New Budget Recommendations -- eliminate AAP busing and centers

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Non AAP kids have the option to take compacted math, which is the equivalent of AAP level math IF THEY QUALIFY.

What I don't get is all of this crowing about how unfair AAP is to GE students-ALL 2nd graders in FCPS are screened and there is a process to this-if you QUALIFY then you receive the same AAP education as everyone else who qualifies and if you don't qualify you are placed in GE. The classes are differentiated from then on within their own cohort. AAP is simply a larger group differentiation point to begin from from the students who proved they can test well and are identified by the teachers as being suitable for the program.

You do realize just how many GE students there are who are equally bright as the vast majority of AAP students? And that this large group of kids is perfectly capable of doing AAP work? FCPS needs to simply allow all kids to take the level (in ALL subjects, not just math) that is suitable for them, and leave the labeling out of it.

Putting the kids into these two separate categories is so damaging for those in GE. I've heard my child and others say they must be "stupid" since they're not in AAP, when the reality is so, so different. Labeling them like this has serious repercussions in the way children see themselves. It's so unnecessary when all they need to do is give equal access to all the classes. Those who thrive there will thrive, and those who don't will see they need to go back a level.

Your kids aren't in AAP and your on AAP bulletin boards in your free time? You seem like the kind of person who is so obessesed with righting some AAP wrong that YOU are the one making your kids feel bad-- not the other students at the ES.

What an idiotic statement. This is a forum for adults - or at least I thought it was. Why would I ever discuss this with my children? They're the ones who tell us (their parents) how they feel about school. According to parents of their friends, they hear the same thing. So here I am, discussing this on an adult forum, just as I'm sure you vent about things on other forums and not with your kids. Stop policing which boards I am "allowed" to post on. And learn how to spell.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:In the early 2000s, there was more than one center and about 9-10% of the kids in each grade were in the program. Those were good numbers and the program worked well at that time. People saw that certain kids needed the program and weren't trying to get in kids who were fine in the regular program.

Yep. The resentment started once the program was expanded to include so many mainstream kids who are no different than their counterparts in GE. Before, when the program was much more selective, that wasn't a problem.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Stop policing which boards I am "allowed" to post on.

+1

Even Donald Trump is allowed to make a fool of himself.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You would put your kid on a bus for 3 hours a day to commute to the one center? That's nuts.

Helicopter Mom doesn't need a bus.

I wouldn't put my kid on a bus for 3 hours. I would either work out a carpool with other kids on the commute path. We have a parent that doesn't into work into late in the morning and I can get off early enough to beat traffic.

This proves the point that you, and most people, don't have kids that really need a special ed program on the high end. For those of us who do, we would make the sacrifice for our DC to get the services they need.

AAP is NOT a special ed program. At all.

I think that's her point. The program doesn't address the needs of the highest level.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You do realize just how many GE students there are who are equally bright as the vast majority of AAP students? And that this large group of kids is perfectly capable of doing AAP work? FCPS needs to simply allow all kids to take the level (in ALL subjects, not just math) that is suitable for them, and leave the labeling out of it.

This is just silly. There are plenty of children in GE (probably most of them) who are bright enough to do anything they want in life. If they were tested for AAP and did not get in, they are not as bright as the vast majority of AAP students.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

You would put your kid on a bus for 3 hours a day to commute to the one center? That's nuts.
Helicopter Mom doesn't need a bus.
I wouldn't put my kid on a bus for 3 hours. I would either work out a carpool with other kids on the commute path. We have a parent that doesn't into work into late in the morning and I can get off early enough to beat traffic.

This proves the point that you, and most people, don't have kids that really need a special ed program on the high end. For those of us who do, we would make the sacrifice for our DC to get the services they need.

Sounds about right. Whether a child needs a "special ed program on the high end" has less to do with the child and more to do with how tenacious and obsessed their parents are to have the government recognize their kids as even more special.

I asked the question about the 3 hour bus ride, because I was genuinely curious. I have a non-gifted child who receives special ed transportation to an FCPS program that is very far from our house and her bus rides are regularly 1.5 hours each way with picking up and dropping off other students. It is a huge quality of life bummer (especially getting her up and on the bus at 6:30 a.m.). So it surprises me that a "better" gifted experience would be worth that commute to some people. I would never agree to this bus situation if I had any other options for my kid.

[Anonymous]

Hypothetically, if the school was say, by Westfield high school, and you lived over by Route 1 or in Springfield or Falls Church, that would be a long commute.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I asked the question about the 3 hour bus ride, because I was genuinely curious. I have a non-gifted child who receives special ed transportation to an FCPS program that is very far from our house and her bus rides are regularly 1.5 hours each way with picking up and dropping off other students. It is a huge quality of life bummer (especially getting her up and on the bus at 6:30 a.m.). So it surprises me that a "better" gifted experience would be worth that commute to some people. I would never agree to this bus situation if I had any other options for my kid.

I think some people feel they don't currently have any good options for their kids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I asked the question about the 3 hour bus ride, because I was genuinely curious. I have a non-gifted child who receives special ed transportation to an FCPS program that is very far from our house and her bus rides are regularly 1.5 hours each way with picking up and dropping off other students. It is a huge quality of life bummer (especially getting her up and on the bus at 6:30 a.m.). So it surprises me that a "better" gifted experience would be worth that commute to some people. I would never agree to this bus situation if I had any other options for my kid.

I think some people feel they don't currently have any good options for their kids.

Oh, they have good. They just want what they consider better, and never mind how many others it might affect.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think some people feel they don't currently have any good options for their kids.

Oh, they have good. They just want what they consider better, and never mind how many others it might affect.

Your compassion and ability to empathize with those whose problems differ from your is truly inspiring.

[Anonymous]

I think some people feel they don't currently have any good options for their kids.
Oh, they have good. They just want what they consider better, and never mind how many others it might affect.

Your compassion and ability to empathize with those whose problems differ from your is truly inspiring.

Psychological projection, also known as blame shifting, is a theory in psychology in which humans defend themselves against their own unpleasant impulses by denying their existence while attributing them to others. For example, a person who is rude may constantly accuse other people of being rude.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I asked the question about the 3 hour bus ride, because I was genuinely curious. I have a non-gifted child who receives special ed transportation to an FCPS program that is very far from our house and her bus rides are regularly 1.5 hours each way with picking up and dropping off other students. It is a huge quality of life bummer (especially getting her up and on the bus at 6:30 a.m.). So it surprises me that a "better" gifted experience would be worth that commute to some people. I would never agree to this bus situation if I had any other options for my kid.

I think some people feel they don't currently have any good options for their kids.

Oh, they have good. They just want what they consider better, and never mind how many others it might affect.

+1
There is a contingent of parents who actually believe this public school should be run as a private school. I have a suggestion for those parents: send your kids to an actual private school or homeschool.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You do realize just how many GE students there are who are equally bright as the vast majority of AAP students? And that this large group of kids is perfectly capable of doing AAP work? FCPS needs to simply allow all kids to take the level (in ALL subjects, not just math) that is suitable for them, and leave the labeling out of it.

This is just silly. There are plenty of children in GE (probably most of them) who are bright enough to do anything they want in life. If they were tested for AAP and did not get in, they are not as bright as the vast majority of AAP students.

And there it is, in a nutshell. The classic AAP parent (and child) superiority complex. It's sad that you actually believe this is true. Thank you, FCPS, for creating this divide and fostering this type of mentality.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:In the early 2000s, there was more than one center and about 9-10% of the kids in each grade were in the program. Those were good numbers and the program worked well at that time. People saw that certain kids needed the program and weren't trying to get in kids who were fine in the regular program.

Yep. The resentment started once the program was expanded to include so many mainstream kids who are no different than their counterparts in GE. Before, when the program was much more selective, that wasn't a problem.

I doubt there was no resentment then. FCPS would not have expanded the program if there was no resentment then would they? What was their motivation back then to expand it if not parents complaining that more kids should be allowed in?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Non AAP kids have the option to take compacted math, which is the equivalent of AAP level math IF THEY QUALIFY.

What I don't get is all of this crowing about how unfair AAP is to GE students-ALL 2nd graders in FCPS are screened and there is a process to this-if you QUALIFY then you receive the same AAP education as everyone else who qualifies and if you don't qualify you are placed in GE. The classes are differentiated from then on within their own cohort. AAP is simply a larger group differentiation point to begin from from the students who proved they can test well and are identified by the teachers as being suitable for the program.

You do realize just how many GE students there are who are equally bright as the vast majority of AAP students? And that this large group of kids is perfectly capable of doing AAP work? FCPS needs to simply allow all kids to take the level (in ALL subjects, not just math) that is suitable for them, and leave the labeling out of it.

Putting the kids into these two separate categories is so damaging for those in GE. I've heard my child and others say they must be "stupid" since they're not in AAP, when the reality is so, so different. Labeling them like this has serious repercussions in the way children see themselves. It's so unnecessary when all they need to do is give equal access to all the classes. Those who thrive there will thrive, and those who don't will see they need to go back a level.

Your kids aren't in AAP and your on AAP bulletin boards in your free time? You seem like the kind of person who is so obessesed with righting some AAP wrong that YOU are the one making your kids feel bad-- not the other students at the ES.

What an idiotic statement. This is a forum for adults - or at least I thought it was. Why would I ever discuss this with my children? They're the ones who tell us (their parents) how they feel about school. According to parents of their friends, they hear the same thing. So here I am, discussing this on an adult forum, just as I'm sure you vent about things on other forums and not with your kids. Stop policing which boards I am "allowed" to post on. And learn how to spell.

Maybe YOU'RE right. My kids would pick up on this level of bitterness in a heart beat. But then again, they're the type of smart, perceptive kids you find in an AAP program.