APS Boundary tool--anyone get it to work yet?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:James Lander. Can someone please, please, please run against him when his term us up? It has to be a Dem. A republican can't win here. I will canvas for you. He does not grasp the issues here. He is stuck on his personal view that race & income are irrelevant to achievement. Of course everyone has the potential. But We have APS stats on this. SOLs, SATs. It's fine to disagree about whether to use boundary changes to fix them. But please, spare us your uninformed view that the disparity doesn't exist here.It's embarrassing for a "world class" school system to hear that from the podium. He said he reads the forums. I hope he reads this.

100% agree that this man is an embarrassment. He will be hearing directly from me about his remarks the other night. Among APS's espoused priorities, SES diversity (that is, not having concentrated poverty in one school) is THE most important for education. Not proximity, not neighborhood cohesiveness, not even overcrowding. His comments about this are completely asinine.

Ugh. I had to go back and watch again because I'm really trying to understand what he's saying. So basically, it doesn't matter if your poor or black or white because each educational experiences is unique. So nice and positive!
Unfortunately, Mr. Lander, some of us look at DATA and read the RESEARCH that tells us that academic achievement is tied to income level and, as a group, low income students don't do as well as their higher income peers.
Surely, he understands this, but I m just not sure why he is trying to minimize it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Doesn't Lander send his kids to ATS rather than his neighborhood school?

Uh, no dear. That's Chrisitan Dorsey on the CB. I think Lander has older children, or maybe just one. I know he has a daughter who graduated from Wakefiled and is in college.

But Lander has to go. I mean, I understand probably better than anyone that it is possible for anyone to succeed, regardless of SES, or ethnicity, or race. But that doesn't mean there's a level playing field and that students in "gap groups" don't have more obstacles to overcome in order to get to college or into good-paying jobs that will allow them to continue to live in Arlington and raise their families here.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2014/10/18/poor-kids-who-do-everything-right-dont-do-better-than-rich-kids-who-do-everything-wrong/


And what diversity means, in relation to this boundary process, HAS been defined as economic status. To refuse to acknowledge this is his way of appearing neutral so that he can win reelection. Or worse, he really believes what he's saying, which means he's really a Republican in disguise. Bootstraps for everyone!

[Anonymous]

Yep. Lander has to go. You can disagree about boundaries or bussing. But "income doesn't matter"? As Pres Obama would say, "C'mon msn."

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:James Lander. Can someone please, please, please run against him when his term us up? It has to be a Dem. A republican can't win here. I will canvas for you. He does not grasp the issues here. He is stuck on his personal view that race & income are irrelevant to achievement. Of course everyone has the potential. But We have APS stats on this. SOLs, SATs. It's fine to disagree about whether to use boundary changes to fix them. But please, spare us your uninformed view that the disparity doesn't exist here.It's embarrassing for a "world class" school system to hear that from the podium. He said he reads the forums. I hope he reads this.

100% agree that this man is an embarrassment. He will be hearing directly from me about his remarks the other night. Among APS's espoused priorities, SES diversity (that is, not having concentrated poverty in one school) is THE most important for education. Not proximity, not neighborhood cohesiveness, not even overcrowding. His comments about this are completely asinine.

Ugh. I had to go back and watch again because I'm really trying to understand what he's saying. So basically, it doesn't matter if your poor or black or white because each educational experiences is unique. So nice and positive!
Unfortunately, Mr. Lander, some of us look at DATA and read the RESEARCH that tells us that academic achievement is tied to income level and, as a group, low income students don't do as well as their higher income peers.
Surely, he understands this, but I m just not sure why he is trying to minimize it.

I'm the poster of the long summary.
Yes, I felt like he genuinely *meant* well with what he said (in regards to "everyone has a unique experience", "income is irrelevant"), but it came across - to me- as so, so out of touch with reality, and the real challenges concentrated poverty brings to a school!
He might as well have said: "Let them eat cake, then!" I mean, really?

Of course, it also struck me as poignant, that earlier, he admonished people; free and reduced lunch considerations are offensive, and later, after the positive Arlington Tech presentation that emphasized academics and engineering, his comments to the Freshman, about hoping she learns how to fix his muffler (!) were truly offensive in my eyes. And it was the big intro of the inaugural freshman class... Then the question: which grade are you? Oh man.
I guess they were all tired at that point...

I was pleased, that Reid asked for very relevant information, that he thinks should be factored in here; how do the free and reduced lunch numbers of all these planning units look like in 4 years and beyond - some planning units bring few siblings, others dozens - it matters and could totally change the numbers.

Overall, most of the members were wondering about things they should KNOW. Things, that are important, as these decisions are made.
I couldn't help, but feel that the board is two steps behind the public, seemingly considering many obvious points inexplicably for the first time.

Not Murphy of course. He sits there, knowingly, letting it all play out. Having his grand master plan at the ready, but not showing his cards.
"Let them think it was their idea. Patience, my love, patience!"

No, no, it's clearly all in my mind!

[Anonymous]

Reid is the only one who seems to really get it. I wonder if it is due to where he lives. I'm so glad he asked about farm projections. I have been wondering the same, and not just about siblings. We have PU that have 100's of units of AH that are planned. Have those units been taken into account?

[Anonymous]

Perusing this thread make me glad we decided to move from Arlington to McLean. I don't think any future redistricting among Langley, McLean and Marshall would be such a big deal compared to all this hand-wringing over moving just a few neighborhoods out of W-L. Good grief.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Perusing this thread make me glad we decided to move from Arlington to McLean. I don't think any future redistricting among Langley, McLean and Marshall would be such a big deal compared to all this hand-wringing over moving just a few neighborhoods out of W-L. Good grief.

It wouldn't be, if middle class families would calm down about Wakefield. It's a good school. People are ridiculous.

[Anonymous]

1:08 above, please share your thoughts regarding Murphy's master plan? I am curious what pepole think it is.

[Anonymous]

I'm not the above poster, but I truly believe he thinks specialized programs are the future. I think he believes he will be heralded as an innovator. That by the time this is all rolled out, slowly over the next few years, we will all be on board. So, no need to be too transparent. People fear change and won't understand his vision. We'll all be cool with it in 10 years.
I went to a big high school by NOVA standards. It was fine at approx 2500. I do think there is a limit, and I think we will be past it with 3,000 student high schools. Even with these super cool programs, it seems like a lot of kids trying out for the team, school play, etc etc...
everyone is losing their minds about redrawn lines and busing. This plan seems to exacerbate that. I wonder if kids in Arlington Tech will really want to be trekking back to Yorktown for Track, or Wakefield for a capella rehearsal.
this plan seems to be forcing kids into specialized "tracks"'way too soon. It will discourage them from trying different things.
But the taxpayers will save money. That is clearly what matters in super liberal arlington.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm not the above poster, but I truly believe he thinks specialized programs are the future. I think he believes he will be heralded as an innovator. That by the time this is all rolled out, slowly over the next few years, we will all be on board. So, no need to be too transparent. People fear change and won't understand his vision. We'll all be cool with it in 10 years.
I went to a big high school by NOVA standards. It was fine at approx 2500. I do think there is a limit, and I think we will be past it with 3,000 student high schools. Even with these super cool programs, it seems like a lot of kids trying out for the team, school play, etc etc...
everyone is losing their minds about redrawn lines and busing. This plan seems to exacerbate that. I wonder if kids in Arlington Tech will really want to be trekking back to Yorktown for Track, or Wakefield for a capella rehearsal.
this plan seems to be forcing kids into specialized "tracks"'way too soon. It will discourage them from trying different things.
But the taxpayers will save money. That is clearly what matters in super liberal arlington.

I think this discussion has shown than Arlington isn't quite what it likes to believe it is. I prides itself on good planning but the planning in APS could not be worse. It prides itself on being liberal, but just suggest that some middle-class families move to Wakefield and they show their true colors.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Perusing this thread make me glad we decided to move from Arlington to McLean. I don't think any future redistricting among Langley, McLean and Marshall would be such a big deal compared to all this hand-wringing over moving just a few neighborhoods out of W-L. Good grief.

It wouldn't be, if middle class families would calm down about Wakefield. It's a good school. People are ridiculous.

If memory serves, people in the Nottingham/Tuckahoe/McKinley area got bent out of shape over having to realign with Discovery, a scenario far less controversial than the present one.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm not the above poster, but I truly believe he thinks specialized programs are the future. I think he believes he will be heralded as an innovator. That by the time this is all rolled out, slowly over the next few years, we will all be on board. So, no need to be too transparent. People fear change and won't understand his vision. We'll all be cool with it in 10 years.
I went to a big high school by NOVA standards. It was fine at approx 2500. I do think there is a limit, and I think we will be past it with 3,000 student high schools. Even with these super cool programs, it seems like a lot of kids trying out for the team, school play, etc etc...
everyone is losing their minds about redrawn lines and busing. This plan seems to exacerbate that. I wonder if kids in Arlington Tech will really want to be trekking back to Yorktown for Track, or Wakefield for a capella rehearsal.
this plan seems to be forcing kids into specialized "tracks"'way too soon. It will discourage them from trying different things.
But the taxpayers will save money. That is clearly what matters in super liberal arlington.

Is double-shift/night-shift also his idea of 'future classroom' ?

[Anonymous]

Inside Nova article summarizing the meeting, including the high school student criticizing parents for their comments during this process:

http://www.insidenova.com/news/arlington/arlington-students-adults-need-to-tone-down-rhetoric-on-boundary/article_05f65794-a427-11e6-849d-ff8f401d0f9e.html

[Anonymous]

Is anyone else creeped out that Lander raised some of the earliest contributions to his recent county board campaign from a "gentleman's club"?

http://cfreports.sbe.virginia.gov/Report/Index/55277

I am not a prude. But I don't want that kind of person in charge of decisions about public schools. Yuck!

[Anonymous]

$500 from the Crystal City Restaurant.