Anonymous wrote:NP here, and I'm with PP in calling the poster racist. Like this gem:

"the bullies are learning that from being in environemnts [sic] where they are wathcing [sic] violent and sxual [sic] video games in the home, experiencing and witnessing violence from their moms and their boyfriends and then taking that learned behcaivor [sic] into a classroom. No thanks."

But isn't it you and PP assuming that poster means blacks. You are both aware there are poor white kids.

No, that is not context. Are you really surprised that a cluster, with 3 campuses and working with 1000+ kids has made some missteps? Of course.
And my guess if that if you look to the originators of the old thread and this new one, you will find the same 2-3 parents.
If you do not like DCPS, GO! Or play the lottery.

Anonymous wrote:Just to put some context to this discussion, perhaps some parents and teachers would like to see:
http://www.dcurbanmom.com/jforum/jforum.page?module=search&action=search&search_forum=32&match_type=all&sort_by=time&search_keywords=Dump+the+Cluster

That thread has 112 pages. Do you care to be specific about the point you are trying to make?

Just to put some context to this discussion, perhaps some parents and teachers would like to see:
http://www.dcurbanmom.com/jforum/jforum.page?module=search&action=search&search_forum=32&match_type=all&sort_by=time&search_keywords=Dump+the+Cluster

Anonymous wrote:The best suction is yo have a trained special ed teacher 1:1 with the difficult child in the regular class, and a designated calm down resource room. Dcps doesn't want to pay for that.

And just how do you think DCPS will pay for that? I can see 1 on 1 aides but not a full blown special ed teacher on a 1 to 1 basis. However, if the system is overwhelmed with out of control children then I think separate classrooms or separate schools makes more sense financially. I do not think we should sacrifice the safety and education of all of the other children who are often children of color to those children who are out of control.

I think all urban schools, even those dealing with mainly PK and K students, have issues with severe behavioral problems. Unfortunately, these are often (but certainly not always) kids who are coming from homes where the parents/guardians won't or don't have the capacity to support their own child. In DC, children services just won't do much. They left Relisha Rudd with her Mom afterall. It's up to the school to figure out what to do. Some schools (mostly the Title I schools) have this more or less figured out. They have academic deans that deal solely with kids with behavioral problems, they have therapists and social workers, and protocols for when kids are removed from classrooms and how parents are informed / included in addressing problems.
In the case of the Cluster, we have a dysfunctional administration that wants only one thing - no more complains from DCPS central. Instead of dealing with problems they try to cover them up. They do not support teachers. In the end, the entire school suffers.

For all the worried parents- just wait for the set asides. Do you really think emailing the chancellor everytime a troubled kid messes up your classroom is a long term plan?
Parents/teachers do not run schools. You can complain all you want- but all you are doing is hurting your own cause. The more you complain the more DCPs will dig their heels in.
So- either keep your trendy house/bike commute/metro lifestyle AND junky school policy, or move.

Anonymous wrote:The best suction is yo have a trained special ed teacher 1:1 with the difficult child in the regular class, and a designated calm down resource room. Dcps doesn't want to pay for that.

PP here from yesterday with the daughter who was touched inappropriately in PK.

Angry PP, the subject of this thread is the suspension of PRESCHOOLERS. As in, children less than 5 years old. The school policy to which I'm referring is for an elementary school. The discipline policy for the three and four year olds is different than the one for older elementary students because it recognizes that an approach that is developmentally appropriate for a 5th grader is not likely to be developmentally appropriate for a 4 year old. So this talk of high school students fighting on the metro is contextually inappropriate and should not be presented in a rational debate about the policy that this thread was started to discuss.

PP who mentioned the resource room, that's actua exactly what my school has. It's pre far down the list of consequences for poor behavior though. There are other things that are tried first to encourage the child to correct the behavior without excluding the child from class: verbal warnings, a trip to a quiet area of class to pull it together, etc. To the best of my knowledge, in a school of 400 kids, very few end up in the reset room.

Support for children to learn skill like dealing with emotions, coping with problems etc is needed. Suspending young children with behavioral problems is counter productive. Young children want to be with their parents.

Anyway I don't think anyone mentioned p that there was just a report that came out on this. I think it was OSSE that recommended not suspending PreKers. So Grosso introduced the bill to follow those recommendations. I don't have a link but it was recent. It might have been in the Post? Not sure.

The best suction is yo have a trained special ed teacher 1:1 with the difficult child in the regular class, and a designated calm down resource room. Dcps doesn't want to pay for that.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Suspending a PreK child is terrible! These children need support and educated on how to behave or deal with problems. It is a lazy administrator who just suspends them!

I did not say to suspend them. I said to educate them in a separate class. Now if simple interventions like sitting near the teacher work that is different. However, I have spoke with many teachers who told me of some very out of control students who took most of their attention away from the rest of the class and also posed a safety risk for the other children emotionally and physically. To me that is unacceptable and the schools should have criteria on when it becomes necessary to pull a student out of a classroom.

I don't think separating them is the answer. Wrap around services for the family is but high SES citizens don't want to pay for that! They would rather segregate.

Anonymous wrote:No, the problem is that you all don't want to admit that you are in an URBAN school system. Peabody used to be an enclave now its urban. One kid urban. And guess what- you get to make the choice. Stay or go. Even Kaya will tell you that.

So you're saying that Kaya doesn't cater to or care about the middle class by providing viable/safe school options. That's why DCPS just needs to go out of business and let the city go all charter. What an endemic attitude - put up with crap or leave, but no change to the system.

PS - It's not just one kid. Start counting when you ask your kid. ASK. If you're a school administrator, ASK the staff, students and parents; get involved and care.

Dump the Cluster!

No, the problem is that you all don't want to admit that you are in an URBAN school system. Peabody used to be an enclave now its urban. One kid urban. And guess what- you get to make the choice. Stay or go. Even Kaya will tell you that.

Wow, this just sounds like another Capitol Hill Cluster f^ck.

Some kids in school here live in and are subject to conditions that these so-called high SES'ers cannot fathom. There's no meaningful gov't support for the kids, or at least none that the school is going to willingly provide. So they act out and beat on your high SES kids who don't know how to fight back. They are bullying, but no one is going to do anything meaningful about it. Meanwhile they cause the classroom to go into disarray, no one learns, no one goes on field trips, and no one grows. OP, ask your kid if he/she can write the letter A or B or C, or anything except for letters if his/her own name, or can count to 20. Ask your kid if he/she ever went on a field trip and when was the last time. Find out what field trips that class used to go on in prior years and how much the kids could count and write, and loved that class so dearly. Ask yourself whether the lack of resources to maintain order and discipline in the classroom so all suffer, and that the class can't go on field trips because some students are uncontrollable, is worth it. Kinda like growing up in a psych ward with sudden outbursts - toddler shell-shock. Your epiphany will come, just maybe when DC is bruised (physically, emotionally, whatever), or stagnating intellectually, and in elementary school. Yeah, you'll go private or move. And the bullies will find other victims, and only the bullies' inside hurt will grow ... and fester: kaboum or kaputt. And the victims will be scared. Great ending.