Anonymous
05/12/2025 13:07
Subject: What happened to learning as a national priority?
Anonymous wrote:"No Child Left Behind" was well intentioned
Was it? I thought it was a way to create a whole bunch of 'failures' who would join the military so countries like Halliburton could rake it in.
Halliburton (now Xe or whatever) pays better than the military.
Anonymous
05/12/2025 13:06
Subject: What happened to learning as a national priority?
Blah blah blah.
Educating all children instead of ignoring failing children is a good thing.
Educating all children instead of ignoring failing children is a good thing.
Anonymous
05/12/2025 12:39
Subject: What happened to learning as a national priority?
"No Child Left Behind" was well intentioned
Was it? I thought it was a way to create a whole bunch of 'failures' who would join the military so countries like Halliburton could rake it in.
Anonymous
05/12/2025 12:36
Subject: What happened to learning as a national priority?
FCPS graduate, class of ‘89.
For my third and fourth grades, we left Fairfax County for a rural midwestern town with very few resources and no amenities and a no-frills elementary school. My school did not have stairs (one long hallway), a library, a gymnasium and no specialists aside from a traveling school nurse.
I learned more and was given more attention and help in those two short years than I ever received in the entirety of my FCPS education.
My teacher would curate collections of books she thought we would like. We had singalongs in the cafeteria with our principal at the piano. We had school-wide spelling bees and talent shows. Cursive writing instruction began in second grade. We proudly decorated our classroom with our illustrated homonym poster examples! Math facts were memorized with flashcards!
Today, I think I’ll send a nice check with a note of thanks to my alma mater. This is how education should be.
For my third and fourth grades, we left Fairfax County for a rural midwestern town with very few resources and no amenities and a no-frills elementary school. My school did not have stairs (one long hallway), a library, a gymnasium and no specialists aside from a traveling school nurse.
I learned more and was given more attention and help in those two short years than I ever received in the entirety of my FCPS education.
My teacher would curate collections of books she thought we would like. We had singalongs in the cafeteria with our principal at the piano. We had school-wide spelling bees and talent shows. Cursive writing instruction began in second grade. We proudly decorated our classroom with our illustrated homonym poster examples! Math facts were memorized with flashcards!
Today, I think I’ll send a nice check with a note of thanks to my alma mater. This is how education should be.
Anonymous
05/12/2025 12:09
Subject: What happened to learning as a national priority?
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Paying and treating teachers like professionals.
They make plenty given the schedule.
No they don't, given the workload.
Anonymous
05/12/2025 12:07
Subject: What happened to learning as a national priority?
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:FCPS is a social services program. Education is a secondary mission.
This. They’ve lost the plot.
I’ve posted this before but pick ANY FCPS ES and read the mission statement! Absolutely shameful!
Here are a few examples:
We, as a professional learning community, utilize research-based instructional strategies, monitor student progress for active learning, provide our students with the tools they need to succeed in life and model and encourage positive behavior to facilitate student learning of academics, life skills, and good citizenship.
———————
By providing an inclusive learning environment that embraces the contributions of each child, we will create a community of empowered lifelong learners and critical thinkers.
_________________
we envision a school where students will become literate, self-motivated, well-rounded, independent learners who demonstrate their responsibility to self and society.
—————————-
And from a HS
We prepare students to be principled and open-minded inquirers.
We challenge students academically with diverse and authentic learning opportunities.
We empower students to become reflective, knowledgeable, risk takers.
We encourage students to take pride in their contributions to their local, national and global communities.
Is this sarcasm? The Es ones especially seem fine.
+1. I would kill for those mission statements. Here is Alexandria City High School, where I live:
“Our Mission Statement: To engage and equip all Titans to embrace anti-racism as a mindset and in practice. This includes:
1) Nurturing a community mindset that values diverse perspectives and backgrounds.
2) Committing to breaking down barriers--identifying the why and target supports for ALL students to succeed academically and behaviorally.
3) Embracing the restorative framework and exhibiting compassion.
4) Encouraging transparency and collaboration at all levels.”
Oh, dear Lord.
Anonymous
05/12/2025 11:53
Subject: What happened to learning as a national priority?
Anonymous wrote:According to this (gift) article from the New York Times, learning used to be a national priority but fell to the wayside in the Bush-Obama years during which principals became focused on NOT failing - rather than succeeding. Now, Louisiana leading the way is introducing reforms that are really working, including the idea that, "Developing a mature attention span is crucial for work."
That means no screens.
"Unlike in many elementary-school classrooms, the students did not have computers or tablets on their desks. They had open books, which they were avidly marking up with highlighters and pencils ... Children cannot learn to focus their attention on books or anything else if they are constantly distracted by addictive technology."
They also focus on building a big vocabulary through science and social studies, the exact subjects that the Bush-Obama reforms often stripped from the school day. Louisiana is teaching history in elementary school. From the article,
"Ms. Cascio reviewed vocabulary words that students would need: heretic, rational, skepticism, heliocentric. Then, over the course of an hour, 10- and 11-year-olds broke into groups to discuss why Leonardo da Vinci was interested in human anatomy. They wrote about how the ideas of Copernicus and Galileo differed from those of the ancient Greeks."
In our FCPS elementary school, we definitely are NOT learning about the Renaissance.
During the Bush-Obama years, schools were punished when their kids did not pass standardized tests - "Tying punishments to test scores led to a predictable outcome: a curriculum that, in too many schools, centered on test prep. Students practiced reading short passages and answering multiple choice questions about those passages, over and over again." Long form books were out, short passages were in - and as a result, many kids have never read a full book before college.
What will it take to make FCPS care about learning rather than just not failing?
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/05/10/us/education-politics-learning.html?unlocked_article_code=1.GU8.iFDG.q9HYXoaiuR_S&smid=url-share
To answer the bolded part of your question:
FCPS has, and continues, to emphasize their number one priority as a school system is NOT academics.
Again: academics are not the school systems main priority.
Rather, as they continue to emphasize: equity is their number one priority.
If you like, you could also call equity, “just not failing.” You are correct in concluding FCPS number one priority is indeed, “not just failing.”
As far as how to change that, you VOTED for making equity the first priority: every single member of the current and the last, school board are partisan, progressive, democrats. They chose progressive democrat Michelle Reid as Superintendent. They promoted failed principal Nardos King to become Chief Equity Officer, and gave her a full time staff of 60 people to promote equity.
Given how blue FFX county has turned, you stand no chance of veering away from “not just failing” in the near future.
Anonymous
05/12/2025 10:31
Subject: What happened to learning as a national priority?
The priority is equity and restorative justice.
Troublemakers are not suspended and are allowed to stay in the classroom and disrupt those that want to learn.
Troublemakers are not suspended and are allowed to stay in the classroom and disrupt those that want to learn.
Anonymous
05/12/2025 10:23
Subject: What happened to learning as a national priority?
Schools can't make up for the poverty and other social ills. They try to. But those things affect students and also students not experiencing those issues as it all comes into play with discipline, hungry kids, kids without books at home, illiterate parents etc etc.
Anonymous
05/12/2025 10:17
Subject: What happened to learning as a national priority?
Anonymous wrote:Paying and treating teachers like professionals.
They make plenty given the schedule.
Anonymous
05/12/2025 10:16
Subject: What happened to learning as a national priority?
It’s a question of money. Rich kids are sent to schools where they do learn about the Renaissance. And their rich parents don’t care what the other kids learn, and certainly don’t want to pay much for it. Community is not important like it once was. Look at all the voucher talk.
Anonymous
05/12/2025 09:19
Subject: What happened to learning as a national priority?
Only Asian-Americans are working towards excellence in education. No memo needed.
Anonymous
05/12/2025 09:13
Subject: What happened to learning as a national priority?
It's much harder to decieve and control an educated population
Anonymous
05/12/2025 08:58
Subject: What happened to learning as a national priority?
Anonymous wrote:Paying and treating teachers like professionals.
The teachers unions caused the decline, they want to be paid a lot for minimal work.
Anonymous
05/12/2025 08:57
Subject: What happened to learning as a national priority?
Anonymous wrote:Paying and treating teachers like professionals.
That would not change student outcomes.