Dr. Duran must go

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Duran isn't perfect butt he's the best we've have maybe since Smith. Certainly better than Murphy. New parents here who are outraged should take a breath. It's a long, hard slog, and you'll come to appreciate APS is better than most.

I agree. Plus with the shortage of superintendent candidates, the 10 million dollar lawsuit, the outdoor lab incident and a recent overdose there’s zero chance we could get someone better

You think the lawsuit and outdoor lab incident and overdose are bad? wait till y'all find out about "grading for equity" that APS is mandating and what it means (don't be fooled by that name), hold tight parents.

It's not "grading for equity".

Do you mean it’s not *called* grading for equity, or that it’s not grading for *actual* equity? And can someone tell us the basics of this thing?

+ 1 - can someone please explain the new policy and why it's bad?

Because no one fails so they all fail. They’re bringing everyone down to the lowest level. If you can’t understand what that’s bad I can’t help you.

Mastery based grading is another name for this. Letter grades are dropped in favor of descriptions of the level of mastery attained. There are no failures or negative assessments. Most public school districts and some private schools are adopting aspects of this equitable and revolutionary grading system all over the country. It’s a learning process by many schools to see what works for their student population. But so far according to compiled data, this new grading system has successfully reduced the achievement gap for the first time: less A grades (or the equivalent) and no failures. Check out the book by leading proponent and educator Joe Feldman: Grading for Equity: What It Is, Why It Matters, and How It Can Transform Schools and Classrooms

While are a number of bespoke versions of the mastery or skills based grading, there are a number of commonalities.

In general, soft skills no longer factor into grades: These include study habits, classroom participation, tardiness, attendance, classroom behavior, homework completion, etc. Assessments solely focus on the mastery of subject matter, and nothing else.

A final assessment accounts for roughly 90% of the grade. And unlimited retests (and tutoring if needed) are offered to students to increase their level of mastery.

Notably teachers are pushing back against this new grading system that ignores soft skills and prioritizes an end of term assessment. But there are proponents among parents and school administrators.

Thank you for taking the time to explain this. Is there a link to it? I'm a pretty involved parent, I though, but I can't find it.

The Post and other newspapers have reported on the this. I forget what month. I have it delivered, so I don’t have the link. ARLnow reported on Wakefield teachers strongly rejecting the grading, homework, etc overhaul last year. Hispanic parents were concerned about the inability to comprehend the non letter based grading system, which uses vague descriptions of subject mastery.

The book by Feldman “Grading for Equity” provides an excellent overview of this new pedagogy that has successfully reduced the achievement gap for the first time.

This new system works for school systems with diverse populations where it helps to even the playing field. But for a district like Scarsdale or Bronxville for example, which are close to 100% upper middle class, this new standards based grading would have little relevance. So I don’t see all school districts adopting it. But most will adopt it to some degree and adjust based on a school’s or district’s needs.

I suggest politely contacting the diversity and inclusion office for info re APS schools. Do note that it’s not all figured out yet. So no need to immediately jump to conclusions.

This is another primary reason I'm against implementing this grading system. Typical APS implements without having it all figured out. That just creates chaos and confusion and disparities in implementation and results from school to school. They should not implement a new grading system without it being entirely ironed out and all teachers fully trained, with all administrators at every school managing it the same way. Period.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:From my view since he got here:

Move to DIEBELS and math inventory. Relying on PALS was a joke. We used to get no objective info on math progress.
Move away from crap-tastic Lucy Calkins curriculum and back to teaching reading properly.
Middle school intensified classes (this is huge and if you're not there yet you don't know how huge it is)
Much clearer and more consistent communication about things I actually care about
The recent announcement about the ability to lock down the school ipads and laptops at home is a big improvement
I am impressed with his budget proposal this year and how much it is focused on the reality of the drug and mental health situations in the middle high schools. Some things that should make a real difference.

Eh the move to phonics based instruction was state mandated, not anything to do with Duran although I agree that phonics instruction IS reading instruction, I wouldn't give that to Duran as a win. I also am not anti-Duran, but cautiously optimistic that after growing central office, he will start to control and tame the beast. I'm willing to give him more time especially in the current hiring environment.

Nope APS did this, it was not state driven.

There is a law. Did you not know?
https://www.doe.virginia.gov/teaching-learning-assessment/k-12-standards-instruction/english-reading-literacy/literacy/virginia-literacy-act

I’ll give you that both Aps and FCPS started early but it was pushed by many factors. It isn’t Duran acting by himself. The NAACP
Had a big role.

Yes there is a law but APS made the change BEFORE the law. Advocates pushed this for years but got nowhere until Duran came in. Did you not know this?

There are a lot of johnny come latelies who only started paying attention to their kids' education when schools closed. This is probably one of then. The OP is probably another. People have no clue how bad the PE teacher was. Did they complain back then? Doubt it.

NP here. This is just a general response to your comment, but I’ve seen a lot of similar comments in this forum and other groups that are negative about newcomers/people just now paying attention. I’ve had someone shut down my criticisms because the prior superintendent was apparently pretty bad from what I can glean and I guess I didn’t know enough about the past history of APS prior to the pandemic.

But … my oldest started K in 2020. We moved here late 2019. This is a transient area. So a lot of the “Johnny come latelies” may be parents who didn’t even live here or have kids in school prior to Duran. I’m a bit tired of this discourse from older parents shutting down newer parents from having any opinions about what is currently going on in APS.

I’ve made comments before that some parents only started to pay attention during the pandemic. I was referring to specific parents I know who already had kids in APS and really didn’t GAF about school at all before covid. Like never even attended a PTA meeting. Then all of the sudden they are experts on schools/students/teachers and tried to aggressively force teachers/staff to obey them even though they were clueless. And they got ugly about it. Most have gone back to not GAF but some still try to force their (uninformed) opinions on the rest of us.

No, the problem was that the parents involved in APS pre-pandemic were not representative of the school system whatsoever. Like when 75% choose an in-person option in the Fall 2020, the parents on AEM are very opposed to going back and no APS org says anything to support the parents.

And now many parents have woken up that they do need to pay attention. Hence the focus on what's happening now.

I do think you have some Tony Romo like-issues with Superintendents though (Cowboys could never get rid of him because you couldn't get another better quarterback). Who else are we going to get?!? Is there anyone good even available? How long will it take them to get up to speed?

At least Durán knows APS, knows the community, etc.

You just do not get it. At all. Just because you don't agree with the majority of parents on AEM does not mean the thousands on AEM are the out of touch ones.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:From my view since he got here:

Move to DIEBELS and math inventory. Relying on PALS was a joke. We used to get no objective info on math progress.
Move away from crap-tastic Lucy Calkins curriculum and back to teaching reading properly.
Middle school intensified classes (this is huge and if you're not there yet you don't know how huge it is)
Much clearer and more consistent communication about things I actually care about
The recent announcement about the ability to lock down the school ipads and laptops at home is a big improvement
I am impressed with his budget proposal this year and how much it is focused on the reality of the drug and mental health situations in the middle high schools. Some things that should make a real difference.

Eh the move to phonics based instruction was state mandated, not anything to do with Duran although I agree that phonics instruction IS reading instruction, I wouldn't give that to Duran as a win. I also am not anti-Duran, but cautiously optimistic that after growing central office, he will start to control and tame the beast. I'm willing to give him more time especially in the current hiring environment.

Nope APS did this, it was not state driven.

There is a law. Did you not know?
https://www.doe.virginia.gov/teaching-learning-assessment/k-12-standards-instruction/english-reading-literacy/literacy/virginia-literacy-act

I’ll give you that both Aps and FCPS started early but it was pushed by many factors. It isn’t Duran acting by himself. The NAACP
Had a big role.

Yes there is a law but APS made the change BEFORE the law. Advocates pushed this for years but got nowhere until Duran came in. Did you not know this?

There are a lot of johnny come latelies who only started paying attention to their kids' education when schools closed. This is probably one of then. The OP is probably another. People have no clue how bad the PE teacher was. Did they complain back then? Doubt it.

NP here. This is just a general response to your comment, but I’ve seen a lot of similar comments in this forum and other groups that are negative about newcomers/people just now paying attention. I’ve had someone shut down my criticisms because the prior superintendent was apparently pretty bad from what I can glean and I guess I didn’t know enough about the past history of APS prior to the pandemic.

But … my oldest started K in 2020. We moved here late 2019. This is a transient area. So a lot of the “Johnny come latelies” may be parents who didn’t even live here or have kids in school prior to Duran. I’m a bit tired of this discourse from older parents shutting down newer parents from having any opinions about what is currently going on in APS.

I’ve made comments before that some parents only started to pay attention during the pandemic. I was referring to specific parents I know who already had kids in APS and really didn’t GAF about school at all before covid. Like never even attended a PTA meeting. Then all of the sudden they are experts on schools/students/teachers and tried to aggressively force teachers/staff to obey them even though they were clueless. And they got ugly about it. Most have gone back to not GAF but some still try to force their (uninformed) opinions on the rest of us.

No, the problem was that the parents involved in APS pre-pandemic were not representative of the school system whatsoever. Like when 75% choose an in-person option in the Fall 2020, the parents on AEM are very opposed to going back and no APS org says anything to support the parents.

And now many parents have woken up that they do need to pay attention. Hence the focus on what's happening now.

I do think you have some Tony Romo like-issues with Superintendents though (Cowboys could never get rid of him because you couldn't get another better quarterback). Who else are we going to get?!? Is there anyone good even available? How long will it take them to get up to speed?

At least Durán knows APS, knows the community, etc.

You just do not get it. At all. Just because you don't agree with the majority of parents on AEM does not mean the thousands on AEM are the out of touch ones.

There are very few posters on AEM these days. The thousands of lurkers prob disagree w the crazy posters but they see what happens to dissenting or differing views. The cotton balls is illustrative of this. And it is pretty telling to see what the RTS surveys showed and how different it was on AEM.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:From my view since he got here:

Move to DIEBELS and math inventory. Relying on PALS was a joke. We used to get no objective info on math progress.
Move away from crap-tastic Lucy Calkins curriculum and back to teaching reading properly.
Middle school intensified classes (this is huge and if you're not there yet you don't know how huge it is)
Much clearer and more consistent communication about things I actually care about
The recent announcement about the ability to lock down the school ipads and laptops at home is a big improvement
I am impressed with his budget proposal this year and how much it is focused on the reality of the drug and mental health situations in the middle high schools. Some things that should make a real difference.

Eh the move to phonics based instruction was state mandated, not anything to do with Duran although I agree that phonics instruction IS reading instruction, I wouldn't give that to Duran as a win. I also am not anti-Duran, but cautiously optimistic that after growing central office, he will start to control and tame the beast. I'm willing to give him more time especially in the current hiring environment.

Nope APS did this, it was not state driven.

There is a law. Did you not know?
https://www.doe.virginia.gov/teaching-learning-assessment/k-12-standards-instruction/english-reading-literacy/literacy/virginia-literacy-act

I’ll give you that both Aps and FCPS started early but it was pushed by many factors. It isn’t Duran acting by himself. The NAACP
Had a big role.

Yes there is a law but APS made the change BEFORE the law. Advocates pushed this for years but got nowhere until Duran came in. Did you not know this?

There are a lot of johnny come latelies who only started paying attention to their kids' education when schools closed. This is probably one of then. The OP is probably another. People have no clue how bad the PE teacher was. Did they complain back then? Doubt it.

NP here. This is just a general response to your comment, but I’ve seen a lot of similar comments in this forum and other groups that are negative about newcomers/people just now paying attention. I’ve had someone shut down my criticisms because the prior superintendent was apparently pretty bad from what I can glean and I guess I didn’t know enough about the past history of APS prior to the pandemic.

But … my oldest started K in 2020. We moved here late 2019. This is a transient area. So a lot of the “Johnny come latelies” may be parents who didn’t even live here or have kids in school prior to Duran. I’m a bit tired of this discourse from older parents shutting down newer parents from having any opinions about what is currently going on in APS.

I’ve made comments before that some parents only started to pay attention during the pandemic. I was referring to specific parents I know who already had kids in APS and really didn’t GAF about school at all before covid. Like never even attended a PTA meeting. Then all of the sudden they are experts on schools/students/teachers and tried to aggressively force teachers/staff to obey them even though they were clueless. And they got ugly about it. Most have gone back to not GAF but some still try to force their (uninformed) opinions on the rest of us.

No, the problem was that the parents involved in APS pre-pandemic were not representative of the school system whatsoever. Like when 75% choose an in-person option in the Fall 2020, the parents on AEM are very opposed to going back and no APS org says anything to support the parents.

And now many parents have woken up that they do need to pay attention. Hence the focus on what's happening now.

I do think you have some Tony Romo like-issues with Superintendents though (Cowboys could never get rid of him because you couldn't get another better quarterback). Who else are we going to get?!? Is there anyone good even available? How long will it take them to get up to speed?

At least Durán knows APS, knows the community, etc.

You just do not get it. At all. Just because you don't agree with the majority of parents on AEM does not mean the thousands on AEM are the out of touch ones.

There are very few posters on AEM these days. The thousands of lurkers prob disagree w the crazy posters but they see what happens to dissenting or differing views. The cotton balls is illustrative of this. And it is pretty telling to see what the RTS surveys showed and how different it was on AEM.

+1. The "regular" posters on there attack hard and shut down reasonable discussion quickly. I live north of Langston, so I know that my thoughts on anything are neither sought nor welcomed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:From my view since he got here:

Move to DIEBELS and math inventory. Relying on PALS was a joke. We used to get no objective info on math progress.
Move away from crap-tastic Lucy Calkins curriculum and back to teaching reading properly.
Middle school intensified classes (this is huge and if you're not there yet you don't know how huge it is)
Much clearer and more consistent communication about things I actually care about
The recent announcement about the ability to lock down the school ipads and laptops at home is a big improvement
I am impressed with his budget proposal this year and how much it is focused on the reality of the drug and mental health situations in the middle high schools. Some things that should make a real difference.

Eh the move to phonics based instruction was state mandated, not anything to do with Duran although I agree that phonics instruction IS reading instruction, I wouldn't give that to Duran as a win. I also am not anti-Duran, but cautiously optimistic that after growing central office, he will start to control and tame the beast. I'm willing to give him more time especially in the current hiring environment.

Nope APS did this, it was not state driven.

There is a law. Did you not know?
https://www.doe.virginia.gov/teaching-learning-assessment/k-12-standards-instruction/english-reading-literacy/literacy/virginia-literacy-act

I’ll give you that both Aps and FCPS started early but it was pushed by many factors. It isn’t Duran acting by himself. The NAACP
Had a big role.

Yes there is a law but APS made the change BEFORE the law. Advocates pushed this for years but got nowhere until Duran came in. Did you not know this?

There are a lot of johnny come latelies who only started paying attention to their kids' education when schools closed. This is probably one of then. The OP is probably another. People have no clue how bad the PE teacher was. Did they complain back then? Doubt it.

NP here. This is just a general response to your comment, but I’ve seen a lot of similar comments in this forum and other groups that are negative about newcomers/people just now paying attention. I’ve had someone shut down my criticisms because the prior superintendent was apparently pretty bad from what I can glean and I guess I didn’t know enough about the past history of APS prior to the pandemic.

But … my oldest started K in 2020. We moved here late 2019. This is a transient area. So a lot of the “Johnny come latelies” may be parents who didn’t even live here or have kids in school prior to Duran. I’m a bit tired of this discourse from older parents shutting down newer parents from having any opinions about what is currently going on in APS.

I’ve made comments before that some parents only started to pay attention during the pandemic. I was referring to specific parents I know who already had kids in APS and really didn’t GAF about school at all before covid. Like never even attended a PTA meeting. Then all of the sudden they are experts on schools/students/teachers and tried to aggressively force teachers/staff to obey them even though they were clueless. And they got ugly about it. Most have gone back to not GAF but some still try to force their (uninformed) opinions on the rest of us.

No, the problem was that the parents involved in APS pre-pandemic were not representative of the school system whatsoever. Like when 75% choose an in-person option in the Fall 2020, the parents on AEM are very opposed to going back and no APS org says anything to support the parents.

And now many parents have woken up that they do need to pay attention. Hence the focus on what's happening now.

I do think you have some Tony Romo like-issues with Superintendents though (Cowboys could never get rid of him because you couldn't get another better quarterback). Who else are we going to get?!? Is there anyone good even available? How long will it take them to get up to speed?

At least Durán knows APS, knows the community, etc.

You just do not get it. At all. Just because you don't agree with the majority of parents on AEM does not mean the thousands on AEM are the out of touch ones.

There are very few posters on AEM these days. The thousands of lurkers prob disagree w the crazy posters but they see what happens to dissenting or differing views. The cotton balls is illustrative of this. And it is pretty telling to see what the RTS surveys showed and how different it was on AEM.

+1. The "regular" posters on there attack hard and shut down reasonable discussion quickly. I live north of Langston, so I know that my thoughts on anything are neither sought nor welcomed.

I live south of 50 - prime Columbia Pike territory. I can say the same.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:From my view since he got here:

Move to DIEBELS and math inventory. Relying on PALS was a joke. We used to get no objective info on math progress.
Move away from crap-tastic Lucy Calkins curriculum and back to teaching reading properly.
Middle school intensified classes (this is huge and if you're not there yet you don't know how huge it is)
Much clearer and more consistent communication about things I actually care about
The recent announcement about the ability to lock down the school ipads and laptops at home is a big improvement
I am impressed with his budget proposal this year and how much it is focused on the reality of the drug and mental health situations in the middle high schools. Some things that should make a real difference.

Eh the move to phonics based instruction was state mandated, not anything to do with Duran although I agree that phonics instruction IS reading instruction, I wouldn't give that to Duran as a win. I also am not anti-Duran, but cautiously optimistic that after growing central office, he will start to control and tame the beast. I'm willing to give him more time especially in the current hiring environment.

Nope APS did this, it was not state driven.

There is a law. Did you not know?
https://www.doe.virginia.gov/teaching-learning-assessment/k-12-standards-instruction/english-reading-literacy/literacy/virginia-literacy-act

I’ll give you that both Aps and FCPS started early but it was pushed by many factors. It isn’t Duran acting by himself. The NAACP
Had a big role.

Yes there is a law but APS made the change BEFORE the law. Advocates pushed this for years but got nowhere until Duran came in. Did you not know this?

There are a lot of johnny come latelies who only started paying attention to their kids' education when schools closed. This is probably one of then. The OP is probably another. People have no clue how bad the PE teacher was. Did they complain back then? Doubt it.

NP here. This is just a general response to your comment, but I’ve seen a lot of similar comments in this forum and other groups that are negative about newcomers/people just now paying attention. I’ve had someone shut down my criticisms because the prior superintendent was apparently pretty bad from what I can glean and I guess I didn’t know enough about the past history of APS prior to the pandemic.

But … my oldest started K in 2020. We moved here late 2019. This is a transient area. So a lot of the “Johnny come latelies” may be parents who didn’t even live here or have kids in school prior to Duran. I’m a bit tired of this discourse from older parents shutting down newer parents from having any opinions about what is currently going on in APS.

I’ve made comments before that some parents only started to pay attention during the pandemic. I was referring to specific parents I know who already had kids in APS and really didn’t GAF about school at all before covid. Like never even attended a PTA meeting. Then all of the sudden they are experts on schools/students/teachers and tried to aggressively force teachers/staff to obey them even though they were clueless. And they got ugly about it. Most have gone back to not GAF but some still try to force their (uninformed) opinions on the rest of us.

No, the problem was that the parents involved in APS pre-pandemic were not representative of the school system whatsoever. Like when 75% choose an in-person option in the Fall 2020, the parents on AEM are very opposed to going back and no APS org says anything to support the parents.

And now many parents have woken up that they do need to pay attention. Hence the focus on what's happening now.

I do think you have some Tony Romo like-issues with Superintendents though (Cowboys could never get rid of him because you couldn't get another better quarterback). Who else are we going to get?!? Is there anyone good even available? How long will it take them to get up to speed?

At least Durán knows APS, knows the community, etc.

You just do not get it. At all. Just because you don't agree with the majority of parents on AEM does not mean the thousands on AEM are the out of touch ones.

There are very few posters on AEM these days. The thousands of lurkers prob disagree w the crazy posters but they see what happens to dissenting or differing views. The cotton balls is illustrative of this. And it is pretty telling to see what the RTS surveys showed and how different it was on AEM. [/quote

]

Electing an in person option on the RTS surveys did NOT mean you agreed with the OPEN SCHOOl NOW crazies.

APE never realized this, or maybe they did and misrepresented things.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:From my view since he got here:

Move to DIEBELS and math inventory. Relying on PALS was a joke. We used to get no objective info on math progress.
Move away from crap-tastic Lucy Calkins curriculum and back to teaching reading properly.
Middle school intensified classes (this is huge and if you're not there yet you don't know how huge it is)
Much clearer and more consistent communication about things I actually care about
The recent announcement about the ability to lock down the school ipads and laptops at home is a big improvement
I am impressed with his budget proposal this year and how much it is focused on the reality of the drug and mental health situations in the middle high schools. Some things that should make a real difference.

Eh the move to phonics based instruction was state mandated, not anything to do with Duran although I agree that phonics instruction IS reading instruction, I wouldn't give that to Duran as a win. I also am not anti-Duran, but cautiously optimistic that after growing central office, he will start to control and tame the beast. I'm willing to give him more time especially in the current hiring environment.

Nope APS did this, it was not state driven.

There is a law. Did you not know?
https://www.doe.virginia.gov/teaching-learning-assessment/k-12-standards-instruction/english-reading-literacy/literacy/virginia-literacy-act

I’ll give you that both Aps and FCPS started early but it was pushed by many factors. It isn’t Duran acting by himself. The NAACP
Had a big role.

Yes there is a law but APS made the change BEFORE the law. Advocates pushed this for years but got nowhere until Duran came in. Did you not know this?

There are a lot of johnny come latelies who only started paying attention to their kids' education when schools closed. This is probably one of then. The OP is probably another. People have no clue how bad the PE teacher was. Did they complain back then? Doubt it.

NP here. This is just a general response to your comment, but I’ve seen a lot of similar comments in this forum and other groups that are negative about newcomers/people just now paying attention. I’ve had someone shut down my criticisms because the prior superintendent was apparently pretty bad from what I can glean and I guess I didn’t know enough about the past history of APS prior to the pandemic.

But … my oldest started K in 2020. We moved here late 2019. This is a transient area. So a lot of the “Johnny come latelies” may be parents who didn’t even live here or have kids in school prior to Duran. I’m a bit tired of this discourse from older parents shutting down newer parents from having any opinions about what is currently going on in APS.

I’ve made comments before that some parents only started to pay attention during the pandemic. I was referring to specific parents I know who already had kids in APS and really didn’t GAF about school at all before covid. Like never even attended a PTA meeting. Then all of the sudden they are experts on schools/students/teachers and tried to aggressively force teachers/staff to obey them even though they were clueless. And they got ugly about it. Most have gone back to not GAF but some still try to force their (uninformed) opinions on the rest of us.

No, the problem was that the parents involved in APS pre-pandemic were not representative of the school system whatsoever. Like when 75% choose an in-person option in the Fall 2020, the parents on AEM are very opposed to going back and no APS org says anything to support the parents.

And now many parents have woken up that they do need to pay attention. Hence the focus on what's happening now.

I do think you have some Tony Romo like-issues with Superintendents though (Cowboys could never get rid of him because you couldn't get another better quarterback). Who else are we going to get?!? Is there anyone good even available? How long will it take them to get up to speed?

At least Durán knows APS, knows the community, etc.

You just do not get it. At all. Just because you don't agree with the majority of parents on AEM does not mean the thousands on AEM are the out of touch ones.

There are very few posters on AEM these days. The thousands of lurkers prob disagree w the crazy posters but they see what happens to dissenting or differing views. The cotton balls is illustrative of this. And it is pretty telling to see what the RTS surveys showed and how different it was on AEM.

+1. The "regular" posters on there attack hard and shut down reasonable discussion quickly. I live north of Langston, so I know that my thoughts on anything are neither sought nor welcomed.

Maybe you're just out of touch. I'm north of Langston too. What exactly do you find objectionable?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:From my view since he got here:

Move to DIEBELS and math inventory. Relying on PALS was a joke. We used to get no objective info on math progress.
Move away from crap-tastic Lucy Calkins curriculum and back to teaching reading properly.
Middle school intensified classes (this is huge and if you're not there yet you don't know how huge it is)
Much clearer and more consistent communication about things I actually care about
The recent announcement about the ability to lock down the school ipads and laptops at home is a big improvement
I am impressed with his budget proposal this year and how much it is focused on the reality of the drug and mental health situations in the middle high schools. Some things that should make a real difference.

Eh the move to phonics based instruction was state mandated, not anything to do with Duran although I agree that phonics instruction IS reading instruction, I wouldn't give that to Duran as a win. I also am not anti-Duran, but cautiously optimistic that after growing central office, he will start to control and tame the beast. I'm willing to give him more time especially in the current hiring environment.

Nope APS did this, it was not state driven.

There is a law. Did you not know?
https://www.doe.virginia.gov/teaching-learning-assessment/k-12-standards-instruction/english-reading-literacy/literacy/virginia-literacy-act

I’ll give you that both Aps and FCPS started early but it was pushed by many factors. It isn’t Duran acting by himself. The NAACP
Had a big role.

Yes there is a law but APS made the change BEFORE the law. Advocates pushed this for years but got nowhere until Duran came in. Did you not know this?

There are a lot of johnny come latelies who only started paying attention to their kids' education when schools closed. This is probably one of then. The OP is probably another. People have no clue how bad the PE teacher was. Did they complain back then? Doubt it.

NP here. This is just a general response to your comment, but I’ve seen a lot of similar comments in this forum and other groups that are negative about newcomers/people just now paying attention. I’ve had someone shut down my criticisms because the prior superintendent was apparently pretty bad from what I can glean and I guess I didn’t know enough about the past history of APS prior to the pandemic.

But … my oldest started K in 2020. We moved here late 2019. This is a transient area. So a lot of the “Johnny come latelies” may be parents who didn’t even live here or have kids in school prior to Duran. I’m a bit tired of this discourse from older parents shutting down newer parents from having any opinions about what is currently going on in APS.

I’ve made comments before that some parents only started to pay attention during the pandemic. I was referring to specific parents I know who already had kids in APS and really didn’t GAF about school at all before covid. Like never even attended a PTA meeting. Then all of the sudden they are experts on schools/students/teachers and tried to aggressively force teachers/staff to obey them even though they were clueless. And they got ugly about it. Most have gone back to not GAF but some still try to force their (uninformed) opinions on the rest of us.

No, the problem was that the parents involved in APS pre-pandemic were not representative of the school system whatsoever. Like when 75% choose an in-person option in the Fall 2020, the parents on AEM are very opposed to going back and no APS org says anything to support the parents.

And now many parents have woken up that they do need to pay attention. Hence the focus on what's happening now.

I do think you have some Tony Romo like-issues with Superintendents though (Cowboys could never get rid of him because you couldn't get another better quarterback). Who else are we going to get?!? Is there anyone good even available? How long will it take them to get up to speed?

At least Durán knows APS, knows the community, etc.

You just do not get it. At all. Just because you don't agree with the majority of parents on AEM does not mean the thousands on AEM are the out of touch ones.

There are very few posters on AEM these days. The thousands of lurkers prob disagree w the crazy posters but they see what happens to dissenting or differing views. The cotton balls is illustrative of this. And it is pretty telling to see what the RTS surveys showed and how different it was on AEM.

+1. The "regular" posters on there attack hard and shut down reasonable discussion quickly. I live north of Langston, so I know that my thoughts on anything are neither sought nor welcomed.

Maybe you're just out of touch. I'm north of Langston too. What exactly do you find objectionable?

Not the PP, but I'm guessing PP is more conservative. Therefore just about anything they would say would be swiftly condemned. I'm a moderate democrat and have experienced the blowback from rather innocuous comments that don't include all the PC platitudes and embraces.

[Anonymous]

This was posted on another thread, but basically he told the teachers they aren't working that much and Syphax needs more time off. (Duran is the first hour or so of the video) https://vimeo.com/825863440

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This was posted on another thread, but basically he told the teachers they aren't working that much and Syphax needs more time off. (Duran is the first hour or so of the video) https://vimeo.com/825863440

That’s not a good look.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:From my view since he got here:

Move to DIEBELS and math inventory. Relying on PALS was a joke. We used to get no objective info on math progress.
Move away from crap-tastic Lucy Calkins curriculum and back to teaching reading properly.
Middle school intensified classes (this is huge and if you're not there yet you don't know how huge it is)
Much clearer and more consistent communication about things I actually care about
The recent announcement about the ability to lock down the school ipads and laptops at home is a big improvement
I am impressed with his budget proposal this year and how much it is focused on the reality of the drug and mental health situations in the middle high schools. Some things that should make a real difference.

Eh the move to phonics based instruction was state mandated, not anything to do with Duran although I agree that phonics instruction IS reading instruction, I wouldn't give that to Duran as a win. I also am not anti-Duran, but cautiously optimistic that after growing central office, he will start to control and tame the beast. I'm willing to give him more time especially in the current hiring environment.

Nope APS did this, it was not state driven.

There is a law. Did you not know?
https://www.doe.virginia.gov/teaching-learning-assessment/k-12-standards-instruction/english-reading-literacy/literacy/virginia-literacy-act

I’ll give you that both Aps and FCPS started early but it was pushed by many factors. It isn’t Duran acting by himself. The NAACP
Had a big role.

Yes there is a law but APS made the change BEFORE the law. Advocates pushed this for years but got nowhere until Duran came in. Did you not know this?

There are a lot of johnny come latelies who only started paying attention to their kids' education when schools closed. This is probably one of then. The OP is probably another. People have no clue how bad the PE teacher was. Did they complain back then? Doubt it.

NP here. This is just a general response to your comment, but I’ve seen a lot of similar comments in this forum and other groups that are negative about newcomers/people just now paying attention. I’ve had someone shut down my criticisms because the prior superintendent was apparently pretty bad from what I can glean and I guess I didn’t know enough about the past history of APS prior to the pandemic.

But … my oldest started K in 2020. We moved here late 2019. This is a transient area. So a lot of the “Johnny come latelies” may be parents who didn’t even live here or have kids in school prior to Duran. I’m a bit tired of this discourse from older parents shutting down newer parents from having any opinions about what is currently going on in APS.

I’ve made comments before that some parents only started to pay attention during the pandemic. I was referring to specific parents I know who already had kids in APS and really didn’t GAF about school at all before covid. Like never even attended a PTA meeting. Then all of the sudden they are experts on schools/students/teachers and tried to aggressively force teachers/staff to obey them even though they were clueless. And they got ugly about it. Most have gone back to not GAF but some still try to force their (uninformed) opinions on the rest of us.

No, the problem was that the parents involved in APS pre-pandemic were not representative of the school system whatsoever. Like when 75% choose an in-person option in the Fall 2020, the parents on AEM are very opposed to going back and no APS org says anything to support the parents.

And now many parents have woken up that they do need to pay attention. Hence the focus on what's happening now.

I do think you have some Tony Romo like-issues with Superintendents though (Cowboys could never get rid of him because you couldn't get another better quarterback). Who else are we going to get?!? Is there anyone good even available? How long will it take them to get up to speed?

At least Durán knows APS, knows the community, etc.

You just do not get it. At all. Just because you don't agree with the majority of parents on AEM does not mean the thousands on AEM are the out of touch ones.

There are very few posters on AEM these days. The thousands of lurkers prob disagree w the crazy posters but they see what happens to dissenting or differing views. The cotton balls is illustrative of this. And it is pretty telling to see what the RTS surveys showed and how different it was on AEM.

+1. The "regular" posters on there attack hard and shut down reasonable discussion quickly. I live north of Langston, so I know that my thoughts on anything are neither sought nor welcomed.

Maybe you're just out of touch. I'm north of Langston too. What exactly do you find objectionable?

Not the PP, but I'm guessing PP is more conservative. Therefore just about anything they would say would be swiftly condemned. I'm a moderate democrat and have experienced the blowback from rather innocuous comments that don't include all the PC platitudes and embraces.

I'm a moderate Dem and I'm fine with most of what's on AEM.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:From my view since he got here:

Move to DIEBELS and math inventory. Relying on PALS was a joke. We used to get no objective info on math progress.
Move away from crap-tastic Lucy Calkins curriculum and back to teaching reading properly.
Middle school intensified classes (this is huge and if you're not there yet you don't know how huge it is)
Much clearer and more consistent communication about things I actually care about
The recent announcement about the ability to lock down the school ipads and laptops at home is a big improvement
I am impressed with his budget proposal this year and how much it is focused on the reality of the drug and mental health situations in the middle high schools. Some things that should make a real difference.

Eh the move to phonics based instruction was state mandated, not anything to do with Duran although I agree that phonics instruction IS reading instruction, I wouldn't give that to Duran as a win. I also am not anti-Duran, but cautiously optimistic that after growing central office, he will start to control and tame the beast. I'm willing to give him more time especially in the current hiring environment.

Nope APS did this, it was not state driven.

There is a law. Did you not know?
https://www.doe.virginia.gov/teaching-learning-assessment/k-12-standards-instruction/english-reading-literacy/literacy/virginia-literacy-act

I’ll give you that both Aps and FCPS started early but it was pushed by many factors. It isn’t Duran acting by himself. The NAACP
Had a big role.

Yes there is a law but APS made the change BEFORE the law. Advocates pushed this for years but got nowhere until Duran came in. Did you not know this?

There are a lot of johnny come latelies who only started paying attention to their kids' education when schools closed. This is probably one of then. The OP is probably another. People have no clue how bad the PE teacher was. Did they complain back then? Doubt it.

NP here. This is just a general response to your comment, but I’ve seen a lot of similar comments in this forum and other groups that are negative about newcomers/people just now paying attention. I’ve had someone shut down my criticisms because the prior superintendent was apparently pretty bad from what I can glean and I guess I didn’t know enough about the past history of APS prior to the pandemic.

But … my oldest started K in 2020. We moved here late 2019. This is a transient area. So a lot of the “Johnny come latelies” may be parents who didn’t even live here or have kids in school prior to Duran. I’m a bit tired of this discourse from older parents shutting down newer parents from having any opinions about what is currently going on in APS.

I’ve made comments before that some parents only started to pay attention during the pandemic. I was referring to specific parents I know who already had kids in APS and really didn’t GAF about school at all before covid. Like never even attended a PTA meeting. Then all of the sudden they are experts on schools/students/teachers and tried to aggressively force teachers/staff to obey them even though they were clueless. And they got ugly about it. Most have gone back to not GAF but some still try to force their (uninformed) opinions on the rest of us.

No, the problem was that the parents involved in APS pre-pandemic were not representative of the school system whatsoever. Like when 75% choose an in-person option in the Fall 2020, the parents on AEM are very opposed to going back and no APS org says anything to support the parents.

And now many parents have woken up that they do need to pay attention. Hence the focus on what's happening now.

I do think you have some Tony Romo like-issues with Superintendents though (Cowboys could never get rid of him because you couldn't get another better quarterback). Who else are we going to get?!? Is there anyone good even available? How long will it take them to get up to speed?

At least Durán knows APS, knows the community, etc.

You just do not get it. At all. Just because you don't agree with the majority of parents on AEM does not mean the thousands on AEM are the out of touch ones.

There are very few posters on AEM these days. The thousands of lurkers prob disagree w the crazy posters but they see what happens to dissenting or differing views. The cotton balls is illustrative of this. And it is pretty telling to see what the RTS surveys showed and how different it was on AEM.

+1. The "regular" posters on there attack hard and shut down reasonable discussion quickly. I live north of Langston, so I know that my thoughts on anything are neither sought nor welcomed.

Maybe you're just out of touch. I'm north of Langston too. What exactly do you find objectionable?

Not the PP, but I'm guessing PP is more conservative. Therefore just about anything they would say would be swiftly condemned. I'm a moderate democrat and have experienced the blowback from rather innocuous comments that don't include all the PC platitudes and embraces.

I'm a moderate Dem and I'm fine with most of what's on AEM.

I’m not. There’s a bunch of cyber bullies on there. They gang up on anyone that disagrees with them. If you do disagree with them, no matter what the issue is, you will be labeled as racist. Try it for fun. It works!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:From my view since he got here:

Move to DIEBELS and math inventory. Relying on PALS was a joke. We used to get no objective info on math progress.
Move away from crap-tastic Lucy Calkins curriculum and back to teaching reading properly.
Middle school intensified classes (this is huge and if you're not there yet you don't know how huge it is)
Much clearer and more consistent communication about things I actually care about
The recent announcement about the ability to lock down the school ipads and laptops at home is a big improvement
I am impressed with his budget proposal this year and how much it is focused on the reality of the drug and mental health situations in the middle high schools. Some things that should make a real difference.

Eh the move to phonics based instruction was state mandated, not anything to do with Duran although I agree that phonics instruction IS reading instruction, I wouldn't give that to Duran as a win. I also am not anti-Duran, but cautiously optimistic that after growing central office, he will start to control and tame the beast. I'm willing to give him more time especially in the current hiring environment.

Nope APS did this, it was not state driven.

There is a law. Did you not know?
https://www.doe.virginia.gov/teaching-learning-assessment/k-12-standards-instruction/english-reading-literacy/literacy/virginia-literacy-act

I’ll give you that both Aps and FCPS started early but it was pushed by many factors. It isn’t Duran acting by himself. The NAACP
Had a big role.

Yes there is a law but APS made the change BEFORE the law. Advocates pushed this for years but got nowhere until Duran came in. Did you not know this?

There are a lot of johnny come latelies who only started paying attention to their kids' education when schools closed. This is probably one of then. The OP is probably another. People have no clue how bad the PE teacher was. Did they complain back then? Doubt it.

NP here. This is just a general response to your comment, but I’ve seen a lot of similar comments in this forum and other groups that are negative about newcomers/people just now paying attention. I’ve had someone shut down my criticisms because the prior superintendent was apparently pretty bad from what I can glean and I guess I didn’t know enough about the past history of APS prior to the pandemic.

But … my oldest started K in 2020. We moved here late 2019. This is a transient area. So a lot of the “Johnny come latelies” may be parents who didn’t even live here or have kids in school prior to Duran. I’m a bit tired of this discourse from older parents shutting down newer parents from having any opinions about what is currently going on in APS.

I’ve made comments before that some parents only started to pay attention during the pandemic. I was referring to specific parents I know who already had kids in APS and really didn’t GAF about school at all before covid. Like never even attended a PTA meeting. Then all of the sudden they are experts on schools/students/teachers and tried to aggressively force teachers/staff to obey them even though they were clueless. And they got ugly about it. Most have gone back to not GAF but some still try to force their (uninformed) opinions on the rest of us.

No, the problem was that the parents involved in APS pre-pandemic were not representative of the school system whatsoever. Like when 75% choose an in-person option in the Fall 2020, the parents on AEM are very opposed to going back and no APS org says anything to support the parents.

And now many parents have woken up that they do need to pay attention. Hence the focus on what's happening now.

I do think you have some Tony Romo like-issues with Superintendents though (Cowboys could never get rid of him because you couldn't get another better quarterback). Who else are we going to get?!? Is there anyone good even available? How long will it take them to get up to speed?

At least Durán knows APS, knows the community, etc.

You just do not get it. At all. Just because you don't agree with the majority of parents on AEM does not mean the thousands on AEM are the out of touch ones.

There are very few posters on AEM these days. The thousands of lurkers prob disagree w the crazy posters but they see what happens to dissenting or differing views. The cotton balls is illustrative of this. And it is pretty telling to see what the RTS surveys showed and how different it was on AEM.

+1. The "regular" posters on there attack hard and shut down reasonable discussion quickly. I live north of Langston, so I know that my thoughts on anything are neither sought nor welcomed.

Maybe you're just out of touch. I'm north of Langston too. What exactly do you find objectionable?

Not the PP, but I'm guessing PP is more conservative. Therefore just about anything they would say would be swiftly condemned. I'm a moderate democrat and have experienced the blowback from rather innocuous comments that don't include all the PC platitudes and embraces.

I'm a moderate Dem and I'm fine with most of what's on AEM.

I’m not. There’s a bunch of cyber bullies on there. They gang up on anyone that disagrees with them. If you do disagree with them, no matter what the issue is, you will be labeled as racist. Try it for fun. It works!

With that said, one of the biggest ones has been notably quiet lately. Maybe she had realized what she’s doing. I can only hope.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:From my view since he got here:

Move to DIEBELS and math inventory. Relying on PALS was a joke. We used to get no objective info on math progress.
Move away from crap-tastic Lucy Calkins curriculum and back to teaching reading properly.
Middle school intensified classes (this is huge and if you're not there yet you don't know how huge it is)
Much clearer and more consistent communication about things I actually care about
The recent announcement about the ability to lock down the school ipads and laptops at home is a big improvement
I am impressed with his budget proposal this year and how much it is focused on the reality of the drug and mental health situations in the middle high schools. Some things that should make a real difference.

Eh the move to phonics based instruction was state mandated, not anything to do with Duran although I agree that phonics instruction IS reading instruction, I wouldn't give that to Duran as a win. I also am not anti-Duran, but cautiously optimistic that after growing central office, he will start to control and tame the beast. I'm willing to give him more time especially in the current hiring environment.

Nope APS did this, it was not state driven.

There is a law. Did you not know?
https://www.doe.virginia.gov/teaching-learning-assessment/k-12-standards-instruction/english-reading-literacy/literacy/virginia-literacy-act

I’ll give you that both Aps and FCPS started early but it was pushed by many factors. It isn’t Duran acting by himself. The NAACP
Had a big role.

Yes there is a law but APS made the change BEFORE the law. Advocates pushed this for years but got nowhere until Duran came in. Did you not know this?

There are a lot of johnny come latelies who only started paying attention to their kids' education when schools closed. This is probably one of then. The OP is probably another. People have no clue how bad the PE teacher was. Did they complain back then? Doubt it.

NP here. This is just a general response to your comment, but I’ve seen a lot of similar comments in this forum and other groups that are negative about newcomers/people just now paying attention. I’ve had someone shut down my criticisms because the prior superintendent was apparently pretty bad from what I can glean and I guess I didn’t know enough about the past history of APS prior to the pandemic.

But … my oldest started K in 2020. We moved here late 2019. This is a transient area. So a lot of the “Johnny come latelies” may be parents who didn’t even live here or have kids in school prior to Duran. I’m a bit tired of this discourse from older parents shutting down newer parents from having any opinions about what is currently going on in APS.

I’ve made comments before that some parents only started to pay attention during the pandemic. I was referring to specific parents I know who already had kids in APS and really didn’t GAF about school at all before covid. Like never even attended a PTA meeting. Then all of the sudden they are experts on schools/students/teachers and tried to aggressively force teachers/staff to obey them even though they were clueless. And they got ugly about it. Most have gone back to not GAF but some still try to force their (uninformed) opinions on the rest of us.

No, the problem was that the parents involved in APS pre-pandemic were not representative of the school system whatsoever. Like when 75% choose an in-person option in the Fall 2020, the parents on AEM are very opposed to going back and no APS org says anything to support the parents.

And now many parents have woken up that they do need to pay attention. Hence the focus on what's happening now.

I do think you have some Tony Romo like-issues with Superintendents though (Cowboys could never get rid of him because you couldn't get another better quarterback). Who else are we going to get?!? Is there anyone good even available? How long will it take them to get up to speed?

At least Durán knows APS, knows the community, etc.

You just do not get it. At all. Just because you don't agree with the majority of parents on AEM does not mean the thousands on AEM are the out of touch ones.

There are very few posters on AEM these days. The thousands of lurkers prob disagree w the crazy posters but they see what happens to dissenting or differing views. The cotton balls is illustrative of this. And it is pretty telling to see what the RTS surveys showed and how different it was on AEM.

+1. The "regular" posters on there attack hard and shut down reasonable discussion quickly. I live north of Langston, so I know that my thoughts on anything are neither sought nor welcomed.

Maybe you're just out of touch. I'm north of Langston too. What exactly do you find objectionable?

Not the PP, but I'm guessing PP is more conservative. Therefore just about anything they would say would be swiftly condemned. I'm a moderate democrat and have experienced the blowback from rather innocuous comments that don't include all the PC platitudes and embraces.

I'm a moderate Dem and I'm fine with most of what's on AEM.

I’m not. There’s a bunch of cyber bullies on there. They gang up on anyone that disagrees with them. If you do disagree with them, no matter what the issue is, you will be labeled as racist. Try it for fun. It works!

Different moderate Dem and feel equally horrified by the AEM bullying and groupthink!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:From my view since he got here:

Move to DIEBELS and math inventory. Relying on PALS was a joke. We used to get no objective info on math progress.
Move away from crap-tastic Lucy Calkins curriculum and back to teaching reading properly.
Middle school intensified classes (this is huge and if you're not there yet you don't know how huge it is)
Much clearer and more consistent communication about things I actually care about
The recent announcement about the ability to lock down the school ipads and laptops at home is a big improvement
I am impressed with his budget proposal this year and how much it is focused on the reality of the drug and mental health situations in the middle high schools. Some things that should make a real difference.

Eh the move to phonics based instruction was state mandated, not anything to do with Duran although I agree that phonics instruction IS reading instruction, I wouldn't give that to Duran as a win. I also am not anti-Duran, but cautiously optimistic that after growing central office, he will start to control and tame the beast. I'm willing to give him more time especially in the current hiring environment.

Nope APS did this, it was not state driven.

There is a law. Did you not know?
https://www.doe.virginia.gov/teaching-learning-assessment/k-12-standards-instruction/english-reading-literacy/literacy/virginia-literacy-act

I’ll give you that both Aps and FCPS started early but it was pushed by many factors. It isn’t Duran acting by himself. The NAACP
Had a big role.

Yes there is a law but APS made the change BEFORE the law. Advocates pushed this for years but got nowhere until Duran came in. Did you not know this?

There are a lot of johnny come latelies who only started paying attention to their kids' education when schools closed. This is probably one of then. The OP is probably another. People have no clue how bad the PE teacher was. Did they complain back then? Doubt it.

NP here. This is just a general response to your comment, but I’ve seen a lot of similar comments in this forum and other groups that are negative about newcomers/people just now paying attention. I’ve had someone shut down my criticisms because the prior superintendent was apparently pretty bad from what I can glean and I guess I didn’t know enough about the past history of APS prior to the pandemic.

But … my oldest started K in 2020. We moved here late 2019. This is a transient area. So a lot of the “Johnny come latelies” may be parents who didn’t even live here or have kids in school prior to Duran. I’m a bit tired of this discourse from older parents shutting down newer parents from having any opinions about what is currently going on in APS.

I’ve made comments before that some parents only started to pay attention during the pandemic. I was referring to specific parents I know who already had kids in APS and really didn’t GAF about school at all before covid. Like never even attended a PTA meeting. Then all of the sudden they are experts on schools/students/teachers and tried to aggressively force teachers/staff to obey them even though they were clueless. And they got ugly about it. Most have gone back to not GAF but some still try to force their (uninformed) opinions on the rest of us.

No, the problem was that the parents involved in APS pre-pandemic were not representative of the school system whatsoever. Like when 75% choose an in-person option in the Fall 2020, the parents on AEM are very opposed to going back and no APS org says anything to support the parents.

And now many parents have woken up that they do need to pay attention. Hence the focus on what's happening now.

I do think you have some Tony Romo like-issues with Superintendents though (Cowboys could never get rid of him because you couldn't get another better quarterback). Who else are we going to get?!? Is there anyone good even available? How long will it take them to get up to speed?

At least Durán knows APS, knows the community, etc.

You just do not get it. At all. Just because you don't agree with the majority of parents on AEM does not mean the thousands on AEM are the out of touch ones.

You mean the 5 remaining in that echo chamber. Most APS parents no longer post there. And yes, the 5 remaining are completely out of touch with what most APS parents want.