APS Board & Duran Proposing to Dissolve Integration Station

[Anonymous]

To stay on track, the county can absorb these 43 students at a cost savings in a very tight budget. There are schools with empty classroom, existing CPP programs and underenrolled VPI classes that can serve for inclusion for the students.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

NP there have been staffing challenges this year with Pre-K sped teachers. Reassigning IS teachers fills those vacancies. If lack of CPP peer models is an issue they can utilize VPI/Montessori peers as is done in other parts of the county. It’s hard to lose a program but this is a logical choice.

This wouldn’t solve the staffing problem. We would not fill vacancies. Our students are still entitled to an education under IDEA, so they aren’t going anywhere, nor are the other students receiving special education services in the county. There is a cap in Virginia for special education caseloads; it would be illegal to fill classes overcapacity. And again, if a class is filled with special education students, and less than 50% community peers, it would be a self-contained class and a worse option than what IS offers.

Dr. Mann specifically said our classes would convert to CPP. No mention of co-teaching models with existing VPI/Montessori classes. VPI is also under-enrolled right now, so it wouldn’t even be feasible to suggest APS expand co-teaching models with additional co-taught classes with VPI. It is a great alternative idea but unfortunately their enrollment numbers would not be able to make that work at this time!

Do you even feel horrible for those "community peers" who sit there and waste a dozen years, i.e., their most important formative years, watching paint drip and dry in class? Leave it up to sped advocates to rename, reclassify, and exterminate the word "normal" in everything academic.

And it's a worse option for who? Sorry to sound utilitarian but the kids aren't learning anything, teachers are stressed, parents are complaining, and the school systems suck because of the abuse of sped entitlement in general education. Again, why can't we just say "education" for a "normal" school situation? A large number of teachers, parents, and kids are fed up with the chaos, anarchy, and violence that's pervasive in classrooms.

The goal of education shouldn't be equality of outcomes (i.e., a race to the bottom) but equality of instruction (i.e., tracking) so that each and every child can reach their ceiling. Every kid is important, not just yours. And we shouldn't limit the number of native-born potential doctors, scientists, and engineers by not teaching to normal kids who have the potential to learn but aren't being taught. It's embarrassing that we're importing the equivalence of "double A" talent (MLB analogy) from other countries to populate our high skill economy because those people aren't talented enough to get jobs in their own country and we're not developing our own.

You should really not be so self-centered and stop single issue politicking for only your own problems. Especially when your solutions are about "fitting in" instead of optimal academic outcomes for everyone

"The law" is a silly thing to keep harping on when it's that very thing dragging everybody down. Laws are meant to be changed and, seeing that sped parents only care about their kids' outcomes over everyone else, you don't need a crystal ball to see how this is going to turn out. The only thing that might prevent this is school vouchers, which sped parents won't use to send their kids to sped schools that can cater to their kids, but other parents will use to escape the insanity. I'd rather they just save the public schools.

I’m not on board with the term “normal kids” but I agree with much of this. And this is (part of) why Trump won.

Sorry but this is patently ridiculous. Trump did not win in jurisdictions that have invested more in SPED. Exactly the opposite is true.

People can certainly disagree about the appropriate level of funding for SPED. But blaming SPED for the election outcome ignores actual facts.

Not ridiculous at all. It’s part of why they want to dismantle dept of education

People who want to dismantle the dept of education may use many excuses to explain their reasoning. Most have very little direct experience with SPED in their children's classrooms (many have no children at all) and almost none of them have children who are affected by a transgender kid playing on the volleyball team.

This is the most absurd of arguments, and probably written from a rich white woman living in a figurative "gated" community talking down to others. So everyone should stay in their own lane, right, for the sake of your single issue, because they're too dumb to "get it?" But you're the expert on everything in your single issue because your have "direct experience?" Have you honestly asked the teachers face to face why they want to quit? Have you honestly talked to the parents whose kids are not learning? Does your kid even know how they are affecting their classmates, or would it affect their "mental health" to do what you expect these kid should be doing to your kids: which is sympathize because apparently that only works unidirectionally. Sped kids don't belong in non-sped academic classrooms if they're not the ones who have to stay in the periphery and wait their turn. Everyone else in that class who is at, near, or above level and can keep up with the pace of the class without extra assistance should not have to sacrifice their future opportunities every single day at school.

[Anonymous]

LRE and FAPE requirements start at 3 years old so absolutely do include preschool.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

NP there have been staffing challenges this year with Pre-K sped teachers. Reassigning IS teachers fills those vacancies. If lack of CPP peer models is an issue they can utilize VPI/Montessori peers as is done in other parts of the county. It’s hard to lose a program but this is a logical choice.

This wouldn’t solve the staffing problem. We would not fill vacancies. Our students are still entitled to an education under IDEA, so they aren’t going anywhere, nor are the other students receiving special education services in the county. There is a cap in Virginia for special education caseloads; it would be illegal to fill classes overcapacity. And again, if a class is filled with special education students, and less than 50% community peers, it would be a self-contained class and a worse option than what IS offers.

Dr. Mann specifically said our classes would convert to CPP. No mention of co-teaching models with existing VPI/Montessori classes. VPI is also under-enrolled right now, so it wouldn’t even be feasible to suggest APS expand co-teaching models with additional co-taught classes with VPI. It is a great alternative idea but unfortunately their enrollment numbers would not be able to make that work at this time!

Do you even feel horrible for those "community peers" who sit there and waste a dozen years, i.e., their most important formative years, watching paint drip and dry in class? Leave it up to sped advocates to rename, reclassify, and exterminate the word "normal" in everything academic.

And it's a worse option for who? Sorry to sound utilitarian but the kids aren't learning anything, teachers are stressed, parents are complaining, and the school systems suck because of the abuse of sped entitlement in general education. Again, why can't we just say "education" for a "normal" school situation? A large number of teachers, parents, and kids are fed up with the chaos, anarchy, and violence that's pervasive in classrooms.

The goal of education shouldn't be equality of outcomes (i.e., a race to the bottom) but equality of instruction (i.e., tracking) so that each and every child can reach their ceiling. Every kid is important, not just yours. And we shouldn't limit the number of native-born potential doctors, scientists, and engineers by not teaching to normal kids who have the potential to learn but aren't being taught. It's embarrassing that we're importing the equivalence of "double A" talent (MLB analogy) from other countries to populate our high skill economy because those people aren't talented enough to get jobs in their own country and we're not developing our own.

You should really not be so self-centered and stop single issue politicking for only your own problems. Especially when your solutions are about "fitting in" instead of optimal academic outcomes for everyone

"The law" is a silly thing to keep harping on when it's that very thing dragging everybody down. Laws are meant to be changed and, seeing that sped parents only care about their kids' outcomes over everyone else, you don't need a crystal ball to see how this is going to turn out. The only thing that might prevent this is school vouchers, which sped parents won't use to send their kids to sped schools that can cater to their kids, but other parents will use to escape the insanity. I'd rather they just save the public schools.

I’m not on board with the term “normal kids” but I agree with much of this. And this is (part of) why Trump won.

Sorry but this is patently ridiculous. Trump did not win in jurisdictions that have invested more in SPED. Exactly the opposite is true.

People can certainly disagree about the appropriate level of funding for SPED. But blaming SPED for the election outcome ignores actual facts.

Not ridiculous at all. It’s part of why they want to dismantle dept of education

People who want to dismantle the dept of education may use many excuses to explain their reasoning. Most have very little direct experience with SPED in their children's classrooms (many have no children at all) and almost none of them have children who are affected by a transgender kid playing on the volleyball team.

This is the most absurd of arguments, and probably written from a rich white woman living in a figurative "gated" community talking down to others. So everyone should stay in their own lane, right, for the sake of your single issue, because they're too dumb to "get it?" But you're the expert on everything in your single issue because your have "direct experience?" Have you honestly asked the teachers face to face why they want to quit? Have you honestly talked to the parents whose kids are not learning? Does your kid even know how they are affecting their classmates, or would it affect their "mental health" to do what you expect these kid should be doing to your kids: which is sympathize because apparently that only works unidirectionally. Sped kids don't belong in non-sped academic classrooms if they're not the ones who have to stay in the periphery and wait their turn. Everyone else in that class who is at, near, or above level and can keep up with the pace of the class without extra assistance should not have to sacrifice their future opportunities every single day at school.

Well guess what, you lost the internet today. I am a white woman, true. But I live in a little brick box on a busy Arlington street, am married to a teacher so I have more insight than most into what teaching is like these days, and my children have no special educational needs whatsoever. (They did, however, go to daycare at the Children's School.)

My point is simply that your pet issue should not be given as the reason why Trump won, because most of his supporters have no direct experience with this issue, although they may like to talk about it because they hear about it ad nauseum on Fox News.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:LRE and FAPE requirements start at 3 years old so absolutely do include preschool.

But it doesn’t specify that it needs to be in a separate building. Many students in Arlington are being served in neighborhood schools using this model.

[Anonymous]

I looked at the Baker-Tilly report. Integration station enrollment has declined by 40% since the 18-19 school year

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

NP there have been staffing challenges this year with Pre-K sped teachers. Reassigning IS teachers fills those vacancies. If lack of CPP peer models is an issue they can utilize VPI/Montessori peers as is done in other parts of the county. It’s hard to lose a program but this is a logical choice.

This wouldn’t solve the staffing problem. We would not fill vacancies. Our students are still entitled to an education under IDEA, so they aren’t going anywhere, nor are the other students receiving special education services in the county. There is a cap in Virginia for special education caseloads; it would be illegal to fill classes overcapacity. And again, if a class is filled with special education students, and less than 50% community peers, it would be a self-contained class and a worse option than what IS offers.

Dr. Mann specifically said our classes would convert to CPP. No mention of co-teaching models with existing VPI/Montessori classes. VPI is also under-enrolled right now, so it wouldn’t even be feasible to suggest APS expand co-teaching models with additional co-taught classes with VPI. It is a great alternative idea but unfortunately their enrollment numbers would not be able to make that work at this time!

Do you even feel horrible for those "community peers" who sit there and waste a dozen years, i.e., their most important formative years, watching paint drip and dry in class? Leave it up to sped advocates to rename, reclassify, and exterminate the word "normal" in everything academic.

And it's a worse option for who? Sorry to sound utilitarian but the kids aren't learning anything, teachers are stressed, parents are complaining, and the school systems suck because of the abuse of sped entitlement in general education. Again, why can't we just say "education" for a "normal" school situation? A large number of teachers, parents, and kids are fed up with the chaos, anarchy, and violence that's pervasive in classrooms.

The goal of education shouldn't be equality of outcomes (i.e., a race to the bottom) but equality of instruction (i.e., tracking) so that each and every child can reach their ceiling. Every kid is important, not just yours. And we shouldn't limit the number of native-born potential doctors, scientists, and engineers by not teaching to normal kids who have the potential to learn but aren't being taught. It's embarrassing that we're importing the equivalence of "double A" talent (MLB analogy) from other countries to populate our high skill economy because those people aren't talented enough to get jobs in their own country and we're not developing our own.

You should really not be so self-centered and stop single issue politicking for only your own problems. Especially when your solutions are about "fitting in" instead of optimal academic outcomes for everyone

"The law" is a silly thing to keep harping on when it's that very thing dragging everybody down. Laws are meant to be changed and, seeing that sped parents only care about their kids' outcomes over everyone else, you don't need a crystal ball to see how this is going to turn out. The only thing that might prevent this is school vouchers, which sped parents won't use to send their kids to sped schools that can cater to their kids, but other parents will use to escape the insanity. I'd rather they just save the public schools.

I’m not on board with the term “normal kids” but I agree with much of this. And this is (part of) why Trump won.

Sorry but this is patently ridiculous. Trump did not win in jurisdictions that have invested more in SPED. Exactly the opposite is true.

People can certainly disagree about the appropriate level of funding for SPED. But blaming SPED for the election outcome ignores actual facts.

The number of people who support vouchers and school choice is at an all time high. And when gen ed classrooms are filled with kids who speak no English and kids with major intellectual/behavioral issues, it’s not hard so see why.

Mainstreaming everyone makes people feel good, but it’s absolutely harming educational outcomes for kids with higher abilities.

Maybe so. But that doesn't explain why Trump won in NoVa... because he didn't.

PP didn’t specify nova.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

NP there have been staffing challenges this year with Pre-K sped teachers. Reassigning IS teachers fills those vacancies. If lack of CPP peer models is an issue they can utilize VPI/Montessori peers as is done in other parts of the county. It’s hard to lose a program but this is a logical choice.

This wouldn’t solve the staffing problem. We would not fill vacancies. Our students are still entitled to an education under IDEA, so they aren’t going anywhere, nor are the other students receiving special education services in the county. There is a cap in Virginia for special education caseloads; it would be illegal to fill classes overcapacity. And again, if a class is filled with special education students, and less than 50% community peers, it would be a self-contained class and a worse option than what IS offers.

Dr. Mann specifically said our classes would convert to CPP. No mention of co-teaching models with existing VPI/Montessori classes. VPI is also under-enrolled right now, so it wouldn’t even be feasible to suggest APS expand co-teaching models with additional co-taught classes with VPI. It is a great alternative idea but unfortunately their enrollment numbers would not be able to make that work at this time!

Do you even feel horrible for those "community peers" who sit there and waste a dozen years, i.e., their most important formative years, watching paint drip and dry in class? Leave it up to sped advocates to rename, reclassify, and exterminate the word "normal" in everything academic.

And it's a worse option for who? Sorry to sound utilitarian but the kids aren't learning anything, teachers are stressed, parents are complaining, and the school systems suck because of the abuse of sped entitlement in general education. Again, why can't we just say "education" for a "normal" school situation? A large number of teachers, parents, and kids are fed up with the chaos, anarchy, and violence that's pervasive in classrooms.

The goal of education shouldn't be equality of outcomes (i.e., a race to the bottom) but equality of instruction (i.e., tracking) so that each and every child can reach their ceiling. Every kid is important, not just yours. And we shouldn't limit the number of native-born potential doctors, scientists, and engineers by not teaching to normal kids who have the potential to learn but aren't being taught. It's embarrassing that we're importing the equivalence of "double A" talent (MLB analogy) from other countries to populate our high skill economy because those people aren't talented enough to get jobs in their own country and we're not developing our own.

You should really not be so self-centered and stop single issue politicking for only your own problems. Especially when your solutions are about "fitting in" instead of optimal academic outcomes for everyone

"The law" is a silly thing to keep harping on when it's that very thing dragging everybody down. Laws are meant to be changed and, seeing that sped parents only care about their kids' outcomes over everyone else, you don't need a crystal ball to see how this is going to turn out. The only thing that might prevent this is school vouchers, which sped parents won't use to send their kids to sped schools that can cater to their kids, but other parents will use to escape the insanity. I'd rather they just save the public schools.

I’m not on board with the term “normal kids” but I agree with much of this. And this is (part of) why Trump won.

Sorry but this is patently ridiculous. Trump did not win in jurisdictions that have invested more in SPED. Exactly the opposite is true.

People can certainly disagree about the appropriate level of funding for SPED. But blaming SPED for the election outcome ignores actual facts.

Not ridiculous at all. It’s part of why they want to dismantle dept of education

People who want to dismantle the dept of education may use many excuses to explain their reasoning. Most have very little direct experience with SPED in their children's classrooms (many have no children at all) and almost none of them have children who are affected by a transgender kid playing on the volleyball team.

So long as there are a finite number of spots, as well as money, scholarships, experience, records, prestige, and future college and job prospects involved in women's sports, women should not have to compete on an unfair playing field against others who are unnaturally stronger and taller than them. Especially those who competed against males and sucked, and then decided they would dominate females. What cave did all the feminists (especially the ultra-radical manhaters) go to hide in? You'd think they'd be all over this as the ultimate form of patriarchy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

NP there have been staffing challenges this year with Pre-K sped teachers. Reassigning IS teachers fills those vacancies. If lack of CPP peer models is an issue they can utilize VPI/Montessori peers as is done in other parts of the county. It’s hard to lose a program but this is a logical choice.

This wouldn’t solve the staffing problem. We would not fill vacancies. Our students are still entitled to an education under IDEA, so they aren’t going anywhere, nor are the other students receiving special education services in the county. There is a cap in Virginia for special education caseloads; it would be illegal to fill classes overcapacity. And again, if a class is filled with special education students, and less than 50% community peers, it would be a self-contained class and a worse option than what IS offers.

Dr. Mann specifically said our classes would convert to CPP. No mention of co-teaching models with existing VPI/Montessori classes. VPI is also under-enrolled right now, so it wouldn’t even be feasible to suggest APS expand co-teaching models with additional co-taught classes with VPI. It is a great alternative idea but unfortunately their enrollment numbers would not be able to make that work at this time!

Do you even feel horrible for those "community peers" who sit there and waste a dozen years, i.e., their most important formative years, watching paint drip and dry in class? Leave it up to sped advocates to rename, reclassify, and exterminate the word "normal" in everything academic.

And it's a worse option for who? Sorry to sound utilitarian but the kids aren't learning anything, teachers are stressed, parents are complaining, and the school systems suck because of the abuse of sped entitlement in general education. Again, why can't we just say "education" for a "normal" school situation? A large number of teachers, parents, and kids are fed up with the chaos, anarchy, and violence that's pervasive in classrooms.

The goal of education shouldn't be equality of outcomes (i.e., a race to the bottom) but equality of instruction (i.e., tracking) so that each and every child can reach their ceiling. Every kid is important, not just yours. And we shouldn't limit the number of native-born potential doctors, scientists, and engineers by not teaching to normal kids who have the potential to learn but aren't being taught. It's embarrassing that we're importing the equivalence of "double A" talent (MLB analogy) from other countries to populate our high skill economy because those people aren't talented enough to get jobs in their own country and we're not developing our own.

You should really not be so self-centered and stop single issue politicking for only your own problems. Especially when your solutions are about "fitting in" instead of optimal academic outcomes for everyone

"The law" is a silly thing to keep harping on when it's that very thing dragging everybody down. Laws are meant to be changed and, seeing that sped parents only care about their kids' outcomes over everyone else, you don't need a crystal ball to see how this is going to turn out. The only thing that might prevent this is school vouchers, which sped parents won't use to send their kids to sped schools that can cater to their kids, but other parents will use to escape the insanity. I'd rather they just save the public schools.

I’m not on board with the term “normal kids” but I agree with much of this. And this is (part of) why Trump won.

Sorry but this is patently ridiculous. Trump did not win in jurisdictions that have invested more in SPED. Exactly the opposite is true.

People can certainly disagree about the appropriate level of funding for SPED. But blaming SPED for the election outcome ignores actual facts.

Not ridiculous at all. It’s part of why they want to dismantle dept of education

People who want to dismantle the dept of education may use many excuses to explain their reasoning. Most have very little direct experience with SPED in their children's classrooms (many have no children at all) and almost none of them have children who are affected by a transgender kid playing on the volleyball team.

This is the most absurd of arguments, and probably written from a rich white woman living in a figurative "gated" community talking down to others. So everyone should stay in their own lane, right, for the sake of your single issue, because they're too dumb to "get it?" But you're the expert on everything in your single issue because your have "direct experience?" Have you honestly asked the teachers face to face why they want to quit? Have you honestly talked to the parents whose kids are not learning? Does your kid even know how they are affecting their classmates, or would it affect their "mental health" to do what you expect these kid should be doing to your kids: which is sympathize because apparently that only works unidirectionally. Sped kids don't belong in non-sped academic classrooms if they're not the ones who have to stay in the periphery and wait their turn. Everyone else in that class who is at, near, or above level and can keep up with the pace of the class without extra assistance should not have to sacrifice their future opportunities every single day at school.

Well guess what, you lost the internet today. I am a white woman, true. But I live in a little brick box on a busy Arlington street, am married to a teacher so I have more insight than most into what teaching is like these days, and my children have no special educational needs whatsoever. (They did, however, go to daycare at the Children's School.)

My point is simply that your pet issue should not be given as the reason why Trump won, because most of his supporters have no direct experience with this issue, although they may like to talk about it because they hear about it ad nauseum on Fox News.

"Me me me me me." We all know it was about you you you you all the time. I didn't say a single word about elections or candidates. And you don't know what the word "figurative" means. I know the privilege displaces the brain cells in your head but does it also lessen the gravity that your knees and shoulders have to bear every day? By the way, everyone knows a teacher, and most of them want to quit. I've known a handful and most of them burnt out within 5 years, not enough time to get married and purchase that brick box in Arlington. Perhaps you should ask your spouse why the turnover rate is so high and why the worst teachers become school admin, and the worst principals become Syphax admin? At least that's been the case in South Arlington. APS sucks and it's been that way for over two decades.

And your "little brick box on a busy Arlington street" is what, conservatively valued at $750K+?

[Anonymous]

There are teachers all over social media using their real names, showing their real faces, sharing that inclusion at all costs is making their jobs hell.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There are teachers all over social media using their real names, showing their real faces, sharing that inclusion at all costs is making their jobs hell.

This isn't even an argument of inclusion or not, it's about if they need a separate school to do it

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There are teachers all over social media using their real names, showing their real faces, sharing that inclusion at all costs is making their jobs hell.

This isn't even an argument of inclusion or not, it's about if they need a separate school to do it

It is though. The argument is that if the ratios aren’t exactly perfect, these pre-k students won’t be in the LRE.

Many examples of LRE are actively harming the rest of the student population.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

NP there have been staffing challenges this year with Pre-K sped teachers. Reassigning IS teachers fills those vacancies. If lack of CPP peer models is an issue they can utilize VPI/Montessori peers as is done in other parts of the county. It’s hard to lose a program but this is a logical choice.

This wouldn’t solve the staffing problem. We would not fill vacancies. Our students are still entitled to an education under IDEA, so they aren’t going anywhere, nor are the other students receiving special education services in the county. There is a cap in Virginia for special education caseloads; it would be illegal to fill classes overcapacity. And again, if a class is filled with special education students, and less than 50% community peers, it would be a self-contained class and a worse option than what IS offers.

Dr. Mann specifically said our classes would convert to CPP. No mention of co-teaching models with existing VPI/Montessori classes. VPI is also under-enrolled right now, so it wouldn’t even be feasible to suggest APS expand co-teaching models with additional co-taught classes with VPI. It is a great alternative idea but unfortunately their enrollment numbers would not be able to make that work at this time!

Do you even feel horrible for those "community peers" who sit there and waste a dozen years, i.e., their most important formative years, watching paint drip and dry in class? Leave it up to sped advocates to rename, reclassify, and exterminate the word "normal" in everything academic.

And it's a worse option for who? Sorry to sound utilitarian but the kids aren't learning anything, teachers are stressed, parents are complaining, and the school systems suck because of the abuse of sped entitlement in general education. Again, why can't we just say "education" for a "normal" school situation? A large number of teachers, parents, and kids are fed up with the chaos, anarchy, and violence that's pervasive in classrooms.

The goal of education shouldn't be equality of outcomes (i.e., a race to the bottom) but equality of instruction (i.e., tracking) so that each and every child can reach their ceiling. Every kid is important, not just yours. And we shouldn't limit the number of native-born potential doctors, scientists, and engineers by not teaching to normal kids who have the potential to learn but aren't being taught. It's embarrassing that we're importing the equivalence of "double A" talent (MLB analogy) from other countries to populate our high skill economy because those people aren't talented enough to get jobs in their own country and we're not developing our own.

You should really not be so self-centered and stop single issue politicking for only your own problems. Especially when your solutions are about "fitting in" instead of optimal academic outcomes for everyone

"The law" is a silly thing to keep harping on when it's that very thing dragging everybody down. Laws are meant to be changed and, seeing that sped parents only care about their kids' outcomes over everyone else, you don't need a crystal ball to see how this is going to turn out. The only thing that might prevent this is school vouchers, which sped parents won't use to send their kids to sped schools that can cater to their kids, but other parents will use to escape the insanity. I'd rather they just save the public schools.

I’m not on board with the term “normal kids” but I agree with much of this. And this is (part of) why Trump won.

Sorry but this is patently ridiculous. Trump did not win in jurisdictions that have invested more in SPED. Exactly the opposite is true.

People can certainly disagree about the appropriate level of funding for SPED. But blaming SPED for the election outcome ignores actual facts.

Not ridiculous at all. It’s part of why they want to dismantle dept of education

People who want to dismantle the dept of education may use many excuses to explain their reasoning. Most have very little direct experience with SPED in their children's classrooms (many have no children at all) and almost none of them have children who are affected by a transgender kid playing on the volleyball team.

This is the most absurd of arguments, and probably written from a rich white woman living in a figurative "gated" community talking down to others. So everyone should stay in their own lane, right, for the sake of your single issue, because they're too dumb to "get it?" But you're the expert on everything in your single issue because your have "direct experience?" Have you honestly asked the teachers face to face why they want to quit? Have you honestly talked to the parents whose kids are not learning? Does your kid even know how they are affecting their classmates, or would it affect their "mental health" to do what you expect these kid should be doing to your kids: which is sympathize because apparently that only works unidirectionally. Sped kids don't belong in non-sped academic classrooms if they're not the ones who have to stay in the periphery and wait their turn. Everyone else in that class who is at, near, or above level and can keep up with the pace of the class without extra assistance should not have to sacrifice their future opportunities every single day at school.

Well guess what, you lost the internet today. I am a white woman, true. But I live in a little brick box on a busy Arlington street, am married to a teacher so I have more insight than most into what teaching is like these days, and my children have no special educational needs whatsoever. (They did, however, go to daycare at the Children's School.)

My point is simply that your pet issue should not be given as the reason why Trump won, because most of his supporters have no direct experience with this issue, although they may like to talk about it because they hear about it ad nauseum on Fox News.

"Me me me me me." We all know it was about you you you you all the time. I didn't say a single word about elections or candidates. And you don't know what the word "figurative" means. I know the privilege displaces the brain cells in your head but does it also lessen the gravity that your knees and shoulders have to bear every day? By the way, everyone knows a teacher, and most of them want to quit. I've known a handful and most of them burnt out within 5 years, not enough time to get married and purchase that brick box in Arlington. Perhaps you should ask your spouse why the turnover rate is so high and why the worst teachers become school admin, and the worst principals become Syphax admin? At least that's been the case in South Arlington. APS sucks and it's been that way for over two decades.

And your "little brick box on a busy Arlington street" is what, conservatively valued at $750K+?

WTF are you going on about? Isn't everyone on this thread living in an overpriced home in Arlington? What does that have to do with anything? Isn't the PP talking about elections because someone said SPED policy was the reason Trump won the election? It is totally off-topic but hardly seems worthy of this kind of vitriol. You sound a little unhinged.

[Anonymous]

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NP there have been staffing challenges this year with Pre-K sped teachers. Reassigning IS teachers fills those vacancies. If lack of CPP peer models is an issue they can utilize VPI/Montessori peers as is done in other parts of the county. It’s hard to lose a program but this is a logical choice.

This wouldn’t solve the staffing problem. We would not fill vacancies. Our students are still entitled to an education under IDEA, so they aren’t going anywhere, nor are the other students receiving special education services in the county. There is a cap in Virginia for special education caseloads; it would be illegal to fill classes overcapacity. And again, if a class is filled with special education students, and less than 50% community peers, it would be a self-contained class and a worse option than what IS offers.

Dr. Mann specifically said our classes would convert to CPP. No mention of co-teaching models with existing VPI/Montessori classes. VPI is also under-enrolled right now, so it wouldn’t even be feasible to suggest APS expand co-teaching models with additional co-taught classes with VPI. It is a great alternative idea but unfortunately their enrollment numbers would not be able to make that work at this time!

Do you even feel horrible for those "community peers" who sit there and waste a dozen years, i.e., their most important formative years, watching paint drip and dry in class? Leave it up to sped advocates to rename, reclassify, and exterminate the word "normal" in everything academic.

And it's a worse option for who? Sorry to sound utilitarian but the kids aren't learning anything, teachers are stressed, parents are complaining, and the school systems suck because of the abuse of sped entitlement in general education. Again, why can't we just say "education" for a "normal" school situation? A large number of teachers, parents, and kids are fed up with the chaos, anarchy, and violence that's pervasive in classrooms.

The goal of education shouldn't be equality of outcomes (i.e., a race to the bottom) but equality of instruction (i.e., tracking) so that each and every child can reach their ceiling. Every kid is important, not just yours. And we shouldn't limit the number of native-born potential doctors, scientists, and engineers by not teaching to normal kids who have the potential to learn but aren't being taught. It's embarrassing that we're importing the equivalence of "double A" talent (MLB analogy) from other countries to populate our high skill economy because those people aren't talented enough to get jobs in their own country and we're not developing our own.

You should really not be so self-centered and stop single issue politicking for only your own problems. Especially when your solutions are about "fitting in" instead of optimal academic outcomes for everyone

"The law" is a silly thing to keep harping on when it's that very thing dragging everybody down. Laws are meant to be changed and, seeing that sped parents only care about their kids' outcomes over everyone else, you don't need a crystal ball to see how this is going to turn out. The only thing that might prevent this is school vouchers, which sped parents won't use to send their kids to sped schools that can cater to their kids, but other parents will use to escape the insanity. I'd rather they just save the public schools.

I’m not on board with the term “normal kids” but I agree with much of this. And this is (part of) why Trump won.

Sorry but this is patently ridiculous. Trump did not win in jurisdictions that have invested more in SPED. Exactly the opposite is true.

People can certainly disagree about the appropriate level of funding for SPED. But blaming SPED for the election outcome ignores actual facts.

Not ridiculous at all. It’s part of why they want to dismantle dept of education

People who want to dismantle the dept of education may use many excuses to explain their reasoning. Most have very little direct experience with SPED in their children's classrooms (many have no children at all) and almost none of them have children who are affected by a transgender kid playing on the volleyball team.

This is the most absurd of arguments, and probably written from a rich white woman living in a figurative "gated" community talking down to others. So everyone should stay in their own lane, right, for the sake of your single issue, because they're too dumb to "get it?" But you're the expert on everything in your single issue because your have "direct experience?" Have you honestly asked the teachers face to face why they want to quit? Have you honestly talked to the parents whose kids are not learning? Does your kid even know how they are affecting their classmates, or would it affect their "mental health" to do what you expect these kid should be doing to your kids: which is sympathize because apparently that only works unidirectionally. Sped kids don't belong in non-sped academic classrooms if they're not the ones who have to stay in the periphery and wait their turn. Everyone else in that class who is at, near, or above level and can keep up with the pace of the class without extra assistance should not have to sacrifice their future opportunities every single day at school.

Well guess what, you lost the internet today. I am a white woman, true. But I live in a little brick box on a busy Arlington street, am married to a teacher so I have more insight than most into what teaching is like these days, and my children have no special educational needs whatsoever. (They did, however, go to daycare at the Children's School.)

My point is simply that your pet issue should not be given as the reason why Trump won, because most of his supporters have no direct experience with this issue, although they may like to talk about it because they hear about it ad nauseum on Fox News.

"Me me me me me." We all know it was about you you you you all the time. I didn't say a single word about elections or candidates. And you don't know what the word "figurative" means. I know the privilege displaces the brain cells in your head but does it also lessen the gravity that your knees and shoulders have to bear every day? By the way, everyone knows a teacher, and most of them want to quit. I've known a handful and most of them burnt out within 5 years, not enough time to get married and purchase that brick box in Arlington. Perhaps you should ask your spouse why the turnover rate is so high and why the worst teachers become school admin, and the worst principals become Syphax admin? At least that's been the case in South Arlington. APS sucks and it's been that way for over two decades.

And your "little brick box on a busy Arlington street" is what, conservatively valued at $750K+?

WTF are you going on about? Isn't everyone on this thread living in an overpriced home in Arlington? What does that have to do with anything? Isn't the PP talking about elections because someone said SPED policy was the reason Trump won the election? It is totally off-topic but hardly seems worthy of this kind of vitriol. You sound a little unhinged.

PP didn’t say sped policy was THE reason Trump won.

But yeah, test scores that continue to go down down down have left Americans frustrated. Even average-ability kids deserve to be in classrooms that aren’t burdened with teaching to the bottom and constant disruptions.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:To stay on track, the county can absorb these 43 students at a cost savings in a very tight budget. There are schools with empty classroom, existing CPP programs and underenrolled VPI classes that can serve for inclusion for the students.

What is CPP and is it different from Integration Station?