APS middle school boundary process
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Anonymous
It's called democracy. Having "morally- superior" political leaders jam something down the throats of people who don't want it is often called fascism. |
Anonymous
Sure. Wanting equitable schools with balanced demographics is facist. Cool. You guys are wonderful. Arlington is truly a very special place. |
Anonymous
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I don't have a dog in the fight (my child is a transfer from North Arlington to Kenmore), but I would encourage everyone to listen to the school board remarks that are available on-line from the meeting. https://www.apsva.us/post/school-board-meeting-december-14-2017/
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Anonymous
I live in Rosslyn. Middle school kids in our neighborhood are currently zoned to Williamsburg, which is a best case scenario 15 minute drive from my house. Traffic can easily make it more like 25-30 minutes away. I am happy to see that we are getting switched to the much closer Stratford site. When you talk about busing kids around, you are dealing with real families and real schedules and real inconveniences. |
Anonymous
I’d say you’re an expert with the straw man, but you could really use some fine tuning. |
Anonymous
Which in particular? I agree that busing kids hither, tither, and yon is complicated, and may not be what EVERY family wants. But again, that is not a universal truth. I know many parents who send their children outside of our neighborhood school willingly to a further away school for immersion. These are lower-income families and they don't prioritize proximity above what THEY believe to be the best fit for their child academically. Many parents are willing to sacrifice convenience if they believe it is in their child's best interest. This is true for parents of all income levels. I suspect, but can't say for sure, they would not like to be "forced" to the school they currently choose, but nothing tells me they don't prefer to have options. Further, when we're talking about PU's on the edges/borders that could go either way, I think it's fair to make the decisions based on multiple criteria and not just proximity. Our housing patterns are lopsided thanks to zoning, and I don't think we should have to accept lopsided school enrollment because of this. If we do, it will ALWAYS be the wealthiest neighborhoods with the most restrictive zoning that have schools that remain at or under capacity, and the poorest that are overcrowded. That's terrible policy. Frankly, I would've liked to see better balanced enrollment (capacity, not just demographics), so that transfers to ALL programs remain an option. And I'd like to see some policies put in place that make the option programs more accessible. Meaning, locate them centrally and/or in communities that have a more difficult time with transportation. Also, put the programs that appeal to higher income families in schools that could benefit from greater parental resources. I hope they have a good plan for a program at Williamsburg that will pull students from all demographics and from all of the schools that will be left overcrowded after this boundary change. Ultimately, we need more inclusive communities. But if we're waiting for the County Board to fix the mess that racial segregation and restrictive zoning have left us, we're going to be waiting a long time. That leaves a lot of kids that are going to cycle through the school system during the interim, a system where low-income kids are tracked by school rather than by classroom. I hope the 1:1 initiative and "personalized learning" do all that the people in charge think it can (I don't think it's a magic bullet), because otherwise we've just set the clock back on closing the achievement gap. |
Anonymous
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Swanson will still bus kids from Buckingham that could walk to Jefferson? How will these parents get to after school activities, parent teacher conferences...?
It looks like the Buckingham "Peninsula" will still provide the faux-diversity cover that Swanson and Westover families have grown accustomed to. |
Anonymous
I agree with this. Thank you. Lots of bending around all sorts of arguments to distract from this point. What are we doing about the achievement gap? Well, not much. |
Anonymous
No one cares what you think. Especially since you are so off-base. |
Anonymous
Ok. So STFU and move. |
Anonymous
No. Totally on target. I take no joy from that believe me. Arlington as a community has really lost its way. Very disheartening. |
Anonymous
Lost its way? Sounds like "Make America Great Again". News flash - the Arlington you dream about never existed. |
Anonymous
You are correct. Arlington redlined black residents out of north Arlington neighborhoods, and walled a section of town north of 50. Perhaps it was never the community I thought it was. |
Anonymous
Listen to Talento and Lander's comments. They both make the point, which frankly had been somewhat lost on this white umc woman before, that for many economically-disadvantaged families, it's extremely challenging to get around the county -- public transit options are weak - and moving PUs (like the Williamsburg island) end up isolating those families from the school. Parents who can't get to evening activities because the other parent is still commuting with their only vehicle was one example. Maybe these are not common situations, but maybe the are. Point being, the planning units that would need to move to make schools like Willliamsburg more diverse don't want to move and it could impose additional hardships on them. They need to invest more resources in closing that achievement gap - no one is disputing that. |
Anonymous
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Yes North Arlington is not easy to access by public transit.
There is little affordable housing there. I imagine if I check back in 20 years, it will remain so. Talent commented on how “ frickin’’” great it is that we get to choose where we live. Indeed, people of enough means can choose to completely avoid the underclass. Yes, frickin’ great. I wonder If these decisions over the last couple of years will slow the middle class migration into south Arlington. Perhaps not. Youth and idealism may see young families continue to make a go of it. It will be interesting to watch |