FCPS School Board candidates in Dranesville

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10/21/2019 15:26

Subject: Re:FCPS School Board candidates in Dranesville

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Anonymous

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The big story of this election is how a group of Langley parents from the Forestville ES part of Great Falls got so agitated over a rumor that they might get moved back to Herndon some day (never mind that Langley is under capacity and Herndon is full) that they started a well-funded group to try and replace the Democrats on the School Board with a bunch of right-wing Republicans more to their liking.

When they realized that people elsewhere wouldn’t care much about something that might only affect the Langley boundaries in 2032, they changed their name from “One Great Falls” to “Voices of Fairfax,” started pretending to care about the overcrowding at McLean, and struck an alliance with people like Elizabeth Schultz.

Then they found a weak candidate in Dranesville who only moved to the DC area after Trump’s election (Anastasia Karloutsos) and continued to spread misinformation about the School Board’s plans, in particular by suggesting that even considering SES factors when adjusting boundaries is tantamount to a county-wide redistricting to bus kids at every level back and forth across the county. The lies were so egregious that Superintendent Scott Brabrand, who has every incentive to stay out of their politics, felt compelled to issue a statement and video to debunk their claims.

Fortunately, there is a good choice in Dranesville: Elaine Tholen. She’s a long-time county resident and educator, with a strong commitment to forward-looking thinking. She lives in Great Falls, so it’s not like she’s going to throw Langley overboard, but her election should help put the non-productive rumor-mongering of groups like VOF to a halt.

Look another person who doesn't know what they are talking about. "a well-funded group"? HA! The group is made up of volunteers (many of whom are NOT wealthy and are NOT Republicans) who have not collected a cent and made a big impact by sharing the school boards OWN WORDS. You are clearly biased and ignorant about a messenger. McLean wouldn't even be on the CIP if it wasn't for Voices of Fairfax forcing the issue with the school board and their radical policy changes would have passed by now under the radar - withut your input - like they hoped. Voices of Fairfax isn't the only group either. One Mantua formed and is getting an equal cold shoulder from the school board and their candidates won't engage with them or show up to their debate. If they won't engage with the community while campaigning, why would you think they'd represent you once elected?

The fact of the matter is you have choices in front of you. Some issues are more pressing than others, and right now a radical agenda is being pushed on our children. If you look past your party lines for once and look at some of the Republican candidates at the moment, they are incredibly diverse and have children in the schools now! They are on fire when it comes to the boundary issue, transparency, and representing YOU. I am not a Republican, and I am impressed with how open they've been to discussing the issues with me. The Democrats this round are not the party I grew up with - they refuse to engage and get very hateful.

We have to stop this radical agenda from being pushed onto our children and get the school board focused on educational excellence (which is how we became the best public schools in the nation - we lost that title since). Howard County is going through this right now. They are just a diverse community as ours, with minorities speaking out against it. Their board wants to "spread poverty" around their county. Really?! That's the goal? Shouldn't they be meeting their obligation to make sure there is equal opportunity in every school for educational excellence?

Tholen hasn't a spine and won't vote against the progressive agenda. Her kids are grown. Ardavan is a hateful Democrat disguised as an Independent - we don't need another liar on the board - who can't give a complete answer on the issues (and has no chance). Those pushing this radical approach to close the achievement gap DO NOT HAVE KIDS IN FCPS. Redistricting to alleviate overcrowding is one thing (which they have refused to do until the spotlight hit them before an election). But redistricting to solve the “achievement gap” by mixing children up will not helping those kids that need it. MILLIONS OF DOLLARS are wasted by these people and their agendas. Wake up people and look passed your political biases and vote on the local issues in front of you. So, yes I'm voting Republican this round. Keep politics out of education!

Anastasia Karloutsos - a devotee of the "talk first, think later" Elizabeth Schultz school of politics - should move to Howard County if she's so worried about what will happen there. She hasn't lived in Fairfax long enough to understand the politics here are different. In fact, she only moved here from Philly two years ago when her husband took a political job with the Trump Administration. If Trump loses in 2020 (please!!), they will most likely leave and saddle the taxpayers with the $250K cost of another unnecessary special election, which is exactly what the Republicans inflicted on us after Jeannette Hough resigned in 2017 (they asked her to resign earlier than she needed to, because they thought their candidate would have a better shot in a special election than he'd have in the next general election).

I feel pretty good about Tholen serving as a sensible, moderate voice on the School Board. With Hynes leaving, she can also be a leader on environmental education and stewardship within FCPS, which is important to many of us and will save FCPS money over the long haul. It's ironic that PP is complaining that Tholen's kids are now out of FCPS - do they really think the rest of us don't realize they are the same people claiming elsewhere that Laura Jane Cohen would not have time to serve as the Springfield District representative because she has kids in FCPS. How about we let these women decide what they are capable of taking on, rather than make those decisions for them?

I don’t think you can count being new to the area against a candidate..... many of us are transplants. From what I can tell both Anastasia and Elaine are good, well-intentioned and sensible people who want to do right by kids and their constituents. I think it comes down to whether you think a democratic or republican agenda/priorities are better for our kids and county. Ardavan isn’t a consideration for me for two reasons.... history suggests he doesn’t have a chance of winning and he seems more focused on dissing both the Rs and the Ds then in talking about what he would do. I’m an independent who thinks both Elaine and Anastasia would make good additions to the school board...... just depends on your worldview. Democratic majority brought One Fairfax.... do you want more of that or less?

I actually don't think the Dranesville race comes down to whether you favor a Democratic or Republican agenda and priorities, although they are not irrelevant.

One adage attributed to Tip O'Neill is "all politics are local." In Dranesville's case, there are two candidates (Karloutsos and Mobasheri) who clearly were drawn into the race because they want to protect Langley's boundaries. Period. The arguments they make to advance that goal are different, but they are arguments in service to that goal.

Their candidacies may appeal to some in the Langley pyramid, especially those in Great Falls, but Dranesville also includes the McLean and Herndon pyramids and a good chunk of Marshall. And Tholen is the only one of the three candidates who appears to have been drawn into the race with the interests of students throughout the entire district in mind. In a sense, that may mean that she looks more favorably on One Fairfax, but that strikes me as a good thing, and I don't see One Fairfax as nearly as prescriptive as the Republicans, in particular, are claiming.

If the question that has to be asked in connection with every decision is "Is this good for Langley" or "Is this good for Dranesville (or Fairfax)," I'd rather have someone with the broader focus, and that is Tholen.