Reply to Tell me about Alexandria and South Arlington Schools

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Here is a comparison of the ratings for elementaries in North Arlington

Jamestown - 10
Tuckahoe - 10
McKinley - 10
Nottingham - 10
Science Focus - 10
Ashlawn - 9
Taylor - 9
Glebe - 9
Long Branch - 8
Barret - 4

Swanson middle school - 9
Williamsburg middle - 9

Washington- Lee high school - 6
Yorktown high school - 7

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Really all this proves to me is that Arlington has been successful at quietly doing what Loudoun is now being publicly criticized for, which is concentrating all the poor and ESL students at a few elementary schools in south Arlington (and one in north Arlington). We are on the wrong side of history, and I hope that anyone reading this post understands how when they choose to buy a home in north Arlington "for the schools" they are passively reinforcing segregation. Please understand, I'm not saying everyone who lives in north Arlington is a racist. I'm sure many (most) didn't even think about this issue when making their purchase. But that is the unintended consequence. Poor people can't afford to live in any of the "good school" zones in Arlington, so they aren't the ones making this choice. [/quote]

Wrong school district.  This is what ACPS has done with Jefferson-Houston.  Take a look at the boundary for J-H.  It makes no sense.  It was a clear move to isolate the poorest students at one school so other failing schools (at the time) could succeed.  And it worked.  J-H bottomed out and several other schools improved.

Arlington's boundaries have always made sense geographically.  North Arlington has gotten significantly more wealthy and whiter over the last 20 years.  That evolution has been driven by a lot of variables and has more to do with the economic development policies of the County than some grand conspiracy to keep poor kids out of N Arlington schools. Go back in time 30-40 years and put the metro above ground and make different planning decisions in the rosslyn-ballston corridor and the County would likely look a lot different and there would be more naturally occurring diversity.

So what is your suggestion?  Should we bus low-income kids into non-neighborhood schools in N. Arlington?  Or vice versa?  I'm interested to hear your practical solutions.[/quote]

There has been like 1 million posts on this. The problem isn't how the school  board draws the lines. It's how the county board pushes for affordable housing. Put a moratorium on it around Columbia Pike. Any additionally new low income housing should be located along Lee highway and zoned to north Arlington schools. It will take decades to fix at this point, but they need to start now if there is any hope to correct the issue.
In the mean time- have more choice options for south Arlington students.

Housing policy is school policy.[/quote]

I'm guessing you don't know how much goes into actually finding properties and negotiating with developers to include affordable housing units. This is stating the obvious, but the government doesn't own all the land and just dictate the terms.  Developers are in it to make money and it's all a lot more complicated (and costly) than you're making it out to be.

For a lot of reasons, there are a lot more workable options on Columbia Pike.  So issuing a moratorium on Columbia Pike will effectively just mean less affordable housing.

I don't disagree with anything your saying really.  I just think the suggested "fixes" are naive and simplistic and you're giving the County way too much credit.  The government is one player in a free market environment.  We still live in a free market economy.

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