The voucher effect

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I see MAGA is back at it.

This. Republicans have demonstrated they don’t care about education, more like the less educated the populace, the better it is for them in terms of election outcomes.

Exactly. And more people have having temper tantrums and joining in because they are angry schools aren’t an app and perfectly attuned to their likes, only serving education in the stream they can handle.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It seems only voucher enthusiastics are vocal on this debate.

I, as a FCPS parent, do not support vouchers. They are not going to solve problems in public education. If you don't like the politics (DEI, empathy, religious neutral) of FCPS, then spend your own money to find the school you like. I support your right to choose but not your right to take the money out.

I actually align pretty closely with the politics you laid out above and I still think FCPS is going the way of vouchers. What you lay out I think really motivates about 5% of people.


But most parents have jobs. All the narrative about school not being childcare is fine— but most parents have jobs and want their kids in school five days per week. Early dismissal Monday’s when no other local district did that totally ruined FCPS’ credibility for me.

You know they provide free childcare on early release monday, right? Do try to keep up.

https://fairfaxgop.org/limited-early-release-mondays-for-2024-25-school-year/

We encourage all parents/caregivers to have their student take their normal route home (bus, walk, kiss and ride) on early dismissal days. While these are designated as early release days — where necessary — we will ensure that every student has supervised enrichment activities at the school and returns home at the regular time if that is what works best for your family. Licensed educators from central office will support schools as well. High-impact tutoring will be available for identified students.

This is a great example of how FCPS alienates parents.

You could take one second to think about the experience of a working parent given the choice between taking 6 more days off from work (which they may or may not have) or let their kid be stuffed into an auditorium on a laptop for four hours, which is what the “free childcare” was.

Or you can double down on how no one has a right to want more from their taxpayer-funded system. And that doubling down leads to support for vouchers. Because parents do want more.

Do you even know what they do in those 4 hours. Stop making up stuff.

It’s Wednesday this year. You can see sample schedules for student activities:

https://www.fcps.edu/family-resources/safety-and-transportation/limited-early-release-wednesdays

Last year, the justification was oh this horrible state mandate that has been dropped on us (look at the threads here about it) and we couldn’t possible manage it any other way.

Now? It’s a “successful pilot” which leads to working parents needing 8 more days off per year if they don’t want their kids warehoused. My kid didn’t need 8 more days off this year. No one asked parents whether this “pilot” (which wasn’t advertised as a pilot) was a success for us.

Private school would keep my kid in school, learning, five days per week. If I took a voucher or voted for them it would be because of this issue. You can be as dismissive as you want, the alienation of parents leads to support for vouchers.

Um. So I guess you are very wealthy and this doesn’t matter to you, but taking a voucher and paying for private school would be waaaaay more expensive than just getting a babysitter for those 4 hours a month. Not to mention, many private schools have more vacations.

It is like you have conjured up this idea that a private school and vouchers will solve all your problems. It is a fantasy, just like Trump is to his supporters.

We’re on the bubble for whom private school is technically feasible but not our first choice. With vouchers it would be very affordable. There is at least one and probably two suitable private schools which are equally convenient to our home.

All things being equal I would prefer to stay with the public school. But things aren’t equal— there is no respect or support for working parents in FCPS. If that changed, I’d be less interested in a voucher program.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I see MAGA is back at it.

This. Republicans have demonstrated they don’t care about education, more like the less educated the populace, the better it is for them in terms of election outcomes.

Exactly. And more people have having temper tantrums and joining in because they are angry schools aren’t an app and perfectly attuned to their likes, only serving education in the stream they can handle.

Your own privileged is showing. Big time.

FCPS is very poorly managed and those in charge invariably put their own interests first. You can only do that for so long before people notice and want alternatives.

[Anonymous]

I'm interested in what this would do long term, but in the short term I don't think it would affect my immediate area in FCPS. We just really don't have any good private schools in our area and our public schools are still pretty well regarded.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I see MAGA is back at it.

This. Republicans have demonstrated they don’t care about education, more like the less educated the populace, the better it is for them in terms of election outcomes.

Exactly. And more people have having temper tantrums and joining in because they are angry schools aren’t an app and perfectly attuned to their likes, only serving education in the stream they can handle.

Your own privileged is showing. Big time.

FCPS is very poorly managed and those in charge invariably put their own interests first. You can only do that for so long before people notice and want alternatives.

Explain how my privilege is showing.

[Anonymous]

100% support vouchers. Unfortunately my kids are graduating in 2027, so this doesn’t affect us, but we would have taken advantage of school choice had it not been vetoed in 2014. I hope VA adopts the voucher plan and actually implements this.

My guess is that FCPS will have to be dragged into this kicking and screaming. I don’t know why our area is so resistant to school choice when deep blue areas like DC and Boston have charter schools. Remember the lab schools initiative a few years ago? It was funded, and there was supposed to be a lab school at Mason, but I guess that never went anywhere.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It seems only voucher enthusiastics are vocal on this debate.

I, as a FCPS parent, do not support vouchers. They are not going to solve problems in public education. If you don't like the politics (DEI, empathy, religious neutral) of FCPS, then spend your own money to find the school you like. I support your right to choose but not your right to take the money out.

It’s MY tax money.

So now the use of your tax money is a la carte? I rarely utilize the library, but my DW reads books on her Nook. Can I get vouchers to help pay for those?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It seems only voucher enthusiastics are vocal on this debate.

I, as a FCPS parent, do not support vouchers. They are not going to solve problems in public education. If you don't like the politics (DEI, empathy, religious neutral) of FCPS, then spend your own money to find the school you like. I support your right to choose but not your right to take the money out.

But those supporting vouchers are putting money in as well, often a good bit more money than others with kids in FCPS.

When a supposed public good no longer really functions as a public good, but instead as a sandbox for those with a particular agenda, it’s no surprise that people want to abandon the charade.

I’d feel differently if FCPS was well run, but the incompetence gets worse every year while the politicization of FCPS only increases. FCPS has become the NPR of public school systems.

First, I do not consider "NPR" as a derogatory term. Second, I don't know what you are talking about. How can you say with a straight face that FCPS "no longer really functions as a public good".

We live in different realities.

+1

RWNJs pushing BS talking points to push their agenda.

I started this voucher thread, but just made sizeable donations to NPR and PBS this week. So to the extent you think it’s just RWNJs pushing their agenda, I happily disabuse you of that notion.

I am generally in favor of public schools, but the school board’s unnecessary comprehensive boundary review is causing me to swiftly reevaluate that support.

School districts shift boundaries all of the time. But this one makes you want to give up on public and push RWNJ talking points. Sounds feasible.

Exactly, it’s is normal in other school districts to boundary switch based on population needs and it’s usually done without this much pushback and fuss. Of course some people push back but this has now been a problem for multiple years.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It seems only voucher enthusiastics are vocal on this debate.

I, as a FCPS parent, do not support vouchers. They are not going to solve problems in public education. If you don't like the politics (DEI, empathy, religious neutral) of FCPS, then spend your own money to find the school you like. I support your right to choose but not your right to take the money out.

But those supporting vouchers are putting money in as well, often a good bit more money than others with kids in FCPS.

When a supposed public good no longer really functions as a public good, but instead as a sandbox for those with a particular agenda, it’s no surprise that people want to abandon the charade.

I’d feel differently if FCPS was well run, but the incompetence gets worse every year while the politicization of FCPS only increases. FCPS has become the NPR of public school systems.

I can definitely point out some churches and their private schools that push “particular agenda”.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It seems only voucher enthusiastics are vocal on this debate.

I, as a FCPS parent, do not support vouchers. They are not going to solve problems in public education. If you don't like the politics (DEI, empathy, religious neutral) of FCPS, then spend your own money to find the school you like. I support your right to choose but not your right to take the money out.

But those supporting vouchers are putting money in as well, often a good bit more money than others with kids in FCPS.

When a supposed public good no longer really functions as a public good, but instead as a sandbox for those with a particular agenda, it’s no surprise that people want to abandon the charade.

I’d feel differently if FCPS was well run, but the incompetence gets worse every year while the politicization of FCPS only increases. FCPS has become the NPR of public school systems.

First, I do not consider "NPR" as a derogatory term. Second, I don't know what you are talking about. How can you say with a straight face that FCPS "no longer really functions as a public good".

We live in different realities.

+1

RWNJs pushing BS talking points to push their agenda.

I started this voucher thread, but just made sizeable donations to NPR and PBS this week. So to the extent you think it’s just RWNJs pushing their agenda, I happily disabuse you of that notion.

I am generally in favor of public schools, but the school board’s unnecessary comprehensive boundary review is causing me to swiftly reevaluate that support.

School districts shift boundaries all of the time. But this one makes you want to give up on public and push RWNJ talking points. Sounds feasible.

Exactly, it’s is normal in other school districts to boundary switch based on population needs and it’s usually done without this much pushback and fuss. Of course some people push back but this has now been a problem for multiple years.

DP
+1
If there are schools that are under-enrolled and other district school over-enrolled, doesn’t it make sense to move students to balance them out? Isn’t that basically what they are trying to do?

[Anonymous]

Does the voucher system say the private school HAVE TO accept disabled and differently abled students?

Thought so.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It seems only voucher enthusiastics are vocal on this debate.

I, as a FCPS parent, do not support vouchers. They are not going to solve problems in public education. If you don't like the politics (DEI, empathy, religious neutral) of FCPS, then spend your own money to find the school you like. I support your right to choose but not your right to take the money out.

But those supporting vouchers are putting money in as well, often a good bit more money than others with kids in FCPS.

When a supposed public good no longer really functions as a public good, but instead as a sandbox for those with a particular agenda, it’s no surprise that people want to abandon the charade.

I’d feel differently if FCPS was well run, but the incompetence gets worse every year while the politicization of FCPS only increases. FCPS has become the NPR of public school systems.

First, I do not consider "NPR" as a derogatory term. Second, I don't know what you are talking about. How can you say with a straight face that FCPS "no longer really functions as a public good".

We live in different realities.

+1

RWNJs pushing BS talking points to push their agenda.

I started this voucher thread, but just made sizeable donations to NPR and PBS this week. So to the extent you think it’s just RWNJs pushing their agenda, I happily disabuse you of that notion.

I am generally in favor of public schools, but the school board’s unnecessary comprehensive boundary review is causing me to swiftly reevaluate that support.

School districts shift boundaries all of the time. But this one makes you want to give up on public and push RWNJ talking points. Sounds feasible.

Exactly, it’s is normal in other school districts to boundary switch based on population needs and it’s usually done without this much pushback and fuss. Of course some people push back but this has now been a problem for multiple years.

I don’t think you’re right about the no fuss part. And when you say it’s been a problem for multiple years, what has? Because in the year plus that this nonsense has been going on, no one has explained that. No one.

And in fact the schools with the worst overcrowding got no relief this year so that they could be wrapped into next year’s comprehensive changes. Throwing the baby out with the bath water.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Does the voucher system say the private school HAVE TO accept disabled and differently abled students?

Thought so.

While you might be right, I think you’re missing the broader point that parents are going to look out for their own kids first. Only after that will you get altruism.

Look no further than the boundary change proponent who argued first for her kid not to be moved.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It seems only voucher enthusiastics are vocal on this debate.

I, as a FCPS parent, do not support vouchers. They are not going to solve problems in public education. If you don't like the politics (DEI, empathy, religious neutral) of FCPS, then spend your own money to find the school you like. I support your right to choose but not your right to take the money out.

But those supporting vouchers are putting money in as well, often a good bit more money than others with kids in FCPS.

When a supposed public good no longer really functions as a public good, but instead as a sandbox for those with a particular agenda, it’s no surprise that people want to abandon the charade.

I’d feel differently if FCPS was well run, but the incompetence gets worse every year while the politicization of FCPS only increases. FCPS has become the NPR of public school systems.

First, I do not consider "NPR" as a derogatory term. Second, I don't know what you are talking about. How can you say with a straight face that FCPS "no longer really functions as a public good".

We live in different realities.

+1

RWNJs pushing BS talking points to push their agenda.

I started this voucher thread, but just made sizeable donations to NPR and PBS this week. So to the extent you think it’s just RWNJs pushing their agenda, I happily disabuse you of that notion.

I am generally in favor of public schools, but the school board’s unnecessary comprehensive boundary review is causing me to swiftly reevaluate that support.

School districts shift boundaries all of the time. But this one makes you want to give up on public and push RWNJ talking points. Sounds feasible.

Exactly, it’s is normal in other school districts to boundary switch based on population needs and it’s usually done without this much pushback and fuss. Of course some people push back but this has now been a problem for multiple years.

Other school districts do a far better job managing their facilities. FCPS has misallocated capital resources, and now they want to cover up their own mistakes by moving kids around like widgets. FTS.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Does the voucher system say the private school HAVE TO accept disabled and differently abled students?

Thought so.

While you might be right, I think you’re missing the broader point that parents are going to look out for their own kids first. Only after that will you get altruism.

Look no further than the boundary change proponent who argued first for her kid not to be moved.

It makes sense to not moving students currently enrolled in a school and only move them when they get into the next level (MS or HS).

My point is, the unfairness of voucher system is public school has to educate all kind of students and similar requirement should be imposed on charter or private school before they get PUBLIC money. Otherwise they are cherry picking.