Student Statement from the Duke Ellington School of the Arts

June 8, 2018

 

The idea that we are disregarding the taxpayers of DC is a byproduct of the Washington Post’s biased and overly-simplistic reporting, and not rooted in any way in the beliefs of the students. The intent of our protest on the 30th was not to open up a discussion about economics. While we all have our own views on how we think education should work, we are united in our belief that: 

• The investigations conducted by OSSE have been unethical to the point where we believe that they should be classified as insufficient evidence of fraud, as they are inappropriate investigations into the lives of minors.

• The solution to having students enrolled in your system whose families cannot afford to pay the tuition, is not, and will never be, to sue them for more money than the four years of tuition combined.

• Criminalizing children for seeking out a good education will always be despicable.

 

Morality cannot be removed from this situation, and we will not allow it to be removed from the discussion either. This is not a single, contained issue. This is a multifaceted, nuanced and malignant epidemic. And it didn’t start with us moving from U street to Georgetown. It started with this city becoming economically uninhabitable for so many. It started when the idea that young, gifted children of color deserved an education in the arts was perceived by Georgetown residents as threatening. And now, that the idea that students should be allowed to stand up for the rights that they deserve when they are being violated, is being seen, by all of you, by the Washington Post, by the police, as threatening. You cannot teach children in schools of what those before them did to ensure that their liberties were not ignored, or abused, and then do just that, and expect them to do nothing.

 

We believe that there is no other school in the country like Duke Ellington. We know that some of you are parents. That you would do whatever you could to nurture talent in your child if you recognized it in them. We believe that the letters sent to families were deliberately evasive, and the investigations which led to the mailing of the letters was improper to the point where it should be thrown out. We believe that the education departments of Virginia and Maryland should provide several scholarship slots to students applying to Duke Ellington, the way that they do for other target schools.

 

We are separate from the parents in our mission to protect and advocate for the students whose families have committed fraud, but we are united in our defense of the school and its legacy.