Reply to Goodbye Barcroft (APS)?

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][/quote]

As someone whose children actually goes to school with kids from these apartments I find all of these comments in this thread and others incredibly insensitive and hateful. Do you think it's the fault of those children or families that they h ave fewer resources or are new to the country? Should we simply refuse to educate or house economically disadvantaged children?  These are human beings, not pawns or numbers or test scores.  And many of them are smart and motivated and great peers.[/quote]

I’m never impressed by people who care about their politics than their own kid’s education. 
That complex is 55 acres of poverty, and a huge obstacle to well ingrated schools. 
No is suggesting humans aren’t living in those buildings. We are suggesting that 55 acres and 1,000’s of units ( and 100’s more planned) of 100% low income population is unbelievably bad policy. [/quote]

Arlington County has basically ignored 30 years of research in urban areas across the country. ALL of them concluded that concentrating public housing in one small area produced nothing but bad outcomes, and stacked the deck against any of those families rising out of their economic/educational situation. It's why Chicago started breaking up Cabrini Green like 15-20 years ago! Cities realized it's much better to build mixed-use housing, with set aside affordable units. Or spreading smaller public housing buildings across the area. Concentrated poverty is a death spiral. And yes, I realize there are differences between AH and true public housing, but the results are the same. In an ideal world you'd raze Barcroft, and rebuild a mix of townhomes, condos and newer higher-rise apartment buildings, with a good chunk of the units set aside for low income families that qualify. [/quote]

I am the PP.  I never said that I think pockets of poverty are good or that I agree with all of the County Board's housing policies.  My issue is that when people are complaining about these systemic issues they often use divisive and accusatory language that  sounds like it is the children themselves that are failures or sinking the school.  This type of language can be inflammatory, especially when dealing with language  and cultural differences.  It then makes it easier for old guard supposedly-well-intentioned  liberals to paint you as intolerant bigots.  While the comments about Barcroft apartments in this thread weren't  horrible---I have little patience from reading years of this type of  rhetoric.

For the record, our family uses one of the neighborhood schools with lower test scores and we are  extremely happy with our children's academic achievements and progress and school community.  We do believe in greater  socioeconomic integration for the sake of all students.   We are able to give our children additional resources and enrichment opportunities outside of school. While  our school does a fantastic job with many of its students and  families, the lack of additional resources from having more  families with cultural and economic capital to share is a disservice to some of the more economically disadvantaged kids.

Well for starters don’t refer to a longstanding complex that

And for the record---differentiation and challenging more advanced kids is not an issue in our experience at our school (because this  always comes up).

It's great to want change and not to want to have huge pockets of poverty.  Let's just make sure we're addressing the systemic issues and not sounding like we're blaming the victims.  When you do that it's off-putting and harder to get people on your  side.  [/quote]

What phraseology would you suggest people use so that we can discuss these issues?  Because it has been my experience, as a parent in one of these schools, that the entire topic is off-limits because someone might be offended.  no matter how thoughtfully or respectfully one tries to be, someone puts a stop to it on behalf of someone else they presume will be offended.  But we have to be able to discuss the issues of segregation, resources, needs, and impacts on education.  So please provide some advice as to how that can be done without someone somewhere sometime somehow taking some kind of offense.
[/quote]

Well for starters don’t refer to a large complex that thousands of families call home as an “alabatross.” Don’t demean communities or belittle people regardless of your intent. Point to the numerous  well-researched studies that demonstrate that economically-integrated schools are better for everyone. And recognize the fact that historically minorities and disadvantaged communities have had to bear most of the inconvenience and make sacrifices in the name of integration. Don't approach this from a position of privilege intimating that wealthier families have a right to be in schools and that poor students and English language learners bring a school down.  Start from a place of shared goals (better resources and educational outcomes for all) and go from there. This is like politics, communications and coalition building 101. Also maybe try to engage directly with communities you want to influence and listen instead of approaching these issues from an us vs. them perspective.  [/quote]

Yeah, OK.  So what do you recommend for the people who already do all taht?  Do they have to start every sentence with all that preamble?  Can they only point to studies and never speak specifically of any issue or school in Arlington?  And what abut all those people who find offense, misinterpret, twist words, etc. even when the person has NOT committed any of the violations you cite?  And it would be really helpful to explain how to not demean communities or belittle people even when their intention is already not to do so.  If it wasn't there intent, then they already used words and phrases they did not think would be offensive.  It's that statement that illustrates the point that it is essentially impossible to have a legitimate, respectful conversation because no matter what someone says or how they say it, even when they are well-intentioned, they are apparently offensive.

You and people who share your perspectives on this need to come halfway, too.  Stop finding offense in absolutely everyting.  But, yes, most comments and commenters on DCUM are rude, thoughtless, and un-informed.[/quote]

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