APS School Board race

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:In case anyone is wondering how APS teachers feel about a specific group of parents, here is an APS teacher (now former) who put her name on it --


At first, when schools moved to online instruction in the spring of 2020 and parents saw firsthand the hardships teachers were enduring, plaudits poured in for the educators showing remarkable commitment to their profession in a difficult situation they had never trained for. Virtual teaching took much more time to prepare, execute and evaluate. And because students were often not required to turn on their cameras, it was a lot like teaching into a void. But as time crawled on and schools remained closed to in-person instruction, parents became critical, even angry. The hostility parents leveled against teachers was astonishing. In September 2021 alone, 30,000 public school teachers nationwide gave notice. Between August 2020 and August 2021, Florida’s teacher vacancies surged 67 percent, according to a count by the Florida Education Association. In 2021, California’s largest district, Los Angeles Unified, had five times the number of vacancies as in previous years, according to Shannon Haber, a spokeswoman for the district. The number of retirements skyrocketed, and I joined the exodus. I was within a couple of years of my target retirement date, but I left earlier than planned because of the mounting stress around the pandemic and an ever-increasing workload.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/books/2023/03/08/teachers-woes-vulnerable-profession-robbins/?fbclid=IwAR2UZodgy4iGVxCs8_X8Jp-yrhrMPKsHd6lhvFl5CAJ6rpmbqn9jA0FgT1o

The raw, misdirected hostility towards teachers was so crazy. I’m still shocked by what some parents did.

My kid was on teams **in class** when a parent interrupted and started screaming and cursing at the teacher. In front of all of the kids!!! The teacher handled it well, but WTAF?!

Yup. And then a lot of parents who were angry about schools closing took their kids out of APS and left for private schools, including one of our school bd candidates, so this is a problem they created for others to deal with.

I don't know how we repair the damage they did.

Certainly not by choosing a SB member who thought their actions were acceptable enough to partner with them.

Sorry but this entire thread reads as sock puppeting.
I don’t plan to vote, but I’m not sure how you can say someone who 1) doesn’t have children, 2) has never been inside an aps building, and 3) has lived in Arlington for less than a month is more qualified than anyone. Miranda is way more qualified, and if the Arl dems want to stay relevant and continue the endorsement process, Miranda should be the clear favorite.

There are multiple people posting.

He is absolutely less qualified. He also didn’t lead a group that has done so much damage to our community.

+1

I don't like either of then. But I may take newbie youngster over someone who has really damaged our school system. At least Angelo is probably harmless and it can't hurt to have a fresh perspective from a young person.

Whoops. This was where I wanted to post the above comment. I'm voting for the kid at this moment unless he really offs up. Miranda and her supporters do not represent me at all. She would probably ignore anyone who wasn't APE if she is elected.

Miranda has been involved in some capacity or another well before APE. See Drew and Green Valley. She's done more in APS than at least 2 current board members did before they were elected and her oldest kid isn't even in MS yet. She's talking to ASPHA and others. APS has some real challenges. Write someone if you want, but don't throw a vote at this unserious kid.

Did those two SB members lead a group that had such a negative impact on our community?

I’ll take a kid over someone who thinks so lowly of our teachers that she stood by while members in her group trashed teachers, SB members, administrators, and other parents.

One group alone is not responsible for all the negative impact that has happened.

They are responsible for their own actions which absolutely negatively impacted our community.

Lots of crappy things happened during the pandemic. Parents bullying teachers and others wasn’t one that I expected. Instead of supporting and pulling our community together they spread rage and divisiveness.

Many in the AEM crowd do the same. There are obnoxious parents outside of APE, too.

AEM is just a facebook group. Stop equating with with APE.

APE is an organized lobbying group with a specific membership. APE incorporated, APE has leaders, APE fundraises, APE has a board, APE has a newsletter, APE puts out press releases, takes positions.

so yes it's more than fair to draw conclusions based on one's choice to be part of APE.

That's true. Some people choose to actually DO something (APE) than to just sit at their keyboards griping and judging others (AEM).

I wouldn’t boast about APE bullying others.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:Where do they stand on boundary changes and dealing with facilities? Now that we’re not in a pandemic and the issue is not whether to have in-person instruction, these are the issues that tend to ignite passions.

I would like to know this too. The APE group that Miranda led was consistently against air quality and health upgrades to facilities so I would not expect much from Miranda on this.

I don't believe APE was against any of those things. It is highly unrealistic to think APS would be able to implement all the "upgrades" SOME people/person were insisting must happen fully before any student ever be let back into a building even to pick up something they may have left in their locker before shutdown. APE (rightly) understood that schools needed to open. That doesn't mean they were anti-health upgrades. Those AEM people insisting schools shouldn't reopen until everything in the facilities was perfect.....were they out in the streets saying the same about stores and gyms bars and restaurants and churches? Are they accusing everyone who supported reopening those things of being "anti health upgrades" or teacher haters?

APE kept saying we don't need this or we don't need that, just open now without any of those things. Kept insisting they were not needed, downplayed Covid by saying kids don't spread it, or it doesn't hurt kids, or long covid isn't a thing. All the lies.

And then they noticeably would not even support masks during the mask wars of Jan 2021.

so yes we know how they feel about health measures.

Ummm in hindsight they were correct.

Oh come on, this again? No APE was 100 WRONG. APE claimed Covid doesn't spread in schools, kids don't get it, kids can't spread it, etc, etc. This was pre vaccine and pre treatment. Teachers were dying in other places where schools were open without good mitigation. I would never listen to or trust anyone in APE on health matters after all of that.

Fundamentally they were saying schools could and should be open, and they were correct. You’re on the wrong side of history on this one.

Based on insufficient data and without regard for many complicating factors - no vaccines, winter surge, etc.

We were all there and remember how irrational and irate they were. Many schools, including APS, prioritized the health of the community during a deadly global pandemic. Once we had vaccines, the kids went back into the classroom. This was a very reasonable approach during this period.

I don’t believe APS would have opened full time in fall 2021 without state intervention. Same for masks in spring 2022.

You are wrong. APS was already working to have kids return to the classroom *before* the mandate. This has been documented many times, including earlier on this thread.

And masks became optional a month after Youngkin. So you threw away women’s rights for an extra month without a mask. Hope it was worth it.

#bullcrap

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:In case anyone is wondering how APS teachers feel about a specific group of parents, here is an APS teacher (now former) who put her name on it --


At first, when schools moved to online instruction in the spring of 2020 and parents saw firsthand the hardships teachers were enduring, plaudits poured in for the educators showing remarkable commitment to their profession in a difficult situation they had never trained for. Virtual teaching took much more time to prepare, execute and evaluate. And because students were often not required to turn on their cameras, it was a lot like teaching into a void. But as time crawled on and schools remained closed to in-person instruction, parents became critical, even angry. The hostility parents leveled against teachers was astonishing. In September 2021 alone, 30,000 public school teachers nationwide gave notice. Between August 2020 and August 2021, Florida’s teacher vacancies surged 67 percent, according to a count by the Florida Education Association. In 2021, California’s largest district, Los Angeles Unified, had five times the number of vacancies as in previous years, according to Shannon Haber, a spokeswoman for the district. The number of retirements skyrocketed, and I joined the exodus. I was within a couple of years of my target retirement date, but I left earlier than planned because of the mounting stress around the pandemic and an ever-increasing workload.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/books/2023/03/08/teachers-woes-vulnerable-profession-robbins/?fbclid=IwAR2UZodgy4iGVxCs8_X8Jp-yrhrMPKsHd6lhvFl5CAJ6rpmbqn9jA0FgT1o

The raw, misdirected hostility towards teachers was so crazy. I’m still shocked by what some parents did.

My kid was on teams **in class** when a parent interrupted and started screaming and cursing at the teacher. In front of all of the kids!!! The teacher handled it well, but WTAF?!

Yup. And then a lot of parents who were angry about schools closing took their kids out of APS and left for private schools, including one of our school bd candidates, so this is a problem they created for others to deal with.

I don't know how we repair the damage they did.

Certainly not by choosing a SB member who thought their actions were acceptable enough to partner with them.

What a slap in the face that would be to our teachers.

*OR* maybe our teachers would be thrilled to have a SB member lobbying for higher pay and smaller class sizes?

Everyone wants these things. But OK, I'll bite. Just how does she plan to pay for that?

How does ANYone plan to pay for them?

Well since you said this is Miranda's platform, does she have an actual plan to pay for them or are they just empty words?

I didn't say that. Different people commenting. Question stands. How does anyone plan to pay for these things? AEM people constantly griping about teacher salaries and calling for raises to compensate for inflation AND step increases. How do they propose paying for them????

the AEM commenters are not running for the school board. Miranda is. Someone said she's advocating for these things and said that in a good way, like we should vote for her for that reason. So then people asked how she plans to pay for it. and then.... crickets.

That is evidence that it isn't a simple problem to solve. If nobody else in this collective of highly educated, all-knowing Arlington community can come up with a solution or even suggestions, it's unrealistic to expect a local SB candidate would fare much better. Throw out some ideas to her and see what she thinks of them.

I'll take this as an admission that she doesn't have her own ideas. pass.

[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:In case anyone is wondering how APS teachers feel about a specific group of parents, here is an APS teacher (now former) who put her name on it --


At first, when schools moved to online instruction in the spring of 2020 and parents saw firsthand the hardships teachers were enduring, plaudits poured in for the educators showing remarkable commitment to their profession in a difficult situation they had never trained for. Virtual teaching took much more time to prepare, execute and evaluate. And because students were often not required to turn on their cameras, it was a lot like teaching into a void. But as time crawled on and schools remained closed to in-person instruction, parents became critical, even angry. The hostility parents leveled against teachers was astonishing. In September 2021 alone, 30,000 public school teachers nationwide gave notice. Between August 2020 and August 2021, Florida’s teacher vacancies surged 67 percent, according to a count by the Florida Education Association. In 2021, California’s largest district, Los Angeles Unified, had five times the number of vacancies as in previous years, according to Shannon Haber, a spokeswoman for the district. The number of retirements skyrocketed, and I joined the exodus. I was within a couple of years of my target retirement date, but I left earlier than planned because of the mounting stress around the pandemic and an ever-increasing workload.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/books/2023/03/08/teachers-woes-vulnerable-profession-robbins/?fbclid=IwAR2UZodgy4iGVxCs8_X8Jp-yrhrMPKsHd6lhvFl5CAJ6rpmbqn9jA0FgT1o

The raw, misdirected hostility towards teachers was so crazy. I’m still shocked by what some parents did.

My kid was on teams **in class** when a parent interrupted and started screaming and cursing at the teacher. In front of all of the kids!!! The teacher handled it well, but WTAF?!

Yup. And then a lot of parents who were angry about schools closing took their kids out of APS and left for private schools, including one of our school bd candidates, so this is a problem they created for others to deal with.

I don't know how we repair the damage they did.

Certainly not by choosing a SB member who thought their actions were acceptable enough to partner with them.

What a slap in the face that would be to our teachers.

*OR* maybe our teachers would be thrilled to have a SB member lobbying for higher pay and smaller class sizes?

Everyone wants these things. But OK, I'll bite. Just how does she plan to pay for that?

How does ANYone plan to pay for them?

Well since you said this is Miranda's platform, does she have an actual plan to pay for them or are they just empty words?

I didn't say that. Different people commenting. Question stands. How does anyone plan to pay for these things? AEM people constantly griping about teacher salaries and calling for raises to compensate for inflation AND step increases. How do they propose paying for them????

the AEM commenters are not running for the school board. Miranda is. Someone said she's advocating for these things and said that in a good way, like we should vote for her for that reason. So then people asked how she plans to pay for it. and then.... crickets.

That is evidence that it isn't a simple problem to solve. If nobody else in this collective of highly educated, all-knowing Arlington community can come up with a solution or even suggestions, it's unrealistic to expect a local SB candidate would fare much better. Throw out some ideas to her and see what she thinks of them.

I'll take this as an admission that she doesn't have her own ideas. pass.

Her website and newsletter seem to have plenty of specifics. She wants APS to release the class size report. Parents and teachers in dcum and AEM have complained about classes being over the max sizes. Why won’t APS release the report? She asked for an independent auditor. The last one got fired after giving a bad report on VLP. She asked for APS to reverse the extra paid holidays that syphax is getting. Added by duran last year and Teachers don’t get paid for those. She’s asked for county help for mental health supports. She arranged a forum with a county board member on the same.

She’s clued in, paying attention and has specific ideas.

[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:

Anonymous wrote:In case anyone is wondering how APS teachers feel about a specific group of parents, here is an APS teacher (now former) who put her name on it --


At first, when schools moved to online instruction in the spring of 2020 and parents saw firsthand the hardships teachers were enduring, plaudits poured in for the educators showing remarkable commitment to their profession in a difficult situation they had never trained for. Virtual teaching took much more time to prepare, execute and evaluate. And because students were often not required to turn on their cameras, it was a lot like teaching into a void. But as time crawled on and schools remained closed to in-person instruction, parents became critical, even angry. The hostility parents leveled against teachers was astonishing. In September 2021 alone, 30,000 public school teachers nationwide gave notice. Between August 2020 and August 2021, Florida’s teacher vacancies surged 67 percent, according to a count by the Florida Education Association. In 2021, California’s largest district, Los Angeles Unified, had five times the number of vacancies as in previous years, according to Shannon Haber, a spokeswoman for the district. The number of retirements skyrocketed, and I joined the exodus. I was within a couple of years of my target retirement date, but I left earlier than planned because of the mounting stress around the pandemic and an ever-increasing workload.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/books/2023/03/08/teachers-woes-vulnerable-profession-robbins/?fbclid=IwAR2UZodgy4iGVxCs8_X8Jp-yrhrMPKsHd6lhvFl5CAJ6rpmbqn9jA0FgT1o

The raw, misdirected hostility towards teachers was so crazy. I’m still shocked by what some parents did.

My kid was on teams **in class** when a parent interrupted and started screaming and cursing at the teacher. In front of all of the kids!!! The teacher handled it well, but WTAF?!

Yup. And then a lot of parents who were angry about schools closing took their kids out of APS and left for private schools, including one of our school bd candidates, so this is a problem they created for others to deal with.

I don't know how we repair the damage they did.

Certainly not by choosing a SB member who thought their actions were acceptable enough to partner with them.

What a slap in the face that would be to our teachers.

*OR* maybe our teachers would be thrilled to have a SB member lobbying for higher pay and smaller class sizes?

Everyone wants these things. But OK, I'll bite. Just how does she plan to pay for that?

How does ANYone plan to pay for them?

Well since you said this is Miranda's platform, does she have an actual plan to pay for them or are they just empty words?

I didn't say that. Different people commenting. Question stands. How does anyone plan to pay for these things? AEM people constantly griping about teacher salaries and calling for raises to compensate for inflation AND step increases. How do they propose paying for them????

the AEM commenters are not running for the school board. Miranda is. Someone said she's advocating for these things and said that in a good way, like we should vote for her for that reason. So then people asked how she plans to pay for it. and then.... crickets.

That is evidence that it isn't a simple problem to solve. If nobody else in this collective of highly educated, all-knowing Arlington community can come up with a solution or even suggestions, it's unrealistic to expect a local SB candidate would fare much better. Throw out some ideas to her and see what she thinks of them.

I'll take this as an admission that she doesn't have her own ideas. pass.

Her website and newsletter seem to have plenty of specifics. She wants APS to release the class size report. Parents and teachers in dcum and AEM have complained about classes being over the max sizes. Why won’t APS release the report? She asked for an independent auditor. The last one got fired after giving a bad report on VLP. She asked for APS to reverse the extra paid holidays that syphax is getting. Added by duran last year and Teachers don’t get paid for those. She’s asked for county help for mental health supports. She arranged a forum with a county board member on the same.

She’s clued in, paying attention and has specific ideas.

+100 This. MT is clued in. Exactly.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yup and Miranda's group, APE, stood out glaringly from all the other Arlington groups when they did not oppose the state ban on masking, which was overwhelmingly driven by conservatives.

That is just a dealbreaker for me. I don't trust her at all to stand up to the crazies at the state level or to make good decisions for kids and teachers. Because she did not do it then.

I know you are desperately trying to make some point but the only point you keep reinforcing is that you and the majority of Arlington view masks and masking as purely political symbols and they have nothing to do with health and welfare and virus spread.

So what happens the next time? If a Democrat is the president and he says no masks but from a healthy perspective a doctor tells you to wear one - then what? You forgo health and welfare so that you can prove which political party you belong to?

You don’t really know any better than I do the true actual benefits of masking - and neither do scientists. Each side of the debate can find studies to support or refute. And if you believe in science then you have to accept that masking may or may not make a difference. It doesn’t mean that you still can’t or shouldn’t do it and I believe a lot of people did it because like me they felt more comfortable and it gives a sense of security to the person and makes it feel like they have a tiny bit of perceived control over something that is uncontrollable. All of that is ok. But is truly irrelevant to me as to whether someone should be elected to a school board. Because masks or no masks don’t make smaller class sizes and don’t make better teacher pay.

[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:

Anonymous wrote:In case anyone is wondering how APS teachers feel about a specific group of parents, here is an APS teacher (now former) who put her name on it --


At first, when schools moved to online instruction in the spring of 2020 and parents saw firsthand the hardships teachers were enduring, plaudits poured in for the educators showing remarkable commitment to their profession in a difficult situation they had never trained for. Virtual teaching took much more time to prepare, execute and evaluate. And because students were often not required to turn on their cameras, it was a lot like teaching into a void. But as time crawled on and schools remained closed to in-person instruction, parents became critical, even angry. The hostility parents leveled against teachers was astonishing. In September 2021 alone, 30,000 public school teachers nationwide gave notice. Between August 2020 and August 2021, Florida’s teacher vacancies surged 67 percent, according to a count by the Florida Education Association. In 2021, California’s largest district, Los Angeles Unified, had five times the number of vacancies as in previous years, according to Shannon Haber, a spokeswoman for the district. The number of retirements skyrocketed, and I joined the exodus. I was within a couple of years of my target retirement date, but I left earlier than planned because of the mounting stress around the pandemic and an ever-increasing workload.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/books/2023/03/08/teachers-woes-vulnerable-profession-robbins/?fbclid=IwAR2UZodgy4iGVxCs8_X8Jp-yrhrMPKsHd6lhvFl5CAJ6rpmbqn9jA0FgT1o

The raw, misdirected hostility towards teachers was so crazy. I’m still shocked by what some parents did.

My kid was on teams **in class** when a parent interrupted and started screaming and cursing at the teacher. In front of all of the kids!!! The teacher handled it well, but WTAF?!

Yup. And then a lot of parents who were angry about schools closing took their kids out of APS and left for private schools, including one of our school bd candidates, so this is a problem they created for others to deal with.

I don't know how we repair the damage they did.

Certainly not by choosing a SB member who thought their actions were acceptable enough to partner with them.

What a slap in the face that would be to our teachers.

*OR* maybe our teachers would be thrilled to have a SB member lobbying for higher pay and smaller class sizes?

Everyone wants these things. But OK, I'll bite. Just how does she plan to pay for that?

How does ANYone plan to pay for them?

Well since you said this is Miranda's platform, does she have an actual plan to pay for them or are they just empty words?

I didn't say that. Different people commenting. Question stands. How does anyone plan to pay for these things? AEM people constantly griping about teacher salaries and calling for raises to compensate for inflation AND step increases. How do they propose paying for them????

the AEM commenters are not running for the school board. Miranda is. Someone said she's advocating for these things and said that in a good way, like we should vote for her for that reason. So then people asked how she plans to pay for it. and then.... crickets.

That is evidence that it isn't a simple problem to solve. If nobody else in this collective of highly educated, all-knowing Arlington community can come up with a solution or even suggestions, it's unrealistic to expect a local SB candidate would fare much better. Throw out some ideas to her and see what she thinks of them.

I'll take this as an admission that she doesn't have her own ideas. pass.

Her website and newsletter seem to have plenty of specifics. She wants APS to release the class size report. Parents and teachers in dcum and AEM have complained about classes being over the max sizes. Why won’t APS release the report? She asked for an independent auditor. The last one got fired after giving a bad report on VLP. She asked for APS to reverse the extra paid holidays that syphax is getting. Added by duran last year and Teachers don’t get paid for those. She’s asked for county help for mental health supports. She arranged a forum with a county board member on the same.

She’s clued in, paying attention and has specific ideas.

So how specifically was she going to pay for higher teacher salary and smaller class size? Those syphax holidays won’t cover it.

[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:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:In case anyone is wondering how APS teachers feel about a specific group of parents, here is an APS teacher (now former) who put her name on it --


At first, when schools moved to online instruction in the spring of 2020 and parents saw firsthand the hardships teachers were enduring, plaudits poured in for the educators showing remarkable commitment to their profession in a difficult situation they had never trained for. Virtual teaching took much more time to prepare, execute and evaluate. And because students were often not required to turn on their cameras, it was a lot like teaching into a void. But as time crawled on and schools remained closed to in-person instruction, parents became critical, even angry. The hostility parents leveled against teachers was astonishing. In September 2021 alone, 30,000 public school teachers nationwide gave notice. Between August 2020 and August 2021, Florida’s teacher vacancies surged 67 percent, according to a count by the Florida Education Association. In 2021, California’s largest district, Los Angeles Unified, had five times the number of vacancies as in previous years, according to Shannon Haber, a spokeswoman for the district. The number of retirements skyrocketed, and I joined the exodus. I was within a couple of years of my target retirement date, but I left earlier than planned because of the mounting stress around the pandemic and an ever-increasing workload.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/books/2023/03/08/teachers-woes-vulnerable-profession-robbins/?fbclid=IwAR2UZodgy4iGVxCs8_X8Jp-yrhrMPKsHd6lhvFl5CAJ6rpmbqn9jA0FgT1o

The raw, misdirected hostility towards teachers was so crazy. I’m still shocked by what some parents did.

My kid was on teams **in class** when a parent interrupted and started screaming and cursing at the teacher. In front of all of the kids!!! The teacher handled it well, but WTAF?!

Yup. And then a lot of parents who were angry about schools closing took their kids out of APS and left for private schools, including one of our school bd candidates, so this is a problem they created for others to deal with.

I don't know how we repair the damage they did.

Certainly not by choosing a SB member who thought their actions were acceptable enough to partner with them.

What a slap in the face that would be to our teachers.

*OR* maybe our teachers would be thrilled to have a SB member lobbying for higher pay and smaller class sizes?

Everyone wants these things. But OK, I'll bite. Just how does she plan to pay for that?

How does ANYone plan to pay for them?

Well since you said this is Miranda's platform, does she have an actual plan to pay for them or are they just empty words?

I didn't say that. Different people commenting. Question stands. How does anyone plan to pay for these things? AEM people constantly griping about teacher salaries and calling for raises to compensate for inflation AND step increases. How do they propose paying for them????

the AEM commenters are not running for the school board. Miranda is. Someone said she's advocating for these things and said that in a good way, like we should vote for her for that reason. So then people asked how she plans to pay for it. and then.... crickets.

That is evidence that it isn't a simple problem to solve. If nobody else in this collective of highly educated, all-knowing Arlington community can come up with a solution or even suggestions, it's unrealistic to expect a local SB candidate would fare much better. Throw out some ideas to her and see what she thinks of them.

I'll take this as an admission that she doesn't have her own ideas. pass.

Her website and newsletter seem to have plenty of specifics. She wants APS to release the class size report. Parents and teachers in dcum and AEM have complained about classes being over the max sizes. Why won’t APS release the report? She asked for an independent auditor. The last one got fired after giving a bad report on VLP. She asked for APS to reverse the extra paid holidays that syphax is getting. Added by duran last year and Teachers don’t get paid for those. She’s asked for county help for mental health supports. She arranged a forum with a county board member on the same.

She’s clued in, paying attention and has specific ideas.

So how specifically was she going to pay for higher teacher salary and smaller class size? Those syphax holidays won’t cover it.

Bet those syphax holidays cost more than you think.

When she was on APE board, they asked for an increase in revenue sharing to help pay for smaller class sizes and more teacher pay. Letter is on their website. Most anyone who pays attention in Arlington knows this is what's going to have to happen. Arlington county provides a smaller percent of revenues to APS that surrounding counties//school systems. But the reality is if you aren't paying attention to the small stuff like having an independent auditor or adding a ridiculous amount of paid holidays, you won't ever be able to do the big stuff even if the County forks over more money.

[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:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:In case anyone is wondering how APS teachers feel about a specific group of parents, here is an APS teacher (now former) who put her name on it --


At first, when schools moved to online instruction in the spring of 2020 and parents saw firsthand the hardships teachers were enduring, plaudits poured in for the educators showing remarkable commitment to their profession in a difficult situation they had never trained for. Virtual teaching took much more time to prepare, execute and evaluate. And because students were often not required to turn on their cameras, it was a lot like teaching into a void. But as time crawled on and schools remained closed to in-person instruction, parents became critical, even angry. The hostility parents leveled against teachers was astonishing. In September 2021 alone, 30,000 public school teachers nationwide gave notice. Between August 2020 and August 2021, Florida’s teacher vacancies surged 67 percent, according to a count by the Florida Education Association. In 2021, California’s largest district, Los Angeles Unified, had five times the number of vacancies as in previous years, according to Shannon Haber, a spokeswoman for the district. The number of retirements skyrocketed, and I joined the exodus. I was within a couple of years of my target retirement date, but I left earlier than planned because of the mounting stress around the pandemic and an ever-increasing workload.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/books/2023/03/08/teachers-woes-vulnerable-profession-robbins/?fbclid=IwAR2UZodgy4iGVxCs8_X8Jp-yrhrMPKsHd6lhvFl5CAJ6rpmbqn9jA0FgT1o

The raw, misdirected hostility towards teachers was so crazy. I’m still shocked by what some parents did.

My kid was on teams **in class** when a parent interrupted and started screaming and cursing at the teacher. In front of all of the kids!!! The teacher handled it well, but WTAF?!

Yup. And then a lot of parents who were angry about schools closing took their kids out of APS and left for private schools, including one of our school bd candidates, so this is a problem they created for others to deal with.

I don't know how we repair the damage they did.

Certainly not by choosing a SB member who thought their actions were acceptable enough to partner with them.

What a slap in the face that would be to our teachers.

*OR* maybe our teachers would be thrilled to have a SB member lobbying for higher pay and smaller class sizes?

Everyone wants these things. But OK, I'll bite. Just how does she plan to pay for that?

How does ANYone plan to pay for them?

Well since you said this is Miranda's platform, does she have an actual plan to pay for them or are they just empty words?

I didn't say that. Different people commenting. Question stands. How does anyone plan to pay for these things? AEM people constantly griping about teacher salaries and calling for raises to compensate for inflation AND step increases. How do they propose paying for them????

the AEM commenters are not running for the school board. Miranda is. Someone said she's advocating for these things and said that in a good way, like we should vote for her for that reason. So then people asked how she plans to pay for it. and then.... crickets.

That is evidence that it isn't a simple problem to solve. If nobody else in this collective of highly educated, all-knowing Arlington community can come up with a solution or even suggestions, it's unrealistic to expect a local SB candidate would fare much better. Throw out some ideas to her and see what she thinks of them.

I'll take this as an admission that she doesn't have her own ideas. pass.

Her website and newsletter seem to have plenty of specifics. She wants APS to release the class size report. Parents and teachers in dcum and AEM have complained about classes being over the max sizes. Why won’t APS release the report? She asked for an independent auditor. The last one got fired after giving a bad report on VLP. She asked for APS to reverse the extra paid holidays that syphax is getting. Added by duran last year and Teachers don’t get paid for those. She’s asked for county help for mental health supports. She arranged a forum with a county board member on the same.

She’s clued in, paying attention and has specific ideas.

So how specifically was she going to pay for higher teacher salary and smaller class size? Those syphax holidays won’t cover it.

Bet those syphax holidays cost more than you think.

When she was on APE board, they asked for an increase in revenue sharing to help pay for smaller class sizes and more teacher pay. Letter is on their website. Most anyone who pays attention in Arlington knows this is what's going to have to happen. Arlington county provides a smaller percent of revenues to APS that surrounding counties//school systems. But the reality is if you aren't paying attention to the small stuff like having an independent auditor or adding a ridiculous amount of paid holidays, you won't ever be able to do the big stuff even if the County forks over more money.

Is that her current position?

How much overlap does she have with APE positions?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:In case anyone is wondering how APS teachers feel about a specific group of parents, here is an APS teacher (now former) who put her name on it --


At first, when schools moved to online instruction in the spring of 2020 and parents saw firsthand the hardships teachers were enduring, plaudits poured in for the educators showing remarkable commitment to their profession in a difficult situation they had never trained for. Virtual teaching took much more time to prepare, execute and evaluate. And because students were often not required to turn on their cameras, it was a lot like teaching into a void. But as time crawled on and schools remained closed to in-person instruction, parents became critical, even angry. The hostility parents leveled against teachers was astonishing. In September 2021 alone, 30,000 public school teachers nationwide gave notice. Between August 2020 and August 2021, Florida’s teacher vacancies surged 67 percent, according to a count by the Florida Education Association. In 2021, California’s largest district, Los Angeles Unified, had five times the number of vacancies as in previous years, according to Shannon Haber, a spokeswoman for the district. The number of retirements skyrocketed, and I joined the exodus. I was within a couple of years of my target retirement date, but I left earlier than planned because of the mounting stress around the pandemic and an ever-increasing workload.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/books/2023/03/08/teachers-woes-vulnerable-profession-robbins/?fbclid=IwAR2UZodgy4iGVxCs8_X8Jp-yrhrMPKsHd6lhvFl5CAJ6rpmbqn9jA0FgT1o

The raw, misdirected hostility towards teachers was so crazy. I’m still shocked by what some parents did.

My kid was on teams **in class** when a parent interrupted and started screaming and cursing at the teacher. In front of all of the kids!!! The teacher handled it well, but WTAF?!

Yup. And then a lot of parents who were angry about schools closing took their kids out of APS and left for private schools, including one of our school bd candidates, so this is a problem they created for others to deal with.

I don't know how we repair the damage they did.

Certainly not by choosing a SB member who thought their actions were acceptable enough to partner with them.

What a slap in the face that would be to our teachers.

*OR* maybe our teachers would be thrilled to have a SB member lobbying for higher pay and smaller class sizes?

Everyone wants these things. But OK, I'll bite. Just how does she plan to pay for that?

How does ANYone plan to pay for them?

Well since you said this is Miranda's platform, does she have an actual plan to pay for them or are they just empty words?

I didn't say that. Different people commenting. Question stands. How does anyone plan to pay for these things? AEM people constantly griping about teacher salaries and calling for raises to compensate for inflation AND step increases. How do they propose paying for them????

the AEM commenters are not running for the school board. Miranda is. Someone said she's advocating for these things and said that in a good way, like we should vote for her for that reason. So then people asked how she plans to pay for it. and then.... crickets.

That is evidence that it isn't a simple problem to solve. If nobody else in this collective of highly educated, all-knowing Arlington community can come up with a solution or even suggestions, it's unrealistic to expect a local SB candidate would fare much better. Throw out some ideas to her and see what she thinks of them.

I'll take this as an admission that she doesn't have her own ideas. pass.

Her website and newsletter seem to have plenty of specifics. She wants APS to release the class size report. Parents and teachers in dcum and AEM have complained about classes being over the max sizes. Why won’t APS release the report? She asked for an independent auditor. The last one got fired after giving a bad report on VLP. She asked for APS to reverse the extra paid holidays that syphax is getting. Added by duran last year and Teachers don’t get paid for those. She’s asked for county help for mental health supports. She arranged a forum with a county board member on the same.

She’s clued in, paying attention and has specific ideas.

did she really arrange for a forum? she said she "helped" with it then didn't even know if it was recorded. that didn't sound like a leadership role, sounded like she was taking credit for others' work

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yup and Miranda's group, APE, stood out glaringly from all the other Arlington groups when they did not oppose the state ban on masking, which was overwhelmingly driven by conservatives.

That is just a dealbreaker for me. I don't trust her at all to stand up to the crazies at the state level or to make good decisions for kids and teachers. Because she did not do it then.

I know you are desperately trying to make some point but the only point you keep reinforcing is that you and the majority of Arlington view masks and masking as purely political symbols and they have nothing to do with health and welfare and virus spread.

So what happens the next time? If a Democrat is the president and he says no masks but from a healthy perspective a doctor tells you to wear one - then what? You forgo health and welfare so that you can prove which political party you belong to?

You don’t really know any better than I do the true actual benefits of masking - and neither do scientists. Each side of the debate can find studies to support or refute. And if you believe in science then you have to accept that masking may or may not make a difference. It doesn’t mean that you still can’t or shouldn’t do it and I believe a lot of people did it because like me they felt more comfortable and it gives a sense of security to the person and makes it feel like they have a tiny bit of perceived control over something that is uncontrollable. All of that is ok. But is truly irrelevant to me as to whether someone should be elected to a school board. Because masks or no masks don’t make smaller class sizes and don’t make better teacher pay.

That is not how the majority of Arlington feels. That is how you and your DINO and RWNJ friends in APE feel. You're in an echo chamber.

[Anonymous]

+1

Health is inextricably linked to school.

Tell me how kids learn when they are constantly getting ill? And how can teachers teach when they are constantly out sick? And when there are no subs on top of it because many were retired teachers who are not going to risk their health to go into the cesspool of germs that you have created because no health measures exist anymore.

[Anonymous]

+1000

I don't trust APE science as far as I can throw it. Let's recap some of the APE talking points, shall we? COVID doesn't spread in schools! Schools are magical little Covid free islands of safety! Kids can't spread Covid. Kids can't get Covid. Covid is no more deadly than the flu. There's no such thing as long Covid, it's all in people's heads. Only the high risk die from Covid and who cares about them. Masks don't work! Masks spread Covid. Masks harm kids.

No one believes you except for your small little group.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:+1000

I don't trust APE science as far as I can throw it. Let's recap some of the APE talking points, shall we? COVID doesn't spread in schools! Schools are magical little Covid free islands of safety! Kids can't spread Covid. Kids can't get Covid. Covid is no more deadly than the flu. There's no such thing as long Covid, it's all in people's heads. Only the high risk die from Covid and who cares about them. Masks don't work! Masks spread Covid. Masks harm kids.

No one believes you except for your small little group.

They aren't talking points, they are screaming points.

Hint - if you had a rational argument to make you wouldn't have to scream and bully everyone else.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:+1000

I don't trust APE science as far as I can throw it. Let's recap some of the APE talking points, shall we? COVID doesn't spread in schools! Schools are magical little Covid free islands of safety! Kids can't spread Covid. Kids can't get Covid. Covid is no more deadly than the flu. There's no such thing as long Covid, it's all in people's heads. Only the high risk die from Covid and who cares about them. Masks don't work! Masks spread Covid. Masks harm kids.

No one believes you except for your small little group.

If that’s true why don’t I see anyone wearing masks anymore?