Langley Gives Janie Strauss the Finger

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As someone pointed out, the state of VA is also not providing enough funding to the county-Richmond sort of takes the same attitude towards NOVA as Janie does with the Dranesville schools-can someone explain why certain school board members (meaning Moon, McElveen and Janie in particular) voted down writing to VA State Government for more school funding?? Could anything make less sense??

What makes less sense is Langley Republicans criticizing local School Board members for not making futile pleas for more state funding when the state legislature is controlled by yet other Republicans.

What's tiresome is you continually referring to the Langley community as "Langley Republicans". We get it. You hate Republicans. You hate the Langley community. But guess what? This community is made up of many different kinds of people, Republicans and Democrats alike. So please - get off your stupid political soapbox and grow up.

The election results suggest otherwise. It's only the Dranesville precincts that feed into Langley that repeatedly and unanimously vote primarily for Republican School Board candidates whose unsuccessful campaigns revolve around the notion that the highest performing schools in the county are not getting their fair share of resources. These candidates do not favor higher taxes but the redistribution of funds from the poorest to the wealthiest areas in the county.

There are some more liberal people there, and Republicans elsewhere, but the "reverse Robin Hood" attitude dominates in neighborhoods with so many Langley Republicans.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

But it is a bit disingenuous to say your property taxes are higher. Everyone pays the exact same tax rate in the county. Yes, straight dollars, you pay more because your property is worth more. That is how property taxes work. But you are not paying a higher percentage than anyone else. There isn't some super special Langley tax that only you pay.

I don't live in Langley--but I do question your statement. What part of "more" don't you understand? As far as percentage, Dranesville probably does pay a higher percentage of Fairfax taxes than other areas.

I don't think the people from Langley are asking for "more" than the other parts of the FCPS system--I think they are just pointing out that they are paying more and getting far LESS in county funds. When you have class sizes of 35, you get a little resentful.

My personal opinion is that the lower income schools should get more--but there should be a base line for all schools. 35 kids in a class should not be the base line.

Exactly. Thank you for pointing this out. The Langley community is not asking for any more than any other school. But the idea that we should have to just suck it up and deal with larger classes because we're a "wealthy" community is a load of crap. Fair is fair and the amount of taxes this community pays to the county should ensure that our classes are AT LEAST the size of those in other schools - and not larger.

I also live in the Langley pyramid and posted the SOQ regs on class sizes. The second PP wrote AT LEAST the size of those in other schools while the other PP addresses a baseline of students which would more accurately be adherence to maximums in the SOQ's. Some people are reasonable and expect class sizes not at or exceeding state SOQ's.

Some are rather unreasonable and want the same size as found in schools with reduced FCPS staffing ratios. Article addressing the change from French Immersion to 2 way Spanish Immersion at Herndon Elementary, a Dranesville District School:
http://www.connectionnewspapers.com/news/2013/feb/05/french-immersion-herndon-elementary-jeopardy/

Such a change is not only about a benefit to those whose native language is Spanish. It is also staffing ratios and the unfair impacts on students in a school. I discovered an FCPS document with historic immersion enrollment per school per grade level:
http://www.fcps.edu/HerndonES/academics/language-change/documents/april82013/immersionenrollmentbygradelevel04-13.pdf

Herndon wasn't bad for french #'s but worki ng this program at a school is a site based administrator's nightmare. Sometimes class size issues can be caused by special programs like immersion draining off ratio staff for general ed.

[Anonymous]

Herndon wasn't bad for french #'s but worki ng this program at a school is a site based administrator's nightmare. Sometimes class size issues can be caused by special programs like immersion draining off ratio staff for general ed.

Bingo! AAP can have the same effect.
It is difficult enough creating equitable class sizes when you have only the general education grade levels. When you throw in special programs such as immersion or AAP the balancing act becomes much more difficult. This is the additional expense to these special programs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Herndon wasn't bad for french #'s but worki ng this program at a school is a site based administrator's nightmare. Sometimes class size issues can be caused by special programs like immersion draining off ratio staff for general ed.

Bingo! AAP can have the same effect.
It is difficult enough creating equitable class sizes when you have only the general education grade levels. When you throw in special programs such as immersion or AAP the balancing act becomes much more difficult. This is the additional expense to these special programs.

I just wish the amount of time and attention that has been spent on AAP kids would be paid to the General Ed. kids. All the time, resources, and energy goes to the special ed kids and the "advanced" kids. Woe to those in the middle.

[Anonymous]

AAP kids are generally liked by school principals-means more funding, especially at the county level.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:AAP kids are generally liked by school principals-means more funding, especially at the county level.

There is no additional funding I know of for AAP to a principal.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:AAP kids are generally liked by school principals-means more funding, especially at the county level.

Well that just makes me sick.

[Anonymous]

I just wish the amount of time and attention that has been spent on AAP kids would be paid to the General Ed. kids. All the time, resources, and energy goes to the special ed kids and the "advanced" kids. Woe to those in the middle.

Yes, it is ironic. I know of two families that were fighting for inclusion in gen ed for their special education students while they were sending another child to the GT center--this was before the "twice exceptional" label was given and there were no LD kids in the centers. They wanted their kids with special needs to be in the classroom with my "average" child--but they wanted their "smart" kid to be segregated from the masses.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

I just wish the amount of time and attention that has been spent on AAP kids would be paid to the General Ed. kids. All the time, resources, and energy goes to the special ed kids and the "advanced" kids. Woe to those in the middle.

Yes, it is ironic. I know of two families that were fighting for inclusion in gen ed for their special education students while they were sending another child to the GT center--this was before the "twice exceptional" label was given and there were no LD kids in the centers. They wanted their kids with special needs to be in the classroom with my "average" child--but they wanted their "smart" kid to be segregated from the masses.

Insofar as Langley has one of the highest percentages of AAP kids of any FCPS pyramid, I really doubt the Langley precincts voting against Janie Strauss (the only precincts in Dranesville, in fact, to do so) were protesting AAP.

[Anonymous]

Insofar as Langley has one of the highest percentages of AAP kids of any FCPS pyramid, I really doubt the Langley precincts voting against Janie Strauss (the only precincts in Dranesville, in fact, to do so) were protesting AAP.

I agree. In fact, the AAP lobby is probably the strongest in the county. I don't see any SB member voting against it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
I used to work for Ms. Favola - I wish I was in her district and could vote for her! She is just a wonderful person.

Tell that to the fallen heroes in Lyon Village. These are people who brought three rounds of lawsuits trying to run out the clock against an awful public housing complex proposed for construction a block from Clarendon Metro, on top of a church!!! Ms. Favola was front and center pushing that thing even though she lived right near there. First rule of politics: represent your own. She failed to do that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

I just wish the amount of time and attention that has been spent on AAP kids would be paid to the General Ed. kids. All the time, resources, and energy goes to the special ed kids and the "advanced" kids. Woe to those in the middle.

Yes, it is ironic. I know of two families that were fighting for inclusion in gen ed for their special education students while they were sending another child to the GT center--this was before the "twice exceptional" label was given and there were no LD kids in the centers. They wanted their kids with special needs to be in the classroom with my "average" child--but they wanted their "smart" kid to be segregated from the masses.

Do you see what's happening? All of us homeowners are being pitted against each other, complaining about resources for AAP vs. General vs. Special Ed. We're made to feel ashamed for enjoying what our parents and grandparents have left to us and our children to enjoy.

The real problem is the takers. The Herndon and Springfield and Richmond Highway types are draining FCPS, making them divert instructional resources toward discipline and other non-instructional matters.

What we need to do is outsource the education of these types of kids.

For a fraction of what we spend here, we could arrange with the DC or PG County or PW County to take these kids off our hands. We'd be paying tuition on each kid, but we'd save on the various "support services" we have to provide. If we're clever in how we design the routes, we could keep these kids penned up on a 90-minute bus route in each direction, rather than having to grant "financial waivers" to extended day programs or fund any impact on "co-curricular" programming needs.

Plus we'd GAIN especially talented would-be AAP kids. These are kids who would be attending AAP programs, but are afraid of being in class with the Horatio Alger type who "rises up from poverty" or the fields or whatever. Out of the thousands of anchor kids the Strausses welcome to Fairfax, a tiny percentage produces some small # who happen to be particularly bright intellectually. Yet a PALS or CoGAT does not identify how woefully ill-equipped such children are to deal with the social expectations one has for participation in an AAP.

Outsourcing such kids to a place where they feel more comfortable benefits them immensely, and it makes it far more comfortable for a Chesterbrook or Georgetown Day or Congressional or Madeira type to take a chance on a Fairfax County AAP. That in turn builds support from the thought leaders for the property taxes Fairfax charges, as the people who pay the most actually see a benefit to what they pay. Plus you can rent out the empty space you create in say Herndon high school for say light industrial usage, generating a revenue stream that can subsidize the tuition you're paying to outsource those kids.

At this point, we've been happy with our choice to send our children to private school. But FCPS has a lot of potential. With the economic power found in the county, and the political influential scattered about, pockets of Fairfax County can stand tall when compared to any community anywhere. That is, IF the Herndon/Springfield/Richmond Highway problems are resolved. We'd love to redirect our current tuition dollars to fund more fully education savings accounts that can be directed toward their graduate education, as family trusts in the past only recognized a need for a Bachelor's-level education. But FCPS needs to do its share by thinking outside the box, and not wedding itself to the solutions of yesteryear.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Herndon wasn't bad for french #'s but worki ng this program at a school is a site based administrator's nightmare. Sometimes class size issues can be caused by special programs like immersion draining off ratio staff for general ed.

Bingo! AAP can have the same effect.
It is difficult enough creating equitable class sizes when you have only the general education grade levels. When you throw in special programs such as immersion or AAP the balancing act becomes much more difficult. This is the additional expense to these special programs.

I just wish the amount of time and attention that has been spent on AAP kids would be paid to the General Ed. kids. All the time, resources, and energy goes to the special ed kids and the "advanced" kids. Woe to those in the middle.

News flash not all special ed kids are below gen Ed kids. Some are Gen Ed and some are AAP.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

I just wish the amount of time and attention that has been spent on AAP kids would be paid to the General Ed. kids. All the time, resources, and energy goes to the special ed kids and the "advanced" kids. Woe to those in the middle.

Yes, it is ironic. I know of two families that were fighting for inclusion in gen ed for their special education students while they were sending another child to the GT center--this was before the "twice exceptional" label was given and there were no LD kids in the centers. They wanted their kids with special needs to be in the classroom with my "average" child--but they wanted their "smart" kid to be segregated from the masses.

Do you see what's happening? All of us homeowners are being pitted against each other, complaining about resources for AAP vs. General vs. Special Ed. We're made to feel ashamed for enjoying what our parents and grandparents have left to us and our children to enjoy.

The real problem is the takers. The Herndon and Springfield and Richmond Highway types are draining FCPS, making them divert instructional resources toward discipline and other non-instructional matters.

What we need to do is outsource the education of these types of kids.

For a fraction of what we spend here, we could arrange with the DC or PG County or PW County to take these kids off our hands. We'd be paying tuition on each kid, but we'd save on the various "support services" we have to provide. If we're clever in how we design the routes, we could keep these kids penned up on a 90-minute bus route in each direction, rather than having to grant "financial waivers" to extended day programs or fund any impact on "co-curricular" programming needs.

Plus we'd GAIN especially talented would-be AAP kids. These are kids who would be attending AAP programs, but are afraid of being in class with the Horatio Alger type who "rises up from poverty" or the fields or whatever. Out of the thousands of anchor kids the Strausses welcome to Fairfax, a tiny percentage produces some small # who happen to be particularly bright intellectually. Yet a PALS or CoGAT does not identify how woefully ill-equipped such children are to deal with the social expectations one has for participation in an AAP.

Outsourcing such kids to a place where they feel more comfortable benefits them immensely, and it makes it far more comfortable for a Chesterbrook or Georgetown Day or Congressional or Madeira type to take a chance on a Fairfax County AAP. That in turn builds support from the thought leaders for the property taxes Fairfax charges, as the people who pay the most actually see a benefit to what they pay. Plus you can rent out the empty space you create in say Herndon high school for say light industrial usage, generating a revenue stream that can subsidize the tuition you're paying to outsource those kids.

At this point, we've been happy with our choice to send our children to private school. But FCPS has a lot of potential. With the economic power found in the county, and the political influential scattered about, pockets of Fairfax County can stand tall when compared to any community anywhere. That is, IF the Herndon/Springfield/Richmond Highway problems are resolved. We'd love to redirect our current tuition dollars to fund more fully education savings accounts that can be directed toward their graduate education, as family trusts in the past only recognized a need for a Bachelor's-level education. But FCPS needs to do its share by thinking outside the box, and not wedding itself to the solutions of yesteryear.

Who has all this time for these troll posts? Why not be useful in the world?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Herndon wasn't bad for french #'s but worki ng this program at a school is a site based administrator's nightmare. Sometimes class size issues can be caused by special programs like immersion draining off ratio staff for general ed.

Bingo! AAP can have the same effect.
It is difficult enough creating equitable class sizes when you have only the general education grade levels. When you throw in special programs such as immersion or AAP the balancing act becomes much more difficult. This is the additional expense to these special programs.

I just wish the amount of time and attention that has been spent on AAP kids would be paid to the General Ed. kids. All the time, resources, and energy goes to the special ed kids and the "advanced" kids. Woe to those in the middle.

News flash not all special ed kids are below gen Ed kids. Some are Gen Ed and some are AAP.

Of course. But you knew what I meant.