Powerful Letter to the Arlington County School Board about Diversity

[Anonymous]

I listened to that episode of This American Life when it aired. Everyone should hear it.

[Anonymous]

This is very confusing. There are dozens of posts on DCUM about how Wakefield is already a great school. So why is there this mass outcry about moving students there and increasing the FARMS rate at Wakefield by a percent or two? Does it mean that Wakefield actually isn't nearly as good as the South Arlington real estate boosters want people to believe, or is it just some Trump-induced frenzy in which the North Arlington people come to terms with the fact that they aren't remotely as liberal as they want others to think?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is very confusing. There are dozens of posts on DCUM about how Wakefield is already a great school. So why is there this mass outcry about moving students there and increasing the FARMS rate at Wakefield by a percent or two? Does it mean that Wakefield actually isn't nearly as good as the South Arlington real estate boosters want people to believe, or is it just some Trump-induced frenzy in which the North Arlington people come to terms with the fact that they aren't remotely as liberal as they want others to think?

Is it cheating to say "some of both"?

First, yes, Wakefield absolutely has great teachers and students. In that sense, it's a great school. But schools don't operate in a vacuum. How students do depends on what their lives are like outside of school -- is their housing secure? are they getting enough to eat? do their families have the time and energy to connect with them emotionally?

Students on FRL are more likely to need other supports. Up to a point, that's not a problem. But over a certain percentage, as the letter notes, it does become a problem. So the goal is, at a minimum, not to inch ever closer to the point at which it does become a problem and instead to nudge it down a percentage point or two when the opportunity presents itself. Wakefield is probably always going to have the highest population of students who get FRL and Yorktown will probably always have the lowest. That's life. But choosing the option that most exacerbates the difference? That's BS.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is very confusing. There are dozens of posts on DCUM about how Wakefield is already a great school. So why is there this mass outcry about moving students there and increasing the FARMS rate at Wakefield by a percent or two? Does it mean that Wakefield actually isn't nearly as good as the South Arlington real estate boosters want people to believe, or is it just some Trump-induced frenzy in which the North Arlington people come to terms with the fact that they aren't remotely as liberal as they want others to think?

Yes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is very confusing. There are dozens of posts on DCUM about how Wakefield is already a great school. So why is there this mass outcry about moving students there and increasing the FARMS rate at Wakefield by a percent or two? Does it mean that Wakefield actually isn't nearly as good as the South Arlington real estate boosters want people to believe, or is it just some Trump-induced frenzy in which the North Arlington people come to terms with the fact that they aren't remotely as liberal as they want others to think?

Yes.

It's the same double-speak that you hear about TC Williams. Tangibly, Wakefield and TC Williams are poor-achieving schools. By tangibly, I mean by the numbers. But their supporters will say the schools are better than their numbers. There is probably truth to this, and it's also probably hyperbole and wishful thinking there too.

What they're really saying is they feel overburdened. That poor brown kids who don't speak English as a first language are a burden on achievement. And they are. And they want to share the burden. Casting it as achieving diversity is just window dressing -- this is actually about quotas.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is very confusing. There are dozens of posts on DCUM about how Wakefield is already a great school. So why is there this mass outcry about moving students there and increasing the FARMS rate at Wakefield by a percent or two? Does it mean that Wakefield actually isn't nearly as good as the South Arlington real estate boosters want people to believe, or is it just some Trump-induced frenzy in which the North Arlington people come to terms with the fact that they aren't remotely as liberal as they want others to think?

Yes.

It's the same double-speak that you hear about TC Williams. Tangibly, Wakefield and TC Williams are poor-achieving schools. By tangibly, I mean by the numbers. But their supporters will say the schools are better than their numbers. There is probably truth to this, and it's also probably hyperbole and wishful thinking there too.

What they're really saying is they feel overburdened. That poor brown kids who don't speak English as a first language are a burden on achievement. And they are. And they want to share the burden. Casting it as achieving diversity is just window dressing -- this is actually about quotas.

100% correct. Also. if you live in North Arlington and you paid a price premium to live in a better school district and then all of a sudden your school starts to get more lower SES aka sucky you are going to do everything in your power to stop that from happening. Do we really want another Alexandria situation where almost everyone with means sends their kids to private school. At least with the current setup you have some public schools that are amazing

[Anonymous]

If you agree with his op ed, sign Matthew Herrity's petition.

https://www.change.org/p/arlington-county-school-board-arlington-public-schools-integration

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is very confusing. There are dozens of posts on DCUM about how Wakefield is already a great school. So why is there this mass outcry about moving students there and increasing the FARMS rate at Wakefield by a percent or two? Does it mean that Wakefield actually isn't nearly as good as the South Arlington real estate boosters want people to believe, or is it just some Trump-induced frenzy in which the North Arlington people come to terms with the fact that they aren't remotely as liberal as they want others to think?

There is another element at play. Shifting wealth in the county. As more upper middle class homeowners settle in South Arlington, you are going to hear stronger resentments and accusations thrown around. I expect this letter will be picked up by the Post. This was a very small group of kids being moved, but it sent a very loud message to the young gentrifiers. The county is working against you and market forces. You thought Wakefield would naturally improve over the next decade? If left to market forces it would.
It will not be left to the market.
They will actively subvert gentrification.
There are decades of entrenched interests at work. They are better organized and not only work the system, they are the system.
Arlington public officials are very full of themselves. Curious to see how this scrutiny plays out.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is very confusing. There are dozens of posts on DCUM about how Wakefield is already a great school. So why is there this mass outcry about moving students there and increasing the FARMS rate at Wakefield by a percent or two? Does it mean that Wakefield actually isn't nearly as good as the South Arlington real estate boosters want people to believe, or is it just some Trump-induced frenzy in which the North Arlington people come to terms with the fact that they aren't remotely as liberal as they want others to think?

There is another element at play. Shifting wealth in the county. As more upper middle class homeowners settle in South Arlington, you are going to hear stronger resentments and accusations thrown around. I expect this letter will be picked up by the Post. This was a very small group of kids being moved, but it sent a very loud message to the young gentrifiers. The county is working against you and market forces. You thought Wakefield would naturally improve over the next decade? If left to market forces it would.
It will not be left to the market.
They will actively subvert gentrification.
There are decades of entrenched interests at work. They are better organized and not only work the system, they are the system.
Arlington public officials are very full of themselves. Curious to see how this scrutiny plays out.

Yup North Arlington has been calling the shots for decades. Most of them are emptynesters with no kids or jobs and nothing better to do than constantly attend meetings and talk to their officials

I think ALL affordable housing should go in North Arlington for the next 30 years. That's the only to actually fix anything. Of course getting that to happen is another story

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is very confusing. There are dozens of posts on DCUM about how Wakefield is already a great school. So why is there this mass outcry about moving students there and increasing the FARMS rate at Wakefield by a percent or two? Does it mean that Wakefield actually isn't nearly as good as the South Arlington real estate boosters want people to believe, or is it just some Trump-induced frenzy in which the North Arlington people come to terms with the fact that they aren't remotely as liberal as they want others to think?

There is another element at play. Shifting wealth in the county. As more upper middle class homeowners settle in South Arlington, you are going to hear stronger resentments and accusations thrown around. I expect this letter will be picked up by the Post. This was a very small group of kids being moved, but it sent a very loud message to the young gentrifiers. The county is working against you and market forces. You thought Wakefield would naturally improve over the next decade? If left to market forces it would.
It will not be left to the market.
They will actively subvert gentrification.
There are decades of entrenched interests at work. They are better organized and not only work the system, they are the system.
Arlington public officials are very full of themselves. Curious to see how this scrutiny plays out.

Yup North Arlington has been calling the shots for decades. Most of them are emptynesters with no kids or jobs and nothing better to do than constantly attend meetings and talk to their officials

I think ALL affordable housing should go in North Arlington for the next 30 years. That's the only to actually fix anything. Of course getting that to happen is another story

You need to raise the income in S. Arlington and not lower the income in N. Arlington Making. N. Arlington poorer isn't going to fix the issues with the school.
N. Arlington is full of nice high rise apt buildings. Why don't we see these in S. Arlington? This could help attract more families to move south.

On another note. This whole thing with AF drives me nuts. One of the main issue with poorer schools is that there tends to be a lack of parental involvement. If these AF parents sent their kids to Wakefield and put the same effort into improving Wakefield as they put into opposing going there, THIS would be a step in the right direction.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If you agree with his op ed, sign Matthew Herrity's petition.

https://www.change.org/p/arlington-county-school-board-arlington-public-schools-integration

Why should anyone sign a petition that has factual errors, such as asserting Madison HS is "inside the Beltway" or that Yorktown is the third least diverse school "inside the Beltway"?

The kid needs to fix all the sloppy errors, resubmit his paper for a better grade, and then see if anyone else wants to sign a petition. Egging him on right now isn't a good idea and just makes the W-L community look ignorant.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you agree with his op ed, sign Matthew Herrity's petition.

https://www.change.org/p/arlington-county-school-board-arlington-public-schools-integration

Why should anyone sign a petition that has factual errors, such as asserting Madison HS is "inside the Beltway" or that Yorktown is the third least diverse school "inside the Beltway"?

The kid needs to fix all the sloppy errors, resubmit his paper for a better grade, and then see if anyone else wants to sign a petition. Egging him on right now isn't a good idea and just makes the W-L community look ignorant.

Not to mention the gist of this is that Madison, McLean and Yorktown somehow need to be punished for their relative homogeneity? Yorktown has 35% minority enrollment -- that's fairly diverse by any national measure. The message here is that these schools should take some off the riff-raff so that Wakefield isn't overburdened. How is that a positive thing to say? It's deplorable, in fact.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you agree with his op ed, sign Matthew Herrity's petition.

https://www.change.org/p/arlington-county-school-board-arlington-public-schools-integration

Why should anyone sign a petition that has factual errors, such as asserting Madison HS is "inside the Beltway" or that Yorktown is the third least diverse school "inside the Beltway"?

The kid needs to fix all the sloppy errors, resubmit his paper for a better grade, and then see if anyone else wants to sign a petition. Egging him on right now isn't a good idea and just makes the W-L community look ignorant.

Not to mention the gist of this is that Madison, McLean and Yorktown somehow need to be punished for their relative homogeneity? Yorktown has 35% minority enrollment -- that's fairly diverse by any national measure. The message here is that these schools should take some off the riff-raff so that Wakefield isn't overburdened. How is that a positive thing to say? It's deplorable, in fact.

Economic diversity is the bigger issue, not racial diversity. Yorktown is very affluent compared to overall APS.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you agree with his op ed, sign Matthew Herrity's petition.

https://www.change.org/p/arlington-county-school-board-arlington-public-schools-integration

Why should anyone sign a petition that has factual errors, such as asserting Madison HS is "inside the Beltway" or that Yorktown is the third least diverse school "inside the Beltway"?

The kid needs to fix all the sloppy errors, resubmit his paper for a better grade, and then see if anyone else wants to sign a petition. Egging him on right now isn't a good idea and just makes the W-L community look ignorant.

Not to mention the gist of this is that Madison, McLean and Yorktown somehow need to be punished for their relative homogeneity? Yorktown has 35% minority enrollment -- that's fairly diverse by any national measure. The message here is that these schools should take some off the riff-raff so that Wakefield isn't overburdened. How is that a positive thing to say? It's deplorable, in fact.

Economic diversity is the bigger issue, not racial diversity. Yorktown is very affluent compared to overall APS.

Not according to the main takeaway of the student's article that started this thread.

[Anonymous]

Let me offer a different take on this redistricting that has some people so bent out of shape:

1. The impact on W-L is largely neutral, other than reducing the overcrowding there for a while.

2. It will give APS one large high school, Yorktown, that may end up as highly rated as some of the top schools in FCPS.

3. Increasing the FARMS rate at Wakefield 1-2% isn't going to stem the gentrification of South Arlington, because its location didn't change and it's still less expensive than North Arlington.

vs.

OMG, APS didn't use a small-scale boundary change as a pretext to totally realign the boundaries of schools that for many years have been around 15%, 30-35% and 45% FARMS, respectively.