Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I agree with you, but then why do Arlington County residents keep electing school board members who will close schools at the drop of a hat? I think it’s because they know they won’t be voted out, which means parents who want their kids to attend schools regularly must choose something other than APS.

Because most people don’t pay that much attention and just follow the sample ballot the Arlington County Democrats put out. They shouldn’t even be involved in the process and they basically nominate the candidate that looks best for woke points. Cue someone calling me APE…

This. Wake up and pay attention to your local government.

I think a lot of talented people don't bother running because they lack the connections to get the ACDC endorsement and it's a waste of time.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I agree with you, but then why do Arlington County residents keep electing school board members who will close schools at the drop of a hat? I think it’s because they know they won’t be voted out, which means parents who want their kids to attend schools regularly must choose something other than APS.

Because most people don’t pay that much attention and just follow the sample ballot the Arlington County Democrats put out. They shouldn’t even be involved in the process and they basically nominate the candidate that looks best for woke points. Cue someone calling me APE…

This. Wake up and pay attention to your local government.

Anonymous wrote:I agree with you, but then why do Arlington County residents keep electing school board members who will close schools at the drop of a hat? I think it’s because they know they won’t be voted out, which means parents who want their kids to attend schools regularly must choose something other than APS.

Because most people don’t pay that much attention and just follow the sample ballot the Arlington County Democrats put out. They shouldn’t even be involved in the process and they basically nominate the candidate that looks best for woke points. Cue someone calling me APE…

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This thread reminded me that I was planning to donate to APE. Just gave them $300. I am an APS parent.

You could have given $300 for a number of good causes, including to your PTA, but you gave it to an organization who demands accountability without showing any to our community.

OMG STOP. There is nothing “progressive” about all these days off. You may be a SAHP with nothing better to do than anxiously text your kid at school and welcome every opportunity to have them home for any reason, but I assure you, you are in the minority.

The schools have been slowly placing education at the bottom of their priority list. I don’t care who reminds them it needs to be the top or who they secretly vote for in their spare time, I am going to support that mission. Schools are schools first. They are not religious celebration centers, social work centers, voting pods, or employment centers first. Their purpose is to educate children. Everything else comes second.

I don't agree with you. Public education and public schools serve a lot of functions in society. And the public school buildings are also community buildings that are used for more than just 9-3:30 school, such as community events, sports, and yes, voting.

New post here. There are plenty of other countries with good public education (like the 3rd world country I grew up) and they don't close down the schools for every minor reason. In less developed countries, schools try to operate for as many days as possible (kinda like DC public schools). I also talked to plenty of my American coworkers in their 30s-40s who went to US public schools, and they all said when they grew up, schools don't close as many days as nowadays. It's really a 1st world privilege to be able to afford to keep your kids out of school for that many days and have such a disruptive school year calendar.

I agree with you, but then why do Arlington County residents keep electing school board members who will close schools at the drop of a hat? I think it’s because they know they won’t be voted out, which means parents who want their kids to attend schools regularly must choose something other than APS.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This thread reminded me that I was planning to donate to APE. Just gave them $300. I am an APS parent.

You could have given $300 for a number of good causes, including to your PTA, but you gave it to an organization who demands accountability without showing any to our community.

OMG STOP. There is nothing “progressive” about all these days off. You may be a SAHP with nothing better to do than anxiously text your kid at school and welcome every opportunity to have them home for any reason, but I assure you, you are in the minority.

The schools have been slowly placing education at the bottom of their priority list. I don’t care who reminds them it needs to be the top or who they secretly vote for in their spare time, I am going to support that mission. Schools are schools first. They are not religious celebration centers, social work centers, voting pods, or employment centers first. Their purpose is to educate children. Everything else comes second.

.

While I agree with you, the problem with your statement is you are talking about public schools that are funded by taxpayer dollars and public schools are trying to be everything to everybody. You need to pay for private or Catholic school if you don’t want schools closing for all the extras. My kids’ Arlington Catholic school doesn’t close for voting. It is closed for days surrounding Easter and Christmas, but generally teaches Catholicism and holds religious celebrations during the school day, which certainly simplifies the calendar.

Hear me out … maybe it is the people who want schools to close on their religious holidays who should pay for their kids to attend a religious-affiliated school.

My family is not religious. Schools are not religious. The school calendar should have a fall break, winter break, and spring break that aligns with the school quarters. Add in a few grade prep days on a Friday or Monday so families can at least use the day off to travel as opposed to needing to find camp on a random Tuesday because someone somewhere has a religious holiday. Schedule early releases as needed on a predictable schedule.

And perhaps the county should reevaluate using schools as voting locations, especially with the rise of popularity in mail-in ballots and early voting. Why can’t we consolidate some of the voting locations or at least schedule grade prep days/teacher development days to overlap with voting?

Parents shouldn’t have to spend thousands of dollars per year on private school tuition to have a sensible school calendar without continual mid week days off.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This thread reminded me that I was planning to donate to APE. Just gave them $300. I am an APS parent.

You could have given $300 for a number of good causes, including to your PTA, but you gave it to an organization who demands accountability without showing any to our community.

OMG STOP. There is nothing “progressive” about all these days off. You may be a SAHP with nothing better to do than anxiously text your kid at school and welcome every opportunity to have them home for any reason, but I assure you, you are in the minority.

The schools have been slowly placing education at the bottom of their priority list. I don’t care who reminds them it needs to be the top or who they secretly vote for in their spare time, I am going to support that mission. Schools are schools first. They are not religious celebration centers, social work centers, voting pods, or employment centers first. Their purpose is to educate children. Everything else comes second.

Very APEy.

I’m not a huge fan of APE, but I think it’s weird for anyone to criticize the concept for schools be education centers first and foremost.

Arlnow has a poll going and the results are telling.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This thread reminded me that I was planning to donate to APE. Just gave them $300. I am an APS parent.

You could have given $300 for a number of good causes, including to your PTA, but you gave it to an organization who demands accountability without showing any to our community.

OMG STOP. There is nothing “progressive” about all these days off. You may be a SAHP with nothing better to do than anxiously text your kid at school and welcome every opportunity to have them home for any reason, but I assure you, you are in the minority.

The schools have been slowly placing education at the bottom of their priority list. I don’t care who reminds them it needs to be the top or who they secretly vote for in their spare time, I am going to support that mission. Schools are schools first. They are not religious celebration centers, social work centers, voting pods, or employment centers first. Their purpose is to educate children. Everything else comes second.

I don't agree with you. Public education and public schools serve a lot of functions in society. And the public school buildings are also community buildings that are used for more than just 9-3:30 school, such as community events, sports, and yes, voting.

You disagree with me that the primary focus of a school needs to be EDUCATION? Ok. Maybe take some ownership in the results being what they are then.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This thread reminded me that I was planning to donate to APE. Just gave them $300. I am an APS parent.

You could have given $300 for a number of good causes, including to your PTA, but you gave it to an organization who demands accountability without showing any to our community.

OMG STOP. There is nothing “progressive” about all these days off. You may be a SAHP with nothing better to do than anxiously text your kid at school and welcome every opportunity to have them home for any reason, but I assure you, you are in the minority.

The schools have been slowly placing education at the bottom of their priority list. I don’t care who reminds them it needs to be the top or who they secretly vote for in their spare time, I am going to support that mission. Schools are schools first. They are not religious celebration centers, social work centers, voting pods, or employment centers first. Their purpose is to educate children. Everything else comes second.

I don't agree with you. Public education and public schools serve a lot of functions in society. And the public school buildings are also community buildings that are used for more than just 9-3:30 school, such as community events, sports, and yes, voting.