Holding APS Leadership, Staff and School Board Accountable for the Boundary Mess

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Here's the thing about trying to bully someone into doing what you want. One element of bullying is that the bully has to have some kind of power over the person being bullied, such as physical strength, social influence, etc. SA has no power over NA, so you're not in a position to bully them into anything. If you want their help, you need to try a different tactic because all this one is doing is causing them to roll their eyes and tune you out.

Yes, and that's exactly the problem. NA helps itself by confining AH to SA. It's not just that it creates segregated schools in SA, it's that it creates "high performing schools" in NA by allowing that portion of the county to get ever richer, ever more exclusive. It's not doable. This housing policy pits a larger, wealthier, and better resourced north against a poorer, smaller, less politically powerful south. By design.

If that were actually what was happening, you'd have a point. But it's not. Overall, people in NA tend to oppose the expansion of AH everywhere in the county, not just in their own neighborhoods. The advocates for AH tend to come from SA, and they are the ones choosing to put it in SA.

It's not really something that is happening at the level of individual homeowners. It's more structural than that. Has there ever even been an Arlington Mill, a Columbia Hills, a Gilliam Place, a Berkeley type project in NA? No? Is it really even imaginable that APAH would try to build a 300 unit, 100% CAF to 60% AMI development north of route 50? Consider that it's not that SA wants these developments, or that a handful of "activists" in SA have this power. Maybe it's that SA is generally not as wealthy and well organized (this is the same thing) and can't fight off such projects, much less discourage them from being proposed in the first place. Have you noticed that APAhs top officers all live north of lee highway? Do you think that is coincidence? No. Politics is the art of the possible. They know that SA is to weak to resist, unlike their own neighbors.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I just have to say how I love that this post started out about how to hold the Staff and School Board accountable and devolved into a post blaming NA parents for the woes of the SA boundary process. A process NA had zero to do with.

NA bashing is getting so old, and clearly isn't getting SA anywhere.

I wouldn't say NA had NOTHING to do with it. It's the attitudes and perceptions that drove people to NA to avoid the "problem" and thereby exacerbated the situation. And NA pushback against APAH-like projects in THEIR neighborhoods, exacerbating the saturation of low-income housing in SA neighborhoods.

Kind of reaching here but I admire the effort to still blame NA!

OK, then. What has NA done to HELP?

What were we supposed to do?

Don't fight "weird" boundaries.
Don't insist on "contiguity" and no "islands" and "alignment"
Advocate for 30% seat set-asides for ED in all choice programs.
Push the CB and APAH and their colleagues for family unit CAFs north of Ballston, not just senior and studio CAFs.
Hard core push for a lot of multi-family CAFs along Lee Highway.
Strongly support geographical distribution and speak out loudly against more CAFs along Columbia Pike, especially the West End - neighborhoods where the neighborhood school FRL rates are already 50% and above.
Lobby the CB on housing; but acknowledge there are things a school system can do to mitigate impacts of existing housing and support those things regardless of how many buses it requires: Cambridge models for admissions, for example.
Start pushing some candidates from north Arlington who will push these things both on SB and CB.
Stop going along with the SB line that all Arlington schools are great and start insisting that they be EQUALLY great - and that that requires economically diverse student bodies.
Insist that APS and the community provide those wraparound services and programs they have at Carlin Springs to justify segregation at ALL schools so ALL students in need of them can get them easily regardless of where they live.
Stop calling SA parents who do these things racist, NIMBY, or just stupid or for not knowing what they were buying into or naive that they thought they could make a difference.
Stop telling SA parents who do these things to "just move" or "choice out."
Drew will have a lot of empty space next year - get a slew of NA families to transfer their kids into Drew.
STOP the CB from pushing MORE affordable housing in the new "Opportunity Zones" that are probably meant more for economic development; but APAH et al already have their sights on.
STOP the CB from using the Amazon "agreement" to focus all the AH in Crystal City, Pentagon City, "AND COLUMBIA PIKE." Oakridge could sustain more; but FAMILY sized AH (your Arington Mills, Columbia Hills-es, and Gilliam Places) need to go NORTH - perfect opportunity to distribute AH in Arlington and start creating it on Lee Hwy.

And remember, the question was what North Arlington could do/should have done - not what some individuals in north arlington could do. NORTH ARLINGTON needs to be a voice for all these things.

This list sounds like it was written by someone who only started paying attention this fall and is repeating talking points they’ve heard without checking if they were factually accurate or logical.

This sounds like a NA homeowner trying to close off discussion. PP must've hit a nerve.

DP - I technically live in NA, and reading that list, I question why I should do any of these things when I just watched SA basically devolve into a JErry Springer Show. The Pike & Fairlington had a great opportunity to enact all this so called goodwill recently, so I don’t see why we should be the first to act. And frankly, I would be more inclined if the list didn’t read like the which list of an UMC white family. I would like to see the opinions and discussion on AH from the residents. I grew up in a family that benefitted from AH. My parents did not speak English well, my brother and I did not have parental supervision or transportation or even funding for our activities. It is entirely possible some communities prefer AH along the same corridor so they can benefit from coparenting, assistance, and just general comfort. Even now that I am MC, Arlington still makes me uncomfortable. It is also why I do not support bussing or “islands” for diversity in schools. I rode my bike for miles as a kid getting myself to activities. Kids should go to their nearest neighborhood school, both so they don’t have to deal with logistics and to save them time. That said, I think it’s unrealistic to expect much AH N of Lee Hwy. I dont see any undeveloped land and Housing prices are starting to break into the $3m mark.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Here's the thing about trying to bully someone into doing what you want. One element of bullying is that the bully has to have some kind of power over the person being bullied, such as physical strength, social influence, etc. SA has no power over NA, so you're not in a position to bully them into anything. If you want their help, you need to try a different tactic because all this one is doing is causing them to roll their eyes and tune you out.

Yes, and that's exactly the problem. NA helps itself by confining AH to SA. It's not just that it creates segregated schools in SA, it's that it creates "high performing schools" in NA by allowing that portion of the county to get ever richer, ever more exclusive. It's not doable. This housing policy pits a larger, wealthier, and better resourced north against a poorer, smaller, less politically powerful south. By design.

If that were actually what was happening, you'd have a point. But it's not. Overall, people in NA tend to oppose the expansion of AH everywhere in the county, not just in their own neighborhoods. The advocates for AH tend to come from SA, and they are the ones choosing to put it in SA.

It's not really something that is happening at the level of individual homeowners. It's more structural than that. Has there ever even been an Arlington Mill, a Columbia Hills, a Gilliam Place, a Berkeley type project in NA? No? Is it really even imaginable that APAH would try to build a 300 unit, 100% CAF to 60% AMI development north of route 50? Consider that it's not that SA wants these developments, or that a handful of "activists" in SA have this power. Maybe it's that SA is generally not as wealthy and well organized (this is the same thing) and can't fight off such projects, much less discourage them from being proposed in the first place. Have you noticed that APAhs top officers all live north of lee highway? Do you think that is coincidence? No. Politics is the art of the possible. They know that SA is to weak to resist, unlike their own neighbors.

North of 50? Sure! That can go in Buckingham, Rosslyn, or Courthouse. Unless by north of 50 you meant more than a few blocks...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Here's the thing about trying to bully someone into doing what you want. One element of bullying is that the bully has to have some kind of power over the person being bullied, such as physical strength, social influence, etc. SA has no power over NA, so you're not in a position to bully them into anything. If you want their help, you need to try a different tactic because all this one is doing is causing them to roll their eyes and tune you out.

Yes, and that's exactly the problem. NA helps itself by confining AH to SA. It's not just that it creates segregated schools in SA, it's that it creates "high performing schools" in NA by allowing that portion of the county to get ever richer, ever more exclusive. It's not doable. This housing policy pits a larger, wealthier, and better resourced north against a poorer, smaller, less politically powerful south. By design.

If that were actually what was happening, you'd have a point. But it's not. Overall, people in NA tend to oppose the expansion of AH everywhere in the county, not just in their own neighborhoods. The advocates for AH tend to come from SA, and they are the ones choosing to put it in SA.

Exactly. I live in NA and I think AH is joke....but, if people insist upon it, it should be spread throughout the county rather than creating a ghetto.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Here's the thing about trying to bully someone into doing what you want. One element of bullying is that the bully has to have some kind of power over the person being bullied, such as physical strength, social influence, etc. SA has no power over NA, so you're not in a position to bully them into anything. If you want their help, you need to try a different tactic because all this one is doing is causing them to roll their eyes and tune you out.

Yes, and that's exactly the problem. NA helps itself by confining AH to SA. It's not just that it creates segregated schools in SA, it's that it creates "high performing schools" in NA by allowing that portion of the county to get ever richer, ever more exclusive. It's not doable. This housing policy pits a larger, wealthier, and better resourced north against a poorer, smaller, less politically powerful south. By design.

If that were actually what was happening, you'd have a point. But it's not. Overall, people in NA tend to oppose the expansion of AH everywhere in the county, not just in their own neighborhoods. The advocates for AH tend to come from SA, and they are the ones choosing to put it in SA.

It's not really something that is happening at the level of individual homeowners. It's more structural than that. Has there ever even been an Arlington Mill, a Columbia Hills, a Gilliam Place, a Berkeley type project in NA? No? Is it really even imaginable that APAH would try to build a 300 unit, 100% CAF to 60% AMI development north of route 50? Consider that it's not that SA wants these developments, or that a handful of "activists" in SA have this power. Maybe it's that SA is generally not as wealthy and well organized (this is the same thing) and can't fight off such projects, much less discourage them from being proposed in the first place. Have you noticed that APAhs top officers all live north of lee highway? Do you think that is coincidence? No. Politics is the art of the possible. They know that SA is to weak to resist, unlike their own neighbors.

So? The point still stands that NA residents tend to oppose this development everywhere. You look at the fact that they haven't stopped it from happening and assume it means NA isn't opposing it, rather than considering the possibility that NA isn't the Great and Powerful Oz after all. Remember, they couldn't even get Vihstadt re-elected last month, and he was the best hope in the short-term for stemming the tide of AH. Instead, SA overrode that vote and elected the guy who wants more AH.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Here's the thing about trying to bully someone into doing what you want. One element of bullying is that the bully has to have some kind of power over the person being bullied, such as physical strength, social influence, etc. SA has no power over NA, so you're not in a position to bully them into anything. If you want their help, you need to try a different tactic because all this one is doing is causing them to roll their eyes and tune you out.

Yes, and that's exactly the problem. NA helps itself by confining AH to SA. It's not just that it creates segregated schools in SA, it's that it creates "high performing schools" in NA by allowing that portion of the county to get ever richer, ever more exclusive. It's not doable. This housing policy pits a larger, wealthier, and better resourced north against a poorer, smaller, less politically powerful south. By design.

If that were actually what was happening, you'd have a point. But it's not. Overall, people in NA tend to oppose the expansion of AH everywhere in the county, not just in their own neighborhoods. The advocates for AH tend to come from SA, and they are the ones choosing to put it in SA.

It's not really something that is happening at the level of individual homeowners. It's more structural than that. Has there ever even been an Arlington Mill, a Columbia Hills, a Gilliam Place, a Berkeley type project in NA? No? Is it really even imaginable that APAH would try to build a 300 unit, 100% CAF to 60% AMI development north of route 50? Consider that it's not that SA wants these developments, or that a handful of "activists" in SA have this power. Maybe it's that SA is generally not as wealthy and well organized (this is the same thing) and can't fight off such projects, much less discourage them from being proposed in the first place. Have you noticed that APAhs top officers all live north of lee highway? Do you think that is coincidence? No. Politics is the art of the possible. They know that SA is to weak to resist, unlike their own neighbors.

So? The point still stands that NA residents tend to oppose this development everywhere. You look at the fact that they haven't stopped it from happening and assume it means NA isn't opposing it, rather than considering the possibility that NA isn't the Great and Powerful Oz after all. Remember, they couldn't even get Vihstadt re-elected last month, and he was the best hope in the short-term for stemming the tide of AH. Instead, SA overrode that vote and elected the guy who wants more AH.

You're clueless. Last time I checked NA didn't raise a finger to block any of the aforementioned developments. And Vihdtadt didn't oppose AH. He knows the AH is a sacred cow so he at least took a county wide stance -- he helped encourage its construction in his own neighborhood, Westover. Jesus. Read his campaign bio before bloviating.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Here's the thing about trying to bully someone into doing what you want. One element of bullying is that the bully has to have some kind of power over the person being bullied, such as physical strength, social influence, etc. SA has no power over NA, so you're not in a position to bully them into anything. If you want their help, you need to try a different tactic because all this one is doing is causing them to roll their eyes and tune you out.

Yes, and that's exactly the problem. NA helps itself by confining AH to SA. It's not just that it creates segregated schools in SA, it's that it creates "high performing schools" in NA by allowing that portion of the county to get ever richer, ever more exclusive. It's not doable. This housing policy pits a larger, wealthier, and better resourced north against a poorer, smaller, less politically powerful south. By design.

If that were actually what was happening, you'd have a point. But it's not. Overall, people in NA tend to oppose the expansion of AH everywhere in the county, not just in their own neighborhoods. The advocates for AH tend to come from SA, and they are the ones choosing to put it in SA.

It's not really something that is happening at the level of individual homeowners. It's more structural than that. Has there ever even been an Arlington Mill, a Columbia Hills, a Gilliam Place, a Berkeley type project in NA? No? Is it really even imaginable that APAH would try to build a 300 unit, 100% CAF to 60% AMI development north of route 50? Consider that it's not that SA wants these developments, or that a handful of "activists" in SA have this power. Maybe it's that SA is generally not as wealthy and well organized (this is the same thing) and can't fight off such projects, much less discourage them from being proposed in the first place. Have you noticed that APAhs top officers all live north of lee highway? Do you think that is coincidence? No. Politics is the art of the possible. They know that SA is to weak to resist, unlike their own neighbors.

So? The point still stands that NA residents tend to oppose this development everywhere. You look at the fact that they haven't stopped it from happening and assume it means NA isn't opposing it, rather than considering the possibility that NA isn't the Great and Powerful Oz after all. Remember, they couldn't even get Vihstadt re-elected last month, and he was the best hope in the short-term for stemming the tide of AH. Instead, SA overrode that vote and elected the guy who wants more AH.

You're clueless. Last time I checked NA didn't raise a finger to block any of the aforementioned developments. And Vihdtadt didn't oppose AH. He knows the AH is a sacred cow so he at least took a county wide stance -- he helped encourage its construction in his own neighborhood, Westover. Jesus. Read his campaign bio before bloviating.

He wasn't opposed to AH in principle, but he did believe that the CB shouldn't keep approving new AH developments while the county was struggling under the weight of the recent rapid population growth. His position was that we needed to get that under control (e.g., increase school capacity to manage current population) before inviting more.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Here's the thing about trying to bully someone into doing what you want. One element of bullying is that the bully has to have some kind of power over the person being bullied, such as physical strength, social influence, etc. SA has no power over NA, so you're not in a position to bully them into anything. If you want their help, you need to try a different tactic because all this one is doing is causing them to roll their eyes and tune you out.

Yes, and that's exactly the problem. NA helps itself by confining AH to SA. It's not just that it creates segregated schools in SA, it's that it creates "high performing schools" in NA by allowing that portion of the county to get ever richer, ever more exclusive. It's not doable. This housing policy pits a larger, wealthier, and better resourced north against a poorer, smaller, less politically powerful south. By design.

If that were actually what was happening, you'd have a point. But it's not. Overall, people in NA tend to oppose the expansion of AH everywhere in the county, not just in their own neighborhoods. The advocates for AH tend to come from SA, and they are the ones choosing to put it in SA.

It's not really something that is happening at the level of individual homeowners. It's more structural than that. Has there ever even been an Arlington Mill, a Columbia Hills, a Gilliam Place, a Berkeley type project in NA? No? Is it really even imaginable that APAH would try to build a 300 unit, 100% CAF to 60% AMI development north of route 50? Consider that it's not that SA wants these developments, or that a handful of "activists" in SA have this power. Maybe it's that SA is generally not as wealthy and well organized (this is the same thing) and can't fight off such projects, much less discourage them from being proposed in the first place. Have you noticed that APAhs top officers all live north of lee highway? Do you think that is coincidence? No. Politics is the art of the possible. They know that SA is to weak to resist, unlike their own neighbors.

So? The point still stands that NA residents tend to oppose this development everywhere. You look at the fact that they haven't stopped it from happening and assume it means NA isn't opposing it, rather than considering the possibility that NA isn't the Great and Powerful Oz after all. Remember, they couldn't even get Vihstadt re-elected last month, and he was the best hope in the short-term for stemming the tide of AH. Instead, SA overrode that vote and elected the guy who wants more AH.

You're clueless. Last time I checked NA didn't raise a finger to block any of the aforementioned developments. And Vihdtadt didn't oppose AH. He knows the AH is a sacred cow so he at least took a county wide stance -- he helped encourage its construction in his own neighborhood, Westover. Jesus. Read his campaign bio before bloviating.

So NA is supposed to support AH in their own neighborhoods, but when they support a candidate who supports AH development in his own NA neighborhood, that's a bad thing?