I have not copied the entire Washington Post article below — just the first few paragraphs. You can click on the link to read the entire article.
Dunbar High autonomy proposal stirs debate in D.C.
Emma Brown/The Washington Post
A proposal to improve Dunbar High School by converting it to an autonomous and selective school has generated widespread debate among teachers, students, alumni and community members. It’s a debate not only about the future of Dunbar, one of the District’s most storied public schools, but also about the city’s ability to serve all students.
The push for change, which a small group of alumni and parents quietly developed over the past several months, would give Dunbar more freedom to make decisions about whom it hires, how it spends its money and how it designs its academic offerings.
But the proposal, first reported last week in The Washington Post, would also transform a neighborhood school that is legally obligated to take all comers into an application-only institution that could choose its students. Such an arrangement most likely would give Dunbar, in the 100 block of N Street NW, the ability to choose not to serve the neediest neighborhood children.
It’s an idea that could jump-start a transformation of Dunbar, which was once known for educating the District’s elite black students and is now one of the city’s worst-performing schools.
But critics of the proposal say it would be a false transformation, built on the rejection of students who come to class with profound challenges — including poor reading ability, deficient math skills and difficult home lives — that need to be addressed.
Bates Area Civic Association 