Looks like the teachers union's worst nightmare - VOUCHER time for underserved minority students.

Freedom to choose.

If true, this is a disgrace. Blame the school system, not the students.

The school system failed us all, including the students.

How in the world could so many students fall through the cracks?

Why in the world has this not come to light before now?

Just think of the talent wasted by Fairfax County schools!

What is being done to correct this situation and to be absolutely certain that it does not happen again?

I thought we had a "world class school system". Apparently, not so.

But, if history is any guide, few will care.

Voter apathy is rampant in Fairfax County. Nothing seems to wake the voters from their deep, deep sleep. Some examples:

Fairfax County is spending over $130 million for a government employee training complex. Hardly a peep from sleepy voters.

Fairfax County Water Authority doubles the pension for a top executive, and, at the same time, announces an increase in the water rates. Hardly a peep from sleepy voters.

Fairax County nearly doubles the real estate taxes in a few short years. Hardly a peep from sleepy voters.

At the budget hearings in April, the president of the school board was plugging for about $50 million more in funds. During his presentation, he said that 121 Fairfax County schools are in danger of being classified as failed schools under the No Child Left Behind Act. That's 121 schools, folks. Not a peep from anyone. Can't blame the voters - they are sleeping. I hope that I did not hear correctly, but I don't think I have it wrong.

I don't know what it takes to get Fairfax County citizens interested, just a little bit, in their government. Maybe the problem is the transit population; maybe the problem is a population that simply does not care, one way or the other.

To me, one thing is clear. Voter apathy is rampant in Fairfax County, big time.

Well, what about this in regard to our school system. Please explain.

In the budget hearings a few days ago, he president of the school board, while asking for about $50 million more in funds, stated that 121 schools in Fairfax County are in danger of being classified as failed schools under the No Child Left Behind Act.

If our school system is so great, why is that the case. I know I heard correctly because several Board of Supervisors appeared stunned and asked again, "How many?". Answer "121".

Maybe we have been so busy feeding money to the school system that we have lost sight of things like being discussed in this string. It's hard to bvelieve - it costs over $11,000 per year per student in Fairfax County. And we miss things like this?

Finally, I don't sugscribe that any group of people lack the desire to learn, as seems to be suggested. I just don't believe that. I believe that the school system failed in this case, not the students.

Regarding the school system and the planned spending for next year (FY 2007), I'll copy something posted elsewhere. Think about what it says. Here goes.
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Voter apathy is rampant in Fairfax County. Nothing seems to wake the voters from their deep, deep sleep. Some examples:

Fairfax County is spending over $130 million for a government employee training complex. Hardly a peep from sleepy voters.

Fairfax County Water Authority doubles the pension for a top executive, and, at the same time, announces an increase in the water rates. Hardly a peep from sleepy voters.

Fairax County nearly doubles the real estate taxes in a few short years. Hardly a peep from sleepy voters.

I don't know what it takes to get Fairfax County citizens interested, just a little bit, in their government. Maybe the problem is the transit population; maybe the problem is a population that simply does not care, one way or the other.

To me, one thing is clear. Voter apathy is rampant in Fairfax County, big time.

FCPS isn't that great - of course SAT's are high considering the parents are basically an educated group. FCPS has known about the low test scores of African Americans for years. I've followed this issue for almost a decade. Furthermore, the actual reading instruction is atrocious and many parents do not rely on this school system to teach their child how to read. That is why statistics are so high for some groups or schools. It is not the instruction but rather the afterschooling. One of my kids said they don't need full day K - even boarding school K won't give good results based on what they do in school. Remember the reading wars on whole language v phonics? The FCPS whole language program looks nothing like another whole language approach used in another school system. Domenech put that expensive Waterford Phonics program in at some schools (ie Project Excell) to measure reading when he's have been better off changing curriculum materials.

At a 2006 School Board meeting (as seen on TV) staff was on a daid to present on a target for the DRA (Developmental Reading Assessment). ONE school board memeber (Tessie Wilson) brought up the disparity in achievement for African -Americans in SOL's between other Virgina jurisdictions and Fairfax. Other SB members tried to get what is actually done in other LEA's out of them but staff danced. The SB never asked hard questions. The SB is too political and involved with it's porky stuff to ever get the job done right on this issue. It is more concerned with the glamour stuff like Foreign Language Immersion/TJ/GTC that drains the system of resources and doesn't even get proper costs on the budgets. While GTC's are a good concept in ES we don't need them in middle school based on the size of the schools.

Note that 2 middle school GTC's which are in schools with high concentration of minority students (including Glasgow) can't even fill one section of geometry in grade 8. FCPS makes these kids (approx 10-15) take math via a Teacher on TV yet runs classes for Japanese Immersion with less than 15 kids and a teacher at the elementary level for over 2 hours daily. That is ridiculous and reflects poorly on the school / institutional culture within FCPS.

What I find interesting is this fascination with the idea that more money and resources would "fix" the problem.

50% of the Asian population in the US has a bachelor level college education or better. Are you going to tell me ESL enabled this statistic? You think a public school teacher who is probably non-Asian somehow inspires Asian kids to study?

It is their parents not accepting anything less than an A that is the driving force. Forget sports, forget extra-curricular, your focus is that A in the classroom. B is unacceptable. From the new immigrant to the established 2nd generation Asian family, that is the attitude you will encounter.

I know a lot of you will babble about "unhealthy" attitude. You have 18 years to pass on what you believe is important to your child. Do you really want "being cool" to be their number one priority?

Quit making excuses and do the job you chose on that day in the hospital. Be a parent and stop wasting my tax dollars.

Regarding our school system in Fairfax County, there is one over-riding concern from my viewpoint.

My concern is COST. It costs over $11,000 per student per year in Fairfax County, $22,000 for special ed students.

The school folk don't seem to understand the burden being cast on homeowners. We pay the bill.

And, please excuse me for saying, they don't seem to care one little bit. All the school system seems to want is more, more, more, more, more. It's never ending. Give them $100 million and they want $200 million.

I really don't care how excellent the schools are (and that is arguable - I won't get into that here), the cost burden is becoming too great.

One of these days, soon, Fairfax County schools must understand that families with children is going down, way down. I think it is time to plan how to cut costs just a little, not much, just a little.

If history is any guide, that is not going to happen. But if it comes down to it, there are more families (and votes) without children than those with children.

Get my drift?

Why does this article even matter? People do not get separate educations based on race. If the school gave a bad education, that affects all the students regardless of whatever race/sex/ethnic group they are. The blame goes squarely on the individual student and/or their parents.

To: gnubk

I think the point being made is this:

It is the responsiblity of the school system to notice when a group is falling behind and to make necessary corrections.

I agree with you that it is the student's responsiblity to learn. But the school has, I think, a larger responsibility for monitoring and to detect when this is happening to a large group.

Correct me if I am wrong, but I think I read where the school system admited that this was overlooked. But, they are on the job now, they said.

They knew these statistics for years and did nothing. There also are other areas where they do nothing and even falsify reports and official documents such as the budget and grant money applications. There is no accpountability in this system and staff says it is site-based management (meaning any old principals sets policy on academics, discipline, etc) while schools say it is the Leadership Team and central offices.

I an a parent of a High School studnet in FCPS - FCPS look good on the outside but FCPS is a business and they do a good job of protecting the business at any cost the students mostly. I'm not sure why the black kids aren't getting it. I go to school, I e-mail the teachers, I attend meeting and some of it is my child but I think FCPS sticks. More parent (no matter what race) better start watching FCPS more.