Last night's final public meeting on the proposed new school for Jefferson-Houston was sparsely attended compared to previous meetings. Undoubtedly everyone is worn out or fed up.If you didn't attend, the Growler can tell you that you didn't miss much. Lee Quill flashed through a lengthy PowerPoint slide show illustrating a variety of design options for a new school. His presentation included photographs of other institutional buildings and their grounds, many of which were drawn from the Cunningham Quill project portfolio.
The most interesting statements of the night came from Superintendent Dr. Morton Sherman. First, he told us that "if he was a betting man" he'd wager against the ACPS administrative offices moving to the Jefferson-Houston site because it would necessitate underground parking and that might create problems for the neighborhood.
Second, while it was no surprise to hear that Dr. Sherman intends to ask the School Board to include a new Jefferson-Houston school in their proposed capital budget for next year, the Growler's fuzzy ears perked up to hear him add that JH would be his #1 capital priority to present to the School Board on December 9.
Just the previous month Dr. Sherman had stated that a new Patrick Henry Elementary School would be the next ACPS facility to be built. However, last night he switched courses, telling the audience that a new Patrick Henry could be pushed out into the future. He envisions temporary modular units being able to handle enrollment growth at Patrick Henry in the near-term.
This new strategy is undoubtedly intended to squeeze Jefferson-Houston into the existing capital budget by reordering School Board priorities rather than asking for additional money. To pay for an unbudgeted new school, the Council would have to appropriate more funds to ACPS when it is already concerned about potentially unpopular tax increases and worried about its debt ceiling.
The wild card in all of this is the City's West End. Will communities on the other side of Quaker Lane, which are already seething about BRAC as well as the $14 million sunk into the Charles Houston Center, meekly accept another $30 to $35 million taxpayer funds being bestowed upon this neighborhood while their educational and recreational needs appear to go unmet?
58 comments:
"To pay for an unbudgeted new school, the Council would have to appropriate more funds to ACPS when it is already concerned about potentially unpopular tax increases and worried about its debt ceiling."
I hope Council rocks these fools back on their heels! Personally I don't want any more of my tax money going to the school system until ACPS produces better results. I resent the suggested tax increases. We already spend more on schools per capita than the surrounding jurisdictions yet consistently get less bang for the buck. Buildings don't educated. Improved scores first.
"To pay for an unbudgeted new school, the Council would have to appropriate more funds to ACPS when it is already concerned about potentially unpopular tax increases and worried about its debt ceiling."
We think Sherman has his back up and the few are now ruling the many. It rankles me that Quill someone who earlier turned his back on Jefferson Houston now stands to profit. It is the ethic of the town and that's why my child will continue in private school. Until public housing is dispersed and the children properly assimilated in a variety of schools it's little more than a political farce.
"I resent the suggested tax increases. We already spend more on schools per capita than the surrounding jurisdictions yet consistently get less bang for the buck."
A.M.E.N.
I hate to say it, but until we disperse public housing or redistrict, spending additional money on J-H makes no sense.
"I resent the suggested tax increases. We already spend more on schools per capita than the surrounding jurisdictions yet consistently get less bang for the buck."
A.M.E.N.
I hate to say it, but until we disperse public housing or redistrict, spending additional money on J-H makes no sense."
Ditto, Ditto, Ditto!
Thanksgiving is tomorrow so let me just say that I NOT thankful for city process. A repeated waste...
Let's see if anyone can glean Sherman's top priorities from this three-part examination of them:
http://virginia.watchdog.org/1524/alexandria-triples-spending-on-consultants/
http://virginia.watchdog.org/1562/alexandria-superintendent-pays-thousands-to-long-time-friend/
http://virginia.watchdog.org/1607/droves-of-employees-leave-alexandria-schools-central-office/
Dear City Council Members -
Until Mr. Sherman stops spending our tax dollars to buy himself fancy meals, I will not support any increase in the ACPS budget.
I feel this is emblematic of the waste in the system already. They should start spending the already significant money they have on teachers, not administrators, consultants, or ridiculously bloated and overblown buildings.
Four stories? From alexandrianews.org
By Carla Branch
alexandrianews.org
Last night, Alexandria City Public School Superintendent Morton Sherman and Jefferson-Houston Principal Kim Graves held the final scheduled meeting about building a new school on the current site. The next step is to obtain funding for the project.
Sherman will present his proposal for replacing the current facility to the Alexandria School Board on Dec. 9. He told those who attended the meeting that he intends to make replacing Jefferson-Houston his top capital priority.
Lee Quill, a local architect who prepared some conceptual site plans for a new facility, showed the community what the school would look like if the one-story structure is replaced by a two, three or four-story building. “If we decrease the size of the current footprint and add two stories, we will have a facility with between 120,000 and 129,000 square feet of space, including a new cafeteria and gymnasium. This would accommodate the K-8 students who will attend Jefferson-Houston. We showed the community what this building would look like in different locations on the site, with views from Cameron and West streets.
“If we add space for moving Central Office staff to the site, we need to add a fourth story or about 60,000 square feet of space. This would bring the total square footage to about 180,000. If Central Office moves, there would need to be underground parking as well because parking is limited in this location,” Quill said.
Quill estimated the cost of the facility without accommodating Central Office, which is currently in leased space on Beauregard Street, to be between $34 million and $37 million. “We have tried to reduce the amount of leased space we are using by moving some of our staff to George Washington Middle School and it is the superintendent’s goal to move all of the staff into a school,” said School Board Chair Yvonne Folkerts. “We are certainly looking at the possibility of moving staff into a new facility on the Jefferson-Houston site but we haven’t made any decision yet.”
At last week’s joint work session between the School Board and the Alexandria City Council, Mayor Bill Euille expressed a willingness to consider funding a new school on the Jefferson-Houston site. “We recognize that the School Board would like to build a new school on the Jefferson-Houston site and that is something we will consider during our budget deliberations,” Euille said.
I must agree with everyone else, no new buildings on our dime until the public housing is dispersed and test scores reflect the quality of the education at that school. Until that happens I won't be sending my children there, shiney new building or not.
"At last week’s joint work session between the School Board and the Alexandria City Council, Mayor Bill Euille expressed a willingness to consider funding a new school on the Jefferson-Houston site. 'We recognize that the School Board would like to build a new school on the Jefferson-Houston site and that is something we will consider during our budget deliberations,' Euille said."
Atta Mayor, anything to perpetuate legalized segregation in Alexandria!!
When oh when will Alexandria Dems dump the Euille administration?
I have one thought. I realize that few us, myself included, think a 35 million dollar monument to the ineptitude of ACPS is warranted, but what happens if this is approved? By that I mean I am not well versed in the construction process, but I am going to assume this new building is going to take 6-8 months, if not longer, to actually become "habitable". Is there going to be a temporary structure in the meantime or will J-H students be dispersed (can we even use that word in Alexandria) to other schools? I am assuming there is a plan in place for this already, but I personally would really like to see the latter.
Resegregation . . . that is a very charged word thrown around frequently by the Growler and many of her commentors. But the facts don't back up your charge. Just what do you think the racial make-up was of pre-2000 J-H? As I recall, it was around 85% minority.
It appears most who comment on here don't know or don't remember that the vast majority of the students who attended Parker-Gray before the 1999 redistricting lived clear across town, on the far west end of Alexandria, and they were at J-H only because there were not enough seats in the west-end schools to accommodate them before Tucker opened. And, the vast majority of the students bussed across town to J-H were African, Middle Eastern and Hispanic immigrants. The families of Parker-Gray with the means to choose where to send their kids did not support J-H in large numbers then, just as it appears they do not support it now.
Also for the record, when Lyles Crouch was changed to a K to 5 school, the children from the Berg were sent to Maury, not to J-H. And guess what, Maury suffered for a couple of years from low student population and low test scores because the majority of students attending were from public housing. But what turned Maury around was that slowly but steadily the families in Rosemont began to send their children and their volunteer efforts to Maury. That is what built up the critical mass which in turn led to improved outcomes at Maury. ACPS didn't "re-redistrict" to bring the students in. They started to come from within the existing school boundaries.
It is clear from this blog that the middle and upper middle class families with children in Parker-Gray are not supporting their neighborhood school in large numbers. If they don't support it, why would you think anyone redistricted in would? Maybe there aren't currently enough families of means in Parker-Gray to alter the socioeconomic mix at the school. But the easiest time to make a quick impact is when the student population is low, as it now. Yet, it doesn't sound like folks are even trying.
You all will likely go down as the first neighborhood in history to fight against an improved school facility. Maybe you are correct, maybe there are just not enough children to warrant a school in your neighborhood. You shouldn't count on a new school in Potomac Yards, though. Land-bay J or whatever it is called was of insufficient size for a school when it was first carved out. (City Council knew that at the time but they had been recently criticized at Cameron Station for having to buy back land for a school they could have reserved up front.) Now even that meager plot has been shaved down due to the road realignment at the Monroe bridge. Accordingly, it will not be suitable for an elementary school.
But maybe this fussing isn't really over a school, anyway . . . .
"But maybe this fussing isn't really over a school, anyway . . . ."
Lordy, you've sipped the sherry. Or maybe consulted with Blanche? She's never really understood the facts regarding Tucker's coming on line. It was the Inner City Civic Association who put the Tucker nomination forward to celebrate Samuel Tucker's educational legacy. One neighbor even brought in a Washington Post reporter to write a "prestigious piece" in the Post's magazine as a follow on to a 1999 4-part black history series published in the Gazette the same year. LeeRoy Steele was on the naming committee, the nomination written by a white couple with professional ties to the NEA. It was not the black community who initially pushed the Tucker legacy. They thought it could not be done and came on board only after the rest of us got the ball rolling. Even had to fight off the alternative of Tucker-Boothe. Check the meeting minutes and you'll find out who actually was responsible. As for curriculum Tucker offered traditional curriculum still does which if memory serves in-coming principal Cathy David spent the preceding year preparing. Jefferson Houston on the otherhand went through a series of curriculum changes, the arts focus never actually funded. Eberwien again. Now Stormin' Sherman wants another curriculum change. Damn it! Let him prove what Graves and company can do. Did Graves not make AYP under Superintendent Perry? Was Jefferson Houston then operating in the same building as now? Has Graves repeated the feat under Sherman? No! The school repeatedly fails to meet AYP and last year the State gave JH accredition with warning. Downhill slide? Prove what the school can do under current conditions. Revisit the building issue later. Yours is political editing.
"But maybe this fussing isn't really over a school, anyway . . . ."
From The Washington Post 5/10/1984:
"The Alexandria School Board voted 7 to 2 last night to approve a plan adjusting the city's elementary school attendance boundaries to improve racial balance and reduce busing required for desegregation...The plan was prompted by changes in the racial composition of many city neighborhoods and the gradual resegregation of some schools...It calls for the first major changes in the elementary school system since 1973...one pairing was left in tact and the board postponed action on the remaining pair, Jefferson Houston and Ramsay...It was the action on Ramsay and Jefferson Houston that prompted the most heated exchanges among board members in the past months and was the reason why Lynnwood Campbell and William Euille, two of the board's three black members, said they voted against the overall redistricting plan.
"Resegregation . . . that is a very charged word thrown around frequently by the Growler and many of her commentors. But the facts don't back up your charge."
Unfortunately the Alexandria School Board changed from an appointed to an elected Board in 1993. The Board has redistricted only three times in recent years: 1973, 1984, and 1999.
Resegregation was an on-going issue in 1984 and the 1999 plan only complicated the problem. My sympathies are few because when former school board members Melvin Miller, Connie Ring and Leslie Hagan had the opportunity as ARHA board members to disperse more Bland residents they chose not to do so. This after ARHA off-sited 50% of Chatham Square public housing residents. Cost may be one reason for the decision. Neighborhood discrimination is the other. I'm an old man not a dumb one!
"Yours is political editing.
Resegregation . . . that is a very charged word thrown around frequently by the Growler and many of her commentors. But the facts don't back up your charge."
Definitely political editing! I agree that prior to redistricting Jefferson Houston was maybe 85% minority. I do not agree that the composition of today's minority is the same as yesterday's. The 1999 redisricting was triggered by the opening of the Tucker school. Eberwein just manipulated opportunity. Tucker does well including test scores because of the type of minority involved. Most of the west end minority the 85% who then attended JH were reassigned to Tucker. Pan Africans, Pakistanis and the like. 56 languages were then spoken at JH. The public housing children were purposely left behind. JH tanked when it was given even more public housing kids like those reassigned from Lyles Crouch. The more accurate comparisons are: number of languages spoken (then and now), per cent increase in free and reduced lunch (greater now), parental involvement (foreign-born immigrant v. public housing resident) and so it goes. Take your 85% number and really analyze it. Then get back to me.
"per cent increase in free and reduced lunch (greater now),"
Somebody may want to check the actual numbers but after 1999 the free and reduced lunch went from the 60th percentile to the 80th percentile did it not? Willful clustering of the poor black.
Huh?? Just who is drinking the Kool-Aide?
What does the naming process for Samuel Tucker have to do with the current condition of Jefferson-Houston? Tucker stands as a monument to an important Civil Rights leader, but that has no correlation with the state of J-H, today.
No, on the curriculum at Tucker -- it was and still is the standard ACPS elementary curriculum. Only Lyles was given a "traditional focus." It is true that part of Tucker's success is that Cathy David was given almost carte blanche to staff the school, cherry-picking the best teachers from throughout the system. And, over time, shameful amounts of extra money were thrown at the school through the then school board's ill-conceived program of differentiated resources, which awarded huge pots of money to Tucker because it was considered to have a disadvantaged population . . . . primarily because it was transient.
I agree with you on the crazy odyssey of curriculum changes for J-H, in an effort to recruit middle class and upper middle class families to the school. At the time, I thought both J-H and L-C should have been given a "traditional focus." The Arts focus did not make sense to me. But, I don't think it was really Blanche's idea, either. And, it certainly wasn't Claire Eberwein's!
The fact that J-H made AYP one year likely had more to do with the particular cohort of students tested at the school that year than the fact Perry was superintendent. Why the school hasn't made AYP since -- the standards get harder every year.
cont'd
The 1984 redistricting -- SRB, the city and the law changed a lot from 1984 to 1999. And, by 1999 school systems could no longer use racial quotas to fill schools. Remember the days at Cora Kelly when there were quotas for "non-minority" boys and girls? I do. But, by 1999, Ramsey and J-H had been unpaired, it was just that kids in the west end south of about Duke were sent to J-H for their entire K-5 career instead of half of it. They were left in J-H because the schools in the west end didn't have enough seats before Tucker opened.
Hey, I said the make-up of J-H before Tucker opened was largely immigrant -- but it was still minority. You all are the ones throwing around the charged term "resegregation." That term has a very specific connotation in this country, usually referring to the exit of whites, not other groups of color. I don't dispute that there can be a difference in atmosphere in a school when the minorities in attendance come from a culture that values education. A perfect example are the differences between Hammond and GW. I haven't looked at the figures recently, but over the last decade or so Hammond has had a higher percentage of minority students than G-W, but it frequently outperformed GW academically. And, immigrant students who had attended Hammond are often at the top at TCW, too.
"JH tanked when it was given even more public housing kids like those reassigned from Lyles Crouch." Maybe it is not really a significant point, but the kids from public housing redistricted from Lyles went to Maury, not J-H. The kids districted back into J-H in 2000 were largely the kids from the Parker-Gray neighborhood who had been bussed up to George Mason for a number of years.
cont'd
"But maybe this fussing isn't really over a school, anyway . . . ."
Perhaps this comment was overly provocative, but frankly, most of you admit your real beef is that your neighborhood has a disproportionate share of public housing -- your vilification of the current school admin for wanting to build a new school in your neighborhood seems unwarranted and unrelated to your real beef. You probably have a right to be unhappy with the mayor and past and current ARHA board members for refusing to reduce the density of public housing in your neighborhood. But, you certainly aren't going to gain any allies around town by criticizing families in other neighborhoods for not wanting to attend J-H when you and your neighbors don't support it either.
You focus on the demographics within the J-H building. I would like to see the results of the recent school census for the J-H district. How many are opting out of J-H for other schools, public or private? Is that percentage greater than in other areas of Alexandria? What would the demographics of J-H look like if most of the elementary school-aged population in the district attended the school. If it wouldn't change much, then maybe you can't change the culture of J-H from within. But, if there would be a critical mass like in that which came back to Maury, then your ire is sorely misdirected.
I recognize the readership of this Blog is pretty insular, and you all seem to ponce on any who post a differing viewpoint than the prevailing one. None of you have addressed the fact that your own neighbors with school-aged children do not support J-H. None of you have explained why families from outside Parker-Gray should be forced out of schools they do support and their children sent to J-H, when the Parker-Gray community does not support J-H. Frankly, I suspect the school board understands, and you do, too, that the net effect of such an action before J-H is running more smoothly (and yes a shiny new building might be attractive to some families with the means to choose where their children attend school . . . ) will mean a net exodus from ACPS without any net benefit to J-H. What elementary-centric folks miss is that pushing folks out of ACPS at the elementary school level has an up-stream effect on the middle and high school demographics. Families often leave for middle school and come back for high school. It is less often the case that folks who leave at elementary school come back.
ACPS is a unique system -- few school districts in the country have the the mix of haves and have-nots we do. But there is a very delicate balance. Shortly after Paul Masem and the then school board -- yeah that appointed one -- monkeyed around with boundaries and grade-level alignments in 1992, ACPS almost sunk. That was the impetus for the elected board, and most in town would not want to go back to the old appointed one which was more beholding to their benefactors on Council than to Alexandria's children and their families.
cont'd
"But maybe this fussing isn't really over a school, anyway . . . ."
Perhaps this comment was overly provocative, but frankly, most of you admit your real beef is that your neighborhood has a disproportionate share of public housing -- your vilification of the current school admin for wanting to build a new school in your neighborhood seems unwarranted and unrelated to your real beef. You probably have a right to be unhappy with the mayor and past and current ARHA board members for refusing to reduce the density of public housing in your neighborhood. But, you certainly aren't going to gain any allies around town by criticizing families in other neighborhoods for not wanting to attend J-H when you and your neighbors don't support it either.
You focus on the demographics within the J-H building. I would like to see the results of the recent school census for the J-H district. How many are opting out of J-H for other schools, public or private? Is that percentage greater than in other areas of Alexandria? What would the demographics of J-H look like if most of the elementary school-aged population in the district attended the school. If it wouldn't change much, then maybe you can't change the culture of J-H from within. But, if there would be a critical mass like in that which came back to Maury, then your ire is sorely misdirected.
cont'd -- last one!
I recognize the readership of this Blog is pretty insular, and you all seem to ponce on any who post a differing viewpoint than the prevailing one. None of you have addressed the fact that your own neighbors with school-aged children do not support J-H. None of you have explained why families from outside Parker-Gray should be forced out of schools they do support and their children sent to J-H, when the Parker-Gray community does not support J-H. Frankly, I suspect the school board understands, and you do, too, that the net effect of such an action before J-H is running more smoothly (and yes a shiny new building might be attractive to some families with the means to choose where their children attend school . . . ) will mean a net exodus from ACPS without any net benefit to J-H. What elementary-centric folks miss is that pushing folks out of ACPS at the elementary school level has an up-stream effect on the middle and high school demographics. Families often leave for middle school and come back for high school. It is less often the case that folks who leave at elementary school come back.
ACPS is a unique system -- few school districts in the country have the the mix of haves and have-nots we do. But there is a very delicate balance. Shortly after Paul Masem and the then school board -- yeah that appointed one -- monkeyed around with boundaries and grade-level alignments in 1992, ACPS almost sunk. That was the impetus for the elected board, and most in town would not want to go back to the old appointed one which was more beholding to their benefactors on Council than to Alexandria's children and their families.
"Tucker stands as a monument to an important Civil Rights leader, but that has no correlation with the state of J-H, today."
Did Tucker's law firm not handle a lawsuit related to Jefferson Houston?
"Huh?? Just who is drinking the Kool-Aide?"
Not drinking kool aide just inhaling the garbage from your pail?
"No, on the curriculum at Tucker -- it was and still is the standard ACPS elementary curriculum."
So if the minority population transferred from JH to ST in 1999 can "make it" at ST using traditional curriculum what does that say about the remaining segment? They now need IB.
"The Arts focus did not make sense to me. But, I don't think it was really Blanche's idea, either. And, it certainly wasn't Claire Eberwein's!"
Didn't say it was Blanche's. Are you denying Eberwein's meddling?
"The fact that J-H made AYP one year likely had more to do with the particular cohort of students tested at the school that year than the fact Perry was superintendent. Why the school hasn't made AYP since -- the standards get harder every year."
We will have to agree to disagree.
Furthermore, SRB, regarding the 1984 redistricting - the city and the law changed a lot from 1984 to 1999. And, by 1999 school systems could no longer use racial quotas to fill schools. Remember the days at Cora Kelly when there were quotas for "non-minority" boys and girls? I do. But, by 1999, Ramsey and J-H had been unpaired, it was just that kids in the west end south of about Duke were sent to J-H for their entire K-5 career instead of half of it. They were left in J-H because the schools in the west end didn't have enough seats before Tucker opened.
And, I said the make-up of J-H before Tucker opened was largely immigrant -- but it was still minority. You all are the ones throwing around the charged term "resegregation." That term has a very specific connotation in this country, usually referring to the exit of whites, not other groups of color. I don't dispute that there can be a difference in atmosphere in a school when the minorities in attendance come from a culture that values education. A perfect example are the differences between Hammond and GW. I haven't looked at the figures recently, but over the last decade or so Hammond has had a higher percentage of minority students than G-W, but it frequently outperformed GW academically. And, immigrant students who had attended Hammond are often at the top at TCW, too.
"JH tanked when it was given even more public housing kids like those reassigned from Lyles Crouch." Maybe it is not really a significant point, but the kids from public housing redistricted from Lyles went to Maury, not J-H. The kids districted back into J-H in 2000 were largely the kids from the Parker-Gray neighborhood who had been bussed up to George Mason for a number of years.
"But maybe this fussing isn't really over a school, anyway . . . ."
Perhaps this was overly provocative, but most of you admit your real beef is Parker-Gray's disproportionate share of public housing. You probably have a right to be unhappy with the mayor and past and current ARHA board members for refusing to reduce the density of public housing, but you certainly aren't going to gain any allies around town by criticizing families in other neighborhoods for not wanting to attend J-H when you and your neighbors don't support it.
I would like to see the results of the recent school census for the J-H district. What would the demographics of J-H look like if most of the elementary-aged population in the district attended the school. If it wouldn't change much, then maybe you can't change the culture of J-H from within. But, if there would be a critical mass like that which came back to Maury, then your ire is misdirected.
None of you have explained why families from outside Parker-Gray should be forced out of schools they do support and their children sent to J-H, when the Parker-Gray community does not support J-H. I suspect the school board understands, and you do, too, that the net effect of such an action before J-H is running more smoothly (and yes a shiny new building might be attractive to some families with the means to choose where their children attend school) will mean a net exodus from ACPS without a net benefit to J-H. What elementary-centric folks miss is that pushing families out of ACPS at the elementary school level has an up-stream effect on the middle and high schools. Families often leave for middle school and come back for high school. It is less often the case that folks who leave at elementary school come back.
ACPS is a unique system. Few school districts in the country have the the mix of haves and have-nots we do. But there is a very delicate balance. Shortly after Paul Masem and the then school board -- yes that appointed one -- monkeyed around with boundaries and grade-level alignments in 1992, ACPS almost sunk. That was the impetus for the elected board, and most in town would not want to go back to the old appointed one which was more beholding to their benefactors on Council than to Alexandria's children and their families.
"Maybe it is not really a significant point, but the kids from public housing redistricted from Lyles went to Maury, not J-H. The kids districted back into J-H in 2000 were largely the kids from the Parker-Gray neighborhood who had been bussed up to George Mason for a number of years."
That's a really good point. Even though the redevelopment of Bland keeps being brought up as a source of the problems at J-H because of the public housing that remains there, in fact, those kids go to Maury, which is a pretty successful school. While the Adkins kids attend J-H, that can't be the only issue. Certainly the failure of the rest of the community to rally around the school is more significant. I'd welcome the kind of attention and investment that the city and school board are looking to make there.
Why does no one inquire as to the outrageous expenditures for the furnishings in Sherman's office? A $10,000 desk? What of the use of the ACPS credit card for a daughter's wedding? Only paid back when discovered by an audit!
The Growler inquired several weeks ago about the rumors regarding Dr. Sherman's credit card and his office renovations after receiving the following comment on the blog:
"As the hiring of the legal spin doctor becomes common knowledge, the refrain that is heard among ACPS teachers is, 'What's behind this?'
"Here are a few of the theories being floated as to the reason behind retaining Alan Hilburg.
"1.It is widely known that Sherman put $8,000 of his daughter's wedding expenses on his school system credit card. He was, ultimately, discovered do this and given the opportunity to write a check to cover it.
"2.Sherman renovated his office to the tune of thousands of dollars, to include a $10,000 desk.
"3.The expenditure of more than $4 million to private consultants, with little or no benefit to the school system is about to be exposed.
"4.This failing administration is looking to spin the anemic test scores and progress during its tenure."
The Growler asked School Board Chairman Yvonne Folkerts to respond to these charges, and her answer follows:
"1. Dr. Sherman has not charged any of his daughter’s wedding expenses on a school system credit card, nor to the school system.
"2. Dr. Sherman has not renovated his office at any time since he joined ACPS. I believe he may have a new chair, but otherwise all the furniture in the office is what was there when he arrived.
"3. The Board is aware of operating expenses for consultants, some of which are Board expenses. Consultants are delivering results; for example, simply look at Patrick Henry, Barrett and other schools where teachers were trained in the Lucy Calkins writing program and used it directly in the classroom. Writing scores improved as a direct result of this training.
"4. I disagree with this statement. Achievement scores have gone up in each category of NCLB over the past three years."
The Growler subsequently rejected the comment, but it appears Anonymous@10:08 still wants to make the case. If this commenter has documentary evidence that contradicts Ms. Folkerts' statement re #1 and #2, by all means provide it to the Growler and it will be made public. But in the absence of hard proof, Ms. Folkerts' response will have to stand on the record.
The Growler inquired several weeks ago about the rumors regarding Dr. Sherman's credit card and his office renovations after receiving the following comment on the blog:
"As the hiring of the legal spin doctor becomes common knowledge, the refrain that is heard among ACPS teachers is, 'What's behind this?'
"Here are a few of the theories being floated as to the reason behind retaining Alan Hilburg.
"1.It is widely known that Sherman put $8,000 of his daughter's wedding expenses on his school system credit card. He was, ultimately, discovered do this and given the opportunity to write a check to cover it.
"2.Sherman renovated his office to the tune of thousands of dollars, to include a $10,000 desk.
"3.The expenditure of more than $4 million to private consultants, with little or no benefit to the school system is about to be exposed.
"4.This failing administration is looking to spin the anemic test scores and progress during its tenure."
The Growler asked School Board Chairman Yvonne Folkerts to respond to these charges, and her answer follows:
"1. Dr. Sherman has not charged any of his daughter’s wedding expenses on a school system credit card, nor to the school system.
"2. Dr. Sherman has not renovated his office at any time since he joined ACPS. I believe he may have a new chair, but otherwise all the furniture in the office is what was there when he arrived.
"3. The Board is aware of operating expenses for consultants, some of which are Board expenses. Consultants are delivering results; for example, simply look at Patrick Henry, Barrett and other schools where teachers were trained in the Lucy Calkins writing program and used it directly in the classroom. Writing scores improved as a direct result of this training.
"4. I disagree with this statement. Achievement scores have gone up in each category of NCLB over the past three years."
The Growler subsequently rejected the comment, but it appears Anonymous@10:08 still wants to make the case. If this commenter has documentary evidence that contradicts Ms. Folkerts' statement re #1 and #2, by all means provide it to the Growler and it will be made public. But in the absence of hard proof, Ms. Folkerts' response will have to stand on the record.
"While the Adkins kids attend J-H, that can't be the only issue."
Well then what the heck is it?
I sense a lot of excuses being made by City officials due to an unwillingness or inability to confront ARHA, a problem that is years in the making.
In other news, here is an example of the same insanity across the river: http://dcist.com/2010/12/housing_project_again_draws_neighbo.php#comments
"Certainly the failure of the rest of the community to rally around the school is more significant."
When has Jefferson Houston ever functioned like a neighborhood school?
"in the past months and was the reason why Lynnwood Campbell and William Euille, two of the board's three black members, said they voted against the overall redistricting plan."
Pretty sure it was Lynnwood Campbell I met at a recent school meeting and he was not impressed with the proposal. The gent can speak for himself but I feel comfortable referencing the comment.
"But, you certainly aren't going to gain any allies around town by criticizing families in other neighborhoods for not wanting to attend J-H when you and your neighbors don't support it either."
Didn't realize the neighborhood had political friends to lose. The race issue is certifiably over the top and it is appalling that you now argue the Lyles Crouch Maury turnaround. Rosemont moms flocked to Lyles Crouch after the redistricting and it took Perry moving Lucretia Jackson to Maury to bring them back. Jackson was a known quantity with a proven track record. Ask Mr. Quill. He was among those who protested her move. Only when there was money involved did the white boy involve himself in Jefferson Houston. The hypocrisy is only too obvious.
"Certainly the failure of the rest of the community to rally around the school is more significant."
Nope!
"In other news, here is an example of the same insanity across the river: http://dcist.com/2010/12/housing_project_again_draws"
The comments on this Dcist blog on the Potomac Gardens housing project basically capture the feelings of many around Parker Gray as well.
Its hard for me to understand how a new building at JH will help performance of students at JH when you don't fix the social problems they go home to in the first place.
"That's a really good point. Even though the redevelopment of Bland keeps being brought up as a source of the problems at J-H because of the public housing that remains there, in fact, those kids go to Maury, which is a pretty successful school. While the Adkins kids attend J-H, that can't be the only issue"
Actually you kind of prove the whol epoint then about the argument
If children from Bland can attend Maury and do well, then why can't children from Adkins attend JH and do well?
Are we simply saying that kids at Maury do better because they have a nicer building? And that Bland parents are actively involved in Maury but Adkins parents dont give a darn about JH?
And Maury "integrates" low and high income level students in a mixed environment.
JH does no such thing, it stuffs poor kids in one school.
So how does a new building help JH or Parker Gray?
Maybe if Alexandria took the example of Maury and applied it to its public housing system by "integrating" Delray, Rosemont, and other parts of town that suspiciously have no Resolution 830 units, we might actually get somewhere.
Instead we get Mayor Blings fantasyland.
"You probably have a right to be unhappy with the mayor and past and current ARHA board members for refusing to reduce the density of public housing in your neighborhood."
Probably? We PROBABLY have a right to be unhappy? You're damn right. But what I'm really unhappy about is the fact that the rest of the City's citizenry thinks the public housing policy is bad/harmful/etc, but either refuses to support us or actively undermines our attempts to improve it. Please, please help us and those unfortunate people who we warehouse in this deplorable conditions. There is just no excuse for this.
" what I'm really unhappy about is the fact that the rest of the City's citizenry thinks the public housing policy is bad/harmful/etc, but either refuses to support us or actively undermines our attempts to improve it. Please, please help us and those unfortunate people who we warehouse in this deplorable conditions. There is just no excuse for this."
I agree with you. I am ashamed I have not done more to help by publicly speaking up over public housing, desegregation and on Jefferson Houston. I am one of those you refer to and I'm pushing myself to engage more. I have not undermined you however.
Alexandria has major social ills, not limited to your area alone, and they need to be addressed rather than thrown under the carpet.
In the meantime, are you aware you may provide the ACPS School Board with feedback on their Jefferson Houston proposal? I plan to think and email, as a beginning of what I can offer. There is a new year coming, and I am resolute to speak where prior I have been silent. Repercussions against our own keep many silent, yet that is a no excuse.
Submit Your Comments on the Proposed New Jefferson-Houston School
http://www.acps.k12.va.us/board/jh-project/comments.php
Why do I think Hilburg maybe Digilio are somewhere in these postings?
"There is a new year coming, and I am resolute to speak where prior I have been silent."
Thanks for what seems like an earnest statement. However as one who attended the recent school board meetings I can tell you that like Bland the outcome is already decided. Those in charge staff school board and council need to be pounded into thoughtful submission. The Bland units are not selling neither is the Jefferson Houston proposal.
As a teacher in the ACPS system, I cannot speak to Mort Sherman's personal proclivities. But I can directly refute the following statement, "Lucy Calkins writing program and used it directly in the classroom. Writing scores improved as a direct result of this training."
There is no evidence that the outrageously expensive Calkins program has had any positive impact on students' writing abilities. In fact, at the two schools I serve, the teachers ridicule and pay lip service to a program that required teachers to attend, in some instances, more than twenty days of workshops. Each of us does have a six book set of the consultant's glossy package, at $50 per book, gathering dust in our classrooms. Someone needs to give teachers immunity in exchange for the testimony they can provide vis a vis the "revamped" ACPS.
Just read on alexandrianews.org that Andrew Macdonald is considering running for mayor. I don't know much about him, but I DO know that he's not Euille, which is more than enough for me.
Frankenstein School System?
http://www.connectionnewspapers.com/article.asp?article=346692&paper=59&cat=110
On an aside, does anyone know why Queen Street was closed down in the wee samll hours of the morning from Fayette to Patrick, complete with no less than a dozen police cars?
According to the police there was a domestic dispute in the 1100 block that escalated into a barricade situation. The standoff ended around 4 a.m. this morning.
Speaking of priorities, the city's latest excuse to raise taxes (because we all know that's the best way to help out the city's struggling businesses and overburdened residents) is nigh.
As a bonus, we'll get to fund whatever transportation project is dreamed up by Fairfax County and Prince William leaders a la the BRT/Light Rail scheme. (I think I need to get a 2nd job as a city consultant to cover this...)
There's a community meeting this Wednesday the 8th at the Beatley Library on Duke St.:
http://alexandriava.gov/TransportationAddOnTax
If they don't see and hear opposition, this wil be a done deal.
Speaking of priorities, the city's latest excuse to raise taxes (because we all know that's the best way to help out the city's struggling businesses and overburdened residents) is nigh.
We spend enough tax money on businesses. Let them pay for something for a change.
"We spend enough tax money on businesses. Let them pay for something for a change.
"
Um, where exactly does Alexandria spend money on businesses? Its well acknowledged inside and outside the Beltway that we are one of the most business-unfriendly cities in the region.
"We are one of the most business unfriendly cities in the area ..." Look again. Council for years has basically given developers everything they have asked for at the expense of the taxpayers of this city. Potomac Yard is a classic example - a tiny little space on the wrong side of Rt 1 for a school, east/west traffic routed through local residential neighborhoods, appalling densities and reduced parking space. Developers are the ones who have started the "unfriendly" rumor to drive even more concessions from Council at the expense of those who live here. Our land is the most valuable asset we have and Council gives it away and makes us pay higher taxes.
"'We are one of the most business unfriendly cities in the area ...' Look again. Council for years has basically given developers everything they have asked for at the expense of the taxpayers of this city. Potomac Yard is a classic example - a tiny little space on the wrong side of Rt 1 for a school, east/west traffic routed through local residential neighborhoods, appalling densities and reduced parking space. Developers are the ones who have started the "unfriendly" rumor to drive even more concessions from Council at the expense of those who live here. Our land is the most valuable asset we have and Council gives it away and makes us pay higher taxes."
Sounds like someone from Del Ray has infiltrated this blog. Potomac Yard is a "tiny little place"? Give me a break. It was the single largest undeveloped parcels on the East Coast and should have been developed to the max. The Council let the over-indulged denizens of Del Ray push the density down and in the process lost two (not one) developer-funded Metro stations. Hence the pressure to develop densely around Braddock Metro instead.
Yeah, and stop whining about Potomac Yard through traffic affecting poor beleaguered Del Ray. That community will not be happy until it has built a moat built around its perimeters and kept everyone out.
And finally, you imply that developers and the Alexandria business community are one and the same. That is not only a distortion but naive.
"It was the single largest undeveloped parcels on the East Coast and should have been developed to the max. The Council let the over-indulged denizens of Del Ray push the density down and in the process lost two (not one) developer-funded Metro stations."
A.M.E.N., Growler.
Every time I travel north on Rt. 1 from Old Town and gaze into the horizon, I cannot help but notice the stark difference between the Alexandria and Arlington portions of Potomac Yard. Arlington's has high rise offices, hotels, luxury apartments, AND an elusive Harris Teeter. Plus, a metro station.
Alexandria has an unattractive suburban style big box development full of low dollar outlets (Shoppers, Target, discount clothes, and fast food chains). This development is surrounded by a huge blacktop parking lot, as well as a weird affordable housing slash fire house, and the beginnings of an Ashburn-style cookie cutter vinyl sided townhouse subdivision.
The mind boggles.
Great work by the City's P&Z and Council!!!
"And finally, you imply that developers and the Alexandria business community are one and the same. That is not only a distortion but naive."
THANK YOU Growler. I was just about to say that. Even independent bodies like the Economic Sustainability Workgroup have stated we are not a welcoming city to business. That's a Mayor-appointed independent body.
Growler, read carefully before commenting. The comment about the school location in Potomac Yard was referring specifically to the size of the land alloted to build a school, not all of Potomac Yard. I would point out that any school there might well house students from the north end of the Parker Gray area so be careful about what you say. You need to realize that what happens in Potomac Yard affects the entire east side of town. Also, IF you read more carefully, you would notice that the criticism was directed to developers, not to Alexandria businesses. As for traffic, be very careful - increased density in Parker Gray is going to deliver a bombshell of traffic our way. Potomac Yard's increased density is going to cause fall out from the Arlington County line to outside the beltway on Rt 1. It is not just an issue for any specific neighborhood. Try thinking a bit more globally for a change. All boats rise AND fall together.
"All boats rise AND fall together."
Tell that to Delray and Rosemont.
"I would point out that any school there might well house students from the north end of the Parker Gray area so be careful about what you say"
Apparently you just came back from Mars. Mort Sherman and Yvonne Folkerts have told us that JH is being redeveloped and will house North Parker Gray students.
" As for traffic, be very careful - increased density in Parker Gray is going to deliver a bombshell of traffic our way. Potomac Yard's increased density is going to cause fall out from the Arlington County line to outside the beltway on Rt 1"
You assume they are actually going to build much of anything. This is the City of Alexandria after all. We make great Powerpoints, host great meetings, and get nothing done.
Developers can run roughshod over us because we are so desperate for them to build stuff to generate tax revenue. We are not growing organically.
Its all in the Economic Sustainability Workgroups findings. An independent body of citizens who looked at our economic situation and whose findings became another paperweight at City Hall.
While reading the comments I came across the four bullet posting regarding the Superintendent. While #1 and #2 sound like nothing more than wishful thinking on the part of the blogger, the points raised in #3 and #4 are right on the money. Four million dollars in consultant spending has bought reprocessed, educational buzzword rubbish. I know for I have sat through the professional development training in ACPS and have left shaking my head with the demoralized feeling of "they suckered me again." Anyone outside of academia attempting to sit through this training would last two minutes before calling out "are you listening to the words coming out of your mouth?" Comic strips, Youtube videos, and anecdotal stories are too often than not the meat of these programs. It really is a lame excuse for professional development. Much discussion on educational theory, little on good practices to take into the classroom and apply with the students. The sad fact is, the same students are struggling and the same students are succeeding. The only difference is, now parents and the community are being sold a myth that this trend is reversing under the leadership of Mr. Sherman through the use of the programs he has dragged along with him from one school district to the next. Unsure about this? Walk into any school, find a staff member who is willing to chat, and ask them this question "tell me about the changes in ACPS?" Be ready for an earful and for outrage.
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