APS School Board candidates?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’m still waiting for Duran and co to apologize for wasting 11 mil on a failed virtual learning program…. Or for switching health insurance on teachers without fair warning 😳

And don't forget helping to force out the independent auditor who shined a light on the whole debacle.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’m still waiting for Duran and co to apologize for wasting 11 mil on a failed virtual learning program…. Or for switching health insurance on teachers without fair warning 😳

The virtual program was a big fail. But IMO a reasonable thing to pursue at the time. And the timing on the health insurance sucked big time but there were county constraints out of their control. Maybe they could have given more time off for changing providers?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m a teacher who absolutelychafed at abusive behavior from APE people during the pandemic. I also disagree with Turner on a number of issues, but the vitriol directed at her family frequently goes too far, and frankly isn’t getting us anywhere productive. How do we better serve all our students? Who is genuinely advocating lower class sizes and retain the best classroom staff? Can anyone on this thread please speak to any of the candidates and their positions in 2024?

I hated APE during the pandemic but signed up for their newsletter to keep track of things. They advocate for teacher pay, smaller class sizes, cutting extra holiday from syphax, high quality interventions. They are now aligned with many things I see the people in the APS educators group asking for.

Do they still have a Republican board and slip in R talking points? Are they still heavy on the opinions and low on the knowledge? Have they ever apologized for acting like irrational a-holes?

This. Their newsletter is full of flawed assumptions, anecdotes treated like data, quoting anonymous “teachers” who don’t speak for all teachers. It’s political propaganda disguised as research. It’s the opinion of 1-2 Republicans who have a LOT of time on their hands and agendas

Yes, this became very clear when Youngkin took office and they were strangely silent on some topics.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m a teacher who absolutelychafed at abusive behavior from APE people during the pandemic. I also disagree with Turner on a number of issues, but the vitriol directed at her family frequently goes too far, and frankly isn’t getting us anywhere productive. How do we better serve all our students? Who is genuinely advocating lower class sizes and retain the best classroom staff? Can anyone on this thread please speak to any of the candidates and their positions in 2024?

I hated APE during the pandemic but signed up for their newsletter to keep track of things. They advocate for teacher pay, smaller class sizes, cutting extra holiday from syphax, high quality interventions. They are now aligned with many things I see the people in the APS educators group asking for.

Do they still have a Republican board and slip in R talking points? Are they still heavy on the opinions and low on the knowledge? Have they ever apologized for acting like irrational a-holes?

This. Their newsletter is full of flawed assumptions, anecdotes treated like data, quoting anonymous “teachers” who don’t speak for all teachers. It’s political propaganda disguised as research. It’s the opinion of 1-2 Republicans who have a LOT of time on their hands and agendas

This. It's so similar to their "follow the science" refrain during the pandemic when their "science" was their opinion.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m still waiting for Duran and co to apologize for wasting 11 mil on a failed virtual learning program…. Or for switching health insurance on teachers without fair warning 😳

And don't forget helping to force out the independent auditor who shined a light on the whole debacle.

So go complain to Miranda and see how far you get. Oh wait, she hasn't learned the job yet.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m still waiting for Duran and co to apologize for wasting 11 mil on a failed virtual learning program…. Or for switching health insurance on teachers without fair warning 😳

The virtual program was a big fail. But IMO a reasonable thing to pursue at the time. And the timing on the health insurance sucked big time but there were county constraints out of their control. Maybe they could have given more time off for changing providers?

I think it would have been better spent on teachers and tutors… I think maybe 600 kids signed up for. Huge waste

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m a teacher who absolutelychafed at abusive behavior from APE people during the pandemic. I also disagree with Turner on a number of issues, but the vitriol directed at her family frequently goes too far, and frankly isn’t getting us anywhere productive. How do we better serve all our students? Who is genuinely advocating lower class sizes and retain the best classroom staff? Can anyone on this thread please speak to any of the candidates and their positions in 2024?

I hated APE during the pandemic but signed up for their newsletter to keep track of things. They advocate for teacher pay, smaller class sizes, cutting extra holiday from syphax, high quality interventions. They are now aligned with many things I see the people in the APS educators group asking for.

Do they still have a Republican board and slip in R talking points? Are they still heavy on the opinions and low on the knowledge? Have they ever apologized for acting like irrational a-holes?

This. Their newsletter is full of flawed assumptions, anecdotes treated like data, quoting anonymous “teachers” who don’t speak for all teachers. It’s political propaganda disguised as research. It’s the opinion of 1-2 Republicans who have a LOT of time on their hands and agendas

Yes, this became very clear when Youngkin took office and they were strangely silent on some topics.

That is because APE supports Youngkin and his agenda. They just won't say that out loud in Arlington.

But they don’t make decisions… Isn’t it worse that the current school board is all democrats? Or that school boards even have political backing! Differing opinions/thoughts always lead to better results. Group think is never good for any organizations. And I say this as a Democrat. I really wish we’d get candidates that were in it for education and not politics.
It seems the more recent ones are. And I’m glad to see KC putting her name in and representing the SPED community

+1

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m still waiting for Duran and co to apologize for wasting 11 mil on a failed virtual learning program…. Or for switching health insurance on teachers without fair warning 😳

The virtual program was a big fail. But IMO a reasonable thing to pursue at the time. And the timing on the health insurance sucked big time but there were county constraints out of their control. Maybe they could have given more time off for changing providers?

I think it would have been better spent on teachers and tutors… I think maybe 600 kids signed up for. Huge waste

Wow, yes, the 600 most vulnerable students and families in APS. Did you hear their stories? Many of those families spoke at SB meetings and advocated to keep it going for another year. Huge waste? Only if you're thinking of your own kids first.

[Anonymous]

There was already a Virginia virtual learning program. APS didn’t need to create their own.

I’m not going to get into this whole debacle again… it wasn’t a well thought out program and it failed miserablely and several parents with kids in the program spoke about this at SB meetings.

And have you ever considered other kids who desperately needed small in person classes or tutoring to recover from the learning loss from school shutdowns. Many of those being kids (like mine) with severe disabilities. If that’s selfish to think 11 million dollars should have gone to helping those kids then so be it.

[Anonymous]

This entire thread is not fair to the four candidates who've put their hats in the ring. Let's talk about APS today not four years ago. From what I can tell from the article, we have a good pool to choose from.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There was already a Virginia virtual learning program. APS didn’t need to create their own.

I’m not going to get into this whole debacle again… it wasn’t a well thought out program and it failed miserablely and several parents with kids in the program spoke about this at SB meetings.

And have you ever considered other kids who desperately needed small in person classes or tutoring to recover from the learning loss from school shutdowns. Many of those being kids (like mine) with severe disabilities. If that’s selfish to think 11 million dollars should have gone to helping those kids then so be it.

If you really are a parent of a kid with severe disabilities then you should care that Virtual Virginia is not set up at all for kids with severe disabilities. This is part of the reason why APS kept the virtual program in house back when there was still a pretty high demand for virtual. But maybe you don't care about kids other than your own.

My kids went back in person, but I still was in support of keeping a virtual option at the time. That is separate from how it was executed, which was awful. But that doesn't mean it wasn't needed or worthwhile.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m still waiting for Duran and co to apologize for wasting 11 mil on a failed virtual learning program…. Or for switching health insurance on teachers without fair warning 😳

The virtual program was a big fail. But IMO a reasonable thing to pursue at the time. And the timing on the health insurance sucked big time but there were county constraints out of their control. Maybe they could have given more time off for changing providers?

I think it would have been better spent on teachers and tutors… I think maybe 600 kids signed up for. Huge waste

600 kids is an entire school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:People on DCUM are crazy and exhausting. Let it go already. Is APE relevant now?

They just elected a school board member and their leadership are now leading APS advisory committees, so yes.

Those are one year roles. Like Youngkin, they'll be done next year. The Republlc will survive.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:People on DCUM are crazy and exhausting. Let it go already. Is APE relevant now?

They just elected a school board member and their leadership are now leading APS advisory committees, so yes.

And they’re now the biggest cheerleaders for APS on video at least. They now save their attacks for anonymous boards and newsletters.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This thread is about the school bd race. People were wondering if APE is running a candidate. Why can’t we talk about that?

Then APEs started jumping in to try to rewrite past history. That’s what derailed the thread.

Is APE running a candidate? Any of the 4 connected to APE?

I like Kathleen Clarke best.

Clark seems best. Interested in Zuraya and Chen. Zuraya’s website is locked. What do people know about her?

Some Dems have already endorsed Tapia-Hadley and she has kids in APS, but I don't think she's been involved much in APS.