What can parents do to improve ACPS?
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Anonymous
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I have a child in ACPS right now and I know there is a lot of advice on what parents can do to help their child's performance in public schools. But is there anything parents, individually or collectively, can do to improve their community's public schools? I saw ACPS's news flash today that ACPS was one of six school districts in the country to receive a Raytheon Engineering is Elementary® (EiE®) District Scholarship grant award of $37,000. This is really great news (I think), but what really is the barrier to public schools being able to adopt these types of innovative curriculum through other mechanisms than just wishes and prayers? Is it money? Can the school PTA not launch an initiative to seek donations from the community to support the funding of innovative learning programs in their school? Is the problem egalitarianism or, in other words, prohibiting parents from "rich" communities to invest in their community public schools because of some perceived need to level the playing field among public schools? Speaking for myself, I would probably be more motivated to donate to the PTA if the donations were tied to funding specific initiatives and resources that would be utilized by the school to educate our kids. Maybe they already do this and I'm just clueless. If so, please enlighten me.
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Anonymous
Honestly, it would be great if you succeed, but many MANY others have tried to forge this path and failed. Which is why so many families move or go private as they approach middle school. So, I don't have an answer. I tried for seven years and then we gave up and moved to Arlington. We're very happy we did. It's a world of difference. |
Anonymous
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I don't see why your school's PTA couldn't put donations towards a specific initiative, like an engineering curriculum, which would be great! My kids PTA in ACPS does raise funds for a number of initiatives, teacher grants, teacher training, new technology for classrooms, etc, and they let us know what amount is going to what. I would talk to the PTA president at your school and see how you can get involved. I have a lot of friends with kids in both ACPS and arlington schools, and whole I'm sure many will have a different view, from what I can tell the kids are learning the same stuff. We are perfectly happy in ACPS. Thanks for posting about the grant.
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Anonymous
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In so many respects, the ACPS schools are actually quite good (yes, I know that this sentence alone will yield a firestorm; I don't offer the comment lightly -- we have private and other-public experience and the opinion is a considered one). I think the individual school PTAs and the city-wide PTAC are the best, most useful vehicles to help improve and support ACPS. An individual school PTA unit has astounding flexibility as to what it can do with its budget. And speaking with a PTA officer is typically easy to do.
The one big problem is that the school board doesn't agree as to the value of PTAs -- in fact, multiple school board members aren't even on speaking terms with any of the PTA officers. One school board member made the notorious white-women “PTA demographic” comment; another delivered incredibly insulting remarks in public directed to named PTA officers and then lied about it; another basically refused to meet under any terms with PTA leadership and instead told the PTAs that they had no rights beyond applying (at the school board’s total discretion) to become members of ACPS advisory groups. One school board member -- following 2013’s best-ever TC Williams college admissions record -- made public statements to the effect that TC doesn’t have 14 students who could pass the TJ entrance exam, which is a malicious and dumb comment. One school board member even privately arranged for an internal transfer of the board member’s kids to a different school for which they otherwise would have been ineligible. The current school board is completely tone-deaf to parent interests. This is also reflected in ACPS’s public announcements -- ACPS used to publicly announce everything (yes, it got loud); the current school board announces nothing that isn’t legally required, and sometimes not even that. The advantages to PTA participation include (1) you get direct input, usually in the context of a pretty small group, into school-level asks and offers; and (2) the ACPS school board sees that parents are indeed organized through active, visible PTAs, giving school board members an opportunity for an attitude-adjustment. |
Anonymous
The PTAs at the "rich" elementary schools (Lyles-Crouch, Maury, MacArthur) raise significantly more money (orders of magnitude more) than the "poor" school PTAs (like JH). It is not egalitarian at all. The money does get re-invested into those "rich" schools and it does make a difference. The flip-side is that a school like JH does get more federal and state funds, but it doesn't go towards the type of enrichment that a PTA would normally fund. |
Anonymous
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To 10:08
I certainly agree that there is a lot of good at ACPS, and appreciate that you point out your experience comes from someone who has also had exposure to other public and private schools. Too many ACPS bashers on this board assume the supporters must just be too ignorant to know better! However, as to your statement that "multiple school board members aren't even on speaking terms with any of the PTA officers." Huh? I'm an active PTA officer and also a member of a School Board Advisory Committee, and I enjoy open and frequent communication with multiple members of the school board who have never expressed anything but willingness to speak with me. I think the School Board is careful not to take PTA voice as the sole, ultimate gauge of "what parents think" because they know that active PTA members only represent a small portion of the community. This is not because PTAs don't active encourage wide and diverse membership, it's just the way things currently stand. It's not that I agree with everything the School Board has said and/or done--far from it. However, I think you seem to have an openly hostile and adversarial approach in your dealings with the School Board, whereas I tend to approach them as fellow community members who like me are dedicating a huge amount of their time and efforts in the service of Alexandria kids. We should therefore meet, discuss, share views, and try to move forward together. For OP, I agree with others that PTAs can certainly raise funds to help with innovative learning programs and materials for schools, and like the PPs can attest this does happen. I would only suggest that the parents of a PTA remember that the "T" stands for teacher, and when exploring these programs, they should actively seek input from teachers. The teachers at the individual school are best able to tell you if a program will work well, issues with implementation, and may be able to inform you of other programs you might not be aware of, programs that might be a better fit. OP, you are clearly an involved, dedicated parent, and you will find many like-minded folks in the ACPS community. Good luck in your efforts! |
Anonymous
| Is this a PR person? Wah? |
Anonymous
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Alexandria City Pubic School Elementary demographics suggest sticking to reading, writing and arithmetic and geography/history.
Really, new employers decry how kids graduating nowadays can't even write and do math, so they must offer remedial courses. Why on earth would we even wish to push Engineering in ACPS elementary schools? For the grant money itself? Probably so. 
The world is these young kids' oyster: they need to learn to socialize, play safe, and acquire learning basics at this young age. Their brains are still developing and neural pathways need to be used over and over again for memory to carry them successfully to and through adulthood. |
Anonymous
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Here is how parents in the City can make the schools stellar
Next election, vote in a Republican mayor and majority City Council who will be far more motivated to attract retain upper middle class families in the schools and will fund schools instead of affordable housing. With any luck, they would then also be keen to get rid of the rest of the unsightly public housing in Old Town, build something they can tax that hell out of, and use that money for further improvements n the City. |
Anonymous
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It's really tough. It would be great to see some follow through on this effort. This group held one meeting and never followed up, doing quite a disservice. It would be great so see someone revive this. There are a lot of parents with children below school age who would like to help rather than move:
http://oldtownalexandria.patch.com/groups/schools/p/alexandria-moms-found-friends-of-acps |
Anonymous
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Go support one of the tutoring or literacy non profits that run programs at various ACPS elementary schools or offer to lead an after school program in your area of expertise or interest at your local elementary. Grants such as the one from Raytheon are worthless unless kids have a firm grasp of the basics and that seems lacking even in the better-performing schools.
Most PTAs are in need of new and fresh ideas but are run by the same old cliques year after year. Don't waste much time and energy on them. |
Anonymous
Already in progress. City has rfps out for redevelopment of most of the remaining public housing sites in Old Town. |
Anonymous
wow, just wow. |
Anonymous
You mean the Arlington tout who claimed APS was a "world of difference"? Yeah, probably so. Either that, or an Arlington realtor. |
Anonymous
Arlington schools are phenomenally better. Better resources, better test scores, better graduation rates, better facilities, better differentiation, better governance, better organizational culture, better choices. This isn't PR. It's just fact. Ask anyone who's experienced both systems. |