Plan to blend predominantly Black and White DC schools leads to tense debate in liberal neighborhood | Fox News
By: Nikolas Lanum (Fox News)
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A plan to integrate two nearby Washington, D.C. schools with vastly different racial backgrounds is sparking fierce debate among parents in the predominantly liberal community.
Nearly 6 in 10 of the 500 children at Maury Elementary School are White. At Miner Elementary School, 80% of the kids are Black, many of whom are in foster care, receive public assistance, or are homeless. Enrollment at the school has been declining, according to The Washington Post.
District officials have put together a plan where children would spend their early education at one school and later transfer to the other. Their goal is to improve diversity at both institutions by pairing previously separate demographics together.
"From my perspective, there's a lot of unknowns about what the quality of the school would look like," Jonathan Rothwell, who has two children enrolled at Maury, said.
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Parents at Miner and Maury elementary schools are split on the decision to integrate learning between both institutions. (Screenshot/Google street view)
He also worried that teachers would leave the school because of the integration, an issue brought up during a tense town hall meeting with Maury families back in November.
"A lot of parents are already satisfied with Maury, and this jeopardizes that satisfaction," he added.
Maury parent-teacher association co-president Shavanna Miller was one of the people who spoke up at the town hall and said children can "fall through the cracks" when they move from one school to another.
"I think it's not just because the children have to adjust their environment. I think it's because a whole new set of adults needs to understand the kids, understand their family, understand their needs and how to best support them," she said.
Some Maury parents admitted that they would consider leaving the area if the plan goes through.
The proposal has sparked in-person and online debate. Petitions for and against the plan have also cropped up, with typically liberal parents criticizing the impact integration could have on their child's education journey,
Maury parents are concerned that the integration plan could bring down averages at a school that typically scores higher on standardized tests than Miner. Meanwhile, Miner parents are worried that the proposal could jeopardize programs that helped disadvantaged students, such as free eye exams and glasses.
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"As we've shared in our citywide community engagements, racially and socioeconomically diverse schools are one of the guiding principles of the study," the office of D.C. Deputy Mayor for Education Paul Kihn said in a statement.
"We believe that all students and communities flourish when schools have diverse student bodies, provided that schools have, at a minimum, welcoming, affirming, and culturally and linguistically responsive environments for students and families."
Officials stressed that they are in talks with parents and hosting dozens of meetings to quell concerns. The advisory committee will offer recommendations to D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser in March. She will then decide which recommendations should be put in place.
Some parents, such as Kiki Fox, support the proposal and think it would offer benefits to both schools.
"Instead of just making one school better and one school more diverse, we can offer that to both," Fox, a Miner parent, said. "It's surprising to some of us that people aren't able to think of the bigger picture, which is the fact that, yes, this could be disruptive for a lot of people for some time. I definitely understand that, but the benefits are going to be much further reaching for much longer."
Miner parent Jeff Grietz also has hopes for the proposal and has released a petition for the measure that has added 300 signatures so far.
"It struck me as a way to lift students at both schools but, in particular, students at Miner. And hopefully, improve educational outcomes," he said.
Nikolas Lanum is an associate editor for Fox News Digital.
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And the liberal NIMBYism continues........
Yet those outside the district will virtue signal the hell out of the plan.
These stories crack me up. Upper middle class and above progressives are so predictable.
"We believe that all students and communities flourish when schools have diverse student bodies, provided that schools have, at a minimum, welcoming, affirming, and culturally and linguistically responsive environments for students and families."
As the father of a 10 year first grade teacher in a very diverse area the students flourish when the parents are involved with their kids education. If only half of the parents engage (or show to parent teacher conferences) the kids suffer.
Some Maury parents admitted that they would consider leaving the area if the plan goes through.
Wow, sounds pretty racist to me. Next they will say their property values will go down with all the minorities walking around the neighborhood
Some don't like the DEI when it gets close to them
Progressive talk is cheap, actions not so much.
There seems to be an awful lot of Stupid in this plan. There’s no logic apparent. It seems like they’re just being woke/progressive for its own sake.
And that sucks, but how is that connected to Maury, the students, or their families? Is it their fault? Are they stealing resources? How different can their conditions really be? I looked, and these schools are only half a mile apart on the same street. There must be some difference besides the color of the students.
That sounds like a good thought. But rather than shuttle kids to a different school, why don’t you fire the adults working at Miner and hire more competent teachers and administrators?
There’s nothing wrong with a little diversity, but I see no evidence that a lack of diversity is the reason for the problems at Miner. How does lack of diversity cause poverty or homelessness? How does it cause kids to miss school? And why doesn’t it affect the white kids down the street this way?
But that’s not what this plan does. It takes one shitty school and one good school and makes them both mediocre. Just make the fucked up school better. You don’t do that by moving kids around. You do it by hiring better adults.