{"id":2344685,"date":"2024-09-23T08:07:59","date_gmt":"2024-09-23T12:07:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/mass-immigration-is-destroying-this-top-public-school-district\/"},"modified":"2024-09-23T08:11:36","modified_gmt":"2024-09-23T12:11:36","slug":"mass-immigration-is-destroying-this-top-public-school-district","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/mass-immigration-is-destroying-this-top-public-school-district\/","title":{"rendered":"Mass Immigration Is Destroying This Top Public School District"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">18<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fmass-immigration-is-destroying-this-top-public-school-district%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2344685&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>In Fairfax\u2062 County, Virginia, a quarter of\u200d <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/elite-san-francisco-school-nixes-merit-based-admission\/\" title=\"Elite San Francisco School Nixes Merit-Based Admission\">public high schools<\/a> are at risk \u200cof losing state accreditation due to declining student \u200bperformance, primarily among \u200dEnglish-language \u200clearners (ELLs). This \u200ddecline \u200chas coincided with the\u200b implementation of\u2063 a sanctuary policy, which increased the number of non-English speaking students in the district. As of\u2063 2023, ELLs comprised 26.5% \u2064of \u2062the student\u200c population, with particular schools, such\u2064 as Justice High School, \u2063showing alarming rates of chronic absenteeism\u200c and dropout. <\/p>\n<p>Despite the county&#8217;s affluence\u2014characterized by a high\u200c median income and a \u200cstrong educational attainment among residents\u2014the public school system faces accountability challenges \u200bbased on Virginia&#8217;s accreditation metrics, which include academic\u2063 achievement and dropout rates. The rising\u200d number\u200c of ELLs has compounded issues with chronic absenteeism and drop-out rates, especially following the expiration of \u200ba\u200d temporary waiver for meeting attendance \u2063standards post-COVID-19.<\/p>\n<p>In an effort to maintain the \u200ddistrict&#8217;s\u200b image, school leaders have suggested replacing\u200d standardized assessments with\u2063 alternative measures, which may obscure actual performance issues \u200bamong students. The\u2062 situation reflects\u200d a broader \u2063struggle within Fairfax County&#8217;s school system as it \u2062adapts to\u200b an influx of multilingual learners while attempting to meet\u2063 state performance standards.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>This year, a quarter of the public high schools in Fairfax County, Virginia, located just outside of our nation&rsquo;s capital, are likely to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/restoring-america\/community-family\/3110860\/fairfax-county-high-schools-likely-lose-accreditation-under-virginias-standards\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">lose state accreditation<\/a>. The declining performance of students, particularly concentrated in six failing high schools, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/restoring-america\/community-family\/3129315\/sanctuary-policy-reason-quarter-fairfax-county-high-schools-failing\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">coincides<\/a> with the rising number of non-English speakers in the district after the board of supervisors passed a sanctuary policy titled &ldquo;The Public Trust and Confidentiality Policy (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.fairfaxcounty.gov\/topics\/sites\/topics\/files\/assets\/documents\/pdf\/fairfax-county-trust-policy.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Trust Policy<\/a>)&rdquo; in January 2021. By 2023, students classified as English-language learners accounted for <a href=\"https:\/\/schoolquality.virginia.gov\/divisions\/fairfax-county-public-schools#desktopTabs-3\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">26.5 percent<\/a> of the district&rsquo;s students.<\/p>\n<p>Fairfax County is among the last places one would expect to see failing schools. It is an affluent area with a median household income of about <a href=\"https:\/\/www.census.gov\/quickfacts\/fact\/table\/US,VA,fairfaxcountyvirginia\/INC110222#INC110222\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">$145,000<\/a>. Within commuting distance to Washington, D.C, the county is home to a high percentage of residents with <a href=\"https:\/\/www.census.gov\/quickfacts\/fact\/table\/US,VA,fairfaxcountyvirginia\/EDU685222\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">advanced degrees<\/a>, has one of the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/18-democrats-attack-nyc-parents-hateful-criticism-of-transgender-athlete-policy\/\" title=\"18 Democratic Officials Condemn NYC Parents&#039; Criticism of Transgender Athlete Policy as &#039;Hateful\">largest public school districts<\/a> in the nation, and is one of the top per-pupil public school district spenders (totaling about <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fairfaxcounty.gov\/news\/study-analyzes-virginias-k-12-education-funding\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">$20,000<\/a> per student in fiscal 2024). For decades, Fairfax County has drawn families in search of quality K-12 public education for their children.<\/p>\n<h2>Virginia&rsquo;s Performance Indicators for Accreditation<\/h2>\n<p>A look at Virginia&rsquo;s accreditation metrics and the recent arrival of students who are not proficient in speaking and reading English sheds light on the significant decline of Fairfax County&rsquo;s public schools. In Virginia, public school districts are assessed on the following <a href=\"https:\/\/www.doe.virginia.gov\/data-policy-funding\/data-reports\/statistics-reports\/accreditation-federal-reports\/soa-school-accreditation\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">school quality indicators<\/a>: academic achievement, academic achievement gaps, chronic absenteeism, dropout rates, the Graduation and Completion Index, and the College, Career, and Readiness Index.<\/p>\n<p>Each school is graded in every category on a level one to level three rating. A performance rating of level one indicates &ldquo;at or above standard&rdquo; and level three means a school is performing &ldquo;below standard.&rdquo; Any school that earns a level three for any of the quality indicators is put on probation, or &ldquo;accredited with conditions.&rdquo; The conditions are that the school needs to follow the state&rsquo;s guidance to improve performance for that indicator or the school will subsequently lose its accreditation.<\/p>\n<p>The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/restoring-america\/fairness-justice\/3149034\/fairfax-county-politicians-dont-want-us-know-sanctuary-policy-danger\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">institutionalized secrecy<\/a> associated with the sanctuary policy in Fairfax County makes assessing which English-language learners are in the country legally or illegally difficult. It is clear, however, that the number of English-language learners has increased substantially since the implementation of the sanctuary policy. With this rise in migrant students, the school district is facing an intensifying problem with two particular state accountability metrics &mdash; chronic absenteeism and drop-out rates.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2>Non-English Speakers Have Flooded the Failing High Schools<\/h2>\n<p>Fairfax County&rsquo;s <a href=\"https:\/\/justicehs.fcps.edu\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Justice High School<\/a>, for example, is currently accredited with conditions and is at imminent risk of losing accreditation. According to <a href=\"https:\/\/schoolquality.virginia.gov\/divisions\/fairfax-county-public-schools\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">data<\/a> provided by the Virginia Department of Education, its dropout rate was 13.99 percent in 2023. Meanwhile, its rate of chronic absenteeism, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fcps.edu\/attendance\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">defined<\/a> as the percent of students who missed 18 or more school days in the school year, was 24.63 percent. Justice High School&rsquo;s dropout rate is rated at a level three, and it&rsquo;s at level two in chronic absenteeism, the College, Career, and Civic Readiness Index, and the Graduation and Completion Index.<\/p>\n<p>Like many of the failing schools in Fairfax County, Justice High School experienced a substantial increase in English-language learners following the sanctuary policy. Information obtained from a Freedom of Information Act request shows that in 2020, the high school had 705 English-language learners. By academic year 2023-2024, 1,907 students (79 percent) of the school&rsquo;s 2,406 students were English-language learners, and 312 students (13 percent) were newly arrived from other countries and enrolled for their very first year in an American school.<\/p>\n<p>The five other failing high schools in Fairfax County share the same trend as Justice High School with the rise of English-language learners, or multilingual learners as they are labeled in Fairfax County.<\/p>\n<h2>Number of Multilingual Learners Enrolled in Fairfax County&rsquo;s Failing High Schools <\/h2>\n<figure><\/figure>\n<p>Compounding Fairfax County school district&rsquo;s problems, the Virginia Department of Education granted its public schools a three-year waiver for chronic absenteeism in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, but that waiver expired this academic year. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.livewellsd.org\/i-want-to\/learn-more\/schools\/live-well-schools\/focus-areas\/chronic-absenteeism\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Chronic absenteeism<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nyic.org\/2020\/02\/new-data-shows-drop-out-crisis-among-newcomer-immigrants-in-nyc-schools\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">drop-out rates<\/a> are more significant problems for children who have recently crossed our southern border.<\/p>\n<p>In addition to the expiration of the chronic absenteeism waiver, this year, the Virginia Department of Education <a href=\"https:\/\/www.doe.virginia.gov\/home\/showpublisheddocument\/55896\/638569321084370000\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">revised<\/a> the state&rsquo;s accreditation standards to hold public schools accountable for teaching their English-language learners. Instead of an 11-semester waiver (more than five years) for newly arrived students to take the standardized English reading test, they now are granted a waiver for three semesters. This means that more of Fairfax County&rsquo;s English-language learners will be taking the state&rsquo;s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/kendall-qualls-black-kids-deserve-better-than-fatherless-homes-and-low-expectations\/\" title=\"Kendall Qualls: Black Kids Deserve Better Than Fatherless Homes and Low Expectations\">standardized reading test<\/a> this year, likely decreasing already low-performing schools&rsquo; overall test scores and increasing their academic achievement gaps.<\/p>\n<p>The data clearly indicate that Fairfax County&rsquo;s once thriving school district is struggling as it is being flooded with newly arrived English-language learners. Rather than taking up the issue with the board of supervisors for its problematic sanctuary policy, the school district&rsquo;s leaders are <a href=\"https:\/\/wtop.com\/fairfax-county\/2024\/09\/delegitimize-public-schools-fairfax-co-leaders-worrying-new-va-rating-system-will-paint-inaccurate-picture-of-school-performance\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">complaining<\/a> that tests are not sufficient to measure knowledge, that the state&rsquo;s standards are <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ffxnow.com\/2024\/09\/09\/fcps-leaders-criticize-states-new-school-evaluation-system-citing-resource-gaps\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">unfair<\/a>, and that Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin <a href=\"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/file\/d\/17kQ8TpCeYnB8mkXv7D7ITW0Vw8O6qwvY\/view\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">released<\/a> the standardized test data prematurely (despite it being in line with the U.S. Department of Education&rsquo;s requirements).&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2>Hiding Low-Performing Students to Bolster the School District&rsquo;s Image<\/h2>\n<p>Fairfax County&rsquo;s 12 Democrat-endorsed school board members and the superintendent, Michelle Reid, further support measures to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/restoring-america\/3138296\/how-fairfax-countys-public-schools-leadership-hides-poor-performing-students\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">hide low performance<\/a> among students, such as equity grading and performance-based assessment projects to replace standardized testing. Some students further are offered make-up days to show up to school on non-school days in order to reduce the appearance of chronic absenteeism. During these &ldquo;make-up&rdquo; days, attendance is called, but there is little to no accountability for student learning.<\/p>\n<p>These strategies are meant to make schools appear that they are performing better, rather than to facilitate the genuine education and learning of the district&rsquo;s most vulnerable students. The goal of Fairfax County&rsquo;s public schools is clearly to reduce the standards for the sake of appearances. The notion of &ldquo;equal outcomes&rdquo; is at the center of the district&rsquo;s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fcps.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/Strategic%2520Plan%2520Brochure%2520(1).pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">strategic plan<\/a>. What that seems to mean is that the district&rsquo;s leadership is fine with students learning little and faring poorly together, as long as the district looks good.<\/p>\n<p>This strategy is failing because many of the newly arrived students who are not proficient in English are concentrated in certain areas of the county. So, the district has introduced <a href=\"https:\/\/go.boarddocs.com\/vsba\/fairfax\/Board.nsf\/files\/A3FKLJ4F6338\/%24file\/R8130.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Policy 8130<\/a> to completely redistrict Fairfax County. Some high-performing students with great attendance will be shuffled to low-performing schools, and many of the chronically absent, low-performing students likely will be moved to higher performing schools.<\/p>\n<p>Fairfax County&rsquo;s public education system is a cautionary tale for school districts across the country. Even the most affluent counties&rsquo; school districts cannot perform well when they are inundated with newly arrived English-language learners from other countries. Trying to hide poor performance and refusing to address the root cause of school failure is only doing a disservice to our taxpayers, and more importantly, to our children.<\/p>\n<hr>\n<p>      Stephanie Lundquist-Arora is a contributor to The Federalist and the Washington Examiner, a mother in Fairfax County, Virginia, an author, and the Fairfax chapter leader of the Independent Women&rsquo;s Network.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>This year, approximately 25% of public high schools in Fairfax County, Virginia\u2014situated near Washington, D.C.\u2014are at risk of losing their state accreditation. The drop in student performance, especially evident in six underperforming high schools, aligns with an increase in non-English speaking students following the implementation of a sanctuary policy known as &#8220;The Public Trust and Confidentiality Policy&#8221; by the board of supervisors in January 2021. By 2023, English-language learners made up 26.5% of the district&#8217;s student population.<\/p>\n<p>Fairfax County is not typically associated with failing schools; it is a wealthy area with a median household income around $145,000. Close to D.C., it boasts a significant number of residents holding advanced degrees and has one of the largest public school districts nationwide that spends about $20,000 per student for fiscal year 2024. For many years, families have been drawn to Fairfax County for its quality K-12 education.<\/p>\n<p>Virginia evaluates public school districts based on various quality indicators such as academic achievement and dropout rates. Schools are rated on a scale from one to three; level one indicates performance &#8220;at or above standard,&#8221; while level three signifies &#8220;below standard.&#8221; Schools receiving a level three rating for any indicator face probationary status or conditions that could lead to loss of accreditation if improvements aren&#8217;t made.<\/p>\n<p>The sanctuary policy&#8217;s inherent secrecy complicates efforts to determine which English-language learners are legally residing in the country. Nonetheless, there has been a notable rise in these students since the policy was enacted. This influx has exacerbated issues related to chronic absenteeism and dropout rates within the district.<\/p>\n<p>For instance, Justice High School is currently accredited under conditions and risks losing its accreditation soon; its dropout rate was reported at 13.99% for 2023 alongside chronic absenteeism affecting over 24% of students who missed more than eighteen days during the school year. The number of English-language learners at Justice High School surged from 705 in 2020 to nearly 1,907 (79%) out of total enrollment by academic year 2023-2024.<\/p>\n<p>Similar trends are observed across other failing high schools within Fairfax County regarding increasing numbers of multilingual learners\u2014students who do not speak English proficiently upon arrival.<\/p>\n<p>Adding further challenges for these schools is that Virginia\u2019s Department of Education had previously granted waivers concerning chronic absenteeism due to COVID-19 impacts; however this waiver expired this academic year just as new standards were introduced requiring more accountability for teaching English-language learners\u2014reducing their testing exemption period significantly from eleven semesters down to three semesters.<\/p>\n<p>Data clearly shows that Fairfax County\u2019s once-successful educational system struggles amid an influx of newly arrived non-English speakers while district leaders focus on blaming standardized tests rather than addressing underlying issues stemming from policies like those enacted by local government officials.<\/p>\n<p>To mask low performance levels among students instead addressing root causes directly impacting education quality\u2014the county\u2019s Democratic-led school board supports initiatives like equity grading systems replacing traditional assessments along with offering make-up attendance days without ensuring actual learning occurs during those times aimed solely at improving attendance statistics superficially rather than genuinely enhancing educational outcomes among vulnerable populations within their jurisdictional boundaries<\/p>\n<p>This approach ultimately fails because concentrations exist where newly arrived non-English proficient students reside leading them towards implementing Policy #8130 which aims redistricting efforts throughout Fairfax County shifting higher performing attendees into lower performing institutions while potentially moving chronically absent individuals into better-performing environments instead<\/p>\n<p>Fairfax County serves as an important lesson illustrating how even affluent areas can struggle when faced with large numbers arriving without adequate language skills coupled alongside attempts obscuring poor results rather than confronting fundamental problems head-on ultimately harming taxpayers\u2019 interests\u2014and most importantly\u2014the children themselves<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1371,"featured_media":2344686,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/Justice_High_School-scaled-e1726622960284.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[39820,35136,41213,41492,41493],"class_list":["post-2344685","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-community-impact","tag-education-policy","tag-mass-immigration","tag-public-school-district","tag-school-funding"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/Justice_High_School-scaled-e1726622960284.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2344685","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1371"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2344685"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2344685\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2344686"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2344685"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2344685"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2344685"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}