Question about re zoning elementary schools in S. Arlington

[Anonymous]

Some of these SA posts are beginning to sound like a UNICEF commercial for raising funds for starving kids in Africa. I’m not splitting PTA funda 50-50 with schools that essentially have no PTAS. If you are in SA and dont like the schools, then move. Dont ask my family to pay. You made the choice- now live with it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Some of these SA posts are beginning to sound like a UNICEF commercial for raising funds for starving kids in Africa. I’m not splitting PTA funda 50-50 with schools that essentially have no PTAS. If you are in SA and dont like the schools, then move. Dont ask my family to pay. You made the choice- now live with it.

You are so cute. You think your little silent auctions raise some actual cash? That’s like our back to school night bake sale. Keep strivin’ NOAR. Your betters might one day take notice!
- parent at private school

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Some of these SA posts are beginning to sound like a UNICEF commercial for raising funds for starving kids in Africa. I’m not splitting PTA funda 50-50 with schools that essentially have no PTAS. If you are in SA and dont like the schools, then move. Dont ask my family to pay. You made the choice- now live with it.

Live with yourself. Maybe if SA moms weren't cleaning NA houses all day they'd have the time and energy and money to staff a pta. No one is asking your rich husband for a dime but you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:this is an Arlington County problem, not a N/S problem. Route 50 isn't a wall of some sort. Its disgusting that people continue to perpetuate this idea that it is only S Arlington and the S Arlington UMC's problem to solve.

Except that the problem has absolutely nothing to do with NA. why should parents at taylor, for instance, care whether kids at hoffman boston can read? I dont really care. Do you?

It has a LOT to do with north Arlington:
NA's pushback against significant affordable housing in or near their neighborhoods.
NA's pushback on any efforts at boundaries that even slightly move the needle toward more balanced demographics across schools.
NA's persistent argument that SA parents need to speak up and demand more.
NA's persistent commentaries that you get what you pay for.
NA's persistent "advice" to move to NA if you want a better school.
NA parents who specifically bought, buy, and will buy only in NA to avoid SA.
NA parents rallying around a north arlington school cheated out of $80K but who don't rally around SA schools whose PTA budgets for 5 or more years cumulatively don't add up to the earnings of one NA school fundraiser.
NA not giving a crap that kids at hoffman boston can't read.
NA's attitude that as long as their kids are getting what they want them to have, nothing else matters - until what they have is somehow even slightly threatened.
NA's constant put-downs about SA schools.
NA parents who don't even know the ELL stats in schools and think Randolph's student body has only 22%

Why should people at Taylor care about Hoffman Boston? Because they live in Arlington; it's Arlington Public Schools; the reputation of APS affects them, too; it's the right thing to do; they'll need people to be able to read their adds for housekeepers and nannies they want to hire; because they have contributed to the perpetuation of the problem; and their "not my problem" perspective prohibits solutions to the problem.

Sorry, still not my problem. It becomes my problem. Whether or not the kids at Randolph can count is not even a blip on my radar screen. I do get concerned when people propose things that will lead to the kids at Taylor not being able to count. I know you must think Im terrible, but Im fine with it.

So everyone on this board should realize that the above pp (the one immediately above me) is a troll.
I am at a NA school, and of course I care that people can't read or count. That's ridiculous. I've never heard anyone put down a SA school IRL, in fact I didn't even know that there was such a dychotomy until I started hanging out on DCUM.

And THAT's a big part of the problem to be added to that list above about how NA has nothing to do with it: ignorance. People in this County need to get out of their own neighborhoods and sub-communities more - cross route 50 once in a while and hang out. We do have some restaurants, libraries, community centers, outdoor summer movies, Blues Festival and the Drafthouse.

So I lived in sa until I had kids, and then moved to na to be closer to work.
I think you need to understand that really only nw Arlington has any sway. 22207. 22201 is getting screwed — we got booted from both of our neighborhood schools (other than Lyon village, they of course will be fine). Try living in the east part of the county where every school within a mile of your house is an option school.
And no one is rallying around glebe.

Huh? Key and_________?? HB at the middle school level and ______________???? So are you within a mile of only two schools? Not everyone else in Arlington lives within walking distance of a school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Some of these SA posts are beginning to sound like a UNICEF commercial for raising funds for starving kids in Africa. I’m not splitting PTA funda 50-50 with schools that essentially have no PTAS. If you are in SA and dont like the schools, then move. Dont ask my family to pay. You made the choice- now live with it.

Noone's asking you to split anything with schools that essentially have no PTAs. They are schools with populations that don't have the discretionary income yours does; so their PTAs don't have the fundraising power yours does. I am living with my decision - without regret. But a previous poster was trying to say there wasn't anything they could do about bad policies set by the Boards and instead knew people in NA who participated in SA auctions, etc., as though that eliminates the disparities or problems.

[Anonymous]

Happy to reserve 10% of slots at NA schools for SA/FARMS, but not busing my kid way far away to fix the problem that the CB made. Busing totally optional. I am guessing that many would complain about the idea of busing their kids - even if to a better school - can’t have it both ways!
to

[Anonymous]

20 years ago this conflict didnt exist. As the area got wealthier some umc moved to SA to save a few bucks knowing that the achools suck.Those are the people causing these issues and stirring up people. No one feels guilty in NA and its not our fault that you made the decision that you did. Dont try to get schools equivalent to those in NA housing price point. You get what you pay for.

[Anonymous]

Seriously question the PP who says just buy the house you love.

APS is a wreck. The S Arlington ES redistricting is one of many, many series of redistricting. The redistricting is ongoing because the county (APS) has not done what needs to to be done: resolve current and projected catastrophic overcrowding by designating a fourth comprehensive HS. In the meanwhile, they will spend a lot of money and time moving kids around and shuffling things around.

Before laying down any roots in this very poorly planned community, I'd explore larger school districts (Fairfax and Montogmery) seriously.


So worried and outraged at a top-notch public school education? 1% problems, lady. Kids are fine and have friends at the new school a mile away. Move to a gated planned community with a big wall and keep your family inside

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:20 years ago this conflict didnt exist. As the area got wealthier some umc moved to SA to save a few bucks knowing that the achools suck.Those are the people causing these issues and stirring up people. No one feels guilty in NA and its not our fault that you made the decision that you did. Dont try to get schools equivalent to those in NA housing price point. You get what you pay for.

It's a public education, so we pay the same and are supposed to get the same. You're hoarding resources by resisting boundary changes. It is your fault. Not everyone can afford to live in north Arlington and there aren't enough houses anyway.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:20 years ago this conflict didnt exist. As the area got wealthier some umc moved to SA to save a few bucks knowing that the achools suck.Those are the people causing these issues and stirring up people. No one feels guilty in NA and its not our fault that you made the decision that you did. Dont try to get schools equivalent to those in NA housing price point. You get what you pay for.

It's a public education, so we pay the same and are supposed to get the same. You're hoarding resources by resisting boundary changes. It is your fault. Not everyone can afford to live in north Arlington and there aren't enough houses anyway.

Stirring up people, LOL. You are so privileged and out of touch. You sound like a grandma from 50 years ago.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:20 years ago this conflict didnt exist. As the area got wealthier some umc moved to SA to save a few bucks knowing that the achools suck.Those are the people causing these issues and stirring up people. No one feels guilty in NA and its not our fault that you made the decision that you did. Dont try to get schools equivalent to those in NA housing price point. You get what you pay for.

There it is again, that NA mentality that has been described in other posts. The one that said, "I paid a lot for my house, and think I am entitled to a quasi private school to match. And since I did, any effort to improve schools elsewhere is a threat to my property values and calls into question the wisdom of my decision. So I will do whatever I can to maintain a status quo that benefits only me."

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:20 years ago this conflict didnt exist. As the area got wealthier some umc moved to SA to save a few bucks knowing that the achools suck.Those are the people causing these issues and stirring up people. No one feels guilty in NA and its not our fault that you made the decision that you did. Dont try to get schools equivalent to those in NA housing price point. You get what you pay for.

Translation: "good schools are for rich people. Want a good school? Be rich like me."

[Anonymous]

Sometimes these post crack me up and infuriate me at the same time.

The idea that SA schools are horrible is laughable. Here are some things that make schools horrible

- being closed due to mold
- Schools where kids can't focus because the heat or AC doesn't work
- unsafe drinking water
- rampant pest infestation
- high levels of violence
- text books that haven't been updated for 20 years
- Schools where the state can only afford to keep them open for 4 days
- schools were teachers are paid 20K a year
- schools where the state only spend 5K per yr per student
- you know schools that look like this
http://ktar.com/story/2017614/teachers-share-photos-of-disturbing-classroom-conditions/



What doesn't make schools horrible?

Schools that perform slightly worse than other schools, a difference that is further reduced when looking at students with similar profiles in both schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Sometimes these post crack me up and infuriate me at the same time.

The idea that SA schools are horrible is laughable. Here are some things that make schools horrible

- being closed due to mold
- Schools where kids can't focus because the heat or AC doesn't work
- unsafe drinking water
- rampant pest infestation
- high levels of violence
- text books that haven't been updated for 20 years
- Schools where the state can only afford to keep them open for 4 days
- schools were teachers are paid 20K a year
- schools where the state only spend 5K per yr per student
- you know schools that look like this
http://ktar.com/story/2017614/teachers-share-photos-of-disturbing-classroom-conditions/



What doesn't make schools horrible?

Schools that perform slightly worse than other schools, a difference that is further reduced when looking at students with similar profiles in both schools.

If the schools were as comparable as you say, why are people paying hundreds of thousands in housing premiums and commute times instead of attending SA schools? Seems to me those thousands of people know something you don't. But actually, I bet you live in NA and this explanation is your way of pretending the differences don't exist or need to be addressed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:20 years ago this conflict didnt exist. As the area got wealthier some umc moved to SA to save a few bucks knowing that the achools suck.Those are the people causing these issues and stirring up people. No one feels guilty in NA and its not our fault that you made the decision that you did. Dont try to get schools equivalent to those in NA housing price point. You get what you pay for.

So many of you up in the north just don't get that there are a lot of houses in the south that cost just as much. the south simply has a lot more multi-unit housing and committed affordable housing to go along with them.

and the "conflict" existed - people just weren't speaking up about it and it has been intensified as the crowding has taken over across the County (in schools and in general county population). Yeah, how dare someone like you stir up trouble because they've "chosen" to live in the south. If you hadnt "known better" or been able to find a place in the north at the time you bought, you'd have the same perspective. I don't give a sh** whether you feel guilty or not. People have a right to fight for what's right and to fight for their interests even though they live in south Arlington. And I don't give a sh** whether that stirs up people and causes issues for you or for anyone else.

I honestly can't understand anyone begrudging anyone else equal quality of schools for their kids. Good god.