Thursday's Most Active Threads

Yesterday the thread about the Asian American student who was rejected by several top colleges continued to lead the most active list. Again, since I've already written about the thread, I'll start with the next one. That thread was titled, "Protest at Mundo on P street" and posted in the "DC Public and Public Charter Schools" forum. Mundo Verde is a District of Columbia public charter school that has a bilingual, experiential, "green" curriculum. As such, it checks a lot of boxes for progressive families who are interested in social responsibility and has been one of the more popular schools among DCUM posters. While schools like Mundo Verde have developed fan clubs in the forum, they have also inspired groups of detractors. Neither side tends to be shy about voicing opinions. This thread is specifically about protests that have been held by 3rd grade families at one of Mundo Verde's two campuses. Based on what I have read in the thread, the third grade has suffered from teacher attrition and had poor academic outcomes. Caregivers are protesting in support of a list of demands including that two adult teachers be provided for third graders, specific goals for teaching math and ELA, and other items. Many posters lament the dismal experience these children appear to have experienced and sympathize with the families. Some posters use the thread as an opportunity to air long-held grudges against Mundo Verde. On the other hand, many posters emphasize that the protests are limited to a single campus and the complaints do not reflect conditions at the second campus where, posters insist, students and families are very happy. Some posters go further and claim the protest only reflects dissatisfaction with a single grade and not the entire campus. Eventually, the thread turned into a wide-ranging debate involving a host of issues including public vs public charter school rivalry, competition between Mundo Verde and various other schools, and the role of the Public Charter School Board.

The next most active thread yesterday was posted in the "Relationship Discussion (non-explicit)" forum and titled, "DH’s former AP killed herself". For those not familiar with DCUM acronyms, the title indicates that a woman with whom the original's poster's husband previously had an affair committed suicide. The original poster says very little other than that she has mixed feelings. This kicks off a debate about whether or not this is an appropriate reaction. Many posters argue that mixed emotions are normal given the situation. The original poster likely didn't know the woman and would have understandably harbored resentful towards her. Other posters contend that any feelings other than sadness or sympathy are inappropriate. Many of the usual arguments surrounding affairs are repeated. For instance, many posters insist that it is the original poster's husband, not the other woman, that cheated on her and, as such, he should bear the brunt of any ill feelings. Similarly, some posters are critical of the original poster for staying with her husband after the affair. Several posters want more details about what exactly happened and how the original poster's husband is reacting. However, the original poster provides very little information, leaving posters' imaginations to fill in the blanks. A number of posters claim that there are links between affairs and mental health problems, suggesting that suicides are also a result of mental health problems and therefore the same issue that led to the affair may have led to the suicide.

The third thread at which I'll look today was titled, "New educational standards in Georgia and Arkansas - hope you’re paying attention, FCPS" and posted in the "Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS)" forum. The original poster quotes a lengthy passage from a Wall Street Journal opinion article about efforts in Geor­gia and Ar­kansas to require students to memorize passages of famous works. The article says that English teachers oppose the requirement because they believe there is very little educational value in rote memorization but the author of the article argues a contrary view, finding value in such memorization. The original poster supports the author and implies that Fairfax County Public Schools should adopt such requirements. While many of those responding agree with the original poster, there is a wave of contrary opinions. Some posters scoff at the suggestion that FCPS can learn anything from Arkansas schools. Many posters argue that memorizing something does not indicate understanding it and they judge understanding as more important than simple recital. The forum is home to many critics of FCPS and they seize the thread as another opportunity to lodge complaints against the school system, many of which have nothing to do with the topic of the thread.

I am going to stop here for today because I have a busy schedule and need to move on to other things. Next week I will be hosting out-of-town guests and celebrating our younger son's high school graduation. Therefore I will not have time for this blog and will put it on hiatus for a week. I'll be back the following week, however.