Anonymous wrote:How do you voluntarily & legally promote diversity? I thought quotas were illegal. Didn't HB get in trouble many years ago for having some kind of system like that?

Magnet schools--but this seldom works really well. You lose the community feel-

How do you voluntarily & legally promote diversity? I thought quotas were illegal. Didn't HB get in trouble many years ago for having some kind of system like that?

This busing argument is a red herring. No one is asking for it. RG explicitly stated he wasn't advocating for busing. He was simply trying to promote any VOLUNTARY means of increasing diversity, like APS providing transportation to those who CHOOSE to attend a less diverse school and who would increase the diversity there.

I have no dog in this hunt. I live in Fairfax. However, it is pretty normal to want your kids to go to the neighborhood school. Busing has never worked and will not work.

I taught for many years. Part of this was in a school that was bused. (I posted earlier.) It was awful--not because of the kids, but because of the lack of community. Getting the parent of bused kids to come in for school events was very, very difficult.

Some time later, I taught in a diverse environment. Economically and racially. However, the kids all lived in the same community. This worked and was highly successful. (
Busing does not work. Period.

I'd just like to try to reassure anyone not currently in the APS system who is alarmed by all this catastrophizing. Things change and favorite schools vary, but overall, Arlington continues to have awesome schools.

I've had kids enrolled in APS schools for 15 years, and I wouldn't hesitate to send my kids to any school in Arlington. I'm no fan of the superintendent, and principals do have a big effect on schools, but overall we are going to be okay because we have very, very good teachers, for the most part, and we have more of them per capita than other local school systems, and they are paid relatively decently, and they work very hard. I don't know HOW the teachers can do such a good job in trailers and broom closets and overcrowded classrooms, but I know that it happens. If my kids were starting school now I send them to school here, and if you have little kids now or you might get redistributed, you shouldn't panic. We should focus on getting more buildings built and reduce the name calling over boundaries and lotteries.

I know I'm not persuading anyone of anything, but I'll also assert that people in 22207 have no desire to send their kids to what some of you call "lily white" schools. You know, all those Taylor and Jamestown parents who sent kids to ASFS chose a school where, at least in the past, many, many kids were neither white nor wealthy. All most people want for their kids is a good teacher and a safe, uncrowned learning environment. Most people believe that diverse classrooms are good for all kids. People who want a segregated school don't use Arlington public schools in the first place.

And can we give the school board members more of a break in these discussions? Some of you seem to think they are highly paid villains intent on ruining the county for nefarious reasons. Isn't it more likely that they are all human beings with good intentions?

All is not lost.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Bitch, I'm busy.
When I have time will explain AGAIN why it's a good idea and post some of all the amazingly valuable data that is easily available on the internet.

Sure, there is amazingly valuable data that supports it.......

http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2015/08/school-busing-civil-rights-121077

Cool. An OPINION piece about RACIAL segregation.
Thanks dimwit.

So, twice now, you are lowering discourse to name calling. Still waiting for your data.

You may not realize it--but busing usually does refer to racial integration---but, the results would be the same. For the same reason it does not work for racial integration, it will not work for economic integration. People want their kids to go to school nearby.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Bitch, I'm busy.
When I have time will explain AGAIN why it's a good idea and post some of all the amazingly valuable data that is easily available on the internet.

Sure, there is amazingly valuable data that supports it.......

http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2015/08/school-busing-civil-rights-121077

Cool. An OPINION piece about RACIAL segregation.
Thanks dimwit.

Anonymous wrote:Bitch, I'm busy.
When I have time will explain AGAIN why it's a good idea and post some of all the amazingly valuable data that is easily available on the internet.

Sure, there is amazingly valuable data that supports it.......

http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2015/08/school-busing-civil-rights-121077

Bitch, I'm busy.
When I have time will explain AGAIN why it's a good idea and post some of all the amazingly valuable data that is easily available on the internet.

Anonymous wrote:You putas are so stupid, arguing about grammar and busing kids in the name of a social experiment called diversity.

The premise of your little pet project is stupid!

I'm the teacher--she corrected my spelling because she has no valid argument. That's what people like that do.

You putas are so stupid, arguing about grammar and busing kids in the name of a social experiment called diversity.

The premise of your little pet project is stupid!

p.s. you still have not given an example of where busing/bussing works.

I guess you have never taught in a school that experienced this.

Just because it's misspelled often enough that it becomes an "acceptable" spelling doesn't make it correct. You were a teacher? Sad.

Sad, that you think that is why it is acceptable. It has always been an acceptable spelling.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Bussing does not work. Been there. Done that.

It's "busing." And it works, but white people don't like it. And nobody, certainly nobody in a position to make it happen, is proposing that in Arlington. There is no good reason that "choice" schools and programs should not take steps to ensure inclusivity. And we could do better with boundaries, too, without "forced busing." And anybody who's going to stand against that is on the wrong side of history and will be judged accordingly.

Well, for starters "bussing" is an acceptable spelling. If you'd looked it up, you would know it.

And, as a teacher, I taught kids who were bussed. Do you know what happens?

1.The kids who are bussed go home in the afternoon to their own communities. There is a huge division between those who ae bussed in and those who live near the school. The kids got along fine in the school, but there was no interaction outside of school.
2. It is very difficult to get parents from outside the community to come to the school. They do not feel part of the school.
As a teacher, it is very important to have parental support and to make the families feel welcome in the school. I taught in a school where it was almost impossible to get the parents to come in for school events, etc. Why? Transportation was the key problem. Even our parent conferences were difficult for them.

In the school where I taught, all the kids were poor--those who were bussed and those who were not. It did not help any of the kids.

Could you please source where it works.

Just because it's misspelled often enough that it becomes an "acceptable" spelling doesn't make it correct. You were a teacher? Sad.

Anonymous wrote:

Hello? anybody home in there? So, all the kids were poor.? That is not what we are talking about. We are talking about mixing up the socioeconomic segregation.

The affluent kids in the neighborhood left for private schools.

Then, to address both integration and overcrowding, we should definitely do this here. Two birds, one stone.