My bro's munchkins are in Fairfax schools. He's very happy and I can assure you, he and the spouse take a strong interest in what's going on. On the basis of this, I am confident that Fairfax schools are quite good.
The info you provided on SAT scores may (or may not) be misleading. Am I to understand that the scores reflect those racked up by both public and private school students in the area? The chart left room for speculation. Also, the scores only rate those who actually take the test. If only 10 percent of the students take the test, it may be a poor indicator of performance throughout the system. In the case of Fairfax schools, I will concede that this may be a quibble.
If you (or ANYONE) has time, I encourage a look at the more detailed achievement stats for ALL students in District schools. The navigation of the site has been screwed up a bit since the paper's most recent "redesign", but with a little determination you can see the following for every school in the District -- student/teacher ratios, qualification levels of faculty, percent of students able to perform at various levels in both reading and math -- the scores are for the individual schools and also show average scores for the District. The data are heartbreaking and disgraceful.
The class sizes are the same found in the best private schools. Faculty qualifications appear excellent. Native English speakers are the largest group, by far. Funding (the last time I found the figure) was well over $8K per noggin and tied for fifth most generous in the country.
Esp. appalling is the fact that almost no students perform at an advanced level. This is a cultural problem of staggering proportions. A lot of bright kids are being prevented, in one way or another, from doing well. If I suggested that the data proved this was the best the students could do, I'd be instantly be branded a five star bigot.
Oddly enough, shortly after leaving school, these "students" will be championed by self-annointed "community leaders and activists" who decry the system for not giving them jobs or mortgages. "Training programs" will be demanded. Why not just skip the expensive high school phase? IT IS ACCOMPLISHING LESS THAN NOTHING IN THE DISTRICT!
At some point "community leaders" need to tell the "students" that they're blowing it, in no uncertain terms.
They must open the books.
What other remedy? Deploy the National Guard and have a kind of martial law on campus? Maybe just call in "air" and put a smart bomb through every classroom window -- free up some real estate for parking lot development and slow down the pace of prison construction.
No amount of funding is going to solve these problems and no solution is going to come out of the professional public education establishment. There will be anecdotal evidence of great odds being overcome by individuals on this battlefield. Do not be comforted.
washingtonpost.com.
For some reason, my computer, while recognizing the link is not loading the whole thing right now. The truly interested can enter through the WP Metro section. Aaarrrrgh.
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