Anonymous wrote:

Oh dear. I was with you until then. You see, the problem is that multiple charter schools have proven (and/or are in the process of doing so) that it is entirely possible to create a high-performing school east of the park.

There is not one, single charter school that has ever taken the first 250 children living closest to its front door and been successful at anything.

Charters receive the kids of at least nominally motivated families, and often hyper motivated -- both of which suggest enhanced learning environments and attention outside of 8 a.m. and 3:15 p.m.

You are comparing apples/oranges.

Now, I agree that it -would- be interesting to observe any charter that acts exactly as a DCPS with respect to enrolling the kids -- that is, it takes the surrounding 10 blocks so of kids, no more and no less.

The problem with your line of thinking is that Deal is close to the western border of DC. Areas in Wards Four & One are not hemmed in.

Certainly there should be some catchment area balancing between Hardy and Deal, but unless one advocates for a third middle school west of the park, the catchment area for Deal must move westward, and that means fewer Wards Four & One students, and thus, a whiter school.



No, this problem is easily solved by drawing Hardy's boundaries north x northwest to capture that far northwest corner. This frees up Deal to pick up more students from Wards 1 and 4. West of the park has all the MS it needs - at least until the formula is successfully replicated elsewhere.

Oh dear. I was with you until then. You see, the problem is that multiple charter schools have proven (and/or are in the process of doing so) that it is entirely possible to create a high-performing school east of the park.

Anonymous wrote:

jsteele wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
One reason might be the further you travel from Deal the less white the population. If Deal’s catchment area needs to be shrunk, it seems logical that it becomes less white. It doesn’t have to be intentional exclusion of anyone, just the way it works out.

And:

Anonymous wrote:Restricting a school to an immediate neighborhood boundary to stabilize its enrollment numbers can have the effect of limiting the diversity at a school without rascist intentions.

There are parts of Ward 4 and Ward 1 within the current Deal boundaries that are closer to the school itself than parts of Ward 3 that are within the current boundaries. Palisades -- one area that potentially would like to be added to the Deal boundaries is further from the school than almost any part of the current in-boundary neighborhoods. So, if you were redrawing the school zone on the basis of geographic closeness, most of the current East-of-the-Park areas would remain.

When modifying school boundaries, there are lots of variables that can effect decisions. If the only variables that matter to you are ones that end up eliminating minority enrollment, then I would suggest that your choice of variables is racist.

Here is a map of the middle school districts in case you are not familiar with them:

http://dcps.dc.gov/DCPS/Files/downloads/SCHOOLS/Boundary%20Maps%20-%202009/DCPS-Attendance-Zones-Middle-Schools-September-2009.pdf

The problem with your line of thinking is that Deal is close to the western border of DC. Areas in Wards Four & One are not hemmed in.

Certainly there should be some catchment area balancing between Hardy and Deal, but unless one advocates for a third middle school west of the park, the catchment area for Deal must move westward, and that means fewer Wards Four & One students, and thus, a whiter school.

Also, I am missing any the advocating for an ethnically homogenous cohort at Deal? How’d that issue get factored in here?

BTW, I’m a Ward Six parent whose kid is screwed for DCPS middle school and I don’t have a dog in this fight.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Kids that would feed to Hardy start leaving in 4th even if their parents aren't wealthy because it is easier to move schools before grade 6. They go to Latin, moco, and private.

As a parent at a Hardy feeder school I can say this is 100% accurate. Or 98%, some leave at 3rd grade.

Anonymous wrote:Kids that would feed to Hardy start leaving in 4th even if their parents aren't wealthy because it is easier to move schools before grade 6. They go to Latin, moco, and private.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not really. Building fantastic middle schools in other wards that would allow kids to stay in their own neighborhoods would probably increase segregation. Should we avoid that action? Be honest in your terms. Racial segregation isn't the issue here. The big issue is segregated access to quality education seeing everything in terms of race and racism is holding dc back.

Missing from this line of thought is that the desirable schools – elementary, middle or high schools – have a majority of students at grade level. Generally, unless a school has mostly proficient students, it will not be sought after. And no one, with a reasonable amount of money, can simply create a desirable school east of the park. That’s what makes DC so darn tough – there are not enough proficient students to go around and make every school attractive to parents. It’s a deficit model. East of the park I’d bet DCPS is about 25% proficient.

Parents instinctively want their child to be surrounded by smart and well behaved kids. Parents don’t want long-range planning for their child; they want to see a school working before their child enrolls. Parents don’t want their child to be an agent of social change, they want their children simply join an already existing strong cohort.

Parents of non-proficient also want to send their kids to schools that are majority proficient – it stretches their kid upward.

If parents instinctively want a school that is majority proficient, there’s no way to give them that without selective enrollment/admission.

The quickest way to improve DCPS is create as many majority proficient schools as possible. Doing so helps more struggling students than is currently the case. And creating more majority proficient and desirable schools will attract/retain proficient students – creating a positive feedback loop that strengthens the system.

Additionally, the higher a school’s proficiency and the larger its enrollment, the less expensive a school is to operate. And that savings should be used to fund the best remediation schools possible for whatever students cannot enroll in majority proficient schools.

As a parent, I feel like DCPS can monkey around all they want with buildings, with programs, with this and that, but for me, the disqualifier is a cohort that is mostly below grade level.

It ain’t pretty, but the quickest way to improve DCPS is create as many majority proficient schools as possible.

Anonymous wrote:PP there is a lot of what you say I agree with, but you argue there is not enough proficient kids to go around. That most likely is true so how do you get enough proficient kids? The problem is still in the elementaries.

Anonymous wrote:PP there is a lot of what you say I agree with, but you argue there is not enough proficient kids to go around. That most likely is true so how do you get enough proficient kids? The problem is still in the elementaries.