Can we get a parent on the Arlington county board someday?

[Anonymous]

Maybe I'm wrong here, but it seems like the lack of parents on Arlington board could theoretically impact how much the board prioritizes schools. Am I off? And I don't know much about local politics except that democrats are almost always the ones who get the spots so if a democrat isn't sponsoring them it's really hard for somebody to get elected. Is there a way we could get parent as somebody who has real influence in the county?

[Anonymous]

I don't think you're off at all. People seem to see the School Board as a stepping-stone to the County Board and beyond (looking at you, Cristina and Katie). When a parent ran in the last (?) election, she was "outed" as a government employee running for a partisan position (except that it's non-partisan) by a fellow candidate and ended up having to drop her candidacy. Many of the problems stem from the Arlington Democratic Party -- it's total dominance of local politics and the way that it operates. If given a choice, I almost always vote for the opposition, just because I think we need some balance, even though I consider myself more progressive than most voters.

[Anonymous]

Bethany Sutton has kids in APS

[Anonymous]

OP said county board, not school board.

Katie Cristol had a baby a few years ago, but doesn’t have school aged children yet. Christian Dorsey has a couple of kids in APS. Libby Garvey has a couple of kids who graduated from APS a while ago. I don’t think Takis Karantonis and Matt de Ferranti have kids, but could be wrong about that.

[Anonymous]

Christian and Katie are parents to under 18 kids. Libby Garvey was on the school board for years prior to county board. They think about schools all the time.

This is like asking your community pool board to only think about the swim team. Facts are the majority of people in the county do not use the schools and while schools are an important part of any community, there are a lot of other priorities to balance as well. In Arlington, schools get a lot of support.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Christian and Katie are parents to under 18 kids. Libby Garvey was on the school board for years prior to county board. They think about schools all the time.

This is like asking your community pool board to only think about the swim team. Facts are the majority of people in the county do not use the schools and while schools are an important part of any community, there are a lot of other priorities to balance as well. In Arlington, schools get a lot of support.

Okay I stand corrected.

I disagree it's like thinking of only the swim team. Of course there are other important things in the county. I use a lot of those services too and they are important to me. I just think that schools are not a high enough priority. Schools are never fully funded, they don't seem to have really considered the impact of schools on missing middle housing or trying to get amazon here, and I just see a lot of ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ when it comes to overcrowding, both from the board APS.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Christian and Katie are parents to under 18 kids. Libby Garvey was on the school board for years prior to county board. They think about schools all the time.

This is like asking your community pool board to only think about the swim team. Facts are the majority of people in the county do not use the schools and while schools are an important part of any community, there are a lot of other priorities to balance as well. In Arlington, schools get a lot of support.

Okay I stand corrected.

I disagree it's like thinking of only the swim team. Of course there are other important things in the county. I use a lot of those services too and they are important to me. I just think that schools are not a high enough priority. Schools are never fully funded, they don't seem to have really considered the impact of schools on missing middle housing or trying to get amazon here, and I just see a lot of ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ when it comes to overcrowding, both from the board APS.

It's the finger-pointing problem, OP. The CB conveniently avoids all these things because APS is independently managed and overseen solely by the SB. It takes some very big and inconvenient problems off their plate.

[Anonymous]

Katie works for a consulting group that promotes charter schools. She is professionally obligated not to give a rat's ass about public schools.

Everyone should care about public schools for the selfish reason that good public schools boost home values, which boosts property taxes. And public schools would have wider support if APS ever showed the slightest ability to spend wisely and to plow on ahead, ignoring whiners, when there's a workable and affordable solution available, even if the parents are whining because it doesn't look like the schools they went to.

[Anonymous]

Kate famously said a few years back that if the County had extra money she wouldn't give one cent to the schools. Told me everything I needed to know about her priorities.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Christian and Katie are parents to under 18 kids. Libby Garvey was on the school board for years prior to county board. They think about schools all the time.

This is like asking your community pool board to only think about the swim team. Facts are the majority of people in the county do not use the schools and while schools are an important part of any community, there are a lot of other priorities to balance as well. In Arlington, schools get a lot of support.

Okay I stand corrected.

I disagree it's like thinking of only the swim team. Of course there are other important things in the county. I use a lot of those services too and they are important to me. I just think that schools are not a high enough priority. Schools are never fully funded, they don't seem to have really considered the impact of schools on missing middle housing or trying to get amazon here, and I just see a lot of ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ when it comes to overcrowding, both from the board APS.

It's the finger-pointing problem, OP. The CB conveniently avoids all these things because APS is independently managed and overseen solely by the SB. It takes some very big and inconvenient problems off their plate.

Exactly. I really wish Arlington had a mayor instead of a county board and then also had mayoral control of schools. Now each side understandably blames the other for problems.

[Anonymous]

Sure, all they have to do is run

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Christian and Katie are parents to under 18 kids. Libby Garvey was on the school board for years prior to county board. They think about schools all the time.

This is like asking your community pool board to only think about the swim team. Facts are the majority of people in the county do not use the schools and while schools are an important part of any community, there are a lot of other priorities to balance as well. In Arlington, schools get a lot of support.

Okay I stand corrected.

I disagree it's like thinking of only the swim team. Of course there are other important things in the county. I use a lot of those services too and they are important to me. I just think that schools are not a high enough priority. Schools are never fully funded, they don't seem to have really considered the impact of schools on missing middle housing or trying to get amazon here, and I just see a lot of ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ when it comes to overcrowding, both from the board APS.

It's the finger-pointing problem, OP. The CB conveniently avoids all these things because APS is independently managed and overseen solely by the SB. It takes some very big and inconvenient problems off their plate.

Yes, there is zero accountability around here and it is mind boggling. It is nearly impossible to compel people on the school board, county board, or county government to actually do their jobs. Truly astonishing.

Exactly. I really wish Arlington had a mayor instead of a county board and then also had mayoral control of schools. Now each side understandably blames the other for problems.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Katie works for a consulting group that promotes charter schools. She is professionally obligated not to give a rat's ass about public schools.

Everyone should care about public schools for the selfish reason that good public schools boost home values, which boosts property taxes. And public schools would have wider support if APS ever showed the slightest ability to spend wisely and to plow on ahead, ignoring whiners, when there's a workable and affordable solution available, even if the parents are whining because it doesn't look like the schools they went to.

She'll suddenly care when her kid is old enough, just like she had a strong interest in daycare after she had a baby. Of course, there's a 99% chance her kid will go to an option school, so there's that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Katie works for a consulting group that promotes charter schools. She is professionally obligated not to give a rat's ass about public schools.

Everyone should care about public schools for the selfish reason that good public schools boost home values, which boosts property taxes. And public schools would have wider support if APS ever showed the slightest ability to spend wisely and to plow on ahead, ignoring whiners, when there's a workable and affordable solution available, even if the parents are whining because it doesn't look like the schools they went to.

She'll suddenly care when her kid is old enough, just like she had a strong interest in daycare after she had a baby. Of course, there's a 99% chance her kid will go to an option school, so there's that.

No - she'll go private or leave Arlington for higher office.