Anonymous wrote:NP here. This discussion is so interesting to me, as it seems I have been blissfully ignorant of this debate. I have a kindergartener at Barcroft and have been really pleased with the quality of the administration, the teachers, and the education my child is getting. We live in a condo, however, so I must be one of the poors, and therefore what's good enough for my child is certainly not good enough for yours.

Hello! Thank you for joining this very spirited discussion. Please consider stopping by one of the aforementioned meetings. It would be helpful to hear the perspective of a Barcroft parent that is pleased with the current environment. Feel free to add some details here as well.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:While, it scratches a certain itch to imagine a much needed dose of reality shipped over to Jamestown, I'm in agreement that busing will not solve the problems the county is creating.
We need actual community planning. It boggles the mind that we can know what we do about functional, diverse neighborhoods, and then do almost exactly the opposite.

This is really an offensive statement. You should be ashamed of yourself. Seriously.

Nope. Not even a little.

Anonymous wrote:While, it scratches a certain itch to imagine a much needed dose of reality shipped over to Jamestown, I'm in agreement that busing will not solve the problems the county is creating.
We need actual community planning. It boggles the mind that we can know what we do about functional, diverse neighborhoods, and then do almost exactly the opposite.

This is really an offensive statement. You should be ashamed of yourself. Seriously.

Anonymous wrote:Busing didn't work in most places, but perhaps it could be done more creatively here. I am sure there were some success stories, they just need to be studied. And this is a small county. I grew up in LA and kids were bused 30 miles in to a very different community. As segregated as arlington is, it is not as bad as LA.

Large-scale forced bussing in Arlington would have predictable results. One of the big drivers of real estate prices in N. Arl. is the schools. Some people pay a very hefty premium and relocate to N. Arl. just for those particular schools. If you take that away and start bussing those kids all over the county you've removed the economic incentive to pay big bucks to live in N. Arl. On the up side, it will become more affordable, on the down side, the SES balance you were hoping to achieve through bussing won't be accomplished because all of the rich kids whose parents have the resources to live in a place like N. Arl. to begin with will either move to some place like Bethesda or go private. The choice schools strike a more realistic balance by incentivizing enrollment at schools with higher FARMS rates by offering unique programs, but not making it compulsory.

NP here. This discussion is so interesting to me, as it seems I have been blissfully ignorant of this debate. I have a kindergartener at Barcroft and have been really pleased with the quality of the administration, the teachers, and the education my child is getting. We live in a condo, however, so I must be one of the poors, and therefore what's good enough for my child is certainly not good enough for yours.

Busing didn't work in most places, but perhaps it could be done more creatively here. I am sure there were some success stories, they just need to be studied. And this is a small county. I grew up in LA and kids were bused 30 miles in to a very different community. As segregated as arlington is, it is not as bad as LA.

PP here who cannot afford to move to north Arlington - to the poster who said we could just live in a cheap condo. Well, no we can't.

Those condos are in many places more expensive than my house. To rent is more expensive then my mortgage. I make low six figures too, but I am a single mom with very little child support. And if I were to sell, I would lose equity and pay huge transaction costs.

So, not such a great option.

NP here, disagree with you 11:29. Just because people don't experience the school first hand doesn't mean their opinions don't count. People listen to those who have experience. They talk to people who work at the school. They look at scores and understand the statistically significant fact thst their kid, even a higher SES kid, will achieve less in a poor performing school.

Kids who thrive at a low performing school do so despite the school.

And I do know several people who pulled their kids from low performing s a schools. Very disruptive and most parents would rather not take the chance.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Lots of people in N. Arlington who consider their neighborhood schools excellent still elect to send their kids to the choice schools. ATS is very popular, as are the immersion programs. I think you'd get significant push back from the N. if you tried to dismantle those programs.

They do. I also think you'd get a lot of support, too. It comes up every time there is a capacity issue (which is every few months).

Lord can you imagine if they only allowed kids from failing schools into the choice school lotteries? Chew on that for a moment.

Anonymous wrote:Lots of people in N. Arlington who consider their neighborhood schools excellent still elect to send their kids to the choice schools. ATS is very popular, as are the immersion programs. I think you'd get significant push back from the N. if you tried to dismantle those programs.

They do. I also think you'd get a lot of support, too. It comes up every time there is a capacity issue (which is every few months).

Lots of people in N. Arlington who consider their neighborhood schools excellent still elect to send their kids to the choice schools. ATS is very popular, as are the immersion programs. I think you'd get significant push back from the N. if you tried to dismantle those programs.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There are plenty of affordable condo options in N . Arl that feed into the good schools. It's a choice - do you get a bigger place and go to a crappy school and be the rich or a smaller place and a great school and be one of the poors?

There is always choices. No one on here is truly stuck in S Arl.

Wow, what an over simplified, uninformed, and unwelcome opinion. You really captured the ignorance of someone who isn't familiar with our neighborhoods, with just a dash of self satisfied, elitism.

Sorry but I am extremely familiar with the situation and yes, this is what it boils down to. Those buying SFH in S Arl don't want to live in a condo in N Arl and be branded a "poor". It's perception. If it was dedication to education, there would be plenty of families in the condos.

Did ya' hear that everyone? We've all bought SFh's in S. Arl out of fear of being branded a "poor" in North Arlington! Such insight!
I'll try and not let this fairly productive thread be hijacked by the likes of you...

It does seem there is a confluence of events that could have been foreseen here:

Young families with school age kids are moving in.
They stay due to housing availability/ short commutes
County ramps up density along western end of Columbia Pike and makes specific commitments/ promises with an emphasis on affordable housing
County makes no real plans to address infrastructure in the wake of these decisions.

I suppose the choice schools were meant to keep the SFh's mollified, but I think the dam has broken there. A pp had mentioned a returned emphasis on neighborhood schools. I'd be interested to see how the demographics shake out, if all kids were returned to their base school.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There are plenty of affordable condo options in N . Arl that feed into the good schools. It's a choice - do you get a bigger place and go to a crappy school and be the rich or a smaller place and a great school and be one of the poors?

There is always choices. No one on here is truly stuck in S Arl.

Wow, what an over simplified, uninformed, and unwelcome opinion. You really captured the ignorance of someone who isn't familiar with our neighborhoods, with just a dash of self satisfied, elitism.

Sorry but I am extremely familiar with the situation and yes, this is what it boils down to. Those buying SFH in S Arl don't want to live in a condo in N Arl and be branded a "poor". It's perception. If it was dedication to education, there would be plenty of families in the condos.

That is really truly the only reason you can come up with why a family might want to live in a SFH and not a condo?

What about people like me? We could afford a SFH in north Arlington. We bought in south Arlington and send our kids to public elementary and middle.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There are plenty of affordable condo options in N . Arl that feed into the good schools. It's a choice - do you get a bigger place and go to a crappy school and be the rich or a smaller place and a great school and be one of the poors?

There is always choices. No one on here is truly stuck in S Arl.

Wow, what an over simplified, uninformed, and unwelcome opinion. You really captured the ignorance of someone who isn't familiar with our neighborhoods, with just a dash of self satisfied, elitism.

Sorry but I am extremely familiar with the situation and yes, this is what it boils down to. Those buying SFH in S Arl don't want to live in a condo in N Arl and be branded a "poor". It's perception. If it was dedication to education, there would be plenty of families in the condos.

That is really truly the only reason you can come up with why a family might want to live in a SFH and not a condo?

Anonymous wrote:There are plenty of affordable condo options in N . Arl that feed into the good schools. It's a choice - do you get a bigger place and go to a crappy school and be the rich or a smaller place and a great school and be one of the poors?

There is always choices. No one on here is truly stuck in S Arl.

there're plenty condos zoned for Langley/Whitman too, why didn't you move there?