Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
The Board asked hard questions about whether they are truly committed and capable of serving any and all students in the city who would get in through the lottery. The proposal didn't suggest that they were and they were told to shore up their application in the month between the hearing and the vote.

From a political and optics perspective BASIS didn't do itself any favors by saying in the application that they were only interested in locating in Wards 1-6 or by having only 1 of the BASIS DC Board members in attendance for the p public hearing (there were 5 or 6 BASIS.ed staff from Arizona there). The local Board member who went was unfortunately unable to answer many questions about the plans (solely because she was pretty new to the Board and wasn't privy to the discussion about deciding to pursue an elementary school).

I watched the entire hearing. The board seems to place an unreasonable emphasis on issues like school location and the ability to serve special needs students. If Basis wants to open a charter in ward 2, near their current school, let them. If someone else wants to open a charter in ward 8, let them. If Basis wants to open a charter emphasizing rigorous academic achievement or have a grading system that is final exam heavy, great. If someone else wants to open a charter focused on remedial education, also great. Does the charter board criticize Yu Ying because it only caters to students and parents who want Mandarin immersion? I have no issue with the charter board ensuring schools adhere to fair and open access through the lottery, meet reasonable educational benchmarks, provide an acceptable physical environment and otherwise ensure students aren't being mistreated, but it was clear from the hearing that they go well above and beyond this to impose their own preconceptions and are limiting the ability for parents to decide which school is best for their child.

agreed. people talking about serving "all kids" but what about high achieving kids who really don't have options in DCPS outside of upper NW schools? The achievement gap is enormous at schools EoTP and Cap Hill that have a large number of gentrifiers. is it fair for kids to be in classrooms with kids two or three grades behind? all because DC cares more about being politically correct than serving all students?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
The Board asked hard questions about whether they are truly committed and capable of serving any and all students in the city who would get in through the lottery. The proposal didn't suggest that they were and they were told to shore up their application in the month between the hearing and the vote.

From a political and optics perspective BASIS didn't do itself any favors by saying in the application that they were only interested in locating in Wards 1-6 or by having only 1 of the BASIS DC Board members in attendance for the p public hearing (there were 5 or 6 BASIS.ed staff from Arizona there). The local Board member who went was unfortunately unable to answer many questions about the plans (solely because she was pretty new to the Board and wasn't privy to the discussion about deciding to pursue an elementary school).

I watched the entire hearing. The board seems to place an unreasonable emphasis on issues like school location and the ability to serve special needs students. If Basis wants to open a charter in ward 2, near their current school, let them. If someone else wants to open a charter in ward 8, let them. If Basis wants to open a charter emphasizing rigorous academic achievement or have a grading system that is final exam heavy, great. If someone else wants to open a charter focused on remedial education, also great. Does the charter board criticize Yu Ying because it only caters to students and parents who want Mandarin immersion? I have no issue with the charter board ensuring schools adhere to fair and open access through the lottery, meet reasonable educational benchmarks, provide an acceptable physical environment and otherwise ensure students aren't being mistreated, but it was clear from the hearing that they go well above and beyond this to impose their own preconceptions and are limiting the ability for parents to decide which school is best for their child.

Anonymous wrote:I disagree.

For the charter sector, what it means is that a school has to make the effort to help all students succeed. There are no guarantees and stating that students have a right to "free apprpriate public education' is not hte same as saying that all students must graduate with 3.0 average, or pass at all.

But refusing to hire learning specialists, not dedicating a room for students to work with said specialists, and telling parents that they didn't 'believe' that students had a disability -- things BASIS did in its first two years -- is not allowed in a public school, charter or traditional.

The DCPCSB has not said BASIS needs to change their 'no social promotion' policy, their accelerated curriculum or the requirements of taking AP exams. Parents who have students with intellectual disabilities will figure out it's not going to be a great fit. But BASIS can't openly discriminate against students who need some additional supports - such as speech language therapy or a scribe for a student with dyslexia.

DCPS has much more ability to do what you say you are seeking but they don't do it at the middle school level. Magnet schools with test-in admissions or applications can exist within an LEA, so long as there are also schools that meet the needs of anyone who enrolls.

Are you sure that magnet schools with test-in admissions or applications can exist within a LEA? I hope you're right, but where are you getting this from? If this is true, why has DCPCSB been adamantly opposed to lotteries for target language dominant students at their language immersion schools, although dual lotteries would obviously support best educational practices. Why has no charter set up a test-in MS, although demand would be sky high? I don't get it.

The real problem is the near non-existence of good middle schools.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
Dude you JUST NOW googled IDEA and still feel qualified to hold forth on the subject? Please just stop.

Yes, just now, at your suggestion, remember? And yes, I think parents and parents to be who are not familiar with the details of IDEA are entitled to an opinion about schools, although I am perfectly willing to learn about the legal requirements as well. I can see you don't feel the same way. So far you haven't actually made a substantive point, just thrown insults. Feel free to jump in with something useful, I'm listening.

Anonymous wrote:
Dude you JUST NOW googled IDEA and still feel qualified to hold forth on the subject? Please just stop.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:\
No, sorry. You made a completely ignorant and unfounded post about special needs students. There's nothing much for me to keep an open mind about and you should know something about the subect before you start to pontificate about it. While your child is still in utero!

I'm not sure which statement in particular you are referring to, but I'm not going to respond to your tone in kind, there's really no need for it. I did actually take the time to follow your suggestion, despite the snark, and briefly google and read about IDEA. I think your intent was mostly to be insulting, given the lack of detail, but I used it as an opportunity to learn. As I said, I think there is much more nuance than you seem to acknowledge, as I don't think IDEA alone can explain the hostility to BASIS, nor does it preclude a charter school like BASIS in DC, but if you think so, or you think the past actions of BASIS remain uncorrected and disqualify it from consideration for an elementary school, you are entitled to your opinion.

Anonymous wrote:\
No, sorry. You made a completely ignorant and unfounded post about special needs students. There's nothing much for me to keep an open mind about and you should know something about the subect before you start to pontificate about it. While your child is still in utero!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Not even a parent yet already an expert in schools.

Hint: google IDEA.

Done. Not terrible helpful. I'm trying to keep an open mind, wish you would do the same. There's more nuance and gray area here than you seem to be willing to acknowledge.

Anonymous wrote:

Not even a parent yet already an expert in schools.

Hint: google IDEA.