Powerful Letter to the Arlington County School Board about Diversity

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you agree with his op ed, sign Matthew Herrity's petition.

https://www.change.org/p/arlington-county-school-board-arlington-public-schools-integration

Why should anyone sign a petition that has factual errors, such as asserting Madison HS is "inside the Beltway" or that Yorktown is the third least diverse school "inside the Beltway"?

The kid needs to fix all the sloppy errors, resubmit his paper for a better grade, and then see if anyone else wants to sign a petition. Egging him on right now isn't a good idea and just makes the W-L community look ignorant.

you are just a bitter, disgusting human being.

Well, aren't you polite?

The premise of the (sloppy) letter, as I understood it was that a W-L student was chiding the board for not making sure Yorktown and Wakefield were not just like W-L.

I'm tired of people from W-L holding their school out as some type of ideal environment. It's not all that, and quite frankly the people I've met from both Yorktown and Wakefield were far nicer.

As someone who makes her living as an editor, I can assure you that the "sloppy" letter written by this high school student is orders of magnitude better than what I frequently see written by highly educated adults. Why don't you post an analysis you've written so we can compare? Topic of your choice. We'll wait.

Perhaps you can write a kick-ass letter of recommendation (assuming you're not the boy's parent). LOL.

No, not his parent. My own terrific writer writes for his college paper.

Sorry, hit post too soon. Meant to add:

This letter speaks for itself. The author wouldn't need my recommendation.

I'll say it again: Not very many adults can write this well. Either PP didn't actually read it or she doesn't know what good writing looks like.

Good writers don't keep repeating themselves, and they don't misrepresent facts just to score rhetorical points.

Neither you nor the author of the petition is a very good writer.

I'll tell that to my publisher.

Not impressed in the slightest. I received a foundation grant and was published in my 20s. Big deal.

I'm guessing you don't have high schoolers, LOL. Get back to us when your kids are old enough to write term papers.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My biggest problem with this letter is that "free and reduced lunch" percentage is constantly used as a shorthand / substitute for racial diversity. Free and reduced lunch and racial diversity aren't the same. Yorktown High school might only have 14% FARL, but the minority population is 35%, just to give one example. Doing this makes these schools look less diverse than they really are.

If we're talking about a diversity of experiences, considering economic diversity makes sense. Not that race is immaterial, but the child of a doctor and a lawyer who were born in the US is going to have a difference perspective on a lot of things than the child of a day laborer and a housekeeper, even if both kids are nonwhite.

This is exactly correct.

But more to the point, my understanding is that the school board felt that, by law, they could not use race as a factor in their deliberations. (Not that it matters; they clearly didn't use F/RL as a factor either.)

Or, you know, it was really outside of the scope of this boundary adjustment and the fuller discussion will happen when there's a fourth high school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My biggest problem with this letter is that "free and reduced lunch" percentage is constantly used as a shorthand / substitute for racial diversity. Free and reduced lunch and racial diversity aren't the same. Yorktown High school might only have 14% FARL, but the minority population is 35%, just to give one example. Doing this makes these schools look less diverse than they really are.

If we're talking about a diversity of experiences, considering economic diversity makes sense. Not that race is immaterial, but the child of a doctor and a lawyer who were born in the US is going to have a difference perspective on a lot of things than the child of a day laborer and a housekeeper, even if both kids are nonwhite.

This is exactly correct.

But more to the point, my understanding is that the school board felt that, by law, they could not use race as a factor in their deliberations. (Not that it matters; they clearly didn't use F/RL as a factor either.)

The SB didn't need to use race as a factor, this is a cop out on their part. There are neighborhoods that are going to be on a bus to any of the three high schools. They could have been more strategic about which high school those neighborhoods could have been rezoned to, and that is not lawsuit worthy. Some neighborhoods should not have been on the table from the beginning, given the historic reasons that they were placed in certain boundaries, again, not lawsuit worthy. Finally, they had an option, even at the end, that took into account all of the criteria and that was not unreasonable or even close to "forced busing" but that would have resulted in a marginally more fair outcome. And they didn't chose that one either. School Board, we heard you loud and clear. Honey Badger don't give a sh**.

PP--oh, I totally agree with you. I was just explaining why the student focused on F/RL. Those were the statistics used in APS's supporting documents during this process.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My biggest problem with this letter is that "free and reduced lunch" percentage is constantly used as a shorthand / substitute for racial diversity. Free and reduced lunch and racial diversity aren't the same. Yorktown High school might only have 14% FARL, but the minority population is 35%, just to give one example. Doing this makes these schools look less diverse than they really are.

If we're talking about a diversity of experiences, considering economic diversity makes sense. Not that race is immaterial, but the child of a doctor and a lawyer who were born in the US is going to have a difference perspective on a lot of things than the child of a day laborer and a housekeeper, even if both kids are nonwhite.

This is exactly correct.

But more to the point, my understanding is that the school board felt that, by law, they could not use race as a factor in their deliberations. (Not that it matters; they clearly didn't use F/RL as a factor either.)

Or, you know, it was really outside of the scope of this boundary adjustment and the fuller discussion will happen when there's a fourth high school.

This school board has no intention of building a fourth comprehensive high school.

But even if they did intend to build another comprehensive high school--just because there might be an opportunity for a fuller discussion in the future doesn't mean they shouldn't give this issue ANY attention now. This is another type of deflection from the issue.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
Or, you know, it was really outside of the scope of this boundary adjustment and the fuller discussion will happen when there's a fourth high school.

Right, because the populations can shift suddenly and dramatically so there's no point in worrying about FRL stats at all right now, but we can absolutely count on fixing the problem that is not a problem at some point in the future, based on projections and plans based on nothing, and we can be confident because everything has gone so well up 'til now.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
PP--oh, I totally agree with you. I was just explaining why the student focused on F/RL. Those were the statistics used in APS's supporting documents during this process.

And by "used" we mean ignored, right?

[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:If you agree with his op ed, sign Matthew Herrity's petition.

https://www.change.org/p/arlington-county-school-board-arlington-public-schools-integration

Why should anyone sign a petition that has factual errors, such as asserting Madison HS is "inside the Beltway" or that Yorktown is the third least diverse school "inside the Beltway"?

The kid needs to fix all the sloppy errors, resubmit his paper for a better grade, and then see if anyone else wants to sign a petition. Egging him on right now isn't a good idea and just makes the W-L community look ignorant.

you are just a bitter, disgusting human being.

Well, aren't you polite?

The premise of the (sloppy) letter, as I understood it was that a W-L student was chiding the board for not making sure Yorktown and Wakefield were not just like W-L.

I'm tired of people from W-L holding their school out as some type of ideal environment. It's not all that, and quite frankly the people I've met from both Yorktown and Wakefield were far nicer.

As someone who makes her living as an editor, I can assure you that the "sloppy" letter written by this high school student is orders of magnitude better than what I frequently see written by highly educated adults. Why don't you post an analysis you've written so we can compare? Topic of your choice. We'll wait.

Perhaps you can write a kick-ass letter of recommendation (assuming you're not the boy's parent). LOL.

No, not his parent. My own terrific writer writes for his college paper.

Sorry, hit post too soon. Meant to add:

This letter speaks for itself. The author wouldn't need my recommendation.

I'll say it again: Not very many adults can write this well. Either PP didn't actually read it or she doesn't know what good writing looks like.

Good writers don't keep repeating themselves, and they don't misrepresent facts just to score rhetorical points.

Neither you nor the author of the petition is a very good writer.

I'll tell that to my publisher.

Not impressed in the slightest. I received a foundation grant and was published in my 20s. Big deal.

Np- and you can't comprehend a clearly articulated high school letter? Lord, they'll give anyone a grant won't they!

I understood it very well for what it was, despite its numerous factual and grammatical errors: an effort by a W-L student to present his own school as a model that every other school in the county should be forced to replicate, despite the inconvenience to others. When he decided to take it public, egged on by some snooty parents who think they should be making the decisions entrusted to an elected school board, it was fair game for criticism.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
PP--oh, I totally agree with you. I was just explaining why the student focused on F/RL. Those were the statistics used in APS's supporting documents during this process.

And by "used" we mean ignored, right?

Yes, in the sentence above "used" means "printed in APS's supporting documents" as opposed to race statistics, which were not printed in the documents. It seems patently obvious that the printed information in question was not "used" in any materially way.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
I understood it very well for what it was, despite its numerous factual and grammatical errors: an effort by a W-L student to present his own school as a model that every other school in the county should be forced to replicate, despite the inconvenience to others. When he decided to take it public, egged on by some snooty parents who think they should be making the decisions entrusted to an elected school board, it was fair game for criticism.

How is an editorial in a high school newspaper "taking it public"? What *is* an acceptable topic for an editorial?

[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:If you agree with his op ed, sign Matthew Herrity's petition.

https://www.change.org/p/arlington-county-school-board-arlington-public-schools-integration

Why should anyone sign a petition that has factual errors, such as asserting Madison HS is "inside the Beltway" or that Yorktown is the third least diverse school "inside the Beltway"?

The kid needs to fix all the sloppy errors, resubmit his paper for a better grade, and then see if anyone else wants to sign a petition. Egging him on right now isn't a good idea and just makes the W-L community look ignorant.

you are just a bitter, disgusting human being.

Well, aren't you polite?

The premise of the (sloppy) letter, as I understood it was that a W-L student was chiding the board for not making sure Yorktown and Wakefield were not just like W-L.

I'm tired of people from W-L holding their school out as some type of ideal environment. It's not all that, and quite frankly the people I've met from both Yorktown and Wakefield were far nicer.

As someone who makes her living as an editor, I can assure you that the "sloppy" letter written by this high school student is orders of magnitude better than what I frequently see written by highly educated adults. Why don't you post an analysis you've written so we can compare? Topic of your choice. We'll wait.

Perhaps you can write a kick-ass letter of recommendation (assuming you're not the boy's parent). LOL.

No, not his parent. My own terrific writer writes for his college paper.

Sorry, hit post too soon. Meant to add:

This letter speaks for itself. The author wouldn't need my recommendation.

I'll say it again: Not very many adults can write this well. Either PP didn't actually read it or she doesn't know what good writing looks like.

Good writers don't keep repeating themselves, and they don't misrepresent facts just to score rhetorical points.

Neither you nor the author of the petition is a very good writer.

I'll tell that to my publisher.

Not impressed in the slightest. I received a foundation grant and was published in my 20s. Big deal.

Np- and you can't comprehend a clearly articulated high school letter? Lord, they'll give anyone a grant won't they!

I understood it very well for what it was, despite its numerous factual and grammatical errors: an effort by a W-L student to present his own school as a model that every other school in the county should be forced to replicate, despite the inconvenience to others. When he decided to take it public, egged on by some snooty parents who think they should be making the decisions entrusted to an elected school board, it was fair game for criticism.

Again, you are making it very clear that you don't know much about teenagers. One of my teens, like the author of the piece in question, is very active/aware politically and has written numerous letters and emails to elected officials (county, state, and federal), visited the offices of elected officials several times (county), and written letters to the editor of the WaPo or ArlNow on a number of different topics that are important to him. He has also shown up to speak at county meetings. You take it as a given that this teen must have been egged on by parents/adults, but those of us with politically aware teens know that often the parents are the ones saying, "Well, maybe you should tone down this paragraph," LOL. My DS is far more politically active/aware than DH and I are. He doesn't get it from us. (Our other teen has different interests, and would be loathe to make a speech to the county board or school board.)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
I understood it very well for what it was, despite its numerous factual and grammatical errors: an effort by a W-L student to present his own school as a model that every other school in the county should be forced to replicate, despite the inconvenience to others. When he decided to take it public, egged on by some snooty parents who think they should be making the decisions entrusted to an elected school board, it was fair game for criticism.

How is an editorial in a high school newspaper "taking it public"? What *is* an acceptable topic for an editorial?

It was published with minor edits as a petition on a public web site. Try to keep up.

[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:If you agree with his op ed, sign Matthew Herrity's petition.

https://www.change.org/p/arlington-county-school-board-arlington-public-schools-integration

Why should anyone sign a petition that has factual errors, such as asserting Madison HS is "inside the Beltway" or that Yorktown is the third least diverse school "inside the Beltway"?

The kid needs to fix all the sloppy errors, resubmit his paper for a better grade, and then see if anyone else wants to sign a petition. Egging him on right now isn't a good idea and just makes the W-L community look ignorant.

you are just a bitter, disgusting human being.

Well, aren't you polite?

The premise of the (sloppy) letter, as I understood it was that a W-L student was chiding the board for not making sure Yorktown and Wakefield were not just like W-L.

I'm tired of people from W-L holding their school out as some type of ideal environment. It's not all that, and quite frankly the people I've met from both Yorktown and Wakefield were far nicer.

As someone who makes her living as an editor, I can assure you that the "sloppy" letter written by this high school student is orders of magnitude better than what I frequently see written by highly educated adults. Why don't you post an analysis you've written so we can compare? Topic of your choice. We'll wait.

Perhaps you can write a kick-ass letter of recommendation (assuming you're not the boy's parent). LOL.

No, not his parent. My own terrific writer writes for his college paper.

Sorry, hit post too soon. Meant to add:

This letter speaks for itself. The author wouldn't need my recommendation.

I'll say it again: Not very many adults can write this well. Either PP didn't actually read it or she doesn't know what good writing looks like.

Good writers don't keep repeating themselves, and they don't misrepresent facts just to score rhetorical points.

Neither you nor the author of the petition is a very good writer.

I'll tell that to my publisher.

Not impressed in the slightest. I received a foundation grant and was published in my 20s. Big deal.

Np- and you can't comprehend a clearly articulated high school letter? Lord, they'll give anyone a grant won't they!

I understood it very well for what it was, despite its numerous factual and grammatical errors: an effort by a W-L student to present his own school as a model that every other school in the county should be forced to replicate, despite the inconvenience to others. When he decided to take it public, egged on by some snooty parents who think they should be making the decisions entrusted to an elected school board, it was fair game for criticism.

Again, you are making it very clear that you don't know much about teenagers. One of my teens, like the author of the piece in question, is very active/aware politically and has written numerous letters and emails to elected officials (county, state, and federal), visited the offices of elected officials several times (county), and written letters to the editor of the WaPo or ArlNow on a number of different topics that are important to him. He has also shown up to speak at county meetings. You take it as a given that this teen must have been egged on by parents/adults, but those of us with politically aware teens know that often the parents are the ones saying, "Well, maybe you should tone down this paragraph," LOL. My DS is far more politically active/aware than DH and I are. He doesn't get it from us. (Our other teen has different interests, and would be loathe to make a speech to the county board or school board.)

Yes, for someone who claims to be interested in the issue of topic of high school boundaries, PP doesn't seem to know or or even like teenagers very well. Apparently, she thinks they should be seen but not heard?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
I understood it very well for what it was, despite its numerous factual and grammatical errors: an effort by a W-L student to present his own school as a model that every other school in the county should be forced to replicate, despite the inconvenience to others. When he decided to take it public, egged on by some snooty parents who think they should be making the decisions entrusted to an elected school board, it was fair game for criticism.

How is an editorial in a high school newspaper "taking it public"? What *is* an acceptable topic for an editorial?

It was published with minor edits as a petition on a public web site. Try to keep up.

Are you this tiresome in real life?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
I understood it very well for what it was, despite its numerous factual and grammatical errors: an effort by a W-L student to present his own school as a model that every other school in the county should be forced to replicate, despite the inconvenience to others. When he decided to take it public, egged on by some snooty parents who think they should be making the decisions entrusted to an elected school board, it was fair game for criticism.

How is an editorial in a high school newspaper "taking it public"? What *is* an acceptable topic for an editorial?

It was published with minor edits as a petition on a public web site. Try to keep up.

Are you this tiresome in real life?

Are you this argumentative?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

It was published with minor edits as a petition on a public web site. Try to keep up.

Are you this tiresome in real life?

I think we know the answer to that, yes?

It looks as though the open letter went up around 5 pm on December 7. On December 8, ArlNow included it in its Morning Notes, where it generated a lot of discussion, and around 10 pm on the 8th, the petition went up. To me, that's not grandstanding. That's someone following up on the interest his opinion piece generated.