Reid’s new email

[Anonymous]

I’m following this: keep tutors for the school year (need grant money) and bring back student monitors!!!

[Anonymous]

No public funds should ever go to private schools, and doubly so to anything related to religion.

[Anonymous]

Public money is spent at private businesses/institutions all the time, everyday in all sectors of the economy. It’s not 1776 anymore.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The new republican play book (the one promoted by the current US sec. of Education and her family --- DeVos/AMWAY kooks) is all about minimizing public education and maximizing religious-based private education.

So, it makes sense to make people afraid of their public schools (i.e. require the schools to notify all parents if any kid has a drug-related overdose, even if it happens away from the school), and make parents fear other schools by creating nonsensical "standards" that label many schools as "failing."

The only reasonable response when you are told your kid's school is a disaster -- is to try to get them into some other "better" school -- which is where they step in with state-funded vouchers!

This 1000%. Exhibit A is the shifting pass cut scores for the SOLs. Raising the cut scores will mean more kids will "fail" the SOL and make it appear that public schools in VA are not good for your kid. Cue the private schools with funding/vouchers that should go to public schools. Those same private schools that can choose which kids they want and kick out at any point.

Follow the money as the dismantling of public education happens before your very eyes.

If this was ever the plan, I think it's now over. Dems just swept the entire state in the last election.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’m following this: keep tutors for the school year (need grant money) and bring back student monitors!!!

I don’t think that the kids who need the most help are using the tutors. I have no problem with keeping the tutors, I think that sounds like a great program and is helpful for many kids. I doubt that the kids who are grade levels behind are using them.

[Anonymous]

Not all of those schools are Title 1. Our neighborhood school is an "off track" elementary without a Title 1 designation. I wonder if it's because we have a large special ed program? Both for seriously disabled children and an autism program? We also have about 20% ESL kids. We loved the school and thought both of our kids got a great education there (2015-2024).
We are the weakest school in a very strong pyramid.

[Anonymous]

I work at a top school and parents are still sending kids to private. Our numbers in lower grades is down.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m following this: keep tutors for the school year (need grant money) and bring back student monitors!!!

I don’t think that the kids who need the most help are using the tutors. I have no problem with keeping the tutors, I think that sounds like a great program and is helpful for many kids. I doubt that the kids who are grade levels behind are using them.

Yes. That affects test scores.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I work at a top school and parents are still sending kids to private. Our numbers in lower grades is down.

The enrollment tab was interesting. https://schoolquality.virginia.gov/divisions/fairfax-county-public-schools

There are more kids in 6-12 than in K-5, which I think has always been the case because there are more private school options for elementary kids. However enrollment has been essentially flat within a few hundred students for 3 years now. The only way they’re getting to a flat enrollment however, is by the growth in pre-K. If pre-K numbers had stayed frozen at around 4200 like it was in 22-23, FCPS would be below 180,000 students this year. They want a larger pre-K and this will pad the student numbers to mask the slow decline of K-12 students.

[Anonymous]

Oh and the current 5th grade/last years 4th is a significantly smaller class than the years surrounding it because those were the Covid Kindergarteners. A lot of people redshirted if they could so current 4th/last year’s 3rd is larger. Will be interesting to see if they can make up for the smaller grade in MS/HS if kids come back from privates or move in from outside of the district.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Well, we’ve learned that throwing money at public schools does nothing. So I’m all for putting the money elsewhere. Why would we want to invest more money into a school system that tracks students and pays lawyers and bodyguards more than teachers.

Agree- more money than ever before going to Fairfax public education and it is not improving the academic outcomes. I don’t blame the teachers but I do blame the school board, the neglectful parents, and the pressure on the schools to be a full safety net not just for the students but for entire extended families.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A lot of “off track” and “needs intensive support” at the elementary level.

And what exactly will be the result of this designation? Are they actually going to GET the "intensive support" that they need? Or is this rating just another way to dump on our poorest schools?

It shouldn't come as any surprise that the most vulnerable populations need "intensive support" to keep up with their peers. If this designation puts them in line for additional resources, I'm all for it. If it's just another label so that the more well-to-do families can avoid them, well....

Fwiw, I'm a relatively high earner but kept my kids in our local Title 1 elementary school, which is labeled Off Track in this report, because we love the community and the school. The admin and teachers are top notch, but of course there is a large segment of the school population that needs real help. Labeling the school to scare people off doesn't help, but some additional resources really would.

Not all of us are so magnanimous when it comes to our kids' education. Most of us appreciate a standardized scale like this to know which schools to avoid because the "vulnerable populations" will be occupying all the teachers' time. We aren't "scared off" by the data being freely available. We actively choose the best situation for our kids because our job as parents is more important than our civic duty to help someone else's kids who isn't doing a very good job themselves.

Too bad many parents don’t weigh in their kids happiness when making these decisions.

[Anonymous]

I would guess that FCPS will be fine and schools will remain accredited because the populations that are below standard are ones that have historically struggled, poor families with parents that lack a HS education themselves and more serious SPED kids.

Is that a good thing? No, no one is saying that it is.

Is it something that we have been trying to address as a society since the 1950's? Yes.

Is it something that we have been trying to address in urban and rural areas? Yes.

Is it something that can be addressed and corrected? Honestly, probably not. That doesn't mean that we don't try, there are kids who respond to the intensive support that they receive at schools and are able to overcome the odds. Every case that the kids are able to overcome the issues they face is worth it. We cannot overcome the issues that exist in kids home with 8 hours of school for most kids but there are ones who are able to overcome. And there are kids that are safe at school who would not be safe otherwise.

We can measure success and on track or off track or behind all we want but no one has an answer and people have been looking.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A lot of “off track” and “needs intensive support” at the elementary level.

And what exactly will be the result of this designation? Are they actually going to GET the "intensive support" that they need? Or is this rating just another way to dump on our poorest schools?

It shouldn't come as any surprise that the most vulnerable populations need "intensive support" to keep up with their peers. If this designation puts them in line for additional resources, I'm all for it. If it's just another label so that the more well-to-do families can avoid them, well....

Fwiw, I'm a relatively high earner but kept my kids in our local Title 1 elementary school, which is labeled Off Track in this report, because we love the community and the school. The admin and teachers are top notch, but of course there is a large segment of the school population that needs real help. Labeling the school to scare people off doesn't help, but some additional resources really would.

Not all of us are so magnanimous when it comes to our kids' education. Most of us appreciate a standardized scale like this to know which schools to avoid because the "vulnerable populations" will be occupying all the teachers' time. We aren't "scared off" by the data being freely available. We actively choose the best situation for our kids because our job as parents is more important than our civic duty to help someone else's kids who isn't doing a very good job themselves.

Too bad many parents don’t weigh in their kids happiness when making these decisions.

Is your hypothesis that children are happier in public school than private?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A lot of “off track” and “needs intensive support” at the elementary level.

And what exactly will be the result of this designation? Are they actually going to GET the "intensive support" that they need? Or is this rating just another way to dump on our poorest schools?

It shouldn't come as any surprise that the most vulnerable populations need "intensive support" to keep up with their peers. If this designation puts them in line for additional resources, I'm all for it. If it's just another label so that the more well-to-do families can avoid them, well....

Fwiw, I'm a relatively high earner but kept my kids in our local Title 1 elementary school, which is labeled Off Track in this report, because we love the community and the school. The admin and teachers are top notch, but of course there is a large segment of the school population that needs real help. Labeling the school to scare people off doesn't help, but some additional resources really would.

Not all of us are so magnanimous when it comes to our kids' education. Most of us appreciate a standardized scale like this to know which schools to avoid because the "vulnerable populations" will be occupying all the teachers' time. We aren't "scared off" by the data being freely available. We actively choose the best situation for our kids because our job as parents is more important than our civic duty to help someone else's kids who isn't doing a very good job themselves.

Too bad many parents don’t weigh in their kids happiness when making these decisions.

Is your hypothesis that children are happier in public school than private?

No, it’s pulling kids from their designated public school where perhaps they are happy and moving them to a “better” school. Or perhaps the family moves altogether. Kids just want to be with their friends.