Reply to APS/SA boundary redrawing

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]It has already been discussed countless times already in this thread what high performing, and even just at grade level kids, lose when going to a high FARMS school in Arlington, mainly that teacher resources (ie attention) are given to students that are still not at grade level, while those kids that are already there are not challenged or allowed to excel.

Secondly, let's be honest here.  This whole debate is about other high SES parents trying to rope other SES families to join their high FARMS schools.  It is NOT about helping students struggling with English acquisition or from poor SES backgrounds.  The few times people even reached out to these communities it was clear they word prefer their kids to be educated with their peers and community members.

There is this unstated assumption that ESL and FARMS kids and parents are just dying to have your little Jackson, Olivia, and Chase in their class.  This just isn't true[/quote]

what really helps low income kids perform to their ability is simply being around high performing middle and upper middle class kids, not when rich people throw money at them and say "please go away."

We learn and model after our peers. Rich or poor, you're selling your kid short if you think he or she isn't of value to classmates simply by being in the same class. Yes, there is the issue of teacher resources but that is just another argument for loweringm the farms rates. NO ONE should attend a school with a farms rate so high that issues related to poverty dominates a teachers time. And frankly, we don't get to choose who we go to public school with, That's why it's called public school. Part of the issue is almost certainly that dc is a magnet for the upper crust of communities nationwide, and probably many went to segregated, cloistered schools themselves and have no experience with diversity. It's ok to be uneasy about that. But try to separate fear and assumptions and uncertainty with reality. Henry is by all accounts a great school with a farms rate nearly equal to the average. That fact is probably a total no go for some parents north of lee highway. If you're a Henry parent you probably laugh at that, right? That's because you actually know what it's like to have some diversity in your school, whereas they don't. It's all relative.[/quote]

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