Reply to Question about re zoning elementary schools in S. Arlington

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Sometimes these post crack me up and infuriate me at the same time.

The idea that SA schools are horrible is laughable. Here are some things that make schools horrible

- being closed due to mold
- Schools where kids can't focus because the heat or AC doesn't work 
- unsafe drinking water 
- rampant pest infestation
- high levels of violence
- text books that haven't been updated for 20 years 
- Schools where the state can only afford to keep them open for 4 days
- schools were teachers are paid 20K a year 
- schools where the state only spend 5K per yr per student 
- you know schools that look like this 
http://ktar.com/story/2017614/teachers-share-photos-of-disturbing-classroom-conditions/

What doesn't make schools horrible?

Schools that perform slightly worse than other schools, a difference that is further reduced when looking at students with similar profiles in both schools. [/quote]

If the schools were as comparable as you say, why are people paying hundreds of thousands in housing premiums and commute times instead of attending SA schools? Seems to me those thousands of people know something you don't. But actually, I bet you live in NA and this explanation is your way of pretending the differences don't exist or need to be addressed.[/quote]

No, I live in SA and send my  kid to a school in SA. I am not saying there aren't differences or that those differences don't need to be addressed. I am saying that those differences aren't because of teaching or school quality. They are issues that can't be addressed by just the school. Schools full of rich white kids score well on standardized tests designed by rich white people to be taken by rich white people. That really isn't that surprising.  It doesn't mean that kids in SA are getting some horrible education that will not prepare them for the world.

There are schools in this country were the majority of the population is graduating without being able to read proficiently. Where the majority has no hope at college. Where the majority is dropping out.  Where violence permeates that classroom and hallways. These are NOT problems in SA Arlington schools. Schools with kids are scoring in the 80th percentile are not horrible when we have schools across this nation where kids routinely score in the 30th percentile. For example, the HS my husband went to. 28% of students are proficient in English,  The average . At Wakefield? 85% for English. Washington-Lee 89% for English and Yorktown 95% (these may be from last yr, I just nabbed them off GS). You can not sit here and seriously tell me that a school is objectively horrible by scoring 10% less than the school people pay hundreds of thousands of dollars for when there are schools in this country were only 28% of the pop I English proficient on testing!

Do SA schools have legitimate issues? Yes. Are there inadequacies that need to be addressed? Sure. Are they horrible? No. Most of these country would be lucky to go to a school as good as a school in SA. 
[/quote]

We're talking about elementary schools in Arlington. Stop telling me to be to just be happy to have a pot to p1ss in. I don't lack perspective and I've sacrificed to get where I am so save the lecture. When less than half the school passes a proficiency test, and another has a pass rate above 90 percent, and they are 3 miles apart, yes, we do have a problem.[/quote]

I am not saying there aren't issues. I am just saying that the issues ARE not because of school teaching quality. This becomes obvious to me when you break down the scores by race.  To address the issues in test scores you are going to have to address fundamental inequalities in this country and systematic racism and none of it is made better by folks on this message board calling all S. Arlington schools horrible or degrading parents who choose to send their kids to S. Arlington schools.

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