On the OOB rights and boundaries issues.

I hesitate to say more on this because I don't have a lot of clarity, and I realise that these issues are extremely sensitive. But at our last meeting, DCPS tried to clarify that it is ruling out ending OOB feeder rights and widespread redrawing boundaries, but that "Reduce OOB seats offered" and "School-level boundary adjustments" were possible for elementary schools.

I don't know what either would actually entail, but if I do, I would be happy to share it. I can wildly speculate. Could mean smaller boundary adjustments between elementary schools within the feeder if that were to make sense? And on OOB could mean limiting offering OOB slots after some grade or changing the policy about moving out of bounds and remaining at school? But again these are *guesses* not actual information.

Brian
W3EdNet

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A few things to share re Tuesday night's meeting:

-- Yes, the DCPS survey is still open. You can fill it out here: https://tinyurl.com/yajh5gvt It will close on September 8th. (BTW it is a DCPS survey, not a W3EdNet survey) DCPS did express concerns that the sample was not representative, with OOB families being underrepresented. The preliminary results are essentially the same as those presented at the last meeting.
-- As noted before DCPS' slide decks and notes from previous meeting are here: https://dcpsplanning.wordpress.com/category/wilson-feeder-pattern/
-- We spent the first part of the meeting providing feedback on the notes (as requested by DCPS) and letting them know where we thought they did not reflect the discussion. (In fairness, we are talking a lot, and I can imagine it is difficult to be a notetaker in that situation.)
-- We also received some school-by-school enrollment projections from DCPS. A number of folks took issue with those numbers, especially for Deal and Wilson. That will be an "ongoing conversation".
-- Finally we broke into groups to discuss various options presented by DCPS.

The working group's next meeting is September 19th at 6pm at a location still to be determined.

Only somewhat connected to the discussions last night, the DME's office also shared with me (after the meeting) the following slide deck on DC public school enrollment trends: https://dme.dc.gov/sites/default/files/dc/sites/dme/publication/attachments/Public%20School%20Enrollment%20Trends%202011-2016%20FINAL.pdf

Thanks,

Brian
W3EdNet

Many thanks for the summary, Brian. And thanks for taking a public role in pushing for progress on these issues. What can the rest of us do to push for progress? Just fill out DCPS's survey, or something more? Is it effective to email comments to DCPS, or is that a waste of energy? Maybe emails to ANC reps or City Council members? Does rabble-rousing here on DCUM help or hurt? You're more active in this than any of us, so you probably know better what's productive and what's counter-productive. Advice needed please.

I cannot claim to be an expert by any means. People here have accused me of being naive, and perhaps I am. But my sense is that DCPS wants to do something (i.e. this is not just a show), even if that something is not what we might want them to do in the end. Indeed, the problem at some schools (like Deal and Wilson) is acute enough that they have to. My sense of the solutions on the table now is that we have brought most of them (of course, a lot of it is throwing any idea at the problem and seeing what sticks). DCPS has offered some but frankly not a lot. But I do believe they are open to ideas. In the short term especially, we are going to have to be really creative about looking for solutions (if you have any that you can think of, please email me at w3ednet@gmail.com)

So I do think that filling out the survey will help. And writing in suggestions will help. I will say that just/only telling DCPS to do the things it has already said it will not do (end OOB feeder rights, remove schools, and redraw boundaries) is probably of more limited use. I won't say that will no impact, but you probably have more impact throwing weight behind other solutions since those are more likely. (*** Let me say more on the OOB and boundary issue in another post.)

But I do think writing letters to the Mayor, DME, and Chancellor can also help (of course, carbon copy the Council, DCPS.Planning@dc.gov, and me if you wouldn't mind). In part, I think letters help because you can be more expansive in a letter than you can in the survey. And it does take more effort to write a letter, so you signal motivation.

Brian
W3EdNet

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As long as the wards which elect the Mayor are 5, 7, 8, and parts of 1, 4, and 6?

Wilson and Deal will never be a private white country club.

If you don't like the overcrowding, go suburb or go private. Sorry to pop your balloon, but it gets old watching people say the same stupid stuff over and over and over as you couldn't figure out history (or at least a search engine).

With the exception of Mary Cheh, there are no elected officials in DC who give a tinker's damn about overcrowding in the more popular schools. Why? Because families keep wanting to attend them anyway, and the complainers who complain loudest about overcrowding have no political power outside of Ward 3.

DCUM is not a voting block. Wards 1, 4, & 5 are - and they like their access to Ward 3 schools.

Don't like it? Leave. There is someone willing to take your child's place - oh, and complain less about it, too.

Ward 3 should go to Congress and get authority to form their own school district, while the GOP is in control. Can you imagine how great the schools would be?!

That way, each new school district could choose its own priorities. The Ward 3 district could spend more on speciality teachers, enrichment programs and a rigorous, transparent contracting process. Another district in DC might choose to prioritize a large central office, longterm. deadwood school system jobs for "the community," and crony contracting (and favorable school placements) for the politically well-connected.

A bunch of cities did this in the 1970's -- the white parts of town formed their own school districts to avoid desegregation. St. Louis and Atlanta come to mind. The long-term result was lawsuits and rancor.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Catania had no real chance since he wasn't the Democratic nominee. But the fact that Catania beat Bowser in Wards 2 and 3, and essentially tied her in Ward 6, ought to make her nervous.

https://www.dcboe.org/election_info/election_results/2014/November-4-General-Election
https://www.dcboe.org/election_info/election_results/2014/April-1-Primary-Election

The bottom line is that Ward 3 voted heavily in Bowser's favor in the primary.

She went right in the primary and left in the general. Until DC isn't hopeless one-party the corruption will continue. At least we don't have a vote in Congress.

She only won because in the primary Karl Racine had Vince Gray dangling by one leg into the pokey with his dirty campaign schenanigans. Catania in the general election merely shows how weak she will be as a "real" candidate. Can you imagine a Racine-Gray-Bowser primary, it will be a crazy!!

Karl Racine was not involved AT ALL in investigating Gray. It was a federal / US attorneys office investigation.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As long as the wards which elect the Mayor are 5, 7, 8, and parts of 1, 4, and 6?

Wilson and Deal will never be a private white country club.

If you don't like the overcrowding, go suburb or go private. Sorry to pop your balloon, but it gets old watching people say the same stupid stuff over and over and over as you couldn't figure out history (or at least a search engine).

With the exception of Mary Cheh, there are no elected officials in DC who give a tinker's damn about overcrowding in the more popular schools. Why? Because families keep wanting to attend them anyway, and the complainers who complain loudest about overcrowding have no political power outside of Ward 3.

DCUM is not a voting block. Wards 1, 4, & 5 are - and they like their access to Ward 3 schools.

Don't like it? Leave. There is someone willing to take your child's place - oh, and complain less about it, too.

Ward 3 should go to Congress and get authority to form their own school district, while the GOP is in control. Can you imagine how great the schools would be?!

That way, each new school district could choose its own priorities. The Ward 3 district could spend more on speciality teachers, enrichment programs and a rigorous, transparent contracting process. Another district in DC might choose to prioritize a large central office, longterm. deadwood school system jobs for "the community," and crony contracting (and favorable school placements) for the politically well-connected.

+100

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As long as the wards which elect the Mayor are 5, 7, 8, and parts of 1, 4, and 6?

Wilson and Deal will never be a private white country club.

If you don't like the overcrowding, go suburb or go private. Sorry to pop your balloon, but it gets old watching people say the same stupid stuff over and over and over as you couldn't figure out history (or at least a search engine).

With the exception of Mary Cheh, there are no elected officials in DC who give a tinker's damn about overcrowding in the more popular schools. Why? Because families keep wanting to attend them anyway, and the complainers who complain loudest about overcrowding have no political power outside of Ward 3.

DCUM is not a voting block. Wards 1, 4, & 5 are - and they like their access to Ward 3 schools.

Don't like it? Leave. There is someone willing to take your child's place - oh, and complain less about it, too.

Ward 3 should go to Congress and get authority to form their own school district, while the GOP is in control. Can you imagine how great the schools would be?!

That way, each new school district could choose its own priorities. The Ward 3 district could spend more on speciality teachers, enrichment programs and a rigorous, transparent contracting process. Another district in DC might choose to prioritize a large central office, longterm. deadwood school system jobs for "the community," and crony contracting (and favorable school placements) for the politically well-connected.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Catania had no real chance since he wasn't the Democratic nominee. But the fact that Catania beat Bowser in Wards 2 and 3, and essentially tied her in Ward 6, ought to make her nervous.

https://www.dcboe.org/election_info/election_results/2014/November-4-General-Election
https://www.dcboe.org/election_info/election_results/2014/April-1-Primary-Election

The bottom line is that Ward 3 voted heavily in Bowser's favor in the primary.

She went right in the primary and left in the general. Until DC isn't hopeless one-party the corruption will continue. At least we don't have a vote in Congress.

She only won because in the primary Karl Racine had Vince Gray dangling by one leg into the pokey with his dirty campaign schenanigans. Catania in the general election merely shows how weak she will be as a "real" candidate. Can you imagine a Racine-Gray-Bowser primary, it will be a crazy!!

I'm not sure what the point of this survey is. Ward 3 parents spoke clearly during the last boundary review that they want high performing, uncrowded, neighborhood schools. Period. Nothing has changed.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Catania had no real chance since he wasn't the Democratic nominee. But the fact that Catania beat Bowser in Wards 2 and 3, and essentially tied her in Ward 6, ought to make her nervous.

https://www.dcboe.org/election_info/election_results/2014/November-4-General-Election
https://www.dcboe.org/election_info/election_results/2014/April-1-Primary-Election

The bottom line is that Ward 3 voted heavily in Bowser's favor in the primary.

She went right in the primary and left in the general. Until DC isn't hopeless one-party the corruption will continue. At least we don't have a vote in Congress.

And I'm actually thankful that DC superior and court of appeals judges are recommended locally but vetted and confirmed at the federal level. Imagine what it would be like if the DC mayor appointed judges. It would make the judiciary branches of Cook County and Louisiana look clean by comparison.

Anonymous wrote:Catania had no real chance since he wasn't the Democratic nominee. But the fact that Catania beat Bowser in Wards 2 and 3, and essentially tied her in Ward 6, ought to make her nervous.

https://www.dcboe.org/election_info/election_results/2014/November-4-General-Election
https://www.dcboe.org/election_info/election_results/2014/April-1-Primary-Election

The bottom line is that Ward 3 voted heavily in Bowser's favor in the primary.

She went right in the primary and left in the general. Until DC isn't hopeless one-party the corruption will continue. At least we don't have a vote in Congress.

Catania had no real chance since he wasn't the Democratic nominee. But the fact that Catania beat Bowser in Wards 2 and 3, and essentially tied her in Ward 6, ought to make her nervous.

https://www.dcboe.org/election_info/election_results/2014/November-4-General-Election
https://www.dcboe.org/election_info/election_results/2014/April-1-Primary-Election

The bottom line is that Ward 3 voted heavily in Bowser's favor in the primary.

Anonymous wrote:A few things to share re Tuesday night's meeting:

-- Yes, the DCPS survey is still open. You can fill it out here: https://tinyurl.com/yajh5gvt It will close on September 8th. (BTW it is a DCPS survey, not a W3EdNet survey) DCPS did express concerns that the sample was not representative, with OOB families being underrepresented. The preliminary results are essentially the same as those presented at the last meeting.
-- As noted before DCPS' slide decks and notes from previous meeting are here: https://dcpsplanning.wordpress.com/category/wilson-feeder-pattern/
-- We spent the first part of the meeting providing feedback on the notes (as requested by DCPS) and letting them know where we thought they did not reflect the discussion. (In fairness, we are talking a lot, and I can imagine it is difficult to be a notetaker in that situation.)
-- We also received some school-by-school enrollment projections from DCPS. A number of folks took issue with those numbers, especially for Deal and Wilson. That will be an "ongoing conversation".
-- Finally we broke into groups to discuss various options presented by DCPS.

The working group's next meeting is September 19th at 6pm at a location still to be determined.

Only somewhat connected to the discussions last night, the DME's office also shared with me (after the meeting) the following slide deck on DC public school enrollment trends: https://dme.dc.gov/sites/default/files/dc/sites/dme/publication/attachments/Public%20School%20Enrollment%20Trends%202011-2016%20FINAL.pdf

Thanks,

Brian
W3EdNet

Slide 14 is alarming for wilson!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As long as the wards which elect the Mayor are 5, 7, 8, and parts of 1, 4, and 6?

Wilson and Deal will never be a private white country club.

If you don't like the overcrowding, go suburb or go private. Sorry to pop your balloon, but it gets old watching people say the same stupid stuff over and over and over as you couldn't figure out history (or at least a search engine).

With the exception of Mary Cheh, there are no elected officials in DC who give a tinker's damn about overcrowding in the more popular schools. Why? Because families keep wanting to attend them anyway, and the complainers who complain loudest about overcrowding have no political power outside of Ward 3.

DCUM is not a voting block. Wards 1, 4, & 5 are - and they like their access to Ward 3 schools.

Don't like it? Leave. There is someone willing to take your child's place - oh, and complain less about it, too.

You aren't paying attention to vote counts. Here are the Ward results from the 2014 Democratic Primary, which is where Muriel Bowser effectively got chosen as mayor:

Muriel Bowser votes / total votes for mayor / Bowser % of ward vote (vote totals rounded to nearest 100)
Ward 1 ... 5,500 / 12,000 / 46%
Ward 2 ... 4,000 / 8,000 / 50%
Ward 3 ... 8,700 / 13,800 / 63%
Ward 4 ... 8,200 / 16,600 / 50%
Ward 5 ... 4,400 / 13,000 / 34%
Ward 6 ... 6,000 / 16,100 / 29%
Ward 7 ... 3,000 / 10,400 / 29%
Ward 8 ... 2,200 / 7,100 / 31%

http://www.dcurbanmom.com/jforum/posts/quote/390/11245497.page

Ward 3 provided more votes for Bowser than any other ward. Ward 3 is the only place she won a majority of votes. She won because (1) Vincent Gray was wounded, (2) Tommy Wells drew support from Gray, and (3) Ward 3 got behind her. If Ward 3 abandons her, she loses in 2018.

And then she lost Ward 3 in the general election to David Catania.

Some of us are independent thinkers and not party sycophants. Unfortunately, not enough.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A few things to share re Tuesday night's meeting:

-- Yes, the DCPS survey is still open. You can fill it out here: https://tinyurl.com/yajh5gvt It will close on September 8th. (BTW it is a DCPS survey, not a W3EdNet survey) DCPS did express concerns that the sample was not representative, with OOB families being underrepresented. The preliminary results are essentially the same as those presented at the last meeting.
-- As noted before DCPS' slide decks and notes from previous meeting are here: https://dcpsplanning.wordpress.com/category/wilson-feeder-pattern/
-- We spent the first part of the meeting providing feedback on the notes (as requested by DCPS) and letting them know where we thought they did not reflect the discussion. (In fairness, we are talking a lot, and I can imagine it is difficult to be a notetaker in that situation.)
-- We also received some school-by-school enrollment projections from DCPS. A number of folks took issue with those numbers, especially for Deal and Wilson. That will be an "ongoing conversation".
-- Finally we broke into groups to discuss various options presented by DCPS.

The working group's next meeting is September 19th at 6pm at a location still to be determined.

Only somewhat connected to the discussions last night, the DME's office also shared with me (after the meeting) the following slide deck on DC public school enrollment trends: https://dme.dc.gov/sites/default/files/dc/sites/dme/publication/attachments/Public%20School%20Enrollment%20Trends%202011-2016%20FINAL.pdf

Thanks,

Brian
W3EdNet

Many thanks for the summary, Brian. And thanks for taking a public role in pushing for progress on these issues. What can the rest of us do to push for progress? Just fill out DCPS's survey, or something more? Is it effective to email comments to DCPS, or is that a waste of energy? Maybe emails to ANC reps or City Council members? Does rabble-rousing here on DCUM help or hurt? You're more active in this than any of us, so you probably know better what's productive and what's counter-productive. Advice needed please.

More people voting for change as opposed to the same-old-same-old DC status quo.

Until you have the ear of the majority of elected officials, you can forget about your frustration making a difference. It will continue to provide ad revenue for Jeff though, so make sure to vent on DCUM.

Anonymous wrote:A few things to share re Tuesday night's meeting:

-- Yes, the DCPS survey is still open. You can fill it out here: https://tinyurl.com/yajh5gvt It will close on September 8th. (BTW it is a DCPS survey, not a W3EdNet survey) DCPS did express concerns that the sample was not representative, with OOB families being underrepresented. The preliminary results are essentially the same as those presented at the last meeting.
-- As noted before DCPS' slide decks and notes from previous meeting are here: https://dcpsplanning.wordpress.com/category/wilson-feeder-pattern/
-- We spent the first part of the meeting providing feedback on the notes (as requested by DCPS) and letting them know where we thought they did not reflect the discussion. (In fairness, we are talking a lot, and I can imagine it is difficult to be a notetaker in that situation.)
-- We also received some school-by-school enrollment projections from DCPS. A number of folks took issue with those numbers, especially for Deal and Wilson. That will be an "ongoing conversation".
-- Finally we broke into groups to discuss various options presented by DCPS.

The working group's next meeting is September 19th at 6pm at a location still to be determined.

Only somewhat connected to the discussions last night, the DME's office also shared with me (after the meeting) the following slide deck on DC public school enrollment trends: https://dme.dc.gov/sites/default/files/dc/sites/dme/publication/attachments/Public%20School%20Enrollment%20Trends%202011-2016%20FINAL.pdf

Thanks,

Brian
W3EdNet

Many thanks for the summary, Brian. And thanks for taking a public role in pushing for progress on these issues. What can the rest of us do to push for progress? Just fill out DCPS's survey, or something more? Is it effective to email comments to DCPS, or is that a waste of energy? Maybe emails to ANC reps or City Council members? Does rabble-rousing here on DCUM help or hurt? You're more active in this than any of us, so you probably know better what's productive and what's counter-productive. Advice needed please.