APS Duran School Performance Email - Is Long Branch a Failing School?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:MAGA attack on public ed

No it isn’t. 2/3 of the schools are on track. If this is an attack why are t there more failing schools? The reality is that these schools are pretty bad and Arlington does have a two tier educational system. Hopefully this puts an end to the myth that all Arlington public schools are the same. This is why there is such a long waitlist for ATS. Parents know how bad these schools are and want an out.

It’s a maga move to vouchers which maybe you support

The confidence with which people state baseless conspiracy theories.

It's easier than admitting that Dems have been running Arlington for a long time and we still have massive discrepancies between schools.

okay so what's your plan?

Buy a quality, evidence based math curriculum for the county. Math scores dropped across the board last year and Duran literally said that he was just going to monitor and do nothing. That's not okay.

Having teacher purchase random materials from teachers -paying-teachers websites to teach math is not a solution. Directing middle and high schoolers to random internet videos and websites is not a solution. Buying unused Envision workbooks each year is a total waste of APS funds, and has been going on for years now. It's time for APS Teaching and Learning folks to get off their rears and figure out a solution.

Ok that's math, one subject. Is that your entire plan to address what you say are massive discrepancies between schools? And how does the math curriculum fix that - some schools are doing quite welll now without it so is that really going to fix it at the ones that are not?

Students in well off parts of town are filling gaps from a non existent math curriculum with parents are helping to teach math, or else paying for other resources or tutoring. There's a whole industry of math enrichment and tutors because APS schools aren't teaching math well. Students at less affluent schools don't have the resources to pay for tutoring or AoPS or RSM or Mathnasium or Kumon, and their parents likely can't teach them, so they are struggling even more. I know tons and tons of kids in N Arlington with math tutors.

This is literally an issue APS has known about for years and has don't nothing to solve.

I don't disagree but math is one subject, how does this fix the rest of the disparities?

So let's do nothing? Got it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:MAGA attack on public ed

No it isn’t. 2/3 of the schools are on track. If this is an attack why are t there more failing schools? The reality is that these schools are pretty bad and Arlington does have a two tier educational system. Hopefully this puts an end to the myth that all Arlington public schools are the same. This is why there is such a long waitlist for ATS. Parents know how bad these schools are and want an out.

It’s a maga move to vouchers which maybe you support

The confidence with which people state baseless conspiracy theories.

It's easier than admitting that Dems have been running Arlington for a long time and we still have massive discrepancies between schools.

okay so what's your plan?

Expand summer school to be offered to more at risk and struggling students, like it used to before the pandemic.

ok but you do realize these discrepancies existed before the pandemic too right?

It was a quality program that was good for students. I know several students who benefited.

Your proposal is to do nothing? Got it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:MAGA attack on public ed

No it isn’t. 2/3 of the schools are on track. If this is an attack why are t there more failing schools? The reality is that these schools are pretty bad and Arlington does have a two tier educational system. Hopefully this puts an end to the myth that all Arlington public schools are the same. This is why there is such a long waitlist for ATS. Parents know how bad these schools are and want an out.

It’s a maga move to vouchers which maybe you support

The confidence with which people state baseless conspiracy theories.

It's easier than admitting that Dems have been running Arlington for a long time and we still have massive discrepancies between schools.

okay so what's your plan?

I think someone needs to say this out loud. But politically speaking, democrats need to first realize that they might be really bad on education. and I'm sorry if that ruffles some feathers. We have one political voice in Arlington, and one only. If you dare speak out against what the tribe has chosen, you are immediately cast aside. Dare i say, what we are seeing with our public schools in Arlington has much less to do with Youngkin (or any Va Governor's) tenure, and more to do with decades-long democratic leadership embracing liberal and trending academic attitudes in public education. For those who were willing to go for the ride, because even if we want to see EVERYONE challenged, I think many of us would be fine with a change that resulted in stark improvements to those who were traditionally under-served - we just simply have not see anything to suggest what Duran is doing is working. Someone tell me I'm wrong.

A lot of education policy and funding comes from the state which has not been consistently Dem controlled. And some of what you blame Duran for are things that no one has solved.

How long has Duran been superintendent? A good amont of time now. We've purchased and thrown out Envision workbooks for years and that is 100% under his control. He saw the declining math scores and sent an email saying he was doing nothing. Again, that's 100% on him. These arent funding issues, but priority issues. He's all about running a school-based food kitchen and diversity initiatives. He cares far far far less about math scores.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:MAGA attack on public ed

No it isn’t. 2/3 of the schools are on track. If this is an attack why are t there more failing schools? The reality is that these schools are pretty bad and Arlington does have a two tier educational system. Hopefully this puts an end to the myth that all Arlington public schools are the same. This is why there is such a long waitlist for ATS. Parents know how bad these schools are and want an out.

It’s a maga move to vouchers which maybe you support

The confidence with which people state baseless conspiracy theories.

It's easier than admitting that Dems have been running Arlington for a long time and we still have massive discrepancies between schools.

okay so what's your plan?

Expand summer school to be offered to more at risk and struggling students, like it used to before the pandemic.

ok but you do realize these discrepancies existed before the pandemic too right?

And many of the students who needed the most are the ones who have chronic absenteeism during the school year. I think if we took out the scores of students who were chronically absent you would see dramatically increased achievement numbers, which makes total sense you can’t teach students who aren’t in the building

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:MAGA attack on public ed

No it isn’t. 2/3 of the schools are on track. If this is an attack why are t there more failing schools? The reality is that these schools are pretty bad and Arlington does have a two tier educational system. Hopefully this puts an end to the myth that all Arlington public schools are the same. This is why there is such a long waitlist for ATS. Parents know how bad these schools are and want an out.

It’s a maga move to vouchers which maybe you support

The confidence with which people state baseless conspiracy theories.

It's easier than admitting that Dems have been running Arlington for a long time and we still have massive discrepancies between schools.

okay so what's your plan?

I think someone needs to say this out loud. But politically speaking, democrats need to first realize that they might be really bad on education. and I'm sorry if that ruffles some feathers. We have one political voice in Arlington, and one only. If you dare speak out against what the tribe has chosen, you are immediately cast aside. Dare i say, what we are seeing with our public schools in Arlington has much less to do with Youngkin (or any Va Governor's) tenure, and more to do with decades-long democratic leadership embracing liberal and trending academic attitudes in public education. For those who were willing to go for the ride, because even if we want to see EVERYONE challenged, I think many of us would be fine with a change that resulted in stark improvements to those who were traditionally under-served - we just simply have not see anything to suggest what Duran is doing is working. Someone tell me I'm wrong.

A lot of education policy and funding comes from the state which has not been consistently Dem controlled. And some of what you blame Duran for are things that no one has solved.

How long has Duran been superintendent? A good amont of time now. We've purchased and thrown out Envision workbooks for years and that is 100% under his control. He saw the declining math scores and sent an email saying he was doing nothing. Again, that's 100% on him. These arent funding issues, but priority issues. He's all about running a school-based food kitchen and diversity initiatives. He cares far far far less about math scores.

I just checked my email and the last time Duran mentioned math was in his March 25, 2025 email where he said: "Our division-wide data shows a slight drop in MAP Scores compared to last year across all student groups.". He proposed no new steps to address this drop, but more of the same.

His last email on diversity was Nov 19, equity was April 20, inclusion was Nov 19, etc. What is his priority? It's not education.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:MAGA attack on public ed

No it isn’t. 2/3 of the schools are on track. If this is an attack why are t there more failing schools? The reality is that these schools are pretty bad and Arlington does have a two tier educational system. Hopefully this puts an end to the myth that all Arlington public schools are the same. This is why there is such a long waitlist for ATS. Parents know how bad these schools are and want an out.

It’s a maga move to vouchers which maybe you support

The confidence with which people state baseless conspiracy theories.

It's easier than admitting that Dems have been running Arlington for a long time and we still have massive discrepancies between schools.

okay so what's your plan?

I think someone needs to say this out loud. But politically speaking, democrats need to first realize that they might be really bad on education. and I'm sorry if that ruffles some feathers. We have one political voice in Arlington, and one only. If you dare speak out against what the tribe has chosen, you are immediately cast aside. Dare i say, what we are seeing with our public schools in Arlington has much less to do with Youngkin (or any Va Governor's) tenure, and more to do with decades-long democratic leadership embracing liberal and trending academic attitudes in public education. For those who were willing to go for the ride, because even if we want to see EVERYONE challenged, I think many of us would be fine with a change that resulted in stark improvements to those who were traditionally under-served - we just simply have not see anything to suggest what Duran is doing is working. Someone tell me I'm wrong.

A lot of education policy and funding comes from the state which has not been consistently Dem controlled. And some of what you blame Duran for are things that no one has solved.

How long has Duran been superintendent? A good amont of time now. We've purchased and thrown out Envision workbooks for years and that is 100% under his control. He saw the declining math scores and sent an email saying he was doing nothing. Again, that's 100% on him. These arent funding issues, but priority issues. He's all about running a school-based food kitchen and diversity initiatives. He cares far far far less about math scores.

I just checked my email and the last time Duran mentioned math was in his March 25, 2025 email where he said: "Our division-wide data shows a slight drop in MAP Scores compared to last year across all student groups.". He proposed no new steps to address this drop, but more of the same.

His last email on diversity was Nov 19, equity was April 20, inclusion was Nov 19, etc. What is his priority? It's not education.

I remember that math update - it was the one where they highlighted that the percentage of students in the second highest group increased as a positive trend. Unfortunately, it was obvious to anyone who actually looked at the chart that the increase came from students falling out of the top group instead of rising up out of the lower group. I think that fits just fine with Duran's lower the ceiling priorities.

My solution for improving all aspects of APS (along with a real curriculum and getting rid of the Envision books we all throw away) is to bring back tracking and hold back kids who don't meet minimum standards. Social promotion isn't helping in the long run. Yes, it's going to be somewhat segregated by income and ethnicity. That's better than sending illiterate high school grads into the world because you didn't want to hurt their feelings.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:MAGA attack on public ed

No it isn’t. 2/3 of the schools are on track. If this is an attack why are t there more failing schools? The reality is that these schools are pretty bad and Arlington does have a two tier educational system. Hopefully this puts an end to the myth that all Arlington public schools are the same. This is why there is such a long waitlist for ATS. Parents know how bad these schools are and want an out.

It’s a maga move to vouchers which maybe you support

The confidence with which people state baseless conspiracy theories.

It's easier than admitting that Dems have been running Arlington for a long time and we still have massive discrepancies between schools.

okay so what's your plan?

I think someone needs to say this out loud. But politically speaking, democrats need to first realize that they might be really bad on education. and I'm sorry if that ruffles some feathers. We have one political voice in Arlington, and one only. If you dare speak out against what the tribe has chosen, you are immediately cast aside. Dare i say, what we are seeing with our public schools in Arlington has much less to do with Youngkin (or any Va Governor's) tenure, and more to do with decades-long democratic leadership embracing liberal and trending academic attitudes in public education. For those who were willing to go for the ride, because even if we want to see EVERYONE challenged, I think many of us would be fine with a change that resulted in stark improvements to those who were traditionally under-served - we just simply have not see anything to suggest what Duran is doing is working. Someone tell me I'm wrong.

A lot of education policy and funding comes from the state which has not been consistently Dem controlled. And some of what you blame Duran for are things that no one has solved.

How long has Duran been superintendent? A good amont of time now. We've purchased and thrown out Envision workbooks for years and that is 100% under his control. He saw the declining math scores and sent an email saying he was doing nothing. Again, that's 100% on him. These arent funding issues, but priority issues. He's all about running a school-based food kitchen and diversity initiatives. He cares far far far less about math scores.

I just checked my email and the last time Duran mentioned math was in his March 25, 2025 email where he said: "Our division-wide data shows a slight drop in MAP Scores compared to last year across all student groups.". He proposed no new steps to address this drop, but more of the same.

His last email on diversity was Nov 19, equity was April 20, inclusion was Nov 19, etc. What is his priority? It's not education.

I remember that math update - it was the one where they highlighted that the percentage of students in the second highest group increased as a positive trend. Unfortunately, it was obvious to anyone who actually looked at the chart that the increase came from students falling out of the top group instead of rising up out of the lower group. I think that fits just fine with Duran's lower the ceiling priorities.

My solution for improving all aspects of APS (along with a real curriculum and getting rid of the Envision books we all throw away) is to bring back tracking and hold back kids who don't meet minimum standards. Social promotion isn't helping in the long run. Yes, it's going to be somewhat segregated by income and ethnicity. That's better than sending illiterate high school grads into the world because you didn't want to hurt their feelings.

You can say this all you want, but they're not going to hold students back. It's not considered appropriate by any education group in the country. It won't happen. All you're doing is muddling the conversation and making it less likely that anything is done at all.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:MAGA attack on public ed

No it isn’t. 2/3 of the schools are on track. If this is an attack why are t there more failing schools? The reality is that these schools are pretty bad and Arlington does have a two tier educational system. Hopefully this puts an end to the myth that all Arlington public schools are the same. This is why there is such a long waitlist for ATS. Parents know how bad these schools are and want an out.

It’s a maga move to vouchers which maybe you support

The confidence with which people state baseless conspiracy theories.

It's easier than admitting that Dems have been running Arlington for a long time and we still have massive discrepancies between schools.

okay so what's your plan?

I think someone needs to say this out loud. But politically speaking, democrats need to first realize that they might be really bad on education. and I'm sorry if that ruffles some feathers. We have one political voice in Arlington, and one only. If you dare speak out against what the tribe has chosen, you are immediately cast aside. Dare i say, what we are seeing with our public schools in Arlington has much less to do with Youngkin (or any Va Governor's) tenure, and more to do with decades-long democratic leadership embracing liberal and trending academic attitudes in public education. For those who were willing to go for the ride, because even if we want to see EVERYONE challenged, I think many of us would be fine with a change that resulted in stark improvements to those who were traditionally under-served - we just simply have not see anything to suggest what Duran is doing is working. Someone tell me I'm wrong.

A lot of education policy and funding comes from the state which has not been consistently Dem controlled. And some of what you blame Duran for are things that no one has solved.

How long has Duran been superintendent? A good amont of time now. We've purchased and thrown out Envision workbooks for years and that is 100% under his control. He saw the declining math scores and sent an email saying he was doing nothing. Again, that's 100% on him. These arent funding issues, but priority issues. He's all about running a school-based food kitchen and diversity initiatives. He cares far far far less about math scores.

I just checked my email and the last time Duran mentioned math was in his March 25, 2025 email where he said: "Our division-wide data shows a slight drop in MAP Scores compared to last year across all student groups.". He proposed no new steps to address this drop, but more of the same.

His last email on diversity was Nov 19, equity was April 20, inclusion was Nov 19, etc. What is his priority? It's not education.

I remember that math update - it was the one where they highlighted that the percentage of students in the second highest group increased as a positive trend. Unfortunately, it was obvious to anyone who actually looked at the chart that the increase came from students falling out of the top group instead of rising up out of the lower group. I think that fits just fine with Duran's lower the ceiling priorities.

My solution for improving all aspects of APS (along with a real curriculum and getting rid of the Envision books we all throw away) is to bring back tracking and hold back kids who don't meet minimum standards. Social promotion isn't helping in the long run. Yes, it's going to be somewhat segregated by income and ethnicity. That's better than sending illiterate high school grads into the world because you didn't want to hurt their feelings.

You can say this all you want, but they're not going to hold students back. It's not considered appropriate by any education group in the country. It won't happen. All you're doing is muddling the conversation and making it less likely that anything is done at all.

But why? Is this like when everyone was on the Lucy Calkins train and agreed it was the best way to teach kids to read?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:MAGA attack on public ed

No it isn’t. 2/3 of the schools are on track. If this is an attack why are t there more failing schools? The reality is that these schools are pretty bad and Arlington does have a two tier educational system. Hopefully this puts an end to the myth that all Arlington public schools are the same. This is why there is such a long waitlist for ATS. Parents know how bad these schools are and want an out.

It’s a maga move to vouchers which maybe you support

The confidence with which people state baseless conspiracy theories.

It's easier than admitting that Dems have been running Arlington for a long time and we still have massive discrepancies between schools.

okay so what's your plan?

I think someone needs to say this out loud. But politically speaking, democrats need to first realize that they might be really bad on education. and I'm sorry if that ruffles some feathers. We have one political voice in Arlington, and one only. If you dare speak out against what the tribe has chosen, you are immediately cast aside. Dare i say, what we are seeing with our public schools in Arlington has much less to do with Youngkin (or any Va Governor's) tenure, and more to do with decades-long democratic leadership embracing liberal and trending academic attitudes in public education. For those who were willing to go for the ride, because even if we want to see EVERYONE challenged, I think many of us would be fine with a change that resulted in stark improvements to those who were traditionally under-served - we just simply have not see anything to suggest what Duran is doing is working. Someone tell me I'm wrong.

I agree with you. Inclusion (SPED and ELL) is a main driver of the struggles. We need to get much more comfortable with these student groups spending much, much more of their day in smaller, supportive settings. I have worked in self-contained special education and students who would have been in one of those programs 10-15 years ago are now spending all of their day, outside of maybe 30 minute lessons, in gen ed and they are melting down constantly.
EL students are coming with zero English and spending maybe an hour a day in small groups. I am in a different role now an see every kid in the school. Some of them are not picking up much functional English even after several years (others pick it up easily.)
Finally we need to bring back consequences and failure. Why are students getting one day of in-school suspension for weapons violations or assault? That's not enough. It might now "look good" but it results in kids correctly believing they can get away with anything and erodes the feeling of safety for kids who are trying their best.
I know that SPED and EL changes are budget and shortage issues as well but modern policy is not serving anyone well and a lot of this started in the Obama era.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:MAGA attack on public ed

No it isn’t. 2/3 of the schools are on track. If this is an attack why are t there more failing schools? The reality is that these schools are pretty bad and Arlington does have a two tier educational system. Hopefully this puts an end to the myth that all Arlington public schools are the same. This is why there is such a long waitlist for ATS. Parents know how bad these schools are and want an out.

It’s a maga move to vouchers which maybe you support

The confidence with which people state baseless conspiracy theories.

It's easier than admitting that Dems have been running Arlington for a long time and we still have massive discrepancies between schools.

okay so what's your plan?

I think someone needs to say this out loud. But politically speaking, democrats need to first realize that they might be really bad on education. and I'm sorry if that ruffles some feathers. We have one political voice in Arlington, and one only. If you dare speak out against what the tribe has chosen, you are immediately cast aside. Dare i say, what we are seeing with our public schools in Arlington has much less to do with Youngkin (or any Va Governor's) tenure, and more to do with decades-long democratic leadership embracing liberal and trending academic attitudes in public education. For those who were willing to go for the ride, because even if we want to see EVERYONE challenged, I think many of us would be fine with a change that resulted in stark improvements to those who were traditionally under-served - we just simply have not see anything to suggest what Duran is doing is working. Someone tell me I'm wrong.

A lot of education policy and funding comes from the state which has not been consistently Dem controlled. And some of what you blame Duran for are things that no one has solved.

How long has Duran been superintendent? A good amont of time now. We've purchased and thrown out Envision workbooks for years and that is 100% under his control. He saw the declining math scores and sent an email saying he was doing nothing. Again, that's 100% on him. These arent funding issues, but priority issues. He's all about running a school-based food kitchen and diversity initiatives. He cares far far far less about math scores.

I just checked my email and the last time Duran mentioned math was in his March 25, 2025 email where he said: "Our division-wide data shows a slight drop in MAP Scores compared to last year across all student groups.". He proposed no new steps to address this drop, but more of the same.

His last email on diversity was Nov 19, equity was April 20, inclusion was Nov 19, etc. What is his priority? It's not education.

I remember that math update - it was the one where they highlighted that the percentage of students in the second highest group increased as a positive trend. Unfortunately, it was obvious to anyone who actually looked at the chart that the increase came from students falling out of the top group instead of rising up out of the lower group. I think that fits just fine with Duran's lower the ceiling priorities.

My solution for improving all aspects of APS (along with a real curriculum and getting rid of the Envision books we all throw away) is to bring back tracking and hold back kids who don't meet minimum standards. Social promotion isn't helping in the long run. Yes, it's going to be somewhat segregated by income and ethnicity. That's better than sending illiterate high school grads into the world because you didn't want to hurt their feelings.

You can say this all you want, but they're not going to hold students back. It's not considered appropriate by any education group in the country. It won't happen. All you're doing is muddling the conversation and making it less likely that anything is done at all.

But why? Is this like when everyone was on the Lucy Calkins train and agreed it was the best way to teach kids to read?

+1 Some states have started to retain students who can't read. It's a good start.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:MAGA attack on public ed

No it isn’t. 2/3 of the schools are on track. If this is an attack why are t there more failing schools? The reality is that these schools are pretty bad and Arlington does have a two tier educational system. Hopefully this puts an end to the myth that all Arlington public schools are the same. This is why there is such a long waitlist for ATS. Parents know how bad these schools are and want an out.

It’s a maga move to vouchers which maybe you support

The confidence with which people state baseless conspiracy theories.

It's easier than admitting that Dems have been running Arlington for a long time and we still have massive discrepancies between schools.

okay so what's your plan?

Buy a quality, evidence based math curriculum for the county. Math scores dropped across the board last year and Duran literally said that he was just going to monitor and do nothing. That's not okay.

Having teacher purchase random materials from teachers -paying-teachers websites to teach math is not a solution. Directing middle and high schoolers to random internet videos and websites is not a solution. Buying unused Envision workbooks each year is a total waste of APS funds, and has been going on for years now. It's time for APS Teaching and Learning folks to get off their rears and figure out a solution.

Ok that's math, one subject. Is that your entire plan to address what you say are massive discrepancies between schools? And how does the math curriculum fix that - some schools are doing quite welll now without it so is that really going to fix it at the ones that are not?

Students in well off parts of town are filling gaps from a non existent math curriculum with parents are helping to teach math, or else paying for other resources or tutoring. There's a whole industry of math enrichment and tutors because APS schools aren't teaching math well. Students at less affluent schools don't have the resources to pay for tutoring or AoPS or RSM or Mathnasium or Kumon, and their parents likely can't teach them, so they are struggling even more. I know tons and tons of kids in N Arlington with math tutors.

This is literally an issue APS has known about for years and has don't nothing to solve.

I don't disagree but math is one subject, how does this fix the rest of the disparities?

So let's do nothing? Got it.

No I asked what your plan was. I see you don't have one.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:MAGA attack on public ed

No it isn’t. 2/3 of the schools are on track. If this is an attack why are t there more failing schools? The reality is that these schools are pretty bad and Arlington does have a two tier educational system. Hopefully this puts an end to the myth that all Arlington public schools are the same. This is why there is such a long waitlist for ATS. Parents know how bad these schools are and want an out.

It’s a maga move to vouchers which maybe you support

The confidence with which people state baseless conspiracy theories.

It's easier than admitting that Dems have been running Arlington for a long time and we still have massive discrepancies between schools.

okay so what's your plan?

Expand summer school to be offered to more at risk and struggling students, like it used to before the pandemic.

ok but you do realize these discrepancies existed before the pandemic too right?

It was a quality program that was good for students. I know several students who benefited.

Your proposal is to do nothing? Got it.

I have asked you for a proposal, then pointed out yours won't fix it because your only plan is to restore something that, while helpful, didn't work to fix disparities in the past. Do you have anything else?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:MAGA attack on public ed

No it isn’t. 2/3 of the schools are on track. If this is an attack why are t there more failing schools? The reality is that these schools are pretty bad and Arlington does have a two tier educational system. Hopefully this puts an end to the myth that all Arlington public schools are the same. This is why there is such a long waitlist for ATS. Parents know how bad these schools are and want an out.

It’s a maga move to vouchers which maybe you support

The confidence with which people state baseless conspiracy theories.

It's easier than admitting that Dems have been running Arlington for a long time and we still have massive discrepancies between schools.

okay so what's your plan?

Expand summer school to be offered to more at risk and struggling students, like it used to before the pandemic.

ok but you do realize these discrepancies existed before the pandemic too right?

And many of the students who needed the most are the ones who have chronic absenteeism during the school year. I think if we took out the scores of students who were chronically absent you would see dramatically increased achievement numbers, which makes total sense you can’t teach students who aren’t in the building

Assuming this right which we don't know - your plan please?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:MAGA attack on public ed

No it isn’t. 2/3 of the schools are on track. If this is an attack why are t there more failing schools? The reality is that these schools are pretty bad and Arlington does have a two tier educational system. Hopefully this puts an end to the myth that all Arlington public schools are the same. This is why there is such a long waitlist for ATS. Parents know how bad these schools are and want an out.

It’s a maga move to vouchers which maybe you support

The confidence with which people state baseless conspiracy theories.

It's easier than admitting that Dems have been running Arlington for a long time and we still have massive discrepancies between schools.

okay so what's your plan?

I think someone needs to say this out loud. But politically speaking, democrats need to first realize that they might be really bad on education. and I'm sorry if that ruffles some feathers. We have one political voice in Arlington, and one only. If you dare speak out against what the tribe has chosen, you are immediately cast aside. Dare i say, what we are seeing with our public schools in Arlington has much less to do with Youngkin (or any Va Governor's) tenure, and more to do with decades-long democratic leadership embracing liberal and trending academic attitudes in public education. For those who were willing to go for the ride, because even if we want to see EVERYONE challenged, I think many of us would be fine with a change that resulted in stark improvements to those who were traditionally under-served - we just simply have not see anything to suggest what Duran is doing is working. Someone tell me I'm wrong.

I agree with you. Inclusion (SPED and ELL) is a main driver of the struggles. We need to get much more comfortable with these student groups spending much, much more of their day in smaller, supportive settings. I have worked in self-contained special education and students who would have been in one of those programs 10-15 years ago are now spending all of their day, outside of maybe 30 minute lessons, in gen ed and they are melting down constantly.
EL students are coming with zero English and spending maybe an hour a day in small groups. I am in a different role now an see every kid in the school. Some of them are not picking up much functional English even after several years (others pick it up easily.)
Finally we need to bring back consequences and failure. Why are students getting one day of in-school suspension for weapons violations or assault? That's not enough. It might now "look good" but it results in kids correctly believing they can get away with anything and erodes the feeling of safety for kids who are trying their best.
I know that SPED and EL changes are budget and shortage issues as well but modern policy is not serving anyone well and a lot of this started in the Obama era.

omg now you're blaming Obama? you sounds like Trump. He's literally destroying public ed but it's somehow Obama's fault?!

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Anonymous wrote:MAGA attack on public ed

No it isn’t. 2/3 of the schools are on track. If this is an attack why are t there more failing schools? The reality is that these schools are pretty bad and Arlington does have a two tier educational system. Hopefully this puts an end to the myth that all Arlington public schools are the same. This is why there is such a long waitlist for ATS. Parents know how bad these schools are and want an out.

It’s a maga move to vouchers which maybe you support

The confidence with which people state baseless conspiracy theories.

It's easier than admitting that Dems have been running Arlington for a long time and we still have massive discrepancies between schools.

okay so what's your plan?

Expand summer school to be offered to more at risk and struggling students, like it used to before the pandemic.

ok but you do realize these discrepancies existed before the pandemic too right?

And many of the students who needed the most are the ones who have chronic absenteeism during the school year. I think if we took out the scores of students who were chronically absent you would see dramatically increased achievement numbers, which makes total sense you can’t teach students who aren’t in the building

Assuming this right which we don't know - your plan please?

I posted at 17:41 and I know who the chronically absent are at my school. They are the some of same students who didn’t show up to summer school in previous years.