Opinion | ARLnow.com

ARLnow Weekend Discussion

Published July 31, 2020 at 3:30PM

It’s the last day of July. August is hours away and fall is within sight — mercifully, given the heat wave over the past few weeks.

This post is being written in advance (even editors need a half day of vacation sometimes) so without knowing the topic of today’s Beermonger post, a word of caution to beer fans: stock up on your shandies now, before you know it they’ll be gone and only Oktoberfest and pumpkin seasonal beers will be on the shelves (if they’re not there already).

Here are this week’s most-read articles on ARLnow:

Feel free to discuss those or any other topics of interest in the comments. Have a nice weekend!

Flickr pool photo by Vincent

#weekend discussion

Peter’s Take: APS Faces Challenges in Virtual Reopening

By Peter Rousselot

Published July 29, 2020 at 3:15PM | Updated September 23, 2020 at 11:13AM

Peter’s Take is a weekly opinion column. The views and opinions expressed in this column are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of ARLnow.com

On July 14th, APS chose the best of a bad series of options by deciding to reopen schools 100% virtually.

All the options were bad because of a public health failure:

Outrage over schools’ inability to fully reopen should not, of course, be directed at schools themselves, but at the public health failure that makes it impossible for most of them to do so.

COVID-19 presents APS with a unique opportunity to take stock of what is working, abandon what is not, and creatively and equitably implement an effective 21st-century education for all.

Instructional and student achievement

Learning to read, spell, and write is a fundamental basis for all school learning, but APS’ reading achievement gap is widening. APS’ 2018/19 reading SOL pass rates by subgroups further prove that our minority communities (Black, Hispanic, Students with Disabilities, Economically Disadvantaged, and English Language Learners) will be the most impacted by APS’ virtual reopening. Their literacy skills lag behind their White, Asian, and Multiple Race peers (Black – 72%, Hispanic – 66%, White – 94%, Asian – 86%, Multiple Races – 92%, Students with Disabilities – 54%, Economically Disadvantaged – 63%, and English Language Learners – 38%.)

For students struggling to read and/or write, learning new content and demonstrating mastery in any subject area already was challenging in a 100% in-person learning environment. Students with poor literacy skills, who are required to work more independently in the virtual learning environment, will face even bigger challenges for APS to overcome. (more…)

The Right Note: Questions for Our Leaders

By Mark Kelly

Published July 28, 2020 at 2:55PM

The Right Note is a weekly opinion column. The views and opinions expressed in the column are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of ARLnow.com.

Two weeks ago, Arlington Public Schools abruptly reversed course and decided to start the school year with all virtual learning.

As a reminder, in a June school survey 73 percent of Arlington parents indicated they would be comfortable sending their children back with safety protocols in place. As of mid-July, approximately two-thirds of parents had already signed their children up for the hybrid in-person model.

APS announced they would re-evaluate the decision for October and beyond. According to the APS website, they are committed to resuming instruction in the classroom “as soon as possible.” With that in mind, it is time for APS to answer the following:

How does APS plan to measure the impacts of the all distance learning model on academic progress?
What specific COVID-19 related metrics will the APS use as a basis for a decision to return to in-person instruction and how will those be communicated to students, parents and teachers?
What guarantees do parents have that APS will not reverse course on a future reopening decision that meets the metrics, supporting scientific studies, and CDC and Virginia Department of Education guidelines at the behest of the Arlington Education Association?

Last week the Arlington County Board voted to join the lawsuit against the Trump Administration’s move to exclude those without lawful immigration status from the apportionment count. It took less than one minute to pass. It was not on the agenda. There was no real debate about why Arlington should join one of multiple lawsuits. There was no mention of how much it might cost the Arlington taxpayers.

For those who do not follow constitutional terms of art for a living, apportionment is the way states are allotted seats in the United States Congress. It has a corresponding impact on the Electoral College.

Constitutional experts on both sides have argued, and will continue to argue, whether this move will withstand Supreme Court scrutiny. If it stands, however, it would not impact how states can use Census data to draw congressional or state legislative districts. The Virginia Code says we have to use the most recent decennial population figures from the Census. In other words, Arlington would not lose any strength of representation in Congress or in Richmond unless the Democrat-controlled General Assembly changes the rules.

Excluding those without lawful immigration status from apportionment also does not impact the overall Census count. The Census Bureau is continuing the effort to count everyone, including the use of in-person visits beginning in August. As federal programs use population counts not apportionment, Arlington’s $50 million annual assistance for transportation, housing, emergency services and school lunch programs will see no impact from the change.

You may agree with the decision to join the lawsuit. You may not. But why were our County Board members unwilling or unable to spend even one minute each articulating the rationale for a decision to join a congressional apportionment lawsuit prior to taking a vote?

Mark Kelly is a 19-year Arlington resident, former Arlington GOP Chairman and two-time Republican candidate for Arlington County Board.

#The Right Note

Progressive Voice: Imagine “What If” to Transform the Virtual School Experience

By Progressive Voice

Published July 27, 2020 at 3:00PM | Updated July 27, 2020 at 5:04PM

Progressive Voice is a bi-weekly opinion column. The views expressed are solely the author’s.

By Maurine Shields Fanguy

“What if next year school could be like a role-playing game and we could see avatars of our friends online?” my rising fifth-grader asked.

In that moment, I realized I was so mired down in fall logistics, I had not considered new possibilities opened with distance learning (DL). In business, disruption leads to innovation. Perhaps we will find the silver lining of a fundamental transformation in delivering K-12 education in this pandemic, and beyond, if school administrators, teacher, and parents throw out the old rules and ask, “what if?”

What if:

School administrators and parents reimagine the school calendar?

With a fundamental change in learning delivery, we have a unique chance to shift from an agrarian-based calendar to a modified year-round calendar. Two-week Fall, Winter, and Spring breaks would allow for intercession learning for students who need strengthening or optional enrichment. Breaks offer a respite for families who must be hands-on with DL. Quarterly breaks also allow time for deep cleaning schools or to re-quarantine.

School administrators also open enrollment countywide in some online elective and enrichment courses?

Could some unique offerings be opened to any Arlington Public School (APS) student, similar to Outschool? Imagine elementary art with recycled materials, middle school yoga, or high school history through a musical theater class open to any APS student regardless of zoning? We might approach discussions on boundaries and equity differently if geographic barriers are sometimes taken out of the equation to allow students from across the county to come together to explore their passions and maximize the impact of teachers with unique expertise.

Teachers transform the school day with bite-sized microlearning and the use of “Agile” principles?

“Agile” is commonly used in software development to improve quality, transparency and flexibility in achieving transformational outcomes. In a school, Agile could encourage regular student-led, teacher-coached reflection on work completed, identifying lessons learned and determining improvement areas for the next sprint. Agile could help bridge the achievement gap with teachers able to customize learning, offer more frequent feedback, and provide interventions earlier.

Studies show bite-sized learning can be more effective than traditional lectures and better matches the human attention span. Khan Academy uses this approach to enable learners to go at their own pace and move on when they are ready.

Could APS use this microlearning model to present shorter, engaging learning blocks with teacher interaction to answer questions or explore content in more depth through the day? This flexibility is critical for families who struggle with providing supervision for learning during the workday, households with multiple children and limited bandwidth connectivity, or for students needing to revisit concepts for mastery. Microlearning could also be a foundation to better outcomes for special education students and English learners.

(more…)

#Progressive Voice

ARLnow Weekend Discussion

By ARLnow.com

Published July 24, 2020 at 6:00PM

The summer news doldrums are not here yet: this was a busy week with lots of news from the last round of County Board meetings of the summer and plenty of weather excitement.

There is already plenty on the agenda for next week, so we may have to wait until August for a breather.

In encouraging news, new COVID-19 cases in Arlington have continued to trend downward this week — expect an update on that either Monday or Tuesday. Will the trend last? Hard to tell, especially with cases in other parts of the region and the state on the rise.

Here are the most-read stories from the past week:

Feel free to discuss those stories or anything else of local interest in the comments. Have a nice weekend!

#weekend discussion

Ed Talk: Education is the Foundation for a Strong Democracy

By Maura McMahon

Published July 24, 2020 at 3:40PM

Ed Talk is a biweekly opinion column. The views expressed are solely the author’s.

It is increasingly important in today’s world of global interaction and social media that our youth have the tools they need to thoughtfully discern their individual beliefs and political positions.

While Webster’s dictionary simplistically defines “education” as “the field of study that deals mainly with methods of teaching and learning in schools,” this definition from dictiontary.com better reflects what we need from our educational institutions today: “the act or process of imparting or acquiring general knowledge, developing the powers of reasoning and judgment, and generally of preparing oneself or others intellectually for mature life.”

To build and maintain a strong democracy, public education in a democratic society should both impart a breadth of knowledge to students and teach them to become independent thinkers. Arlington Public Schools should ensure the “acquiring general knowledge” and “developing the powers of reasoning and judgment” aspects of education by:

Building upon existing practices for teaching or incorporating “media intelligence” to help students discern the sources of social media posts and the credibility and biases of information they find online or read in print;
Implementing a curriculum that includes general social media use, political use of social media, analysis of political campaign tactics, and international influences;
Renewing the emphasis on civics and elevating its importance in the required curriculum;
Requiring debate classes and/or the incorporation of more debate-style assignments and activities that require students to understand, explain, and defend opposing positions on a range of topics;
Ensuring an atmosphere of inclusion and an environment that does not politicize opinions or surround students with only one set of political positions.

(more…)

#Ed Talk

Health Matters: Is It Safe to Have Elective Surgery During COVID-19?

By Dr. George Hwang

Published July 23, 2020 at 3:00PM | Updated July 23, 2020 at 5:19PM

Health Matters is a biweekly opinion column. The views expressed are solely the author’s.

“It felt like they were tickling my brain.”

No, my patient wasn’t describing a complex neurosurgery. He was describing the 6-inch nasal swab used to sample his nose for COVID-19 testing, a common requirement before proceeding to surgery.

Virginia recently initiated Phase 3 reopening, and like the increasing sidewalk bustle on Wilson Boulevard, operating rooms have also been reinvigorated as elective surgeries are once again being performed. If you are like many Americans that have delayed care due to coronavirus, you may be wondering “Is it safe to have elective surgery during COVID?”

In fact, half of Americans postponed medical care due to COVID, and a third of those plan to get care in the next 3 months. Demand far exceeds supply, and some experts estimate an elective surgery backlog of up to 45 weeks in some hospitals. However, the solution isn’t as simple as booking as many elective surgeries as possible. Hospitals have to balance increasing surgery bookings to meet patient demand (and quite frankly, to stay financially afloat) while still saving capacity for a potential COVID surge. As ARLnow readers know, COVID numbers change rapidly, and presurgery protocols adapt to those fluctuations. So what can you do to proceed safely?

If you’re considering elective surgery, here are some questions you can ask your doctor that will help you make an informed decision.

How important is the surgery?

This is the single most important question. In an ideal world, patients should feel comfortable asking their surgeon and expect an honest, unbiased response. Elective does not mean “doesn’t need to be done” — it means surgery can be scheduled and oftentimes patient come from home. However, elective can become urgent, such as surgeries related to cancer treatment. I’ve seen this happen numerous times in the past several months. On the other hand, elective cases such as carpal tunnel release or cosmetics are rarely urgent.

In addition, your doctor should assess your personal risk based on your underlying health. For example, if you’ve had a recent heart attack, uncontrolled diabetes or severe lung disease, then your risk for needing the intensive care unit (ICU) after surgery is higher. Many ICUs, as seen in NYC and now Florida, need as many beds as possible during COVID spikes. In fact, some local hospitals utilize a risk-stratification calculator based on patient’s baseline health, and if the score is too high then surgery will be postponed. A high score means higher likelihood of needing that coveted ICU bed after surgery.

What is the hospital doing to make sure I don‘t get COVID?

Catching COVID while in the hospital may be the biggest source of anxiety for patients considering surgery. There are questions you can ask to assess how hospitals are reducing that risk, such as:

Are there adequate personal protective equipment (PPE) like N95 respirators? Supply of PPE in Arlington has been good, and yes, the stories of reprocessing N95s are true.
Are staff being screened or tested?
What’s the protocol for COVID-positive surgery patients? Are they performed and recovered in dedicated rooms?
Are patients being tested prior to surgery?

Do I need to get tested before surgery?

Most likely yes. There are many times I have seen patients arrive day of surgery after refusing testing, and consequently turned away. In Arlington, most operating rooms require a negative COVID test before surgery (some test day of surgery, others 3 days before). Patients are then advised to self-isolate leading up to surgery–an honor system. I’ve experienced a few speed bumps with this new workflow, most commonly delayed COVID test results. Hospitals have rapid one-hour tests, but those are ideally reserved for emergencies due to limited availability, though some use it for every elective case.

If the answer to these questions are reasonable, then elective surgery can be safe. Perhaps all this testing and precautions is overkill, but it seems healthcare associated transmission is controlled. Patients I’ve spoken to are reassured by all the measures taken to protect them before surgery, even if it means enduring a tickle in the nose.

Dr. George C. Hwang, known to his patients as Dr. Chaucer, is a practicing anesthesiologist and helps run Mind Peace Clinics in Arlington. He has written for multiple journals, textbooks and medical news outlets, and has been living in Arlington for the past 15 years.

#Health Matters

Modern Mobility: How Close Are We to Premium Transit on the Pike? (Part Four)

By Chris Slatt

Published July 22, 2020 at 2:45PM

Modern Mobility is a biweekly opinion column. The views expressed are solely the author’s.

“Is it BRT if it doesn’t have dedicated lanes?” That was a hot topic of conversation in 2013 and I can’t finish out my series on Pike Premium Transit without digging back into the most controversial aspect of the Columbia Pike Streetcar debate.

If you need a refresher, Part 1 introduced what was envisioned for the Pike Premium Transit Network. Part 2 looked at progress on features to improve bus travel time. Part 3 examined the planned convenience & dependability features. Today, I’ll take a look at the most controversial feature that was ever discussed for Columbia Pike’s transit system.

What’s the point of dedicated transit lanes?

Dedicated lanes are a core feature of the best transit systems, no matter the mode. Given that your bus or train needs to stop places that aren’t your personal destination, transit systems can only be time-competitive with cars if they have a way to make up some or all of that time – like by not having to sit in the traffic created by those cars.

Why weren’t they planned for the Streetcar System?

Why wasn’t a dedicated lane recommended for the Columbia Pike Streetcar or the Premium Bus network that is replacing it? The first reason, is that it was seen as impossible at the time. During the first Alternative’s Analysis, VDOT was in control of Columbia Pike and made it clear they would never approve a reduction in the number of available through travel lanes of traffic. During the second Alternative’s Analysis, Arlington had gained control of Columbia Pike (except for the intersection with Glebe Rd and the interchanges with Route 27), but the agreement between Arlington and Virginia stipulated that Virginia would withhold maintenance funds for the entirety of Columbia Pike if it were reduced to fewer than two through travel lanes in each direction except during temporary lane closures related to construction, repair and maintenance.

What’s changed?

That agreement, however, is no longer in effect. It was amended in 2017 and would now allow a lane in each direction to be dedicated to only transit, or transit and HOV, or some other prioritization. So now that it technically possible, should we do it?

One of the earliest transportation analyses that was done for the Pike (in 2003) actually looked at several possible configurations for transit on the Pike:

Curb Shared – transit operates in the curb lane and shares space with cars.
Median Shared – transit operates in the median lanes (moving transit stops to the median) and shares space with cars.
Curb Varies – transit operates in the curb lanes. It shares space with cars east of Taylor Street and new dedicated transit lanes that would be built in addition to the existing car lanes West of Taylor.
Median Varies – same as Curb varies, but transit in the median lanes.
Curb Exclusive – the existing curb lanes are dedicated to transit, all car traffic consolidated to the median lanes.
Median Exclusive – the existing median lanes are dedicated to transit, all car traffic consolidated to the curb lanes.

The results?

A small improvement in travel time for transit over the “no-build” scenario (which already accounts for the rest of the improvements we’ve looked at – off-vehicle fare collection, all-door boarding, etc.) and a major increase in travel time for cars. Unfortunately, the study in question doesn’t ever calculate “person-throughput” or “per-person travel time” which are metrics that would clearly quantify the overall effect on travelers in the corridor, but with the effect on car traffic so much higher than the effect on transit and knowing transit ridership, while high on the Pike, is not more than 50% of travelers, it’s clear the overall effect is negative.

(more…)

#Modern Mobility

Community Matters: Let’s Help Our Youth Get in “Good Trouble”

By Krysta Jones

Published July 21, 2020 at 3:15PM

Community Matters is a biweekly opinion column. The views expressed are solely the author’s.

John Lewis was a 23-year-old leader of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee when he delivered his speech at the March on Washington in 1963. In his speech he criticized political leadership, highlighted the plight of citizens victimized by police brutality and called for changes to voting laws.

“To those who have said, ‘Be patient and wait,’ we must say that we cannot be patient. We do not want our freedom gradually but we want to be free now,” Lewis said. Today, our youth are leading the way with that same urgency.

Lewis exhibited leadership skills at a young age and was a mentee of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. In 1965 he led the march across the Edmund Pettus bridge (hopefully soon to be the John Lewis bridge) and would be beaten so badly that the physical scars lasted his whole life. “Bloody Sunday” became a turning point in the civil rights movement, proving to leave emotional scars on our nation for decades.

Lewis served in several more community organizing roles, in the Carter administration, on the Atlanta City Council, and was elected to Congress in 1986. He will undoubtedly be remembered as one of the most instrumental leaders in the 20th and 21st centuries.

I am serving as an advisor to a campaign simulation program run by Running Start to give female high school students access to political training. Anyone who has spoken with a student these days knows how bright and motivated they are. Many of these students are ready to take the reins of leadership whether it’s handed to them or not. We have a role as community leaders to help prepare them and facilitate their learning outside of the classroom. We should:

Encourage creativity and confidence. John Lewis’s original speech was toned down but he had enough confidence to include his true thoughts. Our youth are often unhindered by our life experiences of failure. Encourage them to speak their minds with confidence.

Place student representatives and young professionals in leadership roles. Arlington organizations should consider how we can integrate youth into leadership positions. We should be prepared to teach them critical skills about the organization and encourage them to develop their own leadership styles.

Support youth-led organizations. We should also provide a space for more youth-led groups to address community concerns. Current organizations could create separate affiliate organizations or junior boards and provide them the resources to thrive by leading their own initiatives and giving them an equal seat and vote in larger coalitions.

Make the necessary organizational changes. Meeting times and traditional formats may need to be adjusted to be more inclusive of people with all backgrounds. I recently facilitated a session for new members of the Virginia affiliate of a national organization. A millennial was very candid about ways to accommodate younger members including changing meeting times and locations, adding virtual engagement, striving for authentic recruitment, and increasing social media presence. It is hard for us to complain about the lack of youth involvement when we are not listening to their concerns.

Ensure succession plans are in place. We have several community leaders who bring a great amount of expertise to our organizations. We should not assume those leaders will be here forever, and we should proactively create plans for the next generation.

Have a positive attitude. Younger leaders have so much to bring to the table. Frankly, many of us come off as ornery, unwilling to pass on knowledge, and unwelcoming. A positive attitude about their engagement and the future of the organization could go a long way.

History will judge that young man who stepped up to the podium in 1963 kindly. His tenacity, spirit, fortitude and willingness to get in “good trouble” have made us a much better nation. In these similarly changing times, we must find, support and encourage today’s young leaders to leave their own transformational legacy.

Krysta Jones has lived in Arlington since 2004 and is active in local politics and civic life. This column is in no way associated with or represents any person, government, organization or body — except Krysta herself.

#Community Matters

Making Room: How Arlington Can Diffuse the Eviction Time Bomb

By Jane Green

Published July 20, 2020 at 3:30PM | Updated September 23, 2020 at 11:13AM

Making Room is a biweekly opinion column. The views expressed are solely the author’s.

Like many states throughout the country, Virginia suspended evictions during the public health emergency caused by Covid-19. This was an essential step for protecting vulnerable community members during this pandemic. Evictions are damaging not only because they remove a person from their home, but they also make it difficult for the person to get a lease in the future. To have a resilient community that can survive this pandemic, we need to keep everyone housed.

Advocates like me thought that Arlington evictions would be put on hold until July 21. As late as the July 7 Housing Commission meeting, the people who are generally the most plugged-in thought the moratorium would be extended. Instead, the Arlington General District Court started hearing unlawful detainer (eviction) cases at the beginning of July and there are 112 cases scheduled for Thursday, July 30.

Eviction moratoriums are a stop-gap measure meant to buy time for long-term solutions. At some point, the moratorium will end and the rent will be due in a lump sum, which could mean thousands of dollars owed. On top of this, the additional $600 in weekly unemployment benefits is set to expire on July 31. Preventing a “tsunami” of evictions is imperative. It’s times like this that I wish the United States had guaranteed minimum income. But let’s settle for providing financial assistance to reduce rent owed and give tenants a better standing to negotiate with landlords.

Arlington’s Tenant-Landlord Commission started work last year on plans to reduce evictions, two of which went into effect earlier this year. First, the Clerk of Court is now attaching a one-page summary of eviction prevention resources to the summons sent to Arlington residents who are facing eviction. If tenants know their rights and their resources to stop the eviction process, hopefully we can keep more people in their homes. Second, the Arlington General District Court will hold unlawful detainer (eviction) hearings Thursdays each week. This will allow service providers, such as Arlington’s Department of Human Services (DHS) and legal aid, to deploy staff when they will have the most impact. Caseworkers and attorneys can intervene before docket calls to provide resources and mediation that can divert a tenant from an eviction.

These two relatively simple, low-cost strategies can give tenants the information and resources they need to prevent an eviction. Arlington should do more to provide legal representation for tenants during the eviction process. Funding another attorney would be a relatively small cost for an incredibly significant benefit.

What at-risk families need most right now is money to pay their rent. In the past few months, Arlington County has provided $1.9 million to Arlington Thrive to expand its capacity to provide emergency financial assistance for families facing immediate need. Virginia has also rolled out a program to provide grants to families to cover their rent. DHS is working to distribute these funds, regardless of a resident’s immigration status and with no impact on the Public Charge rule.

Governor Northam called a special session of the General Assembly to address the Covid-19 crisis. Now is the time to act before families are forced into crowded, unsafe conditions; pushed further from their jobs and communities; or end up on the streets.

Northam has a responsibility renew the eviction moratorium, as a prelude to a more comprehensive plan for reducing evictions during the pandemic and beyond. VOICE has issued a 4-part test that communities should to pass before resuming evictions. Just as we shouldn’t reopen bars before we have the virus under control, we shouldn’t evict people until they know their rights and our social service agencies are equipped to provide renters the help they are entitled to.

Jane Fiegen Green, an Arlington resident since 2015, proudly rents an apartment in Pentagon City with her family. By day, she is the Membership Director for Food and Water Watch and by night she tries to navigate the Arlington Way. Opinions here are her own.

ARLnow Weekend Discussion

By ARLnow.com

Published July 18, 2020 at 8:00AM

It’s the weekend and we have a downright hot stretch of days ahead.

Besides the steamy weather, there is plenty to discuss from the last week. Here are the most-read articles of the past week:

Feel free to discuss those or any other topics of local interest in the comments. Have a nice weekend!

#weekend discussion