I was educated in FCPS from 1979-86. My own kids are currently in FCPS and there is absolutely no question that the education I received was FAR superior to what they're receiving. It's really very sad when I compare all the things I was taught to the nonsense they're being exposed to. Thinking very seriously of going private in the coming years.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:One data point:

My child in Honors 9th grade English at Langley is reading an abridged version of the Odyssey. It’s about 1/3 the length of the original book and the language is simplified.

I read the full book when I was in 9th grade in FCPS and her older cousin also read the full book about 10 years ago in another FCPS high school.

I've heard the reason that middle school classes read excerpts now instead of novels, analyze short passages instead of long ones, is that kids today just don't have the reading ability and stamina that previous children did. When I think of the doorstoppers that I read in grade school and middle school, compared to the books that my bookworm DC reads, I can see that kids today simply cannot read as well as kids used to. The best readers today, compared to the best readers of the past. How do the middling readers compare?

to much screens in school. to many apps being used. stop with the screen and the apps and give them books and I bet they could read these things in 9th grade.

I don't hate the idea of equity, but it will not be achieved unless you dumb things down. It just can't. Academic excellence should be the goal.

My child benefits greatly from the equity goal. He struggles a lot in school and is a getting a lot of good help that he would not get in private.

But no matter how much help he gets, he will NEVER be as good as the "smart" kids. Equity fails us all. EVERY kid should meet their full potential.

My nephew just graduated. school was easy for him. he admitted so and never challenged himself - he admitted. took a few honors and AAP classes - but never too many - just enough. never studied. got straight A's.

All I could think was goodness, why aren't we challenging these kids? We NEED really smart people to solve all the problems, to be good doctors, to build safe buildings. but fine - dumb it down so my kid can catch up and get A's and smart kids DO NOTHING to be their best and just skate by.

AND this kid was given all the awards, but never worked hard.

My son, works really hard and will never get an award. it is so dumb what we are doing to society. We need hard workers - praise that.

Anonymous wrote:^adding one of the most important reasons for the decline, which is across all schools, social media/screen time.

Kids is ES....the most formative years in education...no longer have the attention span for anything, some no longer even know how to hold a pencil. No motor skills. No critical thinking skills.

It's actually quite sad when a 3rd grader can put together a PowerPoint but can't read an entire book or write complete sentences.

i agree completely. i brought this up at family vision meetings and parents really didnt care.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Idk my kid is at TJ and doing more as a freshman than I did as a freshman at MIT

I imagine the instruction and the quality of teachers is better at TJ because they are getting the best students the county has to offer and imagine doesn’t have as much extreme behavioral issues. Whole different situation.

Longtime sub and can report that TJ is the rare FCPS HS that isn’t run like a prison and where I don’t feel like a warden.

Rare but certainly not unique.

Here’s where I felt unsafe and will no longer sub:

High schools:

Annandale. Falls Church. Justice.

MS: Glasgow.

Fairfax High is very rigorous. I don’t get all the complaints.
APs, homework, novels, etc. All the things OP says FCPS doesn’t have.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If school choice/vouchers becomes a thing we are going to see enrollment drop to the floor.

That’s a Republican wet dream. Underfund schools for decades, complain about the quality, and then defund for the final nail in the coffin.

Why do they hate public schools so much? I don’t get it.

The Republicans see public schools as an opportunity to build opposition to Democratic policies at the national level relating to immigration and DEI. Youngkin's administration is on path now to deny accreditation to a slew of FCPS schools in a year or two, declare them "failing schools," blame others for the problem, and offer vouchers (and lower funding for public schools) as the "solution."

It's opportunistic and unfortunate, but one reason that it resonates with some people is that the Democrats in charge of systems like FCPS have also made it clear that they resent wealthier public schools and communities. They do plenty on their own to reduce support for public education.

Exactly this. Democrats in the county have set their sights on umc and mc.

Bullcrap. Democrats are umc and mc.

Republicans look for any chance they can to trash public schools.

DP. The Ds may be but they still operate locally based on a politics of resentment towards UMC families and schools and a commitment to an ill-defined and poorly articulated “equity” agenda.

You’re delusional if you don’t realize the Ds gave the Rs the opening to push their own agenda. It helped get Youngkin elected and now he’s going to kick the likes of Karl Frisch in the ass before he leaves.

+1. Ds may be umc and mc in other parts of the country, but here, you’re told that you are racist if you want your kids to go to a good school. Not just on dcums, but by Sandy Anderson and co.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If school choice/vouchers becomes a thing we are going to see enrollment drop to the floor.

That’s a Republican wet dream. Underfund schools for decades, complain about the quality, and then defund for the final nail in the coffin.

Why do they hate public schools so much? I don’t get it.

The Republicans see public schools as an opportunity to build opposition to Democratic policies at the national level relating to immigration and DEI. Youngkin's administration is on path now to deny accreditation to a slew of FCPS schools in a year or two, declare them "failing schools," blame others for the problem, and offer vouchers (and lower funding for public schools) as the "solution."

It's opportunistic and unfortunate, but one reason that it resonates with some people is that the Democrats in charge of systems like FCPS have also made it clear that they resent wealthier public schools and communities. They do plenty on their own to reduce support for public education.

Exactly this. Democrats in the county have set their sights on umc and mc.

Bullcrap. Democrats are umc and mc.

Republicans look for any chance they can to trash public schools.

DP. The Ds may be but they still operate locally based on a politics of resentment towards UMC families and schools and a commitment to an ill-defined and poorly articulated “equity” agenda.

You’re delusional if you don’t realize the Ds gave the Rs the opening to push their own agenda. It helped get Youngkin elected and now he’s going to kick the likes of Karl Frisch in the ass before he leaves.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If school choice/vouchers becomes a thing we are going to see enrollment drop to the floor.

That’s a Republican wet dream. Underfund schools for decades, complain about the quality, and then defund for the final nail in the coffin.

Why do they hate public schools so much? I don’t get it.

Because FCPS is trying to bring everyone down to an equally mediocre level. It ain’t rocket science.

No, they are trying to lift everyone up.

For example, they are trying to increase the number of kids accelerating in math.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If school choice/vouchers becomes a thing we are going to see enrollment drop to the floor.

That’s a Republican wet dream. Underfund schools for decades, complain about the quality, and then defund for the final nail in the coffin.

Why do they hate public schools so much? I don’t get it.

The Republicans see public schools as an opportunity to build opposition to Democratic policies at the national level relating to immigration and DEI. Youngkin's administration is on path now to deny accreditation to a slew of FCPS schools in a year or two, declare them "failing schools," blame others for the problem, and offer vouchers (and lower funding for public schools) as the "solution."

It's opportunistic and unfortunate, but one reason that it resonates with some people is that the Democrats in charge of systems like FCPS have also made it clear that they resent wealthier public schools and communities. They do plenty on their own to reduce support for public education.

Exactly this. Democrats in the county have set their sights on umc and mc.

Bullcrap. Democrats are umc and mc.

Republicans look for any chance they can to trash public schools.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If school choice/vouchers becomes a thing we are going to see enrollment drop to the floor.

That’s a Republican wet dream. Underfund schools for decades, complain about the quality, and then defund for the final nail in the coffin.

Why do they hate public schools so much? I don’t get it.

The Republicans see public schools as an opportunity to build opposition to Democratic policies at the national level relating to immigration and DEI. Youngkin's administration is on path now to deny accreditation to a slew of FCPS schools in a year or two, declare them "failing schools," blame others for the problem, and offer vouchers (and lower funding for public schools) as the "solution."

It's opportunistic and unfortunate, but one reason that it resonates with some people is that the Democrats in charge of systems like FCPS have also made it clear that they resent wealthier public schools and communities. They do plenty on their own to reduce support for public education.

And democrat school board has no problem with a bunch of schools failing by just about every objective measure

Historically the benchmarks for state accreditation have moved around a quite a bit. Youngkin wants to tighten the screws so his VDOE can label more public schools “failing.”

It’s hard not to have sympathy for teachers who do everything they can to help students who arrive here unable to speak English and barely literate in their first language. It’s going to be demoralizing when officials in Richmond who’ve never taught, or never had to teach in those environments, deny their schools accreditation and label them as “failing.”

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If school choice/vouchers becomes a thing we are going to see enrollment drop to the floor.

That’s a Republican wet dream. Underfund schools for decades, complain about the quality, and then defund for the final nail in the coffin.

Why do they hate public schools so much? I don’t get it.

The Republicans see public schools as an opportunity to build opposition to Democratic policies at the national level relating to immigration and DEI. Youngkin's administration is on path now to deny accreditation to a slew of FCPS schools in a year or two, declare them "failing schools," blame others for the problem, and offer vouchers (and lower funding for public schools) as the "solution."

It's opportunistic and unfortunate, but one reason that it resonates with some people is that the Democrats in charge of systems like FCPS have also made it clear that they resent wealthier public schools and communities. They do plenty on their own to reduce support for public education.

And democrat school board has no problem with a bunch of schools failing by just about every objective measure

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If school choice/vouchers becomes a thing we are going to see enrollment drop to the floor.

That’s a Republican wet dream. Underfund schools for decades, complain about the quality, and then defund for the final nail in the coffin.

Why do they hate public schools so much? I don’t get it.

The Republicans see public schools as an opportunity to build opposition to Democratic policies at the national level relating to immigration and DEI. Youngkin's administration is on path now to deny accreditation to a slew of FCPS schools in a year or two, declare them "failing schools," blame others for the problem, and offer vouchers (and lower funding for public schools) as the "solution."

It's opportunistic and unfortunate, but one reason that it resonates with some people is that the Democrats in charge of systems like FCPS have also made it clear that they resent wealthier public schools and communities. They do plenty on their own to reduce support for public education.

Exactly this. Democrats in the county have set their sights on umc and mc.

Which is ironic because without those tax dollars from the UMC they wouldn't have as much money to piss away.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If school choice/vouchers becomes a thing we are going to see enrollment drop to the floor.

That’s a Republican wet dream. Underfund schools for decades, complain about the quality, and then defund for the final nail in the coffin.

Why do they hate public schools so much? I don’t get it.

The Republicans see public schools as an opportunity to build opposition to Democratic policies at the national level relating to immigration and DEI. Youngkin's administration is on path now to deny accreditation to a slew of FCPS schools in a year or two, declare them "failing schools," blame others for the problem, and offer vouchers (and lower funding for public schools) as the "solution."

It's opportunistic and unfortunate, but one reason that it resonates with some people is that the Democrats in charge of systems like FCPS have also made it clear that they resent wealthier public schools and communities. They do plenty on their own to reduce support for public education.

Exactly this. Democrats in the county have set their sights on umc and mc.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If school choice/vouchers becomes a thing we are going to see enrollment drop to the floor.

That’s a Republican wet dream. Underfund schools for decades, complain about the quality, and then defund for the final nail in the coffin.

Why do they hate public schools so much? I don’t get it.

The Republicans see public schools as an opportunity to build opposition to Democratic policies at the national level relating to immigration and DEI. Youngkin's administration is on path now to deny accreditation to a slew of FCPS schools in a year or two, declare them "failing schools," blame others for the problem, and offer vouchers (and lower funding for public schools) as the "solution."

It's opportunistic and unfortunate, but one reason that it resonates with some people is that the Democrats in charge of systems like FCPS have also made it clear that they resent wealthier public schools and communities. They do plenty on their own to reduce support for public education.

Inflation adjusted Educational spending per student has literally increased by 3x since 1960. School funding is not the issue and boosting spending has made almost no impact on educational outcomes.