Anonymous wrote:That would be fine. Until that happens, I will fight to keep my kid in AAP

You do know that there are LD child in in AAP too, right?

except that federal law requires children with learning disabilities to be provided a free appropriate public education in the MOST inclusive environment possible. So you can't remove ALL of the children with learning disabilities from mainstream classes. If they can make any progress in a mainstream class they have a right to be there.

The problem with the schools is not the diversity of the students' abilities, it's the standardize tests that pressure the teachers to focus on these lower 10% of the class at the expense of the rest of the class. If a child is not getting the curriculum, then they may need less inclusive options like being pulled out. If another student is gifted, then the teacher can recommend AAP placement if appropriate, or have the time to actually teach the averaget to above average children so they can reach the full potentiontial. With focus on standardize tests, even the children with LDs suffer, as they make "some progress," with a hyper focused teacher and dedicated aid so they don't get the additional services they need. Theabove average kids suffer because they don't get the same focus of the teachers, and may miss concepts they could easily grasp with a little instruction.

Anonymous wrote:The solution is to take out kids who do not need to be mainstreamed into the average class. Go back to LD teachers who teach--not hang out as assistants in a Gen ed class.

+1

That would be fine. Until that happens, I will fight to keep my kid in AAP

The solution is to take out kids who do not need to be mainstreamed into the average class. Go back to LD teachers who teach--not hang out as assistants in a Gen ed class.

PP: I agree. I think any kid that can handle the workload and does not disrupt the class should be given the chance. The issue is not to isolate the top 3% for differentiated learning, but to allow all that can handle the accelerated pace the opportunity.

Anonymous wrote:I have a friend that relocated from FCPS to another area. Their oldest child was in AAP. In the new district (supposedly the best in the new area), that child did not qualify for the GT program. She was probably in the upper 10-15% of FCPS.

Now, in the base program, they are finding that the work is just busy work, while the teachers focus on the bottom children. The girl will pass the state exams, which is the goal of the school -- the teachers and school are evaluated based on how the lowest perform (No Child Left Behind) compared with the average or better kids. This is in a large university town.

My DD, same age, still in AAP, is loving school. In her class, they can focus on learning. There is no doubt that the kids will pass the SOL's. I think that is the real reason for AAP for us, and why I fought. NCLB is a horrible law...requiring 100% passing means that the lower 10-20% take up the resources in general education.

In AAP, there can be more differentiation.....the teachers can focus on all of the kids and not just a few.

Glad your DD is loving school... but what about those kids who are in Gen Ed and could easily do AAP work? Are they getting shortchanged? Yes they are.

I have a friend that relocated from FCPS to another area. Their oldest child was in AAP. In the new district (supposedly the best in the new area), that child did not qualify for the GT program. She was probably in the upper 10-15% of FCPS.

Now, in the base program, they are finding that the work is just busy work, while the teachers focus on the bottom children. The girl will pass the state exams, which is the goal of the school -- the teachers and school are evaluated based on how the lowest perform (No Child Left Behind) compared with the average or better kids. This is in a large university town.

My DD, same age, still in AAP, is loving school. In her class, they can focus on learning. There is no doubt that the kids will pass the SOL's. I think that is the real reason for AAP for us, and why I fought. NCLB is a horrible law...requiring 100% passing means that the lower 10-20% take up the resources in general education.

In AAP, there can be more differentiation.....the teachers can focus on all of the kids and not just a few.

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Anonymous wrote:I'm sure lots of parents would be willing to drive to Longfellow for their center experience if within the Cooper boundary-I sure would!

"Their center experience"?

Exactly. The reason people fight so hard to get their kids into AAP is because they feel those kids get a superior education, and they want their kids to get 'the best' as well. It's the equivalent of buying a Mercedes rather than driving a Toyota.

People here are very into their image and their kids are a reflection of that. God forbid they are asked at a social event about their kids and AAP and they have to admit their kid is in a *gasp* regular classroom.

Those kids grow up with a perception of themselves that's rather unrealistic. When they get out of the insulated bubble that is this area and hit the real world, they realize they are not that special after all and that's when problems start.

I think there's great importance in giving one's kids a normal childhood, rather than a 'push, push' kind.

And the perception that people have a right to an advanced education on the government's dime? Don't even get me started.

COMPLETELY agree with you. I resent the fact that our public school system is putting more money and effort into teaching one group of kids than another; especially when the two groups are virtually indistinguishable. And as for the unrealistic perception many of these AAP kids have of themselves, that all comes to a halt when they reach the real world of high school and realize just how many outstanding students there really are out there. And many of them were in Gen Ed all this time! Gasp.

Except it is not the Gov't dime. It is our dimes. And, I am thinking this is a good use of tax dollars. The majority if Fairfax agree. That is why we have a world class education system. If you want to save money, move to PG county. You will save a lot. Or Prince William. I chose to live in a place with higher taxes for better schools. Period.

I

Exactly. And I am paying for your 'gifted' child. And don't have a choice as an individual. Will you pay for my child's private schooling please?

If you want private school, go to a county with lower taxes. it is a choice. you did not have to move here. I chose to move here

I'm paying for your kid's school, and my kids aren't in the publics. So why don't you pay for mine? Or at least allow me to put my tax dollars towards the school that works for my kid? Why are you and your kid special?

I don't drive on the road in front of your house. Should I get a tax break for that since I don't use that road? How about for not ever needing the services of the fire station closest to your home, or the parks by your house? How about not paying for the police officers who work close to your home but not near me?

Postal roads,parks, etc, are covered in the Constitution. Education is not.

Since this is Va public schools, and education is a state/local matter, you are clearly have not researched the Virginia Constitution.

Article VIII deals with education. Here is article VIII, section 1.

Section 1. Public schools of high quality to be maintained.

The General Assembly shall provide for a system of free public elementary and secondary schools for all children of school age throughout the Commonwealth, and shall seek to ensure that an educational program of high quality is established and continually maintained.

So, go back into your tea bagger whole.

Not the PP and definitely not a tea bagger, but I think we all know public education is a state/county matter and should be covered as such. The problem many of us have with AAP is that it is an 'extra' that benefits some, but not others. We resent having our already high taxes go toward programs like these, rather than toward General Education as a whole. If the program were truly for the highly gifted, i.e. a form of special education for kids who cannot learn in a standard classroom, that would be a different matter. However, I think we're all very aware that AAP is not that at all.

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Anonymous wrote:I'm sure lots of parents would be willing to drive to Longfellow for their center experience if within the Cooper boundary-I sure would!

"Their center experience"?

Exactly. The reason people fight so hard to get their kids into AAP is because they feel those kids get a superior education, and they want their kids to get 'the best' as well. It's the equivalent of buying a Mercedes rather than driving a Toyota.

People here are very into their image and their kids are a reflection of that. God forbid they are asked at a social event about their kids and AAP and they have to admit their kid is in a *gasp* regular classroom.

Those kids grow up with a perception of themselves that's rather unrealistic. When they get out of the insulated bubble that is this area and hit the real world, they realize they are not that special after all and that's when problems start.

I think there's great importance in giving one's kids a normal childhood, rather than a 'push, push' kind.

And the perception that people have a right to an advanced education on the government's dime? Don't even get me started.

COMPLETELY agree with you. I resent the fact that our public school system is putting more money and effort into teaching one group of kids than another; especially when the two groups are virtually indistinguishable. And as for the unrealistic perception many of these AAP kids have of themselves, that all comes to a halt when they reach the real world of high school and realize just how many outstanding students there really are out there. And many of them were in Gen Ed all this time! Gasp.

Except it is not the Gov't dime. It is our dimes. And, I am thinking this is a good use of tax dollars. The majority if Fairfax agree. That is why we have a world class education system. If you want to save money, move to PG county. You will save a lot. Or Prince William. I chose to live in a place with higher taxes for better schools. Period.

I

Exactly. And I am paying for your 'gifted' child. And don't have a choice as an individual. Will you pay for my child's private schooling please?

If you want private school, go to a county with lower taxes. it is a choice. you did not have to move here. I chose to move here

I'm paying for your kid's school, and my kids aren't in the publics. So why don't you pay for mine? Or at least allow me to put my tax dollars towards the school that works for my kid? Why are you and your kid special?

I don't drive on the road in front of your house. Should I get a tax break for that since I don't use that road? How about for not ever needing the services of the fire station closest to your home, or the parks by your house? How about not paying for the police officers who work close to your home but not near me?

Postal roads,parks, etc, are covered in the Constitution. Education is not.

Since this is Va public schools, and education is a state/local matter, you are clearly have not researched the Virginia Constitution.

Article VIII deals with education. Here is article VIII, section 1.

Section 1. Public schools of high quality to be maintained.

The General Assembly shall provide for a system of free public elementary and secondary schools for all children of school age throughout the Commonwealth, and shall seek to ensure that an educational program of high quality is established and continually maintained.

So, go back into your tea bagger whole.

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Anonymous wrote:I'm sure lots of parents would be willing to drive to Longfellow for their center experience if within the Cooper boundary-I sure would!

"Their center experience"?

Exactly. The reason people fight so hard to get their kids into AAP is because they feel those kids get a superior education, and they want their kids to get 'the best' as well. It's the equivalent of buying a Mercedes rather than driving a Toyota.

People here are very into their image and their kids are a reflection of that. God forbid they are asked at a social event about their kids and AAP and they have to admit their kid is in a *gasp* regular classroom.

Those kids grow up with a perception of themselves that's rather unrealistic. When they get out of the insulated bubble that is this area and hit the real world, they realize they are not that special after all and that's when problems start.

I think there's great importance in giving one's kids a normal childhood, rather than a 'push, push' kind.

And the perception that people have a right to an advanced education on the government's dime? Don't even get me started.

COMPLETELY agree with you. I resent the fact that our public school system is putting more money and effort into teaching one group of kids than another; especially when the two groups are virtually indistinguishable. And as for the unrealistic perception many of these AAP kids have of themselves, that all comes to a halt when they reach the real world of high school and realize just how many outstanding students there really are out there. And many of them were in Gen Ed all this time! Gasp.

Except it is not the Gov't dime. It is our dimes. And, I am thinking this is a good use of tax dollars. The majority if Fairfax agree. That is why we have a world class education system. If you want to save money, move to PG county. You will save a lot. Or Prince William. I chose to live in a place with higher taxes for better schools. Period.

I

Exactly. And I am paying for your 'gifted' child. And don't have a choice as an individual. Will you pay for my child's private schooling please?

If you want private school, go to a county with lower taxes. it is a choice. you did not have to move here. I chose to move here

I'm paying for your kid's school, and my kids aren't in the publics. So why don't you pay for mine? Or at least allow me to put my tax dollars towards the school that works for my kid? Why are you and your kid special?

I don't drive on the road in front of your house. Should I get a tax break for that since I don't use that road? How about for not ever needing the services of the fire station closest to your home, or the parks by your house? How about not paying for the police officers who work close to your home but not near me?

Postal roads,parks, etc, are covered in the Constitution. Education is not.

Anonymous wrote:Kill sports programs and focus on academics as they are supposed to.

well then it would be a school...

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm sure lots of parents would be willing to drive to Longfellow for their center experience if within the Cooper boundary-I sure would!

"Their center experience"?

Exactly. The reason people fight so hard to get their kids into AAP is because they feel those kids get a superior education, and they want their kids to get 'the best' as well. It's the equivalent of buying a Mercedes rather than driving a Toyota.

People here are very into their image and their kids are a reflection of that. God forbid they are asked at a social event about their kids and AAP and they have to admit their kid is in a *gasp* regular classroom.

Those kids grow up with a perception of themselves that's rather unrealistic. When they get out of the insulated bubble that is this area and hit the real world, they realize they are not that special after all and that's when problems start.

I think there's great importance in giving one's kids a normal childhood, rather than a 'push, push' kind.

And the perception that people have a right to an advanced education on the government's dime? Don't even get me started.

COMPLETELY agree with you. I resent the fact that our public school system is putting more money and effort into teaching one group of kids than another; especially when the two groups are virtually indistinguishable. And as for the unrealistic perception many of these AAP kids have of themselves, that all comes to a halt when they reach the real world of high school and realize just how many outstanding students there really are out there. And many of them were in Gen Ed all this time! Gasp.

Except it is not the Gov't dime. It is our dimes. And, I am thinking this is a good use of tax dollars. The majority if Fairfax agree. That is why we have a world class education system. If you want to save money, move to PG county. You will save a lot. Or Prince William. I chose to live in a place with higher taxes for better schools. Period.

I

Exactly. And I am paying for your 'gifted' child. And don't have a choice as an individual. Will you pay for my child's private schooling please?

If you want private school, go to a county with lower taxes. it is a choice. you did not have to move here. I chose to move here

I'm paying for your kid's school, and my kids aren't in the publics. So why don't you pay for mine? Or at least allow me to put my tax dollars towards the school that works for my kid? Why are you and your kid special?

I don't drive on the road in front of your house. Should I get a tax break for that since I don't use that road? How about for not ever needing the services of the fire station closest to your home, or the parks by your house? How about not paying for the police officers who work close to your home but not near me?

Postal roads,parks, etc, are covered in the Constitution. Education is not.

Anonymous wrote:They haven't been to Fairfax County! LOL

Or perhaps the truly gifted are, because their program is dumbed down by the not-really-so gifted.... LOL.

Except, before advocating the program be cut, find out the savings. Every kid being educated will require about 1/25th of a teacher, whether it be AAP or Base.

There is not a lot of extra cost for AAP: screening has some cost; tests will have to be done anyway.