Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They should have just put Bruce Jackson back at Miner and put Katie Mustian Prall at Amidon-Bowen. That would have made the most sense. They could have just put Carrie at Oyster-Adam’s.

IB OA parent here with two lifer children. Comments like this reveal non-OA families’ ignorance about the school. Placing a non-Spanish speaking principal (Carrie) at OA is a non-starter. We’re very excited about Ms. Brito leading the school.

Please stay in your monolingual lane.

I think Carrie does speak Spanish actually but yes you need someone fully fluent and biliterate at OA.

Sorry, Spanglish doesn’t count.

Carrie is fluent in Spanish. I heard her having a full conversation in Spanish with a Latino parent at Lafayette last week. There’s some serious hate against Dr. Broquard that needs to stop. I would gladly send my little chickadee to any school being led by the phenomenal, exquisite, superb, splendid, and magnificent Dr. Broquard. She’s a true virtuoso and maverick of our time. The DC Standing Ovation award nominations are coming up and I will gladly be nominating Carrie Broquard.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They should have just put Bruce Jackson back at Miner and put Katie Mustian Prall at Amidon-Bowen. That would have made the most sense. They could have just put Carrie at Oyster-Adam’s.

IB OA parent here with two lifer children. Comments like this reveal non-OA families’ ignorance about the school. Placing a non-Spanish speaking principal (Carrie) at OA is a non-starter. We’re very excited about Ms. Brito leading the school.

Please stay in your monolingual lane.

I think Carrie does speak Spanish actually but yes you need someone fully fluent and biliterate at OA.

Sorry, Spanglish doesn’t count.

Also if you look at schools like Kimball, CW Harrison, Patterson, Bunker Hill, Burrville, Smothers, Stanton, etc you would see that those schools are thriving because they are being led by people who look like the students they serve and those principals understand the community and relate to the parents. Principal Gorham at CW Harris is a perfect example of someone who relates to the parents at his school. If you visit that school, you see him out there speaking to the parents, dapping it up with the young dads and making them feel comfortable. I highly doubt that a white principal, particularly a white male principal would be able to do the same.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Are White principals not qualified to lead SE schools? Aren’t we talking about role models here? Or is there something else happening ?

They are, but black children need role models who actually look like them and truly understands their culture and community. White principals come from outside of the neighborhood and don’t have a real connection to the community.

Name a DCPS principal who lives in “the neighborhood.” You could count it on one hand, if there are any.

Also if you really wanna get mad (sarcasm), if the AP at Amidon Bowen stays for next year, the two leaders will both be white men.

I’m pretty sure the PP who is all bothered by this has never set foot at Amidon or knows parents there.

You completely missed the point about white principals not have a connection to the community at a predominately black school. A middle class or upper middle class white man/woman does not understand the culture of the black community and does not have any significant cultural ties to the black community. Do you honestly believe that a white principal who commutes from NW, Montgomery County, Arlington County, Fairfax County understand the plight of black children who might be impoverished? Do you honestly believe that a white principal can relate to black parents better than a black principal? Do you honestly believe that a white principal who lives in a white community can’t put aside implicit racial bias when leading a predominately black school? The answer to all of these questions is NO.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:what about a Black woman to lead a predominantly Hispanic school? How far are you going with this?

That’s problematic as well unless the said black woman is Dominican. Dominicans are black people who speak Spanish.

You don’t think a Black person should lead a white school?

I don’t mind it but most white parents do mind having any black person lead a predominately white school. Just ask Principal Singh at Janney, Principal Byrd at Payne, Principal Eatman at Eaton, and Dr. Hooks at Hyde. The white parents at all of these schools had problems with a black person leading the school.

Why is it ok that white parents have a problem with a black person leading a predominately white school but black parents have no say when a white person is appointed to lead a mostly black school? All smoke and mirrors.

This is exactly what I wanted to know. I highly doubt that the black parents at Amidon-Bowen wanted a white man to lead their school. I also doubt that the black parents at Garrison, Miner, and Wheatley wanted white men/women leading their school either. People from the community should have been given those positions.

Why is this not racist ? If I said there should only be white principals in ward 3 I would be called a racist.

It isn’t racist given the nuanced history of race relations in this country. Let me school you on some simple history to get you caught up. There was this thing called slavery that existed and was still on the books in some states until the 1970’s. Slavery actually still exists but took on another form known as mass incarceration of black men in the prison system. There was also this thing called the Jim Crow era where discriminatory practices were written into the law as a response to enslaved African Americans being granted freedom. There was also redlining where African Americans were prevented from buying homes. You can see the effects of redlining today in Ward 3 neighborhoods. In the community of Broad Branch, an African American neighborhood was torn down to build Lafayette Elementary School. Now, let’s close this history lesson by mentioning the group that was responsible for implementing all of these horrible things; white men. It should be quite simple to see why the optics are bad for white men and white women to lead predominately black schools. It gives off a certain reminder of the oppression, discrimination and racism that black people have endured at the hands of white folks throughout history.

Anonymous wrote:Two observations here: 1.) someone is trying to get a reaction out of folks here by praising Dr. B to the sky and 2.) Enough with the racialism. Jeez. Can people ever stop obsessing about race??

People will never stop obsessing about race as long as the United States continues to have a caste system that treats people differently according to their race. Racism is ingrained in the fabric of American society. The YT folks who instituted slavery and adopted Jim Crow policies are the ones who started this obsession with race.

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Anonymous wrote:I hope Jackson didn't write his own bio... it's full of typos. With that said, I hope he is successful at Amidon-Bowen. It won't be easy to come in with a pending renovation, the newly built day care center (so foolish not to coordinate but that's dcps/dgs for you!) a very economically and racially diverse community, the departure of some very long-tenured staff, and a previous principal who was there for 8 years and thus is the only principal any parents or students are likely to have known.

The optics look really bad for them to move a white man into a predominately black school to lead. They should have chosen a black man or a black woman to lead Amidon-Bowen.

I don't know who else applied for the job. He might have been the best option. And the school is increasingly diverse. If he can get the test scores up and cope with everything else, that will be wonderful. I don't believe the principal necessarily has to be the same race as the majority of the students, especially if the staff as a whole are diverse.

It seems as if the leaders are no longer reflective of the schools unless they are in the NW. Do the parents of some of the lower performing schools get a say? Do they even matter to DCPS? Where are the Black women principals?

Dr Reid at Barnard, Carmen Shepard Thomson, etc

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They should have just put Bruce Jackson back at Miner and put Katie Mustian Prall at Amidon-Bowen. That would have made the most sense. They could have just put Carrie at Oyster-Adam’s.

IB OA parent here with two lifer children. Comments like this reveal non-OA families’ ignorance about the school. Placing a non-Spanish speaking principal (Carrie) at OA is a non-starter. We’re very excited about Ms. Brito leading the school.

Please stay in your monolingual lane.

I think Carrie does speak Spanish actually but yes you need someone fully fluent and biliterate at OA.

I’m sorry Mr. Jackson but I am for real …

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:what about a Black woman to lead a predominantly Hispanic school? How far are you going with this?

That’s problematic as well unless the said black woman is Dominican. Dominicans are black people who speak Spanish.

You don’t think a Black person should lead a white school?

I don’t mind it but most white parents do mind having any black person lead a predominately white school. Just ask Principal Singh at Janney, Principal Byrd at Payne, Principal Eatman at Eaton, and Dr. Hooks at Hyde. The white parents at all of these schools had problems with a black person leading the school.

Why is it ok that white parents have a problem with a black person leading a predominately white school but black parents have no say when a white person is appointed to lead a mostly black school? All smoke and mirrors.

This is exactly what I wanted to know. I highly doubt that the black parents at Amidon-Bowen wanted a white man to lead their school. I also doubt that the black parents at Garrison, Miner, and Wheatley wanted white men/women leading their school either. People from the community should have been given those positions.

You’d be wrong. The selection panel at AB — which was majority minority — had Jackson as their first choice despite having AA options. The white parents on the panel were elected by the parent community to represent them. The teachers on the panel were majority Black. Everyone wanted Jackson. Because he’s amazing. Seriously. This is a dumb fight to pick on DCUM because the actual people involved with the election from the community wanted Jackson. When Jackson was interim principal of Miner, a *majority* of parents and basically all teachers/staff signed a petition to not even bother having a selection panel. He is really well liked and support does not split along racial lines.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Are White principals not qualified to lead SE schools? Aren’t we talking about role models here? Or is there something else happening ?

They are, but black children need role models who actually look like them and truly understands their culture and community. White principals come from outside of the neighborhood and don’t have a real connection to the community.

Name a DCPS principal who lives in “the neighborhood.” You could count it on one hand, if there are any.

Also if you really wanna get mad (sarcasm), if the AP at Amidon Bowen stays for next year, the two leaders will both be white men.

I’m pretty sure the PP who is all bothered by this has never set foot at Amidon or knows parents there.

Two observations here: 1.) someone is trying to get a reaction out of folks here by praising Dr. B to the sky and 2.) Enough with the racialism. Jeez. Can people ever stop obsessing about race??

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I hope Jackson didn't write his own bio... it's full of typos. With that said, I hope he is successful at Amidon-Bowen. It won't be easy to come in with a pending renovation, the newly built day care center (so foolish not to coordinate but that's dcps/dgs for you!) a very economically and racially diverse community, the departure of some very long-tenured staff, and a previous principal who was there for 8 years and thus is the only principal any parents or students are likely to have known.

The optics look really bad for them to move a white man into a predominately black school to lead. They should have chosen a black man or a black woman to lead Amidon-Bowen.

I don't know who else applied for the job. He might have been the best option. And the school is increasingly diverse. If he can get the test scores up and cope with everything else, that will be wonderful. I don't believe the principal necessarily has to be the same race as the majority of the students, especially if the staff as a whole are diverse.

It seems as if the leaders are no longer reflective of the schools unless they are in the NW. Do the parents of some of the lower performing schools get a say? Do they even matter to DCPS? Where are the Black women principals?

Oh please. This is absurd. You don't know what you are talking about.

The NW schools generally have a diverse set of principals and APs and may or may not "reflect" the demographics of the school.

DCPS should hire the best people for the job. When they rank optics too highly, they get themselves in trouble (thinking of you, Princ. Johnson). Meanwhile, the kids need education and need preparation to live in a diverse world. Role models of different profiles are great, but the person needs to be good to be a role model.

A particular look plus a title does not make a role model!

Yes it does. Black boys in particular need to see black men in positions of power. This serves as a role model for them.

It's true for all children. It's just on the old days, there weren't many black men in positions of power for black boys to see. Same for girls. There plenty of white boys in DCPS who have never yet had a white male principal.

The point is that all kids in DCPS these days should -- and most likely will -- have principals of different demographics across their time on school. And that's a good thing.

The world of from the perspective of today's kids looks different than what we saw, if you would observe if you considered their world without your own biases.

tldr; Sure black boys should see black men in positions of power. That doesn't mean *every* person they see in positions of power needs to be Black male.

But white boys see white men who look like them in other positions of power everywhere else. Congress? Mostly white men. Corporate Boardrooms? Mostly white men. Management Boards? Mostly white men. Stock Brokers? Mostly white men. Doctors? Mostly white men. Lawyers? Mostly white men. Walking through many gentrified neighborhoods? Mostly white men. DC Police? Mostly white men. DC Fire & EMS? Mostly white men. Faces on TV? Mostly white men.

White boys don't spend time in boardrooms or law offices. Their "workplace" is school.

And you seem to ignore girls completely.

I stand by my comment above:
Black boys should see black men in positions of power. That doesn't mean *every* person they see in positions of power needs to be Black male.

All kids should be around a diverse set of capable and caring adults. That's the best preparation for the future for ALL of them.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:what about a Black woman to lead a predominantly Hispanic school? How far are you going with this?

That’s problematic as well unless the said black woman is Dominican. Dominicans are black people who speak Spanish.

You don’t think a Black person should lead a white school?

I don’t mind it but most white parents do mind having any black person lead a predominately white school. Just ask Principal Singh at Janney, Principal Byrd at Payne, Principal Eatman at Eaton, and Dr. Hooks at Hyde. The white parents at all of these schools had problems with a black person leading the school.

Why is it ok that white parents have a problem with a black person leading a predominately white school but black parents have no say when a white person is appointed to lead a mostly black school? All smoke and mirrors.

This is exactly what I wanted to know. I highly doubt that the black parents at Amidon-Bowen wanted a white man to lead their school. I also doubt that the black parents at Garrison, Miner, and Wheatley wanted white men/women leading their school either. People from the community should have been given those positions.

Why is this not racist ? If I said there should only be white principals in ward 3 I would be called a racist.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Speaking of principals, I’m happy about Dr. Broquard being the principal at Miner. I absolutely love and adore her. She’s so nice and relatable. She’s going to do great!

+100 Dr. Broquard is probably the nicest and most down to Earth DCPS principal.

oh honey, you have no idea what you're in for.