Alexandria HSs

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Largest School Districts in Virginia:

Fairfax Country Pubic Schools: 185,828
Prince William County Public Schools: 87,793
Loudoun County Public Schools: 76,202
Virginia Beach City Public Schools: 69,777
Chesterfield County Public Schools: 59,659
Henrico County Public Schools 51,534
Chesapeake Public Schools: 39,943
Norfolk City Public Schools: 32,148
.
.
.
Alexandria City Public Schools:15,000.

It's all relative.

And your point is? What does school system size have to do with this discussion?

It has everything to do with ACPS. Alexandria City has had on of the highest earned incomes for decades yet the Mayorships under Ticer, Kerry, Euille leadership declined to funnel money to improve our public educational system. It's only been recently that the money to ACPS has flowed (as opposed to developers).

Not at all the case, PP. Both Ticer and Euille significantly increased ACPS funding. Euille presided over the complete rebuild of one school and the construction of an entirely new high school complex, replacing a truly decrepit facility with a modern and fully scalable facility. Euille also oversaw an operating budget that increased teacher and licensed staff salary increases of almost 15% during a three-cycle period. Ticer had presided over two school rebuilds. Not sure about Kerry Donley, but your post is simply wrong on two of those names. The fact that ACPS has a limitless blank check now, from the current city council, does not mean that ACPS has historically been underfunded. It hasn't. If anything, under the current school board, ACPS staff salaries have become very unattractive.

Euille didn't do enough for ACPS. That's an obvious fact based on current reality. I guess we could throw in the Old Town sewer issue too to be fair.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Largest School Districts in Virginia:

Fairfax Country Pubic Schools: 185,828
Prince William County Public Schools: 87,793
Loudoun County Public Schools: 76,202
Virginia Beach City Public Schools: 69,777
Chesterfield County Public Schools: 59,659
Henrico County Public Schools 51,534
Chesapeake Public Schools: 39,943
Norfolk City Public Schools: 32,148
.
.
.
Alexandria City Public Schools:15,000.

It's all relative.

And your point is? What does school system size have to do with this discussion?

It has everything to do with ACPS. Alexandria City has had on of the highest earned incomes for decades yet the Mayorships under Ticer, Kerry, Euille leadership declined to funnel money to improve our public educational system. It's only been recently that the money to ACPS has flowed (as opposed to developers).

Not at all the case, PP. Both Ticer and Euille significantly increased ACPS funding. Euille presided over the complete rebuild of one school and the construction of an entirely new high school complex, replacing a truly decrepit facility with a modern and fully scalable facility. Euille also oversaw an operating budget that increased teacher and licensed staff salary increases of almost 15% during a three-cycle period. Ticer had presided over two school rebuilds. Not sure about Kerry Donley, but your post is simply wrong on two of those names. The fact that ACPS has a limitless blank check now, from the current city council, does not mean that ACPS has historically been underfunded. It hasn't. If anything, under the current school board, ACPS staff salaries have become very unattractive.

Euille didn't do enough for ACPS. That's an obvious fact based on current reality. I guess we could throw in the Old Town sewer issue too to be fair.

I mean, was Euille supposed to roll into central office and fire the crooked HR dept?

[Anonymous]

William D. Euille. William D. "Bill" Euille is an American politician who served as the mayor of Alexandria, Virginia from 2003 until 2016.

Say what you want, that's a long time with Democrats at the helm.

[Anonymous]

We are at a turning point for ACPS and it looks like our turn is not for the better. The recent move to not allow teachers to earn their steps has caused an incredible amount of dissatisfaction that is compounded by lower increases and higher copays for health benefits. Effectively it is a deterrent for teachers to stay with the system and increases the churn in teacher staffing. With the teacher shortage now beginning to impact our area, the route taken by the current administrators and school board seems foolhardy and purposefully obstructive to improving school outcomes. The number of vacant core teaching slots is astounding for being in the middle of July. Regardless of our history we need to start looking at the future because it is looking grim unless there are some significant changes to make our schools someplace where teachers want to come and teach. We need to be able to offer an appealing package of pay, benefits and treatment! If we don't improve how we treat our teachers we will be stuck with all the teachers who don't go to FCPS, APS or LCPS. Is that what we want?

[Anonymous]

We need to be able to offer an appealing package of pay, benefits and treatment

This sounds eerily similar to what we need to offer Alexandria City residents, pp.

Let's start with honest talk (not like Potomac Yard hidden talk) and forget all the feel goods by City staff. Frank, open discussion is where it's at on ACPS and City Staff/Council.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We are at a turning point for ACPS and it looks like our turn is not for the better. The recent move to not allow teachers to earn their steps has caused an incredible amount of dissatisfaction that is compounded by lower increases and higher copays for health benefits. Effectively it is a deterrent for teachers to stay with the system and increases the churn in teacher staffing. With the teacher shortage now beginning to impact our area, the route taken by the current administrators and school board seems foolhardy and purposefully obstructive to improving school outcomes. The number of vacant core teaching slots is astounding for being in the middle of July. Regardless of our history we need to start looking at the future because it is looking grim unless there are some significant changes to make our schools someplace where teachers want to come and teach. We need to be able to offer an appealing package of pay, benefits and treatment! If we don't improve how we treat our teachers we will be stuck with all the teachers who don't go to FCPS, APS or LCPS. Is that what we want?

I read this, paused, and re-read this today as this is ACPS information not easily come by. As with our Alexandria First Responders, I support fair, progressive salaries for our ACPS teachers who are the key, imho, to advancement academically. Now it's fastly approaching August, with ACPS opening September 2, 2018. Hearing there are many teacher openings is not good at all.

I for one, support an increase in ACPS teacher salaries (as well as continued careful compromise on benefits such as health care and retirement). We all know where this is going in Alexandria: We are going to need to cut services to maintain salaries for our public City employees and I'm ready to suck it up on services.

Thank you for posting PP.

[Anonymous]

The number of posted open positions is staggering, and I know that there are a bunch more that are not yet on this list. Note how many just got posted in the last month- thank your broken system for that.

https://acps.tedk12.com/hire/index.aspx

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The number of posted open positions is staggering, and I know that there are a bunch more that are not yet on this list. Note how many just got posted in the last month- thank your broken system for that.

https://acps.tedk12.com/hire/index.aspx

~115 postions to fill by September 2, 2018.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We are at a turning point for ACPS and it looks like our turn is not for the better. The recent move to not allow teachers to earn their steps has caused an incredible amount of dissatisfaction that is compounded by lower increases and higher copays for health benefits. Effectively it is a deterrent for teachers to stay with the system and increases the churn in teacher staffing. With the teacher shortage now beginning to impact our area, the route taken by the current administrators and school board seems foolhardy and purposefully obstructive to improving school outcomes. The number of vacant core teaching slots is astounding for being in the middle of July. Regardless of our history we need to start looking at the future because it is looking grim unless there are some significant changes to make our schools someplace where teachers want to come and teach. We need to be able to offer an appealing package of pay, benefits and treatment! If we don't improve how we treat our teachers we will be stuck with all the teachers who don't go to FCPS, APS or LCPS. Is that what we want?

I read this, paused, and re-read this today as this is ACPS information not easily come by. As with our Alexandria First Responders, I support fair, progressive salaries for our ACPS teachers who are the key, imho, to advancement academically. Now it's fastly approaching August, with ACPS opening September 2, 2018. Hearing there are many teacher openings is not good at all.

I for one, support an increase in ACPS teacher salaries (as well as continued careful compromise on benefits such as health care and retirement). We all know where this is going in Alexandria: We are going to need to cut services to maintain salaries for our public City employees and I'm ready to suck it up on services.

Thank you for posting PP.

+1 I know school board and city officials are aware of this site. Pay to keep good teachers in ACPS, damn it!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Largest School Districts in Virginia:

Fairfax Country Pubic Schools: 185,828
Prince William County Public Schools: 87,793
Loudoun County Public Schools: 76,202
Virginia Beach City Public Schools: 69,777
Chesterfield County Public Schools: 59,659
Henrico County Public Schools 51,534
Chesapeake Public Schools: 39,943
Norfolk City Public Schools: 32,148
.
.
.
Alexandria City Public Schools:15,000.

It's all relative.

And your point is? What does school system size have to do with this discussion?

It has everything to do with ACPS. Alexandria City has had on of the highest earned incomes for decades yet the Mayorships under Ticer, Kerry, Euille leadership declined to funnel money to improve our public educational system. It's only been recently that the money to ACPS has flowed (as opposed to developers).

I understand there is debate about the right amount of funding for schools, the capacity crunch, and who is responsible for not building more capacity earlier, and whether that should have been done (someone else here seems to think that the earlier rebuilds were adequate, and that the recent funding increase was a "blank check", I can't say I agree). But I still don't see why posting the total enrollment is relevant to that. You aren't posting spending per student, or enrolloment growth, just the absolute size of the system. You seem to think this shows something, but I am not clear what it is.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Largest School Districts in Virginia:

Fairfax Country Pubic Schools: 185,828
Prince William County Public Schools: 87,793
Loudoun County Public Schools: 76,202
Virginia Beach City Public Schools: 69,777
Chesterfield County Public Schools: 59,659
Henrico County Public Schools 51,534
Chesapeake Public Schools: 39,943
Norfolk City Public Schools: 32,148
.
.
.
Alexandria City Public Schools:15,000.

It's all relative.

And your point is? What does school system size have to do with this discussion?

It has everything to do with ACPS. Alexandria City has had on of the highest earned incomes for decades yet the Mayorships under Ticer, Kerry, Euille leadership declined to funnel money to improve our public educational system. It's only been recently that the money to ACPS has flowed (as opposed to developers).

Not at all the case, PP. Both Ticer and Euille significantly increased ACPS funding. Euille presided over the complete rebuild of one school and the construction of an entirely new high school complex, replacing a truly decrepit facility with a modern and fully scalable facility. Euille also oversaw an operating budget that increased teacher and licensed staff salary increases of almost 15% during a three-cycle period. Ticer had presided over two school rebuilds. Not sure about Kerry Donley, but your post is simply wrong on two of those names. The fact that ACPS has a limitless blank check now, from the current city council, does not mean that ACPS has historically been underfunded. It hasn't. If anything, under the current school board, ACPS staff salaries have become very unattractive.

Can we be clear - the Mayor of Alexandria has only one vote on Council. While they can do a lot to set the Council agenda, these decisions are made by the whole Council, which also hires the City Manager, who directs staff. We have a weak Mayor form of govt, and the attribution of decisions to the Mayor is kind of misleading.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Not at all the case, PP. Both Ticer and Euille significantly increased ACPS funding. Euille presided over the complete rebuild of one school and the construction of an entirely new high school complex, replacing a truly decrepit facility with a modern and fully scalable facility. Euille also oversaw an operating budget that increased teacher and licensed staff salary increases of almost 15% during a three-cycle period. Ticer had presided over two school rebuilds. Not sure about Kerry Donley, but your post is simply wrong on two of those names. The fact that ACPS has a limitless blank check now, from the current city council, does not mean that ACPS has historically been underfunded. It hasn't. If anything, under the current school board, ACPS staff salaries have become very unattractive.

Can we be clear - the Mayor of Alexandria has only one vote on Council. While they can do a lot to set the Council agenda, these decisions are made by the whole Council, which also hires the City Manager, who directs staff. We have a weak Mayor form of govt, and the attribution of decisions to the Mayor is kind of misleading.

Absolutely right. The Mayor is merely the procedural and ceremonial presiding member of council, with only a few add'l rights that apply largely to emergencies. Even the role of presiding at council meetings can be supplanted by city council vote to move the presiding officer role to someone else. However, notwithstanding formal legal strictures, the fact is that Alexandria has had a tradition of strong mayors who have brokers the key votes and political deals and have walked most issues on the Council agenda through to a super-majority vote or even unanimous consensus. That hasn't been the case recently, as may be obvious.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Not at all the case, PP. Both Ticer and Euille significantly increased ACPS funding. Euille presided over the complete rebuild of one school and the construction of an entirely new high school complex, replacing a truly decrepit facility with a modern and fully scalable facility. Euille also oversaw an operating budget that increased teacher and licensed staff salary increases of almost 15% during a three-cycle period. Ticer had presided over two school rebuilds. Not sure about Kerry Donley, but your post is simply wrong on two of those names. The fact that ACPS has a limitless blank check now, from the current city council, does not mean that ACPS has historically been underfunded. It hasn't. If anything, under the current school board, ACPS staff salaries have become very unattractive.

Can we be clear - the Mayor of Alexandria has only one vote on Council. While they can do a lot to set the Council agenda, these decisions are made by the whole Council, which also hires the City Manager, who directs staff. We have a weak Mayor form of govt, and the attribution of decisions to the Mayor is kind of misleading.

Absolutely right. The Mayor is merely the procedural and ceremonial presiding member of council, with only a few add'l rights that apply largely to emergencies. Even the role of presiding at council meetings can be supplanted by city council vote to move the presiding officer role to someone else. However, notwithstanding formal legal strictures, the fact is that Alexandria has had a tradition of strong mayors who have brokers the key votes and political deals and have walked most issues on the Council agenda through to a super-majority vote or even unanimous consensus. That hasn't been the case recently, as may be obvious.

[Anonymous]

The mayor and/or council can allocate all the money in the world but if the people in charge of using that money are corrupt and/or idiots, it doesn't really matter.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The mayor and/or council can allocate all the money in the world but if the people in charge of using that money are corrupt and/or idiots, it doesn't really matter.

Thank you. Agreed 100%. The biggest problem facing education in Alexandria is the Alexandria School Board.