Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The community idea is so overblown by so many. The public school “community” is laughable for our family who came from private. I am sorry but no the public schools have neighbors who know each other but sense of community nope. So if your child is bussed to a different school the school your child attends will have a “community” and you become part of it if you want.

White parents just don’t want to have to say out loud that they don’t want their kids going to school with poor non white kids.

This is not true at the "poor" school in S. Arlington where I live. There are many immigrant communities (Ethiopians, Mongolians, etc) who are very tight, many living in the same apartment complexes. They walk home together, care for each others' kids after school, go shopping and share food, etc. There are a very few who are doing option schools but most don't want to move schools - they like their kids all going together to the same school and don't want to be split up.

The reason they are "tight" is due to being in similar circumstances in a new place with a shared background all living in the same place. This would still be the case whether their children attended school together or not.

Would it? They all walk home together in a caravan after school dismisses (instead of various bus stops/timelines). Their kids hang together after school and help each other with homework since they are in the same classes. Parents are able to share information and help each other through the shared experience being at the school and knowing the same teachers for years, which is a helpful network for newer families. There is a Mongolian interpreter at the school who interprets at PTA and other events so Mongolian parents can join, since there is a critical mass. She brings back Mongolian books for the library for kids. School emails are sent in Mongolian. Does this happen at every school, or would it, if all kids were dispersed throughout the county in a lottery? Not saying these families would cease to be a community, but having the school be a large part of the community strengthens it, and strengthens the school.

Yes it would but you can't see that since you are viewing it through your white UMC SFH self who was born and raised here with parents born and raised here and family and so on. You are using this argument to continue the status quo. And people like you conduct surveys or ask these families if they want to move schools by telling them wild tales of how it will so terrible and it will be bad but never bother to mention that a changing schools gives them a better education opportunity and in the long run is better for their child's success. You would never do that. You don't want to help these families change their situation, you want to use them whenever it's convenient for your purposes.

You see community as something that happens through your child's school and that makes sense given where you are coming from. That's not the same for immigrant families who come to a new country whether legally or not and don't speak the language well. It makes sense they want to stay close and live close to those who share their background so they can learn the ropes of living here, understand the language, and so on. This starts way before their kids even enter a school building and doesn't disappear when they do. In some cases, they may also have kids back in their home country as well but that doesn't mean they aren't welcomed as members of the community.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
So redlining, and its effects today, isn’t racism? But talking about it is? Like “reverse racism”? Okay then.

^^^ This right here is how we got the nutters screaming about CRT in schools. They don’t want to examine the hideous underbelly of how we got where we are.

DP, the current housing situations are most definitely the result of redlining and racism in the past. The fact that many parents of all races and SES levels don't want to bus their elementary and middle school kids all over the county is not by default racism as much as you want it to be.

Yes, also DP here in S. Arlington at a "poor school." I don't know how many times it needs to be said: People do not want to move schools! Our school may have high FRL but the teachers are great and families are having a good experience. Maybe not as fancy an experience. But no one I know wants to be bused 30 min. away to go to school. They just don't!

Agree that it's better to work on future planning and projects of AH.

That's all well and good; but does absolutely nothing to break up the concentrated poverty Arlington has already entrenched in specific neighborhoods and areas of the County. It doesn't solve the problem.

Okay, but it could help keep the problem from getting worse...?

Maybe we need a reframing of the "problem." I posted above that people are quite happy with our Title 1 "poor" school and they don't want to move. The immigrant communities may be lower-income and still learning English, but the kids are smart and hardworking. Thriving, in fact. The school is helping them grow and they will continue to improve as time goes on. Test scores do not tell the full story of what is a "good" school.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
So redlining, and its effects today, isn’t racism? But talking about it is? Like “reverse racism”? Okay then.

^^^ This right here is how we got the nutters screaming about CRT in schools. They don’t want to examine the hideous underbelly of how we got where we are.

DP, the current housing situations are most definitely the result of redlining and racism in the past. The fact that many parents of all races and SES levels don't want to bus their elementary and middle school kids all over the county is not by default racism as much as you want it to be.

Yes, also DP here in S. Arlington at a "poor school." I don't know how many times it needs to be said: People do not want to move schools! Our school may have high FRL but the teachers are great and families are having a good experience. Maybe not as fancy an experience. But no one I know wants to be bused 30 min. away to go to school. They just don't!

Agree that it's better to work on future planning and projects of AH.

That's all well and good; but does absolutely nothing to break up the concentrated poverty Arlington has already entrenched in specific neighborhoods and areas of the County. It doesn't solve the problem.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't know how to pay for transportation costs of bussing, but first step would be to price it out and see what kind of numbers we're working with. I like the Amazon idea - perhaps a grant or donation for a trial period of time would dovetail nicely with their investment / interest in building local tech talent. But they can't pursue that without actual numbers / some research being done. And that's an issue. I understand there's a counterpoint to everything but don't let that stop truly defining the problem and scoping out options for solutions.

Likely a multi-faceted solution - like most things are when solved correctly and effectively.
Add the County coordinating ART bus routes and giving middle and high schoolers free fare. That frees up more buses and routes for elementary which will help reduce the travel times of long bus routes.
Also, bus drivers want full-time hours; so add in bus routes at the end of extended day. Those routes shouldn't take as long because there are likely fewer kids needing a bus home at that time. As pointed out before, APS already provides late buses for kids staying for extra-curricular activities. Provide a second round of late buses for extended day. Or, heaven forbid, eliminate extended day. Which would parents prefer: no extended day, or driving an extra 15 minutes on their way home to pick-up their kids?
And again, APS has and could expand offering shuttle services from select neighborhood locations to school events. Change the stupid way parent-teacher conferences are done now and make them more of an open house in the gym (Gunston used to do this) Parents just line up to see the teachers they want to talk to instead of signing up for time slots and seeing just the homeroom teacher. If parents need more time to talk with a teacher, they should be making independent appointments with them anyway regardless of PT conferences.

Oh. You’re not actually discussing in good faith.

Huh? It's just another approach to the problem.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's not going to happen. Everyone is ok with the status quo except for the people who bought SFHs zoned to Drew, Barcroft, Randolph, or Carlin Springs and didn't get into an option school.

Yes, this.

But why is that a problem? If there’s something about those schools that’s inequitable, why shouldn’t it be addressed? It’s a public school system.

because it's a public school system with an elected board and most voters are ok with the status quo.

There’s not an alternative to vote for, and the school board election gets decided in a primary with very few voters. But I hear what you’re saying, was just asking the question.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The community idea is so overblown by so many. The public school “community” is laughable for our family who came from private. I am sorry but no the public schools have neighbors who know each other but sense of community nope. So if your child is bussed to a different school the school your child attends will have a “community” and you become part of it if you want.

White parents just don’t want to have to say out loud that they don’t want their kids going to school with poor non white kids.

This is not true at the "poor" school in S. Arlington where I live. There are many immigrant communities (Ethiopians, Mongolians, etc) who are very tight, many living in the same apartment complexes. They walk home together, care for each others' kids after school, go shopping and share food, etc. There are a very few who are doing option schools but most don't want to move schools - they like their kids all going together to the same school and don't want to be split up.

The reason they are "tight" is due to being in similar circumstances in a new place with a shared background all living in the same place. This would still be the case whether their children attended school together or not.

So you’re their spokesperson? Tell us more about what they want and need, since you clearly know better than they do.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't know how to pay for transportation costs of bussing, but first step would be to price it out and see what kind of numbers we're working with. I like the Amazon idea - perhaps a grant or donation for a trial period of time would dovetail nicely with their investment / interest in building local tech talent. But they can't pursue that without actual numbers / some research being done. And that's an issue. I understand there's a counterpoint to everything but don't let that stop truly defining the problem and scoping out options for solutions.

Go look in the analysis from the last boundary change. There was a $/bus shared.

Tricky part is figuring out how many buses (1 very long/unappealing route vs few shorter routes) and where. If truly all lottery then it’s literally all over the place.

There’s also the issue of bus parking. APS has said repeatedly that they are out of parking for busses.

Dang. I guess if they can’t park a few extra busses, we sure aren’t getting that 4th high school. Or the extra elementary schools we will need in 10 years or less.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't know how to pay for transportation costs of bussing, but first step would be to price it out and see what kind of numbers we're working with. I like the Amazon idea - perhaps a grant or donation for a trial period of time would dovetail nicely with their investment / interest in building local tech talent. But they can't pursue that without actual numbers / some research being done. And that's an issue. I understand there's a counterpoint to everything but don't let that stop truly defining the problem and scoping out options for solutions.

Go look in the analysis from the last boundary change. There was a $/bus shared.

Tricky part is figuring out how many buses (1 very long/unappealing route vs few shorter routes) and where. If truly all lottery then it’s literally all over the place.

There’s also the issue of bus parking. APS has said repeatedly that they are out of parking for busses.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's not going to happen. Everyone is ok with the status quo except for the people who bought SFHs zoned to Drew, Barcroft, Randolph, or Carlin Springs and didn't get into an option school.

Yes, this.

But why is that a problem? If there’s something about those schools that’s inequitable, why shouldn’t it be addressed? It’s a public school system.

because it's a public school system with an elected board and most voters are ok with the status quo.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The community idea is so overblown by so many. The public school “community” is laughable for our family who came from private. I am sorry but no the public schools have neighbors who know each other but sense of community nope. So if your child is bussed to a different school the school your child attends will have a “community” and you become part of it if you want.

White parents just don’t want to have to say out loud that they don’t want their kids going to school with poor non white kids.

This is not true at the "poor" school in S. Arlington where I live. There are many immigrant communities (Ethiopians, Mongolians, etc) who are very tight, many living in the same apartment complexes. They walk home together, care for each others' kids after school, go shopping and share food, etc. There are a very few who are doing option schools but most don't want to move schools - they like their kids all going together to the same school and don't want to be split up.

The reason they are "tight" is due to being in similar circumstances in a new place with a shared background all living in the same place. This would still be the case whether their children attended school together or not.

Would it? They all walk home together in a caravan after school dismisses (instead of various bus stops/timelines). Their kids hang together after school and help each other with homework since they are in the same classes. Parents are able to share information and help each other through the shared experience being at the school and knowing the same teachers for years, which is a helpful network for newer families. There is a Mongolian interpreter at the school who interprets at PTA and other events so Mongolian parents can join, since there is a critical mass. She brings back Mongolian books for the library for kids. School emails are sent in Mongolian. Does this happen at every school, or would it, if all kids were dispersed throughout the county in a lottery? Not saying these families would cease to be a community, but having the school be a large part of the community strengthens it, and strengthens the school.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's not going to happen. Everyone is ok with the status quo except for the people who bought SFHs zoned to Drew, Barcroft, Randolph, or Carlin Springs and didn't get into an option school.

Yes, this.

But why is that a problem? If there’s something about those schools that’s inequitable, why shouldn’t it be addressed? It’s a public school system.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The community idea is so overblown by so many. The public school “community” is laughable for our family who came from private. I am sorry but no the public schools have neighbors who know each other but sense of community nope. So if your child is bussed to a different school the school your child attends will have a “community” and you become part of it if you want.

White parents just don’t want to have to say out loud that they don’t want their kids going to school with poor non white kids.

This is not true at the "poor" school in S. Arlington where I live. There are many immigrant communities (Ethiopians, Mongolians, etc) who are very tight, many living in the same apartment complexes. They walk home together, care for each others' kids after school, go shopping and share food, etc. There are a very few who are doing option schools but most don't want to move schools - they like their kids all going together to the same school and don't want to be split up.

The reason they are "tight" is due to being in similar circumstances in a new place with a shared background all living in the same place. This would still be the case whether their children attended school together or not.

Anonymous wrote:It's not going to happen. Everyone is ok with the status quo except for the people who bought SFHs zoned to Drew, Barcroft, Randolph, or Carlin Springs and didn't get into an option school.

Yes, this.

Anonymous wrote:The community idea is so overblown by so many. The public school “community” is laughable for our family who came from private. I am sorry but no the public schools have neighbors who know each other but sense of community nope. So if your child is bussed to a different school the school your child attends will have a “community” and you become part of it if you want.

White parents just don’t want to have to say out loud that they don’t want their kids going to school with poor non white kids.

This is not true at the "poor" school in S. Arlington where I live. There are many immigrant communities (Ethiopians, Mongolians, etc) who are very tight, many living in the same apartment complexes. They walk home together, care for each others' kids after school, go shopping and share food, etc. There are a very few who are doing option schools but most don't want to move schools - they like their kids all going together to the same school and don't want to be split up.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
So redlining, and its effects today, isn’t racism? But talking about it is? Like “reverse racism”? Okay then.

^^^ This right here is how we got the nutters screaming about CRT in schools. They don’t want to examine the hideous underbelly of how we got where we are.

DP, the current housing situations are most definitely the result of redlining and racism in the past. The fact that many parents of all races and SES levels don't want to bus their elementary and middle school kids all over the county is not by default racism as much as you want it to be.

Yes, also DP here in S. Arlington at a "poor school." I don't know how many times it needs to be said: People do not want to move schools! Our school may have high FRL but the teachers are great and families are having a good experience. Maybe not as fancy an experience. But no one I know wants to be bused 30 min. away to go to school. They just don't!

Agree that it's better to work on future planning and projects of AH.