Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I was pro-DCPS all through elementary school and up until April of the month we did the middle school charter lottery, got a spot at BASIS, and had a candid conversation with a DCPS middle school teacher who told me straight-up to take the BASIS spot because her DCPS did not meet the needs of advanced students. she wanted to, but the structure of the curriculum, her inabiity to fail students, her principal all kept her from adding enrichment and appropriate instruction for advanced students.

She was really unequivocal and I made my decision immediately after that conversation. She also said getting a seat at BASIS is like getting a prep school education for free, which I think it true about Latin as well. I'm very, very glad we took the spot.

I'm sure I trash talked charters when my kids were young. But the middle school ecosystem in DC is very different than elementary. I recommend doing some research and allowing yourself some grace to change your mind.

It is absolutely true that dcps cannot meet the needs of an advanced child. I don’t think Latin can either, but it is better than the best dcps.

Yep. The parents of all those Ivy League admits must be kicking themselves for sending their kids to Latin. Latin obviously didn’t meet their needs.

Anonymous wrote:
Here is the button line. If you have a high performing kid EOTP, then the charter middle schools talked about on here - Latin, Basis, DCI will serve your kid much better.

If you have an on grade level kid, the charter will also serve your kid better because they have a big enough cohort to teach on grade level material,

Now I’m not saying your on grade level kid can’t go to DCPS middle schools, but it will be easy and they will be at the top of the heap. They won’t have to work much or very hard because the cohort is so low performing.

Agree except that I would include WOTP kids as well. No dcps middle or high school is serving their students.

Here is the button line. If you have a high performing kid EOTP, then the charter middle schools talked about on here - Latin, Basis, DCI will serve your kid much better.

If you have an on grade level kid, the charter will also serve your kid better because they have a big enough cohort to teach on grade level material,

Now I’m not saying your on grade level kid can’t go to DCPS middle schools, but it will be easy and they will be at the top of the heap. They won’t have to work much or very hard because the cohort is so low performing.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I was pro-DCPS all through elementary school and up until April of the month we did the middle school charter lottery, got a spot at BASIS, and had a candid conversation with a DCPS middle school teacher who told me straight-up to take the BASIS spot because her DCPS did not meet the needs of advanced students. she wanted to, but the structure of the curriculum, her inabiity to fail students, her principal all kept her from adding enrichment and appropriate instruction for advanced students.

She was really unequivocal and I made my decision immediately after that conversation. She also said getting a seat at BASIS is like getting a prep school education for free, which I think it true about Latin as well. I'm very, very glad we took the spot.

I'm sure I trash talked charters when my kids were young. But the middle school ecosystem in DC is very different than elementary. I recommend doing some research and allowing yourself some grace to change your mind.

Truly appreciate this candor. The trash talking charters and "down with charters" mentality has created an environment in DC where politicians feel comfortable openly under-resourcing charters. It's not a little bit of money - it's estimated at $1,800 per student and that's money that a charter school doesn't have to improve teacher salaries, increase benefits, offer more athletics and clubs or fix sub-par facilities. Ask your charter school principal what they could do with that much more per kid.

Ooh I know, they could use it to cover the cost of taking new kids all year long like DCPS has to!

Wah.

Did you ever notice that the best schools in this city have the worst facilities, and the worst schools have the nicest buildings?

I honestly don't think that's true. Walls facility isn't very nice. BASIS isn't either.

Neither is Latin Second Street. That's the point. The best schools have the most run down facilities. The most beautiful schools in this city have the worst scores.

Well not to deflect from the Latin discussion but DCI has pretty darn good facilities and beautiful building.
So that’s that.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I was pro-DCPS all through elementary school and up until April of the month we did the middle school charter lottery, got a spot at BASIS, and had a candid conversation with a DCPS middle school teacher who told me straight-up to take the BASIS spot because her DCPS did not meet the needs of advanced students. she wanted to, but the structure of the curriculum, her inabiity to fail students, her principal all kept her from adding enrichment and appropriate instruction for advanced students.

She was really unequivocal and I made my decision immediately after that conversation. She also said getting a seat at BASIS is like getting a prep school education for free, which I think it true about Latin as well. I'm very, very glad we took the spot.

I'm sure I trash talked charters when my kids were young. But the middle school ecosystem in DC is very different than elementary. I recommend doing some research and allowing yourself some grace to change your mind.

Truly appreciate this candor. The trash talking charters and "down with charters" mentality has created an environment in DC where politicians feel comfortable openly under-resourcing charters. It's not a little bit of money - it's estimated at $1,800 per student and that's money that a charter school doesn't have to improve teacher salaries, increase benefits, offer more athletics and clubs or fix sub-par facilities. Ask your charter school principal what they could do with that much more per kid.

Why don't you tell us what the city got in return for all the money it spent on Eagle Academy. I'll wait. Forensic accounting takes a while.

Why don't you tell us what the city got in return for spending a quarter BILLION dollars on Roosevelt High School? Aside from training the next generation of drug dealers?

They got a school that is performing about how demographics would predict, very similar to Girls Global and KIPP Legacy. Roosevelt serves 1000 students who have other options but choose Roosevelt. If you're referring to the renovation, the city got a nice renovation that alleviates overcrowding and maintains safety and functionality. And I believe the modernization cost about $125-$136 million so not sure where you're getting your cost figure.

Please do tell us all about Eagle Academy. How much did this elementary school pay its director? How was its academic performance? What is the lawsuit about? Yaaaay, charters!

I've never even heard of Eagle Academy but I have heard of Roosevelt High School and Ballou and Woodson and Coolidge and Dunbar and Eastern and Anacostia, and I've also read about how poor black kids in a number of states in the deep south are kicking so much ass on standardized tests....

I'm actually not defending Roosevelt here, though I think Ballou which has a lot of adults pursuing degrees, Coolidge, and Eastern are all weird additions.

But besides that it's both true that the city has failed Roosevelt and also Eagle Academy was an unmitigated disaster that cost a lot of money and failed a lot of kids.

Yes. SOME Southern states have surged, though mostly due to long-term investment, and it's also true that they had a lot of room for growth from dead last.

No one wants to admit that American education is the issue. It's a piece meal approach that lets parents with means more or less decide their kid's learning and that creates an untenable and not good overall education system. DC is failing but it's not failing in a vacuum. And it's failing in part because parents want to control every single part of their kid's lives and education, even when they are not terribly well equipped to do so and at the expense of the citizenry overall.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I was pro-DCPS all through elementary school and up until April of the month we did the middle school charter lottery, got a spot at BASIS, and had a candid conversation with a DCPS middle school teacher who told me straight-up to take the BASIS spot because her DCPS did not meet the needs of advanced students. she wanted to, but the structure of the curriculum, her inabiity to fail students, her principal all kept her from adding enrichment and appropriate instruction for advanced students.

She was really unequivocal and I made my decision immediately after that conversation. She also said getting a seat at BASIS is like getting a prep school education for free, which I think it true about Latin as well. I'm very, very glad we took the spot.

I'm sure I trash talked charters when my kids were young. But the middle school ecosystem in DC is very different than elementary. I recommend doing some research and allowing yourself some grace to change your mind.

Truly appreciate this candor. The trash talking charters and "down with charters" mentality has created an environment in DC where politicians feel comfortable openly under-resourcing charters. It's not a little bit of money - it's estimated at $1,800 per student and that's money that a charter school doesn't have to improve teacher salaries, increase benefits, offer more athletics and clubs or fix sub-par facilities. Ask your charter school principal what they could do with that much more per kid.

Why don't you tell us what the city got in return for all the money it spent on Eagle Academy. I'll wait. Forensic accounting takes a while.

Why don't you tell us what the city got in return for spending a quarter BILLION dollars on Roosevelt High School? Aside from training the next generation of drug dealers?

They got a school that is performing about how demographics would predict, very similar to Girls Global and KIPP Legacy. Roosevelt serves 1000 students who have other options but choose Roosevelt. If you're referring to the renovation, the city got a nice renovation that alleviates overcrowding and maintains safety and functionality. And I believe the modernization cost about $125-$136 million so not sure where you're getting your cost figure.

Please do tell us all about Eagle Academy. How much did this elementary school pay its director? How was its academic performance? What is the lawsuit about? Yaaaay, charters!

I've never even heard of Eagle Academy but I have heard of Roosevelt High School and Ballou and Woodson and Coolidge and Dunbar and Eastern and Anacostia, and I've also read about how poor black kids in a number of states in the deep south are kicking so much ass on standardized tests....

As for the South, the data is way less positive than you seem to think.

https://mississippitoday.org/2025/09/25/mississippi-schools-backslide-on-academic-progress/

https://www.chalkbeat.org/2025/10/28/lessons-from-the-southern-surge-on-naep/

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I was pro-DCPS all through elementary school and up until April of the month we did the middle school charter lottery, got a spot at BASIS, and had a candid conversation with a DCPS middle school teacher who told me straight-up to take the BASIS spot because her DCPS did not meet the needs of advanced students. she wanted to, but the structure of the curriculum, her inabiity to fail students, her principal all kept her from adding enrichment and appropriate instruction for advanced students.

She was really unequivocal and I made my decision immediately after that conversation. She also said getting a seat at BASIS is like getting a prep school education for free, which I think it true about Latin as well. I'm very, very glad we took the spot.

I'm sure I trash talked charters when my kids were young. But the middle school ecosystem in DC is very different than elementary. I recommend doing some research and allowing yourself some grace to change your mind.

Truly appreciate this candor. The trash talking charters and "down with charters" mentality has created an environment in DC where politicians feel comfortable openly under-resourcing charters. It's not a little bit of money - it's estimated at $1,800 per student and that's money that a charter school doesn't have to improve teacher salaries, increase benefits, offer more athletics and clubs or fix sub-par facilities. Ask your charter school principal what they could do with that much more per kid.

Why don't you tell us what the city got in return for all the money it spent on Eagle Academy. I'll wait. Forensic accounting takes a while.

Why don't you tell us what the city got in return for spending a quarter BILLION dollars on Roosevelt High School? Aside from training the next generation of drug dealers?

They got a school that is performing about how demographics would predict, very similar to Girls Global and KIPP Legacy. Roosevelt serves 1000 students who have other options but choose Roosevelt. If you're referring to the renovation, the city got a nice renovation that alleviates overcrowding and maintains safety and functionality. And I believe the modernization cost about $125-$136 million so not sure where you're getting your cost figure.

Please do tell us all about Eagle Academy. How much did this elementary school pay its director? How was its academic performance? What is the lawsuit about? Yaaaay, charters!

I've never even heard of Eagle Academy but I have heard of Roosevelt High School and Ballou and Woodson and Coolidge and Dunbar and Eastern and Anacostia, and I've also read about how poor black kids in a number of states in the deep south are kicking so much ass on standardized tests....

Well then you're not informed enough to have an intelligent discussion. Eagle is bad enough that the council had an oversight hearing about it. https://dccouncil.gov/event/committee-of-the-whole-public-oversight-hearing-19/

If you haven't heard of Eagle, why don't you fill us in on why Rocketship has lost so much enrollment and their test scores are so terrible? Or why KIPP's performance is so poor that one of their schools was nearly closed just recently? Or if you'd like to talk about high schools, tell us all about this one's sudden collapse. https://washingtoncitypaper.com/article/186259/the-dc-public-charter-school-board-didnt-intervene-in-a-financially-troubled-school/

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I was pro-DCPS all through elementary school and up until April of the month we did the middle school charter lottery, got a spot at BASIS, and had a candid conversation with a DCPS middle school teacher who told me straight-up to take the BASIS spot because her DCPS did not meet the needs of advanced students. she wanted to, but the structure of the curriculum, her inabiity to fail students, her principal all kept her from adding enrichment and appropriate instruction for advanced students.

She was really unequivocal and I made my decision immediately after that conversation. She also said getting a seat at BASIS is like getting a prep school education for free, which I think it true about Latin as well. I'm very, very glad we took the spot.

I'm sure I trash talked charters when my kids were young. But the middle school ecosystem in DC is very different than elementary. I recommend doing some research and allowing yourself some grace to change your mind.

Truly appreciate this candor. The trash talking charters and "down with charters" mentality has created an environment in DC where politicians feel comfortable openly under-resourcing charters. It's not a little bit of money - it's estimated at $1,800 per student and that's money that a charter school doesn't have to improve teacher salaries, increase benefits, offer more athletics and clubs or fix sub-par facilities. Ask your charter school principal what they could do with that much more per kid.

Why don't you tell us what the city got in return for all the money it spent on Eagle Academy. I'll wait. Forensic accounting takes a while.

Why don't you tell us what the city got in return for spending a quarter BILLION dollars on Roosevelt High School? Aside from training the next generation of drug dealers?

They got a school that is performing about how demographics would predict, very similar to Girls Global and KIPP Legacy. Roosevelt serves 1000 students who have other options but choose Roosevelt. If you're referring to the renovation, the city got a nice renovation that alleviates overcrowding and maintains safety and functionality. And I believe the modernization cost about $125-$136 million so not sure where you're getting your cost figure.

Please do tell us all about Eagle Academy. How much did this elementary school pay its director? How was its academic performance? What is the lawsuit about? Yaaaay, charters!

I've never even heard of Eagle Academy but I have heard of Roosevelt High School and Ballou and Woodson and Coolidge and Dunbar and Eastern and Anacostia, and I've also read about how poor black kids in a number of states in the deep south are kicking so much ass on standardized tests....

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I was pro-DCPS all through elementary school and up until April of the month we did the middle school charter lottery, got a spot at BASIS, and had a candid conversation with a DCPS middle school teacher who told me straight-up to take the BASIS spot because her DCPS did not meet the needs of advanced students. she wanted to, but the structure of the curriculum, her inabiity to fail students, her principal all kept her from adding enrichment and appropriate instruction for advanced students.

She was really unequivocal and I made my decision immediately after that conversation. She also said getting a seat at BASIS is like getting a prep school education for free, which I think it true about Latin as well. I'm very, very glad we took the spot.

I'm sure I trash talked charters when my kids were young. But the middle school ecosystem in DC is very different than elementary. I recommend doing some research and allowing yourself some grace to change your mind.

Truly appreciate this candor. The trash talking charters and "down with charters" mentality has created an environment in DC where politicians feel comfortable openly under-resourcing charters. It's not a little bit of money - it's estimated at $1,800 per student and that's money that a charter school doesn't have to improve teacher salaries, increase benefits, offer more athletics and clubs or fix sub-par facilities. Ask your charter school principal what they could do with that much more per kid.

It's pretty shameful how the city systematically shortchanges charters. Enrollment in charter schools is growing way, way faster than at DCPS, and it won't be long before the majority of children in this city go to charter schools.

Cite? It isn't! And the former PCSB leader Rick Cruz explicitly said it's better for the sector to stay under 50% to avoid having the responsibilities of DCPS. Oh nooo, responsibility!

This. And I'm fine with charters and will do the MS lottery. But we spent several years at a title 1 elementary in a not great part of town and if the city's charters had to do what those schools did, they'd all fail. Charters are crap at working with most at risk kids. Basically they can handle kids who are at risk but still have very supportive family networks, which is a tiny sliver of the entire at risk population. But our T1 had a large population of homeless kids as we as kids with really serious home issues. The school was amazing with these kids, basically offering a lot of social services on top of education. Charters don't have the connection to social services or, frankly, the will. They can't do it.

Right now though, charters are offering something for kids in a different underserved group -- high achieving kids.

That's why we need both DCPS and charters. It's too hard to meet the needs of the entire population in one system.

This. I'm not really sure we need charters inevitably, because many cities are more successful with magnets, but I agree serving high achieving kids is necessary.

This idea that charters, who can kick out any underperforming or difficult kid, are doing the same work as DCPS is simply not true. And the charters aren't even preparing more or less hand selected kids all that well. If you look at risk pools they are not good.

By no means am I defending DCPS, but people are comparing apples to oranges. The charter system works for a handful of the aforementioned at risk but dedicated families, but it mostly works for a lot of wealthy and UMC families whose kids won't make it to a selective HS. It's safety schools for the already privileged who don't want to pay for private. It creates a terrible cycle where good DCPS schools in less affluent areas fight for their lives while mediocre charters rest of the laurels and parents being assured the problem kid in their child's class gets kicked out November 1 after the books close and the money for that kid doesn't follow them and stays at the charter.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I was pro-DCPS all through elementary school and up until April of the month we did the middle school charter lottery, got a spot at BASIS, and had a candid conversation with a DCPS middle school teacher who told me straight-up to take the BASIS spot because her DCPS did not meet the needs of advanced students. she wanted to, but the structure of the curriculum, her inabiity to fail students, her principal all kept her from adding enrichment and appropriate instruction for advanced students.

She was really unequivocal and I made my decision immediately after that conversation. She also said getting a seat at BASIS is like getting a prep school education for free, which I think it true about Latin as well. I'm very, very glad we took the spot.

I'm sure I trash talked charters when my kids were young. But the middle school ecosystem in DC is very different than elementary. I recommend doing some research and allowing yourself some grace to change your mind.

Truly appreciate this candor. The trash talking charters and "down with charters" mentality has created an environment in DC where politicians feel comfortable openly under-resourcing charters. It's not a little bit of money - it's estimated at $1,800 per student and that's money that a charter school doesn't have to improve teacher salaries, increase benefits, offer more athletics and clubs or fix sub-par facilities. Ask your charter school principal what they could do with that much more per kid.

Why don't you tell us what the city got in return for all the money it spent on Eagle Academy. I'll wait. Forensic accounting takes a while.

Why don't you tell us what the city got in return for spending a quarter BILLION dollars on Roosevelt High School? Aside from training the next generation of drug dealers?

They got a school that is performing about how demographics would predict, very similar to Girls Global and KIPP Legacy. Roosevelt serves 1000 students who have other options but choose Roosevelt. If you're referring to the renovation, the city got a nice renovation that alleviates overcrowding and maintains safety and functionality. And I believe the modernization cost about $125-$136 million so not sure where you're getting your cost figure.

Please do tell us all about Eagle Academy. How much did this elementary school pay its director? How was its academic performance? What is the lawsuit about? Yaaaay, charters!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I was pro-DCPS all through elementary school and up until April of the month we did the middle school charter lottery, got a spot at BASIS, and had a candid conversation with a DCPS middle school teacher who told me straight-up to take the BASIS spot because her DCPS did not meet the needs of advanced students. she wanted to, but the structure of the curriculum, her inabiity to fail students, her principal all kept her from adding enrichment and appropriate instruction for advanced students.

She was really unequivocal and I made my decision immediately after that conversation. She also said getting a seat at BASIS is like getting a prep school education for free, which I think it true about Latin as well. I'm very, very glad we took the spot.

I'm sure I trash talked charters when my kids were young. But the middle school ecosystem in DC is very different than elementary. I recommend doing some research and allowing yourself some grace to change your mind.

Truly appreciate this candor. The trash talking charters and "down with charters" mentality has created an environment in DC where politicians feel comfortable openly under-resourcing charters. It's not a little bit of money - it's estimated at $1,800 per student and that's money that a charter school doesn't have to improve teacher salaries, increase benefits, offer more athletics and clubs or fix sub-par facilities. Ask your charter school principal what they could do with that much more per kid.

It's pretty shameful how the city systematically shortchanges charters. Enrollment in charter schools is growing way, way faster than at DCPS, and it won't be long before the majority of children in this city go to charter schools.

If you look at the recent lottery data (take a look at the thread about it) you will see that this is decisively Not True. Waitlists for charters are plummeting.

In 1996, there were approximately 160 kids in charter schools in DC, and nearly 80,000 in DCPS.

Today, there are roughly 48,000 charter school kids and about 50,000 in DCPS.

One of these school systems is seeing explosive growth and the other is in the midst of a very steep decline.

Oh FFS. You're playing with the numbers to hide what's really happening. Which is that both sectors have leveled off and are flat or growing at 1-2% annually. Yes there was a lot of charter growth twenty years ago. That time is gone.

What's really happening is people are voting with their feet. Take whatever time period you want. Over the past decade, charters have been growing twice as fast as DCPS.

Okay, how about the past two or three years? Tell us, how's the growth?

Charters are still growing faster, especially in Wards 1, 2, 4, 5 and 6. The overall lead is smaller primarily because fewer DCPS kids in Wards 7 and 8 are dropping out of school. Congrats?

Where are you getting your data? And are you including adult ed programs?

Just for example I compared OSSE enrollment spreadsheet totals of UPSFF students from the current school year and the 23-24 school year. Over that period DCPS is up 1.34% and charters are up 0.47%.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I was pro-DCPS all through elementary school and up until April of the month we did the middle school charter lottery, got a spot at BASIS, and had a candid conversation with a DCPS middle school teacher who told me straight-up to take the BASIS spot because her DCPS did not meet the needs of advanced students. she wanted to, but the structure of the curriculum, her inabiity to fail students, her principal all kept her from adding enrichment and appropriate instruction for advanced students.

She was really unequivocal and I made my decision immediately after that conversation. She also said getting a seat at BASIS is like getting a prep school education for free, which I think it true about Latin as well. I'm very, very glad we took the spot.

I'm sure I trash talked charters when my kids were young. But the middle school ecosystem in DC is very different than elementary. I recommend doing some research and allowing yourself some grace to change your mind.

Truly appreciate this candor. The trash talking charters and "down with charters" mentality has created an environment in DC where politicians feel comfortable openly under-resourcing charters. It's not a little bit of money - it's estimated at $1,800 per student and that's money that a charter school doesn't have to improve teacher salaries, increase benefits, offer more athletics and clubs or fix sub-par facilities. Ask your charter school principal what they could do with that much more per kid.

It's pretty shameful how the city systematically shortchanges charters. Enrollment in charter schools is growing way, way faster than at DCPS, and it won't be long before the majority of children in this city go to charter schools.

Cite? It isn't! And the former PCSB leader Rick Cruz explicitly said it's better for the sector to stay under 50% to avoid having the responsibilities of DCPS. Oh nooo, responsibility!

This. And I'm fine with charters and will do the MS lottery. But we spent several years at a title 1 elementary in a not great part of town and if the city's charters had to do what those schools did, they'd all fail. Charters are crap at working with most at risk kids. Basically they can handle kids who are at risk but still have very supportive family networks, which is a tiny sliver of the entire at risk population. But our T1 had a large population of homeless kids as we as kids with really serious home issues. The school was amazing with these kids, basically offering a lot of social services on top of education. Charters don't have the connection to social services or, frankly, the will. They can't do it.

Right now though, charters are offering something for kids in a different underserved group -- high achieving kids.

That's why we need both DCPS and charters. It's too hard to meet the needs of the entire population in one system.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I was pro-DCPS all through elementary school and up until April of the month we did the middle school charter lottery, got a spot at BASIS, and had a candid conversation with a DCPS middle school teacher who told me straight-up to take the BASIS spot because her DCPS did not meet the needs of advanced students. she wanted to, but the structure of the curriculum, her inabiity to fail students, her principal all kept her from adding enrichment and appropriate instruction for advanced students.

She was really unequivocal and I made my decision immediately after that conversation. She also said getting a seat at BASIS is like getting a prep school education for free, which I think it true about Latin as well. I'm very, very glad we took the spot.

I'm sure I trash talked charters when my kids were young. But the middle school ecosystem in DC is very different than elementary. I recommend doing some research and allowing yourself some grace to change your mind.

Truly appreciate this candor. The trash talking charters and "down with charters" mentality has created an environment in DC where politicians feel comfortable openly under-resourcing charters. It's not a little bit of money - it's estimated at $1,800 per student and that's money that a charter school doesn't have to improve teacher salaries, increase benefits, offer more athletics and clubs or fix sub-par facilities. Ask your charter school principal what they could do with that much more per kid.

It's pretty shameful how the city systematically shortchanges charters. Enrollment in charter schools is growing way, way faster than at DCPS, and it won't be long before the majority of children in this city go to charter schools.

If you look at the recent lottery data (take a look at the thread about it) you will see that this is decisively Not True. Waitlists for charters are plummeting.

In 1996, there were approximately 160 kids in charter schools in DC, and nearly 80,000 in DCPS.

Today, there are roughly 48,000 charter school kids and about 50,000 in DCPS.

One of these school systems is seeing explosive growth and the other is in the midst of a very steep decline.

Oh FFS. You're playing with the numbers to hide what's really happening. Which is that both sectors have leveled off and are flat or growing at 1-2% annually. Yes there was a lot of charter growth twenty years ago. That time is gone.

What's really happening is people are voting with their feet. Take whatever time period you want. Over the past decade, charters have been growing twice as fast as DCPS.

Okay, how about the past two or three years? Tell us, how's the growth?

Charters are still growing faster, especially in Wards 1, 2, 4, 5 and 6. The overall lead is smaller primarily because fewer DCPS kids in Wards 7 and 8 are dropping out of school. Congrats?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I was pro-DCPS all through elementary school and up until April of the month we did the middle school charter lottery, got a spot at BASIS, and had a candid conversation with a DCPS middle school teacher who told me straight-up to take the BASIS spot because her DCPS did not meet the needs of advanced students. she wanted to, but the structure of the curriculum, her inabiity to fail students, her principal all kept her from adding enrichment and appropriate instruction for advanced students.

She was really unequivocal and I made my decision immediately after that conversation. She also said getting a seat at BASIS is like getting a prep school education for free, which I think it true about Latin as well. I'm very, very glad we took the spot.

I'm sure I trash talked charters when my kids were young. But the middle school ecosystem in DC is very different than elementary. I recommend doing some research and allowing yourself some grace to change your mind.

Truly appreciate this candor. The trash talking charters and "down with charters" mentality has created an environment in DC where politicians feel comfortable openly under-resourcing charters. It's not a little bit of money - it's estimated at $1,800 per student and that's money that a charter school doesn't have to improve teacher salaries, increase benefits, offer more athletics and clubs or fix sub-par facilities. Ask your charter school principal what they could do with that much more per kid.

Ooh I know, they could use it to cover the cost of taking new kids all year long like DCPS has to!

Wah.

Did you ever notice that the best schools in this city have the worst facilities, and the worst schools have the nicest buildings?

I honestly don't think that's true. Walls facility isn't very nice. BASIS isn't either.

Neither is Latin Second Street. That's the point. The best schools have the most run down facilities. The most beautiful schools in this city have the worst scores.

Banneker is nice. JR is nice.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I was pro-DCPS all through elementary school and up until April of the month we did the middle school charter lottery, got a spot at BASIS, and had a candid conversation with a DCPS middle school teacher who told me straight-up to take the BASIS spot because her DCPS did not meet the needs of advanced students. she wanted to, but the structure of the curriculum, her inabiity to fail students, her principal all kept her from adding enrichment and appropriate instruction for advanced students.

She was really unequivocal and I made my decision immediately after that conversation. She also said getting a seat at BASIS is like getting a prep school education for free, which I think it true about Latin as well. I'm very, very glad we took the spot.

I'm sure I trash talked charters when my kids were young. But the middle school ecosystem in DC is very different than elementary. I recommend doing some research and allowing yourself some grace to change your mind.

Truly appreciate this candor. The trash talking charters and "down with charters" mentality has created an environment in DC where politicians feel comfortable openly under-resourcing charters. It's not a little bit of money - it's estimated at $1,800 per student and that's money that a charter school doesn't have to improve teacher salaries, increase benefits, offer more athletics and clubs or fix sub-par facilities. Ask your charter school principal what they could do with that much more per kid.

It's pretty shameful how the city systematically shortchanges charters. Enrollment in charter schools is growing way, way faster than at DCPS, and it won't be long before the majority of children in this city go to charter schools.

If you look at the recent lottery data (take a look at the thread about it) you will see that this is decisively Not True. Waitlists for charters are plummeting.

In 1996, there were approximately 160 kids in charter schools in DC, and nearly 80,000 in DCPS.

Today, there are roughly 48,000 charter school kids and about 50,000 in DCPS.

One of these school systems is seeing explosive growth and the other is in the midst of a very steep decline.

Oh FFS. You're playing with the numbers to hide what's really happening. Which is that both sectors have leveled off and are flat or growing at 1-2% annually. Yes there was a lot of charter growth twenty years ago. That time is gone.

What's really happening is people are voting with their feet. Take whatever time period you want. Over the past decade, charters have been growing twice as fast as DCPS.

Okay, how about the past two or three years? Tell us, how's the growth?