Reply to Who said there isn't a North-South divide?

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]So whats the solution -- should we move to an all lottery model?  You rank your top 4 choices and you get what you get?[/quote]

Eliminate all choice school options in SA.  Make everyone go to their neighborhood school.[/quote]

No, we've got enough equity to move, and plenty of income to afford private, as do all of our neighbors. Force is not likely to help. People who wouldn't send their kids to the neighborhood schools by choice won't go to the neighborhood schools by force. Some that are better integrated and trending in the right direction with test scores might stand a chance, but the ones that have only one SFH neighborhood and then hundreds of units of AH within the walk zone, where over 70% of the students within the physical zone are living below the poverty line, won't ever change unless the neighborhoods themselves change or the boundaries change significantly. The vast majority of UMC professionals will not accept sending their kids to schools without adequate capital, both financial and social. Do I like that this is the truth? No. But it is the truth. It's a fantasy to believe differently. I think most people living in SA want truly diverse schools, and that is why the option schools are so popular. Until they perceive high poverty schools as being just as able to address the needs and abilities of their more affluent children, they will find alternatives. They will because they can. Simple as that. [/quote]

Thank you for a thoughtful response.  Here's the thing: there aren't enough votes in SA to ever make the county go for the lottery model.  It's a non-starter.  If SA wants to fix this problem, they will likely need to fix it themselves within their confines.  You won't convince the overwhelming majority of voters to give up what they've got.[/quote]

Dp- I think that’s true enough for now. The 1,000’s of condos and apts green lit for the blue line corridor will make a difference,  but all of our kids will have come and gone by then. 
It would take a completely different make up of the county board. We’d have to ( as a county) say we aren’t lending for AH anymore. I don’t see that happening soon. We’d have to rethink zoning in a huge way- can’t see it. Although the old guard is disappearing, and I hear much less enthusiasm from my Arlington friends and neighbors about how we spend our money. [/quote]

That reckoning is coming. The more families stay in Arlington, the more the issue will be highlighted. Back in the 1980s, county leaders promoted AH as a way to keep the county young and vibrant. You can read old post articles about how they suggested we'd be this soulless, childless wasteland inhabited by Clark griswold's yuppie neighbors in Christmas vacation.[/quote]

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