Losing faith in the public school system and feeling bad about it.

[Anonymous]

I'm another DCPS parent, and honestly my child's experience sounds better than these FCPS families'. However, I work with a bunch of FCPS parents and they have for the most part, had good experiences.

[Anonymous]

If FCPS is horrible, I'd like to know where, exactly:

... there's NOT increasing class sizes?
... there's NOT budget cuts/etc.?
... there's NOT trailers, except in areas which haven't grown population-wise in 50 years?
... there's NOT emphasis on NCLB/SOL/yadda yadda?
... there's a higher percentage of students considering tertiary education?
... there's such a wide variety of high-paying jobs available?

10:52, you go to Waynewood, don't you?

20:25, so what are you doing for middle and high school? I'm guessing you have (1) a HHI of over $300k a year, too, (2) are happy living in a 2BR, 800sf condo, or (3) are deluding yourself that Columbia Heights is going to be great "any day now."

[Anonymous]

The statement was made that FCPS is the "gold standard" meaning it is THE BEST thing out there.

If anyone disagrees with that, then you automatically conclude that they are saying FCPS is "horrible." You are the one creating a false dicotomy. You are the one staying it's either black or white.

Some of us are saying that parts of FCPS are far from the best, and we have pointed to areas that need improvement and we have pointed to other schools/districts that do some things better than FCPS.

You simply won't convince me that my child has a "gold standard" situation. It's something less than that, but it's not a complete disaster either. If it was, I would pull him/her out and make other plans. To glaze over the very real problems in FCPS by saying the whole thing is "gold" is like sticking your head in the sand.

[Anonymous]

USA Today posted a list of the nations top High Schools:

http://education.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-high-schools/rankings/gold-medal-list

Only TJ made it to the top.

Why do I keep hearing FCPS are one the best in the nation?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:USA Today posted a list of the nations top High Schools:

http://education.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-high-schools/rankings/gold-medal-list

Only TJ made it to the top.

Why do I keep hearing FCPS are one the best in the nation?

I really wish these publications would stop acting like HS's with selective admissions are on par with neighborhood schools. One of them does break them out into their own category (with TJ still on top), but still didn't weed out all of them from the list.

[Anonymous]

PP has a valid point.

MoGO has a amazing schooling system, so does Plano, TX, etc etc

Why do folks claim FFX has THE best schooling system in the US. Are RE Agents spreading rumors?

[Anonymous]

Langley from FCPS ranked #48 on the list.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
All b/c your experience with your FCPS has been different than mine, doesn't make *your* experience the norm. Actually a LOT of the 12 boys in the class (out of 26 kids I might add) know each other. They all came from 2 preschools and this is one of those elementary schools where EVERYBODY is from the neighborhood. I am not exaggerating here. About 1/10 of the kids get bussed in. Many of these kids have known each other for YEARS doing sports, playing at the local pool, etc. It is VERY different from my FCPS experience.

Sure, I may be overreacting a little...but trust me when I tell you that this is more the norm than you think. Oh, and I'm only doing the tutoring b/c it was recommended to me by some of the other parents b/c EVERYBODY does it. The whole this is outrageous, which is why I"m stotally stressed out about it.

The school/neighborhood you describe sounds a lot like Waynewood. Those moms can be dreadfully clique-y and smug, and the frightening thing is the kids there are JUST as bad. The moms ran it like a private school (even drove away a few principals).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The statement was made that FCPS is the "gold standard" meaning it is THE BEST thing out there.

If anyone disagrees with that, then you automatically conclude that they are saying FCPS is "horrible." You are the one creating a false dicotomy. You are the one staying it's either black or white.

Some of us are saying that parts of FCPS are far from the best, and we have pointed to areas that need improvement and we have pointed to other schools/districts that do some things better than FCPS.

You simply won't convince me that my child has a "gold standard" situation. It's something less than that, but it's not a complete disaster either. If it was, I would pull him/her out and make other plans. To glaze over the very real problems in FCPS by saying the whole thing is "gold" is like sticking your head in the sand.

OK, so what school districts are better? What school districts don't have increasing class sizes, budget cuts, trailers, NCLB/SOL/yadda yadda, a higher percentage of kids considering tertiary education, and are in communities with a plethora of high-paying jobs? It's great that folks in Knoxville have 20 kids in a class. How many people there are even making $50k a year? How many of you would really, honestly, and truthfully, exchange your $150k+ HHI in the DC area for a $80k HHI in a smaller city?

[Anonymous]

Your question and logic don't even make sense. A county with higher HHI should have better schools b/c there are more tax dollars to support it.

The cost of living is a lot higher here, so how does it help me to have a HHI of $150K (as per your example) rather than a HHI of $80K? I'm not living here for the bragging rights of having a higher HHI (which comes with the higher cost of living). But, none of this matters in the evaluation of whether FCPS are better than all others. There are some areas where FCPS excells (i.e. offering more class options in HS perhaps or offering a more in depth AAP compared to other districts). But on a more micro level (i.e. classroom level), I'm not convinced.

And if your logic is "everyone has high class ratios and trailers and teaching to the tests" then you are essentially conceding that FCPS is equal to other schools -- which means that FCPS is not superior. And that is my point. It seems decent, but certainly does not fit my standard for what an exceptional public school would look like.

[Anonymous]

Don't see Fairfax on this list:


http://www.forbes.com/sites/danielfisher/2011/04/26/tables-americas-best-school-districts-for-your-housing-buck/

While Ffx has some very high level schools, it also has some not-so-great schools. Maybe Ffx is more like the "gold-plated standard"? Scratch beneath the TJ/Langley/McLean surface and it's not real gold.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Don't see Fairfax on this list:


http://www.forbes.com/sites/danielfisher/2011/04/26/tables-americas-best-school-districts-for-your-housing-buck/

While Ffx has some very high level schools, it also has some not-so-great schools. Maybe Ffx is more like the "gold-plated standard"? Scratch beneath the TJ/Langley/McLean surface and it's not real gold.

Can't be on the list if the school district is excluded in the first place.

http://www.forbes.com/2011/04/25/best-schools-for-real-estate-buck.html

"There are difficulties in ranking schools according to the town or city they are in. In addition to leaving out Nebraska, GreatSchools had to eliminate towns with less than 10,000 residents or fewer than five schools. And cities with sprawling, unified school districts like Houston and Los Angeles might harbor extremely high-scoring schools whose results are cancelled out by underperforming ones."

[Anonymous]

That statement doesn't mean Fairfax was excluded. It says that big districts often don't make the list b/c they have some good schools and some bad ones.

Read more carefully (or are you showing us how they do it in Ffx?)

[Anonymous]

20:25, so what are you [DCPS parents] doing for middle and high school?

It's funny, you hear this sort of thing a lot. But why do you think this is some sort of devastating critique? The obvious answer is, we'll see what things look like 7-10 years from now, and if there are no good middle school options, *then* we'll reevaluate. Heck, your average suburban school might get worse in the meantime. What are you going to do if that happens? Better jump ship now on the off chance you don't have options a decade from now.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Don't see Fairfax on this list:


http://www.forbes.com/sites/danielfisher/2011/04/26/tables-americas-best-school-districts-for-your-housing-buck/

While Ffx has some very high level schools, it also has some not-so-great schools. Maybe Ffx is more like the "gold-plated standard"? Scratch beneath the TJ/Langley/McLean surface and it's not real gold.

This list is "best schools for your housing buck." I think McLean/Great Falls housing market would make it nearly impossible for Langley to rank tops on such a list -- no one ever accused the Langley boundaries as having affordable housing.