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SJE is exactly right. Diversity is important, but it shouldn't be the core mission of a public school. My kids went to a good elementary school west of Rock Creek Park, whose mission statement had diversity as its first point. For the past 30 years a majority of the students had come from outside the school's geographic boundaries. As the school improved, confidence in DCPS increased under Rhee and private school tuition continued to rise, more and more neighborhood families sent their kids to the schools. This produced some understandable tension with some out of bounds parents, even though all of the students were grandfathered into the school. Indeed, proposals for more academic enrichment programs were met with skepticism, if not outright hostility by some parents. Indeed one said at a meeting that she wanted the school to be a good school, but not necessarily a great one -- her fear was that, as the school's academic offerings and repution improved, more in-bounds families would go there. so

by Ralph on Jul 23, 2012 12:46 pm • link • report