Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes this is what limousine liberals don’t get and why they seem out of touch. Most families in these schools would love school choice.

We’ve got plenty of underperforming charters, too. No “voucher” will ever allow your child to go to Sidwell. I hope you realize that.

Anonymous wrote:Isn't a teachers assistant a job that doesn't even require a college degree? OP are you a college student? If not you have no business critiquing anyone on this subject.

Anonymous wrote:Yes this is what limousine liberals don’t get and why they seem out of touch. Most families in these schools would love school choice.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It depends on the enrichment programs the district can offer and when. My kids went to private k-elementary. Then to an >80% FARMS middle school. However, the enrichment, starting in middle school is excellent. My kids go to a local university for core classes- paid for my the district. For the highly advanced, it is even better than academics private can offer. If my kids were middle of the road academically, I would have stayed private

I am talking about ES experience only. These kids will actually go to a decent middle since other elementaries are not as bad and some even good.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The issue is we need better teachers and school staff. We go where there is affordable housing that is not a stretch...

Op here. The teachers I work for all seem to be juggling so many things and doing a great job at it. They are pretty rigid in terms of discipline but I know where they are coming from. I would say each class needs a couple permanent instructional assistants for these kids to have a semblance of normal educational experience that kids in “normal” schools have

The educational system needs to adjust to the reality that if you want kids in high poverty/high mobility/high EL schools to succeed you need at least one adult for every 8 kids and you need to lower that ratio if you have a class that is exceptionally high need. In my city the highest income public school has 40% non-low-income students and that school is an outlier because in most of our schools over 80% of students come from families with low income. Every single public school and public charter in the city has a majority of low-income students.

I know grads of every single school who have been successful in college and careers. Kids can succeed academically in the right environment, but the powers that be won't invest in the things that actually make kids successful, instead we have the endless search for the easy fix and that's never going to happen.

The high poverty schools can’t work. For most kids, their academic trajectory is set by 2nd grade. What a mess.

These kids are screwed early on, they just don't know it.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The issue is we need better teachers and school staff. We go where there is affordable housing that is not a stretch...

Op here. The teachers I work for all seem to be juggling so many things and doing a great job at it. They are pretty rigid in terms of discipline but I know where they are coming from. I would say each class needs a couple permanent instructional assistants for these kids to have a semblance of normal educational experience that kids in “normal” schools have

The educational system needs to adjust to the reality that if you want kids in high poverty/high mobility/high EL schools to succeed you need at least one adult for every 8 kids and you need to lower that ratio if you have a class that is exceptionally high need. In my city the highest income public school has 40% non-low-income students and that school is an outlier because in most of our schools over 80% of students come from families with low income. Every single public school and public charter in the city has a majority of low-income students.

I know grads of every single school who have been successful in college and careers. Kids can succeed academically in the right environment, but the powers that be won't invest in the things that actually make kids successful, instead we have the endless search for the easy fix and that's never going to happen.

The high poverty schools can’t work. For most kids, their academic trajectory is set by 2nd grade. What a mess.

These kids are screwed early on, they just don't know it.

Anonymous wrote:I have recently started working as a TA at an 85% low income and ESL school. This is not in the DMV area but I think there are very similar schools in FCPS for example. I can never say this to parents in my district because I am bound by all the privacy stuff but I want to say it here: please please don’t send your child to a school like that, even for K.
I don’t know why the kids from middle class families are there. Many of them seem at least 3rd Gen American so it’s not like their parents have no clue about the school system. Heck, many first Gen parents have a good idea! But apparently not them?
Each class has a group of very disruptive kids who ideally need their own aide, either as a group or even individually. They don’t seem to be getting much education simply because they are so distracted they can’t possibly learn much.
The rest of the kids are very very different from each other in terms of their levels. Ideally each class should have at least 3 level groups (not counting the separate one for distractable kids).
But since they only have one teacher… most of the time most of the kids are left to their own devices. The teacher works with one group at a time, doing an awesome job juggling them. The rest are doing activities mostly on their chromebooks. If your child is highly driven, disciplined, is able to ask for help, and has a good attention span - this kid will be fine. But even in that case… there won’t be much fun or enthusiasm in learning. Most of the energy is spent keeping discipline, and helping those who clearly struggle.
Your child’s presence doesn’t seem to benefit anyone either. I mean, maybe it benefits another child like that who now has a friend who is “good, smart” kid. But it definitely doesn’t have any influence on the overall class dynamic, I mean, yeah, it’s better than the class being 100% disruptive but maybe in the latter case help would arrive a little faster?
At the same time, it’s hurting the kids who are capable of learning and being excited to learn, but who instead spend their days almost forgotten (unless they get in trouble) and on their chromebooks.
Anyway, sorry if I am being too direct, but I really wanted to help the kids who can do so much better than this.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have recently started working as a TA at an 85% low income and ESL school. This is not in the DMV area but I think there are very similar schools in FCPS for example. I can never say this to parents in my district because I am bound by all the privacy stuff but I want to say it here: please please don’t send your child to a school like that, even for K.
I don’t know why the kids from middle class families are there. Many of them seem at least 3rd Gen American so it’s not like their parents have no clue about the school system. Heck, many first Gen parents have a good idea! But apparently not them?
Each class has a group of very disruptive kids who ideally need their own aide, either as a group or even individually. They don’t seem to be getting much education simply because they are so distracted they can’t possibly learn much.
The rest of the kids are very very different from each other in terms of their levels. Ideally each class should have at least 3 level groups (not counting the separate one for distractable kids).
But since they only have one teacher… most of the time most of the kids are left to their own devices. The teacher works with one group at a time, doing an awesome job juggling them. The rest are doing activities mostly on their chromebooks. If your child is highly driven, disciplined, is able to ask for help, and has a good attention span - this kid will be fine. But even in that case… there won’t be much fun or enthusiasm in learning. Most of the energy is spent keeping discipline, and helping those who clearly struggle.
Your child’s presence doesn’t seem to benefit anyone either. I mean, maybe it benefits another child like that who now has a friend who is “good, smart” kid. But it definitely doesn’t have any influence on the overall class dynamic, I mean, yeah, it’s better than the class being 100% disruptive but maybe in the latter case help would arrive a little faster?
At the same time, it’s hurting the kids who are capable of learning and being excited to learn, but who instead spend their days almost forgotten (unless they get in trouble) and on their chromebooks.
Anyway, sorry if I am being too direct, but I really wanted to help the kids who can do so much better than this.

How about we knock it off with being judgemental toward parents, please.

Yeah, that’ll fix the problem.

Don’t be judgemental.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The issue is we need better teachers and school staff. We go where there is affordable housing that is not a stretch...

Op here. The teachers I work for all seem to be juggling so many things and doing a great job at it. They are pretty rigid in terms of discipline but I know where they are coming from. I would say each class needs a couple permanent instructional assistants for these kids to have a semblance of normal educational experience that kids in “normal” schools have

The educational system needs to adjust to the reality that if you want kids in high poverty/high mobility/high EL schools to succeed you need at least one adult for every 8 kids and you need to lower that ratio if you have a class that is exceptionally high need. In my city the highest income public school has 40% non-low-income students and that school is an outlier because in most of our schools over 80% of students come from families with low income. Every single public school and public charter in the city has a majority of low-income students.

I know grads of every single school who have been successful in college and careers. Kids can succeed academically in the right environment, but the powers that be won't invest in the things that actually make kids successful, instead we have the endless search for the easy fix and that's never going to happen.

The high poverty schools can’t work. For most kids, their academic trajectory is set by 2nd grade. What a mess.

These kids are screwed early on, they just don't know it.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The issue is we need better teachers and school staff. We go where there is affordable housing that is not a stretch...

Op here. The teachers I work for all seem to be juggling so many things and doing a great job at it. They are pretty rigid in terms of discipline but I know where they are coming from. I would say each class needs a couple permanent instructional assistants for these kids to have a semblance of normal educational experience that kids in “normal” schools have

The educational system needs to adjust to the reality that if you want kids in high poverty/high mobility/high EL schools to succeed you need at least one adult for every 8 kids and you need to lower that ratio if you have a class that is exceptionally high need. In my city the highest income public school has 40% non-low-income students and that school is an outlier because in most of our schools over 80% of students come from families with low income. Every single public school and public charter in the city has a majority of low-income students.

I know grads of every single school who have been successful in college and careers. Kids can succeed academically in the right environment, but the powers that be won't invest in the things that actually make kids successful, instead we have the endless search for the easy fix and that's never going to happen.

The high poverty schools can’t work. For most kids, their academic trajectory is set by 2nd grade. What a mess.

These kids are screwed early on, they just don't know it.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The issue is we need better teachers and school staff. We go where there is affordable housing that is not a stretch...

Op here. The teachers I work for all seem to be juggling so many things and doing a great job at it. They are pretty rigid in terms of discipline but I know where they are coming from. I would say each class needs a couple permanent instructional assistants for these kids to have a semblance of normal educational experience that kids in “normal” schools have

The educational system needs to adjust to the reality that if you want kids in high poverty/high mobility/high EL schools to succeed you need at least one adult for every 8 kids and you need to lower that ratio if you have a class that is exceptionally high need. In my city the highest income public school has 40% non-low-income students and that school is an outlier because in most of our schools over 80% of students come from families with low income. Every single public school and public charter in the city has a majority of low-income students.

I know grads of every single school who have been successful in college and careers. Kids can succeed academically in the right environment, but the powers that be won't invest in the things that actually make kids successful, instead we have the endless search for the easy fix and that's never going to happen.

The high poverty schools can’t work. For most kids, their academic trajectory is set by 2nd grade. What a mess.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The issue is we need better teachers and school staff. We go where there is affordable housing that is not a stretch...

Op here. The teachers I work for all seem to be juggling so many things and doing a great job at it. They are pretty rigid in terms of discipline but I know where they are coming from. I would say each class needs a couple permanent instructional assistants for these kids to have a semblance of normal educational experience that kids in “normal” schools have

The educational system needs to adjust to the reality that if you want kids in high poverty/high mobility/high EL schools to succeed you need at least one adult for every 8 kids and you need to lower that ratio if you have a class that is exceptionally high need. In my city the highest income public school has 40% non-low-income students and that school is an outlier because in most of our schools over 80% of students come from families with low income. Every single public school and public charter in the city has a majority of low-income students.

I know grads of every single school who have been successful in college and careers. Kids can succeed academically in the right environment, but the powers that be won't invest in the things that actually make kids successful, instead we have the endless search for the easy fix and that's never going to happen.

The high poverty schools can’t work. For most kids, their academic trajectory is set by 2nd grade. What a mess.