New Budget Recommendations -- eliminate AAP busing and centers

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:And all this fighting is over $1 million for bussing which is probably negated by the high class sizes in AAP classes? Do you have any idea how much is being spent for level 1 and 2 special needs and ESOL?

A) The AAP classes at our center are all smaller than the GE classes.
B) "Level 1 and 2" is just a label that means nothing.
C) I have no problem with FCPS spending funds on special needs kids, who have actual special needs.
D) ESOL is another program that needs to be vetted and reformed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I cheer every GE kid who outperforms the gifted kids. All-life-long. Gifted community, we do not wish you well.

(though hope the suicide comment wasn't a genuine concern)

I am glad you added the parenthetical, as it is a genuine concern for my DD.

I'm a pp, a few pages back, with a DC that is heading down this path I fear. She's only in 4th grade now, but she falls into a highly-gifted personality type that has a higher chance of dropping out of school, abusing drugs/alcohol, suicide, etc.

She has an IG over 150 and came home from her base school crying most days (from K-2) from being made fun of everyday. The center has been so much better since she has found a few others kids with similar personalities/academic interests.

I have more fears about this DC growing into a productive part of society than my GE kid who is smart, funny, and manages relationships better in 1st grade than my older one in 4th grade.

You know, everyone watches Big Bang Theory and thinks it's funny, but when you have a kid like Sheldon it's not so funny with all of the issues that level of IQ and personality can bring. Amen to this-my smart but ADHD 2 E kid is WAY harder to parent on a day to day basis-would gladly sacrifice some IQ points for greater normalcy in both of our lives.

Apparently, now this thread is a contest for who has it worst.

Come now, that's what every thread here is about ultimately. You're just feeling left out for a change.

Not really, I just don't post about it.

+100
Amen to that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The incidence rate for these stunningly gifted yet amazingly fragile children who depend on AAP to stay on an even keel seems very high. Are there not similar kids in the Arlington or Loudoun school systems who somehow find a way to navigate childhood without bloated gifted programs that place other children at a disadvantage? Oy vey.

PREACH. Thank you for so succinctly summing up everything that is wrong with AAP.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:A) The AAP classes at our center are all smaller than the GE classes.

The AAP classes at our center are much larger than the GE classes. Therefore, you must be wrong.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A) The AAP classes at our center are all smaller than the GE classes.

The AAP classes at our center are much larger than the GE classes. Therefore, you must be wrong.

Right, at our center too there are fewer AAP classes for third grade and more kids in each. No one cares or complains about this.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:And all this fighting is over $1 million for bussing which is probably negated by the high class sizes in AAP classes? Do you have any idea how much is being spent for level 1 and 2 special needs and ESOL?

I assume it's a lot but untouchable.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:And all this fighting is over $1 million for bussing which is probably negated by the high class sizes in AAP classes? Do you have any idea how much is being spent for level 1 and 2 special needs and ESOL?

A) The AAP classes at our center are all smaller than the GE classes.
B) "Level 1 and 2" is just a label that means nothing.
C) I have no problem with FCPS spending funds on special needs kids, who have actual special needs.
D) ESOL is another program that needs to be vetted and reformed.

Why would anyone have a problem with that? Oh, you used italics. You're not again dragging out the whole AAP is not special needs thing again, are you? That's sooo page 25.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:And all this fighting is over $1 million for bussing which is probably negated by the high class sizes in AAP classes? Do you have any idea how much is being spent for level 1 and 2 special needs and ESOL?

A) The AAP classes at our center are all smaller than the GE classes.
B) "Level 1 and 2" is just a label that means nothing.
C) I have no problem with FCPS spending funds on special needs kids, who have actual special needs.
D) ESOL is another program that needs to be vetted and reformed.

A) The AAP classes throughout FCPS are much larger than general ed classes. There is a report about this. They are larger even when taking out any classes that receive Title 1 funding.
B) Level 2 at our school means you get compacted math or take one subject above grade level for any year at the school. I think level 1 is some additional enrichment all children get from time to time. Level 3 are the students who get pull outs with the AART.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A) The AAP classes at our center are all smaller than the GE classes.

The AAP classes at our center are much larger than the GE classes. Therefore, you must be wrong.

Right, at our center too there are fewer AAP classes for third grade and more kids in each. No one cares or complains about this.

This just made me laugh. Is there anything AAP parents don't complain about? The teachers aren't trained to their exacting specifications; the "peer group" just isn't good enough for them, so their kids require special centers; free transportation to said centers must remain intact; middle schools without the appropriate academic clubs just aren't up to snuff... shall I go on? You'd think FCPS was a private school, just listening to the entitlement mentality rife among this crowd.

[Anonymous]

This just made me laugh. Is there anything AAP parents don't complain about? The teachers aren't trained to their exacting specifications; the "peer group" just isn't good enough for them, so their kids require special centers; free transportation to said centers must remain intact; middle schools without the appropriate academic clubs just aren't up to snuff... shall I go on? You'd think FCPS was a private school, just listening to the entitlement mentality rife among this crowd.

Oh please don't, your last non-sequitur response was insufferable enough. Besides, anything you'd say would just be the same words rearranged in a different way saying the same old thing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The incidence rate for these stunningly gifted yet amazingly fragile children who depend on AAP to stay on an even keel seems very high. Are there not similar kids in the Arlington or Loudoun school systems who somehow find a way to navigate childhood without bloated gifted programs that place other children at a disadvantage? Oy vey.

PREACH. Thank you for so succinctly summing up everything that is wrong with AAP.

As parent with a child in this category, I agree with you. I wish they would bring the program back to where it was when it was an actual GT program. They've watered it down so much that the kids that actually do need it are not getting the structure they need.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A) The AAP classes at our center are all smaller than the GE classes.

The AAP classes at our center are much larger than the GE classes. Therefore, you must be wrong.

Right, at our center too there are fewer AAP classes for third grade and more kids in each. No one cares or complains about this.

This just made me laugh. Is there anything AAP parents don't complain about? The teachers aren't trained to their exacting specifications; the "peer group" just isn't good enough for them, so their kids require special centers; free transportation to said centers must remain intact; middle schools without the appropriate academic clubs just aren't up to snuff... shall I go on? You'd think FCPS was a private school, just listening to the entitlement mentality rife among this crowd.

+1000 couldn't have said it better myself.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:And all this fighting is over $1 million for bussing which is probably negated by the high class sizes in AAP classes? Do you have any idea how much is being spent for level 1 and 2 special needs and ESOL?

A) The AAP classes at our center are all smaller than the GE classes.
B) "Level 1 and 2" is just a label that means nothing.
C) I have no problem with FCPS spending funds on special needs kids, who have actual special needs.
D) ESOL is another program that needs to be vetted and reformed.

A) The AAP classes throughout FCPS are much larger than general ed classes. There is a report about this. They are larger even when taking out any classes that receive Title 1 funding.
B) Level 2 at our school means you get compacted math or take one subject above grade level for any year at the school. I think level 1 is some additional enrichment all children get from time to time. Level 3 are the students who get pull outs with the AART.

Then keep your kid at their base school or send them to private where you can buy all the attention they need.

[Anonymous]

What sort of mentality is this? Just because FCPS is public we shouldn't demand excellence? With the property taxes we are paying? Our school system can and should be a better alternative to most privates!

[Anonymous]

The people who are complaining the loudest about level 4 have children in the level 3 program which is the most expensive level in FCPS because it involves an extra highly trained teacher. We should be talking about eliminating that level if people are really serious about cutting AAP costs.