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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Siphoning off the best students from schools and aggregating them in a "selective public school" is just another form of segregation and damages the students "left behind" both psychologically and academically. Let's commit to raising the quality of all our public schools and students not just the privileged at TJ.[/quote]

If your child is psychologically damaged because other students go to TJ, he/she didn't have high self esteem in the first place.  The AP/IB classes available at all FCPS high schools offer students "left behind" an excellent quality of education.  Have you looked at a high school course catalog recently?  My very bright middle schooler won't be going to TJ and he will be emotionally just fine, and is on track to take calculus BC in 11th.  There are also countless AP science options.  I don't feel like my DC will be denied a good quality education.  [/quote]

Oh please. It's not psychological damage . . . regardless of what this pp says.  But, it is true that this school siphons off funds that could be spent raising the standards everywhere.  I loathe this sort of thing and lump in AAP in with it (which my DC qualified for but we didn't apply for reasons not relevant here.)[/quote]

Then you have ZERO idea about what you are prattling on about.  TJ gets the same per kid allotment as every other FCPS HS. Plus a small stipend from the state per kid (not FCPS, the state) as a governor's school. Everything else comes from public private partnership and fundraising by the TJ partnership fund among the TJ community. TJ gets do not get $1 more in funding per from FCPS than your base school is does. No money is being "siphoned off" from other students or other schools. [/quote]

Nice try there sparky

Why does one school get the best equipment and teachers and students.  Fairfax County as a WHOLE would be better served if these resources were shared across the ENTIRE SYSTEM

TJ is just a continuation of the AAP bs.  A poster about FARMS hit the nail on the head.  TJ is less than 1% FARMS.  That shows all you need to know.  You get into TJ based on scamming the system through test prep and by scamming into AAP and scamming the entrance exam.  There are gifted kids with low income that are being left out that TJ is really designed for but these kids don't have the resources to cheat into the system[/quote]

Best kids-- because 3000 apply a year to a MAGNET school.  Best teachers?  That's debatable. My kid has had some that are less than stellar. Some who don't really teach at all.  Not every TJ teacher is amazing. But sure, great teachers want to teach bright, motivated kids.  FCPs doesn't route them to TJ, they apply. Best facilities?  Nice now, but TJ  waited their turn under the CIP.  5 years ago they had some the worst facilities in the county. Really beat up, dingy, makes Lee look impressive facilities-- and still did amazing things. And best equipment?  Yes, they have specialized lab equipment.  But, all the extra lab equipment is funded by private industry and the TJ partnership fund (read: parents).  fCPS does not pay for equipment beyond what base high schools get.

And kids work their way in and prep their way in. But they don't cheat in. And having sent a kid through the process, this is just silly.  Plus, are a ton of programs run by TJ to help FARMS kids prep, like Stembassadors and LIFT.

But here's the sad fact. The single greatest predictor of academic success is material education. Followed by SES. FARM kids are behind academically everywhere in this country, basically from birth.  They start behind, and they never catch up. They are not getting into TJ, sure. They are also not in the top 10% or even top 1/4 of base school classes.  SES is the greatest single predictor of SES scores, and FARMS level SES makes admission to a competitive college equally unlikely.

Sure, TJ would like more SES diversity. But they can't solve the SES achievement gap for the entire country, or even all of FCPS alone.  And they have several large programs to try.  It is a pervasive problem for which no one has found a good solution.  But admitting kids who are behind academically is a bad idea. Even some top students, years ahead in math and well prepared can't hack it. It does a FARMS kid no favor to admit them, only to have them drop out or be asked to leave under the 3.0 Rule.

I'm sorry you are so bitter about TJ. It reeks of parent whose kid was rejected.  It's hard to imagine why else you care so much. Because some kid has something your kid does not? You want 20 more highly qualified kids at your base school knocking your kids class rank down?  Because there is no extra money or equipment to be had. But TJ is not taking financial resources from base schools-- or even teachers who want to teach in base schools. And since they take less than 2% of each FCPS class, in an incredibly affluent, educated county, there are more than enough amazing smart kids left in the base schools to form a great peer group, where kids go to great colleges and do great things.

So chiipll. TJ is not hurting you or your kid. Really. [/quote]

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