FCPS High School Poverty and Enrollment

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Are we aiming for socialism? Everyone monetarily equal? Last I checked USA was a market democratic economy.

You are the problem. Why are you even associating public education with wealth? So only the wealthy deserve good public schools? Absolutely terrible logic and pure selfishness. And yet you'll probably find someone else to blame for all of America's problems with youth and K-12 education.

We all deserve good public schools. But, shifting neighborhoods to enable scores to go up does not help those who need the help. It just covers up the negligence of not teaching the poorer kids.

The answer is good instruction where the students are. Maybe, just maybe, that would improve things.

Parental or guardian involvement is key

That explains an overall problem with most students.education of the mother is really the key.

[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:OP - the simple fact is that the gap between certain neighboring schools in FCPS has become so large that the prospect of boundary changes is essentially off the table.

West Springfield - Lewis - not going to happen. Langley - Herndon - not going to happen. Woodson - Annandale - not going to happen.

And then you have West Potomac and Mount Vernon - it could have happened. A boundary change made perfect sense. Extra space at Mount Vernon and too many students at West Potomac. Both schools have a pretty high F/R lunch rate, but West Potomac's is a bit lower and it has a better reputation (and AP courses). If they didn't change those boundaries, you better believe they are never going to make those other changes.

Up until 2000, maybe 2005, you could probably have made any of those changes. Parents would have grumbled but would have sucked it up and moved on. Now it would implode parents' minds.

Let it implode parents’ minds! No one should feel entitled to attend a particular school. The School Board wastes taxpayer money by adding on to “good” schools while other schools have plenty of space. They promote “equity” but have no actual intention of doing anything to resolve the situation or upset the status quo. They just want to keep their Board seat and maybe move up to higher office. Meanwhile our taxes continue to increase while many of our schools stagnate or decline.

If you pay premium to live in jurisdiction for particular school, you should feel entitlement.

If the border change to problem school housing value go down.

But conversely wouldn’t housing values go up in some areas if less poverty was concentrated in those schools?

But the amount wouldn’t be equal. The drop in one house and rise in another wouldn’t be equal partly because the surrounding areas don’t offer the same type of benefit/amenities.

The areas where you’re claiming values would drop if there was a change in school assignment would still have other amenities, and the areas that would have better amenities (i.e., schools) would see an increase in values.

Do you really think that people who paid a premium price to live in a "good" school district would accept a boundary adjustment without taking some other action?

They’d huff and puff and some would even move, but then they’d get over it. We should not change boundaries just to transfer wealth among families but neither should we avoid changing boundaries just because some rich people might make a stink.

Maybe, just maybe, the SB should ask themselves why people are not sending their kids to the struggling schools. Why do you think boundary adjustments would change that?

One big reason is that it’s an open secret which schools get treated by the School Board as pariahs.

It's an open secret that some schools offer terrible outcomes. Pariah or not, no one avoids McLean because Tholen prefers Langley because McLean is still a good school. The same can't be said for Lewis or Mt Vernon

Pretty horrible statement. Some schools, such as Mount Vernon and Lewis, have a much bigger challenge than McLean or Langley. The students are not starting from the same place. The school and teachers are not bad.

And no parent with options wants to sacrifice their child's education by sending them to a school with those challenges.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If you want to change demographics and boundaries let’s also consider getting rid of IB. As long as parents can transfer out of poor IB schools to wealthier AP schools with a stronger, more flexible academic program, just changing the boundaries won’t accomplish very much. A cynic would say FCPS leaves IB at some of these schools precisely because it’s an escape valve.

You can transfer to an AP school now. Parents are reminded all the time.

[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:OP - the simple fact is that the gap between certain neighboring schools in FCPS has become so large that the prospect of boundary changes is essentially off the table.

West Springfield - Lewis - not going to happen. Langley - Herndon - not going to happen. Woodson - Annandale - not going to happen.

And then you have West Potomac and Mount Vernon - it could have happened. A boundary change made perfect sense. Extra space at Mount Vernon and too many students at West Potomac. Both schools have a pretty high F/R lunch rate, but West Potomac's is a bit lower and it has a better reputation (and AP courses). If they didn't change those boundaries, you better believe they are never going to make those other changes.

Up until 2000, maybe 2005, you could probably have made any of those changes. Parents would have grumbled but would have sucked it up and moved on. Now it would implode parents' minds.

Let it implode parents’ minds! No one should feel entitled to attend a particular school. The School Board wastes taxpayer money by adding on to “good” schools while other schools have plenty of space. They promote “equity” but have no actual intention of doing anything to resolve the situation or upset the status quo. They just want to keep their Board seat and maybe move up to higher office. Meanwhile our taxes continue to increase while many of our schools stagnate or decline.

If you pay premium to live in jurisdiction for particular school, you should feel entitlement.

If the border change to problem school housing value go down.

But conversely wouldn’t housing values go up in some areas if less poverty was concentrated in those schools?

But the amount wouldn’t be equal. The drop in one house and rise in another wouldn’t be equal partly because the surrounding areas don’t offer the same type of benefit/amenities.

The areas where you’re claiming values would drop if there was a change in school assignment would still have other amenities, and the areas that would have better amenities (i.e., schools) would see an increase in values.

Do you really think that people who paid a premium price to live in a "good" school district would accept a boundary adjustment without taking some other action?

They’d huff and puff and some would even move, but then they’d get over it. We should not change boundaries just to transfer wealth among families but neither should we avoid changing boundaries just because some rich people might make a stink.

Maybe, just maybe, the SB should ask themselves why people are not sending their kids to the struggling schools. Why do you think boundary adjustments would change that?

One big reason is that it’s an open secret which schools get treated by the School Board as pariahs.

It's an open secret that some schools offer terrible outcomes. Pariah or not, no one avoids McLean because Tholen prefers Langley because McLean is still a good school. The same can't be said for Lewis or Mt Vernon

Pretty horrible statement. Some schools, such as Mount Vernon and Lewis, have a much bigger challenge than McLean or Langley. The students are not starting from the same place. The school and teachers are not bad.

And no parent with options wants to sacrifice their child's education by sending them to a school with those challenges.

And hence why it is so bad that FCPS has concentrated so much of the poverty into just a few schools. And this 'blue' county is sure full of hypocrites.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Can someone explain why AP is preferred over IB?

AP is more flexible and portable. You can pick the classes you want to take a la carte, such as AB chemistry but regular honors history, or multiple AP history and English classes but no AP math. They can take 1 AP class in high school or multiple AP classes each year. This means that kids can focus on their strengths. It also provides opportunities for kids who are less proficient in English to still earn college credit in a class like AP calculus. You can jump in and out of AP classes if you move high school.

IB is a writing heavy, comprehensive program that is taken in its entirety over the 4 years of high school and is not a la cart. It is all, or nothing, which shuts out military kids who move later in high school, smart kids who struggle with with writing, and kids who are uneven in their skill sets. It is a terrible program for most of the schools that FCPS put IB into as those are mostly ESOL heavy schools where student do not have the English language proficiency to handle the heavy writing components or extra time for the service components. IB in those schools essentially shuts a large number of students out from accessing advanced curriculum or college credits in high school.

[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:OP - the simple fact is that the gap between certain neighboring schools in FCPS has become so large that the prospect of boundary changes is essentially off the table.

West Springfield - Lewis - not going to happen. Langley - Herndon - not going to happen. Woodson - Annandale - not going to happen.

And then you have West Potomac and Mount Vernon - it could have happened. A boundary change made perfect sense. Extra space at Mount Vernon and too many students at West Potomac. Both schools have a pretty high F/R lunch rate, but West Potomac's is a bit lower and it has a better reputation (and AP courses). If they didn't change those boundaries, you better believe they are never going to make those other changes.

Up until 2000, maybe 2005, you could probably have made any of those changes. Parents would have grumbled but would have sucked it up and moved on. Now it would implode parents' minds.

Let it implode parents’ minds! No one should feel entitled to attend a particular school. The School Board wastes taxpayer money by adding on to “good” schools while other schools have plenty of space. They promote “equity” but have no actual intention of doing anything to resolve the situation or upset the status quo. They just want to keep their Board seat and maybe move up to higher office. Meanwhile our taxes continue to increase while many of our schools stagnate or decline.

If you pay premium to live in jurisdiction for particular school, you should feel entitlement.

If the border change to problem school housing value go down.

But conversely wouldn’t housing values go up in some areas if less poverty was concentrated in those schools?

But the amount wouldn’t be equal. The drop in one house and rise in another wouldn’t be equal partly because the surrounding areas don’t offer the same type of benefit/amenities.

The areas where you’re claiming values would drop if there was a change in school assignment would still have other amenities, and the areas that would have better amenities (i.e., schools) would see an increase in values.

Do you really think that people who paid a premium price to live in a "good" school district would accept a boundary adjustment without taking some other action?

They’d huff and puff and some would even move, but then they’d get over it. We should not change boundaries just to transfer wealth among families but neither should we avoid changing boundaries just because some rich people might make a stink.

Maybe, just maybe, the SB should ask themselves why people are not sending their kids to the struggling schools. Why do you think boundary adjustments would change that?

One big reason is that it’s an open secret which schools get treated by the School Board as pariahs.

It's an open secret that some schools offer terrible outcomes. Pariah or not, no one avoids McLean because Tholen prefers Langley because McLean is still a good school. The same can't be said for Lewis or Mt Vernon

Pretty horrible statement. Some schools, such as Mount Vernon and Lewis, have a much bigger challenge than McLean or Langley. The students are not starting from the same place. The school and teachers are not bad.

And no parent with options wants to sacrifice their child's education by sending them to a school with those challenges.

And hence why it is so bad that FCPS has concentrated so much of the poverty into just a few schools. And this 'blue' county is sure full of hypocrites.

Unless you support bussing, what is the alternative? Most of the schools bordering the high poverty schools are also high poverty.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Langley 3%
Herndon 50%

These two pyramids are right next to each other.

+1
Not to mention, voters in Herndon are allowing the policies that create these poverty zones. You get what you vote for.

Ummm … Fairfax County voters have created a lot of the problem. Some place has to step in. The sh!t really hits the fan though when it comes to schooling and suddenly everyone becomes conservative. Fairfax County is a so-called sanctuary yet doesn’t have a real solution for schools.

"Voting Blue No Matter Who" is the problem. But unfortunately, many of the people complaining will never actually change the way they vote.

Can you point out to how policies in red states or counties deal with the issue? Is there less poverty? Less of an achievement gap? Less undocumented immigrants? Give examples.

I recently visited family from a very red state. Not quite Alabama, but ruby red.

Their kid goes to school in a large public school district with similar demographics to FCPS. Here are a few things I noticed that are different than FCPS;

There are multiple school districts in the county, not just one mammoth school district. This allows school districts to tailor rapidly to their unique nedds, from snow days to calendars to curriculum and enrichment.

That school district is the 2nd largest one in the suburban county, with 4 high schools.
The largest school district has only 5 high schools. A handful have 2 high schools. Most diatricts have just 1 high school.

There are no split feeders in that city. The focus is on neighborhood schools, with the approach that a smaller, local community and parents know what is best for the children of the community.

However, the special school district is a separate, joint district that includes all county and city schools. The special school district provides all in school specialists required by FAPE, and also all immersion schools for the highly disabled students, respite care for parents and a separate dedicated school for the severely emotionally disturbed kids who cannot function in a regular school. This approach ensures the most efficient use of special ed funds, and also means that FAPE needs are met equally no matter where a student attends school in that city or county.

At their kids' elementary school, the class sizes ranged from 12 for the smallest classes (kindergarten and some of the special classes) to 22 students for the "big" classes. One of their kids was talking about how their class was "huge" last year. It was 21 kids.

Because the focus is on localized control across the entire red state, each school district is able to prioritize what is important to their community. For my family's community, their district prioritizes smaller classses in elementary school.

FCPS is too big, and fails to meet the needs of many. It needs to be broken into smaller, separate districts, with one county wide special school district.

Their red state focus on localizing control of schools as much as possible, and using larger systems only when effective and necessary, is a much better approach to schools than our behemoth blue county approach.

Well, we all know that the southeast part of Fairfax County would be cast off as a district of its own, left to suffer under its burden of poverty. We know that is a dream for the wealthier sections of the county.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Langley 3%
Herndon 50%

These two pyramids are right next to each other.

+1
Not to mention, voters in Herndon are allowing the policies that create these poverty zones. You get what you vote for.

Ummm … Fairfax County voters have created a lot of the problem. Some place has to step in. The sh!t really hits the fan though when it comes to schooling and suddenly everyone becomes conservative. Fairfax County is a so-called sanctuary yet doesn’t have a real solution for schools.

"Voting Blue No Matter Who" is the problem. But unfortunately, many of the people complaining will never actually change the way they vote.

Can you point out to how policies in red states or counties deal with the issue? Is there less poverty? Less of an achievement gap? Less undocumented immigrants? Give examples.

I recently visited family from a very red state. Not quite Alabama, but ruby red.

Their kid goes to school in a large public school district with similar demographics to FCPS. Here are a few things I noticed that are different than FCPS;

There are multiple school districts in the county, not just one mammoth school district. This allows school districts to tailor rapidly to their unique nedds, from snow days to calendars to curriculum and enrichment.

That school district is the 2nd largest one in the suburban county, with 4 high schools.
The largest school district has only 5 high schools. A handful have 2 high schools. Most diatricts have just 1 high school.

There are no split feeders in that city. The focus is on neighborhood schools, with the approach that a smaller, local community and parents know what is best for the children of the community.

However, the special school district is a separate, joint district that includes all county and city schools. The special school district provides all in school specialists required by FAPE, and also all immersion schools for the highly disabled students, respite care for parents and a separate dedicated school for the severely emotionally disturbed kids who cannot function in a regular school. This approach ensures the most efficient use of special ed funds, and also means that FAPE needs are met equally no matter where a student attends school in that city or county.

At their kids' elementary school, the class sizes ranged from 12 for the smallest classes (kindergarten and some of the special classes) to 22 students for the "big" classes. One of their kids was talking about how their class was "huge" last year. It was 21 kids.

Because the focus is on localized control across the entire red state, each school district is able to prioritize what is important to their community. For my family's community, their district prioritizes smaller classses in elementary school.

FCPS is too big, and fails to meet the needs of many. It needs to be broken into smaller, separate districts, with one county wide special school district.

Their red state focus on localizing control of schools as much as possible, and using larger systems only when effective and necessary, is a much better approach to schools than our behemoth blue county approach.

I wonder why https://www.vox.com/2019/9/6/20853091/school-secession-racial-segregation-louisiana-alabama

[Anonymous]

IB is also very expensive for the district. I think a full IB diploma is an accomplishment but not common and piecemeal IB is of lesser value than AP.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Can someone explain why AP is preferred over IB?

AP is more flexible and portable. You can pick the classes you want to take a la carte, such as AB chemistry but regular honors history, or multiple AP history and English classes but no AP math. They can take 1 AP class in high school or multiple AP classes each year. This means that kids can focus on their strengths. It also provides opportunities for kids who are less proficient in English to still earn college credit in a class like AP calculus. You can jump in and out of AP classes if you move high school.

IB is a writing heavy, comprehensive program that is taken in its entirety over the 4 years of high school and is not a la cart. It is all, or nothing, which shuts out military kids who move later in high school, smart kids who struggle with with writing, and kids who are uneven in their skill sets. It is a terrible program for most of the schools that FCPS put IB into as those are mostly ESOL heavy schools where student do not have the English language proficiency to handle the heavy writing components or extra time for the service components. IB in those schools essentially shuts a large number of students out from accessing advanced curriculum or college credits in high school.

You are spreading misinformation. IB is not "all or nothing" and it begins junior year. Kids can also take individual classes - there is no requirement to enroll in the full Diploma course load if they don't want to.

The writing components should be seen as excellent benefits of taking IB classes. Do you not want your kids to read and write often? Why such disdain for writing and literacy embedded deeply into courses?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Langley 3%
Herndon 50%

These two pyramids are right next to each other.

+1
Not to mention, voters in Herndon are allowing the policies that create these poverty zones. You get what you vote for.

Ummm … Fairfax County voters have created a lot of the problem. Some place has to step in. The sh!t really hits the fan though when it comes to schooling and suddenly everyone becomes conservative. Fairfax County is a so-called sanctuary yet doesn’t have a real solution for schools.

"Voting Blue No Matter Who" is the problem. But unfortunately, many of the people complaining will never actually change the way they vote.

Can you point out to how policies in red states or counties deal with the issue? Is there less poverty? Less of an achievement gap? Less undocumented immigrants? Give examples.

I recently visited family from a very red state. Not quite Alabama, but ruby red.

Their kid goes to school in a large public school district with similar demographics to FCPS. Here are a few things I noticed that are different than FCPS;

There are multiple school districts in the county, not just one mammoth school district. This allows school districts to tailor rapidly to their unique nedds, from snow days to calendars to curriculum and enrichment.

That school district is the 2nd largest one in the suburban county, with 4 high schools.
The largest school district has only 5 high schools. A handful have 2 high schools. Most diatricts have just 1 high school.

There are no split feeders in that city. The focus is on neighborhood schools, with the approach that a smaller, local community and parents know what is best for the children of the community.

However, the special school district is a separate, joint district that includes all county and city schools. The special school district provides all in school specialists required by FAPE, and also all immersion schools for the highly disabled students, respite care for parents and a separate dedicated school for the severely emotionally disturbed kids who cannot function in a regular school. This approach ensures the most efficient use of special ed funds, and also means that FAPE needs are met equally no matter where a student attends school in that city or county.

At their kids' elementary school, the class sizes ranged from 12 for the smallest classes (kindergarten and some of the special classes) to 22 students for the "big" classes. One of their kids was talking about how their class was "huge" last year. It was 21 kids.

Because the focus is on localized control across the entire red state, each school district is able to prioritize what is important to their community. For my family's community, their district prioritizes smaller classses in elementary school.

FCPS is too big, and fails to meet the needs of many. It needs to be broken into smaller, separate districts, with one county wide special school district.

Their red state focus on localizing control of schools as much as possible, and using larger systems only when effective and necessary, is a much better approach to schools than our behemoth blue county approach.

Well, we all know that the southeast part of Fairfax County would be cast off as a district of its own, left to suffer under its burden of poverty. We know that is a dream for the wealthier sections of the county.

That part of the county would actually receive more services and funds through the county wide special school district due to the disproportionate number of esol and special needs students.

I also forgot to add that districts with high failure rates on state exams are taken over by the state. So Lewis and MV would be run at a county or state level until things are corrected.

Their red area also allows parents school choice, so they can transfer their kids out of failing schools.

There is bussing from the failing city schools to the county through an application program. I don't know how it works, but do know that they try to funnel the bussed kids into the same schools their parents might have been bussed to decades earlier, in order to maintain a "community" focus and continuity for the students. The hope is that the receiving school is their "family" school, in the way that a private school family might identify as a generational Bishop Ireton or Gonzaga family.

[Anonymous]

You are the problem. Why are you even associating public education with wealth? So only the wealthy deserve good public schools? Absolutely terrible logic and pure selfishness. And yet you'll probably find someone else to blame for all of America's problems with youth and K-12 educati

All deserve good public education. Shifting kids does not make a difference to those who are struggling.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Can someone explain why AP is preferred over IB?

AP credits are almost universally accepted by colleges, while IB credits are not.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Langley 3%
Herndon 50%

These two pyramids are right next to each other.

+1
Not to mention, voters in Herndon are allowing the policies that create these poverty zones. You get what you vote for.

Ummm … Fairfax County voters have created a lot of the problem. Some place has to step in. The sh!t really hits the fan though when it comes to schooling and suddenly everyone becomes conservative. Fairfax County is a so-called sanctuary yet doesn’t have a real solution for schools.

"Voting Blue No Matter Who" is the problem. But unfortunately, many of the people complaining will never actually change the way they vote.

Can you point out to how policies in red states or counties deal with the issue? Is there less poverty? Less of an achievement gap? Less undocumented immigrants? Give examples.

I recently visited family from a very red state. Not quite Alabama, but ruby red.

Their kid goes to school in a large public school district with similar demographics to FCPS. Here are a few things I noticed that are different than FCPS;

There are multiple school districts in the county, not just one mammoth school district. This allows school districts to tailor rapidly to their unique nedds, from snow days to calendars to curriculum and enrichment.

That school district is the 2nd largest one in the suburban county, with 4 high schools.
The largest school district has only 5 high schools. A handful have 2 high schools. Most diatricts have just 1 high school.

There are no split feeders in that city. The focus is on neighborhood schools, with the approach that a smaller, local community and parents know what is best for the children of the community.

However, the special school district is a separate, joint district that includes all county and city schools. The special school district provides all in school specialists required by FAPE, and also all immersion schools for the highly disabled students, respite care for parents and a separate dedicated school for the severely emotionally disturbed kids who cannot function in a regular school. This approach ensures the most efficient use of special ed funds, and also means that FAPE needs are met equally no matter where a student attends school in that city or county.

At their kids' elementary school, the class sizes ranged from 12 for the smallest classes (kindergarten and some of the special classes) to 22 students for the "big" classes. One of their kids was talking about how their class was "huge" last year. It was 21 kids.

Because the focus is on localized control across the entire red state, each school district is able to prioritize what is important to their community. For my family's community, their district prioritizes smaller classses in elementary school.

FCPS is too big, and fails to meet the needs of many. It needs to be broken into smaller, separate districts, with one county wide special school district.

Their red state focus on localizing control of schools as much as possible, and using larger systems only when effective and necessary, is a much better approach to schools than our behemoth blue county approach.

Well, we all know that the southeast part of Fairfax County would be cast off as a district of its own, left to suffer under its burden of poverty. We know that is a dream for the wealthier sections of the county.

That part of the county would actually receive more services and funds through the county wide special school district due to the disproportionate number of esol and special needs students.

I also forgot to add that districts with high failure rates on state exams are taken over by the state. So Lewis and MV would be run at a county or state level until things are corrected.

Their red area also allows parents school choice, so they can transfer their kids out of failing schools.

There is bussing from the failing city schools to the county through an application program. I don't know how it works, but do know that they try to funnel the bussed kids into the same schools their parents might have been bussed to decades earlier, in order to maintain a "community" focus and continuity for the students. The hope is that the receiving school is their "family" school, in the way that a private school family might identify as a generational Bishop Ireton or Gonzaga family.

So you cleave off the wealthy schools and then allow school choice. Better make sure you do the former before the latter or rich schools might get some poor students

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Langley 3%
Herndon 50%

These two pyramids are right next to each other.

+1
Not to mention, voters in Herndon are allowing the policies that create these poverty zones. You get what you vote for.

Ummm … Fairfax County voters have created a lot of the problem. Some place has to step in. The sh!t really hits the fan though when it comes to schooling and suddenly everyone becomes conservative. Fairfax County is a so-called sanctuary yet doesn’t have a real solution for schools.

"Voting Blue No Matter Who" is the problem. But unfortunately, many of the people complaining will never actually change the way they vote.

Can you point out to how policies in red states or counties deal with the issue? Is there less poverty? Less of an achievement gap? Less undocumented immigrants? Give examples.

I recently visited family from a very red state. Not quite Alabama, but ruby red.

Their kid goes to school in a large public school district with similar demographics to FCPS. Here are a few things I noticed that are different than FCPS;

There are multiple school districts in the county, not just one mammoth school district. This allows school districts to tailor rapidly to their unique nedds, from snow days to calendars to curriculum and enrichment.

That school district is the 2nd largest one in the suburban county, with 4 high schools.
The largest school district has only 5 high schools. A handful have 2 high schools. Most diatricts have just 1 high school.

There are no split feeders in that city. The focus is on neighborhood schools, with the approach that a smaller, local community and parents know what is best for the children of the community.

However, the special school district is a separate, joint district that includes all county and city schools. The special school district provides all in school specialists required by FAPE, and also all immersion schools for the highly disabled students, respite care for parents and a separate dedicated school for the severely emotionally disturbed kids who cannot function in a regular school. This approach ensures the most efficient use of special ed funds, and also means that FAPE needs are met equally no matter where a student attends school in that city or county.

At their kids' elementary school, the class sizes ranged from 12 for the smallest classes (kindergarten and some of the special classes) to 22 students for the "big" classes. One of their kids was talking about how their class was "huge" last year. It was 21 kids.

Because the focus is on localized control across the entire red state, each school district is able to prioritize what is important to their community. For my family's community, their district prioritizes smaller classses in elementary school.

FCPS is too big, and fails to meet the needs of many. It needs to be broken into smaller, separate districts, with one county wide special school district.

Their red state focus on localizing control of schools as much as possible, and using larger systems only when effective and necessary, is a much better approach to schools than our behemoth blue county approach.

Well, we all know that the southeast part of Fairfax County would be cast off as a district of its own, left to suffer under its burden of poverty. We know that is a dream for the wealthier sections of the county.

That part of the county would actually receive more services and funds through the county wide special school district due to the disproportionate number of esol and special needs students.

I also forgot to add that districts with high failure rates on state exams are taken over by the state. So Lewis and MV would be run at a county or state level until things are corrected.

Their red area also allows parents school choice, so they can transfer their kids out of failing schools.

There is bussing from the failing city schools to the county through an application program. I don't know how it works, but do know that they try to funnel the bussed kids into the same schools their parents might have been bussed to decades earlier, in order to maintain a "community" focus and continuity for the students. The hope is that the receiving school is their "family" school, in the way that a private school family might identify as a generational Bishop Ireton or Gonzaga family.

Since we're talking about red states, I'll go ahead and assumer that there is just enough paperwork combined with hard deadlines that the wrong kids are never able to take advantage of it