Anonymous
08/14/2014 20:28
Subject: Ludlow-Taylor getting a new a new Principal
Property values in Stanton Park are rising despite the lack of certainty about access to a high quality school. There is not certantity, but due to school choice, there is a decent probability, that you can find something you can live with or even be happy with after a few years of trying. Guaranteed access to a high quality school through middle school would probably up my house price 15 to 20 percent.
Anonymous
08/14/2014 19:53
Subject: Ludlow-Taylor getting a new a new Principal
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Got news for you 09:26: DCPS did this, around the time Cobbs was hired. And they got blowback from families then attending the school, who said, "Hey! We're already here. Why don't you ask us what we would like to see at our school, instead of asking people who don't even send their kids here."
As an OOB LT parent, I strongly object to the idea that the preferences of an IB LT parent should be given greater weight than my preferences. We are all parents at the school, and none of us should be given more or less consideration because of our home address.
That goes double when you're talking about the preferences of people who *aren't even parents* at LT.
If you want to be a stakeholder at LT, enroll your kid in the school.
#1 thing I've learned about school systems, and DCPS in particular, is that they respond willingly to families INSIDE the system and almost not at all to families OUTSIDE of it. PP's laundry list contained some perfectly reasonable items that LT's or any principal would be happy to implement with parent support. But the constant barrage of negativity from outsiders, I think, will continue to fall on deaf ears.
maybe DCPS is that way.
FCPS has an elected school board, with one member elected from each magisterial district. My strong sense is that the elected members are responsive not only to parents iwth kids in the system, and parents with kids not in the system, but to all families who vote, of whom property owners, childless or not, tend to be very concerned with school quality. And also to business interests.
Certainly a prinncipal seen as holding down property values in a neighborhood will be a in a precarious position. Though on the Hill, where propety values have skyrocketed anyway, this may be a moot point.
You lost me at property values....
Your house would be worth one whole hell of a lot more if you had a quality IB school. People pay for boundaries. This is econ 101.
Houses that are in-bounds for L-T are worth plenty, and changes to L-T are not going to make a "hell of a lot" of difference at this point. The explosion of property values in that area has already occurred, and it had nothing to do with the schools.
PP, take econ 101. Schools make an immense difference and your house would be worth even more if you have a sought after school boundary. Given your statement and some of the incensitive remarks here against gentrifiers make me think you will always have a crappy school. But you're probably OOB, so there's still hope.
Anonymous
08/14/2014 19:05
Subject: Ludlow-Taylor getting a new a new Principal
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Got news for you 09:26: DCPS did this, around the time Cobbs was hired. And they got blowback from families then attending the school, who said, "Hey! We're already here. Why don't you ask us what we would like to see at our school, instead of asking people who don't even send their kids here."
As an OOB LT parent, I strongly object to the idea that the preferences of an IB LT parent should be given greater weight than my preferences. We are all parents at the school, and none of us should be given more or less consideration because of our home address.
That goes double when you're talking about the preferences of people who *aren't even parents* at LT.
If you want to be a stakeholder at LT, enroll your kid in the school.
#1 thing I've learned about school systems, and DCPS in particular, is that they respond willingly to families INSIDE the system and almost not at all to families OUTSIDE of it. PP's laundry list contained some perfectly reasonable items that LT's or any principal would be happy to implement with parent support. But the constant barrage of negativity from outsiders, I think, will continue to fall on deaf ears.
Which is stupid, because this means we're all left playing which-comes-first-chicken-or-egg games open-endedly, rather than focusing on expanding the municipal tax base by attracting, and retaining, high SES parent tax payers to help expand services to the poor. The Mayor Daley dynasty in Chicago focused on drawing upper middle-class families to schools, and made the whole town more liveable as a result. Disatisfaction engenders negativity, which doesn't draw in needed investment. No more to be said.
It isn't stupid at all. A principal should focus more on his or her actual stakeholders vs potential stakeholders. Sure the open houses and information sessions are part of the job but not a major one.
And it's not a chicken or the egg thing. Involved families who care about education create a better school community.
Anonymous
08/14/2014 18:00
Subject: Re:Ludlow-Taylor getting a new a new Principal
Teary eyed white girls and starving black children.
President Obama should send in the Marines. Or at least send in Joe Biden.
President Obama should send in the Marines. Or at least send in Joe Biden.
Anonymous
08/14/2014 17:57
Subject: Re:Ludlow-Taylor getting a new a new Principal
Anonymous wrote:the pleading eyes of the white girl? Are you people for real?????
Tears are in my eyes from laughing right now. I can't.
Anonymous
08/14/2014 17:37
Subject: Ludlow-Taylor getting a new a new Principal
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:What do families need to be 'encouraged" to attend? A red carpet? Engraved invitations?!
I don't envy the new principal who has to deal with a neighborhood full of whiners who trash the school and then whine that they are not encouraged to attend. It's your neighborhood school. Enroll there if you want to or go to some place else.
How about a program where my child will have classmates more interested in their learning experience than what they might get to eat since they don't eat at home?
WOW. Perhaps you should steer clear of public schools altogether and stick with private school - or relocate to an exurb where you might suffer less socio-economic diversity. Sheesh.
Oh I see, only in the suburbs kids ate fed at home??!!! Okay.
Anonymous
08/14/2014 17:25
Subject: Re:Ludlow-Taylor getting a new a new Principal
the pleading eyes of the white girl? Are you people for real?????
Anonymous
08/14/2014 17:20
Subject: Ludlow-Taylor getting a new a new Principal
Anonymous wrote:
Certainly a prinncipal seen as holding down property values in a neighborhood will be a in a precarious position. Though on the Hill, where propety values have skyrocketed anyway, this may be a moot point.
You lost me at property values....
Your house would be worth one whole hell of a lot more if you had a quality IB school. People pay for boundaries. This is econ 101.
Houses that are in-bounds for L-T are worth plenty, and changes to L-T are not going to make a "hell of a lot" of difference at this point. The explosion of property values in that area has already occurred, and it had nothing to do with the schools.
In my opinion, there has been a lack of correlation city wide BTW property values and school quality, except in the most elite neighborhoods. I think DC is in the throes of seeing that change, and it is and will continue to be, messy.
I toured LT with a neighbor and IMHO the white kids looked like they were not at home. At least there was an uneasy feeling in our presence. I will never forget the pleading eyes of a beautiful little girl who was one of two or three white children in her class. My friend is biracial and her child is totally happy there. We are hoping to go there but on the fence. I don't need an engraved invitation but I do need a positive atmosphere that values ALL of its children.
My child has no shortage of friends at LT -- black, white, Hispanic. All of her teachers have been black, and she has had positive relationships with every single one. I have never once gotten the impression that her presence was not valued by her classmates, her teachers, and school administrators. I have spoken with parents who were dissatisfied with different aspects of LT, but no one has ever indicated to me that their white child felt excluded.
When my daughter was in day care, there was one little girl who would always come over, grab me by the legs, and look at me with pleading eyes when I dropped off my daughter. Mind you, her day care was predominantly white; that was just how this kid was. I don't think you can judge whether or not white kids are valued at LT on the basis of one tour.