School board reckoning?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

I am all in favor of a redistricting across the entire county. Lets shift all the boundaries so that over enrolled schools see relief and under enrolled schools see their seats being used. Families who are unhappy with their new schools are welcome to move to Private but the boundaries, as they stand right now, are bullshit.

Mass chaos. I suspect you have never been through a redistricting. Bad idea.

For who? The parents of kids that are in the higher income families maybe but better for the rest of the county. We have schools with declining population and schools that are bursting at the seems. We can alleviate a good amount of that by shifting the boundaries. We won't because the wealthy families will scream bloody murder and will contribute to whatever campaign they have to so that their kids don't have to attend school with kids who are under privileged.

Redistricting drops property values. This impacts all families. Keeps your hands off my school district. You won't like it if you don't.

DP. Why wouldn't redistricting also increase property values? Seems like it would just impact different neighborhoods differently.

And no threats, please. I'm not intimidated; it just makes you look silly.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

I am all in favor of a redistricting across the entire county. Lets shift all the boundaries so that over enrolled schools see relief and under enrolled schools see their seats being used. Families who are unhappy with their new schools are welcome to move to Private but the boundaries, as they stand right now, are bullshit.

Mass chaos. I suspect you have never been through a redistricting. Bad idea.

For who? The parents of kids that are in the higher income families maybe but better for the rest of the county. We have schools with declining population and schools that are bursting at the seems. We can alleviate a good amount of that by shifting the boundaries. We won't because the wealthy families will scream bloody murder and will contribute to whatever campaign they have to so that their kids don't have to attend school with kids who are under privileged.

Redistricting drops property values. This impacts all families. Keeps your hands off my school district. You won't like it if you don't.

DP. Why wouldn't redistricting also increase property values? Seems like it would just impact different neighborhoods differently.

And no threats, please. I'm not intimidated; it just makes you look silly.

Sorry. Not meant as a threat to you. Long answer. Redistricting impacts property values negatively for those that are moving to a "bad" district. They will not like it, support political moves that in the long run are counterproductive to the overall agenda or equity. Far better to extract more taxes from the rich and spend that on improving the "bad" schools. Easier for people to pay up rather than have their status quo impacted.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes f the lower income kids, why should they get the same good quality education as us especially at Langley.

No more bussing and no more equity, why should I have to work myself half to death to get them up to grade level. It’s just too much, it’s insane, I’m not god, I cannot create miracles okrrr

There is no busing. The only kids who are bused are kids going to the AAP Centers. And most of those kids are not the lower income kids that you are worried about. The kids moving from the Title I school to the AAP Center are the Middle Class kids whose parents bought into a Title I school boundary so they could afford a bigger house in FCPS. They wanted the 4-5 bedroom house with big kitchen but couldn't pay McLean/Great Falls/Vienna prices so they bought into Dogwood and now they want to leave Dogwood ES. The lower income kids at Dogwood tend to stay at Dogwood because the parents don't understand AAP or don't/can't deal with kids at different schedules.

No one is saying that the kids in Title I schools shouldn't receive a quality education. What people are saying is that you should not lower the standards at other schools so that the gap between the Title I schools and the other schools looks to be less. Lowering the standards for MC and UMC class kids does not solve the problem at Title I schools. It does a crappy job of hiding the problem but it doesn't solve the problem.

The reality is that people with lower levels of education tend to value education less then people with higher levels of education. People with lower levels of education tend to read less to their kids when they are babies/toddlers/in preschool ages. They tend to play fewer games with their kids that would teach reading, math, and problem solving. There is a ton of research out there showing the correlation between income level and a child's preparedness for school and a child's performance in school.

Kids from MC and UMC families start school with a huge advantage in learning because they had parents who engaged with them in academic subjects in non-academic ways. The kids of MC and UMC families tend to have been read to, they know their sounds and letters and numbers. They know their colors and shapes. They have been exposed to math and science through trips to museums and watching TV shows that are meant to stimulate those interests.

PreK programs like Head Start are meant to help bridge that gap but they can only do so much. And parents have to be willing to enroll their kids in Head Start, or similar programs, which means learning about the program, working through the process to enroll the child, and get the child to the program. Those are hurdles that many lower income families struggle with.

Title I schools receive additional funds and have smaller classes and provide more supports for kids because we want to address this educational gap but the gap continues to grow.

Screwing over the kids of MC and UMC families in public schools does nothing to help the kids of lower income families. It is not helping those kids catch up it is simply stunting kids whose parents are better off.

I would not oppose a program to bus kids from Title I schools MC and UMC schools. If the parents could volunteer their kids to participate and the parents wanted their kids to attend those schools. And if there were supports in place in K-2 to help those kids address the gaps that exist. I suspect that the families who would take that option would be the same families desperate to send their kids to the AAP Center because they want to escpae the school. Kind of like the families who say they want their kid to go to an AP program in high school isn't IB. The parents really don't care about the IB, they just don't want their kid at Justice or Lewis or Mt. Vernon and AP is the excuse for leaving for a different high school.

I would not oppose a program to bus kids from MC and UMC kids to Title I schools if there are parents who want to do that. But I seriously doubt that would happen. I can't see a parent at Great Falls or any of the Langley or McLean pyramids being willing to send their kids to Hutchinson or Dogwood.

The equity agenda that the School Board has been pushing does nothing to fix the systemic causes of the education gap and only hinders the education of kids whose parents are are middle and upper middle class.

Thank you for this. I enjoy reading intelligent arguments on DCUM, they are rare when they support controversial issues.

[Anonymous]

I would not oppose a program to bus kids from Title I schools MC and UMC schools. If the parents could volunteer their kids to participate and the parents wanted their kids to attend those schools. And if there were supports in place in K-2 to help those kids address the gaps that exist. I suspect that the families who would take that option would be the same families desperate to send their kids to the AAP Center because they want to escpae the school. Kind of like the families who say they want their kid to go to an AP program in high school isn't IB. The parents really don't care about the IB, they just don't want their kid at Justice or Lewis or Mt. Vernon and AP is the excuse for leaving for a different high school.

The first part is reasonable. That's what so many people on DCUM pushing for busing don't understand. I taught in a bused school. So many problems when poor kids are bused in. No shows for parent conferences (and it was not because they were at work); truancy; child gets sick? stays in the nurse's office all day; no participation in school activities, etc. It not only does not help the kids, it can work to their detriment.

As for the AP/IB issue. There are plenty of people who don't want IB that are not escaping schools.

[Anonymous]

Anyone else get that email from McKay today - I laughed that the Dems are trying to do damage control! (I am a Dem - but that was totally trying to damage control - but I am glad that they kinda of know it's their fault that the Rs won because they closed school for so long).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Anyone else get that email from McKay today - I laughed that the Dems are trying to do damage control! (I am a Dem - but that was totally trying to damage control - but I am glad that they kinda of know it's their fault that the Rs won because they closed school for so long).

I did. It was a lot of walking back McAuliffe's comments during the campaign about parental involvement in the schools. The BOS doesn't want contagion effects, especially knowing so many people in the county are already unhappy with the 12-0 (D) School Board.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Anyone else get that email from McKay today - I laughed that the Dems are trying to do damage control! (I am a Dem - but that was totally trying to damage control - but I am glad that they kinda of know it's their fault that the Rs won because they closed school for so long).

I did. It was a lot of walking back McAuliffe's comments during the campaign about parental involvement in the schools. The BOS doesn't want contagion effects, especially knowing so many people in the county are already unhappy with the 12-0 (D) School Board.

This part was hilarious!

“ Central to the culture of both the Board of Supervisors and School Board is parental and resident engagement. No decision is ever final without the input of our community. While this culture doesn't exist everywhere, we are proud it exists here and know it is one of the many things that makes us successful in Fairfax County.”

[Anonymous]

“ Central to the culture of both the Board of Supervisors and School Board is parental and resident engagement. No decision is ever final without the input of our community. While this culture doesn't exist everywhere, we are proud it exists here and know it is one of the many things that makes us successful in Fairfax County.”

Yes. Please give us your input while we sit here on our phones or look at our computer screens. We'd rather do anything than look at your faces.

I didn't like that woman reading out the graphic language at the SB meeting, but simple statement that the language is too offensive for this meeting. But, we HEAR you and will look into it would have gone a long way to making SB look better.

And, looking back only way the community found out about those books. I never paid any attention to what was in the school library--and I volunteered in the high school librarty.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Anyone else get that email from McKay today - I laughed that the Dems are trying to do damage control! (I am a Dem - but that was totally trying to damage control - but I am glad that they kinda of know it's their fault that the Rs won because they closed school for so long).

I didn't. could you copy paste it here

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Anyone else get that email from McKay today - I laughed that the Dems are trying to do damage control! (I am a Dem - but that was totally trying to damage control - but I am glad that they kinda of know it's their fault that the Rs won because they closed school for so long).

I didn't. could you copy paste it here

He has a whole newsletter you can sign up for if you want. But this was the intro today.

To the Fairfax County Community,

Tuesday was a big Election Day in Virginia and I want to first thank the hundreds of election workers who stepped up and served on Election Day and the 431,525 County residents who took the time to exercise their democratic right to vote. Clearly all the progress to make voting easier was appreciated by so many voters!

Second, I want congratulate our Governor-Elect Glenn Youngkin, Lieutenant Governor-Elect Winsome Sears, Attorney General-Elect Jason Miyares, and our entire House of Delegates delegation that represents Fairfax County.

Certainly schools were one of the big issues this election and education is the most important priority in Fairfax County. While the School Board makes operational and curriculum based decisions on schools, Fairfax County Public Schools makes up over half of the Fairfax County budget. We know that our schools are a key driver to our economic success and a critical reason many people choose to live here. FCPS has also always been a place of parental involvement and engagement. Whether its the PTA, the booster club, parent surveys and stakeholder groups, room parents, or direct communication with our world class teachers and administrators - parents always have access to their schools. I know this because I am the proud parent of two FCPS students myself.

That collaboration is a key reason our schools are among the best in the US. We also recognize that our teachers are professionals, know what they are doing, love their students, and are always open to parental input.

Central to the culture of both the Board of Supervisors and School Board is parental and resident engagement. No decision is ever final without the input of our community. While this culture doesn't exist everywhere, we are proud it exists here and know it is one of the many things that makes us successful in Fairfax County.

Now that the election is over, as Chairman I will be working with this new administration and the General Assembly, as I always have, to advocate for Fairfax County's most important issues.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

I am all in favor of a redistricting across the entire county. Lets shift all the boundaries so that over enrolled schools see relief and under enrolled schools see their seats being used. Families who are unhappy with their new schools are welcome to move to Private but the boundaries, as they stand right now, are bullshit.

Mass chaos. I suspect you have never been through a redistricting. Bad idea.

For who? The parents of kids that are in the higher income families maybe but better for the rest of the county. We have schools with declining population and schools that are bursting at the seems. We can alleviate a good amount of that by shifting the boundaries. We won't because the wealthy families will scream bloody murder and will contribute to whatever campaign they have to so that their kids don't have to attend school with kids who are under privileged.

Why have any excellent schools when you can have 20 high schools that are equitably below average?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

I am all in favor of a redistricting across the entire county. Lets shift all the boundaries so that over enrolled schools see relief and under enrolled schools see their seats being used. Families who are unhappy with their new schools are welcome to move to Private but the boundaries, as they stand right now, are bullshit.

Mass chaos. I suspect you have never been through a redistricting. Bad idea.

For who? The parents of kids that are in the higher income families maybe but better for the rest of the county. We have schools with declining population and schools that are bursting at the seems. We can alleviate a good amount of that by shifting the boundaries. We won't because the wealthy families will scream bloody murder and will contribute to whatever campaign they have to so that their kids don't have to attend school with kids who are under privileged.

Redistricting drops property values. This impacts all families. Keeps your hands off my school district. You won't like it if you don't.

DP. Why wouldn't redistricting also increase property values? Seems like it would just impact different neighborhoods differently.

And no threats, please. I'm not intimidated; it just makes you look silly.

Redistricting homes out of good school districts is a terrible attack on housing values.

Anything that immediately drops a neighborhoods housing values by tens or even a hundred thousand dollars or more is completely unacceptable.

You knew where your home was zoned when you bought it.

Those who did their research should not be punished and have thousands of dollars of money taken away because you failed to do your research prior to buying.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

I am all in favor of a redistricting across the entire county. Lets shift all the boundaries so that over enrolled schools see relief and under enrolled schools see their seats being used. Families who are unhappy with their new schools are welcome to move to Private but the boundaries, as they stand right now, are bullshit.

Mass chaos. I suspect you have never been through a redistricting. Bad idea.

For who? The parents of kids that are in the higher income families maybe but better for the rest of the county. We have schools with declining population and schools that are bursting at the seems. We can alleviate a good amount of that by shifting the boundaries. We won't because the wealthy families will scream bloody murder and will contribute to whatever campaign they have to so that their kids don't have to attend school with kids who are under privileged.

Redistricting drops property values. This impacts all families. Keeps your hands off my school district. You won't like it if you don't.

DP. Why wouldn't redistricting also increase property values? Seems like it would just impact different neighborhoods differently.

And no threats, please. I'm not intimidated; it just makes you look silly.

Redistricting homes out of good school districts is a terrible attack on housing values.

Anything that immediately drops a neighborhoods housing values by tens or even a hundred thousand dollars or more is completely unacceptable.

You knew where your home was zoned when you bought it.

Those who did their research should not be punished and have thousands of dollars of money taken away because you failed to do your research prior to buying.

Failed to do their research? You understand that not everyone can afford wealthy neighborhoods? DCUM showing its privilege and ignorance.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

I am all in favor of a redistricting across the entire county. Lets shift all the boundaries so that over enrolled schools see relief and under enrolled schools see their seats being used. Families who are unhappy with their new schools are welcome to move to Private but the boundaries, as they stand right now, are bullshit.

Mass chaos. I suspect you have never been through a redistricting. Bad idea.

For who? The parents of kids that are in the higher income families maybe but better for the rest of the county. We have schools with declining population and schools that are bursting at the seems. We can alleviate a good amount of that by shifting the boundaries. We won't because the wealthy families will scream bloody murder and will contribute to whatever campaign they have to so that their kids don't have to attend school with kids who are under privileged.

Redistricting drops property values. This impacts all families. Keeps your hands off my school district. You won't like it if you don't.

DP. Why wouldn't redistricting also increase property values? Seems like it would just impact different neighborhoods differently.

And no threats, please. I'm not intimidated; it just makes you look silly.

Redistricting homes out of good school districts is a terrible attack on housing values.

Anything that immediately drops a neighborhoods housing values by tens or even a hundred thousand dollars or more is completely unacceptable.

You knew where your home was zoned when you bought it.

Those who did their research should not be punished and have thousands of dollars of money taken away because you failed to do your research prior to buying.

Failed to do their research? You understand that not everyone can afford wealthy neighborhoods? DCUM showing its privilege and ignorance.

Not PP but I agree. There are plenty of non-failing schools that are not in Uber pricy areas like McLean. I live out in Burke and work close in. Yes it is far. But there is a mix of SFH, TH and Apts here which fit a range of incomes.

[Anonymous]

I am all in favor of a redistricting across the entire county. Lets shift all the boundaries so that over enrolled schools see relief and under enrolled schools see their seats being used. Families who are unhappy with their new schools are welcome to move to Private but the boundaries, as they stand right now, are bullshit.


Mass chaos. I suspect you have never been through a redistricting. Bad idea.


For who? The parents of kids that are in the higher income families maybe but better for the rest of the county. We have schools with declining population and schools that are bursting at the seems. We can alleviate a good amount of that by shifting the boundaries. We won't because the wealthy families will scream bloody murder and will contribute to whatever campaign they have to so that their kids don't have to attend school with kids who are under privileged.

When a school with a declining population is losing 200 kids to AP, that is a problem with the school--not the boundaries. So, your solution is to send other kids there?

And, it may surprise you to know that even people in lower income schools do not necessarily wish to be sent to higher income schools. Case in point: neighborhoods sent from Chantilly to Oakton in 2008. At that time, Oakton was rated significantly higher than Chantilly. Yet, the neighborhood wished to stay where they were. So much that years later, when Kathy Smith was running for Supervisor that a parent was charged with attacking Smith when she was door knocking.

Redistricting is not just about home values. It is also about the community that is developed around the school--sports, band, drama, etc. It is about students and their families.

It is extremely disruptive to families and neighborhoods--and actually pits neighborhoods against neighborhoods within a community. (Neighborhoods fight to stay within the school's boundary over other competing neighborhoods. It is not pretty. )

Families end up with kids in different schools. Two PTA's, two different event schedules, two different Open Houses, two different venues for just about all activities.

The hard work is to make the schools stronger. That is what the SB refuses to acknowledge. And, changing names does not change the culture.