Drew, I read this WSJ piece when it came out, and I'm surprised by the treatment in the Patch. The story was a statistical aggregation that completely disregarded the frequency of migration in this region, as well as the fact that Alexandria enrollment is dramatically up over the last three years. The age-ratio analysis -- the sole data input -- favors only micro-districts, typically small towns that maintain their own elementary schools only and that are part of another district for higher grades (common in the northeast and California; a single address in New York may be part of up to four different school districts). The Trulia piece didn't purport to measure academics at all.

Enrollment in ACPS is up for many reasons, but it's generally not because people like ACPS. It has more to do with the economy and population growth in general.

Drew, this was empty reporting. The quality of a locality's education system is a basic reason why many people choose to buy homes. Since Alexandria's home price changes have bested the rest of the country, why didn't you write about that?

Re-posting the WSJ's article without providing more reporting to support or de-bunk its findings is unfair.

Have you sought out sources to help you respond to the WSJ article or are you simply re-posting it?

The method of analysis may be flawed but the conclusion is accurate. Anyone who believes otherwise isn't interested in the truth. My kids deserve a better education than Alexandria can currently provide and I say that as a public school kid from K-Grad School.

We didn't even make it through my son's Kindergarten year at Mt. Vernon before moving away for better schools. The data detailed backs up anecdotal evidence. Definitely worth reporting.

I wouldn't send my kid to MV or JH but I'd gladly send them to Maury, Barrett, or Mason. The basic problem with MV and JH is that the children of white educated families are being used to shore up the children of uneducated blacks and latinos. Of course no one would dare say that out loud but it's the truth. When your child is learning to read do you want him sitting next to a child whose mom and dad have graduate degrees and read to them nightly or do you want him sitting next to a kid who shows up for school an hour late and with an empty stomach?

MacArthur was great when my child was there. GW Middle was mediocre, Minne Howard was bad, and TCW was intolerable. We pulled her out and sent her to boarding school. Believe me, if TCW were even minimally acceptable we would not have spent that kind of money. We're not rich people. It's a shame that such a great city has such lousy schools and only one public high school. $100 million on a fabulous facility, multiple admins making over $100K, and what do we have to show for it? I have many friends who still have kids in ACPS and none of them are happy with it. This viewpoint cuts across all income and educational levels of parents I know, from poor, minorities to richer white families.

Or how about sending kids to a school system that is so over crowded (Arlington County) that schools use trailers and have a higher student to teacher ratio than other localities nearby. Don't believe me, pick up a copy of the Arlington Magazine. Or how about a the same school system that has renovated two of the four high schools top to bottom, while the high school located in the predominately minority zip code has structures that are failing apart and in disrepair (Wakefield) Again, don't believe it, go to arlnow.com to read about the issues. I grew up in Arlington County, educated through the public school system (jamestown/yorktown) and quite frankly, you get from a PS system what you put into it. Expecting teachers to hold students hands the hold time is ridiculous and quite frankly, go to private school if that is what you are looking for with education. I did, i went to the Maret School for two years and it truly was an overwhelming experience to say the least. I would never say that MV is the best, nor do I think its failing, yet evolving with new leadership. Bottom line as well, the City budgets less money into education simply because the tax dollars are not there that other counties have in the kity.

This statistic backs what I've heard anecdotally for many years. Church registers show showing young couples joining and marrying, celebrate the birth of their first child, then leaving the church five or six years later because they've moved to another area.

I also know a ton of families who also flee from Alexandria once their children are of school age. It's a very common practice. The Alexandria City Public Schools continue to be rated as some of the absolute worst in the entire Commonwealth, which, in itself, should be very embarrassing to all Alexandrians. But the same problems of the Alexandria City Public Schools exist and will continue for generations to come. Parents will do what they must to have their children in good schools and, unfortunately, the City of Alexandria and the Alexandria City Public Schools just don't cut it. By the way, T.C. Williams is rated 252 out of 317 high schools ranked in the Commonwealth: http://www.schooldigger.com/go/VA/schoolrank.aspx?level=3 Honestly, with the percentage of children in Alexandria being the lowest, per population, in the area, there really isn't a serious strong concern to get schools 'fixed'. I know that people will ardently disagree with me, but that's just the perception that has been set with how the ACPS is currently run now, and how it could be run for the future. In essence, if anyone REALLY cared about schools in the City of Alexandria, they would have been fixed a long time ago, which is sad because children have to suffer. Think about it. If the ACPS were a well-oiled machine, and if it was run efficiently, and if schools in the City of Alexandria were rated as some of the best in the Commonwealth, do you think you'd see the flight there is today? No!

ACPS isn't perfect. I do know that my children learned how to get along with all kinds of people,felt safe,had great teachers and excelled academically. They felt very prepared for college on all levels and they had fun.

Maybe I'm missing something, but what is the link to schools. According to your article, "the districts with low ratios tended to be densely populated areas popular with young professionals, yet have high real estate prices, according to the blog post."

Sounds like Alexandria to me. So why blame schools? And is this statistic even meaningful?

I'm sure some parents move from Alexandria for "better schools" (e.g. better test scores). But a more common reason for the migration seems to be housing prices. Young couple buys a townhouse, has a couple children and wants more space and a garden. They can't afford one in Alexandria and decide moving to Fairfax, Falls Church or another nearby suburb.

I really question the value of these surveys anyway. Did you see the one recently released by Money magazine? It listed both Reston and Columbia, MD among the top-10 most liveable American cities!!!!

If you want to live close to DC, have school age children, can afford the high home prices, but not the additional high private schools fees, then you live in Arlington.

If you want to live close to DC, have a dog instead of children, and can afford the high home prices, then you live in Alexandria.

Liz, ACPS is a matter of fact, far from perfect, but, despite that fact, like you mentioned, your children had a great experience and prepared them for college, and they had fun. Unfortunately, though, there is no leadership in the City of Alexandria to fix the Alexandria City Public School system, and because of that, children suffer through one of the worst-rated school systems in the Commonwealth of Virginia. There is no shame, absolutely no shame. Our political leaders, past and present, also have no shame. They seemingly could care less.

Just stating my experience.

Linda- Yes, my family had a dispute with the administration at ACPS, but that proves my point. The administration is completely unresponsive to parental concerns. Even after they fired a teacher and several coaches over the issues I raised, not once did they apologize to my family or do anything - anything at all - to assist my daughter. Just one example - they refused to provide us with any materials or support for home schooling during the dispute, despite our repeated requests. They wouldn't even loan us books for one semester! They refused to take any action at all until I presented them with such damning evidence that they had absolutely no choice left. The administration at ACPS and the current school board members prefer to bury their heads in the sand and rubber stamp anything Mort Sherman does. The lawyer hired by ACPS told our lawyer that she (the ACPS lawyer) intended to "destroy" my child on the stand. Is that what we pay taxes for? So Mort Sherman can beat up on 16 year olds? So, why do I take every opportunity to warn people about how bad ACPS is even though my child is out of there? I do it to protect other kids. I never want another family to go through what we did, and I already know other families who have. It won't stop until the entire school board is voted out and Sherman is sent packing.

BTW everyone, read the crime reports in our local papers. Everytime you see something in the 3000 Block of King Street, that's a reference to crime at TCW, and not everything is reported either. When I was filing FOIA requests for the dispute I had and talking to teachers and others who had first hand knowledge of unreported incidents at TCW, I discovered all kinds of things that would make your heads explode. I heard things about rape...robbery...assault...drug overdoses...drug dealing...weapons...all on ACPS property and during the school day. Just last week, I spoke with a parent of current TCW students who told me that last school year, many of the kids were doing ecstasy during the day and buying it at school! That parent is afraid for their children who will be at TCW this school year, but cannot afford private school and can't afford to move either.

Josh, we chose boarding school for several reasons. Among them was the fact that ACPS refused to accomodate home schooling, but other factors were more decisive, and the most important was that we no longer felt TCW was a safe place for our child and we did not trust ACPS to protect her and provide a safe learning environment. We alerted school administration and authorities to certain threats and bullying, but no actions were taken until many weeks (and months) later. The fact is, unless the school's reputation is threatened, ACPS won't do anything. The athletic director at that time was one Robert McKeag. Despite the fact that I provided solid, conclusive evidence of his wrong doing, he was not fired until a year later, when it was discovered that he allowed illegal 5th year players on the basketball team and caused TCW to forfeit their season after having been the state champions the prior year. it was splashed all over the papers and Sherman couldn't ignore it. Every boy on the basketball team suffered for that, and it all could have been avoided if Mort Sherman and the school board had listened to me a year before that. A number of parents who had vilified me the year before made it a point to personally apologize later. My family was vinidicated, but the damage was already done. If you can possibly afford it, DO NOT send your kids to ACPS.

Jason, not to nit pick but Arington County spends over $1332 more on each pupil than ACPS. That is quite a difference.

Gail, you and I both know that Mayor Bill Euille and the Alexandria City Council, both past and present, have shown a HUGE lack of leadership in holding Mort Sherman and the Alexandria School Board accountable for their mismanagement of the Alexandria City Public Schools. The main problem with the Alexandria City Public Schools is that the system is governed by the 'ungoverned', meaning the Alexandria School Board, along with Mort Sherman, and there is no one holding their feet to the fire for their continued mismanagement. No one in Alexandria REALLY cares about the Alexandria City Public Schools system, which is quite evident in its overall dismal rankings in comparison with other school systems in the Commonwealth. Sure, Justin Wilson, Tim Lovain, and Rob Krupicka will all say that they care about ACPS, mainly because they have children going to schools in the city, but none of them have done anything of substance to take the bull by the horns and make the changes necessary to turn things around. The 'laissez faire' attitude of how Mort Sherman and the Alexandria School Board ignores the problems at T.C. Williams in regard to the amount of drugs, rapes, and other criminal activities that occur there throughout the year on campus is shameful. Absolutely shameful. But that's how Alexandria is, letting problems fester, letting our schools devolve, putting the mental and physical health of our children at risk. Absolutely nobody has the cohones to fix ACPS and it really shows!

Jim, the city council can only cut funding, which would cause more problems. They have no other authority over ACPS since we switched from an appointed to an elected school board. The answer is to hold the school board accountable and vote out the current members in November.

Bill, I have no delusions about teen drug use in this town. I've heard all about it at SSAS, BI etc. However, I most certainly did NOT ever hear about anyone being filmed having an orgy. That is news to me. Was that a joke or were you being serious?

Unfortunately the situation is one where the culture has to change, but that takes years, not days. For those who are willing to wait out the winds of change, the parents of those students must make every effort to monitor their childs progress over that time. I am quite happy with my childs direction with schooling in ACPS, and although I hear the negative responses over and over, I feel that change is happening with positive reflection.

100% serious.

All this conversation yet barely any candidates stepped up to run for school board. That is the real shame here. Vote in those who stepped up to the plate and hold their actions accountable.

Edmund, several people have indeed stepped up to run for school board. I'm supporting the following NEW candidates: Karen Graf in A, Kelly Carmichael Booz in B, and Chris Lewis in C.

I believe I can speak to this issue from a variety of perspectives. First, as a parent my five daughters have all received wonderful educations in ACPS and have all gone onto college and then to receive graduate and/or professional degrees. As a parent, I am a satisfied consumer both in terms of the educational and extra-curricular activites of ACPS.
I also worked at TCW for three years and found the experience rewarding and the environment supportive of students and teachers. I also felt the instructional staff was both qualified and dedicated with many teahcers going above and beyond to make the high school expereince rewarding for the students.
Finally, as an elected official I have tried to be supportive fo ACPS and have supported what I believe are reasonable resources for ACPS to achieve their mission. I have also been quite critical of the current adminstration, in particular their financial policies and procedures. To that end I called for sweeping changes in the adminstration.
I do believe the major difference in successful schools systems in parental involvement where expectations are established in concert with instruction. In my experience, the common denominator in successful students is the role of the parent(s). Kids whose parents take an active and constructive role in their education of their children typically achieve, regardless of socio-economic backgrounds. Perhaps exploring this avenue as opposed to more administration might lead to success.

Linda, the people directly responsible for the harm my family suffered have all been fired by ACPS. I have no personal vendetta against the remaining members of the ACPS administration. I've already been vindicated. The fact remains that the school board and top ACPS admins simply aren't doing their jobs properly. The reason I continue to point out ACPS failures is because they keep happening. I raised the alarm about McKeag and nothing was done for over a year, and as a result the entire basketball team suffered. ACPS should have fired him when I gave them the evidence they needed to do so. That's just one example of how the general failure of ACPS to respond to concerns ends up hurting everyone. My only child is long gone from ACPS. I gain nothing directly if ACPS changes and I don't suffer directly is nothing gets fixed...but you and your kids do. If you really think I have some personal vendetta, you should be thanking me for continuing to hold ACPS's feet to the fire. They can't hurt me or my kid anymore, so I have nothing to lose. A lot of parents do and I understand why they are afraid to speak up.

Based on these comments, I would encourage everyone to learn about the candidates and make sure they vote in the election, and encourage others to do so. Unfortunately, I think there are now only 3 candidates for District C....no competition at all. Sad. I know some folks who think we should return to an appointed School Board.

ACPS' teachers work extremely hard. The Administration has overwhelmed them with too many changes throughout the last few years. How can a person succeed at work when the rules constantly change? As I understand, Supt. Sherman admitted to having tried to do too much much at once during the teacher convocation on Wednesday.

Last year, I was completely disheartened with MV. My two children are in 3rd and 5th grade there. My husband and I considered moving them to Maury or Barrett. When Peter Balas was named the incoming Principal, we chose to keep them at MV.

This year, there is a re-newed sense of enthusiasm and dedication at MV. The teachers seem to feel more like team members than the recipients of the run-and-duck administrative approach of the last two years. I am happy with the teachers and their plans for the coming year.

Here's somethine that will make your head spin...

Yesterday I was at the Del Ray Farmer's Market and th school board member Helen Morris was handing out her campaign chum. I asked her a few pointed questions. She told me it would cost $1 million to buy out Mort Sherman's contract & there is no "will" among the school board to fire him for cause. It is a dereliction of duty that our school board signed such a contract. A ONE MILLION DOLLAR BUY OUT CLAUSE. Think about that.