GOP candidates for school board laugh at kid singing national anthem at school board meeting

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Can't we get some "normal" candidates who don't aspire to higher office? I feel like my baseline is so low: believes schools should be open and doesn't mock the disabled.

The schools have been open a long time now. There were varying views at the time on how to handle the pandemic and anyone who expressed that there was certainty was wrong.

I don't think issues around opening or not are relevant now. I want to know how the SB will help handle the teacher and principal shortage, ensure that teaching candidates hired through alternative means have the kinds of support that will make them excellent teachers (maybe partnering with GMU rather than just having all internal support?), ensure strong equitable education across the schools, resist calls to ban books/teach history but also honor the diverse parent perspectives that make up this school district through workable solutions.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I hope that reporter also covers the incredibly racist video put out by Republican Langton where she pretends to be an Indian woman, complete with a horrible fake accent and mention of “the little red dot.” https://mobile.twitter.com/AsraNomani/status/1557462797365268481

These people are horrible.

This video is really horrific. But what's really confusing to me is that the woman she's mocking and using as an example of everything that's wrong with the world today ("mentally unfit to be on the school board" and "liberalism is a mental disorder") is the same REPUBLICAN in that article and video about the National Anthem.

That Stacey Langton is a total nutjob.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Can't we get some "normal" candidates who don't aspire to higher office? I feel like my baseline is so low: believes schools should be open and doesn't mock the disabled.

The schools have been open a long time now. There were varying views at the time on how to handle the pandemic and anyone who expressed that there was certainty was wrong.

I don't think issues around opening or not are relevant now. I want to know how the SB will help handle the teacher and principal shortage, ensure that teaching candidates hired through alternative means have the kinds of support that will make them excellent teachers (maybe partnering with GMU rather than just having all internal support?), ensure strong equitable education across the schools, resist calls to ban books/teach history but also honor the diverse parent perspectives that make up this school district through workable solutions.

The decision to keep school buildings closed for a full year, and the subsequent harm to children, will sadly be relevant for a very, very long time.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Can't we get some "normal" candidates who don't aspire to higher office? I feel like my baseline is so low: believes schools should be open and doesn't mock the disabled.

The schools have been open a long time now. There were varying views at the time on how to handle the pandemic and anyone who expressed that there was certainty was wrong.

I don't think issues around opening or not are relevant now. I want to know how the SB will help handle the teacher and principal shortage, ensure that teaching candidates hired through alternative means have the kinds of support that will make them excellent teachers (maybe partnering with GMU rather than just having all internal support?), ensure strong equitable education across the schools, resist calls to ban books/teach history but also honor the diverse parent perspectives that make up this school district through workable solutions.

The decision to keep school buildings closed for a full year, and the subsequent harm to children, will sadly be relevant for a very, very long time.

Yes, but they made that decision in an very uncertain environment, with guidance from parents and others who all had varying opinions. I was a parent who wanted virtual in Spring 2020 and thought I wanted it in Fall 2020, but started to change my mind over the course of the fall as more data came in and by winter thought we should be going back. Which is what we did. Other parents wanted virtual to continue and so they did. Not everyone in FCPS thought the same and the SB had to consider all that.

The impacts of the pandemic (whether deaths and illnesses of parents and family members, lost income, virtual schooling) are going to be with us a long time. My brother is a Catholic HS teacher in a school that never closed--in a part of the country where public schools closed for a shorter time than FCPS-- and the mental health concerns and behavioral problems in their students are through the roof. I want SB people who understand the complexity of all that students experienced, not those who are just so sure others "got it wrong" and they know how to solve it. (Especially when they also reveal themselves to be ignorant, biased, and full of hubris!)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Can't we get some "normal" candidates who don't aspire to higher office? I feel like my baseline is so low: believes schools should be open and doesn't mock the disabled.

The schools have been open a long time now. There were varying views at the time on how to handle the pandemic and anyone who expressed that there was certainty was wrong.

I don't think issues around opening or not are relevant now. I want to know how the SB will help handle the teacher and principal shortage, ensure that teaching candidates hired through alternative means have the kinds of support that will make them excellent teachers (maybe partnering with GMU rather than just having all internal support?), ensure strong equitable education across the schools, resist calls to ban books/teach history but also honor the diverse parent perspectives that make up this school district through workable solutions.

Sounds like equity is important to you until it isn't - no mention of the learning losses over the past two years or how they have impacted different groups differently, or the huge disparities in buildings and facilities that the current School Board both tolerates and perpetuates.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Can't we get some "normal" candidates who don't aspire to higher office? I feel like my baseline is so low: believes schools should be open and doesn't mock the disabled.

The schools have been open a long time now. There were varying views at the time on how to handle the pandemic and anyone who expressed that there was certainty was wrong.

I don't think issues around opening or not are relevant now.

I wouldn't be so sure. If it wasn't for Chap Peterson, they would have still had a mask mandate in place, maybe ending it over the summer.
People on this forum were calling for closures in March, saying cases were at a record high. I think if they had a governor and state legislature that allowed it, school closures would still be on the table for whatever new variant is detected.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I hope that reporter also covers the incredibly racist video put out by Republican Langton where she pretends to be an Indian woman, complete with a horrible fake accent and mention of “the little red dot.” https://mobile.twitter.com/AsraNomani/status/1557462797365268481

These people are horrible.

I think Asra Nomani misunderstood the video. Some of the commenters on Twitter picked up on it. Langton was mocking the concept of gender-fluid, and I think the book authored by the other person.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I hate this. We’re stuck with the clown show of the progressive establishment who is so far off base in so many respects - or the clown show of Republicans who just want to “own the libs.”

There's no happy medium anymore.

If you're a D or R and attempt to compromise or disagree with the extreme of your own party than you're exiled and publicly and relentlessly torn apart.

I’m trying not to get too depressed about it because it’s early days still and there’s no telling who from the current board is going to run again and who’s not, and maybe there’s room for sensible Republicans or Democrats somewhere. But man. This is depressing.

Megan McLaughlin is a reasonable SB member. Ilryong Moon was a great at-large candidate that I wish would come back. Fairfax is a primarily democratic community so the best source of community action is speaking with the Fairfax Democratic party and voicing the kinds of traits we value in candidates. Solutions to problems with the SB are not found through the GOP by any means.

One challenge is that the Fairfax Democrats have made support of the current School Board a litmus test for membership. So if you generally align with the Democrats rather than the GOP, it's unclear there is a place for you in the FCDC, and the Democratic endorsements will still come from voting members of the FCDC, as no primaries open to the general public are held. In 2019, several more moderate Democrats, including Moon, were rejected by the FCDC in favor of candidates claiming to be more "progressive" (Cohen, Frisch, Omeish).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I hope that reporter also covers the incredibly racist video put out by Republican Langton where she pretends to be an Indian woman, complete with a horrible fake accent and mention of “the little red dot.” https://mobile.twitter.com/AsraNomani/status/1557462797365268481

These people are horrible.

I think Asra Nomani misunderstood the video. Some of the commenters on Twitter picked up on it. Langton was mocking the concept of gender-fluid, and I think the book authored by the other person.

She was. And her behavior in that video is appalling.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Can't we get some "normal" candidates who don't aspire to higher office? I feel like my baseline is so low: believes schools should be open and doesn't mock the disabled.

The schools have been open a long time now. There were varying views at the time on how to handle the pandemic and anyone who expressed that there was certainty was wrong.

I don't think issues around opening or not are relevant now. I want to know how the SB will help handle the teacher and principal shortage, ensure that teaching candidates hired through alternative means have the kinds of support that will make them excellent teachers (maybe partnering with GMU rather than just having all internal support?), ensure strong equitable education across the schools, resist calls to ban books/teach history but also honor the diverse parent perspectives that make up this school district through workable solutions.

Sounds like equity is important to you until it isn't - no mention of the learning losses over the past two years or how they have impacted different groups differently, or the huge disparities in buildings and facilities that the current School Board both tolerates and perpetuates.

I don't see how anything I said indicates that--I said ensure strong equitable education across the schools which would include addressing disparities in learning loss. Inequity is a hard problem to solve and I just want to see work on it that is evidence-based and people who understand its complexity and don't just talk about the problems without meaningful solutions. Show me a candidate who has an evidence-backed plan to do better on all factors of inequity and maintain the quality of our school system--and not just some pipe dream claims that they would do it better.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Can't we get some "normal" candidates who don't aspire to higher office? I feel like my baseline is so low: believes schools should be open and doesn't mock the disabled.

The schools have been open a long time now. There were varying views at the time on how to handle the pandemic and anyone who expressed that there was certainty was wrong.

I don't think issues around opening or not are relevant now. I want to know how the SB will help handle the teacher and principal shortage, ensure that teaching candidates hired through alternative means have the kinds of support that will make them excellent teachers (maybe partnering with GMU rather than just having all internal support?), ensure strong equitable education across the schools, resist calls to ban books/teach history but also honor the diverse parent perspectives that make up this school district through workable solutions.

Sounds like equity is important to you until it isn't - no mention of the learning losses over the past two years or how they have impacted different groups differently, or the huge disparities in buildings and facilities that the current School Board both tolerates and perpetuates.

I don't see how anything I said indicates that--I said ensure strong equitable education across the schools which would include addressing disparities in learning loss. Inequity is a hard problem to solve and I just want to see work on it that is evidence-based and people who understand its complexity and don't just talk about the problems without meaningful solutions. Show me a candidate who has an evidence-backed plan to do better on all factors of inequity and maintain the quality of our school system--and not just some pipe dream claims that they would do it better.

So you ignore one huge problem and expect people to read between the lines when it comes to another? No thanks - we deserve better.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Can't we get some "normal" candidates who don't aspire to higher office? I feel like my baseline is so low: believes schools should be open and doesn't mock the disabled.

The schools have been open a long time now. There were varying views at the time on how to handle the pandemic and anyone who expressed that there was certainty was wrong.

I don't think issues around opening or not are relevant now.

I wouldn't be so sure. If it wasn't for Chap Peterson, they would have still had a mask mandate in place, maybe ending it over the summer.
People on this forum were calling for closures in March, saying cases were at a record high. I think if they had a governor and state legislature that allowed it, school closures would still be on the table for whatever new variant is detected.

I want people to consider the evidence and data around any new issue. I don't want them to de facto say close the schools or not close the schools, or mask mandate or not mask mandate. I want them to assess the risks and benefits with the data at hand and make the best decision possible given what we know. A future variant may come where the evidence suggests mask mandates are worth any risks that wearing them entails. Or that it's worth spending the money on high quality ventilation system. I don't want knee-jerk politicized decisions from either side of the political spectrum.

[Anonymous]

It's unclear whether any of the individuals will end up the GOP-endorsed candidates next year. This seems like a pre-emptive strike by the local Democrats to try and label any GOP candidates unsuitable and divert attention away from the very real shortcomings of the current 12-0 Democratic school board over the last three years.

[Anonymous]

Please tell me the GOP can come up with better than these two nitwits. BTW, I will not apologize for laughing at her pigtails.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I hate this. We’re stuck with the clown show of the progressive establishment who is so far off base in so many respects - or the clown show of Republicans who just want to “own the libs.”

There's no happy medium anymore.

If you're a D or R and attempt to compromise or disagree with the extreme of your own party than you're exiled and publicly and relentlessly torn apart.

I’m trying not to get too depressed about it because it’s early days still and there’s no telling who from the current board is going to run again and who’s not, and maybe there’s room for sensible Republicans or Democrats somewhere. But man. This is depressing.

Megan McLaughlin is a reasonable SB member. Ilryong Moon was a great at-large candidate that I wish would come back. Fairfax is a primarily democratic community so the best source of community action is speaking with the Fairfax Democratic party and voicing the kinds of traits we value in candidates. Solutions to problems with the SB are not found through the GOP by any means.

One challenge is that the Fairfax Democrats have made support of the current School Board a litmus test for membership. So if you generally align with the Democrats rather than the GOP, it's unclear there is a place for you in the FCDC, and the Democratic endorsements will still come from voting members of the FCDC, as no primaries open to the general public are held. In 2019, several more moderate Democrats, including Moon, were rejected by the FCDC in favor of candidates claiming to be more "progressive" (Cohen, Frisch, Omeish).

If you notice, though, you use past-tense verbs and are talking about 2019. My point is we need to pressure FCDC for endorsements for more experienced Democratic candidates focused on core issues--I honestly don't care whether they are moderate or progressive. The slight enough tilt towards Youngkin was a clear backlash against their approach, so they may be more receptive than they were in 2019.
(Personally, though, I'd rather have the worst of SB now over any GOP clowns--that party is no longer viable in my mind).