Eliminating AAP?
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Anonymous
Further, it's not as if we are in a severe economic downturn in Fairfax County that we could hope to come back out of...the economy is pretty strong, right? So, if the budget crisis is being driven by the demands of increasing population requiring expensive services (and I don't know that I see that changing) what on earth is going to stop these budgetary problems from increasing, year after year...? There's only so much you can cut... |
Anonymous
| Our property taxes have gone up by a lot the past two years. |
Anonymous
Isn't that because your assessment increased? I'm talking about increasing the tax rate. I thought I read that a .1 percent rate increase would more than address the budget issues. I realize tax increases are unpopular, but our rates are actually fairly low (compare to NJ, CT, NY) and I'm not sure there's any sustainable alternative that doesn't decimate the school system, which would have ripple effects on property values and the local economy. |
Anonymous
Both tax rates and assessments have increased, and there is no guarantee that the full tax rate increase would be passed on to the schools as opposed to funding lawmakers' other pet projects. Even it did, most of the money would continue to go towards funding expensive services for high-needs areas whose population is rising faster than that of the rest of the county, thereby making the district even more appealing to those populations. Ted Velkoff did say during an interview that we want to be welcoming to all, meaning in particular the undocumented immigrants who are moving to Fairfax from less friendly neighboring jurisdictions. Well, it's time to pay the piper. It doesn't mean we should pay the piper more and more without end. “People were driven out of Prince William by the intolerance shown in that film,” Velkoff said. “In Fairfax, our feeling is we welcome everybody here with open arms. I’m happy to be a magnet for people who want to live in a tolerant society.” https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/in-fairfax-county-kindergarten-classes-school-systems-future-comes-into-focus/2014/06/28/1ced10d2-f25e-11e3-914c-1fbd0614e2d4_story.html |
Anonymous
| Over time, the assessment rate has increased and decreased. When DH and moved into our current house the assessment rate was $1.23. The current rates is still well below that. |
Anonymous
However, the "values" according to the county have gone up. You need to realize that when assessment rate goes down, the "value" usually increases. Not always, but usually. I don't think there have many many years that our tax payment has gone down. |
Anonymous
Yes, that's exactly what I'm saying! I'm glad you're getting it now!! I even told DH that we need to add on to our house so we can separate our two kids. I wouldn't want the oldest to deal with the commoner kid she has as a brother! She's too good for that! Wow - seriously? Get a grip. My children are friends with many kids through all of the different aspects of their life - friends from sports, friends school, friends from the neighborhood, friends that are kids of our friends, etc. You are making an ignorant judgment. She has an extremely high IQ and a photographic memory. I'm not bragging, trust me, it would be EASIER if she wasn't this way. For the lessons she is getting at school, she only hears/reads it once and she aces all of the tests without studying. She does extra research for fun. She reads a book in 1-2 days. She taught herself to read at 3. She is different than her brother and different than most kids we know, IN THIS ASPECT. Material is reviewed too slowly and and in too little depth for her, so she either tries to learn way more about the subject and make up projects or she checks out and does something completely different. Also, socially, it's nice for her meet friends similar to her. She is not motivated by grades or accolades, which is the typical gen ed class structure, so she is frustrating to many teachers. The AAP teachers at her school have a completely different take on her and treat her much differently. She is much happier and receiving an education much more suited to her needs. She is strong academically across the board, not just in one or two subject areas so I don't think pull-outs in a base school would be a great fit for her unless you pulled her out for every academic class, in which case that's basically what happens in AAP. In AAP, they combine the gen ed classes with the AAP classes for specials and lunch/recess. So, what would be the difference, except trying to make teachers at a base school figure out what the AAP teachers already have down? She's made friends from the combined classes and aftercare that seems to have other interests she has - music, art. Just like adults, you are typically friends with people that you have similar interests in common with, so do kids. So, why shouldn't she have a peer group closer to her abilities while in academic classes? She didn't have that at her base school. She was showing other kids and teachers what she's learned or working on, so she either was helping other students or was sent to the reading corner to read most of the day. This is NOT a productive way for my child to spend 7 hours a day when the objective for ALL students is to learn throughout the day. Before it's said, I'll agree that a lot can be learned by helping others. She sees this benefit in sports. She's not as strong as a lot of kids in team sports and likes when other kids help her out. However, she does help other people out (with academics) like her brother, like classmates in AAP and outside (in aftercare) but I don't think she should be responsible for doing that throughout the entire day in school. If you were an MD and took a job as a receptionist at a medical office, don't you think you would get bored and frustrated after awhile? If you're kid was amazing at baseball and there was no travel team don't you think they'd get bored after awhile running basic drills over and over and over without learning new things for years? It's just like with a SN kids on the lower end of the spectrum. If you don't have a child like this, you can't understand, but thank you for your judgment. |
Anonymous
I don't know many 3rd grade parents who would want their children to commute an hour or more each way to go to the one designated center. There is a middle ground between eliminating all centers and having as many as we do now. |
Anonymous
So my taxes should increase or the services my kids receive should be cut because he wants to be welcoming without taking into consideration the impact on other Fairfax County residents? |
Anonymous
Are you kidding? It would provide even more bragging rights. Parents would be clamoring to send their kids there. It would be viewed as a,necessary stepping stone to TJ. There would be no problem getting parents to send their kids there. |
Anonymous
We have benefited from the increased values. Don't you? |
Anonymous
If you build it, they will come. |
Anonymous
This is old news. |
Anonymous
Uh no. We live in the Western end of the county. DS has the ability to qualify for TJ (although it is admittedly a crap shoot) and I am actively discouraging him from applying, in part, because I don't want him to spend more than 2 hours a day busing (and in part because I think the OTT competitive environment is unhealthy). Why in the world would a parent want that for an ES aged kid sign them up for that type of commute at the age of 8? Especially when GBW+Navy+ Oak Hill AAP (or some similar combo) could easily fill 28-30 classrooms grades 3-6-- that is fill an entire school? Same with LA + Wolftrap + LLIVs at Vienna & Oakton ESs (or again, some similar combo). I'm sure it's the same in areas like Langley. 3-4 Centers &/or LLIV Centers could fill a complete 3-6 grade school. |
Anonymous
Just want to point out that Fairfax often buses special needs kids over an hour each way to designated "centers" to save money. |