Why does anyone want to live in Arlington?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm impressed at how much Arlington spends/invests in its parks, trails, and even dog parks. It's a great place to live.

If only we could get that same investment in the schools. Priorities are a bit off IMO.

Agreed! APS is not investing in ALL students given the amount of money in their budget. Parks are great, but I would rather have GREAT schools.

You are not going to have great schools when 1/3 the kids are FARMS. It just won't happen.

+1

way too many kids in APS are FARMS. It's never going to be the district it once was.

Ludicrous and ignorant statement. APS used to be excellent even with the 30% FRM.

The way things are being run APS is not on track to be what it was at one time. Regardless of the numbers, APS is a sinking ship and it has been for the past few years.

I agree. But citing too many poor kids as the reason they will never be a great school system is ludicrous and ignorant.

APS is a sinking ship as the PP stated but I don’t think it’s because of too many poor kids.

NP. Longtime homeowner and involved parent with kids in APS now. I am aware of many challenges in APS but I disagree the system is sliding downhill. For one thing, I don't think folks appreciated how demographics have changed so much - families for last 20 years enjoyed the extra infrastructure and per-pupil focus of the gap left behind by baby boomers when they were students. I agree we were slow to respond to the new wave of student population, but that has a LOT to do with the County Board's policies housing and budgeting. Part and parcel is that the baby boomers moved on from focusing on schools to the board and building community centers, libraries, car-less, age-in-place, etc. that matter to boomers. APS struggles in part because they are no longer THE focus like they were during a certain period of time. County Board and staff repeatedly stress that families with kids are only 20% of Arlington, meaning they are justified in spending elsewhere. APS should have received far more county budget for infrastructure in past 15 years but board kept a stranglehold - (in part because they didn't want to see "too much" school infra built and left empty someday. Ironically, there may come a day when all the boomers are gone and the senior centers sit empty...maybe then we can convert them into schools, ha!

A sidenote, but this statistic bothers me so much. They say that families with children make up only 20% of Arlington households. Well, a single 20-something living in Ballston represents 1 household, and a married couple with three kids represents one household. So that statistic weighs them equally, yet the second household has twice as many voters in it, and five times as many citizens/residents. Look at it that way and it evens things out a bit.

But even if "parents of school-aged children" represent a minority in Arlington, that still discounts the rights and needs of children. So the talking point about 20% of households seems to be saying "kids don't vote, so they aren't entitled to a share of public resources that rises in proportion to their needs". Public schools aren't some pork-barrel project to win over the votes of parents of young children. They exist because education is a public good.

Sorry. Rant over.

Don't apologize. Keep going!

20% of households AT ANY GIVEN POINT IN TIME have children in APS. What percentage overall have HAD, HAVE, and WILL have kids in APS?

Schools are a driving influence on property values. Better schools = higher property values. (I'm sure we've all heard the complaints of "my property values!" when any school proposal comes out) Of course, Arlington today is merely relying on the historical reputation of Arlington schools and continues to increase the value of its properties, and it is also influenced of course by its proximity to DC. As a result, the County doesn't see or feel a need to focus more on the schools.

[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:I'm impressed at how much Arlington spends/invests in its parks, trails, and even dog parks. It's a great place to live.

If only we could get that same investment in the schools. Priorities are a bit off IMO.

Agreed! APS is not investing in ALL students given the amount of money in their budget. Parks are great, but I would rather have GREAT schools.

You are not going to have great schools when 1/3 the kids are FARMS. It just won't happen.

+1

way too many kids in APS are FARMS. It's never going to be the district it once was.

Ludicrous and ignorant statement. APS used to be excellent even with the 30% FRM.

The way things are being run APS is not on track to be what it was at one time. Regardless of the numbers, APS is a sinking ship and it has been for the past few years.

I agree. But citing too many poor kids as the reason they will never be a great school system is ludicrous and ignorant.

APS is a sinking ship as the PP stated but I don’t think it’s because of too many poor kids.

NP. Longtime homeowner and involved parent with kids in APS now. I am aware of many challenges in APS but I disagree the system is sliding downhill. For one thing, I don't think folks appreciated how demographics have changed so much - families for last 20 years enjoyed the extra infrastructure and per-pupil focus of the gap left behind by baby boomers when they were students. I agree we were slow to respond to the new wave of student population, but that has a LOT to do with the County Board's policies housing and budgeting. Part and parcel is that the baby boomers moved on from focusing on schools to the board and building community centers, libraries, car-less, age-in-place, etc. that matter to boomers. APS struggles in part because they are no longer THE focus like they were during a certain period of time. County Board and staff repeatedly stress that families with kids are only 20% of Arlington, meaning they are justified in spending elsewhere. APS should have received far more county budget for infrastructure in past 15 years but board kept a stranglehold - (in part because they didn't want to see "too much" school infra built and left empty someday. Ironically, there may come a day when all the boomers are gone and the senior centers sit empty...maybe then we can convert them into schools, ha!

A sidenote, but this statistic bothers me so much. They say that families with children make up only 20% of Arlington households. Well, a single 20-something living in Ballston represents 1 household, and a married couple with three kids represents one household. So that statistic weighs them equally, yet the second household has twice as many voters in it, and five times as many citizens/residents. Look at it that way and it evens things out a bit.

But even if "parents of school-aged children" represent a minority in Arlington, that still discounts the rights and needs of children. So the talking point about 20% of households seems to be saying "kids don't vote, so they aren't entitled to a share of public resources that rises in proportion to their needs". Public schools aren't some pork-barrel project to win over the votes of parents of young children. They exist because education is a public good.

Sorry. Rant over.

Don't apologize. Keep going!

20% of households AT ANY GIVEN POINT IN TIME have children in APS. What percentage overall have HAD, HAVE, and WILL have kids in APS?

Schools are a driving influence on property values. Better schools = higher property values. (I'm sure we've all heard the complaints of "my property values!" when any school proposal comes out) Of course, Arlington today is merely relying on the historical reputation of Arlington schools and continues to increase the value of its properties, and it is also influenced of course by its proximity to DC. As a result, the County doesn't see or feel a need to focus more on the schools.

Also, the County should be happy to let APS pay for new buildings/repurposing empty buildings. If they do ever repeat and hand excess facilities over to the County, the County will have all those resources at APS' expense and not out of its own portion of the budget.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm impressed at how much Arlington spends/invests in its parks, trails, and even dog parks. It's a great place to live.

If only we could get that same investment in the schools. Priorities are a bit off IMO.

Agreed! APS is not investing in ALL students given the amount of money in their budget. Parks are great, but I would rather have GREAT schools.

You are not going to have great schools when 1/3 the kids are FARMS. It just won't happen.

+1

way too many kids in APS are FARMS. It's never going to be the district it once was.

Ludicrous and ignorant statement. APS used to be excellent even with the 30% FRM.

The way things are being run APS is not on track to be what it was at one time. Regardless of the numbers, APS is a sinking ship and it has been for the past few years.

I agree. But citing too many poor kids as the reason they will never be a great school system is ludicrous and ignorant.

APS is a sinking ship as the PP stated but I don’t think it’s because of too many poor kids.

NP. Longtime homeowner and involved parent with kids in APS now. I am aware of many challenges in APS but I disagree the system is sliding downhill. For one thing, I don't think folks appreciated how demographics have changed so much - families for last 20 years enjoyed the extra infrastructure and per-pupil focus of the gap left behind by baby boomers when they were students. I agree we were slow to respond to the new wave of student population, but that has a LOT to do with the County Board's policies housing and budgeting. Part and parcel is that the baby boomers moved on from focusing on schools to the board and building community centers, libraries, car-less, age-in-place, etc. that matter to boomers. APS struggles in part because they are no longer THE focus like they were during a certain period of time. County Board and staff repeatedly stress that families with kids are only 20% of Arlington, meaning they are justified in spending elsewhere. APS should have received far more county budget for infrastructure in past 15 years but board kept a stranglehold - (in part because they didn't want to see "too much" school infra built and left empty someday. Ironically, there may come a day when all the boomers are gone and the senior centers sit empty...maybe then we can convert them into schools, ha!

Well said.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm impressed at how much Arlington spends/invests in its parks, trails, and even dog parks. It's a great place to live.

If only we could get that same investment in the schools. Priorities are a bit off IMO.

Agreed! APS is not investing in ALL students given the amount of money in their budget. Parks are great, but I would rather have GREAT schools.

You are not going to have great schools when 1/3 the kids are FARMS. It just won't happen.

+1

way too many kids in APS are FARMS. It's never going to be the district it once was.

Ludicrous and ignorant statement. APS used to be excellent even with the 30% FRM.

The way things are being run APS is not on track to be what it was at one time. Regardless of the numbers, APS is a sinking ship and it has been for the past few years.

I agree. But citing too many poor kids as the reason they will never be a great school system is ludicrous and ignorant.

APS is a sinking ship as the PP stated but I don’t think it’s because of too many poor kids.

NP. Longtime homeowner and involved parent with kids in APS now. I am aware of many challenges in APS but I disagree the system is sliding downhill. For one thing, I don't think folks appreciated how demographics have changed so much - families for last 20 years enjoyed the extra infrastructure and per-pupil focus of the gap left behind by baby boomers when they were students. I agree we were slow to respond to the new wave of student population, but that has a LOT to do with the County Board's policies housing and budgeting. Part and parcel is that the baby boomers moved on from focusing on schools to the board and building community centers, libraries, car-less, age-in-place, etc. that matter to boomers. APS struggles in part because they are no longer THE focus like they were during a certain period of time. County Board and staff repeatedly stress that families with kids are only 20% of Arlington, meaning they are justified in spending elsewhere. APS should have received far more county budget for infrastructure in past 15 years but board kept a stranglehold - (in part because they didn't want to see "too much" school infra built and left empty someday. Ironically, there may come a day when all the boomers are gone and the senior centers sit empty...maybe then we can convert them into schools, ha!

Not sure how that doesn't reflect a slow sinking ship....

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm impressed at how much Arlington spends/invests in its parks, trails, and even dog parks. It's a great place to live.

If only we could get that same investment in the schools. Priorities are a bit off IMO.

Agreed! APS is not investing in ALL students given the amount of money in their budget. Parks are great, but I would rather have GREAT schools.

You are not going to have great schools when 1/3 the kids are FARMS. It just won't happen.

+1

way too many kids in APS are FARMS. It's never going to be the district it once was.

Ludicrous and ignorant statement. APS used to be excellent even with the 30% FRM.

The way things are being run APS is not on track to be what it was at one time. Regardless of the numbers, APS is a sinking ship and it has been for the past few years.

I agree. But citing too many poor kids as the reason they will never be a great school system is ludicrous and ignorant.

APS is a sinking ship as the PP stated but I don’t think it’s because of too many poor kids.

NP. Longtime homeowner and involved parent with kids in APS now. I am aware of many challenges in APS but I disagree the system is sliding downhill. For one thing, I don't think folks appreciated how demographics have changed so much - families for last 20 years enjoyed the extra infrastructure and per-pupil focus of the gap left behind by baby boomers when they were students. I agree we were slow to respond to the new wave of student population, but that has a LOT to do with the County Board's policies housing and budgeting. Part and parcel is that the baby boomers moved on from focusing on schools to the board and building community centers, libraries, car-less, age-in-place, etc. that matter to boomers. APS struggles in part because they are no longer THE focus like they were during a certain period of time. County Board and staff repeatedly stress that families with kids are only 20% of Arlington, meaning they are justified in spending elsewhere. APS should have received far more county budget for infrastructure in past 15 years but board kept a stranglehold - (in part because they didn't want to see "too much" school infra built and left empty someday. Ironically, there may come a day when all the boomers are gone and the senior centers sit empty...maybe then we can convert them into schools, ha!

This is a problem of our entire country- we invest more in our past than in our future. Where I grew up, almost 50% of the budget each year is spent on paying the pensions of retired teachers - teachers who live nowhere near the communities they once served. Playground equipment and schools are dilapidated and taxpayers are severely overburdened for schools they can’t use. It’s causing a death spiral.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm impressed at how much Arlington spends/invests in its parks, trails, and even dog parks. It's a great place to live.

If only we could get that same investment in the schools. Priorities are a bit off IMO.

Agreed! APS is not investing in ALL students given the amount of money in their budget. Parks are great, but I would rather have GREAT schools.

You are not going to have great schools when 1/3 the kids are FARMS. It just won't happen.

+1

way too many kids in APS are FARMS. It's never going to be the district it once was.

Ludicrous and ignorant statement. APS used to be excellent even with the 30% FRM.

The way things are being run APS is not on track to be what it was at one time. Regardless of the numbers, APS is a sinking ship and it has been for the past few years.

I agree. But citing too many poor kids as the reason they will never be a great school system is ludicrous and ignorant.

APS is a sinking ship as the PP stated but I don’t think it’s because of too many poor kids.

NP. Longtime homeowner and involved parent with kids in APS now. I am aware of many challenges in APS but I disagree the system is sliding downhill. For one thing, I don't think folks appreciated how demographics have changed so much - families for last 20 years enjoyed the extra infrastructure and per-pupil focus of the gap left behind by baby boomers when they were students. I agree we were slow to respond to the new wave of student population, but that has a LOT to do with the County Board's policies housing and budgeting. Part and parcel is that the baby boomers moved on from focusing on schools to the board and building community centers, libraries, car-less, age-in-place, etc. that matter to boomers. APS struggles in part because they are no longer THE focus like they were during a certain period of time. County Board and staff repeatedly stress that families with kids are only 20% of Arlington, meaning they are justified in spending elsewhere. APS should have received far more county budget for infrastructure in past 15 years but board kept a stranglehold - (in part because they didn't want to see "too much" school infra built and left empty someday. Ironically, there may come a day when all the boomers are gone and the senior centers sit empty...maybe then we can convert them into schools, ha!

This is a problem of our entire country- we invest more in our past than in our future. Where I grew up, almost 50% of the budget each year is spent on paying the pensions of retired teachers - teachers who live nowhere near the communities they once served. Playground equipment and schools are dilapidated and taxpayers are severely overburdened for schools they can’t use. It’s causing a death spiral.

In many ways public education feels like a broken system. I don't know where APS can even start to mitigate -- we are bleeding out in all directions. There is a lot going on and I often wonder if it's like this in other areas outside of DMV that have smaller school districts. Here, we seem to always be at battle with each other. There are boundary changes like every couple years, debates on building new schools, changes in actual educational programs that some follow and some do not, long term subs in lots of schools, not to mention systematic issues and crowding that seem to haunt us more and more each year. Wish I could say I don't feel like the system is "sliding downhill" like PP. It feels like we already slid.

[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:I'm impressed at how much Arlington spends/invests in its parks, trails, and even dog parks. It's a great place to live.

If only we could get that same investment in the schools. Priorities are a bit off IMO.

Agreed! APS is not investing in ALL students given the amount of money in their budget. Parks are great, but I would rather have GREAT schools.

You are not going to have great schools when 1/3 the kids are FARMS. It just won't happen.

+1

way too many kids in APS are FARMS. It's never going to be the district it once was.

Ludicrous and ignorant statement. APS used to be excellent even with the 30% FRM.

The way things are being run APS is not on track to be what it was at one time. Regardless of the numbers, APS is a sinking ship and it has been for the past few years.

I agree. But citing too many poor kids as the reason they will never be a great school system is ludicrous and ignorant.

APS is a sinking ship as the PP stated but I don’t think it’s because of too many poor kids.

NP. Longtime homeowner and involved parent with kids in APS now. I am aware of many challenges in APS but I disagree the system is sliding downhill. For one thing, I don't think folks appreciated how demographics have changed so much - families for last 20 years enjoyed the extra infrastructure and per-pupil focus of the gap left behind by baby boomers when they were students. I agree we were slow to respond to the new wave of student population, but that has a LOT to do with the County Board's policies housing and budgeting. Part and parcel is that the baby boomers moved on from focusing on schools to the board and building community centers, libraries, car-less, age-in-place, etc. that matter to boomers. APS struggles in part because they are no longer THE focus like they were during a certain period of time. County Board and staff repeatedly stress that families with kids are only 20% of Arlington, meaning they are justified in spending elsewhere. APS should have received far more county budget for infrastructure in past 15 years but board kept a stranglehold - (in part because they didn't want to see "too much" school infra built and left empty someday. Ironically, there may come a day when all the boomers are gone and the senior centers sit empty...maybe then we can convert them into schools, ha!

This is a problem of our entire country- we invest more in our past than in our future. Where I grew up, almost 50% of the budget each year is spent on paying the pensions of retired teachers - teachers who live nowhere near the communities they once served. Playground equipment and schools are dilapidated and taxpayers are severely overburdened for schools they can’t use. It’s causing a death spiral.

In many ways public education feels like a broken system. I don't know where APS can even start to mitigate -- we are bleeding out in all directions. There is a lot going on and I often wonder if it's like this in other areas outside of DMV that have smaller school districts. Here, we seem to always be at battle with each other. There are boundary changes like every couple years, debates on building new schools, changes in actual educational programs that some follow and some do not, long term subs in lots of schools, not to mention systematic issues and crowding that seem to haunt us more and more each year. Wish I could say I don't feel like the system is "sliding downhill" like PP. It feels like we already slid.

I don't let the annual drama from APS Planning affect my overall great opinion of the educational value here.
Our DC is getting a superior education. Someone previously mentioned that all residents have a stake in the success of our school system as it's a prime backer for our economic success. True!

[Anonymous]

APS aside, I think Arlington has a lot of issues happening. Also found this to be interesting …

https://www.arlnow.com/2023/07/27/report-arlington-has-tenth-highest-rent-in-the-u-s/?fbclid=IwAR24shZ5KtnzQTOdCiqzVn3aurrevhZ6dsAIRm4qk1EF29vZjXIq51EjIHg_aem_ARl-IFjz4Kr_AkpATOkrLJM0mBq-FTO2Gg-RCWMtArilkt2hDeC4jh0M0WDXN3UHyiE&mibextid=Zxz2cZ