eNews: April 20, 2023

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Written By Arlington Parents for Education

APE Reports: How Much Did It Cost APS to Provide 18 Additional Paid Holidays for All Twelve-Month Staff?

As we recently discussed, APS changed its paid leave guideline for twelve-month staff in November 2021 to provide for 31 paid holidays, or eighteen additional days than they previously received, without any input or vote from the School Board and without any discussion of the impact it would have on APS’ budget. 
 
As we have noted previously, this change has had several negative impacts:

  • It has hurt morale by prioritizing additional vacation time for mostly central office/administrative staff over the needs of our teachers. Teachers and other ten-month staff are not paid for any of those days and they already accrue less leave than twelve-month employees.  

  • According to staff, it has reduced Syphax’s responsiveness to their requests and impeded operations; for instance, it has created delays for critical services such as hiring substitute teachers.  

  • Additionally, we assume that APS is not willing to permit service-level degradation by simply cutting back the amount of work each employee conducts. Longer term, those lost work days must be replaced by additional full time equivalents. For example, this impact may already be evident in the proposed budget: the Procurement Office noted (pp. 63-64), “The amount of work the Procurement Office is expected to manage is unrealistic. Staff regularly work long hours so by having the extra staff member will help improve the work-life balance.” 

Those impacts alone justify the Board reviewing and reversing this decision. 

 
Why It Matters:As we have noted previously, choosing to prioritize additional holidays for 992 employees poses an opportunity cost on other priorities:

  • For example, an additional 1% COLA for all employees would cost $5.1 million, as discussed in budget work session #4; 

  • reinstating parental leave would cost about $1.4 million for four weeks and $2 million for six weeks (budget question #24-72); 

  • reducing elementary classes by a planning factor of two would cost about $2.2 million, per the 2023 budget. 

 Our Take: This operational change in paid leave policy has calculable costs, and we have called on APS to provide an estimate of them. We welcome APS’ estimate; in the meantime, please see the details of our good-faith effort to estimate and analyze the costs associated with this change in our full Report. 

Advocacy Alert 
APS Proposed New Calendar Policy: Public Comment Open

Public comment is open for the NEW proposed APS Calendar Policy. As currently written, the proposed calendar policy will require a minimum of 180 days and permanently enshrine principles for future academic calendars, including a two-week winter break, starting school two weeks before Labor Day and certain holidays for staff and students.

Learn more and submit your comments through May 19th.

Apply now!
APS Seeking Steering Committee Applications for Six-Year Strategic Plan

APS is seeking volunteers to serve on its Strategic Plan Steering Committee to develop recommendations on APS’ mission, vision, goals, along with implementation and monitoring elements for the 2024-2030 Strategic Plan. Applications are open now through May 4, 2023. Meetings are in-person and both dinner and childcare will be provided. This is an important opportunity for stakeholders to weigh in on APS’s roadmap for the next 6 years. 

Read more and apply.

Congressional Hearing on the "Consequences of School Closures": APS Highlighted

The US House of Representatives’ Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic held a public hearing on March 28th addressing the “Consequences of School Closures.” There was broad consensus from all the witnesses and Members of Congress that school closures had led to learning loss and negative mental health effects that are still present today, and the fundamental importance of keeping schools open. APS’ extended virtual and hybrid learning in the 2020-21 school year and its effects were featured prominently throughout the hearing. 
 
Testimony from a former APS parent highlighted the impacts seen in Arlington, noting how a majority of APS’ Black and Hispanic students and students with disabilities tested “below basic” on the Fall 2022 Math Inventory assessment, widening existing achievement gaps. As discussed at the hearing, APS’ results were consistent with other districts around the country where virtual and hybrid learning continued well into 2021. 
 
Quoting from our twitter account from June of 2021, the witness noted that, “Almost all APS kids went over 350 days without stepping foot into a building. When they finally did, it was - and still is - for only two days a week. The worst part: It didn’t have to be like this."

Testimony provided by a journalist and an epidemiologist with UC Davis highlighted the detrimental academic and mental health impacts that closures had on students. The minority’s witness, the Executive Director of National Association of School Nurses, emphasized the important role that schools play in tending to the health of students. 

Why It Matters: This universal consensus among experts and politicians from both parties about the harmful impacts of remote instruction should ensure that districts are better prepared in the future. Of more immediate concern, the recognition of ongoing learning loss emphasizes how important it is that school districts properly address the harmful effects of remote instruction.


Our Take: As we have noted, APS has devoted a much smaller amount to combatting learning loss relative to its neighboring school districts.  Whether you agree or disagree about past decisions, we can all agree that time is running out for those kids who are still far behind academically. As Education Secretary Miguel Cardona said, “We must make up for lost time.” 
 
Read our Budget Letter to APS requesting funds for learning loss recovery and math interventionists.
Read our Letter to Arlington County Board urging increased attention and resources to better serve Arlington’s youth and students.
Read our March 30, 2023 letter to the County Board about proposed county budget and resources for APS for FY2024

APS Launches "Partners in Education" Volunteer Drive

APS has announced the "Partners in Education" volunteer initiative to “engage with local businesses, community members, organizations, non-profits, religious institutions and government agencies to educate them about the many ways they can support student learning.” According to the press release, APS will be working to:

  • Tap into the business community in Arlington to support and extend student learning and academic progress.

  • Partner with local businesses and organizations to recruit more volunteers to serve as mentors, after-school tutors and reading buddies.

  • Identify community members and other individuals who have skills, time and commitment to support students.

  • Work with schools to identify students who will most benefit from these mentoring, volunteer connections.

Our Take: APE applauds this initiative, and we encourage all community members and organizations to consider how they can get involved to help our students. Learn more about becoming a part of this initiative.

What We're Reading

Algebra for None: The Effects of San Francisco De-Tracking Reform (Fordham Institute)
"San Francisco’s solution? No Algebra for any student until ninth grade. Rolled out in 2015 with the state’s new math standards, policymakers claimed that the more rigorous middle school math framework would better prepare students for long-term success in mathematics. Though the reform removed Algebra as an option for eighth graders regardless of their math ability, students could accelerate to an advanced math pathway in later years by taking a new “compression” course, which combined Algebra II and Pre-Calculus or taking Geometry the summer after ninth grade…
One of the primary goals of the policy was to narrow racial gaps in advanced math course-taking, but post-reform racial gaps remained largely the same. White and Asian enrollment in Precalculus was still over twice that of their Black and Hispanic counterparts, Calculus enrollment for Black and Hispanic students remained below 10 percent both before and after the reform, and the proportion of students who chose not to enroll in any math course in their senior year remained virtually unchanged.
Contrary to the policy’s intention, the number of students who received credit in an advanced math course did not change, either. Pre-calculus, Probability & Statistics, AP Statistics, and AP Calculus credit attainment were unaffected." Read more.
 
Kids Can’t Read: The Revolt That Is Taking Over the Reading Establishment(New York Times)
"A revolt over how children are taught to read, steadily building for years, is now sweeping school board meetings and statehouses around the country.
The movement, under the banner of “the science of reading,” is targeting the education establishment: school districts, literacy gurus, publishers and colleges of education, which critics say have failed to embrace the cognitive science of how children learn to read.
Research shows that most children need systematic, sound-it-out instruction — known as phonics — as well as other direct support, like building vocabulary and expanding students’ knowledge of the world.
The movement has drawn support across economic, racial and political lines. Its champions include parents of children with dyslexia; civil rights activists with the NAACP; lawmakers from both sides of the aisle; and everyday teachers and principals. Together, they are getting results.
Ohio, California and Georgia are the latest states to push for reform, adding to almost 20 states that have made moves in the past two years. Under pressure, school districts are scrapping their old reading programs. Even holdouts like New York City, where hundreds of elementary schools were loyal to a popular but heavily criticized reading curriculum, are making changes.
About 1 in 3 children in the United States cannot read at a basic level of comprehension, according to a key national exam. The outcomes are particularly troubling for Black and Native American children, nearly half of whom score “below basic” by eighth grade.
“The kids can’t read — nobody wants to just say that,” said Kareem Weaver, an activist with the NAACP in Oakland, California, who has framed literacy as a civil rights issue and stars in a new documentary, 'The Right to Read.'" Read more.
 
U.S. English Learners’ Language-Proficiency Scores Still Below Pre-Pandemic Years (EdWeek)
"Virtual learning, as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, continued to impact English learners’ English-language development in the 2021-22 school year, according to new national assessment data.
Overall, average composite English-language-proficiency scores trended lower in the 2021-22 school year than pre-pandemic 2018-19 and 2019-20 years, with particular declines in the younger elementary grades. That’s according to results from 35 states that administer a language-proficiency test from WIDA, an organization that provides multilingual learner services, including assessments. (Other states, including California and Texas, use different assessments.)" Read more.

One city hits a high school graduation record but few ninth graders are predicted to end up with a college degree (Hechinger Report)
"The numbers are stark in a March 2023 report by the D.C. Policy Center, a nonpartisan research organization. Almost half the students in the district – 48 percent – were absent for 10 percent or more of the 2021-22 school year. Seven years of academic progress were erased in math: only 19 percent of third through eighth graders met grade-level expectations in the subject in 2021-22, down from 31 percent before the pandemic. 
At the same time, the high school graduation rate rose to a record 75 percent, up from 68 percent in 2018-19. Although the city is producing more high school graduates, fewer of them are heading off to college. Within six months of high school graduation, only 51 percent of the class of 2022 enrolled in post-secondary education, down from 56 percent from the class of 2019. 
Based on these trends, the D.C. Policy Center predicted that only eight students out of every 100 ninth graders in the district would earn a post-secondary credential within six years of high school graduation. Before the pandemic, 14 out of every 100 ninth graders were predicted to hit that important milestone." Read more.

April 13th School Board Meeting

 Our Top Three Takeaways:

1. As part of APS’ ongoing efforts to expand availability of Narcan in schools, Dr. Durán announced that APS hopes to allow students to carry Narcan in schools by May 26, 2023.
2. APS is seeking steering committee members for the 2024 – 2030 APS Strategic Plan Steering Committee. The application window is April 14 – May 4, 2023.
3. The Office of Special Education is continuing to work to provide the Least Restrictive Environment (LRE) to Students with Disabilities (SWD) and is looking at different ways to improve performance. APS’ overall strategic goal by 2024 is to have at least 80% of SWD spending 80% or more of their school day in a general education setting. The current metric as of 2020-21 is 64.5%.
 
Read the full report.
See the scorecard.

Happening Soon!

Thursday - Sunday April 20 - 23: Central Library, Friends of the Arlington Public Library Book Sale (Teachers and librarians with school IDs receive 50% off book purchases on Friday and Saturday, and everyone receives 50% off on Sunday)

Monday April 24 7:00 PM - 9:00 PM: Open Office Hours with Reid Goldstein. Sign up to speak. 

Tuesday April 25 7:00 PM (6:15 for public speakers): (Syphax) Public hearing on School Board Proposed FY 2024 Budget. Sign up to speak. Watch Online.

Thursday April 27 7:00 PM: (Syphax) Next School Board meeting. Sign up to speak. Watch Online.

Thursday April 27 6:00 PM - 8:00 PM: Arlington Reads Event "Get Graphic,"  Presenting Graphic Novelist Jerry Craft.

Saturday April 29 12:00 PM - 4:00 PM: Central Library "Human Library" (For 14+)

Thursday May 4 5:30 PM: Budget Work Session #6  – NEW DATE AND TIME

Thursday May 4 6:00 PM - 8:00 PM: Arlington Reads Event "Get Graphic,"  Presenting Graphic Novelist Gene Luen Yang.

We are sharing these library events at the request of the Arlington County Library.  Check out their website for more info! For more info on the library events, contact Anneliesa Alprin of the Arlington Public Library.

 

Did you know you can add the APS calendar to your iphone calendar or google calendar?  Check it out!

Arlington Parents for Education
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