Is there any VA school distric that is NOT a dumpster fire?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kids got a great education at McLean HS. It was by far the best of the three schools (ES,MS,HS) I know it is not what you want to hear. Both found themselves very well prepared for college, especially in math.

I feel the same about our FCPS high school. It may not be private but it's been much better than elementary and middle.

Lake Braddock parent here. white Oaks for elementary. No complaints. Great experience all around, kids well prepared for college, one to go and couldn’t be happier with the quality of the education our kids have received. We made it a point to buy a house in the feeder zone for the high school, worth every penny!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Second FCCPS. It's a much smaller district too. Is the new high school finished yet?

Yes, the high school is finished and it's beautiful. There will be construction going on nearby for the commercial developments for a few years, though.

We are in Falls Church and love it. Teachers are almost universally great, leadership is great, and I feel like everyone is very responsive to parents and kids. That said, the downsides are:

- fewer offerings than some bigger districts in terms of electives, activities, and foreign languages
- small student body (this has upsides -- easy to make sports teams!! - and downsides -- hopefully you can find your crowd in a class of 175 kids or so.

This is what I hear from FCCPS parents. We seriously considered moving there and I talked to a lot of people.

Great for your kid if it's great for your kid. If it's not great for your kid, no options.

Everyone is in your business. Very cliquey. Some people love that. Some people don't.

The locations of their middle school/high school are not ideal. On top of the highway, in the middle of commercial development, on the far edge of falls church city, with terrible parking. If one of your goals is to be part of a walkable community, that's not doing it.

It's also very homogenous, which is on purpose. They separated themselves from Fairfax however long ago to get away from the students that are harder to serve. If you're the type that cares about these things.

I have to disagree with your final two points. The location of the MS/HS are fine - and will be even better when there is commercial development there. Yes, it would be better if it were smack dab in the middle of the school, but a solid 30-40 percent of kids at the schools (I would guess) live within a 20 minute walk of the schools.

It's not that homogeneous and is becoming even less so. 30-40 percent of the kids in my 5th grader's class are nonwhite and that's been consistent every year. Most people do have educated parents who care about education, but that's why they moved to FCC in the first place (and many are willing to live in smaller houses and/or condos/apartments to be there).

3 percent African American
8 percent on free and reduced lunch

Please.

I guess Hispanics, Asians, mixed race students don't count? The dashboard I see says 72% are white. I bet that's higher in the high school and lower in the elementary schools (based on what I see). The district is becoming more diverse.

It's very homogenous in that people move there who prioritize schools. If you don't want to be in a school system where parents prioritize schools, definitely go somewhere else. If your priority is finding the exact right mix of races and income level based on your personal criteria you can do that. But OP asked a different question.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You all have ZERO perspective it’s incredible. Try an actually had school district like the one I grew up in in Georgia. You’d be crying for your highly funded nova district. You’re such losers. Seriously. Get a grip.

Can you share? I’m honestly struggling with my disappointment in APS. I grew up in a suburb outside NYC and there didn’t seem to be the same strife as there is here. Granted, I grew up before social media. The colleges that kids go to from APS are always so unimpressive. And they seem to be cutting back on very good programs like spanish enrichment in elementary. Also teachers are not paid as well as they were in my hometown. So as someone that was raised in a truly great public school district, I feel there’s a lot to be desired here. I have friends from growing up raising their kids in my hometown and they all are VERY happy and say quality is still great. What gives?

The suburbs of NYC are some of the best, highest rated schools in the country. They’re very wealthy. Your perspective of what is normal and possible for public school is off. APS is not a bad district. Not even close. You have the expectation it is capable of giving you suburban NYC public education though. It isn’t. It’s a very good district. I’m telling you, bad districts are the Carolinas, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Mississippi. No funding. Awful infrastructure. Barely licensed teachers because the pay is horrendous, not livable. Curriculum that is old and garbage. Subpar facilities. You truly do not know a bad school district if you send your kids anywhere in northern Virginia. If is ludicrous to claim otherwise.

This is spot-on. I too went to Georgia public schools. We had metal detectors and teachers who got fired for accepting candy bars for an A on test. Sexual harassment in hallways. Broken lockers. Broken toilets. Etc. Etc. FCPS has been a DREAM system for my kid.

Yep I’m that Pp. I grew up in Bibb County Georgia . Absolutely awful education and we knew it even then. FCPS , APS teachers have masters degrees and often higher. Teachers in the south? Unlikely not because they’re stupid but because they can’t afford to get one and the pay would never justify it. My 10th grade geography class I still remember to this day one test because one question was about the tallest mountain range in the world. The choices were a) Himalayas or b) Pokémon mountains. POKÉMON MOUNTAINS. So APS parents crying dumpster fire is just so damn tone deaf. They have NO clue.

I’m sorry that you experienced such a poor education. But who had it worst is not an argument for APS being just fine. There is no reason this area shouldn’t be more like suburban NY. The demographics are not that far from my hometown. The difference is that the entire county is a school district. Where I grew up it was two elementary schools, 1 middle school, 1 high school. But every school division was like that and ALL the surrounding districts were very, very good. The big difference I see is overcrowding, over reliance on iPads/tech (we need textbooks so parents can know what’s being taught and how to help!), and less focus on quality instruction.

You are shocked your kids use more technology than you did growing up? You understand they’re an entirely different generation? Promise you your precious new Canaan has 1:1 devices and tech integration too. No school in the 21st century doesn’t. You are measuring your 2021 child’s experience against yours DECADES ago. That’s stupid.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Second FCCPS. It's a much smaller district too. Is the new high school finished yet?

Yes, the high school is finished and it's beautiful. There will be construction going on nearby for the commercial developments for a few years, though.

We are in Falls Church and love it. Teachers are almost universally great, leadership is great, and I feel like everyone is very responsive to parents and kids. That said, the downsides are:

- fewer offerings than some bigger districts in terms of electives, activities, and foreign languages
- small student body (this has upsides -- easy to make sports teams!! - and downsides -- hopefully you can find your crowd in a class of 175 kids or so.

This is what I hear from FCCPS parents. We seriously considered moving there and I talked to a lot of people.

Great for your kid if it's great for your kid. If it's not great for your kid, no options.

Everyone is in your business. Very cliquey. Some people love that. Some people don't.

The locations of their middle school/high school are not ideal. On top of the highway, in the middle of commercial development, on the far edge of falls church city, with terrible parking. If one of your goals is to be part of a walkable community, that's not doing it.

It's also very homogenous, which is on purpose. They separated themselves from Fairfax however long ago to get away from the students that are harder to serve. If you're the type that cares about these things.

I have to disagree with your final two points. The location of the MS/HS are fine - and will be even better when there is commercial development there. Yes, it would be better if it were smack dab in the middle of the school, but a solid 30-40 percent of kids at the schools (I would guess) live within a 20 minute walk of the schools.

It's not that homogeneous and is becoming even less so. 30-40 percent of the kids in my 5th grader's class are nonwhite and that's been consistent every year. Most people do have educated parents who care about education, but that's why they moved to FCC in the first place (and many are willing to live in smaller houses and/or condos/apartments to be there).

3 percent African American
8 percent on free and reduced lunch

Please.

When they created Falls Church City limits, they purposely left out and zoned around a large AA neighborhood (Tinner Hill) which was in the heart of downtown Falls Church, to keep them out of FCCPS.

[Anonymous]

People who keep bringing up FCCPS zoning out Tinner Hill area when school district separated from Fairfax -it happened 70 years ago. Currently it’s a very liberal leaning city that is trying to change and add more diversity through affordable housing initiatives. But with only two square miles of very limited land, small inventory of single family housing and HIGH HIGH priced homes and taxes it’s very hard to change the demographics. A real positive is only one line of schools, so the kids your child goes to elementary with will be the same kids your child goes to high school with - no rezoning of schools ever. Also, at Mt Daniel Elementary (which runs kinder thru second grade) nearly every teacher has a masters and they teach with a paraprofessional who has an undergraduate degree. It’s also a really nice way to start school with only the youngest set together (i.e. kinder to second). It is a small town with everyone knowing everyone, and very vocal parents, sometimes unreasonably demanding things of the administration, but I find that will always be the case when people are paying the highest tax rates in VA- they feel entitled. But because it’s so small it’s also nimble - we were able to get every teacher vaccinated by end of March, and first in NOVA to reopen schools. Good luck finding a house. We could not afford to live here if we were buying today.

[Anonymous]

Conservative areas of Virginia never let the dumpster smolder to begin with.

[Anonymous]

We moved and send our child to a conservative private school where good manners, textbooks, etc are used/taught. It’s very inexpensive (17k) and it’s a relief to have some sanity. They will not be closing for one of the 1500 variants that will inevitably emerge after delta, either. The dc area went a little too cray for us.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We moved and send our child to a conservative private school where good manners, textbooks, etc are used/taught. It’s very inexpensive (17k) and it’s a relief to have some sanity. They will not be closing for one of the 1500 variants that will inevitably emerge after delta, either. The dc area went a little too cray for us.

Oh you don’t think? I’m a teacher and my TA is panicking because her kids’ catholic private told parents Thursday it was closing for 2 weeks. And yes this is local.

[Anonymous]

The PP said that she and her family moved. They are no longer local.

Our family did the exact same thing. We made the decision on March 12, 2020. We knew that there would be no political will to open schools again after the "two weeks to stop the spread" were up, plus Trump, Trump, Trump. Put our house on the market after a frenzy of cleaning, painting, mulching and staging. Got an offer straight away and fled for another part of the Commonwealth with excellent, reasonably priced (unlike the D.C. area) privates who loved our kids' stratospheric test scores and excellent grades. Our kids have never been happier.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You all have ZERO perspective it’s incredible. Try an actually had school district like the one I grew up in in Georgia. You’d be crying for your highly funded nova district. You’re such losers. Seriously. Get a grip.

Can you share? I’m honestly struggling with my disappointment in APS. I grew up in a suburb outside NYC and there didn’t seem to be the same strife as there is here. Granted, I grew up before social media. The colleges that kids go to from APS are always so unimpressive. And they seem to be cutting back on very good programs like spanish enrichment in elementary. Also teachers are not paid as well as they were in my hometown. So as someone that was raised in a truly great public school district, I feel there’s a lot to be desired here. I have friends from growing up raising their kids in my hometown and they all are VERY happy and say quality is still great. What gives?

The suburbs of NYC are some of the best, highest rated schools in the country. They’re very wealthy. Your perspective of what is normal and possible for public school is off. APS is not a bad district. Not even close. You have the expectation it is capable of giving you suburban NYC public education though. It isn’t. It’s a very good district. I’m telling you, bad districts are the Carolinas, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Mississippi. No funding. Awful infrastructure. Barely licensed teachers because the pay is horrendous, not livable. Curriculum that is old and garbage. Subpar facilities. You truly do not know a bad school district if you send your kids anywhere in northern Virginia. If is ludicrous to claim otherwise.

This is spot-on. I too went to Georgia public schools. We had metal detectors and teachers who got fired for accepting candy bars for an A on test. Sexual harassment in hallways. Broken lockers. Broken toilets. Etc. Etc. FCPS has been a DREAM system for my kid.

Yep I’m that Pp. I grew up in Bibb County Georgia . Absolutely awful education and we knew it even then. FCPS , APS teachers have masters degrees and often higher. Teachers in the south? Unlikely not because they’re stupid but because they can’t afford to get one and the pay would never justify it. My 10th grade geography class I still remember to this day one test because one question was about the tallest mountain range in the world. The choices were a) Himalayas or b) Pokémon mountains. POKÉMON MOUNTAINS. So APS parents crying dumpster fire is just so damn tone deaf. They have NO clue.

I’m sorry that you experienced such a poor education. But who had it worst is not an argument for APS being just fine. There is no reason this area shouldn’t be more like suburban NY. The demographics are not that far from my hometown. The difference is that the entire county is a school district. Where I grew up it was two elementary schools, 1 middle school, 1 high school. But every school division was like that and ALL the surrounding districts were very, very good. The big difference I see is overcrowding, over reliance on iPads/tech (we need textbooks so parents can know what’s being taught and how to help!), and less focus on quality instruction.

You are shocked your kids use more technology than you did growing up? You understand they’re an entirely different generation? Promise you your precious new Canaan has 1:1 devices and tech integration too. No school in the 21st century doesn’t. You are measuring your 2021 child’s experience against yours DECADES ago. That’s stupid.

I’m not the New Canaan poster but did grow up in suburban NY. My two close friends still live there raising their kids so I do have a pretty good idea what it’s like. And there are no 1-1 devices for k-2. They opened last year hybrid and went full time by Oct 2020. This are is whack.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You all have ZERO perspective it’s incredible. Try an actually had school district like the one I grew up in in Georgia. You’d be crying for your highly funded nova district. You’re such losers. Seriously. Get a grip.

Can you share? I’m honestly struggling with my disappointment in APS. I grew up in a suburb outside NYC and there didn’t seem to be the same strife as there is here. Granted, I grew up before social media. The colleges that kids go to from APS are always so unimpressive. And they seem to be cutting back on very good programs like spanish enrichment in elementary. Also teachers are not paid as well as they were in my hometown. So as someone that was raised in a truly great public school district, I feel there’s a lot to be desired here. I have friends from growing up raising their kids in my hometown and they all are VERY happy and say quality is still great. What gives?

The suburbs of NYC are some of the best, highest rated schools in the country. They’re very wealthy. Your perspective of what is normal and possible for public school is off. APS is not a bad district. Not even close. You have the expectation it is capable of giving you suburban NYC public education though. It isn’t. It’s a very good district. I’m telling you, bad districts are the Carolinas, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Mississippi. No funding. Awful infrastructure. Barely licensed teachers because the pay is horrendous, not livable. Curriculum that is old and garbage. Subpar facilities. You truly do not know a bad school district if you send your kids anywhere in northern Virginia. If is ludicrous to claim otherwise.

This is spot-on. I too went to Georgia public schools. We had metal detectors and teachers who got fired for accepting candy bars for an A on test. Sexual harassment in hallways. Broken lockers. Broken toilets. Etc. Etc. FCPS has been a DREAM system for my kid.

Yep I’m that Pp. I grew up in Bibb County Georgia . Absolutely awful education and we knew it even then. FCPS , APS teachers have masters degrees and often higher. Teachers in the south? Unlikely not because they’re stupid but because they can’t afford to get one and the pay would never justify it. My 10th grade geography class I still remember to this day one test because one question was about the tallest mountain range in the world. The choices were a) Himalayas or b) Pokémon mountains. POKÉMON MOUNTAINS. So APS parents crying dumpster fire is just so damn tone deaf. They have NO clue.

I’m sorry that you experienced such a poor education. But who had it worst is not an argument for APS being just fine. There is no reason this area shouldn’t be more like suburban NY. The demographics are not that far from my hometown. The difference is that the entire county is a school district. Where I grew up it was two elementary schools, 1 middle school, 1 high school. But every school division was like that and ALL the surrounding districts were very, very good. The big difference I see is overcrowding, over reliance on iPads/tech (we need textbooks so parents can know what’s being taught and how to help!), and less focus on quality instruction.

You are shocked your kids use more technology than you did growing up? You understand they’re an entirely different generation? Promise you your precious new Canaan has 1:1 devices and tech integration too. No school in the 21st century doesn’t. You are measuring your 2021 child’s experience against yours DECADES ago. That’s stupid.

That wasn't the New Canaan poster. New Canaan has more than two elementaries. And at least New Canaan was in person for everyone for much of the last school year, unlike the DC area. And they did not have 1:1 devices until keeping schools open during the pandemic (which was actually a priority for them) necessitated everyone having their own device to avoid sharing germs. Sorry to disappoint.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The PP said that she and her family moved. They are no longer local.

Our family did the exact same thing. We made the decision on March 12, 2020. We knew that there would be no political will to open schools again after the "two weeks to stop the spread" were up, plus Trump, Trump, Trump. Put our house on the market after a frenzy of cleaning, painting, mulching and staging. Got an offer straight away and fled for another part of the Commonwealth with excellent, reasonably priced (unlike the D.C. area) privates who loved our kids' stratospheric test scores and excellent grades. Our kids have never been happier.

Congratulations. But at this point smaller privates can and will close more easily than the public districts. Obviously I don’t hope for that but it is already happening. My TA is having to take 2 unpaid weeks while the private school she pays for closes for an outbreak. Public? Open

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Second FCCPS. It's a much smaller district too. Is the new high school finished yet?

Yes, the high school is finished and it's beautiful. There will be construction going on nearby for the commercial developments for a few years, though.

We are in Falls Church and love it. Teachers are almost universally great, leadership is great, and I feel like everyone is very responsive to parents and kids. That said, the downsides are:

- fewer offerings than some bigger districts in terms of electives, activities, and foreign languages
- small student body (this has upsides -- easy to make sports teams!! - and downsides -- hopefully you can find your crowd in a class of 175 kids or so.

This is what I hear from FCCPS parents. We seriously considered moving there and I talked to a lot of people.

Great for your kid if it's great for your kid. If it's not great for your kid, no options.

Everyone is in your business. Very cliquey. Some people love that. Some people don't.

The locations of their middle school/high school are not ideal. On top of the highway, in the middle of commercial development, on the far edge of falls church city, with terrible parking. If one of your goals is to be part of a walkable community, that's not doing it.

It's also very homogenous, which is on purpose. They separated themselves from Fairfax however long ago to get away from the students that are harder to serve. If you're the type that cares about these things.

I have to disagree with your final two points. The location of the MS/HS are fine - and will be even better when there is commercial development there. Yes, it would be better if it were smack dab in the middle of the school, but a solid 30-40 percent of kids at the schools (I would guess) live within a 20 minute walk of the schools.

It's not that homogeneous and is becoming even less so. 30-40 percent of the kids in my 5th grader's class are nonwhite and that's been consistent every year. Most people do have educated parents who care about education, but that's why they moved to FCC in the first place (and many are willing to live in smaller houses and/or condos/apartments to be there).

3 percent African American
8 percent on free and reduced lunch

Please.

I guess Hispanics, Asians, mixed race students don't count? The dashboard I see says 72% are white. I bet that's higher in the high school and lower in the elementary schools (based on what I see). The district is becoming more diverse.

It's very homogenous in that people move there who prioritize schools. If you don't want to be in a school system where parents prioritize schools, definitely go somewhere else. If your priority is finding the exact right mix of races and income level based on your personal criteria you can do that. But OP asked a different question.

The original statement was FCC spun off to get rid of students who are harder to serve. Which is a fact based statement. This is what happened and the legacy of it is abundantly clear today.

Also, lots of parents prioritize schools and don’t have good options to move to a very expensive area. Get some perspective.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Second FCCPS. It's a much smaller district too. Is the new high school finished yet?

Yes, the high school is finished and it's beautiful. There will be construction going on nearby for the commercial developments for a few years, though.

We are in Falls Church and love it. Teachers are almost universally great, leadership is great, and I feel like everyone is very responsive to parents and kids. That said, the downsides are:

- fewer offerings than some bigger districts in terms of electives, activities, and foreign languages
- small student body (this has upsides -- easy to make sports teams!! - and downsides -- hopefully you can find your crowd in a class of 175 kids or so.

This is what I hear from FCCPS parents. We seriously considered moving there and I talked to a lot of people.

Great for your kid if it's great for your kid. If it's not great for your kid, no options.

Everyone is in your business. Very cliquey. Some people love that. Some people don't.

The locations of their middle school/high school are not ideal. On top of the highway, in the middle of commercial development, on the far edge of falls church city, with terrible parking. If one of your goals is to be part of a walkable community, that's not doing it.

It's also very homogenous, which is on purpose. They separated themselves from Fairfax however long ago to get away from the students that are harder to serve. If you're the type that cares about these things.

I have to disagree with your final two points. The location of the MS/HS are fine - and will be even better when there is commercial development there. Yes, it would be better if it were smack dab in the middle of the school, but a solid 30-40 percent of kids at the schools (I would guess) live within a 20 minute walk of the schools.

It's not that homogeneous and is becoming even less so. 30-40 percent of the kids in my 5th grader's class are nonwhite and that's been consistent every year. Most people do have educated parents who care about education, but that's why they moved to FCC in the first place (and many are willing to live in smaller houses and/or condos/apartments to be there).

3 percent African American
8 percent on free and reduced lunch

Please.

I guess Hispanics, Asians, mixed race students don't count? The dashboard I see says 72% are white. I bet that's higher in the high school and lower in the elementary schools (based on what I see). The district is becoming more diverse.

It's very homogenous in that people move there who prioritize schools. If you don't want to be in a school system where parents prioritize schools, definitely go somewhere else. If your priority is finding the exact right mix of races and income level based on your personal criteria you can do that. But OP asked a different question.

The original statement was FCC spun off to get rid of students who are harder to serve. Which is a fact based statement. This is what happened and the legacy of it is abundantly clear today.

Also, lots of parents prioritize schools and don’t have good options to move to a very expensive area. Get some perspective.

I think folks are painfully aware that a child’s education is a service that is available for purchase. Parents, as consumers, can either pay for that education directly (private school) or indirectly (by choosing a school district in which to live, where the cost of the education is embedded in the real estate price), or they can provide that service themselves (homeschool) or partially by themselves (a combination of homeschool with a la carte private schooling via co-ops, tutors, and dual enrollment).

Because educational services are directly or indirectly purchased (or provided by the parents), parents expect to get back what they invest in resources and time, which translates to the folks that invest more expecting more. And it turns out that educational outcomes correlate highly with parental affluence. Depending on your perspective, this is either the expected result (its economics 101) or raises troubling questions of educational equity, or both! In either case, I have yet to meet a parent that doesn’t prioritize getting their own children the best possible education.

Accordingly, I suspect folks are very aware that more affluent people can consume more educational services and therefore achieve higher educational outcomes. This may occur, in part, by those parents being willing to pay more to live in an area with higher performing public schools. By doing so, they must be aware that they have shut out less affluent families from enjoying those schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You all have ZERO perspective it’s incredible. Try an actually had school district like the one I grew up in in Georgia. You’d be crying for your highly funded nova district. You’re such losers. Seriously. Get a grip.

Can you share? I’m honestly struggling with my disappointment in APS. I grew up in a suburb outside NYC and there didn’t seem to be the same strife as there is here. Granted, I grew up before social media. The colleges that kids go to from APS are always so unimpressive. And they seem to be cutting back on very good programs like spanish enrichment in elementary. Also teachers are not paid as well as they were in my hometown. So as someone that was raised in a truly great public school district, I feel there’s a lot to be desired here. I have friends from growing up raising their kids in my hometown and they all are VERY happy and say quality is still great. What gives?

The suburbs of NYC are some of the best, highest rated schools in the country. They’re very wealthy. Your perspective of what is normal and possible for public school is off. APS is not a bad district. Not even close. You have the expectation it is capable of giving you suburban NYC public education though. It isn’t. It’s a very good district. I’m telling you, bad districts are the Carolinas, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Mississippi. No funding. Awful infrastructure. Barely licensed teachers because the pay is horrendous, not livable. Curriculum that is old and garbage. Subpar facilities. You truly do not know a bad school district if you send your kids anywhere in northern Virginia. If is ludicrous to claim otherwise.

This. Try South Carolina where the county is dominated by retirees who don't care about schools and will vote against any tax. You end up with over crowded and severely underfunded schools. Academic expectations are non-existent and the results match the expectations.

But shouldn’t this area be more like the NYC suburbs than the south? I’m not arguing that we are on par with the south. We are not, thank god. But why are we so far from NYC suburbs? APS spends over 20k per student which is comparable $$.

I am from Long Island. The difference is smaller districts by town and taxes. My district on LI had 6 ES, 1 middle, and 1 high school. Home prices are similar to here but taxes are way higher. My parents were paying 22K by the time they sold our house. All of that money goes to those 8 schools only. Also, LI is very segregated. My district had almost no ESL students and SPED students get actual support. While APS is similar in size to a very large NY suburb, the taxes are a lot lower. Just looked at a 1.3 million dollar home and taxes were only 10,000 in Arlington. I looked at a house in my home town with a similar price and taxes were 20K.