Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

As a New York transplant, let me say this is one reason why DC is lame. School busses should be funded. You build PARKING LOTS for your schools instead of providing free parking permits for teachers to park on site. You renovate your schools like crazy. But you're too cheap to provide bussing, or ensure that every school is served by adequate transit options?

I'm honestly shocked at how everyone talks such a great green game and then drives their kid halfway across the city to school.

I'm not sure I agree that school buses should be funded because every child in DC has a DCPS school within walking distance of their home. If a family chooses not to attend their neighborhood school, why shouldn't it be their responsibility to get their child to the OOB or charter or private school they chose instead?

I agree. And for those whose inboundary school is further away (say, for middle and high school), there is a WMATA bus route that goes to their school and they get free bus fare.

I've got to believe that there will be bus service provided to support the mythical 25% set-aside for at-risk students that is supposedly coming in the near future. DCPS can't seriously expect homeless kindergarteners in SE to navigate the bus route to Lafayette or Mann alone.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Geeze. Go lick your wounds somewhere else. It's completely reasonable to have a different interpretation of what is astounding and what is not. But go ahead keep making arguments about sruff like that and taking it upon yourself to call people vulgar names.

To be fair, I find it "astounding" that people here get up in arms over being shut out of PK3 and PK4 when that is a perk not offered for free in the majority of the country. As if it is an entitlement. Another year of daycare or preschool won't kill snowflake. Costs money, yes, but that's how the rest of the country lives.

Well, it is an entitlement here in D.C. -- that's what "universal pre-K" means.

Anonymous wrote:

As a New York transplant, let me say this is one reason why DC is lame. School busses should be funded. You build PARKING LOTS for your schools instead of providing free parking permits for teachers to park on site. You renovate your schools like crazy. But you're too cheap to provide bussing, or ensure that every school is served by adequate transit options?

I'm honestly shocked at how everyone talks such a great green game and then drives their kid halfway across the city to school.

I'm not sure I agree that school buses should be funded because every child in DC has a DCPS school within walking distance of their home. If a family chooses not to attend their neighborhood school, why shouldn't it be their responsibility to get their child to the OOB or charter or private school they chose instead?

I agree. And for those whose inboundary school is further away (say, for middle and high school), there is a WMATA bus route that goes to their school and they get free bus fare.

Anonymous wrote:

As a New York transplant, let me say this is one reason why DC is lame. School busses should be funded. You build PARKING LOTS for your schools instead of providing free parking permits for teachers to park on site. You renovate your schools like crazy. But you're too cheap to provide bussing, or ensure that every school is served by adequate transit options?

I'm honestly shocked at how everyone talks such a great green game and then drives their kid halfway across the city to school.

I'm not sure I agree that school buses should be funded because every child in DC has a DCPS school within walking distance of their home. If a family chooses not to attend their neighborhood school, why shouldn't it be their responsibility to get their child to the OOB or charter or private school they chose instead?

+1. A kid in Brooklyn NY is not getting bused to Harlem to attend a magent school. There are over 50,000 kids going to hundreds of school around the city, impossible to create a bus system for it. Hence free city buses for kids.

As a New York transplant, let me say this is one reason why DC is lame. School busses should be funded. You build PARKING LOTS for your schools instead of providing free parking permits for teachers to park on site. You renovate your schools like crazy. But you're too cheap to provide bussing, or ensure that every school is served by adequate transit options?

I'm honestly shocked at how everyone talks such a great green game and then drives their kid halfway across the city to school.

I'm not sure I agree that school buses should be funded because every child in DC has a DCPS school within walking distance of their home. If a family chooses not to attend their neighborhood school, why shouldn't it be their responsibility to get their child to the OOB or charter or private school they chose instead?

Anonymous wrote:

The city is not responsible for transportation if you don't have a car.

As a New York transplant, let me say this is one reason why DC is lame. School busses should be funded. You build PARKING LOTS for your schools instead of providing free parking permits for teachers to park on site. You renovate your schools like crazy. But you're too cheap to provide bussing, or ensure that every school is served by adequate transit options?

I'm honestly shocked at how everyone talks such a great green game and then drives their kid halfway across the city to school.

Talk to the city council about your complaints. Many of us agree that capital planning in this city is laughable. But in the end, even facilities and planning services will tell you that many of these decisions are micro managed by our elected officials.

The city is not responsible for transportation if you don't have a car.

As a New York transplant, let me say this is one reason why DC is lame. School busses should be funded. You build PARKING LOTS for your schools instead of providing free parking permits for teachers to park on site. You renovate your schools like crazy. But you're too cheap to provide bussing, or ensure that every school is served by adequate transit options?

I'm honestly shocked at how everyone talks such a great green game and then drives their kid halfway across the city to school.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:NP here: If you are a parent, PP, you know just how hard it is to make it here in DC with kids. Why are you acting like driving across town is something that everyone can do? My car-less friends were shut out of PK3. What are they supposed to do?

Take public transportation, buy a car, or pay for private.

. . . ZipCar/Car2Go, XtraCycle, carpool, Über . . .

Anonymous wrote:NP here: If you are a parent, PP, you know just how hard it is to make it here in DC with kids. Why are you acting like driving across town is something that everyone can do? My car-less friends were shut out of PK3. What are they supposed to do?

They are supposed to continue whatever private childcare arrangements they used from ages 0 to 3, then they are entitled to a seat at their neighborhood school.

Anonymous wrote:How many people who were "shut out" only applied for 4 schools or less? I find the median of 4 schools applied to surprising.

We applied to 4 schools for kindergarten. We were "shut out" in that we were not matched at any of them. However, we are already enrolled in a DCPS that we are happy to stay at. I know a fair number of people that this applies to in PK4. I only know a handful of people who were "shut out" of PK3 and almost all of them were not matched because they applied to really popular schools that had waitlists for in-boundary kids this year.

I understand that people are upset about not getting matched at one of the schools that they ranked, but the reality is that every child in DC has a right to attend their neighborhood school starting in kindergarten. Relying on OOB or charter placement because your neighborhood school is "not an option" is a choice that you made. It was always a gamble, even if everyone you know managed to secure a space OOB or at a charter to avoid their crummy in-boundary school. Your disappointment at not being matched at a school you want is understandable. Your feelings of resentment towards the system, however, are misplaced.

Anonymous wrote:NP here: If you are a parent, PP, you know just how hard it is to make it here in DC with kids. Why are you acting like driving across town is something that everyone can do? My car-less friends were shut out of PK3. What are they supposed to do?

They are supposed to figure it out. That is life.

Anonymous wrote:NP here: If you are a parent, PP, you know just how hard it is to make it here in DC with kids. Why are you acting like driving across town is something that everyone can do? My car-less friends were shut out of PK3. What are they supposed to do?

Take public transportation, buy a car, or pay for private.

Anonymous wrote:NP here: If you are a parent, PP, you know just how hard it is to make it here in DC with kids. Why are you acting like driving across town is something that everyone can do? My car-less friends were shut out of PK3. What are they supposed to do?

You are not entitled to a PK3 near your home. Being carless is a choice. The city is not responsible for transportation if you don't have a car. Are you seriously asking this question?

NP here: If you are a parent, PP, you know just how hard it is to make it here in DC with kids. Why are you acting like driving across town is something that everyone can do? My car-less friends were shut out of PK3. What are they supposed to do?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Geeze. Go lick your wounds somewhere else. It's completely reasonable to have a different interpretation of what is astounding and what is not. But go ahead keep making arguments about sruff like that and taking it upon yourself to call people vulgar names.

To be fair, I find it "astounding" that people here get up in arms over being shut out of PK3 and PK4 when that is a perk not offered for free in the majority of the country. As if it is an entitlement. Another year of daycare or preschool won't kill snowflake. Costs money, yes, but that's how the rest of the country lives.

Not any of the PPs, but I'm so sick of this "rest of the country" argument. Public school in the rest of the country is sub-par, generally speaking, and childcare here in DC is both expensive and scarce. Even if I didn't have kids, I'd want my taxes to ensure that every child gets iinto a programmed pre-school. Why? Because we're hamstringing our workforce without it. Parents need to get back to work and children need every advantage on learning that they can get.

Stop criticizing it as a perk. The people who don't need it aren't complaining if they don't get it. Assume that everyone else does, because they do.

I agree. By all means, please use one of the many open PK3 spots that are still open and you're entitled to have.