APS: who is the best CB candidate on schools issues?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Just saw a Clement ad on fb and she says schools not trailers or something. Not saying support her but she is advertising she is for schools.

If you've ever seen her at a meeting, you would not feel comfortable voting for her.

She is crazy. Very.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:APS needs to control spending. The spending is out of control.

How do they do that and build more seats?

Something is wrong with APS when they spend so much more per student vs MoCo and FCPS and there is little to show for it.

You are right APS needs to come to the table and make cuts to get $$ from the CB. Maybe dollar for dollar. Ask for 50 Million, find 50 Million.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:APS needs to control spending. The spending is out of control.

How do they do that and build more seats?

Something is wrong with APS when they spend so much more per student vs MoCo and FCPS and there is little to show for it.

You are right APS needs to come to the table and make cuts to get $$ from the CB. Maybe dollar for dollar. Ask for 50 Million, find 50 Million.

iPads gone
Increase class sizes
Pay to play sports

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:APS needs to control spending. The spending is out of control.

How do they do that and build more seats?

Something is wrong with APS when they spend so much more per student vs MoCo and FCPS and there is little to show for it.

You are right APS needs to come to the table and make cuts to get $$ from the CB. Maybe dollar for dollar. Ask for 50 Million, find 50 Million.

iPads gone
Increase class sizes
Pay to play sports

Increasing class sizes won't address overcrowding, which is measure by the number of kids utilizing common spaces. If a school is at 140% capacity, it will still be at that capacity if there are 25 vs. 24 students in each K class.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:APS needs to control spending. The spending is out of control.

How do they do that and build more seats?

Something is wrong with APS when they spend so much more per student vs MoCo and FCPS and there is little to show for it.

Do you have a child in APS? What there is to show for it is significantly smaller class sizes, even in an environment of overcrowding. That costs a lot of money because teachers cost a lot of money. Not to mention APS pays teachers better. A ton of APS teachers have come from FCPS.

You can not agree with keeping smaller class sizes, but it's not rocket science why APS spends more per pupil.

I'm sure there is fat to trim as there always is in any large organization, but 60 percent of the Schools budget is salaries.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:APS needs to control spending. The spending is out of control.

How do they do that and build more seats?

Something is wrong with APS when they spend so much more per student vs MoCo and FCPS and there is little to show for it.

You are right APS needs to come to the table and make cuts to get $$ from the CB. Maybe dollar for dollar. Ask for 50 Million, find 50 Million.

iPads gone
Increase class sizes
Pay to play sports

Increasing class sizes won't address overcrowding, which is measure by the number of kids utilizing common spaces. If a school is at 140% capacity, it will still be at that capacity if there are 25 vs. 24 students in each K class.

Sigh... uh huh... but it will trim the budget.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:APS needs to control spending. The spending is out of control.

How do they do that and build more seats?

Something is wrong with APS when they spend so much more per student vs MoCo and FCPS and there is little to show for it.

You are right APS needs to come to the table and make cuts to get $$ from the CB. Maybe dollar for dollar. Ask for 50 Million, find 50 Million.

iPads gone
Increase class sizes
Pay to play sports

Increasing class sizes won't address overcrowding, which is measure by the number of kids utilizing common spaces. If a school is at 140% capacity, it will still be at that capacity if there are 25 vs. 24 students in each K class.

Sigh... uh huh... but it will trim the budget.

It's a bad place to trim the budget because smaller class sizes are better for students, especially since we don't track students and we have a vast spectrum of abilities. If one teacher is meant to differentiate appropriately, that task becomes more difficult with each additional student. Access to technology (for older students) is vital, but they are pushing back the 1-1 initiative thankfully. That may save some money, but not enough to make a real dent. And pay-to-play sports are not going to happen, not when everything the system does is trying to equalize access. Maybe a sliding scale would work. But I'd rather see them use that sliding scale for AP tests first. There is no reason for APS to pay for the children of millionaires to take AP exams they have no hope of passing, other than to goose the "challenge index" scores.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
It's a bad place to trim the budget because smaller class sizes are better for students, especially since we don't track students and we have a vast spectrum of abilities. If one teacher is meant to differentiate appropriately, that task becomes more difficult with each additional student. Access to technology (for older students) is vital, but they are pushing back the 1-1 initiative thankfully. That may save some money, but not enough to make a real dent. And pay-to-play sports are not going to happen, not when everything the system does is trying to equalize access. Maybe a sliding scale would work. But I'd rather see them use that sliding scale for AP tests first. There is no reason for APS to pay for the children of millionaires to take AP exams they have no hope of passing, other than to goose the "challenge index" scores.

Really?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
It's a bad place to trim the budget because smaller class sizes are better for students, especially since we don't track students and we have a vast spectrum of abilities. If one teacher is meant to differentiate appropriately, that task becomes more difficult with each additional student. Access to technology (for older students) is vital, but they are pushing back the 1-1 initiative thankfully. That may save some money, but not enough to make a real dent. And pay-to-play sports are not going to happen, not when everything the system does is trying to equalize access. Maybe a sliding scale would work. But I'd rather see them use that sliding scale for AP tests first. There is no reason for APS to pay for the children of millionaires to take AP exams they have no hope of passing, other than to goose the "challenge index" scores.

Really?

I think I need a source for that too, I don't remember that in the budget.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:APS needs to control spending. The spending is out of control.

How do they do that and build more seats?

Something is wrong with APS when they spend so much more per student vs MoCo and FCPS and there is little to show for it.

You are right APS needs to come to the table and make cuts to get $$ from the CB. Maybe dollar for dollar. Ask for 50 Million, find 50 Million.

iPads gone
Increase class sizes
Pay to play sports

Increasing class sizes won't address overcrowding, which is measure by the number of kids utilizing common spaces. If a school is at 140% capacity, it will still be at that capacity if there are 25 vs. 24 students in each K class.

Sigh... uh huh... but it will trim the budget.

It's a bad place to trim the budget because smaller class sizes are better for students, especially since we don't track students and we have a vast spectrum of abilities. If one teacher is meant to differentiate appropriately, that task becomes more difficult with each additional student. Access to technology (for older students) is vital, but they are pushing back the 1-1 initiative thankfully. That may save some money, but not enough to make a real dent. And pay-to-play sports are not going to happen, not when everything the system does is trying to equalize access. Maybe a sliding scale would work. But I'd rather see them use that sliding scale for AP tests first. There is no reason for APS to pay for the children of millionaires to take AP exams they have no hope of passing, other than to goose the "challenge index" scores.

So, exactly what things (multiple, things) does APS do that's not better for students do you think are good things to cut to trim the budget? When times are tough, you can't always do what is best for everyone and class sizes just may have to increase. When you look at the budget, there is never one single thing that people don't think is important or fight back on cutting. So other than iPads for 2nd graders (which will still be available in the schools, I assure you), what is not better for students that can be cut?

[Anonymous]

What? You have to PAY to take (AP) exams?!

Why? How is that possible?!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What? You have to PAY to take (AP) exams?!

Why? How is that possible?!

That’s what you’re outraged about? Where have you been? The parents in most jurisdictions have (for as long as I’m aware) been on the hook for paying or seeking a fee waiver. Arlington has been unusual in its decision to pay the fee for the exams.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What? You have to PAY to take (AP) exams?!

Why? How is that possible?!

That’s what you’re outraged about? Where have you been? The parents in most jurisdictions have (for as long as I’m aware) been on the hook for paying or seeking a fee waiver. Arlington has been unusual in its decision to pay the fee for the exams.

And in a crisis, this should be one of the first things to go. Certainly before increasing class sizes. They should extract every possible fee they can from parent who can afford it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What? You have to PAY to take (AP) exams?!

Why? How is that possible?!

That’s what you’re outraged about? Where have you been? The parents in most jurisdictions have (for as long as I’m aware) been on the hook for paying or seeking a fee waiver. Arlington has been unusual in its decision to pay the fee for the exams.

And in a crisis, this should be one of the first things to go. Certainly before increasing class sizes. They should extract every possible fee they can from parent who can afford it.

If you require more affluent families to pay for the exams, a not-insignificant number of them will decide not to have their kids take the exams because the private colleges they’re headed to won’t accept the scores for credit anyway. That drops the overall % of students taking and passing AP exams, which would ding APS in every school ranking metric.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What? You have to PAY to take (AP) exams?!

Why? How is that possible?!

That’s what you’re outraged about? Where have you been? The parents in most jurisdictions have (for as long as I’m aware) been on the hook for paying or seeking a fee waiver. Arlington has been unusual in its decision to pay the fee for the exams.

And in a crisis, this should be one of the first things to go. Certainly before increasing class sizes. They should extract every possible fee they can from parent who can afford it.

Agree it's one of the relatively small expenses that can go; but I'm tired of APS/government deciding who can afford things. Just because one household's income is above $80K/year doesn't mean they can afford all the fees for everything like a household with $200K/year income can.