PTA wealth redistribution article in Arlnow

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Sounds great. Part of the firm belief in equity — not just equality of opportunity — that so many in Arlington have.

That ... isn't what equity means.

Sure it is. Equity in this context means trying to get equal funding. Getting people at the same starting point. Is it easy? Heck no. The privileged rich white kids from the great white north have unequal advantages.

But your “in this context” is an artificial construct and you are not making arguments in good faith. So why don’t you sit the rest of this one out?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think PTAs (and maybe pandemic money if there was any left) should pay for programs like this for any kid who is performing below grade level:
https://www.aspireafterschool.org/

Aspire is a great program-- I donate to it regularly. But why should the PTAs fund it? If you want to donate to Aspire, then just donate to Aspire. No need to use the PTAs as the middle men.

If PTAs are looking to help the community without wasting money on CCPTA, Aspire is a good option

With what APS spends per student - it is a shame that programs like this are needed. APS is a failure and the School Board should resign along with all of the reading specialists.

The SB and reading specialists are not going to commit harakiri because students aren't able to read.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think PTAs (and maybe pandemic money if there was any left) should pay for programs like this for any kid who is performing below grade level:
https://www.aspireafterschool.org/

Aspire is a great program-- I donate to it regularly. But why should the PTAs fund it? If you want to donate to Aspire, then just donate to Aspire. No need to use the PTAs as the middle men.

Anybody or PTA donating to Aspire should do some research on it. With only 68/100 on Charity Navigator - and 13/25 for program expense. Guidestar shows Bronze - definitely do your homework on this one.

[Anonymous]

Uggg.... https://www.charitynavigator.org/ein/541705642

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think PTAs (and maybe pandemic money if there was any left) should pay for programs like this for any kid who is performing below grade level:
https://www.aspireafterschool.org/

Aspire is a great program-- I donate to it regularly. But why should the PTAs fund it? If you want to donate to Aspire, then just donate to Aspire. No need to use the PTAs as the middle men.

Anybody or PTA donating to Aspire should do some research on it. With only 68/100 on Charity Navigator - and 13/25 for program expense. Guidestar shows Bronze - definitely do your homework on this one.

Aspire After School sounds like another Trump Foundation. Careful ladies.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Sounds great. Part of the firm belief in equity — not just equality of opportunity — that so many in Arlington have.

That ... isn't what equity means.

Sure it is. Equity in this context means trying to get equal funding. Getting people at the same starting point. Is it easy? Heck no. The privileged rich white kids from the great white north have unequal advantages.

But your “in this context” is an artificial construct and you are not making arguments in good faith. So why don’t you sit the rest of this one out?

Not sure if you know what “artificial construct” means. The context here is school funding and resources across the county. I’m deeply skeptical that the privileged folks in this county (who are mostly white) have a strong interest in equalizing funding and resources. Their interest, above all ends it seems to me, is preserving the status quo — i.e., their place on top of the socioeconomic pyramid.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Back in the day, Jamestown had a "sister school" relationship with Hoffman-Boston, where JES would host H-B kids for special events, like author visits and some field trips. The JES PTA also had a line-item in the budget to help support H-B, where money would be donated from one PTA to the other to help with whatever the H-B Principal would tell the JES Principal was needed (ie: school supplies). Also, during the Jamestown Book Fairs, there was an opportunity for parents to buy books for the H-B teachers and library, and JES parents were very generous.

At some point a new Principal came to Hoffman-Boston and they told the JES Principal that they wanted the "charity" from Jamestown to end, so it did. Some JES parents found other ways to continue to contribute to H-B, but getting the kids together from schools at the opposite ends of the County was a good thing and I'm sorry it ended.

Reading through some of these comments, I can't believe the selfishness of some of you. The Jamestown PTA regularly has over $100,000 in income each year. You really are not willing to share a few thousand of that with a fellow Arlington school that has much less?

This right here is a N Arl parent mindset. The worst part is the I know this poster is all smug and braggy about this like it was some amazing program and obviously the savior of those poor kids.

The Principal was right to cut this off. It’s a terrible program. “Here poor kids we are so rich and better we will share some stuff with you BUT NO WAY could we ever change boundaries at any school ever at any time so that more of you might actually attend any school in N Arl. We have to protect our children’s learning and house values bc we work hard at the right jobs and your dumb parents haven’t figured that out yet so sucks to be you. And besides you poor kids are needed so that we can let our snowflakes have “charitable” and “ community service” opportunities. We love our poors!”

How would you draw a boundary that would include both Jamestown and Hoffman-Boston?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think PTAs (and maybe pandemic money if there was any left) should pay for programs like this for any kid who is performing below grade level:
https://www.aspireafterschool.org/

Aspire is a great program-- I donate to it regularly. But why should the PTAs fund it? If you want to donate to Aspire, then just donate to Aspire. No need to use the PTAs as the middle men.

Anybody or PTA donating to Aspire should do some research on it. With only 68/100 on Charity Navigator - and 13/25 for program expense. Guidestar shows Bronze - definitely do your homework on this one.

I’d have to see the detailed financial info.

If they are using a large number of volunteers (or get tutors via Americorp) then the service % may skew low.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think PTAs (and maybe pandemic money if there was any left) should pay for programs like this for any kid who is performing below grade level:
https://www.aspireafterschool.org/

Aspire is a great program-- I donate to it regularly. But why should the PTAs fund it? If you want to donate to Aspire, then just donate to Aspire. No need to use the PTAs as the middle men.

Anybody or PTA donating to Aspire should do some research on it. With only 68/100 on Charity Navigator - and 13/25 for program expense. Guidestar shows Bronze - definitely do your homework on this one.

I’d have to see the detailed financial info.

If they are using a large number of volunteers (or get tutors via Americorp) then the service % may skew low.

18 board members? Seems like Aspire is being used mostly for resume padding. And they just got woke last year adding diversity to the board?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Back in the day, Jamestown had a "sister school" relationship with Hoffman-Boston, where JES would host H-B kids for special events, like author visits and some field trips. The JES PTA also had a line-item in the budget to help support H-B, where money would be donated from one PTA to the other to help with whatever the H-B Principal would tell the JES Principal was needed (ie: school supplies). Also, during the Jamestown Book Fairs, there was an opportunity for parents to buy books for the H-B teachers and library, and JES parents were very generous.

At some point a new Principal came to Hoffman-Boston and they told the JES Principal that they wanted the "charity" from Jamestown to end, so it did. Some JES parents found other ways to continue to contribute to H-B, but getting the kids together from schools at the opposite ends of the County was a good thing and I'm sorry it ended.

Reading through some of these comments, I can't believe the selfishness of some of you. The Jamestown PTA regularly has over $100,000 in income each year. You really are not willing to share a few thousand of that with a fellow Arlington school that has much less?

This right here is a N Arl parent mindset. The worst part is the I know this poster is all smug and braggy about this like it was some amazing program and obviously the savior of those poor kids.

The Principal was right to cut this off. It’s a terrible program. “Here poor kids we are so rich and better we will share some stuff with you BUT NO WAY could we ever change boundaries at any school ever at any time so that more of you might actually attend any school in N Arl. We have to protect our children’s learning and house values bc we work hard at the right jobs and your dumb parents haven’t figured that out yet so sucks to be you. And besides you poor kids are needed so that we can let our snowflakes have “charitable” and “ community service” opportunities. We love our poors!”

Seems like attending school with such people and seeing their parents at PTA meetings would be much more unbearable than just accepting some gitfs/money and not having to deal with them constantly.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Nah, won’t happen. People can donate to any school. There’s nothing stopping anyone from writing a check to Randolph or Carlin Springs. If people really cared they would already be doing it.

Bingo. This will get lots of lip service, but no real $$ traction.

Yup. The only thing this misguided Robin Hood effort will do is ensure that no PTAs receive parent donations. Parents want the money they donate to go toward supporting their child's school. What's so difficult to understand? If I was told that legally, half of the money I don't to my child's school will be sent to some other school, I'd stop donating. I'd switch to giving in-kind stuff to my children's teachers. If a struggling school wants to do a fundraiser, or my school's PTA votes to adopt a Title 1 school or something, fine, I'll give. But don't ship my money off somewhere I didn't intend without my ok.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Nah, won’t happen. People can donate to any school. There’s nothing stopping anyone from writing a check to Randolph or Carlin Springs. If people really cared they would already be doing it.

Bingo. This will get lots of lip service, but no real $$ traction.

Yup. The only thing this misguided Robin Hood effort will do is ensure that no PTAs receive parent donations. Parents want the money they donate to go toward supporting their child's school. What's so difficult to understand? If I was told that legally, half of the money I don't to my child's school will be sent to some other school, I'd stop donating. I'd switch to giving in-kind stuff to my children's teachers. If a struggling school wants to do a fundraiser, or my school's PTA votes to adopt a Title 1 school or something, fine, I'll give. But don't ship my money off somewhere I didn't intend without my ok.

If the board actually though inequity was a problem, they could bar schools from accepting donations of any kind and raise school funding to a level that would replace PTA funds, but equally across schools. They don't actually care though, they just know they have to say they do

[Anonymous]

What is the issue? APS is eliminating opportunity gaps and providing equitable access (even equitable access) :

https://www.apsva.us/arlington-public-schools-overview/

Equity: Eliminate opportunity gaps and achieve excellence by providing access to schools, resources, and learning opportunities according to each student’s unique needs.

https://www.apsva.us/instruction/

Our Mission: To ignite a passion for learning with equitable access and multiple pathways where learners connect, create, and innovate

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What is the issue? APS is eliminating opportunity gaps and providing equitable access (even equitable access) :

https://www.apsva.us/arlington-public-schools-overview/

Equity: Eliminate opportunity gaps and achieve excellence by providing access to schools, resources, and learning opportunities according to each student’s unique needs.

https://www.apsva.us/instruction/

Our Mission: To ignite a passion for learning with equitable access and multiple pathways [b]where learners connect, create, and innovate[/b]

Here's the issue. They'll do anything but allow the children to "connect" with others at another school different from them. "Separate but equitable" isn't anything different from "separate but equal."

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What is the issue? APS is eliminating opportunity gaps and providing equitable access (even equitable access) :

https://www.apsva.us/arlington-public-schools-overview/

Equity: Eliminate opportunity gaps and achieve excellence by providing access to schools, resources, and learning opportunities according to each student’s unique needs.

https://www.apsva.us/instruction/

Our Mission: To ignite a passion for learning with equitable access and multiple pathways [b]where learners connect, create, and innovate[/b]

Here's the issue. They'll do anything but allow the children to "connect" with others at another school different from them. "Separate but equitable" isn't anything different from "separate but equal."

No one is being separated by race or gender. The fact is, some areas have a high cost of living, and others less so. People live where they can afford.

I’d love a huge home in Georgetown, but can’t afford it. Are you saying that I should be entitled to housing there (as well as a fancy luxury car and funds for private school)?