If those outgoing school board members were so committed, why didn't Mimi Carter, Yvonne Folkerts, Sheryl Gorsuch, Blanche Maness and Charles Wilson run again? Was it because they all knew they would lose? I'm not a big fan of Helen Morris' but I will give her credit for not chickening out.

Oh, and by the way...

http://www.alexandrianews.org/2013/01/school-board-public-get-few-answers-about-education-foundation-transfer-of-sheltercare-teacher/

The facts simply do not support the assertions made in this letter. Let's be a bit clearer than the individuals who signed their names to this letter. Here are the results of the "noteworthy progress" ACPS has made over recent years: According to the VA DOE 14 of Alexandria's 19 schools are on an improvement plan, have accreditation with warning, or have been denied accreditation. The "new" ACPS curriculum is incomplete and has been reworked at least three times, costing our system valuable resources and time. T.C.'s total SAT scores have continued along a six year decline and the dropout rate nearly doubled from one school year to the next. This past spring it was brought to light that millions of taxpayer dollars were mismanaged, leading our respected Vice Mayor to call for the Superintendent's resignation. Now the current school board is questioning whether the Superintendent used school resources in connection with a vague foundation he set up. After the past four years the state of affairs of our school system is a mess to say the least. The discrepancies between what appears in this letter and reality begs the question, who is the original author of this letter and what is the letter's intended purpose?
http://www.alexandrianews.org/2013/01/hold-the-applause/
http://www.alexandrianews.org/2013/01/school-board-public-get-few-answers-about-education-foundation-transfer-of-sheltercare-teacher/

Mr. Lewis, you call into question the origins of the letter above and I am happy to answer that for you. Three of the letter-signers and I drafted it, and it represents the viewpoints of 31 men and women who have been elected by their peers for their fair-mindedness and ability to be advocates for students, parents and teachers. They have spent untold hours volunteering in their schools and talk to hundreds of parents and teachers. Aside from teachers and administrators, they are perhaps more familiar than anyone about the day-to-day goings-on in our schools. They see the new curriculum in action. You don't mention whether you are connected to ACPS as a parent, grandparent, teacher, tutor, volunteer, mentor, or in some other capacity, but I would welcome the opportunity to meet you at your convenience at St. Elmo's for a cup of coffee to talk about our different perspectives on ACPS and how we might be able to work together for the common good of all of our students. Finally, readers who would like to view the most recent data on AP test participation and scores, SAT participation and scores, and drop-out rates can visit http://www.acps.k12.va.us/tcw-transformation/presentation-20121217.pdf

Melynda Wilcox

I'm gonna go way out on a limb here and surmise that the signatories of the above letter are almost all white and upper middle class. They want so much to believe that their kids went to good schools. The people who signed this letter should be deeply ashamed of themselves.

I thank those former board members, most of whom served at least two terms and others even more, for giving their time to the children of Alexandria. Board service is a huge time commitment -- time away from family, time away from work, time away from other personal pursuits. And, as has been demonstrated on this comment board, for very little appreciation from the community in response.

Having worked throughout my children's 13 years in ACPS to help achieve many of the improvements now coming into place, I know first hand that sometimes needed change seems to come at a glacial pace. Perhaps if more parents and interested community members rolled up their sleeves to work with the schools even more in the community will be proud to say their children attended and are successful graduates of ACPS.

And then there are those of us who DID volunteer many hours for ACPS and our children's school, only to discover widespread fraud and abuses and be absolutely crapped on when we reported it. Change need not be at a glacial pace when people are honest and doing their jobs, but it sure is slow when nobody wants to stand up to fraud for fear that their child will bear the brunt of ACPS' and the school board's wrath.

The basis for this letter of support for the previous board and current ACPS leadership relies heavily on the belief that there is positive change taking place within ACPS. Believing that something is taking place and presenting clear evidence that it is occuring are two very different things. This was a lesson learned by the former board and the Superintendent when they took their beliefs to the Virginia Board of Education to seek conditional accreditation for Alexandria's lowest achieving school. The VA Board reviewed the facts and determined that the facts did not support the beliefs held by ACPS. The same is true in this case. The 31 men and women who signed this document believe that there is positive change taking place within ACPS. They cite ACPS press releases and ACPS presentations to bolster their case. This is simply passing along the unsubstantiated beliefs of ACPS. Independent review of the areas cited demonstrates that there are significant issues which were not addressed under the previous board and must be addressed by this board. The most recent data from the state regarding T.C.'s AP participation, testing, and dropout rates: https://p1pe.doe.virginia.gov/reportcard/report.do?division=101&schoolName=498
An independent review of T.C. SAT trends is available to readers:
http://www.alexandrianews.org/2012/10/trending-where/
Working together for the common good of students requires us to acknowledge the facts even when they conflict with our beliefs.

Mr. Lewis and Gail, what purpose does all your negativity serve? Yes, everyone in Alexandria wants to believe our schools are moving in a positive direction. No, our schools are not where they need to be yet, but I applaud the professional administrators, teachers, counselors, parents, and even the community members for doing everything in their power to challenge every child appropriately. It’s no easy task and certainly not simple. Sure, there may be some weak links on staff, but they’re all doing the best they can with the training and tools that they have. But really - what good does negative serve? It doesn't help our property values for people telling the world that our schools aren’t up to snuff and it certainly doesn't get the schools where they need to be. What are these "widespread fraud and abuses"? If you are trying to raise awareness that there’s more work to be done, is being negative really going to be effective? If you have better suggestions than our current administration or school board have to improve, then let's hear something constructive rather than picking apart the data. If money and budgets weren’t obstacles, what would you do differently? Alexandria is unique compared to our neighbors – demographically, economically, geographically, and culturally. So instead of complaining, why not celebrate the progress that has been made and keep working – together - on how to narrow the gap and make the needed improvements.

Marian, go back and read the news reports of my family's lawsuit against ACPS and Sherman. Read the court filings. Read the quotes from Sherman's lawyer, who vowed to make my daughter cry on the stand. Research the complaints against Sherman in his prior positions in NY, CT and NJ. Read the NY state court opinion where the judge chastises Sherman for awarding contracts to his friends outside of normal procurement procedures. Talk to people up there who lived through it. Talk to other familes here in Alexandria who have tried to obtain services or even just plain fairness for their kids. Do all that, and then come on here and tell me I'm unjustified in my criticism. I sincerely hope that the new school board starts to rectify the wrongs of the past few years. I worked hard to get many of the new members elected. That was my contribution toward progress, because there wouldn't ever have been any progress under the old school board.

Honesty, not negativity, is the point of presenting this information. The public should be allowed to draw their own conclusions about the state of our schools by reviewing how the VADOE and independent sources have assessed ACPS. Being told what you want to hear in the hopes that your property value increases certainly does not get our schools to where they need to be. Here is something ACPS could do which they have failed to do under this Superintendent: focus on one thing and do it well.

Bang up job former School Board on keeping close tabs on how the school system spends taxpayer dollars. A review of financial reports six months after expenditures. This is unreal especially in the wake of last year's CIP fiasco. Now the new school board must review fiscal year 2013 school system expenditures stretching back to July. Those signing this letter must have been unaware that the superintendent and board were not abiding by set policy. http://www.alexandrianews.org/2013/02/school-board-to-review-first-financial-data-for-fy2013/

http://www.alexandrianews.org/2013/02/support-sheltercare-teacher-in-fy2014-budget/

Read the latest letter from a Juvenile Detention Commissioner about the removal of the Shelter Care teacher.

Alexandria, in comparison to the local surrounding jurisdictions, have the least amount of children, per capita, in its overall population base. A lot of couples who move to Alexandria, without children, obviously don't have to think about how poor the Alexandria City Public School system is being run, with gross mismanagement, failing schools, embarrassing public perception, etc. Couples that eventually do have children in Alexandria quite often have two options that they consider before even thinking about enrolling their children in Alexandria City Public Schools. They either place their children in private schools, of which there are quite a few in and around Alexandria, or, they simply leave town, maybe to Fairfax or Arlington Counties, where their school systems are vastly superior and much more highly-rated. Most of my friends, who all have children, have taken either one of those options. Very few of my friends have elected to place their children in Alexandria City Public Schools. The Alexandria City Council, along with the Alexandria School Board, should look at the inevitable option of completely shutting down the entire Alexandria City Public School system, and working with either Fairfax or Arlington Counties to have them operate the city's schools. Fairfax County would probably run schools in the City of Alexandria to higher standards of efficiency, all across the board, offering parents a chance to have their children stay in local city neighborhood schools.

Sherry, I don't disagree with your suggestion at all, but pride and arrogance means it will never happen. Alexandrians like to control their own little fiefdoms, regardless of how that hurts other people, including children. I can't imagine the school board or any majority of citizens supporting a move to put our schools under the control of Fairfax or Arlington, but it might indeed be the best thing for everyone. I also don't know what the legalities would be. I imagine there would have to be a change to the city charter or something like that. It's worth looking into, but I doubt it would ever become a reality. My husband and I tried ACPS. We really did, for many years, but like many other families, we felt we were shortchanging our child if we kept her there, and we eventually went the private school route.

Gail, pride and arrogance are part of many inherent problems with the City of Alexandria, especially in regard to the absolutely dreadful state of the Alexandria City Public Schools system. Think about this thought, that if things were being well managed and everything was in good standing, regarding ACPS, this thread, for instance, wouldn't have even been written. Alexandrians, for the most part, are truly pompous and full of themselves when it comes to their little fiefdoms all around the city. I'm sure that there will be those who will refute what I just said, but they all know its true. Alexandria, as 'forward thinking' as some might want to perceive that they are, is actually very 'backwater' when it comes to many issues, such as ACPS, how sports fields are not correctly maintained, throughout the city, and how much Metro is severely under utilized in the city, etc. There's a 'provincial' attitude that many Alexandrians also have in regard to how the city should be run, or not run, depending how the wind blows. The local politics of the Alexandria City Council are probably akin to what one would perceive the fictitious town of 'Hooterville' might be like. But that Alexandria City Public Schools system, really takes the cake. There are those who will read this and think there's absolutely nothing wrong with ACPS, or any of the schools in Alexandria, that things are great. The wake up call is now, but the glacial pace of change in Alexandria will kill off any progress.

Sherry, trust me, I have seen the workins of small town Alexandria up close. The fiefdom thing is spot on. Woe to the person who upsets the apple cart. Then there are the people like me, who don't give a rat's patootie about what the PTA cliques say. My kid is long gone from ACPS so I have the luxury of fighting those types without any backlash. I know lots of families with kids in ACPS who afraid to say anything.

As to your suggestion, the sad truth is that neither FFX nor Arlington would want ACPS to join them...

Gail, what's REALLY sad in all this, is that the Alexandria City Council, with many newly elected members, and the Alexandria School Board, also with many newly elected members, as well, will all continue to play the sad game of 'see no evil, hear no evil, and speak no evil', and they'll sit on their hands as if the City of Alexandria has the best schools in the Commonwealth, which we all know isn't the truth. It's just so sad, that children who go to public schools in the City of Alexandria have to continually suffer under the absolutely atrocious, seemingly-endless, mismanagement, of Alexandria City Public Schools. Alexandria politicians, both past, and present, all need to be held accountable for the ongoing and continuing problems with ACPS, but, as I've already noted, they think that everything's okay, that there aren't any problems. It's just totally unreal, to me, that a population base of about 144,000 people, in an area of 15 square miles, can't figure out how to fix their horrid school system. You're right, about both Fairfax and Arlington Counties not wanting to take on the daunting position of running schools in the City of Alexandria. They'd, no doubt, have the fiefdoms raising a ruckus, that 'outsiders' have come into their 'provincial kingdom' of Alexandria. There are a lot of great things about Alexandria, but the problems with ACPS tend to make our city look like a backwater town, without the wherewithal to fix our schools. What a sad embarrassment.