APS Duran School Performance Email - Is Long Branch a Failing School?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The disparities existed back when there were more suspensions so how exactly is this a solution? It's not.

Prove it. Tell us how things were worse back then.

We’re not using the same measures and the number and needs of English language learners and special education students is not the same as it was prior to the 2010s. If you have worked in education over this timeframe, it is absolutely apparent how things have changed, but to those on the outside, it might not seem that different

Let’s compare non-special needs and non-ELLs across the decades. Even typical, Gen-Ed kids are worse off now. Inclusion makes people feel good, but produces shtty outcomes.

Yes, and it has nothing to do with helping special education students. It’s about the special education teacher shortage, and how they can get their required minimum hours with a skeleton crew, not because the schools are being cheap, but because they can’t find enough people.

And because special education isn’t limited to kids with actual disabilities, but includes a large number of kids with massive behavioral issues due to poor parenting.

Money would be better spent providing parenting classes in some of these situations.

This is an ignorant and unfortunate comment.

Unfortunate that it’s true.

Just saying that does not make it true. Tell us what makes you think this? What supports this? Give us evidence. I'd really like to hear it.

https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/2026/01/elite-university-student-accommodation/684946/

Regardless of what side you're on, this is worth a read. We have absolutely expanded the category of who gets accommodations. To deny this as fact is ignorant.

Yes I read that clickbait article. It's about accommodations in college and has nothing to do with kids with inappropriate behavior in elem and secondary. How does it prove your claim that special education isn’t limited to kids with actual disabilities, but includes a large number of kids with massive behavioral issues due to poor parenting?

If you don't see the parallels and how the article has a downstream impact on our kids who will hopefully be college students one day, I don't know what to tell you. Sure, you can dismiss it as clickbait, but there's actual journalistic work in that article interviewing a wide range of professionals. So.....you do you.

[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:The disparities existed back when there were more suspensions so how exactly is this a solution? It's not.

Prove it. Tell us how things were worse back then.

We’re not using the same measures and the number and needs of English language learners and special education students is not the same as it was prior to the 2010s. If you have worked in education over this timeframe, it is absolutely apparent how things have changed, but to those on the outside, it might not seem that different

Let’s compare non-special needs and non-ELLs across the decades. Even typical, Gen-Ed kids are worse off now. Inclusion makes people feel good, but produces shtty outcomes.

Yes, and it has nothing to do with helping special education students. It’s about the special education teacher shortage, and how they can get their required minimum hours with a skeleton crew, not because the schools are being cheap, but because they can’t find enough people.

And because special education isn’t limited to kids with actual disabilities, but includes a large number of kids with massive behavioral issues due to poor parenting.

Money would be better spent providing parenting classes in some of these situations.

This is an ignorant and unfortunate comment.

Unfortunate that it’s true.

Just saying that does not make it true. Tell us what makes you think this? What supports this? Give us evidence. I'd really like to hear it.

https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/2026/01/elite-university-student-accommodation/684946/

Regardless of what side you're on, this is worth a read. We have absolutely expanded the category of who gets accommodations. To deny this as fact is ignorant.

Yes I read that clickbait article. It's about accommodations in college and has nothing to do with kids with inappropriate behavior in elem and secondary. How does it prove your claim that special education isn’t limited to kids with actual disabilities, but includes a large number of kids with massive behavioral issues due to poor parenting?

If you don't see the parallels and how the article has a downstream impact on our kids who will hopefully be college students one day, I don't know what to tell you. Sure, you can dismiss it as clickbait, but there's actual journalistic work in that article interviewing a wide range of professionals. So.....you do you.

I am a professional who works in this area, and I do not agree with this article at all. Neither do my colleagues.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:MAGA attack on public ed

No it isn’t. 2/3 of the schools are on track. If this is an attack why are t there more failing schools? The reality is that these schools are pretty bad and Arlington does have a two tier educational system. Hopefully this puts an end to the myth that all Arlington public schools are the same. This is why there is such a long waitlist for ATS. Parents know how bad these schools are and want an out.

No I don’t support vouchers. I support public education and I believe that every child has a right to excellent and free public education. It’s people like you who want to destroy public education by refusing to admit that we need to improve our schools. If the status quite remains ppl will eventually give up on public education all together.

[Anonymous]

Agreed. I don’t support vouchers… yet.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:MAGA attack on public ed

No it isn’t. 2/3 of the schools are on track. If this is an attack why are t there more failing schools? The reality is that these schools are pretty bad and Arlington does have a two tier educational system. Hopefully this puts an end to the myth that all Arlington public schools are the same. This is why there is such a long waitlist for ATS. Parents know how bad these schools are and want an out.

No I don’t support vouchers. I support public education and I believe that every child has a right to excellent and free public education. It’s people like you who want to destroy public education by refusing to admit that we need to improve our schools. If the status quite remains ppl will eventually give up on public education all together.

I’m a public school teacher who has always worked in title I schools (or within a couple percentage points) and I am close to giving up. Between my experience and my child’s I have lost my faith. When I started we had high standards for our students and families were engaged. Now it’s like no one cares. I have a few terrible colleagues who can’t be removed. The kids are apathetic even in elementary school. So many are on youtube and tik tok for hours each night and falling asleep in class.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:MAGA attack on public ed

No it isn’t. 2/3 of the schools are on track. If this is an attack why are t there more failing schools? The reality is that these schools are pretty bad and Arlington does have a two tier educational system. Hopefully this puts an end to the myth that all Arlington public schools are the same. This is why there is such a long waitlist for ATS. Parents know how bad these schools are and want an out.

No I don’t support vouchers. I support public education and I believe that every child has a right to excellent and free public education. It’s people like you who want to destroy public education by refusing to admit that we need to improve our schools. If the status quite remains ppl will eventually give up on public education all together.

I’m a public school teacher who has always worked in title I schools (or within a couple percentage points) and I am close to giving up. Between my experience and my child’s I have lost my faith. When I started we had high standards for our students and families were engaged. Now it’s like no one cares. I have a few terrible colleagues who can’t be removed. The kids are apathetic even in elementary school. So many are on youtube and tik tok for hours each night and falling asleep in class.

Parenting problem that schools can’t overcome.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:MAGA attack on public ed

No it isn’t. 2/3 of the schools are on track. If this is an attack why are t there more failing schools? The reality is that these schools are pretty bad and Arlington does have a two tier educational system. Hopefully this puts an end to the myth that all Arlington public schools are the same. This is why there is such a long waitlist for ATS. Parents know how bad these schools are and want an out.

No I don’t support vouchers. I support public education and I believe that every child has a right to excellent and free public education. It’s people like you who want to destroy public education by refusing to admit that we need to improve our schools. If the status quite remains ppl will eventually give up on public education all together.

I’m a public school teacher who has always worked in title I schools (or within a couple percentage points) and I am close to giving up. Between my experience and my child’s I have lost my faith. When I started we had high standards for our students and families were engaged. Now it’s like no one cares. I have a few terrible colleagues who can’t be removed. The kids are apathetic even in elementary school. So many are on youtube and tik tok for hours each night and falling asleep in class.

Parenting problem that schools can’t overcome.

APS: Let's have kids teach themselves math using crappy EduTech apps and haphazardly assigned websites that haven't been vetted and then, when kids struggle, we'll just blame bad parenting, kids with special needs and ESL students. #solved

[Anonymous]

We should get rid of iPads AND separate kids by ability.

No one is blaming the kids with actual disabilities. Those issues are real and the kids should get the resources they need. But yeah, there are behavioral issues in these classrooms that stem from checked-out parenting, not real disabilities. That’s a real problem, even if you want to pretend it’s not.

[Anonymous]

Of course they are! first they tried to blame Duran -- as if these problems didn't exist before him and in other school districts! - then they moved onto sped kids and their parents. read the whole thread.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Of course they are! first they tried to blame Duran -- as if these problems didn't exist before him and in other school districts! - then they moved onto sped kids and their parents. read the whole thread.

I’ve read the whole thread. No one is blaming sped kids. Calm yourself.

[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:MAGA attack on public ed

No it isn’t. 2/3 of the schools are on track. If this is an attack why are t there more failing schools? The reality is that these schools are pretty bad and Arlington does have a two tier educational system. Hopefully this puts an end to the myth that all Arlington public schools are the same. This is why there is such a long waitlist for ATS. Parents know how bad these schools are and want an out.

It’s a maga move to vouchers which maybe you support

The confidence with which people state baseless conspiracy theories.

It's easier than admitting that Dems have been running Arlington for a long time and we still have massive discrepancies between schools.

okay so what's your plan?

I think someone needs to say this out loud. But politically speaking, democrats need to first realize that they might be really bad on education. and I'm sorry if that ruffles some feathers. We have one political voice in Arlington, and one only. If you dare speak out against what the tribe has chosen, you are immediately cast aside. Dare i say, what we are seeing with our public schools in Arlington has much less to do with Youngkin (or any Va Governor's) tenure, and more to do with decades-long democratic leadership embracing liberal and trending academic attitudes in public education. For those who were willing to go for the ride, because even if we want to see EVERYONE challenged, I think many of us would be fine with a change that resulted in stark improvements to those who were traditionally under-served - we just simply have not see anything to suggest what Duran is doing is working. Someone tell me I'm wrong.

I agree with you. Inclusion (SPED and ELL) is a main driver of the struggles. We need to get much more comfortable with these student groups spending much, much more of their day in smaller, supportive settings. I have worked in self-contained special education and students who would have been in one of those programs 10-15 years ago are now spending all of their day, outside of maybe 30 minute lessons, in gen ed and they are melting down constantly.
EL students are coming with zero English and spending maybe an hour a day in small groups. I am in a different role now an see every kid in the school. Some of them are not picking up much functional English even after several years (others pick it up easily.)
Finally we need to bring back consequences and failure. Why are students getting one day of in-school suspension for weapons violations or assault? That's not enough. It might now "look good" but it results in kids correctly believing they can get away with anything and erodes the feeling of safety for kids who are trying their best.
I know that SPED and EL changes are budget and shortage issues as well but modern policy is not serving anyone well and a lot of this started in the Obama era.

omg now you're blaming Obama? you sounds like Trump. He's literally destroying public ed but it's somehow Obama's fault?!

The erosion of consequences in schools leading to an increase in behavioral issues did start during the Obama years. I think the intent was good but school districts like APS took it too far.
“national school discipline guidelines urging schools to remove students from classrooms for disciplinary reasons only as a last resort.”
Ask your kids how often their classrooms are disrupted and what happens next.
https://jjie.org/2014/01/09/obama-administration-unveils-school-discipline-guidelines/

yeah because what does suspension solve? nothing.

Removing disruptive or violent students from the classroom gives the other children a chance to learn, forces parents to realize there is an issue and deal with the consequences. But this trickled down into fewer and fewer consequences for anything including egregious, retesting, and 50% scores and students don’t even turn things in. I work at a lower level so I don’t know if that last thing is still occurring.

What are the consequences of having a suspended student for a parent? The idea that every kid needs to go to school until they are 18 is itself problematic.

[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:MAGA attack on public ed

No it isn’t. 2/3 of the schools are on track. If this is an attack why are t there more failing schools? The reality is that these schools are pretty bad and Arlington does have a two tier educational system. Hopefully this puts an end to the myth that all Arlington public schools are the same. This is why there is such a long waitlist for ATS. Parents know how bad these schools are and want an out.

It’s a maga move to vouchers which maybe you support

The confidence with which people state baseless conspiracy theories.

It's easier than admitting that Dems have been running Arlington for a long time and we still have massive discrepancies between schools.

okay so what's your plan?

I think someone needs to say this out loud. But politically speaking, democrats need to first realize that they might be really bad on education. and I'm sorry if that ruffles some feathers. We have one political voice in Arlington, and one only. If you dare speak out against what the tribe has chosen, you are immediately cast aside. Dare i say, what we are seeing with our public schools in Arlington has much less to do with Youngkin (or any Va Governor's) tenure, and more to do with decades-long democratic leadership embracing liberal and trending academic attitudes in public education. For those who were willing to go for the ride, because even if we want to see EVERYONE challenged, I think many of us would be fine with a change that resulted in stark improvements to those who were traditionally under-served - we just simply have not see anything to suggest what Duran is doing is working. Someone tell me I'm wrong.

I agree with you. Inclusion (SPED and ELL) is a main driver of the struggles. We need to get much more comfortable with these student groups spending much, much more of their day in smaller, supportive settings. I have worked in self-contained special education and students who would have been in one of those programs 10-15 years ago are now spending all of their day, outside of maybe 30 minute lessons, in gen ed and they are melting down constantly.
EL students are coming with zero English and spending maybe an hour a day in small groups. I am in a different role now an see every kid in the school. Some of them are not picking up much functional English even after several years (others pick it up easily.)
Finally we need to bring back consequences and failure. Why are students getting one day of in-school suspension for weapons violations or assault? That's not enough. It might now "look good" but it results in kids correctly believing they can get away with anything and erodes the feeling of safety for kids who are trying their best.
I know that SPED and EL changes are budget and shortage issues as well but modern policy is not serving anyone well and a lot of this started in the Obama era.

omg now you're blaming Obama? you sounds like Trump. He's literally destroying public ed but it's somehow Obama's fault?!

The erosion of consequences in schools leading to an increase in behavioral issues did start during the Obama years. I think the intent was good but school districts like APS took it too far.
“national school discipline guidelines urging schools to remove students from classrooms for disciplinary reasons only as a last resort.”
Ask your kids how often their classrooms are disrupted and what happens next.
https://jjie.org/2014/01/09/obama-administration-unveils-school-discipline-guidelines/

yeah because what does suspension solve? nothing.

Removing disruptive or violent students from the classroom gives the other children a chance to learn, forces parents to realize there is an issue and deal with the consequences. But this trickled down into fewer and fewer consequences for anything including egregious, retesting, and 50% scores and students don’t even turn things in. I work at a lower level so I don’t know if that last thing is still occurring.

What are the consequences of having a suspended student for a parent? The idea that every kid needs to go to school until they are 18 is itself problematic.

Parents have to take time off for a reentry meeting, deal with their kids while they are home. I agree there should be alternate path for kids and their families if they don’t want to be there. Democrats would never allow that though and they run Arlington.

[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:MAGA attack on public ed

No it isn’t. 2/3 of the schools are on track. If this is an attack why are t there more failing schools? The reality is that these schools are pretty bad and Arlington does have a two tier educational system. Hopefully this puts an end to the myth that all Arlington public schools are the same. This is why there is such a long waitlist for ATS. Parents know how bad these schools are and want an out.

It’s a maga move to vouchers which maybe you support

The confidence with which people state baseless conspiracy theories.

It's easier than admitting that Dems have been running Arlington for a long time and we still have massive discrepancies between schools.

okay so what's your plan?

I think someone needs to say this out loud. But politically speaking, democrats need to first realize that they might be really bad on education. and I'm sorry if that ruffles some feathers. We have one political voice in Arlington, and one only. If you dare speak out against what the tribe has chosen, you are immediately cast aside. Dare i say, what we are seeing with our public schools in Arlington has much less to do with Youngkin (or any Va Governor's) tenure, and more to do with decades-long democratic leadership embracing liberal and trending academic attitudes in public education. For those who were willing to go for the ride, because even if we want to see EVERYONE challenged, I think many of us would be fine with a change that resulted in stark improvements to those who were traditionally under-served - we just simply have not see anything to suggest what Duran is doing is working. Someone tell me I'm wrong.

I agree with you. Inclusion (SPED and ELL) is a main driver of the struggles. We need to get much more comfortable with these student groups spending much, much more of their day in smaller, supportive settings. I have worked in self-contained special education and students who would have been in one of those programs 10-15 years ago are now spending all of their day, outside of maybe 30 minute lessons, in gen ed and they are melting down constantly.
EL students are coming with zero English and spending maybe an hour a day in small groups. I am in a different role now an see every kid in the school. Some of them are not picking up much functional English even after several years (others pick it up easily.)
Finally we need to bring back consequences and failure. Why are students getting one day of in-school suspension for weapons violations or assault? That's not enough. It might now "look good" but it results in kids correctly believing they can get away with anything and erodes the feeling of safety for kids who are trying their best.
I know that SPED and EL changes are budget and shortage issues as well but modern policy is not serving anyone well and a lot of this started in the Obama era.

omg now you're blaming Obama? you sounds like Trump. He's literally destroying public ed but it's somehow Obama's fault?!

The erosion of consequences in schools leading to an increase in behavioral issues did start during the Obama years. I think the intent was good but school districts like APS took it too far.
“national school discipline guidelines urging schools to remove students from classrooms for disciplinary reasons only as a last resort.”
Ask your kids how often their classrooms are disrupted and what happens next.
https://jjie.org/2014/01/09/obama-administration-unveils-school-discipline-guidelines/

yeah because what does suspension solve? nothing.

Removing disruptive or violent students from the classroom gives the other children a chance to learn, forces parents to realize there is an issue and deal with the consequences. But this trickled down into fewer and fewer consequences for anything including egregious, retesting, and 50% scores and students don’t even turn things in. I work at a lower level so I don’t know if that last thing is still occurring.

What are the consequences of having a suspended student for a parent? The idea that every kid needs to go to school until they are 18 is itself problematic.

You claim none of our issues are due to poor parenting! And then admit some family cultures don’t value education at all! Make it make sense!

Disruptive kids must be removed. Alternative school!

(Let’s be real — kids with these types of issues rarely find meaningful employment later. They learn the hard way that the real world won’t put up with their crap.)

[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:MAGA attack on public ed

No it isn’t. 2/3 of the schools are on track. If this is an attack why are t there more failing schools? The reality is that these schools are pretty bad and Arlington does have a two tier educational system. Hopefully this puts an end to the myth that all Arlington public schools are the same. This is why there is such a long waitlist for ATS. Parents know how bad these schools are and want an out.

It’s a maga move to vouchers which maybe you support

The confidence with which people state baseless conspiracy theories.

It's easier than admitting that Dems have been running Arlington for a long time and we still have massive discrepancies between schools.

okay so what's your plan?

I think someone needs to say this out loud. But politically speaking, democrats need to first realize that they might be really bad on education. and I'm sorry if that ruffles some feathers. We have one political voice in Arlington, and one only. If you dare speak out against what the tribe has chosen, you are immediately cast aside. Dare i say, what we are seeing with our public schools in Arlington has much less to do with Youngkin (or any Va Governor's) tenure, and more to do with decades-long democratic leadership embracing liberal and trending academic attitudes in public education. For those who were willing to go for the ride, because even if we want to see EVERYONE challenged, I think many of us would be fine with a change that resulted in stark improvements to those who were traditionally under-served - we just simply have not see anything to suggest what Duran is doing is working. Someone tell me I'm wrong.

I agree with you. Inclusion (SPED and ELL) is a main driver of the struggles. We need to get much more comfortable with these student groups spending much, much more of their day in smaller, supportive settings. I have worked in self-contained special education and students who would have been in one of those programs 10-15 years ago are now spending all of their day, outside of maybe 30 minute lessons, in gen ed and they are melting down constantly.
EL students are coming with zero English and spending maybe an hour a day in small groups. I am in a different role now an see every kid in the school. Some of them are not picking up much functional English even after several years (others pick it up easily.)
Finally we need to bring back consequences and failure. Why are students getting one day of in-school suspension for weapons violations or assault? That's not enough. It might now "look good" but it results in kids correctly believing they can get away with anything and erodes the feeling of safety for kids who are trying their best.
I know that SPED and EL changes are budget and shortage issues as well but modern policy is not serving anyone well and a lot of this started in the Obama era.

omg now you're blaming Obama? you sounds like Trump. He's literally destroying public ed but it's somehow Obama's fault?!

The erosion of consequences in schools leading to an increase in behavioral issues did start during the Obama years. I think the intent was good but school districts like APS took it too far.
“national school discipline guidelines urging schools to remove students from classrooms for disciplinary reasons only as a last resort.”
Ask your kids how often their classrooms are disrupted and what happens next.
https://jjie.org/2014/01/09/obama-administration-unveils-school-discipline-guidelines/

yeah because what does suspension solve? nothing.

Removing disruptive or violent students from the classroom gives the other children a chance to learn, forces parents to realize there is an issue and deal with the consequences. But this trickled down into fewer and fewer consequences for anything including egregious, retesting, and 50% scores and students don’t even turn things in. I work at a lower level so I don’t know if that last thing is still occurring.

What are the consequences of having a suspended student for a parent? The idea that every kid needs to go to school until they are 18 is itself problematic.

Parents have to take time off for a reentry meeting, deal with their kids while they are home. I agree there should be alternate path for kids and their families if they don’t want to be there. Democrats would never allow that though and they run Arlington.

Social Services should get involved in some of these situations. Educational neglect is a real problem.

[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:

Anonymous wrote:MAGA attack on public ed

No it isn’t. 2/3 of the schools are on track. If this is an attack why are t there more failing schools? The reality is that these schools are pretty bad and Arlington does have a two tier educational system. Hopefully this puts an end to the myth that all Arlington public schools are the same. This is why there is such a long waitlist for ATS. Parents know how bad these schools are and want an out.

It’s a maga move to vouchers which maybe you support

The confidence with which people state baseless conspiracy theories.

It's easier than admitting that Dems have been running Arlington for a long time and we still have massive discrepancies between schools.

okay so what's your plan?

I think someone needs to say this out loud. But politically speaking, democrats need to first realize that they might be really bad on education. and I'm sorry if that ruffles some feathers. We have one political voice in Arlington, and one only. If you dare speak out against what the tribe has chosen, you are immediately cast aside. Dare i say, what we are seeing with our public schools in Arlington has much less to do with Youngkin (or any Va Governor's) tenure, and more to do with decades-long democratic leadership embracing liberal and trending academic attitudes in public education. For those who were willing to go for the ride, because even if we want to see EVERYONE challenged, I think many of us would be fine with a change that resulted in stark improvements to those who were traditionally under-served - we just simply have not see anything to suggest what Duran is doing is working. Someone tell me I'm wrong.

I agree with you. Inclusion (SPED and ELL) is a main driver of the struggles. We need to get much more comfortable with these student groups spending much, much more of their day in smaller, supportive settings. I have worked in self-contained special education and students who would have been in one of those programs 10-15 years ago are now spending all of their day, outside of maybe 30 minute lessons, in gen ed and they are melting down constantly.
EL students are coming with zero English and spending maybe an hour a day in small groups. I am in a different role now an see every kid in the school. Some of them are not picking up much functional English even after several years (others pick it up easily.)
Finally we need to bring back consequences and failure. Why are students getting one day of in-school suspension for weapons violations or assault? That's not enough. It might now "look good" but it results in kids correctly believing they can get away with anything and erodes the feeling of safety for kids who are trying their best.
I know that SPED and EL changes are budget and shortage issues as well but modern policy is not serving anyone well and a lot of this started in the Obama era.

omg now you're blaming Obama? you sounds like Trump. He's literally destroying public ed but it's somehow Obama's fault?!

The erosion of consequences in schools leading to an increase in behavioral issues did start during the Obama years. I think the intent was good but school districts like APS took it too far.
“national school discipline guidelines urging schools to remove students from classrooms for disciplinary reasons only as a last resort.”
Ask your kids how often their classrooms are disrupted and what happens next.
https://jjie.org/2014/01/09/obama-administration-unveils-school-discipline-guidelines/

yeah because what does suspension solve? nothing.

Removing disruptive or violent students from the classroom gives the other children a chance to learn, forces parents to realize there is an issue and deal with the consequences. But this trickled down into fewer and fewer consequences for anything including egregious, retesting, and 50% scores and students don’t even turn things in. I work at a lower level so I don’t know if that last thing is still occurring.

What are the consequences of having a suspended student for a parent? The idea that every kid needs to go to school until they are 18 is itself problematic.

Parents have to take time off for a reentry meeting, deal with their kids while they are home. I agree there should be alternate path for kids and their families if they don’t want to be there. Democrats would never allow that though and they run Arlington.

Social Services should get involved in some of these situations. Educational neglect is a real problem.

They barely get involved in severe cases anymore. There’s too much need.