Best Schools Update 2024 “Above all, I believe every child, no matter their ZIP code or their parents' jobs, deserves access to a quality education.” - Betsy DeVos 2016  “A child's course in life should be determined not by the zip code she's born in” - Barack Obama “Literally nothing is evenly distributed by zip code, except having a zip code.”  - Elon Musk Part I: Rankings v. Zip Codes “All children should have a great education regardless of zip code,” is perhaps one of th

A Strong Student Production of Kinky Boots While several hate groups descended on the FCPS high school last weekend, the students, teachers, and families of West Potomac High School chose to work together, put on an excellent show, and have a great time. Like their shirts said, “You can change the world when you change your mind.”  The administrators, parents, students, and educators who put their hearts, souls, and bodies on the line for this production should be commended.

Today is May 1st. In an alternate reality where the U.S. Department of Education hadn’t completely botched the FAFSA form update, roll-out, and processing, hundreds of thousands of high school seniors would have signed on the dotted line and committed to a college. Today should be “College Day,”  but instead, many students are in limbo and hundreds of colleges have now moved deadlines twice: first to May 15th and then to June 1st.  If you don’t know the lingo: the FAFSA (Free

You can’t just ignore problems away. Author's forward: I wrote this piece on a snowy day in January. Dr. Claudine Gay had just resigned,...

Thursday, April 24th, was a beautiful day for a moving experience of shared trauma, survival, triumph, and advocacy. Many thanks to Lisa...

Give the Boot(s) to critics and let the show go on! Thousands of Fairfax residents are looking forward to seeing an amazing student...

The Virginia General Assembly reconvened in Richmond as originally planned on April 17, 2024 but adjourned early, after only one day....

Glenn Youngkin and Secretary Aimee Guidera’s constant narrative since taking office is that Virginia public schools are failing: In spite...

It is that time of year again: Fairfax County Budget approval, and like clockwork complaints are raised about how much our county is...

Discover the complexities of Virginia's budget cycle and the contentious budget put forward by Governor Youngkin. Learn how it impacts public education in VA.

The Problem Two hundred thirty-three amendments : there are so many problems with the Governor’s amendments to the bipartisan budget that...

Governor Youngkin continues to feed Virginians misinformation after he gutted the K-12 Education component of the Bipartisan General...

Read other blogs about VDOE's Accountability Listening Sessions and the Public Input process.

Is Virginia Department of Education pulling a fast one on parents, educators, and taxpayers by limiting engagement on their woefully underwh

The National Merit Commended Certificate "Crisis" School Districts are Under Fire School districts across the country are under fire. The...

Courtesy of Cappies NCA Why Schools Should have a full-time dedicated Theatre Arts teacher in every K-12 school Spring Productions are underway!  Let me detail why a Theatre arts program is one of the most important elements in a school's repertoire of offerings. In the Theatre all are welcome and students learn to be accepting of the wide array of humanity and their beauty.  It has always been and will remain a safe place for all our unique, commonplace, variedly able, a

The Budget Conference amended version of the proposed state budget, Budget Bill HB 30, was adopted by the General Assembly on March 9th...

End of Session Update: Budget Amendments The 2024 General Assembly session ended on March 9th with 12 of the 4 Public Education priority...

Fairfax County School Board Matters: March 7, 2024 First, I want to address the elephant in the room: I was unable to attend in-person...

As the 2024 General Assembly draws to a close, the drama over the budget continues to ramp up. Much of the discussion about the budget...