Anonymous wrote:"Hey, has anyone noticed that people who get paid to convince the government to do things tend to get leadership roles in volunteer groups that are trying to get the government to do a thing??"

what? Wait. That ain't faire!

"Hey, has anyone noticed that people who get paid to convince the government to do things tend to get leadership roles in volunteer groups that are trying to get the government to do a thing??"

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Am just curious. Local open school groups seems to include lots of parents who happen to be lobbyists. Is this just because we have lots of lobbyists in this area? Are any working for a client in their open schools advocacy?

Are you in Arlington? If yes, this happens in every major APS decision-- boundaries, school moves, curriculum changes-- you name it. The PTAs are full of lobbyist/govt relations type parents. The Open Schools movement is just a much longer process, and on a much larger scale, so you are probably noticing it more now. But it has always been that way in APS.

Every N ARL school has a PTA with lobbyists, lawyers, public relations pros and federal officials. Somebody mentioned proving it. It's really easy. Just go on AEM (Arlington Education matters) and linked in the names. I bet, on your first try, you'll get one of the above professions. You'll for sure get one of those categories in three tries. What's even more fun is seeing their expertise. Our favorite vent expert is an artist! A very good one but still, no science at all. Our favorite "teen psyc expert" lobbies for...the military or defense or something like that. She's a phd psych but not a teen psyc expert. (for those who don't know, I picked advocates on both sides of the open schools debate for my expose')

Before criticizing me pointing those things out, that's a step in lobbying. Knowing who the other lobbyists are. Their strengths and weaknesses. The artist is great at PR but is often off on her science. The psyc expert is very good at making her points and has great citations but she picks her expertise to fit the argument rather than being true to her demonstrable expertise over the last 15 years. Own your expertise and explain extending it. That's fair. Don't misrepresent. That's bad for lobbying efforts.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If there are a lot of lobbyists in the open schools group, I have to say they suck at their job.

“Science! Data!”

Ha! Yes! They should also stop being overtly racist on FB pages.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Now that the schools are open for in-person learning, will you publicly praise the superintendents and thank them for finally getting the job done? That was all you cared about, right?

IT TOOK ONE YEAR. Nothing praiseworthy about that.

FAKE NEWS.

No one wanted their kids in school one year ago. Stop pushing false narratives.

Anonymous wrote:Fair enough. Just want to know why you and the other open the schools advocates are so angry about the schools opening back up. Doesn't make sense. Declare victory and move on with your life. Take the win.

2 days/week is not a win if other school districts are doing 4-5. Why is it too hard for APS but not for FCPS, FCCPS, or LCPS?

Fair enough. Just want to know why you and the other open the schools advocates are so angry about the schools opening back up. Doesn't make sense. Declare victory and move on with your life. Take the win.

Anonymous wrote:Now that the schools are open for in-person learning, will you publicly praise the superintendents and thank them for finally getting the job done? That was all you cared about, right?

IT TOOK ONE YEAR. Nothing praiseworthy about that.

Anonymous wrote:I believe many parents in these groups are just advocating for what they believe in, but there are definitely some who are trying to use these movements to serve a larger conservative purpose. Republican House leadership is actively figuring out how they can utilize these advocacy groups to help them take back the majority for Republicans in the House (never mind that Congress has nothing to do with whether or not local schools are open).

I used to work in the education policy space (20 years ago!). Conservatives and Republicans always supported "local control" of schools. But now, when local school districts are doing what they think is in their community's best interest, instead of advocating for local changes, the conservative movement and Republican party is trying to use school reopening as a national wedge issue. It's an interesting turnaround. I got into a discussion with someone the other day who was livid over all the crazy stuff the San Francisco school board does, and I said to her, "But don't you believe in local control of schools? What is Congress, or Joe Biden, or even Gavin Newsom supposed to do about what the locally-elected school board members in San Francisco are doing?"

No answer, except move to San Francisco and run against one of those crazy people!

Exactly.

Anonymous wrote:Is it really so hard to believe that parents, regardless of what they do for a living, want to speak up for their kids. The PTAs aren't doing it and neither is the national PTA (where most of your PTA dues go). Just because you disagree with someone's opinion doesn't mean there is some big conspiracy theory. Geesh.

Nope. Only $2.25 goes to national.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If there are a lot of lobbyists in the open schools group, I have to say they suck at their job.

“Science! Data!”

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Now that the schools are open for in-person learning, will you publicly praise the superintendents and thank them for finally getting the job done? That was all you cared about, right?

If the schools were open, in the spirit of open, maybe I would. But right now it's just a bunch of kids learning on zoom while sitting in a school building. And the teachers are often at home. That's not really open. That's just free daycare.

+1000

Anonymous wrote:Now that the schools are open for in-person learning, will you publicly praise the superintendents and thank them for finally getting the job done? That was all you cared about, right?

If the schools were open, in the spirit of open, maybe I would. But right now it's just a bunch of kids learning on zoom while sitting in a school building. And the teachers are often at home. That's not really open. That's just free daycare.

Now that the schools are open for in-person learning, will you publicly praise the superintendents and thank them for finally getting the job done? That was all you cared about, right?

Anonymous wrote:The open schools movement is a cynical strategy created and funded by Republican operatives to lie to and divide communities at a time of national crisis in order to stoke outrage that translates into vote shifts and an evangelical takeover of the public schools.

Whoa the Republicans want to divide communities because they think public schools should be open like the 1000s of privates and whole swaths of states and entire countries' schools are? Maybe they felt like maybe educating public school kids was kind of important? This level of conspiracy you are suggesting is Q or flat earth levels. And if Dems lose votes over their response to the pandemic when we can see with open eyes that closing schools did nothing to decrease covid in areas and only harmed kids then that's on them.