Reply to Why don't people want to go to tj just because there are "too many" asians?

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Reply to "Why don't people want to go to tj just because there are "too many" asians?"

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[quote=Anonymous]I have a (white) senior about to graduate from TJ.  We live in Arlington, so APS pays (I think) about $15K per year to FCPS for each kid who goes to TJ.  Its strange to me to see how many people complain about the "Asian" culture at TJ.  As was mentioned above in several posts, Indian-American culture seems pretty different from Chinese-American culture, which is different from Korean-American culture, etc.  I don't know whether TJ kids (or their parents) are racists.  I suppose some are, and some (most) aren't.  In his first year at TJ, my son complained that many of his classmates were arrogant, but I doubt that was confined to classmates who are put into the "Asian" bucket.  It was a lot of work for him once he was there, but his interest in going had zero effect on his middle school experience in APS.  And there was plenty of opportunity for socializing outside school, particularly with the other Arlington kids (even if my kid really didn't take advantage of that).

As far as closing TJ down because its unfair to students who live close to the building but can't go there, this is an argument we have have continuously in Arlington with regard to the option schools.  My kid went through one of these programs in Arlington in both ES and MS, I've been hearing these arguments for years.  (In fact, my kid was not able to go to the elementary school which directly adjoins our house, which was an option school, because he didn't win the lottery to get in.  So I know how frustrating that can be.  But while its true that if TJ were open to all neighborhood kids, then more of them would be able to walk to school.  But not every kid can do that.  So I can't see why its so unfair that some kids don't live close enough to their school that TJ needs to be shut down.

As far as diversity, I think TJ is very diverse in certain ways.  It was a good experience, I think, for my kid to be a "minority" at his school, so that he can experience what that is like.  There is little economic diversity at TJ of course, at least with respect to poorer kids.  I'm sure some part of that is the fact that having a car and flexibility to drive to TJ for different things makes going there a heck of a lot easier for most families.  Not sure what TJ can do about that part.[/quote]

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