PP I think you make a good point. But I also think some of the "deflating" talk we're seeing here results from the enormous amount of self-promotion and "we're number one!" Banter that Basis spread when they came to town. It tends yo make people feel defensive when they disagree with the basic philosophy and everyone else seems to be jumping on-board and questioning if we really value our kids' education if we don't. Nobody ever wants to trash talk a very good person or entity when they're flying under the radar quietly doing outstanding work. But the braggart is annoying and puts others on the defensive.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Haven't posted about BASIS in months. I'm stating the obvious because I'm disappointed by what I see and hear about BASIS this spring. I've got an athletic 3rd grader with a talent for math and enthusiasm for science and no acceptable middle school in sight. If that makes me unhinged, fine, I'm unhinged.

I also have an athletic child, and we find that BASIS works great for their interest.

Again, I get how someone might have an opinion about BASIS, it is not a good fit, or whatever - but to repeatedly seek out BASIS threads, and repeatedly post emphatic diatribes - what is that person's reason for investing emotional energy into something they will never be a part of?

My hypothesis:

BASIS might well reflect a wave of charter school openings (perhaps initiated by Latin) that are doing an end-run around DCPS and will finally provide high-quality public middle and high school options for people who cannot afford to buy IB for Deal/Wilson (or perhaps do not want to for some other reason).

These types of charter schools will accelerate the on-going gentrification of DC, and there any many people who feel threatened by that gentrification.

If BASIS were just another charter school, why would anyone feel the need to invest so much time into bashing it. It won't have any impact on your life if you don't have any kids attending, right?

Wrong. High-quality charter schools such as BASIS will cause middle class families (both AA and non-AA) to move into (or not move out of) DC. These families will bid up home prices and apartment rentals, making it more difficult for working class families and families dependent on social programs to stay in DC. Furthermore, since charter schools offer no IB preference, these families can bid up prices throughout the city.

I think that the bashers recognize that BASIS might be just the tip of the iceberg and are thus heavily invested in its failure.

troll and slander and trash talk or disagree and see things differently?

I don't see the trash-talk on this page - unless pointing out the lack of athletics or native chinese students qualifies.

Anonymous wrote:so just shut up then?

Is it OK to repeatedly say good things about something you'll "never to be a part of" but not OK to be negative?

Must a person be designated weird to voice a negative opinion on something that does not appear to impact them directly?

It sounds like bullying to still an unwanted voice.

I think I speak for a majority of DCUM posters that we do not share this evident obsessive compulsion to go trash-talking on threads about schools that we aren't even involved in. There are lots of schools that don't meet my own child's needs and interests, yet I don't feel the need to go out of my way to seek out threads about those schools to constantly troll and slander them, frankly I see no point or value in it.

so just shut up then?

Is it OK to repeatedly say good things about something you'll "never to be a part of" but not OK to be negative?

Must a person be designated weird to voice a negative opinion on something that does not appear to impact them directly?

It sounds like bullying to still an unwanted voice.

Anonymous wrote:Haven't posted about BASIS in months. I'm stating the obvious because I'm disappointed by what I see and hear about BASIS this spring. I've got an athletic 3rd grader with a talent for math and enthusiasm for science and no acceptable middle school in sight. If that makes me unhinged, fine, I'm unhinged.

I also have an athletic child, and we find that BASIS works great for their interest.

Again, I get how someone might have an opinion about BASIS, it is not a good fit, or whatever - but to repeatedly seek out BASIS threads, and repeatedly post emphatic diatribes - what is that person's reason for investing emotional energy into something they will never be a part of?

Haven't posted about BASIS in months. I'm stating the obvious because I'm disappointed by what I see and hear about BASIS this spring. I've got an athletic 3rd grader with a talent for math and enthusiasm for science and no acceptable middle school in sight. If that makes me unhinged, fine, I'm unhinged.

Please stop feeding the troll. I think it's pretty clear at this point that someone is pretty unhinged, and he or she will continue to post baseless accusations. We really shouldn't respond.

Anonymous wrote:^You really don't have to be a booster or a naysayer to notice that some of what goes on at YY and BASIS is ridiculous. A Chinese immersion school with nary a Chinese-speaking kid or admin? A middle school with no outdoor space, not even a basketball court on the roof. A school population pyramid that's absurdly high, with two-thirds of the kids going by the wayside between 5th and 12? Goofy.

Yes, we get that. Bur why do YOU feed compelled to point out these absurdities?

^You really don't have to be a booster or a naysayer to notice that some of what goes on at YY and BASIS is ridiculous. A Chinese immersion school with nary a Chinese-speaking kid or admin? A middle school with no outdoor space, not even a basketball court on the roof. A school population pyramid that's absurdly high, with two-thirds of the kids going by the wayside between 5th and 12? Goofy.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Really, I'm tired of boosters suggesting that those who fail to drink the BASIS Kool Aid are stupid or have stupid children.

Guess we're even?

Why do boosters try so hard Maybe the school can't speak for itself. Just like buying a house, car whatever. You get suspicious when the sales rep is just trying too hard. Get the hint boosters, you are trying too hard. If BASIS DC is great let it speak for itself.

I don't get the vitriol, nor do I get the claim of "trying to hard". Most schools speak for themselves, for better or worse, by way of word-of-mouth from first hand experiences of the families that actually have kids there, yet around here whenever anyone says anything positive or responds to someone else, they are immediately pounced on and attacked. It's not as though there's anyone here constantly hyping advertising Basis - there aren't exactly a ton of Basis threads and this one has several times sat without any activity for weeks - many other threads for other schools have gotten much more activity. And, nobody's forcing anyone to read Basis threads, if you don't like hearing about Basis, why keep coming here?

Last year, when we were wrestling with the issue of where to send DC for middle school, we watched the Basis threads on this board before even deciding to send our child there and saw this constant animosity toward Basis before they even opened their doors or even had any boosters, so to suggest the vitriol is in response to over-the-top boosters isn't credible since it came before the boosters did. But then again, even then we questioned the credibility of the naysayers, since we saw the same thing happen with Yu Ying and several other schools. The constant nastiness makes no sense on its face. So what if someone says something positive about their school. Does that in any way warrant the attacks and vitriol? No. From any rational perspective whatsoever, it's the detractors and bashers that are trying way too hard.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Really, I'm tired of boosters suggesting that those who fail to drink the BASIS Kool Aid are stupid or have stupid children.

Guess we're even?

Why do boosters try so hard Maybe the school can't speak for itself. Just like buying a house, car whatever. You get suspicious when the sales rep is just trying too hard. Get the hint boosters, you are trying too hard. If BASIS DC is great let it speak for itself.

What is your motavation for deflating the Boosters?

Wikipedia definition of deception :

Deception, beguilement, deceit, bluff, mystification and subterfuge are acts to propagate beliefs that are not true, or not the whole truth (as in half-truths or omission). Deception can involve dissimulation, propaganda, and sleight of hand, as well as distraction, camouflage, or concealment. There is also self-deception, as in bad faith.

BASIS DC Boosters, why deceive?

Right, I get you think BASIS is a sham. But why are you interested in bringing it to light?

"Deception?" "Enron?" Wow, some of you are totally over the top and lost in fantasy land.

Reading these posts reminds me of Enron. Is BASIS DC another Enron? Here's the NYT reporting someone at Enron.

''Appearances were very important,'' said Jeff Gray, a former economist at Enron Energy Services. ''It was important for employees to believe the hype just as it was important for analysts and investors to believe it.''

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Really, I'm tired of boosters suggesting that those who fail to drink the BASIS Kool Aid are stupid or have stupid children.

Guess we're even?

Why do boosters try so hard Maybe the school can't speak for itself. Just like buying a house, car whatever. You get suspicious when the sales rep is just trying too hard. Get the hint boosters, you are trying too hard. If BASIS DC is great let it speak for itself.

What is your motavation for deflating the Boosters?

Wikipedia definition of deception :

Deception, beguilement, deceit, bluff, mystification and subterfuge are acts to propagate beliefs that are not true, or not the whole truth (as in half-truths or omission). Deception can involve dissimulation, propaganda, and sleight of hand, as well as distraction, camouflage, or concealment. There is also self-deception, as in bad faith.

BASIS DC Boosters, why deceive?