminated against cost the city $$$$ in a lawsuit at JOW and the solution was...move JOW out of her division. Hundreds of millions in improper contracting dollars are spent and the answer is some low level, unnamed people are disciplined. No report and no higher ups lose their jobs.

We screwed ourselves by not coming up with a better mayor.

I agree that she isn’t great, but there hasn’t been a single viable challenge to her since she was first elected. RWhite was not helped by TWhite’s spoiler candidacy but also by running a dumb campaign that positioned him to the left of her. Is there anyone out there that is electable and who we can be assured is more competent? It’s not unlike the predicament with Biden.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm confused. I read DCUM and I thought the prevailing narrative was that charters were bad because "they aren't accountable" to anyone but a private board. Seems like the parents have been making noise about persistent failures of the principal at Hardy and DCPS Central has ignored those entreaties. That is shocking since I was led to believe that parents had a direct voice in leadership hiring and retention at DCPS schools.

Sincerely,
SHOCKED BY THIS DEVELOPMENT

Well, we’re about to find out . . .

The broader question (my sarcasm aside) is how is it any different to lobby DCPS Central than the Board of a charter school? Answer: It isn't. The idea of "accountability" is laughable. DCPS Central is insulated from all criticism and accountability. The IS forced out, discriminated against cost the city $$$$ in a lawsuit at JOW and the solution was...move JOW out of her division. Hundreds of millions in improper contracting dollars are spent and the answer is some low level, unnamed people are disciplined. No report and no higher ups lose their jobs.

We screwed ourselves by not coming up with a better mayor.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm confused. I read DCUM and I thought the prevailing narrative was that charters were bad because "they aren't accountable" to anyone but a private board. Seems like the parents have been making noise about persistent failures of the principal at Hardy and DCPS Central has ignored those entreaties. That is shocking since I was led to believe that parents had a direct voice in leadership hiring and retention at DCPS schools.

Sincerely,
SHOCKED BY THIS DEVELOPMENT

Well, we’re about to find out . . .

The broader question (my sarcasm aside) is how is it any different to lobby DCPS Central than the Board of a charter school? Answer: It isn't. The idea of "accountability" is laughable. DCPS Central is insulated from all criticism and accountability. The IS forced out, discriminated against cost the city $$$$ in a lawsuit at JOW and the solution was...move JOW out of her division. Hundreds of millions in improper contracting dollars are spent and the answer is some low level, unnamed people are disciplined. No report and no higher ups lose their jobs.

Anonymous wrote:I'm confused. I read DCUM and I thought the prevailing narrative was that charters were bad because "they aren't accountable" to anyone but a private board. Seems like the parents have been making noise about persistent failures of the principal at Hardy and DCPS Central has ignored those entreaties. That is shocking since I was led to believe that parents had a direct voice in leadership hiring and retention at DCPS schools.

Sincerely,
SHOCKED BY THIS DEVELOPMENT

Well, we’re about to find out . . .

I'm confused. I read DCUM and I thought the prevailing narrative was that charters were bad because "they aren't accountable" to anyone but a private board. Seems like the parents have been making noise about persistent failures of the principal at Hardy and DCPS Central has ignored those entreaties. That is shocking since I was led to believe that parents had a direct voice in leadership hiring and retention at DCPS schools.

Sincerely,
SHOCKED BY THIS DEVELOPMENT

Anonymous wrote:How much of this is the fault of extended school closure followed immediately by Hardy getting scr*wed in the budget process?

I initially cut him slack because of post-pandemic malaise, the budget cuts, and because it would inevitably take him time to find his feet. But then my kid’s science teacher up and left with no notice and he failed to even notify us about it and respond to parent inquiries about what was going on. Parents had to take the issue up with DCPS and the Council to get their kids some science instruction while they figured out a replacement. But that experience was apparently representative of his competency in dealing with the various other challenges that have arisen during the school year. And when students’ physical welfare is put at risk because the principal doesn’t know what he’s doing, something has to give.

Anonymous wrote:How much of this is the fault of extended school closure followed immediately by Hardy getting scr*wed in the budget process?

15%-20%. Those things have mattered. But a lack of them would not have made the principal responsive, forthright or diligent.

How much of this is the fault of extended school closure followed immediately by Hardy getting scr*wed in the budget process?

Anonymous wrote:Could it have been better to have drafted a letter to the principal requesting that he resign?

This is literally the last option. If you think something logical should have been considered, you should assume it was already implemented and failed.

Anonymous wrote:It will be interesting to see how this plays out. If DCPS chooses to do nothing or installs another unqualified principal, it will be a pretty clear signal that the mayor’s notion of equity is to drag the city’s best performing schools down to mediocrity. It’s hard to imagine how things could be much worse Hardy could have been this year and if DCPS is OK with that, a lot of families will be exploring other options.

When DCPS decided to fire the Principal from Walls - they sent a message.
This is not a place for people who are going to take a stand. Who do you think was left?

Our last DCPS kid is currently at Walls - we moved our younger children to private as the writing was clear.

Anonymous wrote:Could it have been better to have drafted a letter to the principal requesting that he resign?

The principal will be told about the letter before it is submitted to the Chancellor, I believe.