As a long time resident of FFX county, the changes are extraordinary.
The culture clash that once existed between VA and MD is all but gone.
I have it, and suppose that you do as well, but have been over run in Alex/Arl, with a younger crowd that is either part of the Government or trusts them.
There’s something new regarding the “Beltway Bandits” that we are all to familiar with. They are still the same “Bandits” but their “foot soldiers” are much younger.
Much more detached and wholly arrogant with no substance.
I used to do battle with the school board, or at least some of its members, back in the 90s when they were appointed vs. elected. Those battles now look fairly tepid. Watched a LOT of incrementalism over the years. Not sure how I could possibly handle this nonsense.
AND the School Board members (save one) are showing they’re just cowards. If this one school board had stood up to Washington, others would have been empowered. As it is, DoE/DoJ is fully empowered to mow down the other school districts that are smaller and less well funded locally, i.e., those that couldn’t possibly afford to be sued by DoE/DoJ.
I have the sneaking suspicion the pressure here is tied to a former school board member who works fairly high up in one of these Depts.
I remember being in the auditorium when the then-student school board member at his first meeting (during the summer when no one was paying any attention) moved to add “sexual orientation” to the list of protected categories against which discrimination couldn’t be practiced (or considered). That student board member was (need I say?) himself gay. Went on to UVA whereat he blew his brains out during his senior year.