Frozen Tropics has an excellent post on the proposed closing of Spingarn, and its effect on the proposed car barn (answer: there is no effect). The post is based largely on a Washington City Paper article.
As a parent in Kingman Park, my biggest take away is that my son would (if nothing changes in the next 14 years) no longer go to Spingarn, a tier 4 school in decline, but would instead likely go to Eastern High School, Dunbar, or Woodson High School. On page 43 of the IFF Report, which was created at the Mayor’s request, it reads that “DCPS recently renovated and restructured Eastern High school and rebuilt Woodson High School. Higher performance is anticipated for both these Tier 4 schools.” As a parent, would I rather my son go to a failing school, or a school on the rise?
Spingarn’s closing would end an important chapter of the District’s history. It boasts countless illustrious alumni including:
- Elgin Baylor, a retired Hall of Fame American basketball player and formerNBA general manager who played 13 seasons as a forward for the NBA’sMinneapolis Lakers/Los Angeles Lakers.
- Dave Bing, a retired Hall of Fame American professional basketball player in the NBA, primarily for the Detroit Pistons from 1966 to 1975. He is currently (2010) the Mayor of Detroit.
- John B. Catoe, Jr., former general manager of the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority
- Sherman Douglas, a retired American professional basketball player who played in the NBA for the Miami Heat, Boston Celtics, Milwaukee Bucks, New Jersey Nets and the Los Angeles Clippers from 1989 to 2001.
- Ollie Johnson, a retired American basketball player who was an All-American at the University of San Francisco and a first round draft pick of the Boston Celtics.
- John Kinard, founding director of the Anacostia Museum, a Smithsonian Institution museum
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spingarn_High_School. Closing Spingarn would be a difficult pill to swallow for the school’s many amazing and accomplished graduates. But if it’s a question of what’s best for the education of the District’s current children, the answer is not so simple.
