Just a reminder, "angry poster who is not going anywhere"...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Believe me, there are more than one of us! " Free-speaking community" in this context means free from all of you angry, nothing-to-contribute posters!

I have no dog in this fight (no kids of AAP age) and clicked on this thread out of curiosity but I find this comment amusing. Being "free" of opinions you don't like is exactly the opposite of what a "free-speaking community" is. Freedom of speech means you can say whatever you like and I can say whatever I like back and then you can say whatever you like to me and then I can . . . you see how that works? If you want to be free of "angry, nothing-to-contribute" speakers, you don't want a "free-speaking community", you want to be president of the censorship board so you can decide what speech is acceptable and what isn't. Sorry, but all the snark, offensive and angry speech on DCUM is why it is so great. You get to hear what no respectable DC mother or father will actually say in person. If you don't want to hear it, go to a PTA meeting where the parents will keep their offensive thoughts to themselves.

This is not a freedom of speech debate. If you read the original context of "free speaking community" use and understood the entire reason a separate AAP forum was created -- you would know that it was to avoid the pointless, repetitive, nasty comments that populated the discussion re:AAP on the VA Public Schools forum AND to be less irritating to the people who either don't care or don't like AAP. It was supposed to be a win-win for both those who wanted to discuss AAP without being hijacked and for those wanted to discuss VA Public Schools minus what they label as the crazy, obsessive AAP discussion. But instead, the people who claimed to want to be rid of us, followed us here.

Really? You know this for a fact, that those people "followed you here"? I think you're giving yourself just a tad too much credit. There are quite a few new posters here who were probably never even around back when AAP was still a part of the VA Schools forum (like me, for instance). We're glad to have found the AAP forum because, like it or not, we have opinions concerning the program too and this is the place for them to be heard. At any rate, I'm glad to know that those of us who express disagreement over AAP issues can still come to this forum and express our views without being labled angry trolls or having our posts removed. That is, if our posts aren't reported for removal simply because someone didn't like what they said.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Believe me, there are more than one of us! " Free-speaking community" in this context means free from all of you angry, nothing-to-contribute posters!

I have no dog in this fight (no kids of AAP age) and clicked on this thread out of curiosity but I find this comment amusing. Being "free" of opinions you don't like is exactly the opposite of what a "free-speaking community" is. Freedom of speech means you can say whatever you like and I can say whatever I like back and then you can say whatever you like to me and then I can . . . you see how that works? If you want to be free of "angry, nothing-to-contribute" speakers, you don't want a "free-speaking community", you want to be president of the censorship board so you can decide what speech is acceptable and what isn't. Sorry, but all the snark, offensive and angry speech on DCUM is why it is so great. You get to hear what no respectable DC mother or father will actually say in person. If you don't want to hear it, go to a PTA meeting where the parents will keep their offensive thoughts to themselves.

This is not a freedom of speech debate. If you read the original context of "free speaking community" use and understood the entire reason a separate AAP forum was created -- you would know that it was to avoid the pointless, repetitive, nasty comments that populated the discussion re:AAP on the VA Public Schools forum AND to be less irritating to the people who either don't care or don't like AAP. It was supposed to be a win-win for both those who wanted to discuss AAP without being hijacked and for those wanted to discuss VA Public Schools minus what they label as the crazy, obsessive AAP discussion. But instead, the people who claimed to want to be rid of us, followed us here.

Really? You know this for a fact, that those people "followed you here"? I think you're giving yourself just a tad too much credit. There are quite a few new posters here who were probably never even around back when AAP was still a part of the VA Schools forum (like me, for instance). We're glad to have found the AAP forum because, like it or not, we have opinions concerning the program too and this is the place for them to be heard. At any rate, I'm glad to know that those of us who express disagreement over AAP issues can still come to this forum and express our views without being labled angry trolls or having our posts removed. That is, if our posts aren't reported for removal simply because someone didn't like what they said.

+1 If you think the program is sound, you shouldn't fear criticism. The sensitivity of so many hear suggests a little defensiveness. Or perhaps an attempt to justify a program that wouldn't accept many of your kids if the standards were higher.

[Anonymous]

I mean "here."

[Anonymous]

Seriously, I don't understand why the suggestion about starting a separate thread to discuss the problems with AAP is not a good idea. The thread could also discuss how to work on leveling the playing field between Gen Ed and AAP. I'm a parent of an AAP child and a Gen Ed child, and I would be happy to read/participate in such a thread. However, I also get why sticking that topic into every AAP thread, many times way outnumbering the original topic by pages, can be annoying to those trying to discuss the original topic or get information about it. And to those who choose to be snarky, while it may temporarily relieve frustration or give temporary satisfaction, being snarky doesn't solve the underlying problem. Maybe a petition to Dr. Garza with constructive, concrete ideas on how to improve Gen Ed would be one idea. Not saying this would lead to real change, but it's more likely to lead to change than just griping about it in every AAP thread. After a while all people will read is blah, blah, blah.....

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Believe me, there are more than one of us! " Free-speaking community" in this context means free from all of you angry, nothing-to-contribute posters!

I have no dog in this fight (no kids of AAP age) and clicked on this thread out of curiosity but I find this comment amusing. Being "free" of opinions you don't like is exactly the opposite of what a "free-speaking community" is. Freedom of speech means you can say whatever you like and I can say whatever I like back and then you can say whatever you like to me and then I can . . . you see how that works? If you want to be free of "angry, nothing-to-contribute" speakers, you don't want a "free-speaking community", you want to be president of the censorship board so you can decide what speech is acceptable and what isn't. Sorry, but all the snark, offensive and angry speech on DCUM is why it is so great. You get to hear what no respectable DC mother or father will actually say in person. If you don't want to hear it, go to a PTA meeting where the parents will keep their offensive thoughts to themselves.

This is not a freedom of speech debate. If you read the original context of "free speaking community" use and understood the entire reason a separate AAP forum was created -- you would know that it was to avoid the pointless, repetitive, nasty comments that populated the discussion re:AAP on the VA Public Schools forum AND to be less irritating to the people who either don't care or don't like AAP. It was supposed to be a win-win for both those who wanted to discuss AAP without being hijacked and for those wanted to discuss VA Public Schools minus what they label as the crazy, obsessive AAP discussion. But instead, the people who claimed to want to be rid of us, followed us here.

Really? You know this for a fact, that those people "followed you here"? I think you're giving yourself just a tad too much credit. There are quite a few new posters here who were probably never even around back when AAP was still a part of the VA Schools forum (like me, for instance). We're glad to have found the AAP forum because, like it or not, we have opinions concerning the program too and this is the place for them to be heard. At any rate, I'm glad to know that those of us who express disagreement over AAP issues can still come to this forum and express our views without being labled angry trolls or having our posts removed. That is, if our posts aren't reported for removal simply because someone didn't like what they said.

+1 If you think the program is sound, you shouldn't fear criticism. The sensitivity of so many hear suggests a little defensiveness. Or perhaps an attempt to justify a program that wouldn't accept many of your kids if the standards were higher.

It is not fear or sensitivity. More like tired, annoyed, bored with all the clutter. There are valid criticisms of the program and of course there is a place for that. But the same old, ugly bashing on threads that are about something entirely different really do not serve a purpose other than people ranting to relieve their frustrations.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I mean "here."

fairly new poster here - if you want to create your own AAP critique thread (good/bad/evil etc) to express your opinion - please do it and far be it from us to disuade you from sharing your opinion to the world. Trying not to sound angry or apply censorship, please let parents who are asking for information and those that have information collaborate w/o the over interjection of opinion and sometimes heckling in that thread.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I mean "here."

fairly new poster here - if you want to create your own AAP critique thread (good/bad/evil etc) to express your opinion - please do it and far be it from us to disuade you from sharing your opinion to the world. Trying not to sound angry or apply censorship, please let parents who are asking for information and those that have information collaborate w/o the over interjection of opinion and sometimes heckling in that thread.

Absolutely, we will do that. And it will be interesting to see how fast those of you who disagree with us will join in on said thread, even after shooing us away. See you there!