Fairfax County: McLean Citizens Association demands smaller class sizes

[Anonymous]

http://classsizecounts.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/MCA-Class-Size-Resolution-final-1-1.pdf

On March 4th, the McLean Citizens Association sent a resolution to the school board recommending steps that the school board should take to equalize class sizes across the county. They want to see no more and no less than 21-25 students per elementary school class, county wide.

Do McLean parents really feel this slighted by FCPS? This letter essentially attacks every line item in the FCPS budget that goes toward ESOL/FARMS students. The title 1 schools that I live in the shadows of are certainly not the envy of any McLean parent, despite any extra staffing that goes to them, and their smaller class sizes.

[Anonymous]

Well, I do see that class size has become a problem, especially for AAP classes in elementary school where there are more than 30 kids per class in some cases. It is easier for teachers to know their students with fewer kids in the class, if you are in a Title I school or anywhere.

[Anonymous]

I hope the McLean Citizens Association also wrote to the Board of Supervisors and demanded that the county add a penny to the tax rate.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I hope the McLean Citizens Association also wrote to the Board of Supervisors and demanded that the county add a penny to the tax rate.

The resolution did not include any recommendations to raise taxes.

[Anonymous]

yeah, good luck. Their line is that class size has no effect on student achievement. There are studies that say this.

However, I think that using those studies is a huge cop out so they don't have to make the hard choices and can continue to shove our kids into classrooms like sardines in perpetuity.

And when they "fix" our ridiculously overcrowded school, they are leaving us over capacity by ~150 with the current amendment.

[Anonymous]

There are 1st-3rd grade classes with 10 students in them and others with over 30. It's gotten completely out of whack and I don't blame parents for being upset. There should not be that much discrepancy. I haven't read the demand, but most parents just think things need to be shifted a bit so that all class sizes are a bit more manageable and the difference between the largest and smallest class size in FCPS for the same grade is a little smaller than 20 plus students.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I hope the McLean Citizens Association also wrote to the Board of Supervisors and demanded that the county add a penny to the tax rate.

I'm sure they didn't. They just want the Title I schools to stop having all of the goodies without understanding that Titke I schools need more support.

[Anonymous]

The title of your thread is kind of misleading. The MCA didn't "demand" smaller class sizes. It adopted a resolution urging FCPS to narrow - but not eliminate - the current differences in class sizes.

The issue has been percolating for years, but the School Board has continued to let classes in McLean, Vienna and Great Falls get larger. Test scores remain very high, of course, but the parents see how much smaller the classes are elsewhere in FCPS, as well as in APS and FCCPS, and they feel short-changed and taken for granted.

Since the entire School Board is up for re-election this fall, it shouldn't surprise anyone that residents are trying to find out where School Board members and their challengers stand on the issue. I have no idea if Janie Strauss plans to run as the Dranesville representative for School Board again, but there's a good chance that a Republican-endorsed candidate will win her seat campaigning heavily on this issue.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There are 1st-3rd grade classes with 10 students in them and others with over 30. It's gotten completely out of whack and I don't blame parents for being upset. There should not be that much discrepancy. I haven't read the demand, but most parents just think things need to be shifted a bit so that all class sizes are a bit more manageable and the difference between the largest and smallest class size in FCPS for the same grade is a little smaller than 20 plus students.

Where are there 1st - 3rd grade classes with 10 students in them? That's BS unless you are talking about classes of students with significant disabilities.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There are 1st-3rd grade classes with 10 students in them and others with over 30. It's gotten completely out of whack and I don't blame parents for being upset. There should not be that much discrepancy. I haven't read the demand, but most parents just think things need to be shifted a bit so that all class sizes are a bit more manageable and the difference between the largest and smallest class size in FCPS for the same grade is a little smaller than 20 plus students.

Maybe those overly burdened Mc lean kids should be bused to the Title 1 schools with 10 kids per class.

[Anonymous]

ok, but to get class sizes down, we need more teachers, which means more money.

Do you have a money tree somewhere?

We need more revenue streams.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The title of your thread is kind of misleading. The MCA didn't "demand" smaller class sizes. It adopted a resolution urging FCPS to narrow - but not eliminate - the current differences in class sizes.

The issue has been percolating for years, but the School Board has continued to let classes in McLean, Vienna and Great Falls get larger. Test scores remain very high, of course, but the parents see how much smaller the classes are elsewhere in FCPS, as well as in APS and FCCPS, and they feel short-changed and taken for granted.

Since the entire School Board is up for re-election this fall, it shouldn't surprise anyone that residents are trying to find out where School Board members and their challengers stand on the issue. I have no idea if Janie Strauss plans to run as the Dranesville representative for School Board again, but there's a good chance that a Republican-endorsed candidate will win her seat campaigning heavily on this issue.

Then how about moving to a neighborhood with a Title I school? Oh yeah. I'm sure that wouldn't do at all.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There are 1st-3rd grade classes with 10 students in them and others with over 30. It's gotten completely out of whack and I don't blame parents for being upset. There should not be that much discrepancy. I haven't read the demand, but most parents just think things need to be shifted a bit so that all class sizes are a bit more manageable and the difference between the largest and smallest class size in FCPS for the same grade is a little smaller than 20 plus students.

Maybe those overly burdened Mc lean kids should be bused to the Title 1 schools with 10 kids per class.

That sounds wonderful. I'd like to nominate you for school board.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:ok, but to get class sizes down, we need more teachers, which means more money.

Do you have a money tree somewhere?

We need more revenue streams.

The request is not to reduce class sizes across the board. The request is to reduce the disparities in class sizes, which would mean that class sizes would go down in some areas and up in others. Why does that require a money tree?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:ok, but to get class sizes down, we need more teachers, which means more money.

Do you have a money tree somewhere?

We need more revenue streams.

The request is not to reduce class sizes across the board. The request is to reduce the disparities in class sizes, which would mean that class sizes would go down in some areas and up in others. Why does that require a money tree?

How do they expect that to happen without increasing costs? Their class sizes can be reduced either by building more capacity (very expensive) or by commissioning studies to redistrict the whole county (not as expensive as construction, but still pricy), and then pay more in ongoing busing costs for kids that have to be bused to a different school further from home.