Fairfax County Schools -- Is there a deterioration?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think the number of lower SES kids is growing exponentially relative to the number of higher SES kids, which is helping to fuel the budget crisis. The number of kids in the system is growing at a very fast pace, but the real estate tax base is not moving in the same direction because many of the new families live in apartments. The county will have to figure out how to meet the growing needs without sacrificing quality, which is a very difficult task.

This.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I grew up here and FCPS was never the land flowing with milk and honey that many newcomers believe it to be. It has always had these issues.

+1
I'm always amused by this "world-class" reputation Fx. Co. schools has. I also grew up here and while the schools were fine, they were never that great. I'm sure there are better school systems that manage to cut out a lot of the waste and unnecessary programs FCPS continues to pay for.

It's an affluent, resource-rich, and organized school system, especially for its size and challenges. I received a great education, went on to a good college, and have a well-paying job. FCPS is certainly not perfect, but I feel that it served me (and from what I can tell, my peers, several of whom now teach for the county) well.

The accolades didn't come from nowhere. What exactly do you feel is lacking that other systems do better? The major complaints I read on this board are AAP-related.

YES. This program is a major problem. Many parents at our school are unhappy with the way it has been administered in recent years.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think the number of lower SES kids is growing exponentially relative to the number of higher SES kids, which is helping to fuel the budget crisis. The number of kids in the system is growing at a very fast pace, but the real estate tax base is not moving in the same direction because many of the new families live in apartments. The county will have to figure out how to meet the growing needs without sacrificing quality, which is a very difficult task.

Exactly. The past 20+ years were spent going from rural to suburban and now the next 20 years will be going from suburban to urban. Each present differnt problems. Very fast growth without appropriate longterm planning is another problem, although there has been better planning in recent years. The relatively high % of students with college educated supportive parents has been the backbone of the system and the is getting smaller as a % of total students. However, the single biggest reason Fairfax has more trouble funding its schools is that there are more students as a percentage of its population than other jurisdictions. For example Arlington has ~ 10.26%* of its residents enrolled in preK-12 and Fairfax County has 16.53%*. That is a huge difference. Hopefully, the new urban planning around Tyson's and elsewhere will yield to more two earner no children couples and decrease the % of the population in the schools. Arlington's Orange line corrider has done this very well.


* Wikipedia Arlington says in 2013 the estimated population is 227,146 and the school website (about us) gives 23,316 as enrollment for the current year. Wikipedia Fairfax says 2013 estimated poulation is 1,116,897 and the school website (about us) gives 184,625 as enrollment for the current year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I grew up here and FCPS was never the land flowing with milk and honey that many newcomers believe it to be. It has always had these issues.

+1
I'm always amused by this "world-class" reputation Fx. Co. schools has. I also grew up here and while the schools were fine, they were never that great. I'm sure there are better school systems that manage to cut out a lot of the waste and unnecessary programs FCPS continues to pay for.

It's an affluent, resource-rich, and organized school system, especially for its size and challenges. I received a great education, went on to a good college, and have a well-paying job. FCPS is certainly not perfect, but I feel that it served me (and from what I can tell, my peers, several of whom now teach for the county) well.

The accolades didn't come from nowhere. What exactly do you feel is lacking that other systems do better? The major complaints I read on this board are AAP-related.

You are talking about the past. I wonder how it compares now.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:However, the single biggest reason Fairfax has more trouble funding its schools is that there are more students as a percentage of its population than other jurisdictions.

+1

Which seems to tie to affordability.

[Anonymous]

I think its reputation has been its downfall. The schools are way over crowded, and that results in the teachers being overwhelmed.

[Anonymous]

I think its reputation has been its downfall. The schools are way over crowded, and that results in the teachers being overwhelmed.

SOLs haven't helped.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think the number of lower SES kids is growing exponentially relative to the number of higher SES kids, which is helping to fuel the budget crisis. The number of kids in the system is growing at a very fast pace, but the real estate tax base is not moving in the same direction because many of the new families live in apartments. The county will have to figure out how to meet the growing needs without sacrificing quality, which is a very difficult task.

This.

yep, nailed it exactly.

[Anonymous]

we have elected to go private for HS. The HS that DC would attend has too many students who live in apartments.

[Anonymous]

I'm not from the area originally but I think the reputation of Fairfax County schools is kind of overstated. It's good to see a large school district have so many well performing schools, with so many transient/military families and so many who don't speak English as a first language. But I'm originally from Ohio (Cleveland area) and I can tell you the public schools there are excellent. Not in Cleveland proper but many of the nearby suburbs. Everything from elementary to high school is 9 or 10 on Greatschools and exceeds all state standards. I went to school in an area between a suburban and rural area and all the elementary schools, the middle school, and the high school in my town were 10/10 without exception and I got a great education. The one downside is that many of the schools are somewhat smaller which is a disadvantage at the high school level as they can't offer as great of a variety of AP classes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think the number of lower SES kids is growing exponentially relative to the number of higher SES kids, which is helping to fuel the budget crisis. The number of kids in the system is growing at a very fast pace, but the real estate tax base is not moving in the same direction because many of the new families live in apartments. The county will have to figure out how to meet the growing needs without sacrificing quality, which is a very difficult task.

Exactly. The past 20+ years were spent going from rural to suburban and now the next 20 years will be going from suburban to urban. Each present differnt problems. Very fast growth without appropriate longterm planning is another problem, although there has been better planning in recent years. The relatively high % of students with college educated supportive parents has been the backbone of the system and the is getting smaller as a % of total students. However, the single biggest reason Fairfax has more trouble funding its schools is that there are more students as a percentage of its population than other jurisdictions. For example Arlington has ~ 10.26%* of its residents enrolled in preK-12 and Fairfax County has 16.53%*. That is a huge difference. Hopefully, the new urban planning around Tyson's and elsewhere will yield to more two earner no children couples and decrease the % of the population in the schools. Arlington's Orange line corrider has done this very well.


* Wikipedia Arlington says in 2013 the estimated population is 227,146 and the school website (about us) gives 23,316 as enrollment for the current year. Wikipedia Fairfax says 2013 estimated poulation is 1,116,897 and the school website (about us) gives 184,625 as enrollment for the current year.

There are more low-income students in Arlington, there is greater de facto segregation, student performance is lower, gifted programs are negligible, and there's very little land available to build new schools. APS has been mediocre for a long, long time and shows no signs of getting much better.

[Anonymous]

Sharp increase county wide of FARMS and ESOL families. Such a dramatic increase, in fact, that social services, faith based charities, staffing all struggle to meet needs.

Slowly, I'm seeing that those families who are well able to afford to send students to private schools do so.

We may see a mass exodus of students as parents lose patience and attempt to provide a better education for their students.

I say all of this as a FC native. Thirty years ago, FCPS reputation was so sterling that private schools were the exception/option mostly for parents who wanted a religious education integrated into curriculum or for students who had behavioral problems.

It seems now that FCPS can no longer sustain itself upon past reputation and the demographic data doesn't lie.

[Anonymous]

I grew up in VA - outside of the DC metro area. I received an excellent education, even though my school system didn't have the FCPS reputation.

What my school system did have was largely homogeneous (Caucasian) population of middle class, involved parents. Unfortunately, FCPS has to be everything for everybody. It has to be able to teach kids who don't speak English, many Low income kids, kids from homes where parents are never around. It's a huge challenge and, yes, I think it's really starting to affect overall quality.

Demographic changes are impacting education as people from all over the world flock to this area. It's not the sleepy, southern county it used to be.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:we have elected to go private for HS. The HS that DC would attend has too many students who live in apartments.

And this would be a problem why, exactly?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Sharp increase county wide of FARMS and ESOL families. Such a dramatic increase, in fact, that social services, faith based charities, staffing all struggle to meet needs.

Slowly, I'm seeing that those families who are well able to afford to send students to private schools do so.

We may see a mass exodus of students as parents lose patience and attempt to provide a better education for their students.

I say all of this as a FC native. Thirty years ago, FCPS reputation was so sterling that private schools were the exception/option mostly for parents who wanted a religious education integrated into curriculum or for students who had behavioral problems.

It seems now that FCPS can no longer sustain itself upon past reputation and the demographic data doesn't lie.

I think we may see an exodus, but I also think it will be for a certain type of student. Even overcrowded, the schools work perfectly well for kids who are achievers, hard workers and good at advocating for themselves. Those who struggle are the ones who suffer. Teachers are overwhelmed so they can't provide the extra assistance many students need. This is particularly true at the high school level where LEARN sessions have taken on the climate of emergency rooms, where teachers must do triage in determining who to help and where the help will most pay off. These are the kids whose parents will send them to private if they can afford it -- I know several in my son's freshman class at a very good HS who will be moving next year.