FCPS Ready to Screw Poorer/GenEd Kids Again

[Anonymous]

FCPS is about to move the wealthiest neighborhoods zoned for Luther Jackson MS to Thoreau MS.

What will this do:
* increase ESOL/FARMS rates at Jackson
* give Thoreau LLIV students at option to stay at Thoreau or take a bus to the AAP center at Jackson
* turn Thoreau into a three-way split feeder

Why do this: because Jackson is overcrowded and Thoreau has capcity, and the parents getting move to the wealthier school won't complain

Why not do this: because it will further concentrate poverty in the Gen Ed population remaining at Jackson, turn Thoreau into a three-way split feeder to Madison, Marshall and Oakton, and fail to address the fact that Poe MS, which also shares a border with Jackson, has MORE EXCESS CAPACITY THAN THOREAU.

Once again, the FCPS School talks out of both sides of its mouth. They adopt lofty resolutions like One Fairfax to proclaim their commitment to equity, and then through their policy choices concentrate poverty in certain schools, create incentives for parents of kids who are not in AAP to avoid certain school pyramids like Falls Church and Annandale, and take the path of least resistance that caters to wealthier families and gives AAP students options that are not available to Gen Ed students.

Just watch Palchik, Hynes, Evans, Moon, Strauss, McElveen, and Keys-Gamarra go along with this. The hypocrisy is glaring.

[Anonymous]

the wealthiest neighborhoods zoned for Luther Jackson MS

Just curious - Where is that?

[Anonymous]

Serious question: what do you want them to do instead?

I am in one of the neighborhoods that may move to Thoreau. I am fine with Jackson. Thoreau and Jackson are both far from my house. But Poe is farther and it makes no sense for my kid to go all the way to Poe. So do you want them to move the poorer kids to Poe? That doesn't seem to solve anything either. You are stuck with the fact that location and income are tied.

[Anonymous]

Gentle reminder on the poors :

The poors have “poor” habits that make them detrimental to the schools - indolence, criminality, violence, lack of intellectual curiosity. Even the poors themselves do not want to live near the poors. This has been going on since the beginning of time and will never end for obvious reasons.

[Anonymous]

Don't the non poors that feed Jackson go to Vienna anyways

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Serious question: what do you want them to do instead?

I am in one of the neighborhoods that may move to Thoreau. I am fine with Jackson. Thoreau and Jackson are both far from my house. But Poe is farther and it makes no sense for my kid to go all the way to Poe. So do you want them to move the poorer kids to Poe? That doesn't seem to solve anything either. You are stuck with the fact that location and income are tied.

The neighborhoods closer to Poe (not yours) are wealthier than the rest of Poe. Moving them to Poe, which has more extra space than Thoreau, is a win-win.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Don't the non poors that feed Jackson go to Vienna anyways

They go to Oakton. So right now Jackson splits to Falls Church and Oakton; Thoreau splits to Madison and Marshall; and Poe splits to Annandale and Falls Church.

Moving some of the Jackson neighborhoods zoned for Falls Church to Poe leaves that in place. The current proposal Jackson into a feeder for Falls Church alone, and Thoreau into a three-way split feeder to Madison, Marshall, and Oakton.

Except the AAP kids would still have an option to go to Jackson AAP, and some of them would end up at Oakton and Madison.

Again, it's the general education population left at Jackson that is being screwed over.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Gentle reminder on the poors :

The poors have “poor” habits that make them detrimental to the schools - indolence, criminality, violence, lack of intellectual curiosity. Even the poors themselves do not want to live near the poors. This has been going on since the beginning of time and will never end for obvious reasons.

Please share that with Palchik, Hynes, Evans, Strauss, Moon, McElveen and Keys-Gamarra. It clearly aligns with their current thinking.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Serious question: what do you want them to do instead?

I am in one of the neighborhoods that may move to Thoreau. I am fine with Jackson. Thoreau and Jackson are both far from my house. But Poe is farther and it makes no sense for my kid to go all the way to Poe. So do you want them to move the poorer kids to Poe? That doesn't seem to solve anything either. You are stuck with the fact that location and income are tied.

The neighborhoods closer to Poe (not yours) are wealthier than the rest of Poe. Moving them to Poe, which has more extra space than Thoreau, is a win-win.

You mean inside the Beltway? I guess. They are closer to Jackson than I am, I can see why we would be the logical choice just on location.

It's odd that middle schools are so concentrated around the Beltway, so that much of Vienna and Oakton is not near a middle school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Serious question: what do you want them to do instead?

I am in one of the neighborhoods that may move to Thoreau. I am fine with Jackson. Thoreau and Jackson are both far from my house. But Poe is farther and it makes no sense for my kid to go all the way to Poe. So do you want them to move the poorer kids to Poe? That doesn't seem to solve anything either. You are stuck with the fact that location and income are tied.

The neighborhoods closer to Poe (not yours) are wealthier than the rest of Poe. Moving them to Poe, which has more extra space than Thoreau, is a win-win.

You mean inside the Beltway? I guess. They are closer to Jackson than I am, I can see why we would be the logical choice just on location.

It's odd that middle schools are so concentrated around the Beltway, so that much of Vienna and Oakton is not near a middle school.

They are close to Poe and Poe is more under-capacity than Thoreau.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Serious question: what do you want them to do instead?

I am in one of the neighborhoods that may move to Thoreau. I am fine with Jackson. Thoreau and Jackson are both far from my house. But Poe is farther and it makes no sense for my kid to go all the way to Poe. So do you want them to move the poorer kids to Poe? That doesn't seem to solve anything either. You are stuck with the fact that location and income are tied.

The neighborhoods closer to Poe (not yours) are wealthier than the rest of Poe. Moving them to Poe, which has more extra space than Thoreau, is a win-win.

You mean inside the Beltway? I guess. They are closer to Jackson than I am, I can see why we would be the logical choice just on location.

It's odd that middle schools are so concentrated around the Beltway, so that much of Vienna and Oakton is not near a middle school.

They are close to Poe and Poe is more under-capacity than Thoreau.

A good portion of Oakton already is zoned for Flint Hill ES/Thoreau MS/Madison so it makes some sense to send more Oakton kids to Thoreau to relieve overcrowding at Jackson.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:FCPS is about to move the wealthiest neighborhoods zoned for Luther Jackson MS to Thoreau MS.

What will this do:
* increase ESOL/FARMS rates at Jackson
* give Thoreau LLIV students at option to stay at Thoreau or take a bus to the AAP center at Jackson
* turn Thoreau into a three-way split feeder

Why do this: because Jackson is overcrowded and Thoreau has capcity, and the parents getting move to the wealthier school won't complain

Why not do this: because it will further concentrate poverty in the Gen Ed population remaining at Jackson, turn Thoreau into a three-way split feeder to Madison, Marshall and Oakton, and fail to address the fact that Poe MS, which also shares a border with Jackson, has MORE EXCESS CAPACITY THAN THOREAU.

Once again, the FCPS School talks out of both sides of its mouth. They adopt lofty resolutions like One Fairfax to proclaim their commitment to equity, and then through their policy choices concentrate poverty in certain schools, create incentives for parents of kids who are not in AAP to avoid certain school pyramids like Falls Church and Annandale, and take the path of least resistance that caters to wealthier families and gives AAP students options that are not available to Gen Ed students.

Just watch Palchik, Hynes, Evans, Moon, Strauss, McElveen, and Keys-Gamarra go along with this. The hypocrisy is glaring.

Now we know why you are "poor". As another pp pointed out you can't even get the facts right. The people being rezoned to Thoreau live in Oakton. You want them to be bused to Poe which is in Annandale??? Are you crazy? I don't have a dog in this fight but if anyone suggested that, they'd get laughed out of the room. While you are at it, why not zone people in Great Falls to Poe and Jackson so there are more "wealthies" going to those schools? What say you?

[Anonymous]

How many threads do we need on this topic?

[Anonymous]

I'm confused. I thought that Arlington was the only place in Virginia involved with "racist" redistricting.

[Anonymous]

I used to live in this one of these neighborhoods and moved a few years ago. So no dog in the current fight. But OP is misstating a lot. At least part of this is Oakton ES, right? And maybe Marshall Road ES? And 22124. Oakton ES has been a problem for years because it was a split feeder ES, with some of Gen Ed going to Jackson and Oakton and some going to Thoreau and Madison. It has caused a divide in the school between Thoreau zoned kids and Jackson zoned kids . It makes zero sense to rezone these kids and keep it as a split feeder Thoreau/Poe. Oakton ES and Marshall Rand ES should be straight feeders to either Jackson or Thoreau. And Thoreau has space. Why would add a third MS to the mix?

Also, Jackson and Thoreau are both tough commutes in rush hour traffic. But Oakton 22124 to Annandale makes no sense.
Google maps says it’s 12 miles (20 minutes) in non-rush hour, Saturday afternoon traffic to Poe from 22124. Middle schools that are closer include Lanier, Frost, Hughes, Franklin and Rocky Run.

Also, some of this is wealthy, million plus dollars homes, but most of the kids — probably 75%, come from 500-700k townhouses. The DCUM poors. Oakton ES Jackson kids are generally less affluent than Oakton ES Thoreau kids, with pockets of significant wealth, which is part of the reason having a split feeder at the ES level is an issue. Also, at least when my kids went, having an LLIV Center created a big divide. But that’s a different post.

I had heard that that proposal was to have the 22124 kids rezone for Thoreau-Madison, rather than having Thoreau become an Oakton HS feeder. Has that changed? Also that Thoreau would become a MS AAP Center, and Jackson would not be an AAP option.

And yes, losing the AAP Center will hurt Jackson. And your concern is touching OP. /s.

Thoreau has a new addition and is underenrolled. AAP Kids zoned for Thoreau get to choose between a local LLIV program and Jackson AAP. Under all the smoke and mirrors, you sound like one of the Thoreau snowflakes who doesn’t want the school to become and AAP Center or operate at capacity. Especially when the kids coming in are the poors. Or near poors. One of the things I hated about living in that part of the country is that a 300k + HHI, 650k home made one “the poors”.