Sorry, socialist: the taxpayers in DC do fund after school programs at a variety of schools across the city. Find it on the DCPS website. It's Deal and Hardy and a few others whose enrollment of poor kids on free and reduced lunch is so low (20% or less of the school population) that they city cancelled the support of the aftercare program at these schools.

Anyway, a group of parents had a very good meeting with the principal and they are going to try to find a solution for those families who need aftercare - most likely to be fee based.

I am a liberal bordering on socialist and still don't believe that taxpayers or The PTA should have to fund after school care.

OMG, just saying not everyone can afford even $5 a week for aftercare and they may have kids enrolled at Deal. 13:38, of COURSE you pay your taxes in DC, what choice do you freaking have?? And would it offend anyone if a fraction of a percent of your taxes of your tax-deductible contribution to your PTA covered a child who would otherwise have nowhere safe to be between 3 and 6? Didn't we just learn that the PTA happily paid for the principal's IB conference in Mexico? Did that include hotel and drinks? Splitting infinititives on this topic of funding a handful of "potential"studnets is so boring and yet so excruciatingly revealing.

If we are talking about establishing a program that parents pay for why PTA dollars would be needed? And wouldn't scholarship money come out of the tuition parents pay for the program?

Anonymous wrote:I posted about the PTA funding families who couldn't afford a private program. And so the ugly monster arises in my fellow parents who care about only their own and not a handful of their children's classmates who may really not have a safe after-school option nor have the money to cover one. Attending public school in DC should mean embracing the positivity that comes from looking out for each other as equals and all of our children equally deserving of a safe environment. Deal PTA could certainly afford to cover needy families. It's disgusting that some of you just don't care about our needier neighbors.

Actually we do and that is why we support our public schools in many ways (including paying taxes) in addition to just sending our kids to school. When I donate my time, money and resources to my local school all children benefit, not just my own. We also support Girls and Boys Clubs of Greater Washington, donate generously to our church which runs an after school program for needy children and donate to the scholarship fund of our elementary school aftercare provider. What it doesn't mean is that, as a Deal parent, I need to also make sure that all kids have a safe after-school environment. The options for "needier neighbors" are out there, maybe not AT the school but not everything is perfect. Believe me, I am scrambling for care now too and ironically don't qualify as needy enough for the programs which we have supported for over a decade.

I posted about the PTA funding families who couldn't afford a private program. And so the ugly monster arises in my fellow parents who care about only their own and not a handful of their children's classmates who may really not have a safe after-school option nor have the money to cover one. Attending public school in DC should mean embracing the positivity that comes from looking out for each other as equals and all of our children equally deserving of a safe environment. Deal PTA could certainly afford to cover needy families. It's disgusting that some of you just don't care about our needier neighbors.

Aftercare shouldn't be a taxpayer expense.

PP here. My mom always left me a list of chores......sometimes (not always) start dinner, water plants, fold clothes, etc. I remember leaving school(walking) around 3:30, getting home around 4 and my mom was home by 5:15 and dad by 5:30 or 6. She always called me when I got home to check up on my to do list so it isn't like there was a lot of time to screw around. If I finished the other stuff I usually started my homework. This was in Chicago during late 80s. Once I hit 7th grade I stayed at school for sports until 5 or so.

Maybe I am naive, but do kids that age need aftercare? In 5th & 6th grade I remember coming home by myself, letting myself in and even starting the dinner occasionally....lol! By 7th grade I was busy with after school sports and activities.