Fairfax County Public Schools -- Article on Demographic Changes

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I love the diversity in Fairfax and wouldn't want to live anywhere else, at least certainly not in this region.

What, exactly, do you love about the diversity? This just seems like something people say "Oh, I want diversity. But they can't really explain what they mean by that.

I like the fact that this is a place where people from many different parts of the globe have decided to make their home.

I like the fact that the diversity reflects the changing face of America. It means that my multi-racial kids feel comfortable here; that my niece born in Central America won't be stared at when she visits us; that my middle-income gay sibling and her partner are accepted here; and that my spouse's half-AA cousins would fit right in on a weekend outing to Tysons.

I like the fact that the housing stock is diverse, and isn't primarily homes built in the 1990s or later in subdivisions that remain largely devoid of trees.

I like the fact that the public schools are mostly great, as much as some people want to make class sizes the only measure of educational quality, and that they aren't as economically and racially monochromatic as those in the Upper Caucasia regions of Upper NW and North Arlington. I feel like the pressure to conform in those areas to some pre-packaged image of success ripped out of the Washingtonian Magazine would be much greater.

I like pho, injera, bulgogi, pupasas, naan qnd pancakes in equal measure, and it's all here.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:FCPS administrator here--yes, the affidavit is another alternative. If a child was born in another country and the document was lost or unavailable, the affidavit is accepted. As PP said, it is about determining age.

There are plenty of staff who are available to help parents understand this. We have a bilingual parent liaison and office staff members. Families are often connected to other family members and/or have connections through church to learn about registering their child for school. Finally, almost all the parents have jobs and are motivated to get their kids into school if for no other reason than for childcare during the day. They are working and trying to survive.

In my opinion, the requirement for the birth certificate or affidavit does not discourage registration. And the portrayal here and on other threads that there are thousands of illegal immigrants flooding our schools is absurd. Being an ESOL student doesn't automatically mean your parents are illegal immigrants. Almost all our families have been in the country for years and are properly documented. Many are second generation. They are hardworking and want the best for their children. They are respectful to teachers and want to participate in their children's education.

Thank you for your informative post. It is helpful to hear from someone who actually works in the FCPS system.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:FCPS administrator here--yes, the affidavit is another alternative. If a child was born in another country and the document was lost or unavailable, the affidavit is accepted. As PP said, it is about determining age.

There are plenty of staff who are available to help parents understand this. We have a bilingual parent liaison and office staff members. Families are often connected to other family members and/or have connections through church to learn about registering their child for school. Finally, almost all the parents have jobs and are motivated to get their kids into school if for no other reason than for childcare during the day. They are working and trying to survive.

In my opinion, the requirement for the birth certificate or affidavit does not discourage registration. And the portrayal here and on other threads that there are thousands of illegal immigrants flooding our schools is absurd. Being an ESOL student doesn't automatically mean your parents are illegal immigrants. Almost all our families have been in the country for years and are properly documented. Many are second generation. They are hardworking and want the best for their children. They are respectful to teachers and want to participate in their children's education.

Thank you for your informative post. It is helpful to hear from someone who actually works in the FCPS system.

Amen.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:FCPS administrator here--yes, the affidavit is another alternative. If a child was born in another country and the document was lost or unavailable, the affidavit is accepted. As PP said, it is about determining age.

There are plenty of staff who are available to help parents understand this. We have a bilingual parent liaison and office staff members. Families are often connected to other family members and/or have connections through church to learn about registering their child for school. Finally, almost all the parents have jobs and are motivated to get their kids into school if for no other reason than for childcare during the day. They are working and trying to survive.

In my opinion, the requirement for the birth certificate or affidavit does not discourage registration. And the portrayal here and on other threads that there are thousands of illegal immigrants flooding our schools is absurd. Being an ESOL student doesn't automatically mean your parents are illegal immigrants. Almost all our families have been in the country for years and are properly documented. Many are second generation. They are hardworking and want the best for their children. They are respectful to teachers and want to participate in their children's education.

I am calling out your bull shit. How come you don't mention the fact that the Hispanic population which equals esol and farm rates in each school , has ballooned the last 15 years. You can possibly believe that high esol and farms don't use cc up resources and drag down school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:FCPS administrator here--yes, the affidavit is another alternative. If a child was born in another country and the document was lost or unavailable, the affidavit is accepted. As PP said, it is about determining age.

There are plenty of staff who are available to help parents understand this. We have a bilingual parent liaison and office staff members. Families are often connected to other family members and/or have connections through church to learn about registering their child for school. Finally, almost all the parents have jobs and are motivated to get their kids into school if for no other reason than for childcare during the day. They are working and trying to survive.

In my opinion, the requirement for the birth certificate or affidavit does not discourage registration. And the portrayal here and on other threads that there are thousands of illegal immigrants flooding our schools is absurd. Being an ESOL student doesn't automatically mean your parents are illegal immigrants. Almost all our families have been in the country for years and are properly documented. Many are second generation. They are hardworking and want the best for their children. They are respectful to teachers and want to participate in their children's education.

I am calling out your bull shit. How come you don't mention the fact that the Hispanic population which equals esol and farm rates in each school , has ballooned the last 15 years. You can possibly believe that high esol and farms don't use cc up resources and drag down school.

Adult education courses in the county use resources as well, but in your case it might (or, then again, might not) be money well spent.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Are the article writers blind?? The increase is due to ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION. Which is well-tolerated in this area because apparently people don't mind paying crazy taxes for all the things illegal immigration means, cost-wise.

Insanity.



The federal courts are clear on this, every resident student of a school district has the right to a public education, regardless of their immigration status. That is the law.



put it to a vote

Yes, put it to a vote. I'd quite happily vote to legalize all families, so they can pay taxes. Then we'd all have lots more money for the schools.

[Anonymous]

They only pay taxes if they own property. Until there's a sales tax or meals tax, only property owners will be footing the county bill for education.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Are the article writers blind?? The increase is due to ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION. Which is well-tolerated in this area because apparently people don't mind paying crazy taxes for all the things illegal immigration means, cost-wise.

Insanity.

You are a racist nut.

[Anonymous]

Why is being against illegal immigration racist?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:FCPS administrator here--yes, the affidavit is another alternative. If a child was born in another country and the document was lost or unavailable, the affidavit is accepted. As PP said, it is about determining age.

There are plenty of staff who are available to help parents understand this. We have a bilingual parent liaison and office staff members. Families are often connected to other family members and/or have connections through church to learn about registering their child for school. Finally, almost all the parents have jobs and are motivated to get their kids into school if for no other reason than for childcare during the day. They are working and trying to survive.

In my opinion, the requirement for the birth certificate or affidavit does not discourage registration. And the portrayal here and on other threads that there are thousands of illegal immigrants flooding our schools is absurd. Being an ESOL student doesn't automatically mean your parents are illegal immigrants. Almost all our families have been in the country for years and are properly documented. Many are second generation. They are hardworking and want the best for their children. They are respectful to teachers and want to participate in their children's education.

I am an ESOL teacher in a FCPS high school. I would agree with the part in bold for the most part, but while many of my students' parents want the best for their kids, many of them are working so long and so many hours that they are not able to participate much in how to make that happen. Also, many of our parents are uneducated themselves, so when it comes to teaching their children good study skills and how to graduate from high school, they don't really know how to help their kids. While the majority of my students are sweet and hard working, they come with so many challenges that make it difficult from them to graduate. Many of my students come here when they are 15-18 years old, with only an elementary education from their countries so that they are essentially illiterate. While they work on learning English, they are just so far behind that even though they can stay in high school until 22, that is not long enough to learn everything they need to know to graduate from FCPS. I cannot tell you how many kids I have seen come to my school for a year or two and then just drop out because they get frustrated and realize how far behind they are. Some of them actually stay, but then they remain in the lower levels of ESOL for years which is not really serving them well at all either. It is frustrating, but unless the county really makes a change on how to educate these kids (maybe a different kind of school or diploma?), I think they will just keep dropping out or spinning their wheels in ESOL classes without moving toward graduation. My school's program is one of the smaller ones, so I am not sure how schools with higher ESOL populations do it (Stuart or Falls CHurch for example).

[Anonymous]

As seen by the esol these students are a drag and need to be put in a differennt place then the general population

[Anonymous]

I am an ESOL teacher in a FCPS high school. I would agree with the part in bold for the most part, but while many of my students' parents want the best for their kids, many of them are working so long and so many hours that they are not able to participate much in how to make that happen. Also, many of our parents are uneducated themselves, so when it comes to teaching their children good study skills and how to graduate from high school, they don't really know how to help their kids. While the majority of my students are sweet and hard working, they come with so many challenges that make it difficult from them to graduate. Many of my students come here when they are 15-18 years old, with only an elementary education from their countries so that they are essentially illiterate. While they work on learning English, they are just so far behind that even though they can stay in high school until 22, that is not long enough to learn everything they need to know to graduate from FCPS. I cannot tell you how many kids I have seen come to my school for a year or two and then just drop out because they get frustrated and realize how far behind they are. Some of them actually stay, but then they remain in the lower levels of ESOL for years which is not really serving them well at all either. It is frustrating, but unless the county really makes a change on how to educate these kids (maybe a different kind of school or diploma?), I think they will just keep dropping out or spinning their wheels in ESOL classes without moving toward graduation. My school's program is one of the smaller ones, so I am not sure how schools with higher ESOL populations do it (Stuart or Falls CHurch for example).

Thanks for this explanation. It makes sense. We need to give them the opportunity, but when it is not the right fit, we need vocational education of some type.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

I am an ESOL teacher in a FCPS high school. I would agree with the part in bold for the most part, but while many of my students' parents want the best for their kids, many of them are working so long and so many hours that they are not able to participate much in how to make that happen. Also, many of our parents are uneducated themselves, so when it comes to teaching their children good study skills and how to graduate from high school, they don't really know how to help their kids. While the majority of my students are sweet and hard working, they come with so many challenges that make it difficult from them to graduate. Many of my students come here when they are 15-18 years old, with only an elementary education from their countries so that they are essentially illiterate. While they work on learning English, they are just so far behind that even though they can stay in high school until 22, that is not long enough to learn everything they need to know to graduate from FCPS. I cannot tell you how many kids I have seen come to my school for a year or two and then just drop out because they get frustrated and realize how far behind they are. Some of them actually stay, but then they remain in the lower levels of ESOL for years which is not really serving them well at all either. It is frustrating, but unless the county really makes a change on how to educate these kids (maybe a different kind of school or diploma?), I think they will just keep dropping out or spinning their wheels in ESOL classes without moving toward graduation. My school's program is one of the smaller ones, so I am not sure how schools with higher ESOL populations do it (Stuart or Falls CHurch for example).

Thanks for this explanation. It makes sense. We need to give them the opportunity, but when it is not the right fit, we need vocational education of some type.

Yes exactly. Everyone would like to believe that all kids can graduate and go on to college, but when you arrive here at age 17 with a 3rd grade education, the typical high school program is not going to work for you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Are the article writers blind?? The increase is due to ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION. Which is well-tolerated in this area because apparently people don't mind paying crazy taxes for all the things illegal immigration means, cost-wise.

Insanity.

You are a racist nut.

Because you're in in the DC area. In the real world, common sense rules. That's why illegal immigration issues will never be put to a national vote: They'd lose.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why is being against illegal immigration racist?

Sorry, my PP above this post was in reference to this specific post.