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Education or Indoctrination? Review of the Virginia History Standards Hearings
By the time you read this blog, public input will be closed for the Virginia History and Social Studies Standards of Learning (History...

Marianne Burke (PhD) and Vanessa Hall
Mar 22, 20232 min read


Los SRO no son la Solución para Tener Escuelas Seguras
Redacte este correo electrónico en medio de varias tragedias estudiantiles que afectaron a las Escuelas Públicas de Arlington hace unas...

Anjy Cramer
Mar 8, 20233 min read


Look Beyond SROs for Safe Schools
I'm an Arlington parent who wrote this email in the midst of several student tragedies engulfing Arlington Public Schools a few weeks...

Anjy Cramer
Feb 27, 20233 min read


These Problems Can't Solve Themselves
The 2023 Virginia General Assembly is coming to an end, yet Richmond continues to foment the culture wars by trying to remove history...

Vanessa Hall
Feb 21, 20232 min read


Speak Out Against Proposed VDOE History & Social Studies Standards
The new, proposed, history and social studies Standards of Learning (SOL) are moving forward despite almost universal condemnation from...

Holly Hazard
Feb 8, 20232 min read


Equity and Merit Should Coexist
I’m dismayed by recent news about FCPS…that delayed paper certificates are taking priority over critical needs of all of our students and...

Vanessa Hall
Jan 17, 20232 min read


2022 a Year 4 Public Education
As we close out 2002 we also reach the milestone of our 1st anniversary! 4 Public Education was launched this time last year, after a...

Cheryl Binkley
Dec 29, 20221 min read


Not your Mother’s Sex Ed
Do you remember learning about sex ed in school when you were a teen? I do. Not only do I remember the cheesy heavy-handed after-school specials with Tiger Beat heartthrobs, but I also remember extreme mortification when I was excused from sex education class to go to the hospital to meet my brand new baby sister. In my 13 year-old mind, my sister’s birth advertised to all of my friends and classmates that my parents were having S-E-X…the horror! A million years ago, when I t

Vanessa Hall
Nov 10, 20222 min read


Latest Youngkin Action to Undermine Public Education and Put Children At Risk
4 Public Education strongly condemns the recent policy directive of Governor Youngkin’s Department of Education to reverse guidelines.
Holly Hazard
Sep 18, 20222 min read


Support Title IX Like It Supported You
50 years ago, Title IX created a revolution in women's education and sports, transforming college campuses and K-12 school grounds. Today, it is impossible to count the opportunities available to women and girls who otherwise would not have seen a basketball court or attained a postgraduate degree. Nonetheless, our fight for equal rights and protections for girls and women is not finished. Inequality continues unabated in high school and college sports; however, more importa

Vanessa Hall
Sep 1, 20224 min read


Should Parents, Universities, and Virginia Get on Board with Gov. Youngkin’s Charter/Lab Schools?
On Friday, June 17 Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin fulfilled his campaign promise of 20 new charter schools in the form of university...

Cheryl Binkley
Jun 29, 20222 min read


Funding Religious Education in Schools
Network for Public Education's Statement on the Supreme Court's Decision in Carson v. Makin The ruling of the U.S. Supreme Court in...

Network for Public Education
Jun 19, 20222 min read


Stand Up for Pride
We are in the middle of a civil rights battle, fighting for the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness in our living room...

Vanessa Hall
Jun 12, 20223 min read


Co-Ed Sex Education: Good for ALL Students
Speech on comprehensive sex education given by Marianne Burke to the Fairfax County Public School Board, May 26, 2022. Text slightly changed to be more widely applied. Original speech is available upon request. After reviewing decades of research on the subject, adolescent psychologists have concluded that co-ed (comprehensive) sex education is beneficial to students. Nevertheless, the decision to separate students by gender in Family Life Education is often made by sch

Marianne Burke, PhD
May 26, 20222 min read


Statement on the Uvalde Tragedy
Our hearts go out to the families who lost family and loved ones in Uvalde and the other gun shootings over the last three decades. We suffer along with them, as we feel powerless to stop school gun violence that has occurred at more than 27 schools this year. With pain and fear in our hearts, parents sent our children back to school. We don’t know when or where gun violence will strike again on school property. We just know it will happen again. What can we do to stop this?

Vanessa Hall
May 26, 20223 min read


Raise Your Hand
Today we launch an initiative with purpose and care: we champion the American ideal of public schools as the cornerstone of a healthy...

Holly Hazard
Feb 10, 20222 min read


What do Fairfax County Parents Want?
Hate sells headlines, but the screaming parents in the media do not represent the majority of families involved in our public schools.

4PE Team
Feb 9, 20222 min read
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Relief after Years of Legislative and Executive Attacks on Education
2026 General Assembly Legislative Support for Public Education Public education remains one of the General Assembly’s most significant policy and budgetary responsibilities. With the conclusion of the Youngkin administration and the beginning of Governor Abigail Spanberger’s term last month, the legislature has continued its role in shaping education policy—particularly through direct investment, funding reform, and oversight. Strengthening State Investment in K–12 Schools In


Appreciation and Concerns Raised about the Superintendent's Budget
Explore key insights from the school board meeting on the FY 2026-27 budget. Understand diverse perspectives which include appreciation and concern over the Superintendent's school budget.


Restore Mental Health Professionals to our Schools
Vanessa Hall shares a personal story highlighting how important mental health professionals are in our schools and why the Superintendent should reinstate positions cut last year.
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