Reply to Show me the law that says school boards cannot change boundaries.

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[quote=Anonymous][quote]We don’t have to artificially bus kids around the county based on a hypothesis that it will “close gaps.” That will run up transportation costs and increase pollution from buses, all while pushing many of the families whose presence in the public schools you seem to think is so essential out of FCPS. FCPS does not operate in some vacuum where social experiments can be conducted without repercussions. We’d probably move to Arlington, as would others, and you’d also see more people staying in DC or moving to Loudoun.

How about we focus on paying teachers well, managing our finite resources, and raising student performance, rather than always making “closing gaps” the only priority?

Again, western GF is bussed 16+ miles to Langley when Herndon is less than 6 miles away. Do you care about transportation costs and traffic in this situation?[/quote]

First, those kids have been attending Langley long before there were so many low income kids at Herndon.  Granted, Herndon was never like Langley--but, the demographic changes have mostly occurred in the last twenty years--and I'm pretty sure Forestville has been at Langley for that long.  AND, while it does make sense for Forestville kids to go to Herndon, then there would be more empty spaces at Langley.

Second, balancing for balanced SES is a good thing--but, it does not resolve the "gap."  It just hides the gap.  As long as there are enough kids to provide challenging academics for all students--rich or poor--it is not necessary to move people around just for "balance."

I've taught in very poor schools and well -balanced schools.  The very poor students struggle no matter where they are.  Sadly, the greatest predictor is the amount of emphasis that the families put on education.  Unfortunately, poor families place less emphasis on it.  Those who do, are far more able to climb out of poverty.  That is a fact.  I have witnessed this as a teacher.  
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