APS School Board race

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Anonymous wrote:In case anyone is wondering how APS teachers feel about a specific group of parents, here is an APS teacher (now former) who put her name on it --


At first, when schools moved to online instruction in the spring of 2020 and parents saw firsthand the hardships teachers were enduring, plaudits poured in for the educators showing remarkable commitment to their profession in a difficult situation they had never trained for. Virtual teaching took much more time to prepare, execute and evaluate. And because students were often not required to turn on their cameras, it was a lot like teaching into a void. But as time crawled on and schools remained closed to in-person instruction, parents became critical, even angry. The hostility parents leveled against teachers was astonishing. In September 2021 alone, 30,000 public school teachers nationwide gave notice. Between August 2020 and August 2021, Florida’s teacher vacancies surged 67 percent, according to a count by the Florida Education Association. In 2021, California’s largest district, Los Angeles Unified, had five times the number of vacancies as in previous years, according to Shannon Haber, a spokeswoman for the district. The number of retirements skyrocketed, and I joined the exodus. I was within a couple of years of my target retirement date, but I left earlier than planned because of the mounting stress around the pandemic and an ever-increasing workload.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/books/2023/03/08/teachers-woes-vulnerable-profession-robbins/?fbclid=IwAR2UZodgy4iGVxCs8_X8Jp-yrhrMPKsHd6lhvFl5CAJ6rpmbqn9jA0FgT1o


The raw, misdirected hostility towards teachers was so crazy. I’m still shocked by what some parents did.

My kid was on teams **in class** when a parent interrupted and started screaming and cursing at the teacher. In front of all of the kids!!! The teacher handled it well, but WTAF?!


Yup. And then a lot of parents who were angry about schools closing took their kids out of APS and left for private schools, including one of our school bd candidates, so this is a problem they created for others to deal with.

I don't know how we repair the damage they did.


Certainly not by choosing a SB member who thought their actions were acceptable enough to partner with them.


What a slap in the face that would be to our teachers.


*OR* maybe our teachers would be thrilled to have a SB member lobbying for higher pay and smaller class sizes?


Everyone wants these things. But OK, I'll bite. Just how does she plan to pay for that?


How does ANYone plan to pay for them?


Well since you said this is Miranda's platform, does she have an actual plan to pay for them or are they just empty words?

I didn't say that. Different people commenting. Question stands. How does anyone plan to pay for these things? AEM people constantly griping about teacher salaries and calling for raises to compensate for inflation AND step increases. How do they propose paying for them????


the AEM commenters are not running for the school board. Miranda is. Someone said she's advocating for these things and said that in a good way, like we should vote for her for that reason. So then people asked how she plans to pay for it. and then.... crickets.



That is evidence that it isn't a simple problem to solve. If nobody else in this collective of highly educated, all-knowing Arlington community can come up with a solution or even suggestions, it's unrealistic to expect a local SB candidate would fare much better. Throw out some ideas to her and see what she thinks of them.


I'll take this as an admission that she doesn't have her own ideas. pass.


Her website and newsletter seem to have plenty of specifics. She wants APS to release the class size report. Parents and teachers in dcum and AEM have complained about classes being over the max sizes. Why won’t APS release the report? She asked for an independent auditor. The last one got fired after giving a bad report on VLP. She asked for APS to reverse the extra paid holidays that syphax is getting. Added by duran last year and Teachers don’t get paid for those. She’s asked for county help for mental health supports. She arranged a forum with a county board member on the same.

She’s clued in, paying attention and has specific ideas.


So how specifically was she going to pay for higher teacher salary and smaller class size? Those syphax holidays won’t cover it.


Bet those syphax holidays cost more than you think.

When she was on APE board, they asked for an increase in revenue sharing to help pay for smaller class sizes and more teacher pay. Letter is on their website. Most anyone who pays attention in Arlington knows this is what's going to have to happen. Arlington county provides a smaller percent of revenues to APS that surrounding counties//school systems. But the reality is if you aren't paying attention to the small stuff like having an independent auditor or adding a ridiculous amount of paid holidays, you won't ever be able to do the big stuff even if the County forks over more money.


Is that her current position?

How much overlap does she have with APE positions?


Ask her. She's not listed on the APE board anymore. But her newsletter and website have alot of specifics of someone paying attention to details.


So no solutions. Just talk.

I’m going with the kid who didn’t lead APE.


You: I want specifics

Me: Here are specifics

You: Not those specifics. See I told you she was no solutions.



What specifics? I don't see any. Just a lot of talk.

What would she cut to fund her chosen programs?



Also, tell me ONE thing that Miranda accomplished or got done in APS, just ONE.

Like Bethany led the food drives at Randolph. Tell me what Miranda has done.


First tell us one thing that any of the current school board members have done in the past 3 years as an individual to make any actual real improvements in APS? Please provide the dates, time, and the measurable outcome of the effort. And no posting on social media doesn’t count …

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Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:In case anyone is wondering how APS teachers feel about a specific group of parents, here is an APS teacher (now former) who put her name on it --


At first, when schools moved to online instruction in the spring of 2020 and parents saw firsthand the hardships teachers were enduring, plaudits poured in for the educators showing remarkable commitment to their profession in a difficult situation they had never trained for. Virtual teaching took much more time to prepare, execute and evaluate. And because students were often not required to turn on their cameras, it was a lot like teaching into a void. But as time crawled on and schools remained closed to in-person instruction, parents became critical, even angry. The hostility parents leveled against teachers was astonishing. In September 2021 alone, 30,000 public school teachers nationwide gave notice. Between August 2020 and August 2021, Florida’s teacher vacancies surged 67 percent, according to a count by the Florida Education Association. In 2021, California’s largest district, Los Angeles Unified, had five times the number of vacancies as in previous years, according to Shannon Haber, a spokeswoman for the district. The number of retirements skyrocketed, and I joined the exodus. I was within a couple of years of my target retirement date, but I left earlier than planned because of the mounting stress around the pandemic and an ever-increasing workload.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/books/2023/03/08/teachers-woes-vulnerable-profession-robbins/?fbclid=IwAR2UZodgy4iGVxCs8_X8Jp-yrhrMPKsHd6lhvFl5CAJ6rpmbqn9jA0FgT1o


The raw, misdirected hostility towards teachers was so crazy. I’m still shocked by what some parents did.

My kid was on teams **in class** when a parent interrupted and started screaming and cursing at the teacher. In front of all of the kids!!! The teacher handled it well, but WTAF?!


Yup. And then a lot of parents who were angry about schools closing took their kids out of APS and left for private schools, including one of our school bd candidates, so this is a problem they created for others to deal with.

I don't know how we repair the damage they did.


Certainly not by choosing a SB member who thought their actions were acceptable enough to partner with them.


What a slap in the face that would be to our teachers.


*OR* maybe our teachers would be thrilled to have a SB member lobbying for higher pay and smaller class sizes?


Everyone wants these things. But OK, I'll bite. Just how does she plan to pay for that?


How does ANYone plan to pay for them?


Well since you said this is Miranda's platform, does she have an actual plan to pay for them or are they just empty words?

I didn't say that. Different people commenting. Question stands. How does anyone plan to pay for these things? AEM people constantly griping about teacher salaries and calling for raises to compensate for inflation AND step increases. How do they propose paying for them????


the AEM commenters are not running for the school board. Miranda is. Someone said she's advocating for these things and said that in a good way, like we should vote for her for that reason. So then people asked how she plans to pay for it. and then.... crickets.



That is evidence that it isn't a simple problem to solve. If nobody else in this collective of highly educated, all-knowing Arlington community can come up with a solution or even suggestions, it's unrealistic to expect a local SB candidate would fare much better. Throw out some ideas to her and see what she thinks of them.


I'll take this as an admission that she doesn't have her own ideas. pass.


Her website and newsletter seem to have plenty of specifics. She wants APS to release the class size report. Parents and teachers in dcum and AEM have complained about classes being over the max sizes. Why won’t APS release the report? She asked for an independent auditor. The last one got fired after giving a bad report on VLP. She asked for APS to reverse the extra paid holidays that syphax is getting. Added by duran last year and Teachers don’t get paid for those. She’s asked for county help for mental health supports. She arranged a forum with a county board member on the same.

She’s clued in, paying attention and has specific ideas.


So how specifically was she going to pay for higher teacher salary and smaller class size? Those syphax holidays won’t cover it.


Bet those syphax holidays cost more than you think.

When she was on APE board, they asked for an increase in revenue sharing to help pay for smaller class sizes and more teacher pay. Letter is on their website. Most anyone who pays attention in Arlington knows this is what's going to have to happen. Arlington county provides a smaller percent of revenues to APS that surrounding counties//school systems. But the reality is if you aren't paying attention to the small stuff like having an independent auditor or adding a ridiculous amount of paid holidays, you won't ever be able to do the big stuff even if the County forks over more money.


Is that her current position?

How much overlap does she have with APE positions?


Ask her. She's not listed on the APE board anymore. But her newsletter and website have alot of specifics of someone paying attention to details.


So no solutions. Just talk.

I’m going with the kid who didn’t lead APE.


You: I want specifics

Me: Here are specifics

You: Not those specifics. See I told you she was no solutions.



What specifics? I don't see any. Just a lot of talk.

What would she cut to fund her chosen programs?



Sounds like she would cut the Paper tutoring program, the extra holidays Duran added, freeze syphax growth, more county funding for mental health, and from her latest newsletter from this week, asking her VA reps to support a Democratic proposal for more learning loss funding from Richmond. That's a pretty good start on specifics from someone not on the board. I haven't even seen our current board members raise some of the specific questions that I see in her newsletter. Reid and Mary ask the best questions. Bethany getting good too. Cristina and Priddy on the other hand.


so she wants to cut the holidays that were finally added for kids in non-Christian religions. That's on brand for her.

And she wants to CUT a tutoring program? Ok.....

And she wants to freeze Syphax growth. No. She has no idea what they do at Syphax. None. This tells me she is not sophisticated at all.


It's not cutting the religious holidays for kids. This is about the paid APS days that Duran added for 12 month staff last year. For example, syphax. Teachers have them off but they are not paid. Syphax now gets paid for all of spring break, winter break, and the religious holidays. Teachers do not get paid for those days off. Syphax working barely more than 10 month employees now.

If you think the tutoring by text is a good use of money, good for you. I don't.

And APS has more central office staff for our size than on neighbors. Check it out.
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Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:In case anyone is wondering how APS teachers feel about a specific group of parents, here is an APS teacher (now former) who put her name on it --


At first, when schools moved to online instruction in the spring of 2020 and parents saw firsthand the hardships teachers were enduring, plaudits poured in for the educators showing remarkable commitment to their profession in a difficult situation they had never trained for. Virtual teaching took much more time to prepare, execute and evaluate. And because students were often not required to turn on their cameras, it was a lot like teaching into a void. But as time crawled on and schools remained closed to in-person instruction, parents became critical, even angry. The hostility parents leveled against teachers was astonishing. In September 2021 alone, 30,000 public school teachers nationwide gave notice. Between August 2020 and August 2021, Florida’s teacher vacancies surged 67 percent, according to a count by the Florida Education Association. In 2021, California’s largest district, Los Angeles Unified, had five times the number of vacancies as in previous years, according to Shannon Haber, a spokeswoman for the district. The number of retirements skyrocketed, and I joined the exodus. I was within a couple of years of my target retirement date, but I left earlier than planned because of the mounting stress around the pandemic and an ever-increasing workload.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/books/2023/03/08/teachers-woes-vulnerable-profession-robbins/?fbclid=IwAR2UZodgy4iGVxCs8_X8Jp-yrhrMPKsHd6lhvFl5CAJ6rpmbqn9jA0FgT1o


The raw, misdirected hostility towards teachers was so crazy. I’m still shocked by what some parents did.

My kid was on teams **in class** when a parent interrupted and started screaming and cursing at the teacher. In front of all of the kids!!! The teacher handled it well, but WTAF?!


Yup. And then a lot of parents who were angry about schools closing took their kids out of APS and left for private schools, including one of our school bd candidates, so this is a problem they created for others to deal with.

I don't know how we repair the damage they did.


Certainly not by choosing a SB member who thought their actions were acceptable enough to partner with them.


What a slap in the face that would be to our teachers.


*OR* maybe our teachers would be thrilled to have a SB member lobbying for higher pay and smaller class sizes?


Everyone wants these things. But OK, I'll bite. Just how does she plan to pay for that?


How does ANYone plan to pay for them?


Well since you said this is Miranda's platform, does she have an actual plan to pay for them or are they just empty words?

I didn't say that. Different people commenting. Question stands. How does anyone plan to pay for these things? AEM people constantly griping about teacher salaries and calling for raises to compensate for inflation AND step increases. How do they propose paying for them????


the AEM commenters are not running for the school board. Miranda is. Someone said she's advocating for these things and said that in a good way, like we should vote for her for that reason. So then people asked how she plans to pay for it. and then.... crickets.



That is evidence that it isn't a simple problem to solve. If nobody else in this collective of highly educated, all-knowing Arlington community can come up with a solution or even suggestions, it's unrealistic to expect a local SB candidate would fare much better. Throw out some ideas to her and see what she thinks of them.


I'll take this as an admission that she doesn't have her own ideas. pass.


Her website and newsletter seem to have plenty of specifics. She wants APS to release the class size report. Parents and teachers in dcum and AEM have complained about classes being over the max sizes. Why won’t APS release the report? She asked for an independent auditor. The last one got fired after giving a bad report on VLP. She asked for APS to reverse the extra paid holidays that syphax is getting. Added by duran last year and Teachers don’t get paid for those. She’s asked for county help for mental health supports. She arranged a forum with a county board member on the same.

She’s clued in, paying attention and has specific ideas.


So how specifically was she going to pay for higher teacher salary and smaller class size? Those syphax holidays won’t cover it.


Bet those syphax holidays cost more than you think.

When she was on APE board, they asked for an increase in revenue sharing to help pay for smaller class sizes and more teacher pay. Letter is on their website. Most anyone who pays attention in Arlington knows this is what's going to have to happen. Arlington county provides a smaller percent of revenues to APS that surrounding counties//school systems. But the reality is if you aren't paying attention to the small stuff like having an independent auditor or adding a ridiculous amount of paid holidays, you won't ever be able to do the big stuff even if the County forks over more money.


Is that her current position?

How much overlap does she have with APE positions?


Ask her. She's not listed on the APE board anymore. But her newsletter and website have alot of specifics of someone paying attention to details.


So no solutions. Just talk.

I’m going with the kid who didn’t lead APE.


You: I want specifics

Me: Here are specifics

You: Not those specifics. See I told you she was no solutions.



What specifics? I don't see any. Just a lot of talk.

What would she cut to fund her chosen programs?



Sounds like she would cut the Paper tutoring program, the extra holidays Duran added, freeze syphax growth, more county funding for mental health, and from her latest newsletter from this week, asking her VA reps to support a Democratic proposal for more learning loss funding from Richmond. That's a pretty good start on specifics from someone not on the board. I haven't even seen our current board members raise some of the specific questions that I see in her newsletter. Reid and Mary ask the best questions. Bethany getting good too. Cristina and Priddy on the other hand.


so she wants to cut the holidays that were finally added for kids in non-Christian religions. That's on brand for her.

And she wants to CUT a tutoring program? Ok.....

And she wants to freeze Syphax growth. No. She has no idea what they do at Syphax. None. This tells me she is not sophisticated at all.


It's not cutting the religious holidays for kids. This is about the paid APS days that Duran added for 12 month staff last year. For example, syphax. Teachers have them off but they are not paid. Syphax now gets paid for all of spring break, winter break, and the religious holidays. Teachers do not get paid for those days off. Syphax working barely more than 10 month employees now.

If you think the tutoring by text is a good use of money, good for you. I don't.

And APS has more central office staff for our size than on neighbors. Check it out.


Exactly!
Many new offices with people taveling to conferences to “learn” about how to give teachers more and more to do so they can justify their jobs. Put them back in the classroom!
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Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:In case anyone is wondering how APS teachers feel about a specific group of parents, here is an APS teacher (now former) who put her name on it --


At first, when schools moved to online instruction in the spring of 2020 and parents saw firsthand the hardships teachers were enduring, plaudits poured in for the educators showing remarkable commitment to their profession in a difficult situation they had never trained for. Virtual teaching took much more time to prepare, execute and evaluate. And because students were often not required to turn on their cameras, it was a lot like teaching into a void. But as time crawled on and schools remained closed to in-person instruction, parents became critical, even angry. The hostility parents leveled against teachers was astonishing. In September 2021 alone, 30,000 public school teachers nationwide gave notice. Between August 2020 and August 2021, Florida’s teacher vacancies surged 67 percent, according to a count by the Florida Education Association. In 2021, California’s largest district, Los Angeles Unified, had five times the number of vacancies as in previous years, according to Shannon Haber, a spokeswoman for the district. The number of retirements skyrocketed, and I joined the exodus. I was within a couple of years of my target retirement date, but I left earlier than planned because of the mounting stress around the pandemic and an ever-increasing workload.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/books/2023/03/08/teachers-woes-vulnerable-profession-robbins/?fbclid=IwAR2UZodgy4iGVxCs8_X8Jp-yrhrMPKsHd6lhvFl5CAJ6rpmbqn9jA0FgT1o


The raw, misdirected hostility towards teachers was so crazy. I’m still shocked by what some parents did.

My kid was on teams **in class** when a parent interrupted and started screaming and cursing at the teacher. In front of all of the kids!!! The teacher handled it well, but WTAF?!


Yup. And then a lot of parents who were angry about schools closing took their kids out of APS and left for private schools, including one of our school bd candidates, so this is a problem they created for others to deal with.

I don't know how we repair the damage they did.


Certainly not by choosing a SB member who thought their actions were acceptable enough to partner with them.


What a slap in the face that would be to our teachers.


*OR* maybe our teachers would be thrilled to have a SB member lobbying for higher pay and smaller class sizes?


Everyone wants these things. But OK, I'll bite. Just how does she plan to pay for that?


How does ANYone plan to pay for them?


Well since you said this is Miranda's platform, does she have an actual plan to pay for them or are they just empty words?

I didn't say that. Different people commenting. Question stands. How does anyone plan to pay for these things? AEM people constantly griping about teacher salaries and calling for raises to compensate for inflation AND step increases. How do they propose paying for them????


the AEM commenters are not running for the school board. Miranda is. Someone said she's advocating for these things and said that in a good way, like we should vote for her for that reason. So then people asked how she plans to pay for it. and then.... crickets.



That is evidence that it isn't a simple problem to solve. If nobody else in this collective of highly educated, all-knowing Arlington community can come up with a solution or even suggestions, it's unrealistic to expect a local SB candidate would fare much better. Throw out some ideas to her and see what she thinks of them.


I'll take this as an admission that she doesn't have her own ideas. pass.


Her website and newsletter seem to have plenty of specifics. She wants APS to release the class size report. Parents and teachers in dcum and AEM have complained about classes being over the max sizes. Why won’t APS release the report? She asked for an independent auditor. The last one got fired after giving a bad report on VLP. She asked for APS to reverse the extra paid holidays that syphax is getting. Added by duran last year and Teachers don’t get paid for those. She’s asked for county help for mental health supports. She arranged a forum with a county board member on the same.

She’s clued in, paying attention and has specific ideas.


So how specifically was she going to pay for higher teacher salary and smaller class size? Those syphax holidays won’t cover it.


Bet those syphax holidays cost more than you think.

When she was on APE board, they asked for an increase in revenue sharing to help pay for smaller class sizes and more teacher pay. Letter is on their website. Most anyone who pays attention in Arlington knows this is what's going to have to happen. Arlington county provides a smaller percent of revenues to APS that surrounding counties//school systems. But the reality is if you aren't paying attention to the small stuff like having an independent auditor or adding a ridiculous amount of paid holidays, you won't ever be able to do the big stuff even if the County forks over more money.


Is that her current position?

How much overlap does she have with APE positions?


Ask her. She's not listed on the APE board anymore. But her newsletter and website have alot of specifics of someone paying attention to details.


So no solutions. Just talk.

I’m going with the kid who didn’t lead APE.


You: I want specifics

Me: Here are specifics

You: Not those specifics. See I told you she was no solutions.



What specifics? I don't see any. Just a lot of talk.

What would she cut to fund her chosen programs?



Also, tell me ONE thing that Miranda accomplished or got done in APS, just ONE.

Like Bethany led the food drives at Randolph. Tell me what Miranda has done.


oh good grief. DP here. I know and like Bethany; but please, can you list something other than food drives that she did? It's not like organizing food drives makes one qualified to be a sb member.
Name one thing each of the other board members "did for APS" before being elected.
Anonymous
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Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:In case anyone is wondering how APS teachers feel about a specific group of parents, here is an APS teacher (now former) who put her name on it --


At first, when schools moved to online instruction in the spring of 2020 and parents saw firsthand the hardships teachers were enduring, plaudits poured in for the educators showing remarkable commitment to their profession in a difficult situation they had never trained for. Virtual teaching took much more time to prepare, execute and evaluate. And because students were often not required to turn on their cameras, it was a lot like teaching into a void. But as time crawled on and schools remained closed to in-person instruction, parents became critical, even angry. The hostility parents leveled against teachers was astonishing. In September 2021 alone, 30,000 public school teachers nationwide gave notice. Between August 2020 and August 2021, Florida’s teacher vacancies surged 67 percent, according to a count by the Florida Education Association. In 2021, California’s largest district, Los Angeles Unified, had five times the number of vacancies as in previous years, according to Shannon Haber, a spokeswoman for the district. The number of retirements skyrocketed, and I joined the exodus. I was within a couple of years of my target retirement date, but I left earlier than planned because of the mounting stress around the pandemic and an ever-increasing workload.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/books/2023/03/08/teachers-woes-vulnerable-profession-robbins/?fbclid=IwAR2UZodgy4iGVxCs8_X8Jp-yrhrMPKsHd6lhvFl5CAJ6rpmbqn9jA0FgT1o


The raw, misdirected hostility towards teachers was so crazy. I’m still shocked by what some parents did.

My kid was on teams **in class** when a parent interrupted and started screaming and cursing at the teacher. In front of all of the kids!!! The teacher handled it well, but WTAF?!


Yup. And then a lot of parents who were angry about schools closing took their kids out of APS and left for private schools, including one of our school bd candidates, so this is a problem they created for others to deal with.

I don't know how we repair the damage they did.


Certainly not by choosing a SB member who thought their actions were acceptable enough to partner with them.


What a slap in the face that would be to our teachers.


*OR* maybe our teachers would be thrilled to have a SB member lobbying for higher pay and smaller class sizes?


Everyone wants these things. But OK, I'll bite. Just how does she plan to pay for that?


How does ANYone plan to pay for them?


Well since you said this is Miranda's platform, does she have an actual plan to pay for them or are they just empty words?

I didn't say that. Different people commenting. Question stands. How does anyone plan to pay for these things? AEM people constantly griping about teacher salaries and calling for raises to compensate for inflation AND step increases. How do they propose paying for them????


the AEM commenters are not running for the school board. Miranda is. Someone said she's advocating for these things and said that in a good way, like we should vote for her for that reason. So then people asked how she plans to pay for it. and then.... crickets.



That is evidence that it isn't a simple problem to solve. If nobody else in this collective of highly educated, all-knowing Arlington community can come up with a solution or even suggestions, it's unrealistic to expect a local SB candidate would fare much better. Throw out some ideas to her and see what she thinks of them.


I'll take this as an admission that she doesn't have her own ideas. pass.


Her website and newsletter seem to have plenty of specifics. She wants APS to release the class size report. Parents and teachers in dcum and AEM have complained about classes being over the max sizes. Why won’t APS release the report? She asked for an independent auditor. The last one got fired after giving a bad report on VLP. She asked for APS to reverse the extra paid holidays that syphax is getting. Added by duran last year and Teachers don’t get paid for those. She’s asked for county help for mental health supports. She arranged a forum with a county board member on the same.

She’s clued in, paying attention and has specific ideas.


did she really arrange for a forum? she said she "helped" with it then didn't even know if it was recorded. that didn't sound like a leadership role, sounded like she was taking credit for others' work


So, now claiming to have "helped" with something is taking credit for others' work? She was honest and claimed "helped," didn't say "initiated, planned, organized, and implemented."
Anonymous
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Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:In case anyone is wondering how APS teachers feel about a specific group of parents, here is an APS teacher (now former) who put her name on it --


At first, when schools moved to online instruction in the spring of 2020 and parents saw firsthand the hardships teachers were enduring, plaudits poured in for the educators showing remarkable commitment to their profession in a difficult situation they had never trained for. Virtual teaching took much more time to prepare, execute and evaluate. And because students were often not required to turn on their cameras, it was a lot like teaching into a void. But as time crawled on and schools remained closed to in-person instruction, parents became critical, even angry. The hostility parents leveled against teachers was astonishing. In September 2021 alone, 30,000 public school teachers nationwide gave notice. Between August 2020 and August 2021, Florida’s teacher vacancies surged 67 percent, according to a count by the Florida Education Association. In 2021, California’s largest district, Los Angeles Unified, had five times the number of vacancies as in previous years, according to Shannon Haber, a spokeswoman for the district. The number of retirements skyrocketed, and I joined the exodus. I was within a couple of years of my target retirement date, but I left earlier than planned because of the mounting stress around the pandemic and an ever-increasing workload.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/books/2023/03/08/teachers-woes-vulnerable-profession-robbins/?fbclid=IwAR2UZodgy4iGVxCs8_X8Jp-yrhrMPKsHd6lhvFl5CAJ6rpmbqn9jA0FgT1o


The raw, misdirected hostility towards teachers was so crazy. I’m still shocked by what some parents did.

My kid was on teams **in class** when a parent interrupted and started screaming and cursing at the teacher. In front of all of the kids!!! The teacher handled it well, but WTAF?!


Yup. And then a lot of parents who were angry about schools closing took their kids out of APS and left for private schools, including one of our school bd candidates, so this is a problem they created for others to deal with.

I don't know how we repair the damage they did.


Certainly not by choosing a SB member who thought their actions were acceptable enough to partner with them.


What a slap in the face that would be to our teachers.


*OR* maybe our teachers would be thrilled to have a SB member lobbying for higher pay and smaller class sizes?


Everyone wants these things. But OK, I'll bite. Just how does she plan to pay for that?


How does ANYone plan to pay for them?


Well since you said this is Miranda's platform, does she have an actual plan to pay for them or are they just empty words?

I didn't say that. Different people commenting. Question stands. How does anyone plan to pay for these things? AEM people constantly griping about teacher salaries and calling for raises to compensate for inflation AND step increases. How do they propose paying for them????


the AEM commenters are not running for the school board. Miranda is. Someone said she's advocating for these things and said that in a good way, like we should vote for her for that reason. So then people asked how she plans to pay for it. and then.... crickets.



That is evidence that it isn't a simple problem to solve. If nobody else in this collective of highly educated, all-knowing Arlington community can come up with a solution or even suggestions, it's unrealistic to expect a local SB candidate would fare much better. Throw out some ideas to her and see what she thinks of them.


I'll take this as an admission that she doesn't have her own ideas. pass.


Her website and newsletter seem to have plenty of specifics. She wants APS to release the class size report. Parents and teachers in dcum and AEM have complained about classes being over the max sizes. Why won’t APS release the report? She asked for an independent auditor. The last one got fired after giving a bad report on VLP. She asked for APS to reverse the extra paid holidays that syphax is getting. Added by duran last year and Teachers don’t get paid for those. She’s asked for county help for mental health supports. She arranged a forum with a county board member on the same.

She’s clued in, paying attention and has specific ideas.


So how specifically was she going to pay for higher teacher salary and smaller class size? Those syphax holidays won’t cover it.


Bet those syphax holidays cost more than you think.

When she was on APE board, they asked for an increase in revenue sharing to help pay for smaller class sizes and more teacher pay. Letter is on their website. Most anyone who pays attention in Arlington knows this is what's going to have to happen. Arlington county provides a smaller percent of revenues to APS that surrounding counties//school systems. But the reality is if you aren't paying attention to the small stuff like having an independent auditor or adding a ridiculous amount of paid holidays, you won't ever be able to do the big stuff even if the County forks over more money.


Is that her current position?

How much overlap does she have with APE positions?


Ask her. She's not listed on the APE board anymore. But her newsletter and website have alot of specifics of someone paying attention to details.


So no solutions. Just talk.

I’m going with the kid who didn’t lead APE.


You: I want specifics

Me: Here are specifics

You: Not those specifics. See I told you she was no solutions.



What specifics? I don't see any. Just a lot of talk.

What would she cut to fund her chosen programs?



Sounds like she would cut the Paper tutoring program, the extra holidays Duran added, freeze syphax growth, more county funding for mental health, and from her latest newsletter from this week, asking her VA reps to support a Democratic proposal for more learning loss funding from Richmond. That's a pretty good start on specifics from someone not on the board. I haven't even seen our current board members raise some of the specific questions that I see in her newsletter. Reid and Mary ask the best questions. Bethany getting good too. Cristina and Priddy on the other hand.


so she wants to cut the holidays that were finally added for kids in non-Christian religions. That's on brand for her.

And she wants to CUT a tutoring program? Ok.....

And she wants to freeze Syphax growth. No. She has no idea what they do at Syphax. None. This tells me she is not sophisticated at all.

OMG. you're so ignorant.
Do you know what they do at syphax? Do you know how many students have made use of the online "tutoring" program Paper and whether/how effective it has been for what cost? Do you even know what the "tutoring" program is?
Anonymous
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Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:In case anyone is wondering how APS teachers feel about a specific group of parents, here is an APS teacher (now former) who put her name on it --


At first, when schools moved to online instruction in the spring of 2020 and parents saw firsthand the hardships teachers were enduring, plaudits poured in for the educators showing remarkable commitment to their profession in a difficult situation they had never trained for. Virtual teaching took much more time to prepare, execute and evaluate. And because students were often not required to turn on their cameras, it was a lot like teaching into a void. But as time crawled on and schools remained closed to in-person instruction, parents became critical, even angry. The hostility parents leveled against teachers was astonishing. In September 2021 alone, 30,000 public school teachers nationwide gave notice. Between August 2020 and August 2021, Florida’s teacher vacancies surged 67 percent, according to a count by the Florida Education Association. In 2021, California’s largest district, Los Angeles Unified, had five times the number of vacancies as in previous years, according to Shannon Haber, a spokeswoman for the district. The number of retirements skyrocketed, and I joined the exodus. I was within a couple of years of my target retirement date, but I left earlier than planned because of the mounting stress around the pandemic and an ever-increasing workload.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/books/2023/03/08/teachers-woes-vulnerable-profession-robbins/?fbclid=IwAR2UZodgy4iGVxCs8_X8Jp-yrhrMPKsHd6lhvFl5CAJ6rpmbqn9jA0FgT1o


The raw, misdirected hostility towards teachers was so crazy. I’m still shocked by what some parents did.

My kid was on teams **in class** when a parent interrupted and started screaming and cursing at the teacher. In front of all of the kids!!! The teacher handled it well, but WTAF?!


Yup. And then a lot of parents who were angry about schools closing took their kids out of APS and left for private schools, including one of our school bd candidates, so this is a problem they created for others to deal with.

I don't know how we repair the damage they did.


Certainly not by choosing a SB member who thought their actions were acceptable enough to partner with them.


What a slap in the face that would be to our teachers.


*OR* maybe our teachers would be thrilled to have a SB member lobbying for higher pay and smaller class sizes?


Everyone wants these things. But OK, I'll bite. Just how does she plan to pay for that?


How does ANYone plan to pay for them?


Well since you said this is Miranda's platform, does she have an actual plan to pay for them or are they just empty words?

I didn't say that. Different people commenting. Question stands. How does anyone plan to pay for these things? AEM people constantly griping about teacher salaries and calling for raises to compensate for inflation AND step increases. How do they propose paying for them????


the AEM commenters are not running for the school board. Miranda is. Someone said she's advocating for these things and said that in a good way, like we should vote for her for that reason. So then people asked how she plans to pay for it. and then.... crickets.



That is evidence that it isn't a simple problem to solve. If nobody else in this collective of highly educated, all-knowing Arlington community can come up with a solution or even suggestions, it's unrealistic to expect a local SB candidate would fare much better. Throw out some ideas to her and see what she thinks of them.


I'll take this as an admission that she doesn't have her own ideas. pass.


Her website and newsletter seem to have plenty of specifics. She wants APS to release the class size report. Parents and teachers in dcum and AEM have complained about classes being over the max sizes. Why won’t APS release the report? She asked for an independent auditor. The last one got fired after giving a bad report on VLP. She asked for APS to reverse the extra paid holidays that syphax is getting. Added by duran last year and Teachers don’t get paid for those. She’s asked for county help for mental health supports. She arranged a forum with a county board member on the same.

She’s clued in, paying attention and has specific ideas.


So how specifically was she going to pay for higher teacher salary and smaller class size? Those syphax holidays won’t cover it.


Bet those syphax holidays cost more than you think.

When she was on APE board, they asked for an increase in revenue sharing to help pay for smaller class sizes and more teacher pay. Letter is on their website. Most anyone who pays attention in Arlington knows this is what's going to have to happen. Arlington county provides a smaller percent of revenues to APS that surrounding counties//school systems. But the reality is if you aren't paying attention to the small stuff like having an independent auditor or adding a ridiculous amount of paid holidays, you won't ever be able to do the big stuff even if the County forks over more money.


Is that her current position?

How much overlap does she have with APE positions?


Ask her. She's not listed on the APE board anymore. But her newsletter and website have alot of specifics of someone paying attention to details.


So no solutions. Just talk.

I’m going with the kid who didn’t lead APE.


You: I want specifics

Me: Here are specifics

You: Not those specifics. See I told you she was no solutions.



What specifics? I don't see any. Just a lot of talk.

What would she cut to fund her chosen programs?



Also, tell me ONE thing that Miranda accomplished or got done in APS, just ONE.

Like Bethany led the food drives at Randolph. Tell me what Miranda has done.


oh good grief. DP here. I know and like Bethany; but please, can you list something other than food drives that she did? It's not like organizing food drives makes one qualified to be a sb member.
Name one thing each of the other board members "did for APS" before being elected.


Pretty sure none of them led a group like APE.
Anonymous
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Anonymous wrote:+1000

I don't trust APE science as far as I can throw it. Let's recap some of the APE talking points, shall we? COVID doesn't spread in schools! Schools are magical little Covid free islands of safety! Kids can't spread Covid. Kids can't get Covid. Covid is no more deadly than the flu. There's no such thing as long Covid, it's all in people's heads. Only the high risk die from Covid and who cares about them. Masks don't work! Masks spread Covid. Masks harm kids.

No one believes you except for your small little group.


If that’s true why don’t I see anyone wearing masks anymore?


I see people wearing masks almost everywhere. School, grocery store, planes, etc.

Maybe you’ve blocked them out since they’re so triggering for you.


Yes, but what percentage? Single digits, right?


What % of the population is immunocompromised? What % is sick and not an a-hole?


I don’t care who does or doesn’t wear masks. My point is that you’re delusional if you think a lot of people are going to be swayed to vote for a 22 year old with no practical experience in life, education, money management, etc because APE didn’t fight for masks.


“Didn’t fight for masks”?

They were aggressively ANTI-mask.
Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
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Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:In case anyone is wondering how APS teachers feel about a specific group of parents, here is an APS teacher (now former) who put her name on it --


At first, when schools moved to online instruction in the spring of 2020 and parents saw firsthand the hardships teachers were enduring, plaudits poured in for the educators showing remarkable commitment to their profession in a difficult situation they had never trained for. Virtual teaching took much more time to prepare, execute and evaluate. And because students were often not required to turn on their cameras, it was a lot like teaching into a void. But as time crawled on and schools remained closed to in-person instruction, parents became critical, even angry. The hostility parents leveled against teachers was astonishing. In September 2021 alone, 30,000 public school teachers nationwide gave notice. Between August 2020 and August 2021, Florida’s teacher vacancies surged 67 percent, according to a count by the Florida Education Association. In 2021, California’s largest district, Los Angeles Unified, had five times the number of vacancies as in previous years, according to Shannon Haber, a spokeswoman for the district. The number of retirements skyrocketed, and I joined the exodus. I was within a couple of years of my target retirement date, but I left earlier than planned because of the mounting stress around the pandemic and an ever-increasing workload.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/books/2023/03/08/teachers-woes-vulnerable-profession-robbins/?fbclid=IwAR2UZodgy4iGVxCs8_X8Jp-yrhrMPKsHd6lhvFl5CAJ6rpmbqn9jA0FgT1o


The raw, misdirected hostility towards teachers was so crazy. I’m still shocked by what some parents did.

My kid was on teams **in class** when a parent interrupted and started screaming and cursing at the teacher. In front of all of the kids!!! The teacher handled it well, but WTAF?!


Yup. And then a lot of parents who were angry about schools closing took their kids out of APS and left for private schools, including one of our school bd candidates, so this is a problem they created for others to deal with.

I don't know how we repair the damage they did.


Certainly not by choosing a SB member who thought their actions were acceptable enough to partner with them.


What a slap in the face that would be to our teachers.


*OR* maybe our teachers would be thrilled to have a SB member lobbying for higher pay and smaller class sizes?


Everyone wants these things. But OK, I'll bite. Just how does she plan to pay for that?


How does ANYone plan to pay for them?


Well since you said this is Miranda's platform, does she have an actual plan to pay for them or are they just empty words?

I didn't say that. Different people commenting. Question stands. How does anyone plan to pay for these things? AEM people constantly griping about teacher salaries and calling for raises to compensate for inflation AND step increases. How do they propose paying for them????


the AEM commenters are not running for the school board. Miranda is. Someone said she's advocating for these things and said that in a good way, like we should vote for her for that reason. So then people asked how she plans to pay for it. and then.... crickets.



That is evidence that it isn't a simple problem to solve. If nobody else in this collective of highly educated, all-knowing Arlington community can come up with a solution or even suggestions, it's unrealistic to expect a local SB candidate would fare much better. Throw out some ideas to her and see what she thinks of them.


I'll take this as an admission that she doesn't have her own ideas. pass.


Her website and newsletter seem to have plenty of specifics. She wants APS to release the class size report. Parents and teachers in dcum and AEM have complained about classes being over the max sizes. Why won’t APS release the report? She asked for an independent auditor. The last one got fired after giving a bad report on VLP. She asked for APS to reverse the extra paid holidays that syphax is getting. Added by duran last year and Teachers don’t get paid for those. She’s asked for county help for mental health supports. She arranged a forum with a county board member on the same.

She’s clued in, paying attention and has specific ideas.


So how specifically was she going to pay for higher teacher salary and smaller class size? Those syphax holidays won’t cover it.


Bet those syphax holidays cost more than you think.

When she was on APE board, they asked for an increase in revenue sharing to help pay for smaller class sizes and more teacher pay. Letter is on their website. Most anyone who pays attention in Arlington knows this is what's going to have to happen. Arlington county provides a smaller percent of revenues to APS that surrounding counties//school systems. But the reality is if you aren't paying attention to the small stuff like having an independent auditor or adding a ridiculous amount of paid holidays, you won't ever be able to do the big stuff even if the County forks over more money.


Is that her current position?

How much overlap does she have with APE positions?


Ask her. She's not listed on the APE board anymore. But her newsletter and website have alot of specifics of someone paying attention to details.


So no solutions. Just talk.

I’m going with the kid who didn’t lead APE.


You: I want specifics

Me: Here are specifics

You: Not those specifics. See I told you she was no solutions.



The question was what is her plan to pay for teacher salary increases and smaller classrooms. That was never answered.
Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:
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Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:In case anyone is wondering how APS teachers feel about a specific group of parents, here is an APS teacher (now former) who put her name on it --


At first, when schools moved to online instruction in the spring of 2020 and parents saw firsthand the hardships teachers were enduring, plaudits poured in for the educators showing remarkable commitment to their profession in a difficult situation they had never trained for. Virtual teaching took much more time to prepare, execute and evaluate. And because students were often not required to turn on their cameras, it was a lot like teaching into a void. But as time crawled on and schools remained closed to in-person instruction, parents became critical, even angry. The hostility parents leveled against teachers was astonishing. In September 2021 alone, 30,000 public school teachers nationwide gave notice. Between August 2020 and August 2021, Florida’s teacher vacancies surged 67 percent, according to a count by the Florida Education Association. In 2021, California’s largest district, Los Angeles Unified, had five times the number of vacancies as in previous years, according to Shannon Haber, a spokeswoman for the district. The number of retirements skyrocketed, and I joined the exodus. I was within a couple of years of my target retirement date, but I left earlier than planned because of the mounting stress around the pandemic and an ever-increasing workload.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/books/2023/03/08/teachers-woes-vulnerable-profession-robbins/?fbclid=IwAR2UZodgy4iGVxCs8_X8Jp-yrhrMPKsHd6lhvFl5CAJ6rpmbqn9jA0FgT1o


The raw, misdirected hostility towards teachers was so crazy. I’m still shocked by what some parents did.

My kid was on teams **in class** when a parent interrupted and started screaming and cursing at the teacher. In front of all of the kids!!! The teacher handled it well, but WTAF?!


Yup. And then a lot of parents who were angry about schools closing took their kids out of APS and left for private schools, including one of our school bd candidates, so this is a problem they created for others to deal with.

I don't know how we repair the damage they did.


Certainly not by choosing a SB member who thought their actions were acceptable enough to partner with them.


What a slap in the face that would be to our teachers.


*OR* maybe our teachers would be thrilled to have a SB member lobbying for higher pay and smaller class sizes?


Everyone wants these things. But OK, I'll bite. Just how does she plan to pay for that?


How does ANYone plan to pay for them?


Well since you said this is Miranda's platform, does she have an actual plan to pay for them or are they just empty words?

I didn't say that. Different people commenting. Question stands. How does anyone plan to pay for these things? AEM people constantly griping about teacher salaries and calling for raises to compensate for inflation AND step increases. How do they propose paying for them????


the AEM commenters are not running for the school board. Miranda is. Someone said she's advocating for these things and said that in a good way, like we should vote for her for that reason. So then people asked how she plans to pay for it. and then.... crickets.



That is evidence that it isn't a simple problem to solve. If nobody else in this collective of highly educated, all-knowing Arlington community can come up with a solution or even suggestions, it's unrealistic to expect a local SB candidate would fare much better. Throw out some ideas to her and see what she thinks of them.


I'll take this as an admission that she doesn't have her own ideas. pass.


Her website and newsletter seem to have plenty of specifics. She wants APS to release the class size report. Parents and teachers in dcum and AEM have complained about classes being over the max sizes. Why won’t APS release the report? She asked for an independent auditor. The last one got fired after giving a bad report on VLP. She asked for APS to reverse the extra paid holidays that syphax is getting. Added by duran last year and Teachers don’t get paid for those. She’s asked for county help for mental health supports. She arranged a forum with a county board member on the same.

She’s clued in, paying attention and has specific ideas.


So how specifically was she going to pay for higher teacher salary and smaller class size? Those syphax holidays won’t cover it.


Bet those syphax holidays cost more than you think.

When she was on APE board, they asked for an increase in revenue sharing to help pay for smaller class sizes and more teacher pay. Letter is on their website. Most anyone who pays attention in Arlington knows this is what's going to have to happen. Arlington county provides a smaller percent of revenues to APS that surrounding counties//school systems. But the reality is if you aren't paying attention to the small stuff like having an independent auditor or adding a ridiculous amount of paid holidays, you won't ever be able to do the big stuff even if the County forks over more money.


Is that her current position?

How much overlap does she have with APE positions?


Ask her. She's not listed on the APE board anymore. But her newsletter and website have alot of specifics of someone paying attention to details.


So no solutions. Just talk.

I’m going with the kid who didn’t lead APE.


You: I want specifics

Me: Here are specifics

You: Not those specifics. See I told you she was no solutions.



What specifics? I don't see any. Just a lot of talk.

What would she cut to fund her chosen programs?



Sounds like she would cut the Paper tutoring program, the extra holidays Duran added, freeze syphax growth, more county funding for mental health, and from her latest newsletter from this week, asking her VA reps to support a Democratic proposal for more learning loss funding from Richmond. That's a pretty good start on specifics from someone not on the board. I haven't even seen our current board members raise some of the specific questions that I see in her newsletter. Reid and Mary ask the best questions. Bethany getting good too. Cristina and Priddy on the other hand.


so she wants to cut the holidays that were finally added for kids in non-Christian religions. That's on brand for her.

And she wants to CUT a tutoring program? Ok.....

And she wants to freeze Syphax growth. No. She has no idea what they do at Syphax. None. This tells me she is not sophisticated at all.


She clearly knows more about what’s going on there than you do. The “extra holidays” referred to the generous increases in holiday leave granted to Syphax employees the last few years.


that's not what you said above, you could have been more clear
Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:In case anyone is wondering how APS teachers feel about a specific group of parents, here is an APS teacher (now former) who put her name on it --


At first, when schools moved to online instruction in the spring of 2020 and parents saw firsthand the hardships teachers were enduring, plaudits poured in for the educators showing remarkable commitment to their profession in a difficult situation they had never trained for. Virtual teaching took much more time to prepare, execute and evaluate. And because students were often not required to turn on their cameras, it was a lot like teaching into a void. But as time crawled on and schools remained closed to in-person instruction, parents became critical, even angry. The hostility parents leveled against teachers was astonishing. In September 2021 alone, 30,000 public school teachers nationwide gave notice. Between August 2020 and August 2021, Florida’s teacher vacancies surged 67 percent, according to a count by the Florida Education Association. In 2021, California’s largest district, Los Angeles Unified, had five times the number of vacancies as in previous years, according to Shannon Haber, a spokeswoman for the district. The number of retirements skyrocketed, and I joined the exodus. I was within a couple of years of my target retirement date, but I left earlier than planned because of the mounting stress around the pandemic and an ever-increasing workload.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/books/2023/03/08/teachers-woes-vulnerable-profession-robbins/?fbclid=IwAR2UZodgy4iGVxCs8_X8Jp-yrhrMPKsHd6lhvFl5CAJ6rpmbqn9jA0FgT1o


The raw, misdirected hostility towards teachers was so crazy. I’m still shocked by what some parents did.

My kid was on teams **in class** when a parent interrupted and started screaming and cursing at the teacher. In front of all of the kids!!! The teacher handled it well, but WTAF?!


Yup. And then a lot of parents who were angry about schools closing took their kids out of APS and left for private schools, including one of our school bd candidates, so this is a problem they created for others to deal with.

I don't know how we repair the damage they did.


Certainly not by choosing a SB member who thought their actions were acceptable enough to partner with them.


What a slap in the face that would be to our teachers.


*OR* maybe our teachers would be thrilled to have a SB member lobbying for higher pay and smaller class sizes?


Everyone wants these things. But OK, I'll bite. Just how does she plan to pay for that?


How does ANYone plan to pay for them?


Well since you said this is Miranda's platform, does she have an actual plan to pay for them or are they just empty words?

I didn't say that. Different people commenting. Question stands. How does anyone plan to pay for these things? AEM people constantly griping about teacher salaries and calling for raises to compensate for inflation AND step increases. How do they propose paying for them????


the AEM commenters are not running for the school board. Miranda is. Someone said she's advocating for these things and said that in a good way, like we should vote for her for that reason. So then people asked how she plans to pay for it. and then.... crickets.



That is evidence that it isn't a simple problem to solve. If nobody else in this collective of highly educated, all-knowing Arlington community can come up with a solution or even suggestions, it's unrealistic to expect a local SB candidate would fare much better. Throw out some ideas to her and see what she thinks of them.


I'll take this as an admission that she doesn't have her own ideas. pass.


Her website and newsletter seem to have plenty of specifics. She wants APS to release the class size report. Parents and teachers in dcum and AEM have complained about classes being over the max sizes. Why won’t APS release the report? She asked for an independent auditor. The last one got fired after giving a bad report on VLP. She asked for APS to reverse the extra paid holidays that syphax is getting. Added by duran last year and Teachers don’t get paid for those. She’s asked for county help for mental health supports. She arranged a forum with a county board member on the same.

She’s clued in, paying attention and has specific ideas.


did she really arrange for a forum? she said she "helped" with it then didn't even know if it was recorded. that didn't sound like a leadership role, sounded like she was taking credit for others' work


So, now claiming to have "helped" with something is taking credit for others' work? She was honest and claimed "helped," didn't say "initiated, planned, organized, and implemented."


"helped" is a far cry from led it or organized it.
Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:In case anyone is wondering how APS teachers feel about a specific group of parents, here is an APS teacher (now former) who put her name on it --


At first, when schools moved to online instruction in the spring of 2020 and parents saw firsthand the hardships teachers were enduring, plaudits poured in for the educators showing remarkable commitment to their profession in a difficult situation they had never trained for. Virtual teaching took much more time to prepare, execute and evaluate. And because students were often not required to turn on their cameras, it was a lot like teaching into a void. But as time crawled on and schools remained closed to in-person instruction, parents became critical, even angry. The hostility parents leveled against teachers was astonishing. In September 2021 alone, 30,000 public school teachers nationwide gave notice. Between August 2020 and August 2021, Florida’s teacher vacancies surged 67 percent, according to a count by the Florida Education Association. In 2021, California’s largest district, Los Angeles Unified, had five times the number of vacancies as in previous years, according to Shannon Haber, a spokeswoman for the district. The number of retirements skyrocketed, and I joined the exodus. I was within a couple of years of my target retirement date, but I left earlier than planned because of the mounting stress around the pandemic and an ever-increasing workload.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/books/2023/03/08/teachers-woes-vulnerable-profession-robbins/?fbclid=IwAR2UZodgy4iGVxCs8_X8Jp-yrhrMPKsHd6lhvFl5CAJ6rpmbqn9jA0FgT1o


The raw, misdirected hostility towards teachers was so crazy. I’m still shocked by what some parents did.

My kid was on teams **in class** when a parent interrupted and started screaming and cursing at the teacher. In front of all of the kids!!! The teacher handled it well, but WTAF?!


Yup. And then a lot of parents who were angry about schools closing took their kids out of APS and left for private schools, including one of our school bd candidates, so this is a problem they created for others to deal with.

I don't know how we repair the damage they did.


Certainly not by choosing a SB member who thought their actions were acceptable enough to partner with them.


What a slap in the face that would be to our teachers.


*OR* maybe our teachers would be thrilled to have a SB member lobbying for higher pay and smaller class sizes?


Everyone wants these things. But OK, I'll bite. Just how does she plan to pay for that?


How does ANYone plan to pay for them?


Well since you said this is Miranda's platform, does she have an actual plan to pay for them or are they just empty words?

I didn't say that. Different people commenting. Question stands. How does anyone plan to pay for these things? AEM people constantly griping about teacher salaries and calling for raises to compensate for inflation AND step increases. How do they propose paying for them????


the AEM commenters are not running for the school board. Miranda is. Someone said she's advocating for these things and said that in a good way, like we should vote for her for that reason. So then people asked how she plans to pay for it. and then.... crickets.



That is evidence that it isn't a simple problem to solve. If nobody else in this collective of highly educated, all-knowing Arlington community can come up with a solution or even suggestions, it's unrealistic to expect a local SB candidate would fare much better. Throw out some ideas to her and see what she thinks of them.


I'll take this as an admission that she doesn't have her own ideas. pass.


Her website and newsletter seem to have plenty of specifics. She wants APS to release the class size report. Parents and teachers in dcum and AEM have complained about classes being over the max sizes. Why won’t APS release the report? She asked for an independent auditor. The last one got fired after giving a bad report on VLP. She asked for APS to reverse the extra paid holidays that syphax is getting. Added by duran last year and Teachers don’t get paid for those. She’s asked for county help for mental health supports. She arranged a forum with a county board member on the same.

She’s clued in, paying attention and has specific ideas.


So how specifically was she going to pay for higher teacher salary and smaller class size? Those syphax holidays won’t cover it.


Bet those syphax holidays cost more than you think.

When she was on APE board, they asked for an increase in revenue sharing to help pay for smaller class sizes and more teacher pay. Letter is on their website. Most anyone who pays attention in Arlington knows this is what's going to have to happen. Arlington county provides a smaller percent of revenues to APS that surrounding counties//school systems. But the reality is if you aren't paying attention to the small stuff like having an independent auditor or adding a ridiculous amount of paid holidays, you won't ever be able to do the big stuff even if the County forks over more money.


Is that her current position?

How much overlap does she have with APE positions?


Ask her. She's not listed on the APE board anymore. But her newsletter and website have alot of specifics of someone paying attention to details.


So no solutions. Just talk.

I’m going with the kid who didn’t lead APE.


You: I want specifics

Me: Here are specifics

You: Not those specifics. See I told you she was no solutions.



What specifics? I don't see any. Just a lot of talk.

What would she cut to fund her chosen programs?



Also, tell me ONE thing that Miranda accomplished or got done in APS, just ONE.

Like Bethany led the food drives at Randolph. Tell me what Miranda has done.


oh good grief. DP here. I know and like Bethany; but please, can you list something other than food drives that she did? It's not like organizing food drives makes one qualified to be a sb member.
Name one thing each of the other board members "did for APS" before being elected.


A lot actually. Most were PTA presidents or CCPTA presidents or chaired an advisory committee. Bethany put in years of service organizign food banks at one of the lowest SES schools.

And Miranda.... "helped" organize one forum? and is a member of some stuff. come on. that's not leadership. What has she ever led or accomplished in APS? What qualifies her?
Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
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Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:In case anyone is wondering how APS teachers feel about a specific group of parents, here is an APS teacher (now former) who put her name on it --


At first, when schools moved to online instruction in the spring of 2020 and parents saw firsthand the hardships teachers were enduring, plaudits poured in for the educators showing remarkable commitment to their profession in a difficult situation they had never trained for. Virtual teaching took much more time to prepare, execute and evaluate. And because students were often not required to turn on their cameras, it was a lot like teaching into a void. But as time crawled on and schools remained closed to in-person instruction, parents became critical, even angry. The hostility parents leveled against teachers was astonishing. In September 2021 alone, 30,000 public school teachers nationwide gave notice. Between August 2020 and August 2021, Florida’s teacher vacancies surged 67 percent, according to a count by the Florida Education Association. In 2021, California’s largest district, Los Angeles Unified, had five times the number of vacancies as in previous years, according to Shannon Haber, a spokeswoman for the district. The number of retirements skyrocketed, and I joined the exodus. I was within a couple of years of my target retirement date, but I left earlier than planned because of the mounting stress around the pandemic and an ever-increasing workload.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/books/2023/03/08/teachers-woes-vulnerable-profession-robbins/?fbclid=IwAR2UZodgy4iGVxCs8_X8Jp-yrhrMPKsHd6lhvFl5CAJ6rpmbqn9jA0FgT1o


The raw, misdirected hostility towards teachers was so crazy. I’m still shocked by what some parents did.

My kid was on teams **in class** when a parent interrupted and started screaming and cursing at the teacher. In front of all of the kids!!! The teacher handled it well, but WTAF?!


Yup. And then a lot of parents who were angry about schools closing took their kids out of APS and left for private schools, including one of our school bd candidates, so this is a problem they created for others to deal with.

I don't know how we repair the damage they did.


Certainly not by choosing a SB member who thought their actions were acceptable enough to partner with them.


What a slap in the face that would be to our teachers.


*OR* maybe our teachers would be thrilled to have a SB member lobbying for higher pay and smaller class sizes?


Everyone wants these things. But OK, I'll bite. Just how does she plan to pay for that?


How does ANYone plan to pay for them?


Well since you said this is Miranda's platform, does she have an actual plan to pay for them or are they just empty words?

I didn't say that. Different people commenting. Question stands. How does anyone plan to pay for these things? AEM people constantly griping about teacher salaries and calling for raises to compensate for inflation AND step increases. How do they propose paying for them????


the AEM commenters are not running for the school board. Miranda is. Someone said she's advocating for these things and said that in a good way, like we should vote for her for that reason. So then people asked how she plans to pay for it. and then.... crickets.



That is evidence that it isn't a simple problem to solve. If nobody else in this collective of highly educated, all-knowing Arlington community can come up with a solution or even suggestions, it's unrealistic to expect a local SB candidate would fare much better. Throw out some ideas to her and see what she thinks of them.


I'll take this as an admission that she doesn't have her own ideas. pass.


Her website and newsletter seem to have plenty of specifics. She wants APS to release the class size report. Parents and teachers in dcum and AEM have complained about classes being over the max sizes. Why won’t APS release the report? She asked for an independent auditor. The last one got fired after giving a bad report on VLP. She asked for APS to reverse the extra paid holidays that syphax is getting. Added by duran last year and Teachers don’t get paid for those. She’s asked for county help for mental health supports. She arranged a forum with a county board member on the same.

She’s clued in, paying attention and has specific ideas.


So how specifically was she going to pay for higher teacher salary and smaller class size? Those syphax holidays won’t cover it.


Bet those syphax holidays cost more than you think.

When she was on APE board, they asked for an increase in revenue sharing to help pay for smaller class sizes and more teacher pay. Letter is on their website. Most anyone who pays attention in Arlington knows this is what's going to have to happen. Arlington county provides a smaller percent of revenues to APS that surrounding counties//school systems. But the reality is if you aren't paying attention to the small stuff like having an independent auditor or adding a ridiculous amount of paid holidays, you won't ever be able to do the big stuff even if the County forks over more money.


Is that her current position?

How much overlap does she have with APE positions?


Ask her. She's not listed on the APE board anymore. But her newsletter and website have alot of specifics of someone paying attention to details.


So no solutions. Just talk.

I’m going with the kid who didn’t lead APE.


You: I want specifics

Me: Here are specifics

You: Not those specifics. See I told you she was no solutions.



The question was what is her plan to pay for teacher salary increases and smaller classrooms. That was never answered.


+ 1.

Still waaaaiitting
Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:+1000

I don't trust APE science as far as I can throw it. Let's recap some of the APE talking points, shall we? COVID doesn't spread in schools! Schools are magical little Covid free islands of safety! Kids can't spread Covid. Kids can't get Covid. Covid is no more deadly than the flu. There's no such thing as long Covid, it's all in people's heads. Only the high risk die from Covid and who cares about them. Masks don't work! Masks spread Covid. Masks harm kids.

No one believes you except for your small little group.


If that’s true why don’t I see anyone wearing masks anymore?


Thanks, I'll trust the American Academy of Pediatrics' views on masks over you. Here ya god, Mask Mythbusters from the AAP, just what you and your anti mask APE friends in the Miranda camp need -

https://www.healthychildren.org/English/health-issues/conditions/COVID-19/Pages/Mask-Mythbusters.aspx?fbclid=IwAR08Gon8YJ44rvAxIO2tuQnV3rSyHub5ZVaF4z04V7CsCf4oEkctdocC4gs
Anonymous
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Anonymous wrote:
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Anonymous wrote:
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Anonymous wrote:
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Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:In case anyone is wondering how APS teachers feel about a specific group of parents, here is an APS teacher (now former) who put her name on it --


At first, when schools moved to online instruction in the spring of 2020 and parents saw firsthand the hardships teachers were enduring, plaudits poured in for the educators showing remarkable commitment to their profession in a difficult situation they had never trained for. Virtual teaching took much more time to prepare, execute and evaluate. And because students were often not required to turn on their cameras, it was a lot like teaching into a void. But as time crawled on and schools remained closed to in-person instruction, parents became critical, even angry. The hostility parents leveled against teachers was astonishing. In September 2021 alone, 30,000 public school teachers nationwide gave notice. Between August 2020 and August 2021, Florida’s teacher vacancies surged 67 percent, according to a count by the Florida Education Association. In 2021, California’s largest district, Los Angeles Unified, had five times the number of vacancies as in previous years, according to Shannon Haber, a spokeswoman for the district. The number of retirements skyrocketed, and I joined the exodus. I was within a couple of years of my target retirement date, but I left earlier than planned because of the mounting stress around the pandemic and an ever-increasing workload.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/books/2023/03/08/teachers-woes-vulnerable-profession-robbins/?fbclid=IwAR2UZodgy4iGVxCs8_X8Jp-yrhrMPKsHd6lhvFl5CAJ6rpmbqn9jA0FgT1o


The raw, misdirected hostility towards teachers was so crazy. I’m still shocked by what some parents did.

My kid was on teams **in class** when a parent interrupted and started screaming and cursing at the teacher. In front of all of the kids!!! The teacher handled it well, but WTAF?!


Yup. And then a lot of parents who were angry about schools closing took their kids out of APS and left for private schools, including one of our school bd candidates, so this is a problem they created for others to deal with.

I don't know how we repair the damage they did.


Certainly not by choosing a SB member who thought their actions were acceptable enough to partner with them.


What a slap in the face that would be to our teachers.


*OR* maybe our teachers would be thrilled to have a SB member lobbying for higher pay and smaller class sizes?


Everyone wants these things. But OK, I'll bite. Just how does she plan to pay for that?


How does ANYone plan to pay for them?


Well since you said this is Miranda's platform, does she have an actual plan to pay for them or are they just empty words?

I didn't say that. Different people commenting. Question stands. How does anyone plan to pay for these things? AEM people constantly griping about teacher salaries and calling for raises to compensate for inflation AND step increases. How do they propose paying for them????


the AEM commenters are not running for the school board. Miranda is. Someone said she's advocating for these things and said that in a good way, like we should vote for her for that reason. So then people asked how she plans to pay for it. and then.... crickets.



That is evidence that it isn't a simple problem to solve. If nobody else in this collective of highly educated, all-knowing Arlington community can come up with a solution or even suggestions, it's unrealistic to expect a local SB candidate would fare much better. Throw out some ideas to her and see what she thinks of them.


I'll take this as an admission that she doesn't have her own ideas. pass.


Her website and newsletter seem to have plenty of specifics. She wants APS to release the class size report. Parents and teachers in dcum and AEM have complained about classes being over the max sizes. Why won’t APS release the report? She asked for an independent auditor. The last one got fired after giving a bad report on VLP. She asked for APS to reverse the extra paid holidays that syphax is getting. Added by duran last year and Teachers don’t get paid for those. She’s asked for county help for mental health supports. She arranged a forum with a county board member on the same.

She’s clued in, paying attention and has specific ideas.


So how specifically was she going to pay for higher teacher salary and smaller class size? Those syphax holidays won’t cover it.


Bet those syphax holidays cost more than you think.

When she was on APE board, they asked for an increase in revenue sharing to help pay for smaller class sizes and more teacher pay. Letter is on their website. Most anyone who pays attention in Arlington knows this is what's going to have to happen. Arlington county provides a smaller percent of revenues to APS that surrounding counties//school systems. But the reality is if you aren't paying attention to the small stuff like having an independent auditor or adding a ridiculous amount of paid holidays, you won't ever be able to do the big stuff even if the County forks over more money.


Is that her current position?

How much overlap does she have with APE positions?


Ask her. She's not listed on the APE board anymore. But her newsletter and website have alot of specifics of someone paying attention to details.


So no solutions. Just talk.

I’m going with the kid who didn’t lead APE.


You: I want specifics

Me: Here are specifics

You: Not those specifics. See I told you she was no solutions.



What specifics? I don't see any. Just a lot of talk.

What would she cut to fund her chosen programs?



Sounds like she would cut the Paper tutoring program, the extra holidays Duran added, freeze syphax growth, more county funding for mental health, and from her latest newsletter from this week, asking her VA reps to support a Democratic proposal for more learning loss funding from Richmond. That's a pretty good start on specifics from someone not on the board. I haven't even seen our current board members raise some of the specific questions that I see in her newsletter. Reid and Mary ask the best questions. Bethany getting good too. Cristina and Priddy on the other hand.


so she wants to cut the holidays that were finally added for kids in non-Christian religions. That's on brand for her.

And she wants to CUT a tutoring program? Ok.....

And she wants to freeze Syphax growth. No. She has no idea what they do at Syphax. None. This tells me she is not sophisticated at all.


It's not cutting the religious holidays for kids. This is about the paid APS days that Duran added for 12 month staff last year. For example, syphax. Teachers have them off but they are not paid. Syphax now gets paid for all of spring break, winter break, and the religious holidays. Teachers do not get paid for those days off. Syphax working barely more than 10 month employees now.

If you think the tutoring by text is a good use of money, good for you. I don't.

And APS has more central office staff for our size than on neighbors. Check it out.


Exactly!
Many new offices with people taveling to conferences to “learn” about how to give teachers more and more to do so they can justify their jobs. Put them back in the classroom!

Yes, now is not the time to be saddling teachers with new pedagogy and associated PD sessions.
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