Monday 28 January 2013

[WardFive] Re: [ward5] Fwd: [concerned4DCPS] Re: [ward5coe] Article: How Garrison Elementary was Saved - Comment on Article

Good Day,
 
Here are some questions that may spur some other questions:
 
1.  Why isn't Kaya automatically defaulting to using the same "Early Education" and "Special Education" Classrooms to "boost" enrollment at Marshall Elementary like she is going to do in Garrison??  I am sure that we have lots of folks who would like to enroll their child into Early Education here in Ward 5. This seems to be somewhat Discriminatory! 
 
a.  Is it possible to offer "Early Education" and Special Education" Classrooms here to boost enrollment? 
b.  Can we be creative and put a few middle school grades in that location like Wall shifting 9th Graders to Francis-Stevens?
 
2.  Why would they have to close Spingarm to accomplish putting a "technical" school there. 
a.  Why couldn't we just continue to keep it open, place all the interested kids there, start the "job training" now especially since we already have a "ROBUST" transportation system that we can farm them out to have on the site training. 
 
3.  With the Collective numbers of Spingarm High and Stay, why close this school at all -- just add a "technical wing" just like DCPS is creating a Partnership with Malcolm X and the nearby Charter.  Why can't DCPS (Spingarm and DCPS Stay partner with DCPS "futuristic" Technical and make that an immediate reality without closing the School?
 
4.  Why is it that Tommy Wells questions during the second round almost solely reaffirmed the fact that this Spingarm would be used to house a technical facility where kids could learn to work on Trolleys as the world is shifting this model and that there is a need to work on bus engines.  Shows what he is interested in and his focus!!  If that is all he has, he has already exposed himself as being a "biased member of the Committee.
 
5.  Why aren't there any programs right now for our youth to work on Bus Engines - but all of a sudden there is a rise in the interest while our City operates immensely on Buses, Trains and other modes of transportation.   
A thought -- could Jack, Jim and Tommy have already leveraged their future support for Kaya/DCPS so that they could keep their schools open and the Trolley Barn would be placed on Spingarm's Campus as a part of this "Education Use" once the Historic Designation is complete.
 
6.  Why aren't they looking into placing the Trolley Barn (instead of Historic Spingarm's Campus), the Bus Lot (instead of Historic Crummel School), and the Bus Barn relocation from 14th Street N.W. (instead of Historic Soldiers Home) -- Placing all of them at the Former Trash Transfer Site On Benning Road.  It sure is Large enough and no one would "Protest" that!!  The Federal Govt. funds that they are leveraging could be used to place that type of school anywhere -- not just at Spingarm. 
 
Imagine how many jobs would be there vs. just a few jobs (training) at the Trolley Barn for 2.5 miles of Trolley Car transportation.  That location and all that opportunity -- Imagine how much training could happen there and it is only about 3 blocks away from where the students will be attending school at Spingarm while we retain our School property for our School.  The Federal Govt. should have no problem still partnering with DC to help fund the creation of all those transportation Jobs at the Former Benning Road Trash Site -- It is big enough to incorporate all these non-wanted venues. 
 
7.  Why are folks not focussing on the fact that Schools which are fully staffed also have many students way below the Proficiency Level and that this is the real issue that needs to be focused on.
 
8.  When do we test each child and follow the child's progress individually instead of just rating schools on a cumulative score?  Let's see if our Children are truly progressing or not.  The tests should be scored by folks other than their Teachers like the S.A.T's.
 
9.  If this School Closings is about relocating money to be better utilized (as Kaya is promoting), why isn't any of the main Central office staff been let go while others who are making less have their Central Office responsibility broadened.  With 15 less schools, Attrition should hit Central Office highest Positions.
 
10.  When are folks going to get that English is a "Foreign Language" in many of our schools WHEN SO MANY ARE BEING REPORTED AS "NOT PROFICIENT" IN ENGLISH AND MATH (READING/COMPREHENDING ARE VERY FUNDAMENTAL TO UNDERSTANDING MATH)
 
11.  Can we Reshuffle teachers with Higher Pay around the City so that School budgets in lower enrolled schools can afford to stay open.
 
12.  Should DCPS be doing marketing to encourage enrollment in our Public Schools and why haven't they done so.  We offer foreign language and as one can see, they are spending money on school development when we could have invested in repairing many of the existing ones.  It shows the shift to getting rid of our neighborhood schools.  Furthermore,
 
a. Should DCPS be Notifying parents of children in Public Charter Schools which status have been now lowered or are no better in Proficiency in Math and English?
 
b.  Should DCPS be demanding that the Public Charter Schools not be allowed to EJECT kids out after 2 Months -- unless this is their way of legally segragating our children.  If this is the case, recycling our kids is not the answer -- special care (extra help/funds) should be given to the ones who need help.
 
13.  Should the Council pass Legislation that would stop Charters from putting our kids out after 2 months unless it -- if they are going to get funded by public funds, they should fall under some public guidelines!!  
 
14.  Should the Council pass legislation that mandates that every school that is currently open for 2013-2014 school year gets fully funded for operation from the upcoming budget (allowing for all schools to have equal amount of positions) before funding the Central Office Budget.  A great way to do this is to have DCPS put forth a Separate Budget for solely the schools, without the inclusion of their Central Office staff being stuck in there and then put forth a Separate Budget for their Central Office staff/Operation so that our schools get the money that they deserve first.
 
15.  Howcome Kaya only uses her studies and seemingly refuses to be inclusive of other studies which conflicts with her approach?
 
Let's Say that Kaya is Right about her entire approach -- that would make the entire Community extremely Stupid that as educated and experienced as we all are as a Collective, somehow we are too dumb to see how right her approach is that hasn't worked at all over the last 6 years? 
 
Rob Ramson
On Sun, Jan 27, 2013 at 9:06 PM, KPW <WKPW3@aol.com> wrote:



-----Original Message-----
From: Richard Layman <rlaymandc@yahoo.com>
To: concerned4DCPS <concerned4DCPS@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Sun, Jan 27, 2013 8:31 pm
Subject: Re: [concerned4DCPS] Re: [ward5coe] Article: How Garrison Elementary was Saved - Comment on Article

.... similarly, the capacity needs to be built within the system for all the schools to be similarly developed/marketed, although that shouldn't have to be done exclusively by the parents.  E.g., when California was gonna close lots of state parks, they set up trainings for groups considering developing MOUs and operating agreements to run the parks.  I could go on and on about this.

E.g., when I did a bike and ped plan for Baltimore County, I went to one of the schools on Intl. Walk to School Day.  The school is a national best practice model for WtS, with an amazing principal and great parents who set up the program.  But really the school district should have been required to provide capacity building resources and assistance at the scale of the school system rather than expecting ad hoc efforts.  (I won't bore you with the recommendations from the plan draft.  And some were excised by the higher ups.)

RL


From: Erich Martel <ehmartel@starpower.net>
To: concerned4DCPS@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Sunday, January 27, 2013 6:34 PM
Subject: Re: [concerned4DCPS] Re: [ward5coe] Article: How Garrison Elementary was Saved - Comment on Article

 
Harry,
Thanks. 
I hope some of the Garrison parents will understand enough of the game that was run on them to speak up for the larger school community.  That said, the fact that they stood up for their children is by itself an important model. 
Erich 
 
 
 
----- Original Message -----
Sent: Sunday, January 27, 2013 4:20 PM
Subject: Re: [concerned4DCPS] Re: [ward5coe] Article: How Garrison Elementary was Saved - Comment on Article

 
Erich:

Yours is a terrific analysis, well expressed.

I read this good UrbanTurf piece when it came out. Let's agree that whether you agree or disagree with it in part or whole, WaPo has rarely had its education beat reporter and editors publish something with this much research and thought. 

Now, I am afraid that your cynicism may be correct about what Henderson and her policy staff know about likely future demand for slots at local neighborhood schools.  Mary Filardo and her group and partners -- including some at Brookings and Urban Institute -- have gone unmentioned this time around. They contributed to estimates of neighborhood enrollment demand and journeys to school  for the the previous closure cycle. So, I don't know whether they are now continuing to take DCPS funding and averting their collective gazes at what is said about planning, all as a condition of future work, or whether they had no part in this cycle. 

Here again, Diane Ravitch's savage evaluation may apply. What has stilled inquiry into the reality of and alternatives to beneficial change is sponsored and dependent technical work instead of independently funded analysis. 

After six years of such secret,outsourced, and non-accountable technical work by DCPS it is hard to know whether the call for Christian charity any longer applies: To not attribute to mendacity and venality what simple incompetence can also explain. 

 You are persausive that it does not.
On Sun, Jan 27, 2013 at 3:25 PM, Erich Martel <ehmartel@starpower.net> wrote:


I submitted the following comment to Urban Turf in response to the article on how Garrison ES was saved.
- Erich Martel
- - - - - -
Erich Martel said at 3:13 pm on Sunday January 27, 2013:
This article is both heartening and troubling.
It is heartening, because it describes the sophisticated organizing strategy that led to this grass-roots victory, parents saving their school from the jaws of closure.  The coordinated community response, supported by Council Members Graham and Evans, plus an alternate plan cleverly meshed with Henderson's Five Year Plan, is a model that other school communities should study.
It is troubling, because it showed how Henderson used Garrison to create an image of east-west balance in school closings, giving her political cover to proceed with the other closings. Was Garrison really ever at risk or was it placed on the closure list, because she knew that Garrison parents' effective organizing skills would justify a reprieve?  Either way, listing Garrison (and Francis-Stevens) for closure created the impression that Ward 2 schools enjoyed no privileged exemption from her closure policies.
Writer Paul implies that the chancellor was unaware of Garrison parents' level of engagement or the facts they gathered, such as:
- "Enrollment … was continuing to move upward"
- Lottery applications jumped from 15 to 146 in three years
- Merger would put Seaton ES over capacity
- "Henderson [acknowledged] demographic data showing that NW neighborhoods … around Garrison, are growing faster than officials previously understood"
It is highly doubtful that the chancellor is so out of touch with the data - and political weight - of Ward 2. 
The chancellor justified closing schools because of low enrollment and charter "choice," but has failed to correct the major problems that cause parents to move to charters:  failure to make all DCPS schools safe, orderly and welcoming, the absence of which causes charter flight.  Charters claim that they are safe, orderly and inviting and take advantage of their private school privilege of transferring less manageable and academically deficient students – mostly to DCPS (over 1750 between October 2010 and 2011.  The chancellor knows this and, but her silence suggests that she agrees with this practice!
Erich Martel
Retired DCPS high school teacher
ehmartel@starpower.net
- - - - - -
 
 
 
 
----- Original Message -----
Sent: Friday, January 25, 2013 4:17 PM
Subject: [ward5coe] Article: How Garrison Elementary was Saved



How Garrison Elementary Was Saved

image
 
Last summer, UrbanTurf wrote an article on parents in the city who were taking school reform into their hands using listservs, Facebook and general activism.
Several of the parents we spoke with were involved in improving Garrison Elementary, a public school at the corner of 13th and S streets. With a new principal and increasing parental engagement, it seemed like there was a lot of momentum to create a better school.
So, UrbanTurf was a little shocked when, in November, Garrison showed up on DC Public School Chancellor Kaya Henderson's list of public schools that would be closed.
If we were a bit shocked, Garrison parents like PTA President Ann McLeod were completely stunned. "We were doing everything DCPS wants parent leaders to do," McLeod told UrbanTurf. "The proposal was boggling."
Using tactics familiar to advocates, activists and community organizers everywhere, Garrison's PTA immediately mobilized a grassroots campaign to save the school. And the efforts paid off: Garrison was taken off the closure list last week.
Based on interviews with Garrison parents, here are the steps that they said were instrumental in keeping the school open:
Construct and Organize Talking Points
The day the scheduled closure was announced, the PTA held a meeting to compile a list of compelling reasons for why the school should be kept open. At the top of the list, said McLeod, was that enrollment had increased since 2009-2010 and was continuing to move upward. (Low enrollment was one of the reasons that Garrison was places on the closure list.) In the fall of 2009, the group of parents found, there were only 15 lottery entries from out-of-bounds families wanting to send their children to Garrison; in 2012, this number jumped to 146.
"If they were going to merge us with Seaton [an elementary school nearby], the school would be over capacity," McLeod said. As they stated on their fact sheet, the move would require students to be placed in trailers due to lack of seats. "DCPS needed [Garrison] and the seats."
As the decision to close the school was based on DCPS's cost-saving efforts, the group of parents also laid out reasons that closing Garrison would not ultimately save money: the city will still need to maintain the building, re-opening it due to population growth in a few years may cost even more money, and renting trailers to accommodate the extra students at Seaton would be costly as well.
They also wanted to point out that Garrison was building strong relationships with surrounding churches, community organizations and residents. "Parents who don't even have children of school age were asking how to get involved [in the PTA]," McLeod stressed.
These arguments and others were organized and refined in order to be presented to the Chancellor and the Mayor, as well as distributed throughout the community. (See the last link on this page for the fact sheet that was compiled.)
Spread the Word (in a Variety of Ways)
Once they had their talking points in order, PTA members and allies embarked on several different simultaneous campaigns to spread the word.
  • An email blast encouraged residents and parents to testify before the city council. Though Henderson made the ultimate decision, the council's opinion could hold some sway.
  • Residents, businesses, churches and other bodies were encouraged to write letters to Henderson and Mayor Vincent Gray. Testimonies and other written arguments were made available to help people construct their letters.
  • In addition to a physical petition, a Change.org petition was created and passed around via email, Facebook and other internet-based means.
  • Anyone passing through Logan Circle in recent months has likely seen the child-made signs saying "We Love Garrison" and "Save Garrison." Beside putting them in front of the school, the PTA, working with the neighborhood community association, asked residents featured on the recent Logan Circle House Tour to place signs in front of their homes and provided tour docents with information.
  • A Facebook page and regular Twitter-ing kept community member abreast of important dates, action steps and successes.
Make it Easy For Residents to Get Involved and Communicate With Local Government Allies
Besides going door to door and filling residents' inboxes with emails, the group made it easy for those living around the school to attend meetings. For example, they organized a bus to take residents up to a community meeting at the Brightwood Educational Campus on December 5th to give them a chance to talk directly to Chancellor Henderson andDCPS. The meeting, with parents, teachers and students of Wards 1,2,3,4 and 6, was organized to give the community a chance to work with DCPS to make the transition smoother, and to hear their thoughts.
McLeod and others also often communicated with Councilmembers Jack Evans and Jim Graham, who supported their efforts. The councilmembers and their staffers gave the parents advice and argued on their behalf.
Develop a Counter Proposal
In addition to presenting their case for keeping Garrison open, McLeod and others developed a counter proposal. Knowing that Henderson initially made her decision based on DCPS's limited funds, the parents decided that if they offered to embark on concrete, actionable steps to support the school, Garrison would seem like a better investment. In their five-year strategic plan, outlined here, they promise to work with DCPS to increase enrollment at the school through open houses and outreach, to continue engaging the community, to create more volunteer opportunities for parents and to work towards modernizing the facilities.
Meet with the Decider
On December 18th, McLeod and a few other parents met with Henderson directly. They submitted their counter proposal, reiterated their argument, and had a discussion about what else they wanted from the school. While the conversation was extensive, McLeod left with no clear idea of what Garrison's fate would be. "[Henderson] holds her cards close to the chest," she remembers. "She gave no indication one way or the other."
Earlier this month, Henderson made up her mind: Garrison (along with four other schools on the list) would stay open. According to the Washington Post, "Henderson cited parents' willingness to help recruit new students and demographic data showing that Northwest neighborhoods, particularly around Garrison, are growing faster than officials previously understood" in her decision to reverse the closure.
The extensive efforts — it became a part-time job, said McLeod ("I'm lucky that my boss is so supportive") — were worth it. But there is still much work to be done to keep improving the school. At least now, the positive momentum is back on, and Garrison is on DCPS's radar.
One person slightly underwhelmed by the news? McLeod's young son, a Garrison student.
"When it was first announced, he thought that he wouldn't have to go to school anymore," she said.
---
Faith Gibson Hubbard
President
Ward Five Council on Education (W5COE)
W5COE Phone: 202-505-4309
Follow us on Twitter: @Ward5EdCouncil










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R. Ramson
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