Anonymous wrote:



So then, here is my question:
How can DCPS possibly achieve equity, and build good schools outside the Wilson feeder pattern, if a big key to the Wilson feeder success is *family wealth*????


If so, why isn’t DCPS talking about how it doesn’t care about making sure all students get a top education? Because without serving the best students, no school will ever really excel.

1. I don't see WHY DCPS needs to achieve "equity", it NEEDS to provide good educational opportunities to ALL students. Already, much more funding goes to schools with higher "at-risk" populations while slashing services at certain ward 3 schools. I don't see that DCPS will achieve any good outcome if NO students have working musical instruments or reagents for Chem lab. Back when I donated to the PTA in my kids' ward 3 school, those were the things I was donating to support.
2. DCPS talks all the time about making sure students have a top education, they just can't walk the walk. They pay fees for APs, which other districts don't, they offer a school day/free SAT. There are free SAT prep classes inside the school schedule for those who choose to go. There's lots of reasons why there's a gap. Parent education, poverty, lead in the piping in old buildings, more qualified teachers opting out of high poverty schools.
3. A school doesn't have to "serve the best students" to excel, it doesn't need to curate the student body. A school can excel by turning a failing student into a functional student, by pushing a mediocre student to proficiency, by identifying the kid with a learning difference and directing that child to the needed support

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Dunbar- incredible facility. Nary a Ward 3 kid in sight.

The kicker here is that this renovation, which cost $128,000,000, serves 1/3 fewer kids than Lafayette which cost 40% less.

So so unfair.

If Ellington's new mausoleum was over $200m, why was Dunbar's only 128m?

Someone look into this.

As they should. Ellington is embarrassing.

The point is, WOTP schools are not hoarding construction resources. Find something else to complain about because that isn't it.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Dunbar- incredible facility. Nary a Ward 3 kid in sight.

The kicker here is that this renovation, which cost $128,000,000, serves 1/3 fewer kids than Lafayette which cost 40% less.

Beautiful building/facility that certainly required plenty of resources. Curious, how are the students in this beautiful building performing academically? Lafayette had some of the highest scores in the city well before it was renovated into a "palace". As others have stated, throwing money, taxpayer or pta, at schools [i]isn't the reason why student performance is better at some schools than others. It is an issue much larger than what goes on inside the walls of these schools. I don't believe any Ward 3 PTA could raise enough money to pay for the army of social workers/psychologists that are needed to deal with the issues many DCPS students come to school with every day. But I guess its much easier and more fun to throw mud at Ward 3 families than seriously consider the larger socioeconomic issues at work and how they may be addressed.

Anonymous wrote:Ward 3 guys - not sure your argument has an effect on the rest of DC that you might want.

What, you don't want to learn what proper parenting means?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Dunbar- incredible facility. Nary a Ward 3 kid in sight.

The kicker here is that this renovation, which cost $128,000,000, serves 1/3 fewer kids than Lafayette which cost 40% less.

So so unfair.

If Ellington's new mausoleum was over $200m, why was Dunbar's only 128m?

Someone look into this.

Anonymous wrote:Ward 3 guys - not sure your argument has an effect on the rest of DC that you might want.

What argument and what effect?

Anonymous wrote:Ward 3 guys - not sure your argument has an effect on the rest of DC that you might want.

There is an important discussion to be had as to Ward 3’s responsibility to the overall improvement of DCPS, e.g. set asides at WOTP schools, city wide lottery etc.

However, some issues are red herrings that get folks agitated but actually are not directly related (or indirectly) to improving the quality of DCPS outside of the high SES schools (not limited to Ward 3 or WOTP). For example- PTA contributions and certain WOTP ES physical facilities.

Ward 3 guys - not sure your argument has an effect on the rest of DC that you might want.

Anonymous wrote:Dunbar- incredible facility. Nary a Ward 3 kid in sight.

The kicker here is that this renovation, which cost $128,000,000, serves 1/3 fewer kids than Lafayette which cost 40% less.

Anonymous wrote:Can someone post the names/links of renovated and beautiful DCPS facilities not WOTP to satisfy the EOTP poster obsessing over Lafayette? Of all the inequities to be focused on, this is not one of them.

Every. Single. $100m+ building. Has. Excluded. Ward 3 families and kids.

Someone go challenge me.

Dunbar- incredible facility. Nary a Ward 3 kid in sight.

Anonymous wrote:Can someone post the names/links of renovated and beautiful DCPS facilities not WOTP to satisfy the EOTP poster obsessing over Lafayette? Of all the inequities to be focused on, this is not one of them.

Here is the link to the School Modernization information.

https://sites.google.com/a/dc.gov/dcps-school-modernizations/

This doesn't include non-DCPS facilities. Lafayette is next to the Lafayette Rec Center, which is run by DPR. I suspect the poster is confusing the two. And there are definitely parks that nice EOTP--Turkey Thicket has a great playground next to the Rec/Aquatic Center, too, for example.

Can someone post the names/links of renovated and beautiful DCPS facilities not WOTP to satisfy the EOTP poster obsessing over Lafayette? Of all the inequities to be focused on, this is not one of them.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Here is a list of current DCPS modernization:

Bancroft Elementary
Banneker High School
Bruce-Monroe ES at Park View
C.W. Harris Elementary School
Capitol Hill Montessori @ Logan
Coolidge High School
Eaton Elementary School
Eliot-Hine Middle School
Garrison Elementary School
Houston Elementary School
Hyde-Addison Elementary School
Jefferson Academy
Kimball Elementary School
Lawrence E. Boone Elementary (Formerly Orr)
MacFarland Dual Language Middle School
Maury Elementary School
Murch Elementary School
Recently Completed Projects
Shepherd Elementary
Thaddeus Stevens School
West Education Campus

Is this list supposed to reflect full modernization? If so, then Shepherd should not be on the list, since to date it has only received a partial renovation.

Not sure what this list is. Eaton is slated for reno but hasn’t started. Murch is done. What is this list?

It's the group currently being renovated. So that can be in the planning phases etc.

Here's a list of the completed ones. Only 3 of the 35 are in ward 3.

https://dgs.dc.gov/node/843682

As far as I can tell, Murch is done. Any other updates needed for this list?

Right. Hence it's a list of COMPLETED schools.

In the case of Shepherd, it's a "Phase 1" renovation. This was a partial renovation, that didn't include needed upgrades to the multipurpose room and kitchen (my understanding is that these renovations had been included in earlier renovations plan, but the current renovation plan was revised to be Phase 1 only).

I noticed the Phase 1 designation for several other schools listed too. So while all of these slated renovations are listed as being complete, some schools received only a partial renovation.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This fight over what constitutes UMC and rich is not relevant to the point of this thread.

A PP made a statement that the Lafayette was "a palace" because the rich families (all in their 2.5M houses) control the PTA, which apparently controls DCPS facilities management. None of that is true.

No one is claiming that Lafayette kids are poor kids. It is an UMC neighborhood.

What it is not is a neighborhood full of 2.5 Million houses.

And the state of the Lafayette facilities are great after a long wait and extensive renovation that is on par with the renovations of schools happening all over the city.

That is all. Go over the money forum to debate what is UMC and what is rich.

I am not a Lafayette parent or neighbor, but this finger pointing started by an inflammatory post is ridiculous.

This is funny. You do realize that most of us don't make much of a distinction? Once it's over a million, it's so far out of bounds for the vast majority of DC that you're splitting hairs.

The grounds are amazing. Do you really think there are no advantages conferred on a school WOTP which are not received by the poorer schools? And do you really think none of those advantages have anything to do with the parents at said school, whatever mechanism is used?

I do not think they are conferred on it by DCPS. I also think that you are focusing on the park next door and I think there are a lot of nice playgrounds all around DC. Yes, it is a nice residential neighborhood that is different than many of the more urban neighborhoods in DC, lots of green.

Back to the topic, what does this have to do with how PTA fundraising at Wilson and its feeder school impacts the ability of DCPS to improve its schools?