Reply to Why do people say schools in NOVA are competitive and cutthroat when people also say the education system here is bad?

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Reply to "Why do people say schools in NOVA are competitive and cutthroat when people also say the education system here is bad?"

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]The opportunities available here to the best students (TJ, governor's schools, etc.) for no cost are amazing, if you compare it to the typical school district in America.[/quote]

I have children at TJ and at our base HS.

Among every high school in the USA, TJ is ranked either 1st (Niche), 5th (USNWR), or as high as 12th in other rankings.  It is not an FCPS school, but rather a Virginia Governor’s School administered by FCPS.  It is not truly comparable to other high schools in NOVA. TJ offers an outstanding educational experience, as do all the governors’ schools and summer academies.

My children have been in public FCPS schools since kindergarten.  I have personally witnessed a continual lowering of expectations across all levels in FCPS.  This problem is the result of FCPS’s repeatedly-stated primary goal.  The primary goal of FCPS over the last decade is not education.

The primary goal of FCPS is:  equity.

In our particular experience, the equity-driven management of FCPS results in continual watering-down of the AAP program.  AAP is currently a shadow of what it once was.

Examples include the effort to replace AAP-exclusive classrooms with “pull outs.”  Often, FCPS implements these pull-outs with ineffective screen-based curriculum purchased from EdTech.  The past math curriculum for AAP for my children was notably more advanced than the current offering.

FCPS has also insisted on “inclusion” of more general education students in accelerated-learning classes.  Ponder what happens to the pace of learning in an accelerated-learning classroom when students who learn at a slower pace are placed there, merely for the sake of checking the “inclusion” box.

The acronym “AAP” stands for Accelerated Academic Programs.  But “academics” were de-emphasized by Gatehouse, with the change from the older GBRS rating to the DEI-focused “HOPE” score.  Now, factors completely unrelated to academic achievement are considered for AAP admission.

There are so many other sad examples within FCPS.

FCPS continues to insist on practicing the “soft racism of lowered expectations.”  They show no sign of reversing course and the quality of a HS diploma will continue to sink in the coming years.

Placing your child in a private school is the best move at this point.[/quote]

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