TJHSST PTSA Election

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The current principal is awful! She never showed any interest in the current kids but came in with the agenda to get different kinds of kids at the school. The previous principal was great! He really understood and connected with the students.

Agree-she is the worst. Terrible to the students.

She isn't terrible to the students. I've seen her interact with them for the last several years. There's no basis to that assertion.

Of course she interacts with everyone with a smile on her face.. and speaks well too. It's what she does (or does not do) to benefit the students..

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The current principal is awful! She never showed any interest in the current kids but came in with the agenda to get different kinds of kids at the school. The previous principal was great! He really understood and connected with the students.

Agree-she is the worst. Terrible to the students.

She's wonderful! I'm so grateful she's trying to improve the toxic environment there.

It's really important to make a distinction here. A lot of parents are rubbed the wrong way by her because one of her biggest emphases is to communicate to the students that things like balance, self-advocacy, and treatment of others are extremely important and that they are coming in with priorities that are frequently damaging to their long-term prospects.

By the way, many will read this as an attack on Asian-Americans because a) they currently dominate the school and b) many of the issues that she's trying to combat are unfortunate stereotypes of Asian-American parents. But the problems that she's referring to are far from unique to TJ's Asian-American population - they exist across the school and are largely a function of an admissions process that historically advantaged the exact type of damaging behavior that she's referencing.

When she arrived, her immediate agenda was to help strike a balance with homework. i.e. get the teachers to focus on course rigor and not course rigor+heavy workload. That did not fly. Pretty soon, she changed her tune to tell the kids that grades are not important. If I recall, she spent some $$ to engage a CA company to provide some lessons in that regard. I don't think anyone was interested and it went nowhere.

Kinda hard to tell a kid at TJ to chill and not take grades seriously. Seriously? What about their college prospects? If kids want to chill and find "balance" they should stay at base HS OR the principal or other FCPS management should have the balls to tell the teachers to go easy on the workload. Telling TJ kids that grades are not important is stupidity.

Asian American kids, by necessity have to work harder than everyone else because they need to get higher grades than everyone else given the pervasiive discrimination against them in college admissions. Who's going to fix that?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The current principal is awful! She never showed any interest in the current kids but came in with the agenda to get different kinds of kids at the school. The previous principal was great! He really understood and connected with the students.

Agree-she is the worst. Terrible to the students.

She's wonderful! I'm so grateful she's trying to improve the toxic environment there.

It's really important to make a distinction here. A lot of parents are rubbed the wrong way by her because one of her biggest emphases is to communicate to the students that things like balance, self-advocacy, and treatment of others are extremely important and that they are coming in with priorities that are frequently damaging to their long-term prospects.

By the way, many will read this as an attack on Asian-Americans because a) they currently dominate the school and b) many of the issues that she's trying to combat are unfortunate stereotypes of Asian-American parents. But the problems that she's referring to are far from unique to TJ's Asian-American population - they exist across the school and are largely a function of an admissions process that historically advantaged the exact type of damaging behavior that she's referencing.

When she arrived, her immediate agenda was to help strike a balance with homework. i.e. get the teachers to focus on course rigor and not course rigor+heavy workload. That did not fly. Pretty soon, she changed her tune to tell the kids that grades are not important. If I recall, she spent some $$ to engage a CA company to provide some lessons in that regard. I don't think anyone was interested and it went nowhere.

Kinda hard to tell a kid at TJ to chill and not take grades seriously. Seriously? What about their college prospects? If kids want to chill and find "balance" they should stay at base HS OR the principal or other FCPS management should have the balls to tell the teachers to go easy on the workload. Telling TJ kids that grades are not important is stupidity.

Asian American kids, by necessity have to work harder than everyone else because they need to get higher grades than everyone else given the pervasiive discrimination against them in college admissions. Who's going to fix that?

Honestly, no one is going to fix that. Colleges have determined that it is not in their best interests to be overloaded with Asian American students, and their admissions process reflects that reality. If it were in their best interests, they would do it.

Need proof? Applications to TJ go down as percentage of Asians go up, and even more severely when you take into account the population growth of the catchment area. Regardless of the reason why that's the case, if it is, it's a problem because fewer applications necessarily means a less competitive process and a reduction in the quality of the incoming class. And don't give me the "#1" nonsense - that's all based on tests scores that the admissions process overselected for anyway.

[Anonymous]

https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2021/jul/1/critical-race-theory-heart-clash-virginia-pta-say-/

The drama is intensifying ...

With the controversy swirling, Ms. Qin sent an email at 11:55 p.m. Monday saying she was drafting a response to the Virginia PTA and calling a chapter meeting for July 5, when the federal July 4 holiday will be celebrated.

Mr. Jackson denounced the move, which he said was made in the middle of the night and outside the seven-day period required before a meeting.
“This meeting was not properly called for, and it will only prove divisive and disruptive in our community,” Mr. Jackson told The Washington Times. “Ms. Qin hasn’t had any input from us on the response to the PTA, she’s making a unilateral decision and move, and I think the only people that might show up on a holiday Monday are her and her supporters.”

“The mostly White Virginia PTA has sent a lynch mob on the mostly minority TJ PTSA, including its first Black president-elect, all because we have parents standing up to the racism of the new admissions process at TJ,” Ms. Nomani said. “It’s the new racism of the woke mob: In their minds, racism is OK if they are doing it.”
The agenda for the July 5 meeting has not been made public, and Ms. Nomani said she thought people were being purposely kept in the dark.

“They want this to be a public tribunal of Harry. They want to have a struggle session where they denounce him,” she said.

Mr. Jackson declined to comment on the July 5 meeting, but he said the Virginia PTA revocation letter was “vague and nebulous” and that any response to it should incorporate the thinking of the chapter’s new majority.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The current principal is awful! She never showed any interest in the current kids but came in with the agenda to get different kinds of kids at the school. The previous principal was great! He really understood and connected with the students.

Agree-she is the worst. Terrible to the students.

She's wonderful! I'm so grateful she's trying to improve the toxic environment there.

It's really important to make a distinction here. A lot of parents are rubbed the wrong way by her because one of her biggest emphases is to communicate to the students that things like balance, self-advocacy, and treatment of others are extremely important and that they are coming in with priorities that are frequently damaging to their long-term prospects.

By the way, many will read this as an attack on Asian-Americans because a) they currently dominate the school and b) many of the issues that she's trying to combat are unfortunate stereotypes of Asian-American parents. But the problems that she's referring to are far from unique to TJ's Asian-American population - they exist across the school and are largely a function of an admissions process that historically advantaged the exact type of damaging behavior that she's referencing.

When she arrived, her immediate agenda was to help strike a balance with homework. i.e. get the teachers to focus on course rigor and not course rigor+heavy workload. That did not fly. Pretty soon, she changed her tune to tell the kids that grades are not important. If I recall, she spent some $$ to engage a CA company to provide some lessons in that regard. I don't think anyone was interested and it went nowhere.

Kinda hard to tell a kid at TJ to chill and not take grades seriously. Seriously? What about their college prospects? If kids want to chill and find "balance" they should stay at base HS OR the principal or other FCPS management should have the balls to tell the teachers to go easy on the workload. Telling TJ kids that grades are not important is stupidity.

Asian American kids, by necessity have to work harder than everyone else because they need to get higher grades than everyone else given the pervasiive discrimination against them in college admissions. Who's going to fix that?

Funny, that's basically what my IBET teachers told me when I showed up for orientation back in the 90s. It was "You're used to getting all As. You probably won't do that here. It's OK to get a B sometime."

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2021/jul/1/critical-race-theory-heart-clash-virginia-pta-say-/

The drama is intensifying ...

With the controversy swirling, Ms. Qin sent an email at 11:55 p.m. Monday saying she was drafting a response to the Virginia PTA and calling a chapter meeting for July 5, when the federal July 4 holiday will be celebrated.

Mr. Jackson denounced the move, which he said was made in the middle of the night and outside the seven-day period required before a meeting.
“This meeting was not properly called for, and it will only prove divisive and disruptive in our community,” Mr. Jackson told The Washington Times. “Ms. Qin hasn’t had any input from us on the response to the PTA, she’s making a unilateral decision and move, and I think the only people that might show up on a holiday Monday are her and her supporters.”

“The mostly White Virginia PTA has sent a lynch mob on the mostly minority TJ PTSA, including its first Black president-elect, all because we have parents standing up to the racism of the new admissions process at TJ,” Ms. Nomani said. “It’s the new racism of the woke mob: In their minds, racism is OK if they are doing it.”
The agenda for the July 5 meeting has not been made public, and Ms. Nomani said she thought people were being purposely kept in the dark.

“They want this to be a public tribunal of Harry. They want to have a struggle session where they denounce him,” she said.

Mr. Jackson declined to comment on the July 5 meeting, but he said the Virginia PTA revocation letter was “vague and nebulous” and that any response to it should incorporate the thinking of the chapter’s new majority.

Ugh. So disheartening, even for a parent of class of 2021.

[Anonymous]

What a toxic place.

Just shut it down.

[Anonymous]

DCUM is a toxic place.
Just shut it down.

[Anonymous]

The solution is easy. Form a PTO. Transfer any money to the PTO before the PTSA is disbanded.
After all, it's not as if association with the clowns at VA PTSA adds anything.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What a toxic place.

Just shut it down.

+1000. It is not worth all this pointless mud wrestling.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The current principal is awful! She never showed any interest in the current kids but came in with the agenda to get different kinds of kids at the school. The previous principal was great! He really understood and connected with the students.

Agree-she is the worst. Terrible to the students.

She's wonderful! I'm so grateful she's trying to improve the toxic environment there.

She is responsible for the toxic environment.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:After reading multiple posts on several parent FB groups, it appears that the alleged pivotal actions were that of the previous EC.

The new EC (with the exception of the president) was elected only in June this year, a mere few weeks ago, and has yet to meet in committee.

However there appear to be bad faith actors all around including the VA PTA and school admin, and with everybody spoiling for a fight, there can be no good outcome.

Given that the previous board contained noted rabblerouser Asra Nomani, this should not come as a huge surprise. The previous EC:

- engaged in electioneering by posting their slate of recommended candidates every week for weeks prior to the election (which most of their candidates still only won by a thread)
- made public statements in their newsletters denouncing the reformed admissions process
- encouraged parents to withdraw students from social-emotional learning seminars
- had several of their members publicly call for the resignation and/or dismissal of the principal and superintendent

.... you just don't do that stuff when you're supposed to be serving parents and students. They turned it into an expressly political body and they're getting what they deserve. Sadly, it's not what most families at TJ deserve.

It sounds like those things were done in the service of the kids at TJ.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:After reading multiple posts on several parent FB groups, it appears that the alleged pivotal actions were that of the previous EC.

The new EC (with the exception of the president) was elected only in June this year, a mere few weeks ago, and has yet to meet in committee.

However there appear to be bad faith actors all around including the VA PTA and school admin, and with everybody spoiling for a fight, there can be no good outcome.

Given that the previous board contained noted rabblerouser Asra Nomani, this should not come as a huge surprise. The previous EC:

- engaged in electioneering by posting their slate of recommended candidates every week for weeks prior to the election (which most of their candidates still only won by a thread)
- made public statements in their newsletters denouncing the reformed admissions process
- encouraged parents to withdraw students from social-emotional learning seminars
- had several of their members publicly call for the resignation and/or dismissal of the principal and superintendent

.... you just don't do that stuff when you're supposed to be serving parents and students. They turned it into an expressly political body and they're getting what they deserve. Sadly, it's not what most families at TJ deserve.

It sounds like those things were done in the service of the kids at TJ.

“The mostly White Virginia PTA has sent a lynch mob on the mostly minority TJ PTSA, including its first Black president-elect, all because we have parents standing up to the racism of the new admissions process at TJ,” Ms. Nomani said. “It’s the new racism of the woke mob: In their minds, racism is OK if they are doing it.”

She hits the nail on the head! Dis-associate from those f**kers! What benefit does TJ PTSA get from being associated with the Virginia PTA?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The current principal is awful! She never showed any interest in the current kids but came in with the agenda to get different kinds of kids at the school. The previous principal was great! He really understood and connected with the students.

Agree-she is the worst. Terrible to the students.

She's wonderful! I'm so grateful she's trying to improve the toxic environment there.

It's really important to make a distinction here. A lot of parents are rubbed the wrong way by her because one of her biggest emphases is to communicate to the students that things like balance, self-advocacy, and treatment of others are extremely important and that they are coming in with priorities that are frequently damaging to their long-term prospects.

By the way, many will read this as an attack on Asian-Americans because a) they currently dominate the school and b) many of the issues that she's trying to combat are unfortunate stereotypes of Asian-American parents. But the problems that she's referring to are far from unique to TJ's Asian-American population - they exist across the school and are largely a function of an admissions process that historically advantaged the exact type of damaging behavior that she's referencing.

When she arrived, her immediate agenda was to help strike a balance with homework. i.e. get the teachers to focus on course rigor and not course rigor+heavy workload. That did not fly. Pretty soon, she changed her tune to tell the kids that grades are not important. If I recall, she spent some $$ to engage a CA company to provide some lessons in that regard. I don't think anyone was interested and it went nowhere.

Kinda hard to tell a kid at TJ to chill and not take grades seriously. Seriously? What about their college prospects? If kids want to chill and find "balance" they should stay at base HS OR the principal or other FCPS management should have the balls to tell the teachers to go easy on the workload. Telling TJ kids that grades are not important is stupidity.

Asian American kids, by necessity have to work harder than everyone else because they need to get higher grades than everyone else given the pervasiive discrimination against them in college admissions. Who's going to fix that?

Honestly, no one is going to fix that. Colleges have determined that it is not in their best interests to be overloaded with Asian American students, and their admissions process reflects that reality. If it were in their best interests, they would do it.

Need proof? Applications to TJ go down as percentage of Asians go up, and even more severely when you take into account the population growth of the catchment area. Regardless of the reason why that's the case, if it is, it's a problem because fewer applications necessarily means a less competitive process and a reduction in the quality of the incoming class. And don't give me the "#1" nonsense - that's all based on tests scores that the admissions process overselected for anyway.

IF they can't fix the process so that it is less easily gamed, then expect a straight lottery in the not distant future.

[Anonymous]

Very concerning to see that the Washington Post has published a falsehood-filled rant cowritten by the TJ parent who is a high-profile Trump voter and the fringe rightwing union-busting lawyer who is suing the school system.

It's concerning because the piece has already been shared and reshared over and over throughout the rightwing media ecosystem that runs on misinformation and outrage.

This all happens very quickly, and the damage is done. TJ's "brand" as one of America's finest high schools will never recover from being positioned in rightwing social media feeds as an example of something to be mocked and extinguished from American life. TJ students and parents can expect to be abused on social media, the school will likely receive threats, and there may be security issues in the physical world as well.

It means a TJ diploma won't mean what it used to. Ask Oberlin students how that works (Oberlin sustained lasting damage to its educational brand as a result of a Fox News campaign against it).

Weaponizing TJ-related disputes in the rightwing media ecosystem is a five-alarm fire.